Introduction, impressions, and strategy notes for the Chronicles of Finsten (free SRPG).

This article is about "Fisten Chronicles," a game created using SRPG Studio.
I learned about the game on Twitter and became interested in playing it.
Although the number of stages is relatively small, each map is densely packed with content, reminiscent of the "Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War" series.
This work is characterized by its dramatic staging and emphasis on the event itself.
The completion time was approximately 9 hours.

Game Overview

The story begins when Leonardo, a renowned swordsman, rescues Princess Fesna of the Kingdom of Finsten from bandits.
The story unfolds as a war chronicle, and the dialogue events focus on and delve into the individual characters.

While this game's system follows the orthodox SRPG format, it possesses unique features not found in other titles.
Here are some of its key features, highlighted below.

Event production

The battle sequences interspersed throughout the scenario are cleverly designed to make the battle situation easy to understand even without text.
The game is designed to make it easy for players to intuitively understand the situation, and also to keep them engaged while watching.

In games where narrative text is absent and pacing is paramount, having characters explain things can sometimes sound unnatural.
If that seems likely to happen, it might feel more natural to represent it with in-game effects like this.
For example, sometimes it looks more elegant to simply display "0" as the damage number rather than having a character say, "That attack doesn't work at all."
I personally like these kinds of expressions and presentation methods because they feel unique to games.

Ability increase due to equipment

In this game, there are many pieces of equipment that increase your stats, including mounts, main armor, and sub-armor.
The game effectively portrays the strength of cavalry units, as riding horses or dragons significantly increases their stats.

Main and sub-armor aren't readily available in abundance, but you can quickly strengthen your gear by using the "Steal" and "Plunder" skills to take good equipment from enemies.
The strength of soldiers is directly affected by the quality of their equipment, so you can really feel that bandits with poor equipment are weaker, while regular soldiers with good equipment are stronger.

Incidentally, character-specific weapons marked with a ☆ will have their usage count restored upon clearing a stage.
I was happy with this feature because it allowed me to use powerful weapons freely.

High strategic depth thanks to large maps

The stages in this game are quite large.
Once you achieve your initial goal within a stage, it will change to a new goal.
When the objective changes, new enemies are deployed, but it felt like there was considerable consideration given to providing enough time to respond.
It's reassuring to save frequently in case of sudden enemy appearances, but I didn't feel it was so difficult that it was absolutely necessary.

Because the map is large, you'll need to move your units frequently.
Perhaps because of this, the gameplay doesn't feel like fighting on a single battlefield, but rather like distributing and directing forces across a wide area.
Players can decide on various combat strategies based on their timing, such as when to engage the enemy and where to engage.
It's not just that the map is large; the design makes good use of its size.

Because each map is long, if your units are defeated, your fighting force will decrease, which will be a major problem.
Perhaps that's whyUnits are not permanently lost, and they can be revived relatively easily by using a revival item at a designated location.
However, there is a limit to the number of revival items available, so make sure you don't get defeated too easily.

Review (no spoilers)

I was able to successfully complete the game to the very end.
I felt there was quite a difference between the more difficult maps and the easier ones.
I might have felt that way because I played in a way that tried to prevent my teammates from being defeated as much as possible.
Since it's easy to recover even after being defeated, I think the game would have been easier if I had been more tolerant of being defeated.

Now, this game features large maps, and the objectives change to the next one once you complete the previous one, following the style of Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War.
Once you've captured the target castle, the enemy might target your undefended headquarters.
However, in most cases there is ample time before the enemy arrives, so there's no need to try to anticipate their movements and disperse your forces unnecessarily.

Enemies are generally easy to damage and defeat, and your allies level up quickly, so battles are generally very satisfying.
Since the units to be deployed are fixed, not having to worry about who to send out was stress-free for me.
The final stage is a map where everyone needs to contribute, so I never felt like it was a waste no matter who gained experience points.

