screenshot 404'd! I play MageKnight404's FE7 hack

[BBHood217]

Chapter 7: Siblings Abroad

Araphen's a dump anyway, badass people somehow end up dead in there.

So Linoan's journey to Caelin continues.

Only to be interrupted by an explosion that announces a boy in need of help.

So who's our boy? Is it Roy?

Nope, it's still Nils! And she's still Ninian! Admittedly, they're too plot-important in FE7 to change.

Lucius, on the other hand, is fair game.

Or is it Kathelet? Anyway, they're not far off from Caelin now.

It'll be smooth sailing assuming no boys in need of help show up

oh darn.

You know the story: Evil men have taken his sister and he needs their help to rescue her.

It's nice that more secondary characters speak up from time to time. I don't remember Erk saying anything after his recruitment for the rest of Lyn's story.

And here come the Black Fang.

Wait, that name sounds familiar.

For some reason, it makes me angry...

As Linoan can't use swords, Kid blocks the attack instead. And the fighting begins.

...after our first prep screen.

Tempest is out due to being too high leveled, and Matthew's gonna be gone for a chapter anyway. Maybe later, Kid.

Did you know that selecting armories and vendors on the map preview screen lets you preview their wares?

Also, vendor girl here looks different. Wonder who she is.

Okay, now the fighting begins.

Those guys look all the same to me.

And the girl who saw Nils shooed away from the house makes herself known and of course wants to help. It's Tempest's blue-haired friend.

No, that means nothing; she's only an archer.

So Nils remains as our only refresher.

Sure, if you play for low turn counts.

See? She can't play, sing, or dance. She's just an archer.

One that might give Bugeyes some competition.

I'm not sure if she has anything to say to Tempest; but given that Rath and Lucius don't interact at all, it's unlikely.

Surprise me, though.

I buy two Fire tomes, one for Sakura and one for Linoan.

Marcia tries to break a snag, but annoying shamen keep interrupting her.

Sakura makes it a little harder to catch her.

Let the archery competition begin.

Maybe I should've brought Kid instead.

Not much else to the map. The village gives pure water, and one of the houses has...

Hector! Same as ever.

Even this conversation is the same, though it seems weird to be talking about a certain granddaughter of Marquess Caelin when she seems to have disappeared.

This convo, however, is actually different. Mia actually meets Hector and simply mentions that she and her friends are passing through.

Now that I know that the dialogue can be edited that much, I can be surprised now. Can't do anything about the various paintings and visions, but now I know that not everything is gonna be a 1-to-1 edit.

Also, make sure to bask in all the greatness of Hector here. Because it's very fleeting in this hack.....

Map's almost over. We drop a Linoan bomb on the shaman boss.

Ha! You thought I forgot about you, snag?!

something about ketchup

I'm a little worried, but she still has 11 more levels to get that magic up.

So where's Ninian?

There she is!

No dialogue here so no chance to excuse this one. Just pretend that's Linoan at the far left.

A rare point in the hack where nothing is edited.

Ninian is saved and all is well.

And just to repeat: It's crossover fanfiction, so them somehow knowing each other is a given.

Where is Raven, anyway?

Actually, he's right here.

That's not Raven.

But you all probably already knew that.

So it's none other than MageKnight404 himself. Living the fantasy as self-inserts tend to do.

I confess, I've been guilty of it myself. But I never put it into an FE hack like he has here.

...can I replace him with Kelik?

bullet bill really why would you argh okay ahem.....

So, Raymond along with Linoan and some others arrived in Elibe months ago but got separated. Ray has been spending his time helping Eliwood in Pherae. And I guess they've become friends judging from how casually Ray addresses "Eli".

Shion wasn't actually with them, she just took a vacation which just happened to be in Elibe. Y'know, she hasn't said anything at all for a while now. I almost forgot about her.

Linoan asks about Leaf, where Ray reveals that he and Leaf went their separate ways upon arriving in Pherae. Leaf it seems has something else to do.

So Raymond, Linoan, Shion, Mia, and Sakura are together again, but they're still missing five others. Linoan, however, must get back to stopping Lundgren, so Ray will remain with Eli.

