A familiar sun set over foreign soil. The Aulestri pulled back, leaving swathes of their own behind, their fierce legions left broken against the rag-tag militias of the Federal Guard. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. Tomorrow, the legions would resume the attack; rested, reinforced, against starving, demoralised and desperate conscripts. Tomorrow, the Guard would break…

Fire Emblem: Drums of War

• Updates
• Patch v2.725 (2024 Mar 6)
• Discord
• Retrospring

Art credit: CrimeanRoyalKnight

FE: Drums of War is a full campaign total conversion hack, that implements a wide array of custom graphics, QoL patches and unique objectives, while still operating within the non-SkillSys GBAFE framework. It features 22 chapters, a cast of 46 playable characters and over 50 complete support chains, as well as a number of non-essential secrets. It aims to tell a nuanced, grounded story, without reverting to tired cynicism; no matter how dark the hour, it is strength to be found in each other, and a new day will always come.

In gameplay, emphasis is placed on decisive, aggressive play to deal with tight, hard-hitting enemy formations that will overwhelm passive play and outflank lowmanning. It is probably closest in difficulty to Radiant Dawn’s Normal mode, or the Hard/Classic setting of more recent titles, and is designed to be ironman-friendly with clear signposting, a tough lord, and a constant stream of available recruits.

Variant modes are available; Max%, Min% and Zero% change every unit’s growths to either assume best luck, worst luck or never grow. There are two characters who have a growth above 200% that I could only push to 255%, so bear that in mind. Easy Mode significantly weakens enemies across the patch, offers significantly more money at the start and adds more money to bounties. It will not be as ‘tight’ an experience, so I do recommend trying the default mode, but if you find yourself unable to progress, a Normal Mode file can be ported into an Easy Mode ROM.