As I mentioned in the game description, this game features many battle scenes within the scenario.
It seems to be a technique called puppetry that uses walking graphics of the units, but I felt that it offered a more diverse range of expression and was less boring than simply using face graphics and text.
I imagine it must be difficult to create something that keeps players engaged, but it was very impressive.

The antagonist characters that appear in the second half pay homage to characters from "Danganronpa," which I found interesting as a fan of Danganronpa.
It was like watching an "if" scenario: "What if the characters from Danganronpa were born into a war story world?"

If you're not used to playing SRPGs, trying to collect all the bonuses might be a bit challenging.
For those who are reasonably familiar with SRPGs, the gameplay should feel somewhere between slightly easy and slightly difficult.

Strategy Notes (Contains Spoilers)

You can earn bonus points by meeting certain conditions and achieving your goals.
Bonus points can be exchanged for accessories that primarily increase your character's stats.
You can eventually exchange your earnings for cash, so try to complete the game to earn as much as possible.

In this game, you can earn money by using "steal" and "robbery," but it's not that strict, so you don't need to worry about it too much.
However, enemy main armor is often useful and sells for more than weapons, so if you're unsure what to steal, it's a good idea to steal their armor first.

Prologue: The Encounter

This is the first stage, but it's dangerous if you let your guard down.
Let's have Leonardo and Fesna deal with the enemies on the left and right, respectively.
Fighting at close range allows both sides to benefit from each other's support effects, giving them an advantage.

Using Fesna's Schneesturm to deal with archers is efficient because you can defeat them with counterattacks.
Since the cricket has a special attack against mounted units, follow the advice and have it deal with Leonardo, while Fesna attacks with indirect attacks.

☆Weapons recover durability after clearing a stage, so don't hesitate to use them.

Chapter 1: The Threat of the Dragon Knight

Once you achieve your initial goal, a new goal will be presented, so you don't have much time to complete the bonus objective of clearing the game within 40 turns.
With Leonardo, who is key to the game's progression, you should focus on guiding him towards your destination.

First, let's finish the conversation and then advance towards the lower left of the castle where the boss is located.
Dividing your forces into two groups—one to eliminate enemies on the north side of the mountain range and another to continue advancing south—will allow you to progress more quickly.
There are enemy units with cavalry attacks to the north, so having an infantryman like Andrei might be reassuring.
The village will be destroyed within four turns of being invaded, so use mounted units to advance and liberate it as quickly as possible.

After defeating the Zakoza and capturing Candose Castle, your objective changes to capturing the temple where Hangre is located.
Then, during the enemy's turn, a bridge will appear near the fort in the lower left, allowing you to proceed.
Additionally, pirates will appear from the island to the lower right of your base and begin heading towards it.
You can rest assured if King Fisten is defending the castle, but you can talk to the enemy pirate Dagda in Festna and recruit him as an ally.
There's still time before Dagda and his pirates reach the castle, so sending them there after they appear should be plenty of time.

I sent the Shivi, who appeared as an allied reinforcement midway through, to defeat Pumpkin on the isolated island.
Sheevi will be defeated if she takes two hits, but if you save right at the start of each turn and keep attacking her with your sword, you should eventually be able to defeat her.
Since I have an automatic regeneration skill, I can engage in a prolonged battle even without potions.
However, there doesn't seem to be any particular reward for defeating it.

The snipers positioned along the way are on high mountains, so they cannot be attacked by anything other than the SeaVe.
Let's take a route that stays outside the attack range along the coast.
To get past the two enemies with pikes on the north side of the temple, have Leonardo equip Duel Blood and force your way through.
Since it would be a waste of time to wait for the infantry to arrive, it might be a good idea to carry them along with you.

If you attack the Hangre with a sonic bomb first, they're not that scary of an opponent.
If you have Leonardo attack with the Feather-Breaking Axe, you should be able to defeat it quickly.
☆You can get the Feather-Breaking Axe in the village in the bottom left corner.

