Zachmac

I didn't get good first impressions from either Cyril nor Lysithea. The both seemed just kind of needlessly mean to other characters at times, and Cyril also seemed a little boring at first. Lysithea especially seemed pretty rude, and making her adore cake / fear ghosts felt like a cheap way to make her seem "cute". Then I saw their supports together on my second GD playthrough and, while I still wouldn't call either character my favorite, their support line together has cemented itself as one of my absolute favorites in FE history. That support line was actually adorable without having to cop out with cake or anything.

This entire description is pretty much true for me. The main differences between me and Marianne (aside from the fact that I'm a guy) are that I'm not religious and that, despite having a few slumps, I don't have crippling depression. But I am a huge animal lover that has a really hard time talking to people. Just for fun I decided to check out my runner ups to, which where Lysthia and Mercedes. I did have a bit of a short fuse when I was much younger but I've calmed down significantly since then. I suppose that would make me more like the much calmer time-skip Lysthia, then. As for Mercedes, while I really do like feeling useful, I don't think anyone thinks of me as "adorable".

Am I missing something or is Corrin's strong attack totally worthless? It takes a long time to charge for not a lot of pay off, and it always seems like there's a better move to be using. If there's some reason to use it, I'd love to know.

I think it makes sense for them to dislike each other though, at least at first. They both had to learn to get along before they stopped hating each other in Fates, so I don't see why they should immediately start being playful with each other here. But then again, continuity makes absolutely no sense in this game. I probably shouldn't be thinking about it so hard.

I think it would be fair if they released the models for all the characters to interact with armorbreak for free, but made it so you'd have to pay in order to equip it as a costume. That way people who like the models would still be insensitived to pay money for them without making the armorbreak mechanic feel incomplete.

I just used Celica to test to see if snipers had lower defense or resistance, since her attack and magic are equal (at least at the level I have her at). Yeah, their resistance is definitely better. Silly me, I just assumed that they had better defense since they're a physical class. Just to be safe, I did one last check on a manakete who I know with absolute certainty has significantly higher defense then resistance (I tested this with Celica as well), and Sakura OHKOed with Topsy-Turvy and couldn't even bring it under half health without. Yeah, that's definitive proof that all of her attacks are physical. Topsy-turvy really is the only way to go with her.

I find Sakura's description in the guides to be interesting. "While these [bow] attacks lack in power, her Warrior Specials are quite effective." So I decided to try a crude test. I'd attack an enemy with a Topsy-turvy bow, then I'd attack the same one with a bow of equal strength and no skills attached. Here's what I got; I can't see any visual differences, oddly enough. This could mean that warriors specials ignore the effects of Topsy-turvy - in which case, we wouldn't know if they're magic or not. I'm going to compare them directly in an image editor just to make sure though. Edit: It's hard to see, but there is a tiny difference. The one on the top is with Topsy-Turvy and the one bottom is the one without the Topsy-Turvy effect. If the sniper has higher defense then resistance then the magical attack would be the one with higher damage. This would mean that Sakura's Warrior special is indeed magical. I'm going to test this with a more powerful weapon and see if the difference is any more noticeable, just to be safe. Another Edit: Okay, yeah, it's much more noticeable with a Brave Bow. Either this sniper has some awesome resistance or Sakura's Warrior Specials are definitely magic. This probably applies to other characters as well.

Thank Naga you can turn off the exploding armor visual effect in the settings. The joke got really old, really fast in Fates and I couldn't bring myself to use Sophie while animations were on because of it. I mean, it's not like Warriors is a game I'd like to try to take seriously anyway, but it's really nice for the fanservice of a gameplay feature to be optional rather then shoved up in your face whether you like it or not.

I'm pretty sure she was. Her hitboxes are very small. I guess the thing they're going for with her is raw power at the cost of speed and range, like it says in the description of the generic enemy fighters.

You don't get the Sol Katti until the final map. The Mani Katti is the one you get at the start of FE7, and iirc, it's good against cavalry and armored units.

