I like Vision Quest, but I'm not going to lie: I played it after checking out The Nameless Heroes, a Japanese FE6 based romhack about the exploitation of the western isles, and man... If you're a fan of FE5 you absolutely have to check it out, at least the translated version that goes up until chapter 8. It features stuff like capturing, FE echoes style weapon skills as unit skills, and a bunch of unique features like a "Refuge" command which is essentially a reverse rescue. Its currently only translated until chapter 8, but I went on to finish the Japanese version and overall it was a pretty insane technical achievement, especially in some later maps. I have never seen a defense map SWITCH from day to night mid chapter, and switch from non-fog to fog. I have never seen enemy units receive a status aliment after an enemy commander holds a motivating speech, that BUFFS their stats. Or stuff like chapter objectives changing mid-way, like there was always something unexpected to happen - it never felt too unfair though with some occasional "wtf really" moments. I did play it back in 2021, so maybe those were adjusted. The only thing I didn't quite enjoy is some repeat bosses that show up even after being defeated, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt because I don't speak japanese. I can only recommend it if you are willing to put up with the japanese menus.
"Enemies won't pull counter on you" Me who just did a lunatic+ awakening playtrhough OH THANK GOD YES IM DOWNLOADING THIS RIGHT NOW TO CLEANSE MY PALLETE
Nice video! This hack is a blast for sure. For the most part I found the music more cute/charming than anything but it does have some major tonal whiplash. I don't remember which chapter specifically, but I have a vivid memory of laughing my ass off near the end. I was really getting into the plot, getting wired in on the maps, and all of a sudden my ears are met with the friggin' Star Wolf theme. I think it might have been the very last map. Just so utterly jarring. (Spoiler talk down here, Kudos on this game for giving the bad guy a good relatable motive for being evil, just straight up blackmail! And the thing the emperor got blackmailed for is legitimately gripping! Could have been a whole ass story all on its own.)
Thanks for recommending this hack rom! The maps are such a blast, never had so much fun in a FE game! Also, I am not used to liking all characters but VQ is being able to manage to do that so far
Yeah I muted vq and listened to my own music pretty fast. Let me play on speedup too Good review! I gotta put more time into vq. I got put off by some chests that felt almost impossible to get in time lol
I'm a bit confused by the racism part, it seems fine to me if it's specifically used by antagonist and is meant to be bad. Although I'm not from the U.S. so I might be missing something on the history of that term, I always thought it was more of a general insult colonialist countries used to justify colonizing rather than a specific slur that targeted a specific group. If it's the former it makes sense that it'd be used in a similar context but if it's actually the latter then yeah I get why it'd be upseting in the context of a fantasy world.
It's the latter, and again it's use within the story is directed at nations coded after indigenous cultures. It's one thing for a fantasy antagonistic character to be a bigot, but I don't think that necessitates the need to cross over with real world slurs. For how dated Tellius' handling of the Beorc/Laguz racism can be, at least it avoids this problem with it's own terminology ala "Sub-Humans" and "Humans" (though it's been a while since I read through the games so maybe there are some problematic terms in the script.)
@@eaturgrns That make sense, being french the word here is used similarly to "sub-human" so I didn't see a difference. I mean, it's rooted in racial essentialism either way but it's interesting to know it's specifically a slur in the U.S. I guess it also depends the treatment of that group in the story too, like, if it's a serious story about colonialism or if it's just using a group of marginalized people to show off how evil the evil people. I'm white so I can't really speak on racial slur specifically, but for exemple if a character is homophobic in media, if it's not just a character trait to show they suck but it's a story about the very dehumanization queer people face, I find the use of slurs in this context not only ok but almost necessary because refusing to use those dehumanizing terms can have the opposite effect of making that character less awful than their real life counterpart by making them use language that's more respectful than it would be, and that can be dangerous. If it's just used for effect without seriously exploring those themes then yeah I agree it's pretty bad and normalizes the slur. That's where I'm a bit unsure where the story stands cause you weren't too clear on that. But I guess I'll see if I play the romhack.
