Lethal Llama

I like tomes, their 1-2 range is good for versatility and they prey upon the often-lesser Resistance stat. I also just like magic generally in any fantasy/medieval style game, so there you go.

A lot of people are saying Desmond, but I think that Validar just edges him out as worse. Both try to kill their children, which puts them at the top. But Validar only had Robin with the intention of sacrificing him/her, whereas Desmond, for all that he was horrendous, clearly didn't have Zephiel with the intention of killing him. I mean, his reasoning for trying to kill him pretty much implies that he never wanted him in the first place, which is slightly better than purposely having a child so you can kill them later. As for best, I'd agree with the general consensus of Eliwood, Chrom, Hector, and Brom. All pretty great dads.

I'm still playing Conquest, so maybe my judgement isn't ENTIRELY fair, but I am most of the way through it (stuck on Takumi's freaking wall). I'm just gonna compare the two in several different categories (Note that this is only in terms of Conquest cos I'm not made of money): GAMEPLAY Definitely Fates. While it isn't a flawless game, I truly believe it boasts the most rewarding and involving gameplay in the series, with well-balanced and tough-but-fair level design. The mechanics such as rebalanced pair up, the new weapon triangle, and weapon effects make each and every new level a tactical gem, at least for me. Awakening is kind of broken really easily, and the maps are generally pretty uninspired. It's not terrible, but definitely not as good as Fates. STORY Awakening takes this one pretty easily. My first time running through a story, I'm pretty easy to please. While I'm now aware of the many plot issues Awakening has, my first time I found it extremely compelling and involving. I couldn't wait to see where things went next, and I was very satisfied with how it ends. Fates, on the other hand, had its moments but really lost me in the latter half, at least before the final chapters (I have seen how it ends so I can still compare fairly). Essentially, if I were to replay Awakening now I still wouldn't skip the story scenes, and I don't think I could say the same for Fates. VISUALS I'll try my best to be fair to Awakening in terms of the perceived hardware restrictions by IS, so I won't hold feet against it. That being said, Fates still wins this one for a better visual style. The Japanese and European aesthetics for Hoshido and Nohr respectively are really distinct and interesting, and a lot of the units (even generics!) look fantastic. Fates also seems to make better use of colour, while Awakening is more washed-out. Visually Awakening is nice, but a little bland in comparison. And what the hell were the Knights in Awakening anyway. SOUNDTRACK This one was very close. In my opinion both games have fantastic soundtracks. But I like Fates' a little more. I feel like both games had tonnes of good music, but Fates had a few more great tracks. A Dark Fall is just brilliant in every sense of the word, and is my single favourite map theme for the series. But this one was really close, and is quite subjective, so I could see others deciding the other way. CHARACTERS Another close one. Both games had their fair share of gems (Gregor and Forrest) and duds (Stahl and Nyx). But I think that I'd have to give it to Awakening's cast. While Fates is certainly great (seriously, I want to have Arthur and Forrest in my life for realsies), I also feel that it has more weak links, and that they're typically worse than Awakening's worst. I just want Nyx to go away and come back super old so I can watch her die (OK maybe that was a bit much). I also felt that Fates cast was the most uninspired. Disregarding the Awakening trio (who I actually love in Fates as they actually exhibit growth), Hayato is Ricken 2, the reincarnated Awakening Hoshido children are worse versions of themselves, and there are a number of other characters who I feel like I've seen a million times (No, really Effie, tell me how your obsession with training sets you apart as a Fire Emblem character). Awakening is not perfect, but I feel that most of the cast has a warmth and charm that seems genuine and absorbing. I don't know if I could nail it down really, but it feels like they're a more cohesive group than the Fates cast. Though I do like how Fates has royals families who all feature in the story. And for all of its criticisms of shallow archetypical characters, I feel like Awakening did character depth and complexity much better than Fates. So, according to my system, Fates would be the better game. And I do believe that it is objectively better. But subjectively Awakening will always be my favourite. Where it excels it really excels, and its shortcomings always feel less significant. Maybe it's because I've had more time with Awakening, but as of now I still prefer it.

