This was the game I was most excited about when I saw it on the jam page- I love tactical RPGs and oldschool Fire Emblem, so this was a must-play for me!
I like the Slay-the-Spire style map, and the events are interesting-- in the final game, giving them art of their own might be cool. The pixel portraits are *gorgeous*. It might help if you colour-coded the units- it was a little hard to keep track of who was who- but I understand that you wanted them all to have a uniform. The pixel art on the overworld is also really good- it's expressive and beautifully animated.
The pre-combat UI could use a tutorial on the control box- I wasn't sure how to get it working. It'd also be nice if the enemy range was a toggle rather than a click-and-hold.
Mechanically, this is an old-school Fire Emblem game, all right, for better and for worse. You've got a very similar stat spread, random level-ups, a grid map with enemies, the works. I immediately understood what was going on and the UI was really easy to navigate. I'd quibble that "wait" should be under "item"- my muscle memory screwed me over at least once there- but that's a quibble. However, the controls felt janky- other people have made the same complaints, so I'll pass over them.
...Honestly, the biggest issue I had with the game is that I think you could use another tutorialization pass and another balance pass.
There are a lot of mechanics that are just not clear- in particular, the way the "rogue" portion of the game works isn't well-explained, and I wasn't sure if you borrowed the weapon triangle from Fire Emblem so I wasn't sure whether Lances Beat Swords And Swords Beat Axes. I found myself making poor tactical choices because I wasn't *quite* sure how the mechanics worked. In the final version, maybe have a scripted tutorial mode that always plays out the same way- like the start of XCOM: Enemy Unknown? Finally, I didn't understand how to end the battle- I kept getting waves of enemies coming in, and it seemed to just end abruptly. If you're going to crib from classic FE, "get your Lord to the end of the map" might be a clearer objective.
The balance also feels... off. Some of that might be the RNG aspect of the game. But I had one character who was just destroying the enemy, to the point where he won an entire battle on his own, and then most of my other characters crumpled like tissues, regardless of class. I also started out with two lancers, two archers, and a healer-- which means that if the Weapon Triangle is a thing, I would have been creamed if we ran into a single axeman. It'd be nice if you clarified, a) is this game impossible sometimes on purpose, and b) are there ways to tip the scales in your favour?
I didn't get a good sense of the story, if there is one- but it's a roguelike, so the mechanics are what's important here. And mechanically, you've got a good base. I could tell this game COULD be a lot of fun- but because of the control issues and the lack of tutorialization, I found myself more frustrated than enjoying myself. Which is a shame, because you've got something really special here-- it just needs some polish and explanation.
I'm sorry for the long and harsh review - like I said, I was really excited about this game, and I really want to like it! I'm gonna follow you and keep tabs on this game-- it's got good bones, and with a little extra polish, I think I'd enjoy it a lot.
-- Mal