Chapter 1 Side Story: Andrei's Resolve

While there will be times when you wait for the enemy to strike and intercept them, generally, you should advance quickly.
However, it is dangerous to advance blindly.
Giving Andrei the Wind spell beforehand will be helpful when fighting the Devil.
Focus your attacks on Tatirulo and Andrei, with Warlam primarily providing healing, and Dagda acting as a finishing blow, disarming weakened enemies by taking their weapons.
If you proceed too cautiously, you'll end up having to face many enemies at once.
Let Tatillo and Andrei enter the enemy's attack range on purpose, and weaken them to make them easier to defeat on your turn.

If you attack even one of the zombies near the child, they will attack the child during the enemy's turn.
It's okay to leave one alive, but let's defeat the rest quickly and rescue the child for now.
If you save the child and complete the mission, you will obtain the Holy Grail of Mahan.

Also, after clearing the game, Andrei will obtain the ☆Freeze Blade.
Added in August 2021It seems that Andrei can only obtain the Freeze Blade if you obtain the Shade Blade from the boss and then clear the stage.

Chapter 2: The Crisis of the Alliance

We will divide our forces into two groups and advance, one to deal with the Dagon pirates in the north and the other to deal with the Rahn pirates in the south.
As for dividing the troops, I think it would be good to have cavalry-centered units in the north and infantry-centered units in the south.
Since Stritt and Chronos cannot pass through the southern forest, let's liberate the village just below (you can obtain the Mahan's Holy Grail there) while waiting for the main force to arrive.

The shops near the northern coast, which the Strits will pass through, sell a lot of valuable armor, so it would be a good idea to buy a variety of items there to make things easier.
If you don't have enough money, you can sell items like the "Mahan's Holy Grail" or use robbery and theft to earn some.
In particular, increasing Hassan's movement speed by 1 with "High-Mobility Heavy Armor" makes him significantly easier to use.
If you also equip them with a dragon shield, they become quite tough.

On turn 10, Henry's battleship will appear from the north of the map as allied reinforcements.
Let's use him to destroy the pirate ship.
You can defeat the Pumpkin in the south by using the Lexus that appears as an allied reinforcement.

Once you defeat Pumpkin and all the pirate ships, the gate to the port town (the house with the blue roof to the north) will open, and Leonardo and Stritt will visit it to complete the objective.

After that, the new objective becomes defeating Gargaga Kikiki, who appears near King Fisten, but you cannot approach the area until King Fisten is defeated.
Once King Finsten is defeated, you'll be able to approach him, so Leonardo and Stritt should take the clockwise route to get there first.
By the way,If you have Fesna wait on top of the fort where the king was defeated, an event will occur and she will learn the "Re-action III" skill.
This significantly improves the usability of the Fesna, so it's definitely something you'll want to master.
Whenever Leonardo approaches, Gargaga and Kikiki will try to target him.
Let's lure them in and attack together.

Once you defeat Gargaga and Kikiki, the bridge at Blue Clear Castle will be lowered, and enemies will start coming towards you.
After intercepting the first wave, engage the second wave at the very edge of the ballista's range.
Ballistas have high attack power, and many enemies possess weapons that are particularly effective against mounted units.
Let's put our strongest units on the front lines and fight.

You can get an Axe Killer in the village in the lower left.
In the village to the lower left across the sea (the village to the left of the shop), you can obtain the Magic Bracelet.
In the village located below the port town, you can obtain the Bracelet of Agility.

Chapter 2 Side Story (1) The Knight's True Ambition

If the citizens aren't protected soon, they'll turn into monsters.
Let's start by protecting the citizens who are closest to us.
Lexus should head right from the starting position to rescue the old man by the sea and the girl above Schenberg (rescuing this girl will unlock a secret shop in the later map "Prepare for Winter").
The other units should visit villages one by one, aiming for nearby citizens.
The cavalry units other than the monsters advance in small groups, so there's no problem if you intercept them when they get close.
If you can speak to Schenberg with Lena, all of his cavalry will become your allies.

