Nice, hope you have fun playing the game, as well as working on your own game.
I’ve made changes since the last build, check out our Discord server if you want to the latest updates and stuff, as well as talking about FE, gaming and anime.
I have already given you my thoughts about this game through PM on Discord, but I will leave my comments here too (for everyone to see). I will try to make my review as spoiler free as possible.
For most of the units, I felt like they were well balanced and performed their roles well. The only "useless" unit was Kallyia, since I already had more than enough (wo)manpower to deal with the enemies and her role as a tank felt obsolete (most units could take 3-4 hits and survive). Try to give her a buff (full control of the weapon triangle, more res, and a two ranged weapon) and/or buff the enemies. But don't nerf any of the characters, unless you really have to.
The map plays well and it's nice to look at, but I think it's too big. There are some areas with empty space and parts where you're just moving your units to the next goal without doing anything. I suggest that you add in side objectives (such as saving a house, saving a NPC that you can recruit, etc) and add in enemy reinforcements to prevent turtling. But I know that you want this game to be novice friendly (and that is the point of the contest) and you might not like the idea, but I personally feel that it won't be too hard for a beginner if you could pull it off. I personally feel that the current difficulty is too easy, especially when compared to some of the easier FE games. But maybe that's just me (as a veteran player of the Fire Emblem series). I feel that it's okay to make a somewhat challenging game for beginners, as long as the mechanics don't overload them and they are provided with all the tools they need. But I'll leave that decision to you.
About the story, I think it's fine as a one chapter game, although it's not something special or memorable. A few typos here and there, but overall, it is well written. Characters seem basic at the movement, but I'm sure they'll definitely be more fleshed out if you continue to work on this game's story.
Overall, I found enjoyment in this, but the gameplay and strategies used are simple and basic at best. The story and map design is the strongest aspect of this game, while the gameplay and characters are the weakest part.
Edit: You might not care, but I recommend adding screenshots to your games page. A screenshot of your map, the character status screen and the real battle should be good enough for now.
Thanks for the well detailed reply! I think I have a better understanding of your mindset and goals of your game. I hope we can help each other out, and maybe help others too, with making our games popular as well as popularizing the SRPGStudio engine.
BTW, I decided to upload my current build of my demo on this site. It is a bit outdated, but it should still be good. I don't know if I'm allowed to link games in the comment section on this site, but I think you can find it if you click on my profile name. I hope you have time to play it soon and leave some feedback!
Anyways, I hope that we can stay in touch.
Hey! I'm the same Scratchy from the SRPGStudio subreddit. I started playing your game but I ran into a some things that prevented me from finishing it. On both easy and normal, the game was too hard for different reasons. I stopped playing on the map with the skeletons and the healer girl.
On easy, units can not counterattack, so this means that the only way to deal damage is during player phase. In traditional Fire Emblem, most of the combat occurs during enemy phase, where the player is able to set up a strategies to combat multiple enemies. This can not be done on this difficulty so that makes the game harder.
On normal, enemies just have higher stats just to make the game harder. On both difficulties, it's hard to strategize since you are only able to use 1 or 2 units and your fighting multiple enemies that deal considerable amounts of chip damage. to make this worse, there are enemies that attack from 2 range, so Hiro cannot counterattack these foes with his starting equipment.
When you have to save the healer girl, the RNG can screw the player over if the skeletons crit her, constantly land hits on her, or the player does not get to her on time. They also prioritize on attacking her, instead of Hiro, so the player can't bait them either.
Money is also a problem during the early game. I assume there are many ways get money (and items), depending on quests and branching dialogue, but the player probably won't know unless they replay the game or look up a guide. I earned a total of around 55 gold by the time I was able to shop and could only afford a dagger, which I thought I didn't really need.
There are a few more problems, but I can't think of them right now or perhaps it was mentioned to you elsewhere.
The story is solid right now, not the most exciting but it gets the job done. There are a few typos I found but I'm sure you are aware of them. I also like the third person narration your doing. Along with the choices during dialogue, it reminds me of a choose your adventure game or book. It needs polishing but otherwise, good job.
I liked how you made your own music too and I assume you made your own tile set.
Sorry that I couldn't finish your game due to the difficulty, If you ever make an easier mode or have a playthrough of it on YouTube, I'll be happy to take a look.
I shared your game on the SRPGStudio discord server, just to spread the word. Speaking of Discord, I suggest joining. The regulars are nice, we have scripters who are kind enough to take on requests, and people like to share their ideas and stuff.
If there is anything else you would like to talk about, just ask. Anyways, good luck on your game!
PS: I made an account just to leave a review, and since I have my own demo, I might upload my own demo on this site once i'm done making the next build.