Shanty Pete's 1st Mate

As a result of full voice acting plus renameable avatar, Jeralt never once called his child by their name. Burn it all down.

Yes, but, let's say Raven dies to an unlikely hit (and crit) from Paul. That sucks, you've lost a great unit. However, there are other units you can train and build. You'll still be able to finish out the chapter, at least. Let's say Pent dies, instead. That's it. The run's over. You'll need to replay like a dozen or so chapters to get to where you were. Have fun with that. Like, I don't think anyone is seriously suggesting using a "Game Over condition" unit - Lyn, Eliwood, or Hector - to fight a boss that has crit against them on an Ironmode run. This requires not only that the player actually got the member card, but also that they are aware of the Secret Shops. And that they have the funds to buy Physic. And that they have someone with B-rank Staves at the moment. None of this is guaranteed, particularly for a relatively unfamiliar player doing an Ironman. Ah, sorry to hear that. Up to you what you want to do next. In a "hard ironman", you'd start over from scratch, or switch to a new game. But if you're "soft ironmanning", then it's up to you what self-imposed penalties (knowingly letting another unit die? tossing some valuable items or weapons?) you inflict. Or you could just... keep playing with no penalty, IDK.

Part II: What Do Legendary Weapons Have in Common? Hello, again! Let me start by saying that I appreciate all the discussion we’ve had thus far. There’s clearly a lot to talk about, when it comes to legendary weapons, and I hope to provide material and analysis that continues to pique folks’ interest. All that said, for this second entry, I have a particular format in mind. Namely, considering the legendary weapons we’ve already discussed, I’d like to come up with a handful of “hypotheses” about what traits they might have in common. From there, we can compare against other legendary weapon candidates throughout the series, and pass some sort of judgement. Does the hypothesis hold true across the board? Is it more of a “general trend”, that not all candidates need adhere to? Or is it totally ill-conceived, and worthy of being thrown into the trash? Let’s begin! Observation: In the Archanea games, all weapons have durability. When they hit 0, they break. …Well, all weapons except 1, that is. That’s right, the Falchion is unbreakable. Neither the Archanean Regalia, nor the renowned Starlight tome, share this trait. In fact, excepting Dragonstones in FE1, it appears to be the only unbreakable playable weapon in the Archanea titles (but I could be missing some). The same applies in Tellius – while almost all weapons have durability, Ragnell and Alondite are exceptions. There’s also Amiti, a treasured weapon to the throne of Crimea. From this, a possibility arises: First Hypothesis: If a weapon has infinite durability in the player’s hands, in a setting where most weapons have limited durability, then it must be Legendary. Limitations: The wording here is important: it’s an “if, then”, not an “if and only if” statement. A weapon like Armads has limited durability. As do Forseti and the Lance of Ruin (although, in those cases, you can repair them at the blacksmith). Ergo, while this may be a sufficient condition for Legendary status, it is certainly not a necessary condition. Also, this statement says nothing on Legendary status in settings where all weapons have infinite durability, such as Valentia and Fateslandia. Counter-examples: Again, I don’t know of any immediately – I had to look up the “Dragonstones have infinite durability in FE1” bit – but it’s possible someone more knowledgeable of the early games could correct me. That said, there is one clear counter-example… except that it’s unclear whether it should apply. See, in Tellius, the Laguz exist. And they fight with their Fangs, or Talons, or other appendages of choice. These “weapons” have infinite durability, but of course they’re not Legendary. Sure, maybe Nailah’s “Great Fang” could be called Legendary, since she’s the Queen of Hatari, but there’s no way the same could apply to Volug’s Fang, or Lyre’s Claw. It seems like a contradiction, but I would argue that what the Laguz use in battle aren’t technically “weapons”. In fact, that’s the whole point of the Laguz – they don’t use Beorc weapons, fighting instead with their bodies. In that case, they wouldn’t be “weapons with infinite durability”, so the hypothesis would not apply to them. Verdict: With a sufficiently narrow definition of what counts as a “weapon” – i.e. excluding Dragonstones and Laguz Strikes – the First Hypothesis appears to hold. It is a sufficient, but not necessary, condition for Legendary status. Observation: In the Archanea games, most weapons can have their status increased by Forging. This includes signature weapons, such as the Rapier and the Wing Spear. But there are quite a few that can’t be forged at all. This includes the Falchion, as well as the Archanean Regalia, the Macedonian Hauteclare, and the storied tomes of Starlight, Excalibur, and Aura. The same principle applies in Fodlan: most weapons can be forged into a “+” version, but not the Lance of Ruin. In fact, among playable weapons, the ones which cannot be forged include all the Hero’s Relics (golden icon), the Sacred Weapons (silver icon), the Scythe of Sariel, and the ersatz Archanean Regalia (plus Hauteclere). Second Hypothesis: In a context in which most weapons can be Forged to improve their stats, a weapon is Legendary if and only if it cannot be improved via Forging. Limitations: This statement says nothing in contexts where Forging cannot be used to improve a weapon’s stats. This includes Jugdral, Elibe – and Tellius, strangely enough. That’s right, the region that introduced Forging handles it in a completely different way from later games. Rather than a method to improve the stats of an existing weapon, it’s one to create a totally original weapon from a provided template. Sure, you can’t forge Ragnell – but you also can’t forge a Killing Edge, or a Storm Sword. Counter-examples: These are actually fairly plentiful. When I spoke of the DS games, I missed a few. You