History YMMV / TheLastPromise

* VindicatedByHistory: When ''The Last Promise'' initially released, it was mocked and decried as "cringe" by members of the Fire Emblem fandom at the time for its [[ClicheStorm clichéd plot and characters]] and unbalanced map design, which even led to bullying levied at Blazer, causing him to reduce his online presence at the time. As the years went on however, said bullying was called out for the bad behaviour it was, and the fandom at large gained an appreciation for the game ([[NarmCharm if still a somewhat ironic one]]).

* RecurringFanCharacter: Kelik became one of the most, if not ''the'' most, popular ''Fire Emblem'' fan characters of all time largely due to him being a walking 2000's edgy AntiHero that is [[NarmCharm so hard to take seriously that he became very memorable in an instant]]. There are tons of fanart made for him, is subjected to numerous memes, and is also often joked as one of the many characters suggested to be added to crossover material like ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Part of the reason why the hack was considered innovative back in the day was because of how much new content it had compared to other hacks. It added an existing class that didn't originally appear in the GBA games (Halberdier) and had a post-game, and surprisingly enough, voice acting (even if it was a bit {{Narm}}y) along with being one of the few hacks to be considered complete. However, as more complete hacks such as ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemJusticeAndPride Justice and Pride]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheFourKings The Four Kings]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemVisionQuest Vision Quest]]'' came out, it hasn't aged considerably well because of the latter games using ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' for their skill mechanics, whereas ''The Last Promise'' used ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' as a rom, and that some of the rather... ''[[MemeticMutation interesting]]'' moments that busted a gut from many a player. Regardless though, the advances it made during its time would be reused in some of the later romhacks that other hackers made.

* ClicheStorm: Basically everything involving Kelik. The man is basically a walking laundry list of late-2000's edgy anime AntiHero tropes played almost completely straight. [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver Black and red colour scheme]]? Check. A FlamingSword? Check. An IneffectualLoner JerkWithAHeartOfGold who warms up to his new friends over the course of his adventure? Check. A TragicBackstory involving an [[CainAndAbel evil brother]] and a [[MyGreatestFailure dead best friend]]? Check. Screen-clearing SpecialAttack used only in a single cutscene? Check. Extremely-long critical hit animation? Check. Friends with [[GuestFighter Zoro]] from ''Manga/OnePiece''? ''Check.'' All of this, and the game is utterly convinced that he's one of, if not ''THE'' single-coolest character in the game. [[NarmCharm And it's absolutely glorious]].

* ThatOneLevel: Chapter 20 is just plain evil, thanks to the [[DemonicSpiders Wyvern Riders and Wyvern Lords]]. They'll swarm your position from the get-go, and you'll need to contain them quickly before they overwhelm you, which is far easier said than done. You get three new characters, two of whom are painfully underleveled and quite fragile (the third is a powerful Paladin, and you'll need him to survive). On top of that, the map is huge, forcing your army through a narrow path full of forest tiles which slow your movement speed down, and it's filled with tough enemies which can pose a serious threat to you. Oh, and the boss is painful too, a level 10 Wyvern Lord with good stats and a very powerful Sylmeria Lance. You do have Aircalibur available for your mages, one of whom is good and one [[GameBreaker who's amazing]], so you'd think that would be the perfect choice. Surprise! Sylmeria has the same effect as a Delphi Shield. And to add insult to injury, a character you recruit in a village at the beginning of the map knows why you're being attacked by these Wyvern Riders and could possibly prevent the whole thing, [[PoorCommunicationKills but for some reason, he just doesn't see fit to tell your army's leader what's going on.]]

