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| Creator | Cheddar29 |
| Engine | FE8 |
| Download | Here |
| Score | 45/80 |
| Rank | 13th |
| FEU Link | Here |
Reviews
Judge 1: Darrman
Gameplay: 3/10
Infiltration’s gimmick is that the map is split into two distinct halves, with the boss being present on both sides and convoy access to swap items around. However, the gimmick fell flat as all the top half did was steal a few items and fight a boss. Meanwhile, the bottom half has a large amount of units. Most of them are terrible, with poor damage and accuracy. The only unit I found to be even slightly reliable is the lord, and that was with her holding two supply items at all times after turn 1. The enemy quality being higher leads to the gameplay becoming a slog through swarms of enemies who just won’t go down, either due to iron weapons not doing enough damage or effective weapons missing. The ballista is the cherry on top, picking off several damaged units and slowing the pace down even further. A berserker starts chasing soon after the map started, but the lord thankfully took care of him easily.
Things eased up once the top boss died and got rid of his leadership stars, and the bottom boss was a pushover. SNES trading speeds up the handling of stolen items and is a point in this entry’s favour. The lord having much higher magic than strength is unusual and the Dragon Shield can be used infinitely, giving five defence and resistance every time. I didn’t exploit this, but could be used to cheese the bottom half after stealing it from the top half’s boss.
Presentation: 2/5
Several character portraits are just palette swaps of vanilla characters, but the rest of them are all decent. All music is either from FE7 or FE8, with all battle music being from FE8. The map is fine, though the large black bar separating the two maps does look a bit odd. Still, nothing looks actively bad here, which puts this above the 1/5 threshold.
Story: 2/5
The story here is fairly simple. A newly-crowned noble has set out on a campaign of conquest. He recently lost most of his best soldiers, but still sought to attack a nearby fort, having a secret weapon – assassins sneaking in. His general considered it underhanded, but the infiltration continues on. The assassins’ mission: steal the supplies and kill the general. The general claims to have lost his spear and would have to fight with an iron lance, but in-game he still has a short spear. There’s a decent talk between the two cavaliers, one eager to fight and the other hesitant, but otherwise most of the writing was fairly bland. It does its job. The ending suggests the chapter is a prequel to some other hack, but there is no declarations of this anywhere, ending on an ominous note.
Total Score: 7/20
Judge 2: Rivian
Gameplay: 8/10
I really liked the idea of the map gimmick and I felt it was executed competently. The main army is poorly equipped and slaying one enemy cavalier feels like a Herculean effort. That’s where the infiltrating army comes in. Being able to convoy warp the enemy equipment that they stole and convoying warping is a neat use of the mechanic and the impact is very keenly felt. Slaying enemy commanders to erase their leadership stars to give the main army a better fighting chance is also quite neat. I missed the broken wall somehow and ended up waiting use of the bolting on the ballista instead of just slaying it with my infiltrators.
The combination of these impacts is that Khris goes from a fairly frail trump card into a one-woman killing machine and it was almost a shame I didn’t have more enemies to use her final form on. A version of the gate boss existing on both the castle inside and outside was a nice touch.
Presentation: 3/5
Competent choice of map aesthetics and palettes all around. I am not particularly big on vanilla mug recolours, but it’s a rather minor thing.
Story: 3/5
The feeling I got from the hack was that I was playing out some famed battle in a long campaign. The narration quickly fills the player in on the scenario and the dialogue is fairly <!–adjective missing here–>. There is a bit of mystery to this lord you’re fighting for that I hope to see more of. This is further supported by the “generic names but with mugs and background” approach to the playable cast. It sells the feel of them being expendable grunts in this battle but still their own character, and the one conversation between the cavaliers adds to this.
Total Score: 14/20
Judge 3: Legend of Loog
Gameplay: 7/10
The main gameplay twist that Infiltration employs is that there are essentially two parties separated by black space on the map. One of them is a group of scrubby soldiers that are poorly equipped, whose leader (a Brave Sword Swordmaster) must Seize a gate blocked off by a large number of very competent enemies. The other group is made up of a few thieves and assassins, whose job is to get inside the fort and cause havoc to help out the main group. The two groups are connected by a pair of twin merchants who both have the Supply skill, so you can warp items from one group to the other. This leads to a fun dynamic where you have to consider the topside group’s actions carefully to maximize what you get out of the bottom. I have some small gripes, as the center of the bottom map can be very dicey with how many enemies are coming at you at once, and there’s no real reason to move quickly through the map. Despite this, it’s a fun entry to figure out, and it surprised me with how innovative it was with essentially no mechanical changes from FEGBA.
Presentation: 2/5
There are some new mugs, but there are also a number of vanilla recolors for original characters, which feels a bit inconsistent. Overall, there’s definitely effort here, but some small consistency issues take away from the presentation as a whole.
Story: 3/5
The plot here follows a lord of a noble house who, in order to prove the strength of his house, engages in conquest in a foreign land. However, the capture of a specific fort isn’t doing so well, so he hires a group of infiltrators to help take it down, alongside an army of grunts led by the lord’s retainer. The story ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, which I found mildly annoying because I was curious about what the lord’s deal was. There were also a couple typos here and there. Still, the premise was engaging and the dialogue was solid, so overall, the narrative was well done and left me wanting more.
Total Score: 12/20
Judge 4: Levin64
Gameplay: 7/10
This entry’s gimmick is simple yet executed really well, by having two armies in separated area in the chapter with different objectives as well. One army is the siege army, who has to advance to seize the fort; although they have inadequate equipment and experience to boot. The other army remedies that issue by infiltrating the fort and stealing any beneficial items and after that, the items can be used by the main army by the two connected merchants with convoy warping. The items being stolen are very useful such as stat-boosting items and effective weapons too. The enemies who’re facing the main army are quite strong, combined with the current manpower; I felt there were no rush to advance. Although, the brigand reinforcement later can be a surprise if you don’t push forward further enough.
The infiltrating army also has its own gimmick too. Two thieves to steal things and two assassins to wipe out the enemies (they’re unable to steal, which means their role can be more focused) which is a solid dynamic by itself. This is a fun entry, simplistic yet still fun. Started out low but I ended up having fun!
Presentation: 2/5
Lots of inconsistencies here, portraits being the worst contender. Too many vanilla recolors and too few custom portraits. The battle palettes and the map are fine, but the portraits and the music being from FE7 and FE8 really bring this down a lot.
Story: 3/5
The story follows a newly appointed baron after his uncle’s death. To prove the strength of his house, he begins a conquest in a kingdom far away. Although at the current state, his army only consists of mostly inexperienced soldiers. The lord deploys a tactic of infiltrating the fort from within using a help of his old friend, a leader of an assassin group. After winning the battle, the story ends on a cliffhanger with a noble house taking the bait (which I assume is this battle). Overall, the premise is simple yet engaging. I’m a bit curious about what will happen next, but there seems to be no information about that?
Total Score: 12/20
Results
| Category | Darr | Rivian | Loog | Levin | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gameplay | 3 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 25 |
| Presentation | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Story | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| Total | 7 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 45 |