...wood. Dammit, now I'm doing it.

We finished the map fast enough, so you know what that means...

Is there ever a reason to refuse a side quest? I mean if you were going for its requirements, then you obviously intend to do it anyway.

Oh well, we take a detour next time. Don't worry, Sain's not navigating.

[shadowofchaos]

Oooh boy.

The part where anyone hates their teenage years:

Seeing their self-insert.

[Acacia Sgt]

I suppose it's a good thing I don't remember much of my own time dabbling in the self-insert business. Not that I've entirely dropped it, but when it comes to it, I doubt it was the same way all those years ago.

Heh, I had forgotten that Hector still made an appearance over there.

Edited October 27, 2016 by Acacia Sgt

[Mage Knight 404]

Help.

Help.

(yeah even I couldn't get rid of Hector entirely)

[BBHood217]

Chapter 7x: Ring In The Shadows

We could've not done this, and Ninian would still have the ring when we get her later anyway.

But I can't say no to all that exp.

Someone's replaced Ursula, but her role here is the same: Berate her subordinate for failing, but give him another chance anyway...

And then leave for no reason instead of helping out when getting the siblings is supposed to be their top priority.

Quintessence? Don't... okay, that's gotten old now. Damn you, General Banzai.

Sage instead of valkyrie? Seems like a downgrade if you ask me.

I sure am, that defense buff is very useful.

Oh, I was mistaken. Raymond's accompanying Linoan after all, but he's not yet gonna fight. Not sure why not (outside of gameplay and/or hacking limitations I mean); is he weaponless like Shion right now? Did he also leave his Mumbo Wumbo Shumbo at home?

Anyway, prep screen. Kid and Tempest are also sitting this one out.

And, begin.

There's that thief again. I know exactly what to do.

I really like magical girls.

5 more levels and we can then... oh wait, Eliwood mode doesn't have chapter 19xx. Never mind.

Like.

Dislike.

I let the thief take the... hammer?

Huh, it's The Last Promise all over again. Why do I have no axe users for the first part of the game?

Anyway, I let the thief loot the chest. In turn, I swipe his lockpick.

And then take him out to reclaim the chest's now disappointing contents.

Linoan starts training her fire magic.

She finally did a critical.

It's not much. That praying thing she does at the end of her attack animation? She just does that at the start for a bit, and then continues into the regular animation. Could've used some sparkles, at least.

The rest of the map goes without incident.

I just noticed that Sakura and Mia kinda have the same face.

At least he can steal from faster enemies now. He actually just barely matched the thief's speed of 12 from before.

He can't kill him, so yoink!

Sain does the killing instead.

This would be more useful if it was possible to double with staffs like with weapons.

And yoink again.

The boss can't use that tome, he just drops it instead. Linoan can't use it yet, so it's going to Sakura.

And that's all enemies defeated.

Your dad would be proud.

As per the law of the Fang, he subjects himself to the appropriate punishment for failure.

Leaving our heroes to wonder just what they're up against...

But for now, the ring is recovered and we can get back on track to Caelin.

Next time: Restricted airspace.

[charlie_]

...can I replace him with Kelik?

come on, that's just rude

[EvilElectro]

What's the hack name, I really want to try it now.

[BBHood217]

It actually has no official name, it's just a hack of FE7 done by MageKnight404.

Regardless, people decided on "MageKnight404's FE7 hack" for its name, or "FE404" for short.

...do I have permission to link him to where I got it? It's just right here in Serenes, but finding the relevant topic might take a while.

[Acacia Sgt]

I don't think there's a problem linking the thread with the patch.

[Mage Knight 404]

Hang on, I got you. If you want to try the other less bad but still bad ones, then that link will get you what you need as well.

[BBHood217]

That blog post (and the related ones about FE404 itself and your reason for putting yourself in it) was as interesting read. And also:

...all of them are bad fanfic crossover crap, and all of them are riddled with problems, but I won’t deny people the opportunity to play them if they really want to.

I agree with this. As embarrassing as they are, you can't forget where you started from. It's your legacy, and all you can do with it is build on it. Where it goes from there is up to you.