Everything Odin says Everything Arthur says Everything Laslow says Everything Setsuna says Selena's insane kill laugh Male Kana's infamous voice crack kills me in all the best ways Jakob's sassy crits Shigure's sassy crits "I'm stunning, you're dead." - Forrest, throwing major shade over here Felicia's "We've got trouble!" just makes me smile now every single time I love that Benny's crits are actually freaking terrifying Nyx's random squeaks oscillate between annoying the hell out of me and making me giggle "Prepare your shelf!" - Xander "For Horshido!" - Female Corrin ^Neither of those two were typos, seriously listen to them^

Virion: He's one of the weakest Awakening units, so I never used him much and all I had to work off of were his story dialogue where he's a bit of a ponce. But then I forced myself to, and he's actually got some great supports. I love his ones with Robin, where he shows his tactical ability, provides a legitimate flaw for Robin, and helps teach Robin something. Man is smooth in all the best ways if you can cut through his tacky veneer. Niles: While he's all shades of screwed up, I really like some of his supports where he shows himself to be very insightful and even helpful, particularly with Elise. Colm: When I first got him on my first playthrough of Sacred Stones, I really hated him for how he treated Neimi. Sure she was a bit ridiculous, but he was rude, unhelpful, and just mean. I slammed him on the bench as soon as I could on that run, only using him for chests. But after bringing myself to use him, I found him a lot better if you let him support people. Still kind of a jerk though. Forrest: I LOVE FORREST. Seriously, one of if not the best characters in Fates. After only seeing his art and nothing else I thought he'd just be your standard trap character, but the guy is amazing! He's so well-written in every bit of dialogue I see him in. He's not delusional about being outside the ordinary, and occasionally he struggles with it, but he stays true to himself and powers on, even in the face of his father's resistance and shame (at first). Not only that, but he's a great prince, compassionate and dignified. Everything he says I either want to high five him or squeeze him. Even though Elise is a better unit (and a pretty awesome character too) I try to use Forrest as much as possible. I could gush about Forrest all day, and I thought he was just going to be a bland retread of a tired trope. Never has my opinion of a character changed so swiftly in just their recruitment dialogue.

This. I feel like people give Lucina too much flak because she has to fight for story relevance with Chrom and Robin. If I could rewrite Awakening, I'd make the first half a back-and-forth between Lucina's group in the doomed future looking for a way back, and Chrom's group in the past dealing with Gangrel and Plegia. Lucina and the others come back, get scattered around the place like usual. But this time, one of two choices for the story: 1) The Valm arc is either severely reduced or scrapped, to make room for a mad dash about the continent for the scattered kids (maybe they're the ones with the Gemstones for the Fire Emblem?). 2) Chrom's group initially goes looking for the kids, and accidentally gets mixed up in the Valm story along the way. Either way this places more story relevance on the kids rather than just paralogues with throwaway bosses, and allows for more discussion of Grima and the future to build it up as this massive superboss bad guy. So basically, the first half jumps between the Chrom/Robin show and Lucina's bit (maybe Tiki can be the Jeigan for the future story and then she dies before they travel back?), while the second half mixes the three but gives Lucina a place as the leader of the kids rather than the unreliable oracle she is in the actual game. On top of that, it does away with the silly Marth costume bit that, while intriguing the first time, makes no sense at some points in retrospect. Just a few examples: Why the hell was she fighting Chrom at Regna Ferox? At Ylisse's palace, first she says that she's saving Chrom's life. Then she amends that to saving him from a serious injury. But if the injury was that serious, how did he get through all the events of the game up until his death originally? And how would a lame leg or whatever factor into Grima's revival and his death, when he get backstabbed in the end? If Chrom is the focal point for all of the future badstuff, why does Lucina disappear for gaps at a time? CLING TO THAT MAN LIKE A LIMPET YOUR FUTURE RELIES ON HIM!!! I'd like to think that my hypothetical vague rewrite would do away with those issues.