There are agents hiding in the villages in the lower left and lower right.
Be careful when you visit, as enemies will be placed in adjacent squares.
Once you defeat the two agents, a pirate will be positioned in the upper right corner.
We have some time before we arrive, so let's stay calm and prepare ourselves.
The iguanas have valuable equipment, so if you have the opportunity, you should try to steal it from them.
The "ninja outfit" is very useful because it increases your movement speed.

Chapter 2 Side Story (2) Despair is Coming

The blind status effect is troublesome, so it's helpful to give Chronos a Cure Staff and also have Heal II for long-range healing.
Since it will be an intense battle, giving each unit a potion will increase stability.

Since Rich's support effect is powerful, we will advance with the strategy of defeating him first.
The Minotaur in the middle room is strong unless you reduce its support effects to some extent before attacking, so aim for the Lich in the right room.

Yobok will aggressively approach us, so let's intercept him in a place where we can easily fight him.
The corpses of the former king and queen, which appear as reinforcements after you defeat Yobok, will not move once they are in their designated positions.
Let's focus on eliminating the rich without worrying about anything else.

While being careful of the White that will use Curse Spirit in the center, eliminate the Rich in the center.
The Minotaur wielding the Yaksha's axe doesn't move, so it's safe to approach it as long as you stay out of its attack range.
After that, push through the reinforcements that appear from the left area and eliminate the two liches, and all that's left is the throne room.
Let's start by defeating the former queen's remains, which provide support effects.

Chapter 2 Side Story (3) The Knights' Oath

There are no battles, but there are a series of impressive events.
Additionally, Fesna will change her class from Lord Knight to Master Knight.

Chapter 2 Side Story (4) Prepare for Winter

Each unit's weapons will be strengthened, and preparations will be made for the final battle.
Shopping and bonus exchanges on the preparation screen should be considered after viewing the shops within the stage.
There are many weapons that can only be purchased at the shop within the stage.
It's more economical to have Warham, who has the bargaining ability, buy things for you at the shop within the stage, so try to buy anything you want within the stage whenever possible.

You can obtain the Reed Saber by having Stritt and Henry talk, so be careful not to purchase it on the preparation screen.
The only things you can do on the preparation screen are making purchases using bonus exchanges and cashing out bonus points.
Also, the only place you can buy unlimited magical silver weapons is the preparation screen.
You can generally buy everything else at the shops inside the stage.

Instead of paying for repairs at a shop, you can have Lena Warham Henry do the repairs for free, although it will take some time.

If you buy a blue feather at the secret shop and have Sejitsu carry it, you'll gain an advantage in the next map by having more units that can move on water.

Chapter 3: Fimbulvetr

Fimbulvetr is apparently an event in Norse mythology that foreshadows Ragnarok (according to Wikipedia).

The forces will split into two main groups: one advancing across the sea above, and the other on the bridge.
The unit above will be able to move on water if Andrei's orb is changed to a water orb.
Furthermore, if you give Sejits the blue feather, the northern forces, with the exception of Naspede, will be able to infiltrate the water, which will be advantageous.

First, the upper units should defeat the enemy one by one and advance slowly.
The troops on the bridge should establish a defensive line around the base and wait for the enemy to attack, ensuring they receive support from friendly forces from behind.
The enemy will be deploying their forces gradually for a while, so let's take them down one by one.

From turn 10 onwards, militiamen carrying bombs will begin advancing across the bridge.
Enemy militia will ignore friendly units within their attack range and advance towards the fence.
If you protect the hostages, the militia that responds will withdraw.
Let's charge in to protect the hostages, making sure to pass by the militia.
At that time, you will be within the attack range of monsters near the hostages, so be careful not to get caught in their concentrated attacks.

The shooters of Udakaz, positioned in the rear, and the magic attacks of Master Devil are particularly powerful.
After rescuing the hostages, don't rush forward; instead, pull back and regroup.