I know of a few people who've tried to completely wipe off their old shames from the face of the internet. I don't agree with that; some people might actually enjoy and have fun with those works, but being denied of them just makes the guy who made and then removed them look like a major jerk.

[BBHood217]

Chapter 8: Victory In Reach

Linoan finally reaches Caelin, and Lundgren is more determined than ever to kill her.

We'll just have to out-determine him.

So she's just having a little chat when suddenly, the two siblings tell her to stop right where she is.

And good thing too.

To be fair, ancient European history isn't exactly part of the grade school curriculum.

There's only one, so whoever gets there first calls dibs on it.

And as we prepare for battle, Matthew mentions that he's sitting this one out to do his own thing.

Nope, still no room for Kid.

The armory doesn't have anything that we need, as we're still well stocked for this and the last two chapters.

It's true. FE6 ballista can't move, but the ones in 7 and 8 do.

The 6 ballista, however, have the advantage of combat animations.

Anyway, let's take care of it right away.

With help from Nils, Marcia tries to take out the rider before he could fire a single shot. Sadly, she only hit once.

You might think I'm crazy for deploying Marcia despite the threat of arrows. Don't worry; unlike in 6 and 8, effective damage is only x2 instead of x3 so an arrow shot will only leave Marcia about half dead instead of nearly or even completely dead.

And since she's too close, the ballista can't target her.

Leaving her to be shot by only one arrow instead of two.

Oh and also: Ow.

After getting healed up, Marcia finishes the job.

It's a bard level.

The boss can't bear the fact that they're winning.

Ow again.

That's enough of that.

Sword-locked people should never leave home without one.

After all that trouble, that's all you give me?

Mia grinds up some more heals.

Reinforcements in this map actually act like in FE6: They appear at the start of the enemy phase instead of at the end so they can move immediately. But here, they spawn too far away to make any difference.

This map and the next are the only maps with such reinforcements, so there's no need to worry about them.

And also, those two soldiers and troubadours are the only reinforcements in this map.

For some reason, the troub doesn't heal her solider pal.

This is the only place to see a ballista's stats.

Luna bombards the merc.

But he survives with half the shots not hitting.

Now I have to fight him up close.

I really wish I had axes right now.

Kent has more success with a weapon he can actually beat.

The boss brings his javelin to bear.

But it ultimately does him barely any good.

What a grizzly way to go out.

She can barely contain her excitement okay I'll stop now.

Linoan thanks the siblings and their precognitive powers, although she could've easily taken three or so ballista shots.

And then Matthew returns from his info fishing trip to bring bad news: Lundgren has been poisioning Hausen (big shocker, huh?), and has silenced anyone who might've been able to put a stop to it.

But that's not the craziest of it.

Lundgren has indeed allied with Grandbell.

Grandbell promised Lundgren a secure ruling over Caelin and possibly all of Lycia if he can help remove their little Linoan problem.

To that end, Lundgren has asked the other marquesses to help him out.

Faced with overwhelming odds, Linoan decides to head back to Khathelet to get Eliwood's help.

Next time: I'm forced to promote someone that I'll probably never use or even see again in Eliwood mode.

[Acacia Sgt]

It may seem something minor, but my brother (who I made aware of the hack thinking he could find it amusing) and I still laugh to this day about the boss's changed quotes. Eh, what can I say, it's the sort of stuff we'd do ourselves as well...

Also, I may be simply not remembing details, but I can't help but find very amusing the idea that Granbell can try to flex muscle in a whole different continent.

[BBHood217]

Chapter 9: The Chance

Do the other marquesses know of Grandbell?

If they knew, they probably wouldn't help him so Lundgren most likely left out that detail.

How did Lundgren convince them anyway? Originally, he slapped an imposter label on Lyn. Maybe here, he told them that Caelin was being invaded by another country which would technically be correct.

Anyway, it's all up to Eliwood now.

And he manages to use the power of politics to rear back the neighbors.

Linoan picks a god and prays as thanks.

But that also means Eliwood can't personally help Linoan. He can only wish her luck as he heads back out, with Raymond accompanying him to further help him out.

Hmm, Linoan seems to be making pretty eyes at someone.....

So the five becomes four for now.