also cannot forge the Devil Weapons, siege tomes, and Nosferatu. This was likely done for balancing reasons, but still, it applies. I certainly don’t think the Swarm tome, which shows up about a dozen times in enemy hands, is anything approaching “Legendary”. But, okay, it’s not a sufficient condition for Legendary status – but maybe it’s still a necessary one? That is, not all unforgeable weapons are Legendary, but all Legendary weapons are unforgeable? This one is contradicted rather quickly, however, in Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. That game also has a Falchion (which I’ll refer to as the “Kingsfang” from here on out, to distinguish it from the related-but-not-identical Archanean sword). But while the Falchion cannot be forged in the DS titles, the Kingsfang can be forged in its 3DS title. With 2 gold pieces, its stats can be improved. Likewise for the Royal Sword, the Beloved Zofia, and the Archanean Regalia that (somehow) made their way across the sea. There are weapons that cannot be forged in the game, but they appear scattershot: the Venin weapons, the Sol/Luna/Astra trio, the “default” weapons, non-rusted Axes, and the signature weapons attached to Amiibo units. Of these, I’d say the Amiibo weapons are generally Legendary, while the Sol/Luna/Astra trio might be, and the others definitely aren’t. Verdict: There appears to be a real tendency for Legendary weapons to be unforgeable, even in games where more generic weapons can be forged. However, there are also some non-Legendary weapons that, for whatever reason, also cannot be forged. Additionally, there is a setting in which Legendary weapons can indeed be improved through forging. As such, this hypothesis is not tenable as a strict rule. Observation: In FE1, the Falchion could not be sold, a trait it held in common with… every other weapon. By the time of Old Mystery, however, this had changed. You could now sell weapons! …Except for Falchion. And Starlight, by the way. In fact, the Archanean Falchion cannot be sold in most of its appearances. And the only case in which it can be sold (Marth’s Falchion in Fates, apparently), it sells for 0 Gold, so there’s no point in doing so. Likewise for Forseti, and the other Holy Weapons of Jugdral. While you can pay the Blacksmith to repair them, you can’t sell them to either the Pawn Shop, or the Item Shop. In fact, even if you get multiple children with the same Major Holy Blood in Gen II, you can’t transfer a Holy Weapon between them without glitches. And what’s more – none of the Legendary weapons we’ve looked at thus far can be bought in a store. Rather, they are obtained through specific events, or via the game’s natural progression. Third Hypothesis: In a game where the ability to buy and sell weapons exists, a weapon is Legendary if and only if it cannot either be bought or sold for a profit. Limitations: Again, this doesn’t apply to the first two games. Echoes allows the selling of weapons, but provides no way of buying them, so this hypothesis might not apply to it, either. Counter-examples: We need only look as far as Mystery of the Emblem to encounter issues. In that game, the Falchion and the Starlight tome cannot be sold. However, the Archanean Regalia, the Aum Staff, Excalibur, Aura, and Divinestone can be sold – for quite a good sum of money, no less! Maybe not all of them are Legendary, but at least some of them must be. On the other side of the coin, let’s move ahead to the DS games. The Devil Sword – of which there are multiple in either game – cannot be sold in Shadow Dragon. Whereas in New Mystery, the Devil Sword can be sold for 0 Gold. Once again, my own hypotheses are pressuring me to accept Devil Weapons as “Legendary”. Another oddity are the S-rank weapons in FE7. While they have a high value – encouraging Rank-minded players to avoid exhausting their uses – there is no shop available after they are obtained. So, they may be programmed as “sellable”, but as a matter of course, there’s no opportunity to sell them. Does this hypothesis call them Legendary, or not? Should we even suspect them of Legendary status, since they came from nowhere and have no lore backing them up? Verdict: Clearly, the rules are not consistent about selling them. Some weapons that are almost certainly non-Legendary either cannot be sold, or only sell for 0 Gold. Conversely, some weapons that are almost certainly Legendary can be sold for a profit. Even if a game is internally consistent about it, it’s hardly something that’s held true across the series. On the other hand, I think the “buying” part holds true. It’s hard to prove, but I cannot think of an instance in which a Legendary weapon can be purchased. Even the Secret Shops, which tend to sell rare weapons, staves, and items, tend to steer clear of any products that could vaguely be counted as “Legendary”. Observation: Falchion – it’s one-of-a-kind! There’s nothing quite like it. Same with Forseti, Armads, Alondite, and the Lance of Ruin. Most weapons, you can obtain multiples of. Not so for the Legendary weapons. And not only are they one-of-a-kind to the player, but they don’t show up in enemy hands. Or if they do, it’s the same weapon that the player can use. While an enemy Swordmaster may use a totally different Wo Dao from your own Mia, the Alondite that the Black Knight uses is the same one that becomes available to the player. Fourth Hypothesis: A weapon is Legendary if and only if it is one-of-a-kind within its particular game setting. Limitations: I used the wording “particular game setting” to avoid some thorny questions. Like, is the Ragnell that Priam wields in Awakening the same as the Ragnell in Tellius, or is it different? How about the Parthia you can forge in Three Houses, versus the one that appears in the Archanea games? I’m not interested in answering this – maybe they are, or maybe they aren’t. Either way, they’re each one-of-a-kind within their particular settings. Counter-examples: So, remember that observation that I made two minutes ago? Turns out, that was a blatant, knowing lie. In fact, you can get another Falchion in Shadow Dragon, if you happen to lose the first one. It’s given to Marth, by Nagi, at the Alterspire – which