@@Qwelled That's how I understood it too but then the criticism doesn't make sense to me. Since this idea of "civilized" vs "uncivilized" is core to colonialist ideas, not having the vocabulary used reflect that kinda diminishes the impact. Kinda like how when nazis are used in movies for an easy bad guy that doesn't need any context but they don't actually do things nazis do it makes them into an aesthetics rather than a set of beliefs and then people see actual nazis and aren't able to recognize them because they don't have fancy hats. Or when people are offended over being called racists but just see the word as a stand in for "evil" rather than a set of ideas about human hierarchization. Well ultimately it's not a big deal I guess, and definitely would have warranted at least a content warning in the game for the themes it approaches.
"Savage" can be an adjective or a noun. It doesn't have to be a slur. Some people feel that using "savage" as a noun for referring to a person amounts to a slur. This feeling is not universal, however.
@@EmissaryOfSmeagoli doubt there are any native americans playing this hack and having an issue with that word but leave it to white people to get offended in behald of minorities lmao
I'd call my grandma "savage" affectively Like saying "she's sick AF" I'm not saying she's unwell in that case "Terrific" sounds negative to us non-native english speakers Let's avoid jumping to conclusions We could prevent so many problems that way
Context matters. The word itself isn't a slur, but used in reference to certain groups, usually indigenous groups, it can take on a derogatory meaning.
I am a Canadian Native and I am fine with the savage slur. (unless some pretentious white dude said it to me in real life). Also these days people don't even use it anymore except us. We Natives use it to describe ourselves in a positive way.
Great review of a great hack. I had trouble keeping everyone alive on easy difficulty, but I also tried to steal everything and visit every house, which I didn't even manage to achieve. Brutal! I don't get, why bad guys using slurs is a bad thing, but I'm just a cis white dude, so what do I know?
Something odd struck me (and I know I'm late.) You say "don't worry, this isn't skill emblem (derogatory)". Then you talk about how the game tastefully uses skills. Me, I'm a big fan of skill emblem (affectionate), and by that I mean Fates and Engage, not Awakening. And I like when enemy units have skills that need to be considered. Randomly assigned proc skills on generics is horrible and painful, but if a group of enemies on a map has a skillset that changes the way you approach them, I really like that. It's just like checking what weapons they use. What's so odd is that you seem to enjoy skills at least somewhat like I do. You see what I would call skill emblem and say "this skill system is good - don't worry, it's not skill emblem." Although one difference is that you don't seem to like enemy skills, which is a fine preference. I suspect a hack that relied on and distributed skills more would be a better fit for me. They can be really, really tremendous for unit feel.
the biggest problem with this game is how NO map is allowed to be big. even the final chapter is an anti-climactic tiny map. it really takes away the gravitas from the game and stops it from feeling as epic as other games.
The only issues I have here is the dialogues. Their so freaking long and quite nonsense sometimes. The constant stream of new characters is quite a lot to take in. Storch and his Texan dialogues doesn't really fit well with me. The gameplay is alright though and the story is good.
The hardest difficulty of ES is one of the most challenging playthroughs in FE romhacking. I have played it, but the extremely punishing nature of the difficulty leads many players to stray away from it.
How did you unlock the Critrine in vision quest????
the music critique is on point for sure
worth noting that the bald ratio is about 11% which is pretty good
This game was so good it took me almost a year just to finish this game.
I like Vision Quest, but I'm not going to lie: I played it after checking out The Nameless Heroes, a Japanese FE6 based romhack about the exploitation of the western isles, and man... If you're a fan of FE5 you absolutely have to check it out, at least the translated version that goes up until chapter 8.
It features stuff like capturing, FE echoes style weapon skills as unit skills, and a bunch of unique features like a "Refuge" command which is essentially a reverse rescue. Its currently only translated until chapter 8, but I went on to finish the Japanese version and overall it was a pretty insane technical achievement, especially in some later maps.
I have never seen a defense map SWITCH from day to night mid chapter, and switch from non-fog to fog. I have never seen enemy units receive a status aliment after an enemy commander holds a motivating speech, that BUFFS their stats. Or stuff like chapter objectives changing mid-way, like there was always something unexpected to happen - it never felt too unfair though with some occasional "wtf really" moments. I did play it back in 2021, so maybe those were adjusted. The only thing I didn't quite enjoy is some repeat bosses that show up even after being defeated, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt because I don't speak japanese.