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Part of the reason why the hack was considered innovative back in the day was because of how much new content it had compared to other hacks back in the day, as it added an existing class that didn't originally appear in the GBA games (Halberdier) and having a post-game, and surprisingly enough, voice acting (even if it was a bit {{Narm}}y) along with one of the few hacks to be considered complete. However, as more complete hacks such as ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemJusticeAndPride Justice and Pride]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheFourKings The Four Kings]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemVisionQuest Vision Quest]]'' came out, it hasn't aged considerably well because of the latter games using ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' for their skill mechanics, whereas ''The Last Promise'' used ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' as a rom, and that some of the rather... ''[[MemeticMutation interesting]]'' moments that busted a gut from many a player. Regardless though, the advances it made during its time would be reused in some of the later romhacks that other hackers have made.

* NotSoCheapImitation: The game became pretty infamous outside of the ''Fire Emblem'' fandom for being one of the few non-''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' rom hack bootlegs for the GBA to be mass-produced in China and being sold for dirt cheap online (alongside fellow mods ''Fire Emblem: Requiem'', ''Fire Emblem Corrupt: Theocracy'', and somehow both fan-translations of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade''/''Sword of Seals'' separately). This lead to a bunch of resellers flooding the second hand market with the fake yet functioning GBA cartridges and passing them as genuine ''FE'' games, sometimes even candidly so due to the carts' decent quality and realistic labels.

* NotSoCheapImitation: The game became pretty infamous outside of the ''Fire Emblem'' fandom for being one of the few non-''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' rom hack bootlegs to be mass-produced in China and being sold for dirt cheap online (alongside fellow mods ''Fire Emblem Requiem'', ''Fire Emblem Corrupt Theocracy'', and somehow both fan-translations of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade''/''Sword of Seals'' separately). This lead to a bunch of resellers flooding the second hand market with the fake yet functioning GBA cartridges and passing them as genuine ''FE'' games, sometimes even candidly so due to the carts' decent quality and realistic labels.

** Sword units in general have a hard time in this game, as most of the enemies deployed in the maps are lance users. This wouldn't be 'too much'' of a problem, if not for the fact that [[CripplingOverspecialization most of the playable units are sword units]], leaving at least two thirds of the cast at the mercy of the weapon triangle at all times.

* TierInducedScrappy: While the hack did its best to balance out some of the units, some of them tend to fall behind.
** Both Storm and Arthur are pretty useful during the first part of the game where they can use their abilities to their finest, with Storm being an HorseArcher and Arthur being a Monk who uses Light Magic to hit poor enemy resistance stats. However, you don't get them back until Chapter 21, which by that point, their niches are filled by multiple units (Storm is overshadowed by Lyam, Haas and Zach being bow wielding units, and the former two are prepromoted AND horseback as well, while Arthur has to contend with Tamiko, Emma, and Anakin). As a result, they're often benched in more experienced playthroughs.
** Ace is pretty much a MasterOfNone. In spite of having great growths, he has terrible bases and starts at a low level, and while it does scream MagikarpPower, in practice, his stats are going to be all over the place, but they're mostly below average. Furthermore, he has to contend with Rex, who doesn't have to contend with Ace's slow start and can promote instantly to Halberdier, which makes his name really {{Ironic|Name}}.
** Logan is pretty much a JokeCharacter. While he has godlike speed, he also has to deal with the fact that he has to contend with Kelik, who is one of the best footlocked units in the game thanks to his 1-2 personal sword, and Tekun, who has better rounded-out stats in contrast with his FragileSpeedster build. Furthermore, recruiting him locks you out of recruiting Asch, who pretty much squashes him out in every stat ''and'' starts as a Hero, meaning that he can wield both swords and especially axes, while Logan has to deal with being swordlocked all the time. The final nail in the coffin is that if you do his map, Itsuke doesn't start out with a Energy Ring, and his map is generally considered harder compared to Asch's map.
** Mark is one of the few axe-wielding units in the game, and can be your only axe user for a while if you didn't recruit Asch. However, his promotion item is locked to Chapter 22, which is ''after'' Liquid joins, and he pretty much stomps him in every stat possible, along with having Lethality for some reason. He can be easily overlooked as a result.
** Yue has flat-out awful stats for his joining time, and while he does have good growths overall, as a Shaman, his weapons are Dark Tomes, which can weigh him down due to his terrible Constitution, even after promotion. Furthermore, if you're in need of a Dark Magic user, then Rana has superior stats and constitution compared to him, and has a decent staff rank as well.
** Sai, like every other Est unit, suffers from joining late and while he has decent growths overall, they're not enough to compensate for his poor performance. Furthermore, Gary, a prepromoted Warrior, joins with nearly his stats maxed out compared to Sai (albeit with a much later join time), and even has good ranks in both Axes and especially Bows. The final nail is that [[spoiler:Howard]] also joins you if you meet his recruitment conditions in the same chapter Sai joins, making him more redundant than he was.
** Rachel is pitifully weak despite joining in Chapter 27. She also comes as a Sniper, arguably the worst promoted class in the game, without any fliers to kill or hordes of generics to gain experience from.