Can we talk about how the Spellbane Yumi, despite its name, gives zero advantages while fighting mages? Personal weapons without built in skills feel like a huge missed opportunity in general.

I guess it kind of makes sense if you think about it. Gungnir was one of the legendary weapons available in Awakneing even without spotpass as it was dropped by one of the Deadlords. Of course, by that logic, you'd think they'd give Freddy or Lissa Helswath but I guess not. Maybe Tharja will come packing Valflame.

Is there a way in game to check everyone's support level, or even just whom can support with whom? I keep digging through the menus, but I can't seem to find it.

If you look closely, that strange monument seems to be made of stone, as opposed to some sort of metal as you'd expect if it was sci-fi. It is strange, but even if there are it'll more likely be tied to something magical then technological. As far as the icon goes, I think the most reasonable conclusion to jump to is that the protagonist nation will probably be Celtic-inspired. The patterns on the stone monument also look kind of Celtic. If anything, this just adds to the evidence that FE is sticking to its traditional fantasy themes.

I showed the leaks to my sister and she immediately pointed out to me that the new "logo" looks an awful lot like a Celtic knot. Comparing the two...Heck, it pretty much is a Celtic knot. There's no way that's just a coincidence, and I'm a big believer in coincidences. All that Celtic-inspired music in Fates was awesome. I'm really excited by the idea of a whole entire Celtic-inspired country.

Ever since the initial trailer, I've been spending time on Smashboards hyping over the DLC release. Considering how little I care about Corrin as a character withing Fates, I'm really excited to use him in Smash, so I decided to drop by and see what you folks at SerenesForest think of it. I haven't been seeing nearly as much salt over Corrin as you'd think. I guess even the saltiest of sword-haters can see how Corrin's Dragon Fang sets him apart from the rest of the cast. In fact, I've seen a lot of people who claimed to have been upset initially, but changed their mind after seeing how different his moveset is. The only people who are upset at this point are those that think that FE shouldn't have 6 reps, they even a lot of them have quieted down now that they've had time to get over the shock. This is good. Complaining about Smash roster decisions doesn't make it any funner for anyone.

I like Avatars if they're empty slates. If they don't have any complicated backstory or predetermined personality. That gives you a lot more freedom to headcanon with them. Robin and Corrin are avatars without anything I actually like about avatars. They both have cliche, predetermined personalities. You have no choice on their starting class, and very limited choices as far as their actual customization goes. They both have backstories. And then the game tells you that character is you. I'm can barely relate to Robin, and I can relate even less with what I know of Corrin. I'm supposed to pretend I am them? If in the next FE game, they add dialouge trees and more customization(and hopefully some other choices for a base class), I'll be far happier with them. Remove any predetermined dramatic backstory on top of that, and I'll accept them with open arms. But the avatars they have now just feel really awkward to me.

Oh, I got confused because I'm not used to referring to Nohr as "Anya". Still, it's kind of a lousy excuse. My problem isn't that Fate's doesn't match up with the rest of the franchise, it's that it doesn't always match up with itself. Yeah, I don't think anyone is too concerned about the gameplay anymore. It's made some huge improvements, especially compared to Awakening, and it's the main reason I'm still excited for this game.

See, people? This girl gets it. Well then, screw unicorns and their unfair gender-based double standards. This is 2015, dang it. Which is a horrible excuse. I'm supposed to buy that these creators are a "totally different species" despite being exactly the same in litterally everyway except for gender discrimination? It also fails to explain why the Nohrian Dark Flier isn't genderlocked. If anything, this just shows how poorly coordinated that staff is.

I hope so. I'm far more tolerant of features I don't like if they don't compete with or contradict the features I do like. Grandmaster was probably originally meant to be exclusive to the Robin amiibo, so they only ported one model or whatever I guess. I still don't like unnecessary genderlocks, though. ...In actuality, I don't really care much for Tsubaki, Shigure, Foleo or Charlotte. I just like that Pegasi aren't needlessly hate men anymore. But how can I be cool and hip if I don't complain about the same stat everyone else does?