may be in a parallel universe, or outrealm, or deeprealm. Who honestly knows? Regardless, it has lower combat stats than the original Falchion, but the same name and icon. Of course, it’s not co-existing with the original Falchion, since Marth and co can only visit the Alterspire if he misses out on getting the sword, right? …Ha. Haha. Those are the foolish words of someone who hasn’t intentionally gotten Tiki, holding the Falchion, killed in chapter 24. Doing so returns the original Falchion to the Convoy, while also providing access to chapter 24x. And by using the Aum Staff, it’s possible for the player to have Tiki, Nagi, and both Falchions. Also, in the finale of Verdant Wind, the enemy Gautier wields the Dark Lance of Ruin. It’s just a dark, messed-up version of the Lance of Ruin haha. Just a glimpse into my dark reality. A full stare into my twisted perspective would make most simply go insane lmao. Its exact provenance isn’t explained in the story (maybe in the library? Reading is for nerds, though), so it’s unclear how exactly it relates to the original Lance of Ruin. It has the exact same stats, but it doesn’t grant Gautier (who has the Crest of Gautier, like Sylvain) the ability to use Ruined Sky. So, not quite identical, but similar enough to raise a bunch of questions. Finally, there are one-of-a-kind weapons that probably aren’t Legendary. Taking a look at Genealogy, there’s the Safeguard and the Barrier Blade. The former, obtained by Sylvia through a secret event in chapter 4, grants a boost to Defense. The latter, obtained by Laylea through a secret event in chapter 7, grants a boost to Resistance. Not only can neither of these weapons be obtained by any other means, but they also never show up in the enemy’s possession. They’re essentially “secret weapons” to Jugdral. Verdict: Legendary weapons are usually one-of-a-kind, and one-of-a-kind weapons are usually Legendary. But not always. This hypothesis may be a tendency, but it’s not a rule. Observation: Do you want to send Astram against Medeus with the Falchion in hand? How about Navarre, or Athena? No vay! In fact, the Falchion can only be equipped by Marth, in all of its mainline appearances. Likewise for the Ragnell, which is an Ike-exclusive. But its sister blade, Alondite, can be used by any unit – who has achieved the maximum rank (SS) in Swords. Armads works like this in FE6, being usable by any unit with S-rank Axes. Yet in FE7, it acts more like Falchion, exclusive to Hector. As for Forseti, it’s sort of a mix. It can be used by any unit with *-rank Wind magic, but having *-rank Wind Magic is dependent on being Lewyn, or else Lewyn’s child. Of course, there are non-legendary weapons that are exclusive to one or just a few characters, such as the Rapier in… most of its appearances. Fifth Hypothesis: If a weapon is Legendary, then it will either be exclusively usable by a very limited pool of units, or else, it will be usable by any unit who has achieved the highest possible rank in the specified weapon type. By the contrapositive, if a weapon is not Prf-linked, and not at the highest rank, then it cannot be Legendary. Limitations: Some games, namely the Valentian ones, don’t have weapon ranks at all. Is it fair to say that Gradivus is not legendary, solely because any Lance-wielder can use it? I’m not sure. I don’t like the idea of saying that “only Prf weapons are legendary in Gaiden/Echoes”. Counter-examples: This statement might have been true before 2019. Of course, that year gave us Three Houses, the game with Hero’s Relics. These weapons, bizarrely, are at E-rank, meaning they’re usable regardless of how much training a unit has done in the specified weapon type. And despite the lore, telling you that they can only be wielded by the person with the proper Crest, they can instead be wielded by anyone. The only penalty is an HP loss when a Crestless unit uses one. Now, there is one benefit specific to certain characters – being able to use the associated combat art. So while Leonie (with no Crest) can use the Lance of Ruin (with an HP penalty), as can Ferdinand (with the Minor Crest of Cichol), only Sylvain (with the Minor Crest of Gautier) can use the Ruined Sky combat art. In that sense, it can be said that the ability to “bring out the full power of a Hero’s Relic” is limited to one character each. But the ability to equip it? Not so much. Actually, another relatively clear counter-example has been with the series since the very beginning. It’s none other than the Starlight tome. This tome doesn’t have the best stats, and it’s not super-durable, but it is uniquely capable of overcoming Imhullu’s ability to nullify all damage. In that sense, it is uniquely capable of beating Gharnef. Perhaps that’s why, in the DS games, it only demands C-rank Tomes. Depending on the team the player has built, they may not have anyone with A-rank Tomes yet. Presumably, they didn’t want that to be a barrier to being able to take on Gharnef. Likewise, you don’t need to keep a specific unit alive in order to use it. In fact, there is no usable A-rank Tome – the highest-ranked are Excalibur and Aura, which are both B-rank, for anyone not named Merric or Linde, respectively. Starlight finds itself tied with clearly non-legendary tomes, such as Bolganone and Thoron. And in fact, in Old Mystery, Starlight demanded a lower weapon level (9) than either Bolganone (14) or Thoron (12) did. I’m fairly comfortable calling Starlight a Legendary tome, but by this hypothesis, it would not be. Verdict: Once again, it’s a tendency, not a hard-and-fast rule. Most Legendary weapons are either limited to a single character (or a small pool of them), or else to those units who have achieved the highest rank in the specified weapon type. But not all of them – Starlight, and the Hero’s Relics, present pretty clear and convincing counter-examples. So, what do you think? Have I made any mistakes in how I interpreted these hypotheses? Or, do you have a hypothesis of your own that you’d like to propose? I’m sure I could come up with more, but I want to save my audience a bit of reading (and myself, a bit of writing). Regardless, I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this matter.

