Avk

If you aren't watching, and don't want to wait for Kirie's report, you can follow kizuna. I'm really glad that we have the members of the Black Fang, they are pretty memorable antagonists in my opinion. Although I'm not sure why does Limstella have 50 support, morphs don't really look like teamplayers to me.

Started a few moments ago.

I usually don't like much mayo's art, but I must say that Saizo/Kagero duo looks amazing. I have a hard time trying to tell what's going on, with the red and green swirls and why are they posing like that, but it looks great nonetheless. I'm not sure how I feel about the Lyn art. I find her face a little odd and her outfit doesn't really look like her ig sprite which doesn't change upon promotion, so I suppose they had to make something different. Looks like a hybrid between the Swordmaster's garb from Awakening and her original outfit to me, I guess it still fits since it's eastern asian looking. Took me a moment to realize that the blue silhouettes in the background were supposed to be the after images from her critical animation, it's pretty cool.

I would have prefered if they waited a little and made a more consequent Splatoon 2, since what they shown seems like an upgraded port of the Wii U version, which is still fine and I understand why they would do that (to push japanese sales quickly and an easy way to add one more game near launch, same thing about MK8). I'm not sure about local multiplayer, maybe with the console docked and multiples controllers, but I don't see the game being very playable with only one "Joy-Con". Aiming with Gyro is also one of the best thing they have done, I sure hope that they keep it, it will probably allow other shooters to be somewhat playable on console. I wonder how long it has been since Intelligent Systems finished working on Paper Mario Color Splash. I'm pretty sure they already have some project for the Switch, but I'm just not sure how advanced it is, and if we can expect it near release or not. I know that they also work on FE mobile, but I doubt that takes most of their staff, just like Cipher doesn't probably take that much people. I'm pretty sure that the best is yet to be revealed, known projects like Mario and Zelda while still very nice aren't as interesting/surprising to me as the odd announcements like Bayonetta 2, Codename STEAM, #FE, etc... even if I'm not always interested in these games. Plus, they have a fair number of 3rd party developers partners announced (some quite unexpected, From Software, Bethesda...), so I'm even more optimistic, even if I would have been fine with a Wii U/3DS like output.

cuboon is definitely one of my favorite artists for Cipher (his/her female Kana cards are amazing), I think the Lyn card shown for the next set is also from them judging from the art. I also have a question, does anyone know why the motifs for the yellow cards are the Sun and the Moon ? If it has any meaning of course, I never played Genealogy of the Holy War so I'm curious.

It has been a while since the last Nintendo Direct, I missed them. There are plenty of games we already know about that are likely to get some updates (the ones listed on the previous page), I'm more interested to see if they have some unexpected surprises. No duration announced yet, I wonder how long it will be.

I'm also not very knowledgeable about all these things, but I've seen mentioned in another forum : From Barry's profile, he was part of a group named TERADETH, which is a reference to Megadeth. Tsubasa is posing for a magazine called Nanno in our localized version if I remember correctly, is a reference to Non-no, so the localization team made the effort to make it a reference too. The game is apparently filled with references of the sort, but I doubt many people are able to recognize most of them (me included), since it's more oriented toward Japan. Nonetheless, it's still very nice to see that the developers had fun putting these everywhere in the game (even some less "pop-culture" ones, like these two).

I think I remember getting a Muscle Drink EX from a vending machine in Shibuya once, but I'm no longer sure. But I don't mind too much the actual format of the page, it's just that I thought having the possibility to check both which character is affected by which drink and vice versa would be convenient. But since it's functional, I will probably try to do other things first, like Accessories. I just finished all skills pages, I tried to keep everything as consistent as I could (there are quite a few errors and inconsistency that bugs me in the game, which surprise me since the localizers of Atlus and Nintendo have done a really incredible work in the game in general). If anyone notice an error, feel free to correct it. I added the Stage Ranks for the Radiant skills and also removed a few things like the "Door of" Radiant skills and some descriptions for some other Radiant skills, since the first ones don't give anything and are possible spoilers, same thing for the second. I also tried not to mention the dungeon names to avoid spoilers. Now I would like to know if most of you would prefer to have the "Door of" radiant skills, the full description for other skills (like the Feel my Voice/Soul/Heart for Tsubasa), also the dungeon names (Illusory ___ ). I don't mind putting them back if the majority prefers that way, so I'm asking. I'll probably start a Lunatic run in the near future, so I'll be able to add the "ultimate" carnages (not before a really long time though) and Legendary difficulty for the arena, if I don't surrender before getting to the endgame.

It's "Yang", from Intelligent Systems apparently. I expect them to add more guests and hosts later. Here's the livestream link in case some people want to timeshift. From what I can understand from the description, it's S6 cards, a report for the 1 year anniversary event for Cipher and other news. Personally, I'm mostly interested in Series 7 cards (Blazing Sword nostalgia...), but I'm still looking forward to this stream. I keep thinking that it has been a while since the previous one and it's always a enjoyable moment.

