Delfino

Personally, F!Byleth's voice is the only one I don't care for at this time. The sound of it is okay, but the delivery doesn't do it for me. She sounds so dead inside, especially during her "Such power dwells within?" line. Though now that I'm thinking about it, Ingrid's voice in the Gamespot preview didn't sound that great either and seems a little deep for her. But what do I know, we haven't heard much so far. Everyone else sounds good, I think! Though I do have to agree that the graphics aren't too spectacular. I'd consider it lost potential, but it won't bother me much in the long run.

I was waiting for this moment, lol. Props to you for the quality comment. Gotta admit that I'm crossing my fingers for some well-thought out villains as well. I enjoyed Gangrel in Awakening, but everything after him was meh to downright bad, in my opinion. Except for Berkut. I did like Berkut. Though that may have partially been due to Ian Sinclair's phenomenal voice acting.

Bernadetta's behavior could have absolutely nothing to do with Sylvain, but I think it would just be super cute if she had a big crush on him, lol. Admittedly, we don't know much about him yet, but he looks to be a pretty charming and friendly fellow. A shy girl like her being smitten with someone like him just sounds adorable. So far, we haven't really gotten any hints of the houses interacting with each other much on a more personal level. I'm really hoping for some of that, it could make for some interesting situations should the territories come to blows with one another.

During the February direct video, she goes into combat for a brief moment. You can hear her say "Oh no..." pretty faintly and attack somebody. I'm not a fan of the high-pitched Japanese voice either, so I'm glad it was changed.

I'm honestly rooting for her to have a huge crush on Sylvain now. Just as long as it isn't a creepy obsession. I would severely dislike it if she were another Nina. She does seem to be awfully nervous in both the video and her picture about Byleth watching her. I wonder what she's doing, lol.

I definitely agree that Tharja was ruined by an over-sexualization of her character after the fact. She was reserved and even self-conscious in Awakening, but now she only seems to exist to flaunt her... assets. It's sad. I feel like Camilla was meant to be that character from the beginning, so not a lot to say there, but Dorothea doesn't strike me as someone who is. Her design is probably the closest to being "sexualized" out of the students, but it's still inoffensive if you ask me, which is something I've really appreciated about the designs so far. I really hope they don't go that route with her. Her design is so cute and she seems like a respectable, fun character from what we've seen.

Oh, very nice, thank you! I have to agree with Book Bro that more exposure would be a good idea. The game's presence has been pretty low-key in the west so far. A video would be nice, though I'll take famitsu no problem, even though it's Japan only...

I haven't really been paying attention. Is there any reason to actually expect anything next week? Or is that just wishful thinking on everybody's part? I'd love to see something, but I don't want to get my hopes up, lol. The little twitter bios and videos have been great, though I've been itching to hear more of the English voice cast. I wasn't crazy about Fates' localization, personally, but from what the wiki says, the voice acting for Three Houses is going to be recorded by the same people who did Awakening and SoV. That bodes well, in my opinion.

If you're on Hard, you may be screwed if Faye isn't a cleric and Tobin isn't a mage. You won't get another cleric until Act 4 or another mage until Act 3. Come the siege on Zofia Castle, you're going to get rushed. Since you lost Lukas, your main tank option to hold a chokepoint is gone, and you won't have a healer to keep anyone else alive. Out of the four new units you will get before the end of Act 1, two of them will be super weak until you can get them caught up while one of them will be decent but will fall behind very quickly. I'd probably restart, lol. But if you decide to give it a shot, good luck!

Well that's reassuring. I would not expect NoA to skip out on a dub using an excuse of "There's too much dialogue."

