NewTypeEldie

I can see the direction you're going here but that isn't the theme at all. From what I gather the theme is more balanced in the sense that the heroes still adopt the battle of their ancestors while learning from their mistakes. Getting holy weapons doesn't infringe on this theme at all, in fact it would actually support the theme if receiving the holy weapons is done in an act of redemption. The game does challenge the idea of unchecked birthright as some characters achieve power but fail due to being selfish and incompetent. The heroes fight to earn their birthright, and just as they become the rulers of their dukedom or country, it shouldn't be so far fetched to have them earn a holy weapon. Plus who doesn't want to Valflame poor fools into oblivion? In regards to this, once again you aren't wrong but you might be ignoring the fact that this is fiction and boundary-pushing relationships between siblings has always been a theme or at the very least an inside joke in the series. What I referenced is the fact that the inclusion of siscons and brocons is just attractive to a particular demographic which happened to be part of the larger demographic that ate Fates up. Ultimately, a properly executed story or character arc that uses incest could be very interesting as Eldigan and Lachesis show in the manga.

You make a good point about the holy weapons here, but I think that a post-game could remedy this. SoV had a post game that was interesting enough, and if that were pulled off in an FE4 remake then it wouldn't be a deal breaker to gain access to all the holy weapons as long as non-holy blood units can still be good. You are the only other person besides me who is ok with this haha. I find it odd that people hate this kind of stuff in FE4 when Fates sold like crazy thanks to stuff like that.

It sounds like we're two of a kind! I forgot to mention that I got Shadows of Valentia on release and I honestly think it's the height of the series right now. Second to FE4 obviously. On a side note you should check out the Oosawa manga if you haven't already. Excellent side material to the game.

Hey guys, hows it going! I just thought I should actually introduce myself now even though it's been almost a year since I've been on the site. The majority of my posts as of yet have been Genealogy related, so you could probably guess that's my favorite game. I guess as a preface I should explain my history with FE and why I'm here in the first place, so I'll make it quick. I started the series by playing Blazing Sword on the vizzed website around 2009 or 2010. I had heard of Fire Emblem before, especially through smash and reading through the wiki at the time, but I hadn't had a complete experience with it until I played FE7. After beating it sometime around 2011, the news for Awakening came out so I had a reason to stay with the series. I had picked up Sacred Stones and Binding Blade at the time but I didn't actually complete Sacred Stones until somewhat recently. I got hooked with Awakening(although I realize it wasn't the best FE game) and continued on playing a little bit of the other games. Once I played Genealogy of the Holy War I knew I had to talk about it, and what better place than here. In terms of being on Serenes Forest, I had seen it several times before but it wasn't until I had the burning desire to read and write about FE4 that I got particularly interested. So here I am, gushing about a 20 year old game that I doubt a third of the current fan base has even played. This was a bit long but just to put myself out there, just fulfilling some formalities and such. I guess I'll talk more about myself if people ask but that's all I have for now. P.S. If you wanna gush about FE4 I'm your man!

I'm not big on a total redesign of the characters but I do want their design updated. SoV needed redesigns because a lot of the characters in the game had generic and/or simple designs, but GotHW has pretty good and unique designs (at least for playable characters). I'm not the biggest fan of the redesigns for Eldigan and Seliph in Heroes so I hope IS comes up with something good.

Technically Berserk is in the game. As far as I can remember, Fee comes with a Berserk sword, which, I believe, is the only way to inflict Berserk in the game.

This right here. We need more character relationships and first hand insight into what happens with the bad guys too. Honestly the Oosawa manga does a phenomenal job with this so I hope a handful of the character personalities and relationships from that are carried over.

Well here's my take: You kill Arvis and you take Valflame from him but no one can use it. Let's say Arthur is Azel's son, and therefore has minor Vala blood. A little bit of lore twisting and now since Arthur would inherit Velthomer when Seliph wins, he magically gets the possibility to use Valflame. As for Brian I'm not sure how that could be handled, maybe if Ulster is the son then they can make Heroes be able to use axes like in the GBA titles. I just want to fight the 12 Deadlords with my own 12 Crusaders, you know?