Shortly after the hostages are released, the enemy launches a full-scale attack.
It would be difficult to collide head-on in the middle of the bridge, so let's back up to near the railing.
This will stretch out the enemy's formation, leaving powerful enemies with high mobility isolated, which is then exploited by your ace unit.
Prioritize defeating Odaibu, who has a long range, and Mikimika, who will advance with her Re-action III ability, then take down the flying units Nakagan, Riaka, and Toramaru.
I think Leonardo will be the one who can fight properly.
Since Riaka gets significantly stronger when she's in a pinch, you'll want to weaken her to some extent and then finish her off quickly with Leonardo's Master Blood.

The northern front is also proving to be quite difficult.
Since you don't want to fight a large number of enemies at once, it's a good idea to retreat temporarily when the enemy starts to advance, allowing them to stretch out their ranks.
Yamapeko is strong, so we'll use the highly defensive Lexus as a shield to counter it.
However, if you can inflict a status ailment on them with Moema's Tiro Rigare or Rakyo's Rosso Fantasma, you can neutralize them and fight them much more easily.
Kowloon's Gatling Bow is powerful, but Henry can withstand it, so let's have him deal with it.
I think you can defeat Ionji fairly easily as long as you avoid getting hit by his tornado attack.
If you make sure to utilize the effects of Sejitsu's command skills, and if Moema Rakkyo uses her unique support effects, you will have a chance of winning.

Once you defeat all of the minions of despair, Jarude and Metsusatsu will come after you.
Jarroude can be dealt with using Leonardo's feathered axe, and Metsusatsu can be contained by using the Lexus.

The last remaining unit, Fimbul, can be taken on by Leonardo or any unit that can receive a lot of support.
Be careful, as it will start moving once its HP drops to a certain point.
At that point, enemy reinforcements appear, but they immediately become friendly forces (perhaps there are conditions such as protecting all hostages).

Final Chapter: Leonardo of the Sword

It's almost like an event battle, where both sides are designed to dodge all attacks that would reduce their HP to zero.
After the stage performance ends, the post-war period is depicted in detail.

Unit usage impressions (contains spoilers)

In this section, I will write about my impressions of using the unit.

Leonardo

As the main character, he was an extremely strong and reliable ace.
With a wealth of combat skills such as consecutive attacks, unstoppable attacks, and parries, you'll be able to fight on equal footing or even better against any opponent.
Once I started riding a horse, it became much more practical, and I was able to continue fighting on the front lines against formidable opponents until the very end.

・Fesna

Schneesturm is easy to use, and you can fight with the image of a magic knight.
Class changes improve your defense, allowing you to fight with confidence on the front lines.
Even though I gave him various weapons, I got the impression that he ended up using the Schneesturm after all.
I stumbled upon the event that unlocks the "Re-action III" skill, but thanks to the guaranteed re-action, this unit has become strategically quite important.

Warram

In the early stages, I was useful as a healer using the first-aid kit.
I wanted to find a way to utilize her as a fighting force, so for a while, she was tasked with stealing enemy weapons and neutralizing them using the Thief's Ring and the Bracelet of Agility.
The ability to immediately store stolen items using the Stock skill is very convenient.
The bargaining skill is also noteworthy, so when shopping in the stage, be sure to leave it to Warham.

Hasbam

While his defensive capabilities were better than Tatillo's, his low speed meant he often couldn't pursue opponents, which was inconvenient.
With the addition of the Bracelet of Agility, it became reasonably usable.
Since I was acquiring command skills, I often stayed a step back from the front lines.

・Tatillro

I feel like I had more opportunities to sortie compared to the Hasbam.
Perhaps because of that, before I knew it, it had grown considerably more than Hasbam.
The combination of speed and the heavy Flamberge's two attacks is powerful, and it seems more user-friendly than Hasbam.

・SeaV

As a valuable flying unit, and even equipped with automatic regeneration, it had ample potential as a skirmisher.
However, since his combat ability wasn't very high, he didn't play a very significant role.
The Storm Spear's usability has improved somewhat with its indirect attack capabilities.