The game potentially lacking a dub is a legitimate concern. KT has been extremely iffy with their dubs as of late. For some examples: Samurai Warriors Chronicles and SW4 (including 4-II, Empires, and Spirit of the Sanada) all had no dub. SW1-3 and their expansions did, so it was a change, to say the least. The lack of dub could be excused by a waning interest in the series in the west, however, as well as the fact that the games are about Japanese history anyway. Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires and DW8:E were not dubbed despite every game in the series prior being dubbed (except the first I guess). The vanilla DW8 title almost lacked a dub, only barely getting one after fans showed a high interest in it, but in return, it was butchered. Boatloads of spoken dialogue ended up getting cut. Warriors Orochi 3 was not dubbed even though the first two were. I believe several recent games such as the Attack on Titan one, Toukiden 2, and Berserk and the Band of the Hawk were not dubbed. There are probably other examples I'm not thinking of as well. I believe KT initially began ditching dubs because the games were not popular enough to make back the money spent on voice work for such enormous casts of characters, but they seem to be making a habit of it as of late regardless of the game's cast size or popularity...

I guess if/when the English site pops up, we'll know if we're getting dubs or not. The protags look meh (mostly don't like the hair of the male one), but I guess I care more about other characters anyway.

As long as there's a place available to heal, the enemy will run for it. You can get them to abandon the thought by blocking the healing spot, otherwise you'll just have to pick them off before they run off. You have to be pretty aggressive. Enemies running away is really annoying toward the beginning of the game since you have fewer units, most with low movement, but I feel like it gets more manageable later on after you start getting units with higher range and movement and weapons like Brave Swords or Excalibur that have high crit chances. After getting Snipers and later Bow Knights, picking off enemies that try to run becomes much easier. You might hate the battle with Grieth in Act 3, though. He's an obnoxious unit type with scary stats and it's hard to catch him when he starts running since one, he runs onto tiles with evade bonuses, and two, you'll have a castor eternally respawning waves of Terrors at you to clog the halls so you can't catch his 7-move ass. Ugh, never before did I feel so triggered by an enemy running away, haha.

Ugh, Forsyth's for Python rips my heart out. Knowing what kind of person Forsyth is, I feel like Python dying would absolutely crush him, especially since he's the one who talked Python into joining the army in the first place. Deen popping up and killing the mood makes me laugh every time, though.

Currently, I'm having more fun with Alm's group, despite the fact that my Alm sucks hard. Although my Celica team is definitely more well-rounded when it comes to defenses (my Alm team is like 90% people with shit for resistance), there are too many duplicate classes. Saber, Kamui, and Jesse are all mercs while Celica, Mae, and Boey are all mages (though Celica can use swords which, surprise, the mercs are already fighting over). And then you get the choice between Deen or Sonya who are... whaddya know, a merc and a mage, respectively. Oh, and you also get the Whitewings. Three Pegasus Knights. Sigh... Celica's route has desert levels, and Terrors like to respawn right at crossroads, forcing you to deal with them repeatedly. Her route has begun feeling like a slog. I will say, though, that I love Kamui and Saber, Leon has been great, and Genny has been exponentially more useful than Silque for me (I didn't look up that Faye is best as a healer. Guide dang it). Alm's route contains more of a variety of character classes as long as you don't make your villagers all the same thing (which would be silly), but it's mostly the characters that I like best. Python, Forsyth, Lukas, and Gray have been some of my absolute favorites so far. However, I'd say one of the biggest things is that Alm's team feels more cohesive to me, probably because it's an actual established group with a big purpose. Most everyone with the exception of a few characters is part of the Deliverance, they're all part of the same group with the same goals. Celica's group, while I love it, feels more... segregated? Detached from one another? It feels more like an eclectic collection of random folks Celica picked up along the way who are just kinda coming along for the hell of it or for their own personal reasons and not for her own greater goal. They feel less involved with each other as a whole.

Haha! Saber is 14 years past that and I still think he's attractive! It's really a breath of fresh air after coming from past games in which there seems to be very little middle ground between bishie characters in their late teens and the older folks. I sincerely hope that they're not afraid to dabble in this age group more in the future.