I'm stumped as to why people don't want all the holy weapons to be accessible. You aren't the first to mention it. What I was thinking is that after you kill Brian, Arvis, and Ishtar, one of your units can then use the holy weapon after that. And yeah, Arion should be recruitable, even if it's just for the final chapter. On a side note, the Valkyrie Staff should have some other effect besides reviving units. If you play a no-deaths run, the Valkyrie Staff is just there to take up inventory space.

If you think about it those "wretched" aspects of the series are what draw in a lot of people. Need I remind you the shameless waifu-baiting and possibly even the siscon aspects of Fates are what drew in a big chunk of the fanbase to begin with? I don't think the incestual undertones(that are sometimes not so subtle) ruin the series, and acknowledging their existence doesn't remove any of the enjoyment you can get out of the games. Obviously it isn't a topic for everyone but it's also clear that more than a few people get a kick out of it. If I really have to explain it, it's the shock value that makes EldiganxLachesis, ArvisxDeirdre, etc., interesting for some people and sets FE4 apart from the rest of the games(even though people still bring up thinks like Ephraim and Eirika). As for your warning: let me enjoy the games for what I like!

I totally agree with the last part, I must have forgotten to consider the trade mechanic. That definitely NEEDS to be in the remake. And as for supports, I agree as well, the standard C to A or S works just fine, it also gives the opportunity for more non-romantic supports too. You make a good point about the save mechanic, but I think it would make sense for the ability to save anywhere to be replaced with the Turnwheel, that way you can't totally abuse the save mechanic. And no, not joking about the Seliph and Julia thing, lol. It's FE4, the whole game is practically about that stuff. If that bothers you wait until you hear about Sylvia and Claud...

Now that Shadows of Valentia has been released and has found success in Japan and all over the world, it seems like IS wants to continue the "Echoes" sub-series. For now it seems like they're leaning toward remaking Binding Blade but I can still hope that Genealogy of the Holy War will get a glorious and proper remake. Assuming that a Genealogy Echoes will be released, what kind of things do you want to see in it? I have a few ideas: Lots and lots of animated cut scenes. GotHW has the best story in FE so I would love to see as much of it developed as possible. Side-stories, flashbacks, all that good stuff. Breaks during the chapters. It not news to anyone that the maps are huge and have a lot of empty space, so breaking them up with cut scenes and a camp or something will make the maps less overwhelming. Add the possibility to get ALL holy weapons. Make it so Lex's kids can inherit Helswath and Azel's kids can get Valflame, etc. Return of the Turnwheel mechanic but obviously with some other lore-friendly gimmick More lovers(support) conversations for all the characters Bonus chapters for other scenarios like Ares retaking Agustria Excellent orchestrations of the OST and new music Fully voice acted(or mostly like SoV) Being able to pair Seliph and Julia without a glitch Adapt that sweet, sweet Eldigan arc from the Oosawa manga That's what I had in mind, anyone have other thoughts? Ideas? I want to know what other people expect for a game like this.

Yeah it sounds great. On a side note, what if there was a game where you can choose a route and all the characters in the route you didn't select slowly join the enemy army until the last couple chapters where you face off against the main villain and his army of soldiers that you couldn't recruit. Somewhat like Thracia 776 and the Dreadlords I admit it would be frustrating and potentially heartbreaking but it sounds like it could make for an excellent plot.

This has been brought up before but branching paths are a huge pain for completionists or people who just want to get every character. I would honestly prefer a split-up deal kind of like in Gaiden/SoV except the two teams meet up and separate on multiple occasions. Sacred Stones could have been even better if you could play Eirika's and Ephraim's routes simultaneously.

You have a point here, it's important to notice that Silesse is at the same height as Isaach and it's southernmost tip is approximately at the same latitude as Phinora in Yied. I'm inclined to believe that the reason for the colder temperatures may be because of altitude, since both Silesse and Isaach have many mountains. We never see Isaach in winter however, though I think it would be reasonable to believe that it may be just as snowy as Silesse, at least from Tirnanog to Sophara.

That's probably right, I'll add that in then.

Ah thanks for that insight. It helps to prove my idea that Agustria is supposed to be like Scotland/England with character names like Macbeth and such.

Ah, it slipped my mind! I think you may be right there; I'll add it in.