* ClicheStorm: Basically everything involving Kelik. The man is basically a walking laundry list of mid-2000's edgy anime AntiHero tropes played almost completely straight. [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver Black and red colour scheme]]? Check. A FlamingSword? Check. An IneffectualLoner JerkWithAHeartOfGold who warms up to his new friends over the course of his adventure? Check. A TragicBackstory involving an [[CainAndAbel evil brother]] and a [[MyGreatestFailure dead best friend]]? Check. Screen-clearing SpecialAttack used only in a single cutscene? Check. Extremely-long critical hit animation? Check. Friends with [[GuestFighter Zoro]] from ''Manga/OnePiece''? ''Check.'' All of this, and the game is utterly convinced that he's one of, if not ''THE'' single-coolest character in the game. [[NarmCharm And it's absolutely glorious]].

* ClicheStorm: Basically everything involving Kelik. The man is basically a walking laundry list of mid-2000's edgy anime AntiHero tropes played almost completely straight. [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver Black and red colour scheme]]? Check. A FlamingSword? Check. An IneffectualLoner JerkWithAHeartOfGold who warms up to his new friends over the course of his adventure? Check. A TragicBackstory involving an [[CainAndAbel evil brother]] and a [[MyGreatestFailure dead best friend]]? Check. Screen-clearing SpecialAttack used only in a single cutscene? Check. Extremely-long critical hit animation? Check. Friends with [[GuestCharacter Zoro]] from ''Manga/OnePiece''? ''Check.'' All of this, and the game is utterly convinced that he's one of, if not ''THE'' single-coolest character in the game. [[NarmCharm And it's absolutely glorious]].

* ClicheStorm: Basically everything involving Kelik. The man is basically a walking laundry list of 2009-level edgy anime AntiHero tropes played almost completely straight. [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver Black and red colour scheme]]? Check. A FlamingSword? Check. An IneffectualLoner JerkWithAHeartOfGold who warms up to his new friends over the course of his adventure? Check. A TragicBackstory involving an [[CainAndAbel evil brother]] and a [[MyGreatestFailure dead best friend]]? Check. Extremely-long critical hit animation? ''Check.'' All of this, and the game is utterly convinced that he's the coolest character in the game. [[NarmCharm And it's glorious]].

* FountainOfMemes: ''Kelik.'' From his red and black color scheme and his visual similarities to [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Ephraim]], to his standoffish demeanor, quotes, and even his theme song (heavily based on [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 His World]]), everything about him feels straight out of a late-2000s anime fanfiction, and he's all the more memorable for it.