・Stritt

Overall, it's a well-balanced unit with strong cavalry capabilities.
If you can land a preemptive strike followed by consecutive attacks, it's possible to defeat a large number of enemies by yourself without taking any damage.
It might give off a somewhat unremarkable impression, but it's strong enough to safely dominate most enemies.

Chronos

The faceless graphics were striking and somehow unsettling.
I thought the mastermind was either pretending to have lost their memory or had actually lost their memory, but that wasn't the case at all.
He played an active role in various situations as a healer for the cavalry.

Andrei

Since many enemies have low magic defense, this unit was able to deal significant damage to many of them.
The Freeze Blade, which attacks twice, is powerful and can be expected to be a formidable slayer against tough enemies.
However, because she is a mage, her defense is low, so she needs to be careful of enemy attacks.

Henry

Initially, they were mounted archers, but in the later stages, they mainly became battleship units.
With its high HP and range, it is expected to play an important role even in the final chapter.
The fact that you can move again after attacking is another point that makes it easy to use.

・Lena

Psycho Bow, which is treated as a magic attack, is strong because it attacks twice.
However, since his base abilities aren't very high, he's difficult to use unless you raise his level and train him to a certain extent.
The ability to restore weapon durability using repair kits provided a sense of security, even in the final map where battles tend to be long.

Hassan

Although its speed is low, it's easy to use by taking advantage of its toughness and chipping away at the enemy's health with counterattacks.
Equipping it with high-mobility heavy armor increases its movement speed, making it easier to use.
The Royal Teiga, a special weapon you receive from Lena, has a range of 1-3 and is very easy to use.
If you equip them with a good shield and send them charging in, they should be unstoppable except by magic.

・Dagda

The robbery skill is useful in the early stages, so it was easier to use if you could give him a Bracelet of Strength.
Although her combat power isn't particularly high, after equipping her with a katana that allows for two attacks in the final map, she became reasonably capable of fighting against regular enemies.

Naspede

This unit is the main healer and can act again once every three turns.
Using rescue on allies can ensure safety under various conditions and enable a variety of tactics.
Because of the effect of its skills, it's surprisingly difficult to defeat, so it can be used as a decoy in some situations.

・Moema

While the two attacks with the cutlass are appealing, its greater role lies in its ability to stun enemies for one turn.
When you activate the support effect of "Sisterly Bond" with Rakkyo, both of them receive a significant boost, making them very powerful.

・Rakyo

Because I didn't raise them much before reaching the final episode, their combat abilities weren't very high.
However, her exclusive weapon, Rosso Fantasma, is useful because it can inflict the darkness effect on enemies.
The strong support effect with Moema means that even at a low level, you can still fight reasonably well, which is a major advantage.

Lexus

As expected of a Dragon Knight, its attack and defense power are excellent.
Because it has acquired the Musou skill, this unit can take on powerful enemies even on its own.
In Chapter 3, he played a pivotal role in the northern naval forces, performing with fierce and valiant efforts.
They can be considered an ace unit on par with Leonardo.

・Sejitsu

This unit can fulfill various roles, wielding a Holy Rapier with a range of 1-2 and a staff for long-range healing.
The "Royal Family" and "Command III" skills have particularly high effects, so you should generally fight near Sejitsu.
However, it's important to note that the person themselves may not receive the benefits.

Schenberg

In Chapter 3, you will be able to operate it as a control unit.
Having acquired the skills to defeat swords and axes, I can fight reasonably well against opponents using any weapon.
The battle prediction results may show a low hit rate, but in actual combat, the skill effect will make it a guaranteed hit.

Zaxon

Thanks to the Cavalry Killer skill, you can inflict significant damage on cavalry units.
It feels similar to using the Schenberg, so you should be able to overwhelm regular enemies without any problems.
I sometimes feel a little uneasy when facing mid-boss level enemies.