Or he could get crit by Paul's Killer Axe, and then it's GG. Do I agree that Pent dying is super-rare, and far less of a Game Over concern than Merlinus or babby Zephiel dying? Yes. Is it technically a case where a green unit could die, triggering a Game Over, through no fault of the player? Also yes.

So I agree in principle, but I also recently soft-Ironmanned FE7 Eliwood Normal Mode, and never hit a Game Over. Even though I was unnecessarily fielding Lyn. It's probabpy because I've played FE7 about 10 times, and ENM is exceptionally easy. I do think there's a stronger case to be made against FE7, given the existence of "don't let the Green Unit die" maps. Namely, "Merlinus the Peddler" and "Battle Before Dawn". Inexperienced players can really find themselves screwed on either of those maps - not necessarily by any fault of their own.

Worth noting that, if you play on Normal, there aren't Ambush spawns. They only show up on the Hard difficulties. Normal Mode is super-easy, but if you're ironmanning, that at least could up the challenge somewhat. Anyway, my two suggestions were Revelation and Echoes. Rev, because it gives you a bunch of units without needing to go to any babylogues (and in a strict ironman, I'd advise against going to any optional chapters, since each one gives you an extra chance of getting Game Over). I ironmanned it once, and it was probably the most fun I got out of Fates, personally. And Echoes, because - while the cast is smaller - there are revival fountains that you can use to bring back fallen units. They tend to go unused in any "reset/turnwheel" playthrough, so it'd be neat to create an experience where they actually matter.

I imagine it would go into General Forums > Creative, since the pinned post explicitly refers to artwork. Even though there's no dedicated subforum that they could go into. Maybe in the future, they'll introduce one, if the demand is there?

Would Medeus actually want to kill Tiki, though? What we know of him is, he's grown to hate humanity, based on how they victimized his brethren. In that light, he may view Tiki as another victim of humanity. If he could coax the young Manakete to his side, surely that would be preferable to spilling her rare, divine blood. In that light, the notion of a human like Gharnef hypnotizing her would be doubly offensive. He's made a child of the gods into his own tool of war! So for that reason, I agree that Medeus probably doesn't know of Tiki's captivity. I just suspect it from the exact opposite direction.

Your account is "edelbert", but your name is "Mari"? Is this some kind of twisted joke? ...Kidding! I just really wanted to use that line. Welcome back to the forest, Mari!

This raises an interesting specter: can a weapon be legendary in one context, but not in another? Like, can we say that Parthia, Mercurius, and Gradivus are legendary in Archanea, but not in Fódlan? It's worth exploring, at least. The S-rank weapons in FE7 are pretty puzzling. Did Nergal make them, for his Morphs to use? Or is there any history behind them? Why don't they exist twenty years later? And why have one for each weapon type, but no Staff? Really feels like the developers put the whole game together, realized that they had forgotten to design any S-rank weapons, and hastily constructed this bunch to avoid disappointing the players. I was gonna say "they must be related", but it's not as thougha reclassed Elice can use the Rapier, so. Maybe Marth always wanted to be a Dancer, and that's why he can use the Rapier? They could pretty easily justify this one in-lore. Something like "the regalia were crafted by the dragons, so thry can only be used by those with Dragon's Blood". Ergo, Setsuna would be magically barred from using the Fujin Yumi. Of course, that wouldn't explain why Camilla couldn't borrow Brynhildr. Nor why they seemingly forgot to give unique weapons or staves to any of the princesses...

I think it's that, by its very nature, a review system that churns out a "mean score" favors giving an extreme value. The more extreme a user's review is, the more impact it has on the mean score: ergo, the more powerful and influential it is. I don't really have a "fix" to this, admittedly, even though I try to moderate my reviews, as a matter of personal honor. ...Oh, boy. I could raise some unpopular opinions here, but it's not a video game, so I'll respect the thread. The mirror image of this frustrates me, too. When I feel like there's something I "should" like and support, because of the message it's trying to convey, but I don't. Either because I'm not interested in the material, or because I did experience it, but found it flawed and unenjoyable. Like, it sucks to think of myself as part of the "public backlash" that made Random Movie "underperform" because of the "message" it was advancing - when honestly, I just didn't care. I think there are some cases where the score matters, though. If I see a "4/10", I can pretty comfortably assume that the game's a buggy mess, not worth playing in its current state. Conversely, a "10/10" is a polished masterpiece, which will grant an excellent experienxe to its target audience. But as you said, a raw "8/10" doesn't say a whole lot on its own. The wording of the review is going to have much more impact on whether or not I'd pick it up.