Well, that was my main advice. You can save anytime, so don't hesitate to save often, especially whenever a Savage Mirage appears on the field (mirages in a black cloak instead of the usual red), since even on normal, you have a high chance of dying to them. After the first few chapters, you'll also be able to buy items called Smoke Machines that gives you 100% escape rate, useful to keep around. Buffs and debuffs are really useful just like in SMT/Persona games, so the -kaja and -kunda spells, in tough fights, you are likely to have to rely on them. Side quests are really enjoyable and give you nice rewards after accomplishing them, so I recommend you to try to do them as early as you can (you'll probably get a few that are too high level at some point, these can wait, but I've heard of some people that managed to do them while underleveled). I see the question "can I relearn X skill later if I decide to pick Y skill ?" asked fairly often and the answer is yes, the ability to improve your weapons after some point in the game allows you to relearn skills from your previous weapons. That's most of what I can think right now, I think the game is pretty straightforward so you should be fine, especially if you aren't new to turn based RPGs, and SMT/Persona in particular. The game is slightly more difficult than other games, even on Normal in my opinion, so I thought I should mention that. Healing spells are still useful if you intend to do the Arena, but for the rest of the game, I tend to rely more on items for healing/curing ailments/reviving. Characters like Mamori and Tsubasa have some healing special performances with bonus effects that are really good (Rakukaja+Sukukaja on Tsubasa's Debut Smile, and Mamori can use hers without wasting her turn). These and the many Duo Arts that have healing properties make healing spells less useful but I like to keep them on Tsubasa just in case (and for healing after battle).

I also only use them to inflict ailments as well (for some reasons, my Kiria's ailments hit very rarely, even on weak enemies... on the other hand, Sexy Dance has been pretty reliable). Flux is decent early game when Kiria joins because it really does a lot of damage, but later, I think that it's preferable to try to hit another weakness, just for the Session. Althought I've seen many people telling that Naga is pretty good, I suppose having Dragon effectiveness may help, but it probably still can't trigger a Session since nothing can session from a Spirit spell (Kiria's high magic stat combined with the high power base of the spell may be enough to offset that, but Session is usually more beneficial in my opinion). I don't think that SP draining spells are as worth it than in other SMT/Persona games, since you can Traport and pretty quickly get back to where you were thanks to the teleporters. HP draining spells seem even less useful, but I may be wrong since I haven't tried them. So... they are fine, mainly for the ailments (Charm, Confuse and Seal, maybe Sleep if you are able to hit with Lullaby Song) I think, which are surprisingly useful, compared to the SMT/Persona games I've played where these spells are useless (if I've been missing something, please enlighten me).

Not sure I should answer since you want to leave it at that but... 1, 2, 4, and 6 are fair, althought I'm not sure I understand what you mean with 2, the comparison with Etrian Odyssey, etc.. the game looks great, so you probably mean the artstyle ? If so, that's fair too I suppose. I don't really agree with all of these points but I can see why you can think that. For 3, as others said before, it may look complicated, but it's not. If you can play and understand what happens in FE or in Pokemon, you can for #FE too, really. For 5, almost everything is, only battle banter isn't (and some radio ads at Shibuya I think ?), and while it's a legitimate complaint, it's mostly the usual battle banter with characters saying "I'm counting on you", "Lend me your strength" "Of course"... Still, I hope they don't overlook that for future games.

I don't think #FE will affect the classic FE IP in any way, and while it's bound to not perform well in term of sales, it still received a lot of good reviews and from what I've seen, most people having played the game seem to have enjoyed it. It probably wasn't extremely profitable for Nintendo, if at all (but then again, they sold a fair amount of merchandises, like CDs...), but ultimately I think it's a good addition to the FE IP as a spin-off, and to Nintendo since they lack JRPGs. Also I don't agree with your argument "Awakening was a risky endeavor", including really well liked mechanics from previous games (mariage and children...) and improving them (the support system and pairing up...), plus adding a new mode oriented towards newcomers isn't really "risky". I can't really see anything but benefits from these additions in Awakening, no real risk. Atlus are fine doing what they do, same thing for developers like Platinum Games, we need developers like them to keep doing these sorts of games, and they seemed to be satisfied with it too. Also, I'm not really sure about all this, but I thought that Atlus was doing fine but not the previous company that owned them ?

There are 16 Master Seals you can obtain through the game, plus a few more if you are lucky with the lottery. I think you are still fine, unless you want to promote back and forth other Mirages. And Itsuki can learn Diarahan, so you can always learn that if you want to keep a healing spell, but Energy Drinks have the same purpose.

I don't think #FE is the result of Atlus "playing safe", quite the opposite. I'm not sure I understand your obsession with the game not being FE, I see it like complaining about Mario Kart not being a Mario game and being bad for that reason. I see the game as both a SMT and a FE spin-off, something new that stands on its own, just like Persona now. And the core of the battle system is actually really simple, it may look impressive just from a viewer perspective, but it's mostly about taking advantage of resistances and weaknesses, just like... Pokemon ? It's a simple description, as the combat system of both Pokemon and #FE can actually get more complex and interesting. If only it turned into disinterest for some people... and I don't think people forgot the game exists, it's just that the game doesn't interest them so they don't pay attention to it, and that's perfectly normal. Also the same reason for why this forum is much quieter too, I don't really understand why you try to come up with other reasons. Also, I think you can restrain yourself if it's the reason you come here, especially since I don't see what was wrong with the marketing of the game, unless you want to keep bringing up the first reveal of "SMTxFE" at E3. It's better lately I think, here and in the few places I check on the internet, for example in this very thread, while I don't agree with/understand some of the criticism, the discussion is still calm and polite.