I can only recommend it if you are willing to put up with the japanese menus.
That sounds awesome!! I’ve never heard of it but I definitely want to check it out now.
The switch from day to night has already been done in the last promise but the bad guy motivation speech is new.
IS THAT A DIRE THUNDER KNIGHT
IM FUCKING PLAYING THIS HOLY SHIT
"Enemies won't pull counter on you"
Me who just did a lunatic+ awakening playtrhough
OH THANK GOD YES IM DOWNLOADING THIS RIGHT NOW TO CLEANSE MY PALLETE
Nice video! This hack is a blast for sure. For the most part I found the music more cute/charming than anything but it does have some major tonal whiplash. I don't remember which chapter specifically, but I have a vivid memory of laughing my ass off near the end. I was really getting into the plot, getting wired in on the maps, and all of a sudden my ears are met with the friggin' Star Wolf theme. I think it might have been the very last map. Just so utterly jarring.
(Spoiler talk down here,
Kudos on this game for giving the bad guy a good relatable motive for being evil, just straight up blackmail! And the thing the emperor got blackmailed for is legitimately gripping! Could have been a whole ass story all on its own.)
This seem cool, thanks for the video. I'll check it out
Where can I find a guide or walkthrough of this game?
I wish I could make FE fangames. I'd like to make a PoR or RD hack someday if possible
Thanks for recommending this hack rom!
The maps are such a blast, never had so much fun in a FE game! Also, I am not used to liking all characters but VQ is being able to manage to do that so far
Awesome! This is a really well-structured review.
Yeah I muted vq and listened to my own music pretty fast. Let me play on speedup too
Good review! I gotta put more time into vq. I got put off by some chests that felt almost impossible to get in time lol
I'm a bit confused by the racism part, it seems fine to me if it's specifically used by antagonist and is meant to be bad.
Although I'm not from the U.S. so I might be missing something on the history of that term, I always thought it was more of a general insult colonialist countries used to justify colonizing rather than a specific slur that targeted a specific group. If it's the former it makes sense that it'd be used in a similar context but if it's actually the latter then yeah I get why it'd be upseting in the context of a fantasy world.
It's the latter, and again it's use within the story is directed at nations coded after indigenous cultures. It's one thing for a fantasy antagonistic character to be a bigot, but I don't think that necessitates the need to cross over with real world slurs. For how dated Tellius' handling of the Beorc/Laguz racism can be, at least it avoids this problem with it's own terminology ala "Sub-Humans" and "Humans" (though it's been a while since I read through the games so maybe there are some problematic terms in the script.)
@@eaturgrns That make sense, being french the word here is used similarly to "sub-human" so I didn't see a difference. I mean, it's rooted in racial essentialism either way but it's interesting to know it's specifically a slur in the U.S.
I guess it also depends the treatment of that group in the story too, like, if it's a serious story about colonialism or if it's just using a group of marginalized people to show off how evil the evil people.
I'm white so I can't really speak on racial slur specifically, but for exemple if a character is homophobic in media, if it's not just a character trait to show they suck but it's a story about the very dehumanization queer people face, I find the use of slurs in this context not only ok but almost necessary because refusing to use those dehumanizing terms can have the opposite effect of making that character less awful than their real life counterpart by making them use language that's more respectful than it would be, and that can be dangerous.
If it's just used for effect without seriously exploring those themes then yeah I agree it's pretty bad and normalizes the slur.
That's where I'm a bit unsure where the story stands cause you weren't too clear on that.
But I guess I'll see if I play the romhack.
@@Qwelled That's how I understood it too but then the criticism doesn't make sense to me. Since this idea of "civilized" vs "uncivilized" is core to colonialist ideas, not having the vocabulary used reflect that kinda diminishes the impact.
Kinda like how when nazis are used in movies for an easy bad guy that doesn't need any context but they don't actually do things nazis do it makes them into an aesthetics rather than a set of beliefs and then people see actual nazis and aren't able to recognize them because they don't have fancy hats. Or when people are offended over being called racists but just see the word as a stand in for "evil" rather than a set of ideas about human hierarchization.