I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to write that much. I'll make a tl:dr version in a second. I'm not really opposed to change. I love the concept behind their reworked pair up mechanics, for instance. It's just that there are some changes that many people, including myself, don't feel are for the better. I guess this applies to me as well. As much as I sometimes rant about my dissatisfactions with Awakening, I really did enjoy my time with that game, and I'm sure I'll enjoy my time with Fates as well.

Shipping and S-ranks really wouldn't be a problem if they didn't lock bonus character and stages behind them. I've considered this possibility as well, and it's actually kind of worried me a bit. What if the "strategical" version doesn't sell nearly as much as the "personal interactions" version? I'd be perfectly fine with "Strategy Emblem" turning niche, but what really worries me is that the FE franchise almost died. If it weren't for Awakening's success, we probably wouldn't be getting a new Fire Emblem, and especially not three different variations plus a crazy cross-over spin off game with Atlus. Come on, let's try to be polite here. I'm not very fond of fights. I have mixed feelings about joke weapons. They way they break the mood can be hilarious. It's just sometimes I feel that hilarity is out of place, especially when that joke weapon actually has a practical use. I'm an 18-year-old male with the facial hair to prove it, and I wouldn't hesitate for a second if I were ever given a chance to ride a unicorn.

So Fire Emblem has a pretty split fanbase at the moment. On one side, we've got the veterans, who dislike "waifu" and "panty" emblem, are disgusted that incest is treated so lightly, disappointed at the forced implementation of children characters, and shocked that they'd even consider adding FE Amie. Many feel that the support conversations are too lazily written and don't like the forced personalities or distasteful designs of many characters. They want to see Fire Emblem return to its roots at least pretend to take itself seriously as something more then an anime dating simulator again. On the other side, we've got the newer Awakening fans, who have no problem with this so called "waifu" emblem. They don't mind that Awakening didn't take itself seriously. In fact, they're more then happy to ship cute anime characters together. Some might even ship their avatar with Leo or Sakura - it's just a video game after all. Of course, not everyone fits entirely into one of these two categories; maybe there are FE veterans who love S-ranking their favorite waifu and are thrilled by FE amie; maybe there are Awakening newcomers who are disgusted by Camilla's close-up shots and ability to S-rank with her supposed brother. There might be someone who likes "waifu" emblem but dislikes distasteful female designs. That's fine. I don't believe in absolute blacks and whites. Not everyone fits into a group exactly, and no one's opinions or tastes are necessarily better than another's. My point here, however, is not to put down either group or argue whether or not Camilla's "panty window" is really okay for a Wyvern Rider or not. The point I want to make is about the developers. I believe these competing interest extend beyond not just the fans, but all the way to the development team as well. It seems to me that Fire Emblem Fates has two objectives. One is to create an original Fire Emblem game with a dark, serious story and deep and well balanced gameplay. The other is to emphasis everything that made Awakening so popular. The problem is that these two objectives conflict with each other time and time again. How are you supposed to take Corrin's relationship with his or her brothers and sisters seriously when s/he can S-support with every single last one of them? How are you supposed to immerse yourself in the setting when you're chucking umbrellas and parasols at your enemies? And how they heck does their awful explanation for second generation characters make any sense at all? I can only imagine that this all happened because some guys at IS wanted to ride on Awakening's success by forcing in things that don't belong. There also seems to be a serious lack of coordination among the staff in some parts. There are parts where the conflicting interest of different developers is clearly apparent, my least favorite and most obvious of which being among the genderlocked classes. In this game, genderlocked classes were almost done away with entirely. Fighter, Pegasus Warrior, Dread Fighter and Dark Flier had their genderlocks removed, and they even changed Valkyrie into Strategist to justify the removal of a genderlock on them. Maid and Bulter are the same class in everything but name, and even Mountain Priest and War Priestess are nearly identical, with their different weapon choices being a reference to Japanese culture. So, naturally, they add in genderlocked weapons. Apparently Rinkah isn't allowed to hold Arthur's Manly Axe because girls have cooties or whatever. And then they also include the Witch and Ballistician classes as DLC. I guess Arthur doesn't want Rinkah and Effie getting cooties onto his wooden tank either. Whoever decided to remove genderlocked classes clearly didn't share his ideas very well with the guys in charge of DLC classes and gimmick weapons, and if Tsubaki/Luna's supports are anything to go by, not with the writers either. Oh, and then there is the plot. I haven't spoiled the whole thing to myself yet, so I don't know a whole bunch about it. But I do know that not everything they promised us really happened. Nohr's story was supposed to be about reconstructing the country from the inside. Well, from what I've heard, it seems some of the writers had other ideas for that. [spoiler=Corrin's S-supports with Ryoma/Hinoka/Sakura/Takumi]Or what about Corrin's "blood relatives"? Turns out they aren't blood related at all, despite what we were all told and despite the themes of the games. Why? Because fanservice took priority here, thanks to Congress's new "No waifu left behind" act in public schools (thanks Obama!). I don't think it's just the fans with split visions on what Fire Emblem is meant to be - I believe IS is silently split on this as well, even if they don't realize it. It would explain all these dang contradictions and inconsistencies. We're witnessing an interesting part of Fire Emblem's history right now - we're watching it go from a game that was barely made its way out of Japan turn into a serious mainstream franchise. Has Intelligent System's staff grown bigger then they're able to manage and coordinate? And what do you think this says about Fire Emblem's future? Will it continue to appeal more and more to the "waifu crowd", or do you think that this is just another phase they're going through, and that once they're confident they don't have to lean on Awakening's popularity that they'll start cutting down the waifu emblem bits just a little? Please pardon my sarcastic comments about cooties and Obama. I couldn't help it. TL;DR: FE Fates isn't sure if it's trying to be it's own game with a deep and serious story or if it's trying to be Awakening 2.0, and so it's forcing in and emphasizing features from Awakening that don't really belong. Are you fine with this, or do you think IS should try to get its act together? And which direction would you prefer Fire Emblem to go in?