Oh yeah, you're still here. She just mentions that it's getting foggy.

Alright Kid, you're up.

And I have two of them.

Suddenly, a pirate appears!

It's another Lunar character.

I watched my brother play Lunar long ago, but I never played it myself. As such, I really have nothing to add here as I know very little about Lunar.

Taken out of context, it sounds like he also knows dark magic.

Of course it's all a setup for...

Forced promotions!

I have no choice.

Why is he wearing yellow when his portrait shows him wearing red?

And here's our Wallace. Like him, he'll see almost no use because it'll be a waste of exp.

Like in The Last Promise, I only get an axe user late in the story and it's a promoted unit to boot.

So, let's get started.

Kicking off by getting this thing that increases a unit's vision.

I don't use the short bow for the crit, but for the 2 wexp it gives.

Now here's something worth singing about.

Bugeyes takes notice and does it better.

Mage level.

Bard level.

And now we can barely see.

But with two thieves, half the map is still visible. And I haven't even used the torch yet.

The thieves hack away at all the brigands coming down the mountains.

While the cavs handle the rest.

More axe magnetism.

The brigands don't land another hit beyond that one.

Kid finally has time to light up the area.

See? Have the thieves use the torches.

More heal grinding.

Only the boss and a couple of knights left.

Scratch that: Only the boss left.

Better be careful, he's our first promoted boss.

Also, I just noticed that the three characters in the background are Eliwood, Linoan, and Raymond.

I absentmindedly forgot to screenshot his level up.

Rescuing shenanigans put Mel in range.

He's very loyal to Lundgren... or is he?

Whoops, I totally forgot to equip the hand axe.

Nah, that was on purpose. No fighting for you.

That Prism Pillar is very useful.

Nothing special as it's not personal like with the original. It's just "You shall not pass!" and "Yes I will!".

Whoops. Good thing he also missed.

Second shot hits at least. And after a refresh...

It ends.

I swear, that's a different screenshot.

He doesn't sound very loyal all of a sudden.

Crap. Well, we all have our off days.

And after some more healing...

We seize.

Nothing much different from the original. He was being forced to fight, but he's dead now so it no longer matters.

The final battle draws near.

And one last peek at Castle Caelin.

Lundgren just yells at his brother. With no trace of a certain green-haired female lord, that's all it is.

Next time: Showdown at Caelin. No really, that's the actual title.

Edited October 28, 2016 by Baby Bonnie Hood

[BBHood217]

This post is nothing but filler so that Chapter 10 is posted on page 3.

[BBHood217]

Chapter 10: Showdown At Caelin

Not when said pink carries around powerful light magic that eats cavaliers and knights alive.

No, that was Marquess Araphen.

Anyway, whatever. Linoan's finally arrived to defeat the evil Lundgren.

Told you it was the actual title.

Linoan seems very enthusiastic about helping Caelin, even though she has no personal stakes on it.

Look at all those waifus.

Everyone's coming along!

Even Mel.

We won't need any of that.

The weather forecast looks gloomy.

And we're off.

Rain hinders movement. It's similar to desert sand, except magic users and fliers are also affected.

Oops, I was actually weakening him for Kid.

But Bugeyes had other ideas.

Yuck. Rain rain go away.

Kid finally starts working on the thing that helps with stealing.

Oh good.

Well, maybe not Matthew. He'll just go splat.

Better get a move on before it starts raining again.

Those are some awfully average stats.

I might need to find another pegasus knight.

Cavalier reinforcements start appearing. And I was wrong, they also show up here at the start of the enemy phase.

But I swear, this is the last map where they do that.

I'll hand out this and the angelic robe after everything's over.

Though nice, that skill worries me.

Burning down snags gives Linoan the knowledge to call the thunder.

Music to my ears.

Eh, it's okay.

Unlike this one.

Time for the final showdown.

Will Lundgren break us?

Look at that. Can the Mani Katti do that?

And after three shots without getting hit in return, Lundgren goes down for the count.

He won't be missed.

I thought 13 was the unlucky number.

As no items will carry over to the next story, it's time to hand out the two stat boosters.

She's the only one whose HP was below 20.