I'm only on act 3, but my opinions so far: Favorite characters: Python: Definitely my number one at the moment. He's a little iffy as a unit, but his dialogue is hilarious, I was dying during his B support with Forsyth. I adore his dynamic and interactions with Forsyth and how Python trolls him, and it's so cute how good of friends they are despite being polar opposites. I can relate to him as well since I'm a laid back person who enjoys a rather simple lifestyle in which I can kinda just do what I want. Also it helps that I find him extremely attractive. Lukas: He really is a sweetheart, and that unassuming smile of his sealed the deal for me when he popped into the game. God he's just adorable. His story about his brother broke my heart for him, but he was so positive about the outcome. I just really like his character. Also goddamn that voice. Forsyth: I thought he was gonna be boring, but nope! Instead I found out that he's an absolute cinnamon roll, too precious for this world, so optimistic and enthusiastic. His stupid victory pun really got me too, haha. It helps that his voice actor did a spectacular job, and he's a kickass unit. Gray: His artwork makes him look like he's high as kite, so even in the most tense of FE moments, I burst out laughing whenever it pops up on the bottom screen. Otherwise, his dialogue is really funny, and I love his back and forths with Tobin, I just don't get sick of the guy. Max Mittelman, who's a fantasic voice actor, really brings him to life. It's hard to pick favorites when I really like pretty much everyone. Least favorite characters: Faye: Literally the only character I don't like so far. An obvious pick, but I can't help it. She's so horribly uninteresting and shallow, and I can't relate to her at all. I've had friends completely abandon me after getting a significant other, and her treatment of Silque in their early supports reminds me of that and leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I heard she gets better in their A support, but I don't know if that'll redeem her in my eyes. She's obsessed with Alm, and that's literally all there is to her. In a sea of characters who feel more real because their entire character doesn't hinge on a trope-y quirk, she sticks out as being the one character that does and turns out terribly one-note and dull because of it. She is probably someone I'd get annoyed with really easily in real life, and I have a lot of patience. Delthea: I haven't gotten her yet, but I'm already dreading her as I've heard she's quite the brat-- and I do not like brats. My opinion of Celica also soured a little after her argument with Alm, but I'll have to wait and see what happens.

SoV does so many things right, I cannot emphasize that enough. Even just the little things make a huge difference. The character art is beautiful and fits really well with Fire Emblem in that it has this soft, authentic feel. Everyone looks painted and I love it. Other Fire Emblem games use art that appears computer-generated and more modern, which I think doesn't fit as well with the time period and setting of the games. Characters are a huge step up from Fates in that they feel far more real, making them more relatable and likeable. They're defined by their personalities instead of by a quirk that consumes their whole character (aside from Faye), and while plenty of them are funny, no character exists solely to be comic relief, which is something that bugged me with a big portion of Fates' cast. It felt like half the characters were just one big joke. Most everyone I talk to about this game says that they like almost the entire playable cast usually with only a few exceptions. I'm in the same boat. I appreciate that a good portion of the cast is older with many characters being within the age range of 24-34. Base conversations add a lot. The soundtrack is superb. Animations are still fun to watch but are much less exaggerated and flashy, instead opting for a more realistic approach, which ironically makes them far more appealing to me since they cut the bull. They move at a decent speed to the point in which I very rarely find myself holding down the A button to speed them up (I was in a constant state of doing this throughout the entirety of Awakening and Fates). Animations also flow better from one to the other, like how characters will roll right into an attack animation after dodging. I love how when a battle begins, the characters seem to be running toward each other instead of just awkwardly standing around having stare-downs. Armor designs are more realistic and less ridiculous. No more stupid butt windows and wedgie-giving leotards for the female characters. Characters have more quotes, sassing the enemy when they dodge or take 1 damage, commenting on their status when they're injured, etc. There are also mourning quotes that take place after a battle during which a character dies. Speaking of characters dying, this may sound terrible, but I like that literally anyone can actually die. It killed the emotional impact of getting a character slaughtered in Fates when half the damn cast just retreats instead of dying. The game being almost entirely fully voiced breathes so much life into it, especially when the voice acting is so good. The characters really come to life and supports are that much more of a joy to listen to. It's also far more engaging for spectators (sharing funny support convos with my friends just got a hell of a lot easier). It's a luxury I don't take for granted; as a person with ADHD, it's much easier for me to concentrate when I don't have to read everything. On a personal note, I'm so glad that the fanservice is far more subtle this time around. We still get some skin showing on the ladies and some nice defined muscles to look at on the men, but nothing is in your face.