Below I have compiled a list of almost all the etymologies of the person/place/weapon names that are in Genealogy of the Holy War. I would like to point out that I came up with the majority of these etymologies myself but I did not shy away from checking my findings with other sources such as the two Fire Emblem Wikis and some Serenes Forest posts as well. With that out of the way I would like to point out how well researched and inspired this, and by extension all other Fire Emblem games, are in terms of the names used for people/places/objects. Genealogy of the Holy War seems to draw extensively from Norse and Celtic/Irish mythology, and the use of some lesser known names is even more astounding. As a note, the list is not totally complete and it would be great if some of you well informed fans can fill in some of the remaining blanks for the names I have listed. Genealogy of the Holy War Etymology Collection: Place Names Jugdral- Corruption of Yggdrasil, the World Tree of Norse mythology Grannvale- Original name, Translated as Grandbell, seems to simply be a combination of Grand and bell Chalphy- Corruption of Thialfi(Þjálfi), servant of the Norse god Thor Jungby- Corrution of Ygnvi, the old name for the Norse god Freyr Friege- Original? Possible corruption of Phygia, an ancient kingdom in Anatolia and location for various Greek myths Edda- Named after the Poetic and Prose Eddas, the written sources for the majority of Norse myths, compiled by Snorri Sturluson Dozel- Original name, unclear etymology Velthomer- Original name, likely utilizes the name Vala(Fala) as a source such as Falaflame Belhalla- Corruption of Valhalla, the Norse afterlife for heroes and warriors, seems to fit in with the name Grand-bell Verdane- Original name, draws from adjective “verdant” meaning green with plants. A reference to the forested terrain of the country Evans- English/Welsh last name meaning Son of Evan, where Evan is the Welsh version of John Genoa- City in Italy and capital of the region of Liguria Marpha- Unsure, name of a small village in Nepal Verdane- Capital shares name with country Agustria- Original name, likely drawn from Augustus, first Roman Emperor or corruption of Austria Nordion- Original name? Likely draws from “nord” meaning north or of the north Heirhein- Original name, drawn from hein, diminutive of Heinrich or more likely a corruption of Highland Mackily- Original? Unknown Anphony- Original? Unknown Madino- Unkown, possibly drawn from Medina, a holy city for Islam in Arabia Silvail- Original? Unknown Orgahill- Original? Unknown Agusty- Likely Original, shortened version of Agustria Silesse- Corruption of Silesia, a region in Poland, Czech Republic, and Germany Sailane- Original? Possibly a corruption of Silesia Thove- Original? Unknown Zaxon- Corruption of Saxon or Saxony, a region in eastern Germany Lubeck- Slight corruption of Lübeck, a port city in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Silesse- Capital named after country Isaach- Corruption of Biblical name Isaac, patriarch of the Israelites Tirnanog- Corruption of Tír na nÓg meaning “land of the young” and is another name for Otherworld in Celtic mythology Ganeishire- Unknown, likely drawn from some English/Scottish shire Sophara- Original name? Possibly drawn from Sofia, capital of Bulgaria Rivough- Original name? Possibly drawn from an Irish/Welsh place name Isaach- Capital named after the country Yied Desert- Corruption of Aed, Irish god of the underworld Phinora- Original? Unknown Darna- Original? Unknown Yied- Same as the region Manster District- Corruption of Munster, ancient kingdom in Ireland and currently one of its provinces Melgen- Original name? Unknown, possibly an Irish/Scottish/Welsh place name Alster- Corruption of Ulster, old Irish kingdom and current province Leonster- Corruption of Leinster, old Irish kingdom and current province Conote- Corruption of Connacht, old Irish kingdom and current province Manster- Same etymology as the country Thracia- Named after region in the Balkans inhabited by Thracian people Mease- Corruption of Meath, old Irish kingdom and current county Kapathogia- Original? Unknown, likely a Greek place name Luthecia- Corruption of Lutecia, Roman name for Paris Grutia- Thracia- capital named after country Miletos District- Named after ancient Greek city Miletos(Μί̄λητος) Peruluke- Original name? Unknown Chronos- Named