I grind a few more plays out of Nils as though I was trying to unlock Chapter 19xx.

So that Mia can do one last heal.

And done.

Now to have an audience with Hausen.

Linoan tells the dying ruler that Caelin has been saved and Lundgren is no more.

"Even though you look nothing at all like her."

Wait for it...

And there it is. When you write your own story, you can write any damn thing you want.

Doesn't mean I as the reader have to agree, though. Unless those bandits all had swordreavers and slayers, they wouldn't even touch her. And while I know she has her problems, I don't dislike her so much that I'd kill her off. I'd probably just not use her at all instead.

Anyway, you know what I think really happened to her?

I think that right now, she's with Hector.....

Anyway, the loss of his granddaughter and all the poison he's taken has made it really hard to keep on living.

But Linoan insist he lives on through sheer willpower. After all, it was willpower that allowed her to defy the Grandbell empire and overcome all of the obstacles on her way to Caelin. He can't and shouldn't abandon Caelin and its people just yet.

And it works. Sain and Kent are happy about Hausen's survival and Caelin's better future.

Marcia decides to put her search on hold to accompany Linoan.

And no, she doesn't run up to her like Florina did to Lyn.

Mia and Sakura, on the other hand, decide that finding the rest of their friends is top priority.

And since she's unarmed and without her Mumbo Wumbo Shumbo, Shion stays with Linoan.

As does Bugeyes, having taken a liking to the battles on this new continent.

And I too must take my leave as well.

I won't be, I already am one.

Linoan picks a god and prays for me.

And visions of she whose character slot Linoan currently occupies haunt her over the ending scroll.

Like so.

She's clearly in no rush to find him.

something something yggdra union

Practice harder, please.

I wonder who the remaining five are, and if they're all girls too.

He didn't even bother with Luna. I thought she was your friend?

There's spying to do.

I think I found Raven's replacement.

But we all know what really happened to them.

Since I'll never see him ever again, I'll give my opinion of him right now.

He's a prepromote, and that's it. If I get another pirate, whether as a Dart replacement or someone else entirely, they'll probably become better than Hell Mel over here.

I'll be back, count on it.

With Caelin in bad shape after the Lundgren fiasco, Linoan puts her own quest on hold to assist in its restoration. She'll be back in action soon enough.

But for now, we leave you all with one last potshot at that lame female lord who's a strong female character but yet contributes little to the main story when Eliwood becomes the focus. What a terrible character.

And if you don't like that, then go make your own hack where she slaughters thousands of bandits and becomes Queen Of Everything.

Yay.

I do.

Boo hiss.

That will depend on how you compare to who you're replacing.

She still has that Grandbell thing to do.

They don't actually die in Awakening under Casual mode, etc, etc, etc.

Maybe next time.

[Acacia Sgt]

Ah yes, having to stick to the original game's structure. Makes you really appreciate how far hacking has come.

And now the story will truly start, heh.

Edited October 29, 2016 by Acacia Sgt

[shadowofchaos]

Ah yes, having to stick to the original game's structure. Makes you really appreciate how far hacking has come.

And now the story will truly start, heh.

Yeah.

That and how people have matured over the years.

This hack is a cringefest now, looking back at how going around the CGs worked.

And I'm sure Ray agrees.

Edited October 30, 2016 by shadowofchaos

[Mage Knight 404]

And I'm sure Ray agrees.

Regardless, my time is soon. My dreaded time to take the stage...

[BBHood217]

Say, does this hack also cover Hector mode and the Hard versions of the three modes too? Or is it just Lyn(oan) Normal and Eliwood Normal that are done and the game will break if I try anything other than those two?

[Acacia Sgt]

Far as I remember, they weren't (though I don't know about breaking). So you can only proceed to Eliwood's Normal mode.

Edited October 30, 2016 by Acacia Sgt

[Mage Knight 404]

Yeah, only Lyn and Eliwood Normal modes are covered.

[Miacis]

Oh man, this mod. I can't remember if this was the first mod I played ever, but it certainly was my first FE romhack. It was fun, silly and easy, and I was at the same age as MK404, so it was the best thing ever.