Right? The AI doesn't actually have any recognition of that, though, so that's why it was frustrating that, out of the three other people on that team, Nino had chosen her to follow after...

My team is Draug, M!Robin, Julia, and Camilla. I have a check for most everything, but there are some characters that are largely problematic with specific builds/team set-ups. -Julia has Green Tomebreaker, but if I happen to run into a Fury or Life and Death Nino with Green Tomebreaker and buffs, life is hard since she can 2HKO everything on my team. Draug can't approach easily, and although he can tank a hit thanks to Wary Fighter, if Nino decides to follow a melee character that he can't one-shot all over the place, things become problematic. I dealt with a Nino like this once, she followed freakin' Eirika incessantly. Why Eirika of all people...! -I've fought a cavalry team of Eldigan, Cecilia, Reinhardt, and... Bunny Camilla, I think. The Cecilia was between the other two cavalry units, thus started with both Hone and Fortify Cavalry bonuses. I was completely not paying attention the fact that she had Gronnblade+ instead of Gronnraven+, and my Julia proceeded to get one-shot. That is such a freakin' terrifying set-up. +Atk Cecilia with Fury, Gronnblade+, and those boosts can two-shot Triangle Adept Lilina (who can't one-shot before that second hit unless she's +Atk), for crying out loud.

I'm surprised I actually knew this one since all I know about Mystery of the Emblem is a plot summary, lol. Earth Dragons = Bad, so I knew that was the answer.

I actually use a +Atk -Res Draug, so I slapped a few skills on him. Here's what I am currently working on: Weapon: Brave Sword Assist: Swap Special: Pavise A: Death Blow 3 B: Wary Fighter 3 C: Threaten Defense 3 Draug is pretty fast, but he's not really fast enough with the Brave Sword to double on defense or quadruple on offense most of the time. One of his issues is that although he has high defense, he gets doubled by common sword-users like Lucina, Ryoma, etc. He also has god-awful resistance and gets shut down by most common mages like Tharja, Linde, and even Nino. With Wary Fighter, nothing is going to be killing him in a single round other than Dire Thunder users. And then whatever sits in his range is going to get a defense debuff and a Death Blow brave attack to the face. A full-health Draug now wins against Linde. Previously, he also struggled against Takumi (Takumi attacks first from a distance and doubles, Draug attacks and doubles but doesn't kill, Takumi gets Vengeance and doubles again...). Now, Takumi loses the double, attacks but just dings his armor, and dies next turn. Swap exists for better mobility and for getting allies out of the way. I typically have Robin next to him most of the time, and he'll have Reposition for more fun. Draug will still struggle against lance-users and blue dragons, but that's what I've got Julia and Camilla around for. I thought about putting Svalinn Shield on him, but Death Blow is great with the Brave Sword, and I feel like a lot of people are going to be throwing out Armorslayers and Hammers for better weapons anyway. I might swap out Pavise for Noontime or Sol or something in the Sacred Cowl line. Trading out the Brave Sword for a higher power weapon is an option since it'll better his speed, but he would still lose to the aforementioned mages and Takumi and probably wouldn't double a whole lot in return.

Congrats!! It sucks that you haven't pulled any 5* characters yet, but Freddy Bear is great and you earned him. The first character I promoted to 5* was Draug. I'm probably the only one, so if anybody has randomly gotten a 5* Draug as a teammate in the gauntlet or seen one in the arena, he's probably mine, lol.

Well, better get to training up my Sheena and Wendy, or something. I've got Hector and a level 40 5* Draug, so that's not really a concern. Really, though, there aren't very many armored units in the game. Most people I know only have like, two. Kind of a low blow there.

Yeah, that was a really nice touch. Female Corrin's was kind of a bummer in comparison, but I love a lot of the little details and subtle changes in expression between a lot of the attack/special skill artworks. Niles sticking his tongue out made me laugh, and even if I'm not big on the style used for Hector, I love the hilariously terrifying expression he's got going on with the lightning in the background. Also props for Yamada Akihiro for making the attack and skill artworks completely different.