Very odd choice, that, to call the weapon "Falchion" when... it wasn't one. Perhaps Kaga just thought it was a cool-sounding name? He loved it enough to use it again in the very next game. It's interesting how, although Forging has become a series standard since Tellius, it's never again taken the same form. Back then, it was crafting wholly original weapons, based on certain templates. But that changed to modifying existing weapons, or evolving them into new models. Would be cool to see "build-a-blade" become a thing again. Hm, it might be cool - in a Tellius remake or remaster - for forged weapons to "transfer" from PoR to RD, if the player chooses to transfer? Like, is Soren finishes the Ashnard map with 12 uses left on his "Solcalibur" Wind forge, then when he rejoins in III-P, he'll come with... a 12-use "Solcalibur" Wind forge. Might need some limits to prevent it from totally wrecking the economy, though. I was just thinking - how many Falchions are there, actually? 1. The Archanean Falchion, used by Anri, and later Marth 2. The Valentian Falchion, used by Rudolf and Alm 3. Nagi's Falchion, gifted to Marth if he should visit the Alterspire 4. The Ylissean Falchion, used by Chrom and eventually "Exalted" 5. The Parallel Falchion, which Lucina brought back through time with her Of course, #4 is said to be a reforged version of #1 (in light of the drastic change in appearance), while #5 is an "alternate timeline" version of #4. And #3 might be an "alternate timeline" version of #1. So, depending on how you interpret them, you could argue your way from 5 down to 2. And then there's the Amiibo fighters, and the Emblem Ri- I broadly agree that "a legendary weapon should be one-of-a-kind, or if a duplicate exists, it should warrant an explanation". Kind of like the multiple Falchions in Awakening. There were also the "Dark" versions of the Hero's Relics in Verdant Wind Endgame, although those ones were never really explained. Did the Elites make two copies of every Hero's Relic? Were they buried with them? Or did the Agarthans make them at some point? Still, I don't think they really challenge the "legendary" status. Now, if a random War Master happened to have an extra copy of Crusher, then I'd have some concerns. If I recall, the "Heirs of Fate" DLC does something similar. Brynhildr, for instance, becomes Forrest's personal weapon. Even though he can't wield it in the base game. Go figure! In any case, I'm inclined to interpret "family" weapons as an offshoot of "personal" weapons. That is, one's where the ability to wield them depends on the user's identity, rather than their trained proficiency with the weapon type. And they can overlap with "legendary", but don't necessarily. In fact, the aforementioned Brynhildr may just be one such edge case!