Well ultimately it's not a big deal I guess, and definitely would have warranted at least a content warning in the game for the themes it approaches.
I think it adds authenticity as a work of fiction. Artists should be bold.
I didn't know "savage" is a slur, I thought it was more of an adjective than a slur.
"Savage" can be an adjective or a noun. It doesn't have to be a slur. Some people feel that using "savage" as a noun for referring to a person amounts to a slur. This feeling is not universal, however.
@@EmissaryOfSmeagoli doubt there are any native americans playing this hack and having an issue with that word but leave it to white people to get offended in behald of minorities lmao
I'd call my grandma "savage" affectively
Like saying "she's sick AF"
I'm not saying she's unwell in that case
"Terrific" sounds negative to us non-native english speakers
Let's avoid jumping to conclusions
We could prevent so many problems that way
Context matters. The word itself isn't a slur, but used in reference to certain groups, usually indigenous groups, it can take on a derogatory meaning.
Time-stamps
7:38 - Naia
13:55 - Helga
I am a Canadian Native and I am fine with the savage slur. (unless some pretentious white dude said it to me in real life). Also these days people don't even use it anymore except us. We Natives use it to describe ourselves in a positive way.
Great review of a great hack. I had trouble keeping everyone alive on easy difficulty, but I also tried to steal everything and visit every house, which I didn't even manage to achieve. Brutal!
I don't get, why bad guys using slurs is a bad thing, but I'm just a cis white dude, so what do I know?
bruh i downloaded and started playing vision quest version 2.3 without knowing there was a 3.0 version, what are the differences?
Something odd struck me (and I know I'm late.)
You say "don't worry, this isn't skill emblem (derogatory)". Then you talk about how the game tastefully uses skills.
Me, I'm a big fan of skill emblem (affectionate), and by that I mean Fates and Engage, not Awakening.
And I like when enemy units have skills that need to be considered. Randomly assigned proc skills on generics is horrible and painful, but if a group of enemies on a map has a skillset that changes the way you approach them, I really like that. It's just like checking what weapons they use.
What's so odd is that you seem to enjoy skills at least somewhat like I do. You see what I would call skill emblem and say "this skill system is good - don't worry, it's not skill emblem."
Although one difference is that you don't seem to like enemy skills, which is a fine preference. I suspect a hack that relied on and distributed skills more would be a better fit for me. They can be really, really tremendous for unit feel.
I am still confused on why archers are good
How good did the growthes and bases needed to be to such a feat?
@@Marenth oh, that makes sense, thanks!
In this romhack, your everyday javs and hand axes are completely return to their fe6 stats and if you know what im mean
which version of fe8 have to download to patch this game?
Vision quest is a damn good rom hack one of my favs, personally I like souls of the forrest just a bit more, but its also incredibly well done.
MMM I personally liked the music, specially Cosmic Wall because it makes me feel that I am in the WAR and it feels way to heavy and I like that.
Dart s tier
Dart S tier
Dart S tier btw
the biggest problem with this game is how NO map is allowed to be big. even the final chapter is an anti-climactic tiny map. it really takes away the gravitas from the game and stops it from feeling as epic as other games.
The only issues I have here is the dialogues. Their so freaking long and quite nonsense sometimes. The constant stream of new characters is quite a lot to take in. Storch and his Texan dialogues doesn't really fit well with me. The gameplay is alright though and the story is good.
Personally, I wasn’t a huge fan of vision quest. It just wasn’t as entertaining or creative as other ROMhacks were for me.
Wich ones do you like better
@@axolotl1777 I personally enjoyed SOTF, Eligor's Spear, Andaraon Saga, THWD (Lol) and BoB more than Vision Quest
@@meisterbogen8371 did you play eligors spear on hard difficulty? I heard its crazy
The hardest difficulty of ES is one of the most challenging playthroughs in FE romhacking. I have played it, but the extremely punishing nature of the difficulty leads many players to stray away from it.
Ehh, it's like, ok
I am currently doing what the title said and playong vision quest. Will come back after to see what you say about it.
Dart S tier
Dart S tier
Dart S tier