Niles has godly Res, but paper thin defense so I have to be careful on what I put him in range of. Also he has basically no offensive power either soooo.... Luring the Basara doesn't work on the wall sadly, as they often refuse to attack him and it triggers then entire wall to close in, including Oboro's posse and the archers. I can handle the Masters of Arms, I married Keaton with a Defense boon Avatar for a four-way Dragon/Werewolf wall of Draconic Hex death. Problem is my Avatar has no magical ability, still E rank tomes, and Kana can't tank EVERYTHING on his own.... Thanks for the advice though, I'll try put it into practice!

I'm Irish, so still working my way through Conquest (Hard/Classic). Also I'm going bare-bones, with no DLC and minimal My Castle stuff. Of the chapters I've experienced so far... Chapter 10 was grand. It only took a couple of tries, never got frustrating, and treated me fairly. I agree with those saying that it's a fantastic chapter. Chapter 12 was my first really tough go of things. I managed to get through Saizo and Kagero fairly easily, but I usually found myself trapped with my squishier units like Azura at the back when the reinforcements showed up, and promptly filled them with holes. Also, one particularly frustrating attempt I managed to open both chests on the absolutely final turn with all units surviving, thinking that I could use anyone to Escape the chapter. I then found out that it HAD to be Corrin, which wasn't specified, and I lost because of it. Even worse was that Corrin COULD have escaped is I knew that she had to be the one, but I used her turn to heal (as the back-up for Jakob). Chapter 17 was HARD. Considering I dropped Kaze and Jakob, I had no hidden weapon user and therefore no reliable 1-2 range attacker not named Odin, who's pretty squishy and doesn't take Ninja well. It's the one and only chapter where I've accepted a death (Leo), solely from a frustrating amount of repeats and everything otherwise going well. Kinda wish I could go back now though and get him back.... Chapter 20 was also fine. You just have to take it REALLY SLOW and pay more attention to the air currents than anything else. Nothing more satisfying than being blown in to surround Hayato with my entire army, the smug little twerp. Chapter 23 is where I'm stuck. I can get up to the wall just fine and it's all going well, but I get mobbed once I actually get up on the wall. The problem is my team isn't built to handle 1-2 range attackers well. As said before, I have no hidden weapons user and Odin is my main mage. I've neglected Xander so he's not capable of much more than hit and run, and that's pretty much it. On top of that, those freaking Basaras are pretty formidable attackers both physically and magically, meaning very few of my units can tank them out well. I've only got a few kids, and I actually found Ophelia's paralogue tricky as I insisted on hitting up all the villages, which left me too spread out and vulnerable. Looking back on it, my main weaknesses seem to come from lack of hidden weapons and magical options, leaving me with very few 1-2 range attackers. God knows I haven't optimised my units well at all, but it's my first run through so I'll live. I am DREADING Chapter 25 though, and the Corridor of Doom.

Woops, double post. Just check out my answer below!

I'm aware Awakening has its flaws, but I feel like it boasts the single most charming roster of the entire series. They're not all the best written, and some are a little one-note or redundant, but pretty much any of them can make me smile in some way. Also the soundtrack is pretty rocking.

Fire Emblem Awakening: The lack of diversity in map objectives grates after a whileThe existence of certain Spotpass characters (read: Emmeryn) completely undermines their position in the overall plotSome of the generic character designs are a bit iffy (wtf is the berserker in this game)After spending so long in Valm, the ending felt a little rushedGeneric father supports just get to me when I'm replaying the gameBeing able to meander off, recruit Anna, and grind off Risen between Chapter 9 and 10Neither Hard nor Lunatic is "quite right" in terms of difficulty for meThe Falchion being meh makes sense, but since it's unbreakable I have Chrom use it for the entire game even though I KNOW there are better weapons, and I just can't stop myselfCertain Supports not being there, particularly with Gen 1.5 units and the division between Gen 1 and Gen 2. Lissa should be able to support with Lucina, they're ALWAYS aunt and niece. Also I'd like a platonic Cordelia/Chrom support, so we'd get context for her obsession with himCordelia's Chrom obsession is alright at first, but make me hate her when she keeps it up even after her marriage