Ahoy, one and all! ‘Tis I, Shanty Pete’s First Mate! In all me time ‘round the seven seas, I’ve dug up many a treasure. But in the process, I’ve discovered the greatest treasure of all. Is it love? Or friendship? Neither, ye silly livers – it’s legendary weapons! Tools of extraordinary value and immense power… those are the Captain’s favorite. Even though he can’t always make use of them… But what, exactly, makes a weapon “legendary”? What traits does it need to fulfill? Does its narrative function matter more, or should we only look at gameplay? And how can I avoid spending a boatload of gold on “Missiletainn” – how was I supposed to know it wasn’t “Mystletainn”?!? The Captain had me hide for that one, and I’m lookin’ to get back into his good graces. There are, essentially, two ways to do this. One is to look at all the “legendary” weapons, and see what traits they have in common. The other is to define a bunch of “legendary” traits, and see which weapons fulfill them. I don’t think it’s possible to strictly do one, or the other. If I do the former, then an easy objection is “wait, [weapon X] isn’t legendary!”, or “why didn’t you count [weapon Y]?” If the latter, then it’s “that trait doesn’t make sense, since it doesn’t include [weapon Z]!” As such, my approach will be to first take a look at a handful of “consensus” legendary weapons – that is, those that ninety-nine percent of players would probably call “legendary”. From there, we can identify shared traits, and use them to evaluate “edge cases”. Let’s start at the start. Exhibit A: Falchion (Archanea) This sword was forged from the fang of the great dragon, Naga, roughly a millennium before Marth embarked on his original adventure. It was used by the hero Anri, who would go on to found the Kingdom of Altea, to slay the Earth Dragon, Medeus. A century later, however, the sorcerer Gharnef revived Medeus, and took Falchion as his own. However, Marth would reclaim the sword, and use it to finish off Medeus for good. …Until three years later, when Marth had to do the same stuff all over again. Why am I so confident calling Falchion a “legendary weapon”, right out the gate? Simple, really – it’s in the lore. Falchion is divine in origin, with a storied history of defeating a fearsome foe of great power. In the original title, Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, it’s the “Blade of Light”. If Falchion can’t be called legendary prima facie, then I may as well pack my bags and ship right on out. Between its four Archanean appearances, the Falchion differs somewhat in stats, although other traits stay the same. On the S/NES, it has 10 Might, but this increases to 12 Might on the DS titles. Its Weight also fluctuates. However, certain traits remain the same for it – it has 100 Hit, 0 Crit, and infinite durability. It can only be used at 1-range, and Marth is its only user. It doesn’t become available to him until the second- or third-to-last mainline chapter in any game. While it has no explicit value, it cannot be sold to the shop. Even in games with forging, it cannot be forged to become stronger. At first blush, this may not seem so impressive. The Silver Sword has 12 Might and 100 Hit in all the Archanea games (well, 90 Hit in Old Mystery). And while it demands a high weapon rank, it can be used by any Sword-wielding class. So, is Falchion just a Marth-exclusive Silver Sword, with infinite durability? By no means! Here’s where we get into the special effects. In all of its appearances, the Falchion does bonus damage against the final boss, Medeus – and in all games beyond the first, this extends to all enemy Manaketes as well. What’s more, in the first game, it can seal certain physical attacks from the enemy. Finally, in all games but Old Mystery, Marth can use it to restore his own HP, whenever he feels like it. There are plenty of traits here that may grab the eyes – infinite durability, limited accessibility, and effectiveness against the final boss, to name a few. But are any of these conditions necessary, or even sufficient, for a legendary weapon? Let’s not be satisfied with a sample size of one here! Exhibit J: Book of Forseti This is a tome of wind magic, originally crafted (written?) by the dragon who shares its name. It was gifted to the Crusader, Sety (using this name to distinguish him from Erinys’ son), with whom he made a blood pact, in the Miracle of Dahna. Sety then used the tome, alongside his similarly empowered allies, to turn the tide of war against the Loptyrian Empire. Together, they were able to defeat Emperor Galle XII, and his benefactor, the dark dragon Loptyr. After Sety founded the Kingdom of Silesse in northern Jugdral, the Book of Forseti became its national treasure. Centuries later, Queen Rahna would bestow it upon her son, Prince Lewyn, who used it to reclaim his homeland and aid his ally, Sigurd. In one possible future, it is inherited by his son Ced, who joins Prince Leif in liberating the Munster District from the Grannvalean Empire and the Loptous Cult. In gameplay, the Book of Forseti is a Wind Tome with a * ranking. This means that it can only be used by individuals with Major Forseti blood. In the first generation of Genealogy of the Holy War, this is Lewyn. In the second generation, this is Lewyn’s son. However, among Lewyn’s possible sons, the only ones who can ever wield wind magic – and therefore, Forseti – are Arthur, Coirpre, and Ced. The last case is what Thracia 776 goes with – in that title, Forseti is effectively Ced’s personal weapon. In either game, it’s a powerful weapon, with high Might (30 in FE4, 20 in FE5), 90 Hit, low Weight (5 in FE4, 6 in FE5), and 50 uses. As with most magical spells, it can hit at 1-2 range. Most substantial, however, are the stat boosts that it provides. In FE4, that’s +10 Skill and a whopping +20 Speed. In FE5, it’s +20 to both Skill and Speed, alongside 30 base Crit rate, and effective damage against enemy fliers. As for its availability – well, that depends. In generation I of Genealogy, the Book of Forseti cannot be acquired until after Castle Silesse is liberated. At that point, there’s just one more castle to go in chapter 4, as well as the whole of chapter 5. In generation II, it comes with his son. So, if Arthur is Lewyn’s son, it will be usable as soon as chapter 6. But if Coirpre is his son, then it won’t be available until chapter 9, and won’t be usable until his son promotes. With Ced as his son, it comes late in chapter 8. As for Thracia 776, while green unit Ced will use it in chapter 4x, playable Ced won’t come around until chapter 23. That is, with just two or three chapters left to go in the game. One more thing – much like Falchion, the Book of Forseti cannot be sold in either appearance. However, while its uses may appear limited in both games, that’s not entirely true. In Genealogy, the Tome can be repaired at any castle – I assume the blacksmith has a store of fresh ink. However, it comes at a cost – 1000 Gold per use! For comparison, the