It also led me to MK's channel, and got me to start watching his LPs, then other people's. I never even really watched YT videos before, but all of a sudden I started just chaining Let's Play FE4 vids. Within a few years, the constant listening to native speakers skyrocketted my comprehension and spoken English. I had initially gone down the scientific studies route, but now I'm working to become a translator-localiser.

FE404 unironically shaped who I am today, and I'm glad it exists.

it really could have gone without that one A support, though

And there it is. When you write your own story, you can write any damn thing you want.

Doesn't mean I as the reader have to agree, though. Unless those bandits all had swordreavers and slayers, they wouldn't even touch her. And while I know she has her problems, I don't dislike her so much that I'd kill her off. I'd probably just not use her at all instead.

I'unno, my myrmidons die to ol' axes all the time. Doctor says it's a bad case of the whatchamaxtenism or sum'n.

[BBHood217]

Chapter 11: To Find Elbert

Ever since Spongebob, I can't help but hear its narrator whenever I see any time card at all.

Anyway, it's been a year since the previous chapter.

We're first greeted with how this hack came to be: Basically, he wrote a fanfic and then decided to hack it into FE7.

So now as he says, let's enjoy his rendition of FE7.

I'll spare you his short retelling of Elibe's history and his... colorful descriptions of each legendary hero.

Like in the original (except for the "out to lunch" part), Marquess Pherae has disappeared.

His son, Eliwood, goes off...

to title drop.

Aha, there's Leaf.

Oh no, he replaced Marcus. Now I have to use him only sparingly.

Eliwood bids his mother farewell.

Also, who's that in Isadora's place? "Plum" is too common to google properly.

Glenn's another Chrono Cross character, and Nanna is Leaf's love interest at least as of FE5.

Anyway, those two are in the village getting supplies for their journey.

Eliwood expresses a little concern over Linoan. Now what would make him do that...?

When are you gonna finally strike back against Grandbell? You've been laying low for like a year and several months now.

And then, bandits!

Glenn rides out of the village to Eliwood, with Nanna in tow.

Bandits attacked village, so let's save village.

Also, hi.

And if you were wondering, yes. I'm Jason like MK404 is Raymond.

Uhh, I'm over here Leaf.

Alright, let's do this.

Wow, he's way better than Marcus. But he still needs to pick his fights carefully in these early chapters so as to not waste exp.

This cavalier comes with his own special sword which anyone can use.

More FE games should give us a healer on the very first map.

Okay fine, this isn't technically the first map. It is if you skipped Lyn mode, though.

Also among the enemies is this single monk. Or rather, light mage.

Gimme, he needs those more than you do.

This sword's gonna see a lot of use.

Just the ol' strategy of weakening an enemy for an underleveled unit to kill.

And from the upper village, out comes Kid with another Chrono Cross character with her.

Either of you wanna say hi to Glenn? No? Okay then.

She might need it, but I'll wait until I have my final team assembled before I give out stat boosters.

Not Bartre, but still a fighter. I finally have an early axe user.

Buh? Why is he not a monk?

Where are the monks?

Eliwood begins his journey to averageness.

Karsh goes back into the village to pick up something.

Kid also picks up something herself.

Definitely won't need that.

...is that shopkeeper anyone in particular?

While that's nice, it doesn't help in stealing.

Eh, it's okay.

Not much else of note. Here's the boss.

Here's Eliwood poking the boss.

Here's the boss dead.

And here's Eliwood finally gaining strength.

Just wanna mention that Marcus and Rebecca didn't interact with each other, so Leaf and Nanna here won't either.

The village is saved.

Allowing its magistrate to segue into the main plot: Laus is preparing for war.

Fearing that it might be Caelin all over again and that his father might be involved, Eliwood decides on Laus as his next destination.

Eliwood tries his best to have the player feel personally involved with the game.

I have to confess, it worked on me the very first time I played this game.

I have nothing better to do right now, anyway.

The magistrate advises Nanna to be careful, to which she reassures that she'll be fine.

And also, her mom's out there somewhere.

That's about it.

Next time: He finally becomes a playable unit.

[spiritomb108]

The shopkeeper is based on the Item shop girl from Golden Sun, I think just the first game.