THE TACTICIAN'S HELL EPISODE
The title screen and stuff is normal, so let's get straight to it!
Ignore that other file, it's when I first played this hack. Yes, this is the second time I'm going to beat it.
Honestly, does this even matter?
Ooohhh...Indeed I have! What have you got for me?
It's not THAT imposing...
I have the PERFECT idea of what I'm getting myself into: An early Markyjoe hack!
YES.
Jeez. This whole cutscene is super long winded.
But I'm not turning back, am I?
Well, actually...he's right! There's a LOT more stuff I could be doing than making an LP to mildly entertain people I don't know! I mean, I could have chosen a better location for the LP too, my stuff would get WAY more views at a place like Something_Awful! Not to mention, I'm only making this LP to distract myself from my terrible real life...maybe I should focus on fixing that instead of distracting myself from it?
Yeah, that's what I'm going to do! I don't need to play some silly hack!
Oh, I will! See you!
Gonna go blackscreen, huh? Well, I'm off! TIME TO GO FIX MY REAL LIFE!
*5 minutes later*
I'm back now...my attempts to fix my life didn't work...so, I'm gonna do this again!
Here we go!
Oh, the irony!
Oh, I'll use more save states than THAT(actually not really, I beat this without savestate abuse)!
AND SO IT BEGINS!
THREE units! Eliwood, Lyn, and Hector, all trapped in this together! Oh, and TONS of enemies!
Their stats are all normal, save for the HP, which we will be very much appreciative of in a moment.
The level 30 generics have the stats of level 1 units. Okay then.
Our objective is "Get out"(escape Hell!) and the escape point is straight through a 100-HP wall! How hard can it be to hold out until we get it br-
OH CRAP
WE HAVE NO WEAPONS
JUST CHEST KEYS
I know you said this chapter is bad, but I honestly think making your units start defenseless is a pretty neat idea. The chapter has some replay value in seeing how many things you can get/how many units you can keep alive.
They say the way to win is to make use of the materials you have...
Oh good, a weapon!
WOAH. Buffed much? It also has 20 uses instead of 15, which is a VERY VERY GOOD thing. And yes, it does in fact boost strength by 5 points.
Okay, we'll all pull together to protect Eliwood while he breaks down the wall!
Ow ow OW! Vulneraries simply don't exist, so all this HP we're losing? We'll NEVER get it back.
Oh great. And now they're surrounded and-wait...seriously?
So yes. On EVERY SINGLE TURN, more enemies come from ALL the stairs. WHEN YOU START WITH NO WEAPONS, ON THE SMALLEST MAP POSSIBLE.
And thus, that day, MarkyJoe1990 learned another lesson about level design from his mistakes.
Don't clusterfuck the player with enemy units.
Also, don't be lazy and spam the same reinforcement event every turn to make a chapter "hard".
Free them, Eliwood!
Since the enemies are level 30, you gain a level basically every time you kill something. Winning kind of requires getting defense on your levels. Just a little. Especially if you want 100%.
Okay, we'll shelter Lyn and try to start breaking down the wall next turn.
Eliwood gets lots of levels. From now on I'll skip all the leveling, because it's REALLY BORING.
So MANY enemies! And someone's blocking our ONLY avenue to attack that wall!
Oh, and the Durandal only has so many uses! Hope you don't run out against the infinite tide of enemies!
Lyn and Hector go to try and distract all the enemies. Lyn dodges!
Okay! We have to get started on this!
But then, making a distraction takes its toll on my units! Nobody in this chapter is a "game over character", which is good, because it's hard to keep everyone alive.
But, without the others to make an adequate distraction...
...Yeah.
And then the game does enemy phases for all eternity.
Okay! SECOND TRY!
Lyn's just gonna hide over here. I'd use the pillar, but the mages could attack it...
I actually manage to get us in a position to attack the wall sooner than before! Mind you, we can'y get Hector to that upper chest, and there's NO WAY we're ever getting the lower one...
Okay, I'm still trying to get Hector to the chest!
And then Eliwood DIES. There's no way we can win without him, especially since Hector's way to the chest ends up blocked.
Okay, THIRD TRY!
With that said though... For someone who said this chapter wasn't hard... losing twice? =3
Lyn decides to stop running, and utilize PILLAR POWER to keep herself alive.
Oh yes! With some UBER POSITIONING SKILLS, I got Hector to the second chest!
This is the part where things get better!
The Armads has 25 uses, and gives 1 +5 defense boost. This is a good thing.
Eliwood's still doing okay...
But Lyn is not. Bye, lady!
One of the mages moves and hurts Hector, but I think he'll be alright.
Lots of enemies everywhere, but we actually have a chance this time!
Eliwood gets started on the wall! We can do this!
The +5 defense boost from Armads turns "enemies chipping Hector a reasonable amount" to "everybody tinks him". As long as those 25 uses don't run out, Hector isn't gonna die.
Still more enemies...but we're weakening the wall! WE CAN ESCAPE HELL!
Also, Eliwood is the leader of the blue side. In case you're curious.
Super effective AND critical!
THE WALL IS OPEN!
THE ESCAPE POINT IS AVAILABLE!
WE'RE ESCAPING! THROUGH THE ESCAPE POINT!
WE WON!
YAY!
Also, look at all the levels Hector and Eliwood gained from the whole ordeal. Seriously, once your stats start increasing, things get a good bit easier.
Anyways, the next chapter is literally just Lyn mode, but with Eliwood as the main lord. I think we've seen all there is to see.
I think there's a certain intrigue on how the map design looks actually. It makes no sense, and the fact that you can't open certain doors, or reach certain areas I think adds a sort of... alien sinisterness to its design. Like you're trapped inside a place you don't understand that is clearly hostile and unsafe. Imagine a whole hack with indoor maps of false hallways and unreachable doors and just... dangerous things happening for no explained reason. There's just something creepy about that to me.
If I were to modernize this hack, I'd probably just expand upon the concept more. I'd still have unopenable doors, chests, and other things. Of course, I'd still make some things accessible, but I'd still want to give the player that feeling like they're missing something and could be going into the next battle horribly unprepared.
The concept just sounds really interesting!
I mean, okay, the hack as it is right now is still not good, but it has potential to be like something we've never seen before.
- Yes, the Sol Katti is in fact inside the unreachable chest. I think it's buffed like the rest too.
- The mage door never opens.
- The reinforcements don't stop until an unrealistically high amount of turns pass. Like. 9999 or something.
Anyways, that's all for now.
NEXT TIME: The longest hack/LP in this bunch, Old Fire Mumblem, begins!