Tornado, an A-rank wind tome, has a cost of 240 Gold per use. In fact, this price is shared with all other usable * rank weapons, excluding the Valkyrie Staff. Exhibit E: Armads Armads, the Thunder Axe, was forged by mankind during the Scouring, about a millenium before the events of FE6. It was used by the Berserker, Durban. As one of the Eight Legends, he fought against Dragonkind, and claimed Elibe for humanity. After the war, he stowed the weapon in a cavern in the Western Isles. There, it lay undisturbed, until the Lycian lordling Hector took it up as his own. He used it to defeat Nergal and the Fire Dragon, saving the continent from war… for about two decades. Returned to its original hiding place, it was taken up again by one of Roy’s comrades, to rescue Elibe from King Zephiel’s nihilistic machinations. Armads is a weapon of high Might – 18 in both appearances – but it’s offset by its high Weight (13 in FE6, 18 in FE7). It’s also relatively accurate for an Axe (75 Hit in FE6, 85 Hit in FE7). Its durability is limited, however, with 20 uses in FE6 and 25 in FE7. That said, it does provide effective damage against enemy dragons, alongside a welcome +5 Defense to the wielder. It cannot be sold, in any case. Speaking of which, who can wield Armads? In FE6, it’s an S-rank Axe. Ergo, any unit who has reached S-rank in Axes can equip it, be they named Dieck or Douglas, Barth or Bartre. The same does not hold in FE7 – in that game, the Thunder Axe is exclusive to Hector. While it comes relatively early in FE6 (chapter 12x, roughly halfway through the game), it isn’t usable in FE7 until the very last chapter. One more trait of note – in FE6, Armads is necessary for achieving the “true end”. It must not only be acquired, but also have at least 1 use remaining on it, in order for the player to progress beyond chapter 22. The same is true of Durandal, Forblaze, Aureola, Mulagir, Maltet, Apocalypse, and the Binding Blade. Exhibit T: Alondite The mighty sword, Alondite, is a weapon blessed by the Goddess Ashera. It was used by the Beorc heroine, Altina, along with its sister blade, Ragnell. In tandem with the Laguz Kings, Dheginsea and Soan, she fought to seal the Goddess of Chaos, Yune. From this point, Altina founded the Kingdom of Begnion, and Alondite became one of its national treasures. Fast forward a few centuries, and Alondite has become the personal weapon of the enigmatic Black Knight. Strange… why would a general of Daein be wielding Begnion’s national treasure? The Black Knight uses Alondite to defeat the hero Greil in single combat, but Ike would return the favor three years later, using its twin blade Ragnell (or a Hammer LOL). From there, Yune may bless Alondite, to make it a useful tool against the remaining Disciples of Order – not to mention, Ashera herself. Alondite is a powerful weapon in both appearances, with 18 Might, 80 Hit, and 1-2 range. It also comes with a massive 20 Weight, but with a minor 5 Crit, alongside infinite durability. It also grants +5 Defense to the user. While it is enemy-exclusive in Path of Radiance, it becomes available to the player during the Endgame of Radiant Dawn. While its sister blade, Ragnell, is exclusive to Ike, Alondite can be used by any unit with SS rank in Swords. Unlike Ragnell, it cannot be used to deal the final blow on Ashera. Exhibit F: The Lance of Ruin The Lance of Ruin is a Hero’s Relic, associated with House Gautier of the Kingdom. Within the story’s narrative, it was stolen by Miklan, the elder son of Margrave Gautier. Regardless of which house they choose to lead, Teach will travel north to the Tower of Black Winds, to reclaim the Hero’s Relic. However, Miklan, who lacks a Crest, finds himself transformed into a hideous Black Beast. Once the Black Beast is defeated, Teach will give the Lance to Rhea – or Sylvain will interject, asking to take the Lance of Ruin for himself. While the Archbishop is disturbed by the request, she relents, instructing Sylvain not to let anyone else use the Hero’s Relic. Teach is free to disregard this directive with little-to-no penalty. But where does the Lance of Ruin come from? As a Hero’s Relic, it’s a gift from the Goddess, originally provided to Gautier, one of the Ten Elites. Don’t mind all the twitching, it’s true! …From a certain point of view. Now, it should come as no surprise that the Lance of Ruin is another powerful weapon. It has a shocking 22 Might, alongside 20 Crit, and a rather low Weight of 9. However, its hit rate is just 65, which could be problematic. Moreover, it has a meager 20 uses, but it can be repaired using the rare ore, Umbral Steel. However, it cannot be forged into a stronger form. The Lance of Ruin can be acquired right after chapter 5 (with Sylvain on the player’s team), or otherwise, once Sylvain’s paralogue has been completed. Strangely enough, the Lance of Ruin can be used by… anyone? Really? That’s right, it’s an E-rank Lance. And since literally any class can use Lances, there’s no unit who can’t equip it. However, some do so better than others. If a unit doesn’t have a Crest, they will take up to 10 (non-lethal) damage after every phase of combat. Units who have a Crest take no penalty, but they receive no benefit otherwise. With one exception, in the Crest of Gautier. Any unit with the Crest of Gautier (Sylvain in NG, anyone with the Crest Stone in NG+) can use the exclusive combat art, Ruined Sky. This grants a stellar +13 Might, as well as +10 each to Hit, Crit, Avoid, and Dodge. Moreover, this art deals bonus damage against flying and draconic enemies. One more thing – while Three Houses does not give weapons exclusive icons, there are differences among them. While most Lances have Bronze icon, the Lance of Ruin has a Golden icon. The same applies to other Hero’s Relics, including the “artificial” ones, like Aymr. Other weapons, such as the Spear of Assal or the Axe of Ukonvasara, have a Silver Icon. Finally, a black icon is exclusive to the Scythe of Sariel, the Death Knight’s signature weapon. Well, with all these cases assembled, I’m all ready to… to… honestly, I’m done. I had already planned this to be a multi-part series, but Part I is ending sooner than I had anticipated. Obviously, I’m not going to do a “rundown” of every legendary weapon – no matter what the Captain tells you, I’m not a masochist. However, using these cases, it should be possible to analyze what traits are shared among the weapons, and where differences emerge. This should help to interpret the “legendary” status of other weapons, and in particular, should provide a template for analyzing “edge cases”. Beyond this point, I’d like to talk about what I view as the positives and negatives of legendary weapons, and how I’d like to see them handled in future games. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think in the comments below! If I've made any mistakes, please let me know, and I'll correct them. If you'd like to bring attention to any other legendary weapon, feel free to do so.