** [[PreMortemOneLiner "This divine lightning shall pierce the skies!"]][[labelnote:Explanation '''UNMARKED SPOILERS''']]As the FinalBoss of ''The Last Promise'', Siegfried's critical hit line has him saying this before striking down the unfortunate unit with Raikiri. Due to his [[LightningBruiser rather absurd statline]], depending on how unlucky some of the units are, expect him to say this ''a lot''. The rather cheesy voice acting didn't help, and it's common for this sentence to be heard on music tracks such as ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky's'' Silver Will, or ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfileCovenantOfThePlume's'' Sublime Domain.[[/labelnote]]

** Chapter 25 is the beginning of ''The Last Promise'''s infamous DifficultySpike. The generic {{Mooks}} go from having generally inferior stats to your units to having equal stats or even being outright ''stronger'' than them. Though this is the standard for the rest of the game, Chapter 25 is particularly heinous for being the first map with such difficult enemies being the norm. Add this to a map filled with overlapping enemy ranges – meaning that you'll rarely be taking damage from one enemy at a time – and you have a recipe for many a lost unit. The boss, General Lanmark, has incredibly high stats compared to what you've seen already, especially his defenses, meaning that he'll be a pain to kill. In addition, you'll need to divide your forces to take on this chapter since the map has three main routes, weakening your group's overall power even more... and you can't take it slow and carefully either, since Chapter 25x can only be unlocked by completing this chapter in a certain number of turns.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Part of the reason why the hack was considered innovative back in the day was because of how much new content it had compared to other hacks back in the day, as it added an existing class that didn't originally appear in the GBA games (Halberdier) and having a post-game, and surprisingly enough, voice acting (even if it was a bit {{Narm}}y) along with one of the few hacks to be considered complete. However, as more complete hacks such as ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemJusticeAndPride Justice and Pride]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheFourKings The Four Kings]]'', and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemVisionQuest'' came out, it hasn't aged considerably well because of the latter games using ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' for their skill mechanics, whereas ''The Last Promise'' used ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' as a rom, and that some of the rather... ''[[MemeticMutation interesting]]'' moments that busted a gut from many a player. Regardless though, the advances it made during its time would be reused in some of the later romhacks that other hackers have made.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Part of the reason why the hack was considered innovative back in the day was because of how much new content it had compared to other hacks back in the day, as it added an existing class that didn't originally appear in the GBA games (Halberdier) and having a post-game, and surprisingly enough, voice acting (even if it was a bit {{Narm}}y) along with one of the few hacks to be considered complete. However, as more complete hacks such as ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemJusticeAndPride Justice and Pride]]'', ''The Four Kings'', and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemVisionQuest'' came out, it hasn't aged considerably well because of the latter games using ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' for their skill mechanics, whereas ''The Last Promise'' used ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' as a rom, and that some of the rather... ''[[MemeticMutation interesting]]'' moments that busted a gut from many a player. Regardless though, the advances it made during its time would be reused in some of the later romhacks that other hackers have made.

** fire emblem the last promise 2[[labelnote:Explanation]]A [[https://feuniverse.us/t/the-last-promise-2-broken-promises/3583 thread]] was posted on [=FEUniverse=] teasing a fanmade sequel to this hack that disappeared as quickly as it was announced, with no word from the author on the hack's status. Spamming the phrase "fire emblem the last promise 2" has become something of an injoke on [=FEUniverse=] as a result.[[/labelnote]]

** fire emblem the last promise 2[[labelnote:Explanation]]A [[https://feuniverse.us/t/the-last-promise-2-broken-promises/3583 thread]] was posted on FEUniverse teasing a fanmade sequel to this hack that disappeared as quickly as it was announced, with no word from the author on the hack's status. Spamming the phrase "fire emblem the last promise 2" has become something of an injoke on FEUniverse as a result.[[/labelnote]]

** fire emblem the last promise 2[[labelnote:Explanation]]A [[https://feuniverse.us/t/the-last-promise-2-broken-promises/3583 thread]] was posted on FEUniverse teasing a fanmade sequel to this hack that disappeared as quickly as it was announced, with no word from the author on the hack's status. Spamming the phrase "fire emblem the last promise 2" has become something of an injoke on FEUniverse as a result.