I was extremely hyped for this game at first. They promised a far better story then Awakening's, and with that being the big focus of all the trailers, I figured they'd be toning down the whole waifu emblem thing down a notch. After all, a good chunk of the characters were the avatar character's siblings. But as more information came out, the more suspensions I had. There was Luna, Lazwald, and Odin, for one. Yeah, I like Owain and his twitching sword hand as much as the next guy, but I wanted to see this game be its own thing instead of just an Awakening 2.0. I was annoyed, but I was willing to deal with it. Then we had the My Castle feature and FE Amie announced. I really loved the idea of the castle, but I was shocked and appalled at FE Amie. I felt embarrassed watching it, and embarrassed to be an FE fan. This "new audience" FE has been appealing to is really not something I associate myself with, and not something I ever want to associate myself with. Forced romance and overdone fan service just makes me cringe. Then, near the time of the game's release, came along the little bit of news that I dreaded the - the children mechanics was coming back. At least with FE Amie, I figured I could just ignore it and not lose out on anything significant. But with the children's mechanic? There's a lot of content locked behind those S-supports. Extra maps, characters, and weapons that I'd miss out on if I don't sit through those cheesy S-supports. Yet somehow, despite all of my frustrations, I was still strangely hyped, and it was probably in part because of this website. I signed up for this site on the same day the games got leaked. While I was here, I heard all sorts of negative things about the game - Kamui's S-supports with his siblings, a far worse plot then we had been promised, distasteful zoom-ins in a CG cutscene with Camilla, and many lazily written characters and supports - I heard that the game play was really solid despite all of that. The gameplay is what I really love about Fire Emblem, and I hear that the gameplay in this version is great, especially on the Nohr route. When I stopped visiting this site regularly sometime after the first batch of DLC, my hype really started diminishing. But that's kind of good thing. The wait for this game had been unbearable, and I had spoiled several things out of my eagerness to know everything I could know about this game. I'm going to check back on this site every now and then, but I think it's actually best not to be too hyped. Time flies so, so much faster if the game you're waiting for isn't on the forefront of your mind all the time.

Katanas are a type of sword. Just saying.