Sol is almost always better. Think about enemy phase: Sol can only help, by restoring the user's HP, improving their survivability. While Luna can only hurt, by killing more enemies, and giving the user more chances to take damage. One substantial exception, I will say, is in Genealogy. Dew is the only unit with Sol by default, and his combat is... bad. He'll do very little damage, and against most enemy types, he'll get two-shot. Restoring a couple points of HP isn't saving him. Likewise for Dew!Patty. And Dew!Leen is actively hurt by this skill, since it sabotages her Miracle strats in the Arena. Compare with Luna, which comes on Chulainn. It can help him achieve surprising one-rounds in the field, or "punch above his weight" in the Arena. Sure, it's weaker than a crit in this game, but it can stack with a crit - or with effective damage. And any of the kids can benefit - even just in the Arena, more Luna means fewer durability points to repair.

Huh? HGSS came out as part of Gen IV, before BW. They had already remade Johto. Admittedly, they were probably working on both games simultaneously. And Gen V deserves credit for, if notjing else, introducing the most Pokemon at once. Sure, a lot of them were derivative of templates that had been around since Gen I. But there were plenty of creative winners in the bunch.

Huh, TIL I learned that Ultimate's Japanese name is Super Smash Bros SP.

Ace Attorney "have a third case that's actually good" challenge Yeah, I haven't played AAI2, but I've heard really good things about it. Of course, every review is anecdotal on some level, so it's hard to evaluate its "objective" quality. My own "gut feeling" is that it was more of a timing issue. It was very weird for me, coming of age in the GBC/A era, to see another "generation" on the same console. Admittedly, though, RBY came out (internationally) super late in the Game Boy's lifecycle, while the Color and Advance had relatively short reigns. The DS went 7 years strong, and it probably could've lasted another year. Admittedly, Pokemon has always been late to the party. The original RG came out in 1996, while RB made it out of Japan in 1998. On a console that came out in 1989/90. Months before the Game Boy Color was due out. RS took about 18 months, while Diamond & Pearl came out about 30 months after the DS in North America. Likewise for X & Y. Game Freak probably don't want to get out in front of any unproven console.

The thing is, New Mystery came out in July 2010 in Japan. So, it would've made it to other territories in late 2010, early 2011. Just a few months before the 3DS was due out. Nintendo probably figured that it was too late in the system's lifespan to localize it. Capcom did the same thing with Ace Attorney Investigations 2, which was February 2011 in Japan. Who's getting excited for a new game on yesterday's system? Pokemon fans notwithstanding... Looking at this site, it seems to be the case that Shadow Dragon did roughly as well as each Tellius game (outside Japan), while surpassing the Tellius games inside Japan. So, perhaps New Mystery would've come out if the ratio for Shadow Dragon were more internationally-skewed. Still, it's impossible to ignore the timing within the handheld's lifespan. To pay homage to this, Nintendo will remake and rerelease Thracia 776, but only to players who have accumulated (and are willing to spend) 10,000 Platinum coins on their "My Nintendo" account.

Huh? Most sales data I can find indicates that Shadow Dragon sold better than either Path of Radiance or Radiant Dawn. It didn't "save" the series, but it somewhat reversed the "low point" of marketability in the Tellius era. ...Well you've got me there. Ochward.

I quite like the design! Has a very "femme fatale" vibe. It'd be especially cool to see this sort of "Evil Peach" if they ever revive the Wario Land series.

The only good romance in Fire Emblem is in Sacred Stones. Between Orson and Monica. He was really willing to do anything for his "darling". I understood. I was just joking about Sleuf getting M-preg'd by the Ghost of Claud. Anyway, I'm fine with ghosts hanging around, since Genealogy's secret scene, in chapter 10, featured the ghosts of Sigurd and Dierdre.

Oh, boy. Maybe Sleuf can have Claud's babies instead? Hm... perhaps they could've given Rudolf and Berkut a "Conqueror" class? That is, 8-move Cavalry with both Swords and Lances. That way, Rudolf would be able to use Falchion in battle, while Berkut could use whichever Sword he feels like. The "radical" play would be to give Alm access to the class - either right after defearing Rudolf, or solely in the postgame. As for "playable Berkut", it might've been cool when we didn't know much about him. Same with Rinea. That said, given his personality and arc, I'm rather glad he's not playable. He's an awful person who crosses the moral event horizon at the end, and the "redemption" he receives is already morally insulting. In a just world, Rinea would've dumped his ass long beforehand. That could work, I suppose. Maybe hide him in the Bragi Tower, given Orgahill's remoteness. Still seems a little morbid, making him a "vegetable-dad" of sorts. Ah, that kinda matches the previous idea. It's interesting, that it's simultaneously "Word of God", but also a kind of "headcanon". Since the player's choices can dictate who marries whom, thus making this outcome easily contradictible.

I would contend that Berkut is intended to be the Camus, whereas Rudolf is the Hardin. Of course, neither becomes playable (thankfully), so it's really a wash. Here's hoping that Reinhardt isn't, either. Well, characters like Sylvia have to survive, because their children haven't been born yet. And whoever her husband is has to survive, because Coirpre, at the very least, hasn't been conceived yet. In fact, Ayra is the only mother who definitively gives birth before the battle, and thus the only one who could die in it (assuming she's paired up and lives to see it). Depending on the player's choices, as many as 13 characters (out of 20 playable at that point) would necessarily survive the ambush - assuming none of the other kids have been born yet. Actually... this creates a contradiction. Claud foresees his own death at Belhalla. But if you pair him with Sylvia, then he must be the father of Leen and Coirpre. But in Gen II, twenty years later... I mean, maybe Leen is old enough, but Coirpre? No way. He barely looks like he's passed puberty. He couldn't have been conceived before Belhalla. The only reasonable assumption? Claud's ghost gets Sylvia pregnant the second time. Maybe have a map with "green unit Ishtar" defending a bunch of child NPCs? And you need to clear the map before she - or any of the kids - get killed or captured, for the maximum reward? Could be a cool way for her to function. Not as cool as making her playable, but slightly less dissonant wuth the fact that you eventually have to kill her.

I read this as though "Nights Before Mario" were a game title... any potential for this crossover?

This class barely exists. Which should make for a quick rundown! I'll only be counting those games that I've played to completion, wherein there's a playable, infantry (non-Armored), Lance-oriented final promotion. So, not stuff like Recruit Amelia in Sacred Stones. From worst to best: That's what I think, at least. Not many to talk about here, really. It's been a great series, though! Big thanks to @Whisky for kicking it off, and @Zapp Branniglenn for closing it out.