Escape chapters: Escape chapters in this game only end when everybody escapes, not just when the main lord does. This would be explicitly stated at the beginning of the chapter so unlike Thracia you would know beforehand and would be able to plan around that.
Seize chapters: Seize chapters have been changed a little bit too. Like Fates, anyone can seize an open square, as opposed to it being restricted to only the main lord. Some seize chapters come with an additional condition: If the player’s NPC allies seize before the player does it’s game-over. In case you’re wondering what the purpose of this is, this mechanic was designed to mesh with the story of that particular chapter. Any more details would be spoilers so I’ll end it there. Another change to some seize chapters is that the player will have to seize multiple spots on the map. Once again, this is designed to mesh with the story as well as force the player’s army to split up into multiple groups in order to achieve this objective.
Route chapters: There isn’t much to change here since route levels are few and far in-between for this game. However, some of them will change from “kill every enemy on the map” to “kill only a certain kind of enemy on the map”. One important aspect is that enemy reinforcements are not usually included in this kill count. The story based reason is that if these reinforcements see their comrades die off they’ll retreat. Another reason for this change is that there are chapters where enemies are capable of recruiting NPC’s to their side. If these NPC’s turn on the player the player will not be required to kill them in order to beat the chapter. The reasons for this are related to the plot so any further explanation will delve into spoiler territory.
Kill Boss Chapters: The main tweak to this is that kill boss chapters can sometimes be replaced by “capture boss” chapters. What’s the difference? The most obvious reason has to do with the plot (are you starting to see a pattern here?) but the gameplay reason is that the character’s stats decrease whenever they’re required to capture somebody so the player is intentionally weakening themselves when facing off against the boss which would hopefully make the chapter a little more challenging. Another major change is that sometimes the player will be required to kill multiple bosses. In this scenario each boss is a different class, has a different skill set, different weapons, etc. The point here is that the player has to change their strategy for each and every boss fight.
So now that I’ve covered alterations to existing chapter objectives let’s talk about the new objectives shall we?
Escort NPC Chapters: Here the player’s job is simple: Help get NPCs from Point A to Point B, kill everything that stands in said NPCs way and make sure the NPCs don’t die. Ideally I’d like to have the NPCs programmed to continuously move forward whether the player does or does not. This means that if the player doesn’t do a good enough job killing off the enemies in front of them, the NPCs will die which will result in a game-over. Maps like this will have enemy reinforcements stationed behind and to the sides of the player after a certain time which could potentially cause the player’s units to be squished in on all sides. So if the player plays too slowly the NPCs will eventually outpace them and walk straight toward their deaths, but if the player plays too aggressively the enemies from behind will ambush them and wreak all kinds of havoc on them.
“Obtain” Chapters: These chapters involve the player obtaining important items. This can be handled in two ways: (1) Stealing them with thieves or (2) Capturing enemies and getting their stuff. A different variant of this chapter idea will involve the player getting treasure before the enemies do. The map becomes a race to see who gets the most stuff. In order to beat these chapters you’ll need to block enemy units off from key points and you’ll need to play fast.
“Destroy Building” Chapters: Like the name says these chapters are all about destroying either one building or many. Sometimes these buildings have magical properties that will translate into gameplay (ie after attacking a certain magical building your character then falls asleep). If one of these chapters involve destroying multiple buildings then they would be spread all over the map which means that in order to beat them the player will have to spread their army into different “teams” in order to accomplish this objective. If it’s a “destroy one building” chapter then I guarantee you that it will be heavily fortified and that charging head long into the thick of combat will result in a game-over.
“Recruit” Chapters: These chapters are more rare, but there are instances of chapters where the main goal is to recruit units over to your side. One of the scenarios that these kind of chapters take place in is that recruitable allies are on the run from the bad guys who are doggedly pursuing them. It’s your job to rescue these poor souls before it’s too late. The recruitment requirements for characters in these chapters will usually be a little more complex than merely talking to them with your main character. For example there’s a character who joins without their equipment. In order to recruit this character you need to get that character’s stuff back. Another variant of this idea involves recruiting more NPC allies than the enemy.
In addition to having additional map objectives there’s also…
- Multi-Objective Chapters: Usually you have to fulfill two win conditions before beating the chapter. Here’s a sample chapter from this game:
Victory Conditions
- Capture boss
- Rout all Dragons
Defeat Conditions
- Main Characters Die
- All NPC turned enemies Die
I either switched or avoided actual enemy group names (or the names of the main characters) in order to avoid spoilers but you get the point. Here you must capture the boss AND in this case you need to kill every dragon in order to beat the map. Not only that but in this chapter the enemies are actively trying to recruit NPCs over to their side. Once the NPCs turn they remain enemies for the duration of the map. Once they become enemies they will charge at you. These NPCs are pretty weak which means that they’re easy to kill which puts pressure on the second defeat condition. The longer the player takes the easier it will be to kill all the NPC turned enemies.
Not only will there be multiple victory conditions, but there will also be multiple defeat conditions too. Fortunately this would all be explicitly stated at the beginning of each map so there would be no confusion as to what the player is supposed to do. Unless of course there happens to be an….
OBJECTIVE CHANGE: In certain chapters a plot twist occurs and suddenly the objectives of the chapter change. One minute you’re routing the enemy, the next thing you know the enemy has laid a trap for you and suddenly a route chapter becomes an escape chapter. Objective changes can often happen when the player least expects it so be on your guard. Once again this is something that is designed to mesh with the needs of the story.
Team Objectives: Some maps require the player’s army to separate into different team. Each team has a separate objective on a different part of the map. In order to beat the chapter every team must fulfill their objective. Once one team fulfills their objective the player can choose where that team will go in order to help out the other teams. Team objective maps will usually require a bare minimum number of each character per team that the player has to assign.
The reason for these changes is to mesh game mechanics with the plot. There isn’t a single map whose objective is arbitrary. All of the map objectives exist to serve the story. See, I told you there was so much going on that I could write an entire post about it. :P
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