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Level Design: Einhel Keep Styled Map

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This is one of the best maps I’ve worked on in my entire Game Design career. The culmination of what made this map to be was based on many factors.  The first being this was a project to create a level map using the Illinois State University campus as the map blueprint. The second spark was my most recent obsession at the time of a game called Trails of Cold Steel IV. It was a game that I won in an online lottery that sparked my passion for the Trails series. I was recently going through the game’s Einhel Keep, and got inspiration from it to make a level using similar mechanics.  This level incorporates many mechanics that get the player to flip switches in a way that incentivizes them to backtrack and test switches in order to obtain items from chests.  Here is the Full map in all of its glory.  I’ll explain some things so that you understand what everything means in depth, as the legend shows, but doesn’t completely describe the mechanics well. Chests - These are y...
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Why Alear is the most Personable Fire Emblem player character, and why Fire Emblem Engage is a Master Class Story

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  Why Alear is the most personable Fire Emblem Main Character, and why Fire Emblem Engage is a Master Class Story At this point in Nintendo’s history, Fire Emblem has become a main IP, but it wasn't always. Fire Emblem Awakening , released in 2013, was supposed to be the last Fire Emblem game made, but due to major success in the West, they created more games, and even spinoffs with the Persona world about pop idols.  More than 5 years ago, a new contender for the most popular Fire Emblem game, Fire Emblem Three Houses , was released and blew up the Fire Emblem market. However, when the newest Fire Emblem game released, Fire Emblem Engage , many fans were disappointed. This is because many Fire Emblem Three Houses fans LOVED the world building aspect, which was new territory for the series. Fire Emblem Engage ended up reverting to the old formula which focused on a more linear story and harder combat.  Overall, I really love Fire Emblem Engage and really hate ...
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Braving the Unknown, The Flexibility of Phantom Brave's Combat System

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Braving the Unknown, The Flexibility of Phantom Brave's Combat System      Several months ago, NIS America announced a new title, a game which NO ONE had on their bucket lists. Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero. This is the sequel to the 20 year old game Phantom Brave where this time, Ash goes missing. In the original Phantom Brave, the game follows a young Chroma, Marona, who has the power to talk to and summon phantoms. The phantom Ash, hangs around her after Marona’s parents and Ash died on the The Island of Evil, which gives her the moniker of “The Possessed”.       I thought about picking up the new game and the original because the designs were so cute and at this point in my life NIS America has control over my spending power. Months after I picked up the original game for a mere $5 on steam, I am now addicted enough to write an article. As heart warming as the story is, what got me into the game was the unique combat that no other game has tried....
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AMUSEing Card Slinging: Why Card-En-Ciel makes for an interesting Roguelike

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AMUSEing Card Slinging: Why Card-en-Ciel makes for an interesting Roguelike        My journey to addiction began a little while back when I was scrolling Twitter and Twitch innocently. An acquaintance voice actor of mine retweeted this, and I fell in love with the art. https://x.com/IntiCreatesEN/status/1831739074190962943 Later that night, after I finished watching someone stream some incredible shitpost art one Thursday, I decided to hop over to a streamer acquaintance of mine’s stream. Once I was in his chat, the only explanation of the game I got was that it was “ Megaman Battle Network and a roguelike card game mixed together”. The only other thing I got from him was that, “If you like doing dumb card game things, this is the game for you.” As someone who LOVES dumb card game shenanigans I gave the 3GB demo a download and instantly fell in love with the game. As much as I gush about this game, there are some really cool mechanics and game designs that the devel...
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Why Adapting Your Game to use Modern Everyday Language Sometimes Doesn't Work: How Van messes up and why using the word "Pronouns" doesn't always work

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 Why Adapting Your Game to use Modern Everyday Language Sometimes Doesn't Work: How Van messes up and why using the word "Pronouns" doesn't always work      While the script adapters at NIS America do their job really well, sometimes they make some decisions that the fandom doesn't like. In Trails into Reverie, people had a problem with the "Tower of Babel" being translated to "Retributive Tower", and there are a few smatterings here and there of people talking about other translation bits. However, when you mix translation with a bit of modern day language that people think is political, you get a lot of problems.      In Trails Through Daybreak, the character Van asks a character "I was just wondering what pronouns to use for you", and while many people were talking about a political discourse that shouldn't exist, that line didn't sit with me for a different reason. After doing some digging, I understood why the translation...
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