after Greek primordial god of time Rados- Original name? Likely Greek person/place name Miletos- capital named after country Weapon names Tyrfing- Named after the magical sword in Norse mythology associated with three tragedies Balmung- The name used in Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle for the sword of the Norse hero Sigurd called Gram Mystletainn- Named after the magical sword of the Norse hero Hrómund Gripsson, possibly also in reference to the weapon used by Hodr to accidentally kill Baldur in Norse myth Gungnir- Named after the magical spear of the Norse god Odin Gae Bolg- Named after the magical spear used by the Irish hero Cu Chulainn Valflame- Combination of character name Fala and flame Forseti- Named after Norse god of justice Mjolnir- Named after the Norse god Thor’ hammer Helswath- Combination of Hel, Norse goddess of the underworld and swath, “the space covered by the stroke of a scythe” Named Swanchika originally, a corruption of sanskrit “svastika” known as manji in japanese Yewfelle- Named after yew, a material often used to make bows and fell, to knock down or defeat, as Ichaival, the name of a bow used by Odin that could fire ten arrows at once Valkyrie Staff- Named after Valkyries, Norse warrior women who carry fallen warriors to the afterlife Book of Naga- Named after character Naga who in turned is named after serpent deities in Hinduism and other Indian religions Character Names Twelve Crusaders: Baldur- Norse god of light Odo- Corruption of Od or Odin, Norse gods Hezul- Unknown, possibly a corruption of Hodr, Norse god and brother of Baldur Dain- A dwarf listed in Norse texts Noba- Unknown, possibly named after Roman city in Africa or Latin word for “new” Fala- Named for volva, also said vala, Norse mystic women, also possible reference to Norse goddess Freya Ced- Corruption of Forseti, Norse god of justice Tordo- Corruption of Thor, Norse god of lightning Neir- Unknown etymology Ulir- Corruption of Ullr, Norse god of hunting and archery Blaggi- Named for Bragi, Norse god of poetry Heim- Corruption of Heimdall, Norse god and guardian of the rainbow bridge Bifrost Playable Characters: Sigurd- Norse hero who killed the dragon Fafnir with the sword Gram(Balmung) Naoise- Irish knight and nephew of King Conchobar mac Nessa Alec- Short version of name Alexander Arden- The brother of Naoise in Irish mythology Azelle- Hebrew name meaning “noble” Lex- Shorthand of Alexander or, as Rex, Latin for “king” Quan- Corruption of Cian, the father of the Irish hero Lugh Ethlyn- Corruption of Ethniu, wife of Cian and mother of the Irish hero Lugh Finn- Irish hero Finn MacCool(Fionn Mac Cumhaill), the leader of the Fianna Midayle- Corruption of Midir, an Irish god who is the son of the Dagda and lover of Etain Dew- Likely named for “morning dew” Edain- Irish heroine and lover of the god Midir Ayra- Corruption of ira, the Latin word for “wrath” Deirdre- Irish heroine and tragic lover of Naoise Jamke- Corruption of Jamukha, Mongolian political rival of Genghis Khan Chulainn- The Irish hero Cu Chulainn, wielder of the magic spear Gae Bolg, also possible reference to Chulainn, the man who gave Setanta(Cu Chulainn) his name Lachesis- Greek goddess of fate and middle sister of the Moirae(fates), she measures the length of the thread that defines a person’s lifespan Beowolf- Corruption of Beowulf, Norse and Anglo-Saxon hero Lewyn- Possibly a corruption of Welsh Llewellyn or Old English Leofwine Sylvia- Latin name in reference to Roman nature god Sylvanus Erinys- Greek goddess of vengeance also known as a Fury or the Furies Tailtiu- Irish goddess and foster mother of the hero Lugh Claud- Alternate form of Roman name Claudius Briggid- Irish goddess of fire Seliph- Original name Julia- Roman name, feminine form of Julius Lana- Unknown Larcei- Corruption of Irish god Luchtaine Ulster- Named after Irish province, As Skasher, his name is a reference to Scathach, the Irish warrior woman who trainned Cu Chulainn Oifey- Corruption of Aoife, Irish warrior woman Diarmuid- Irish hero of the Fianna and lover of Grainne Lester- English name derived from city of Leicester Fee- Diminutive of Fiona or Phoebe Arthur- Named for King Arthur of Camelot Iuchar- Irish figure, brother of Iucharba and Brian, who killed Cian and Iucharba- Brother of Iuhar and Brian, killed Cian Shannan- Corruption of Shannon, a river in Ireland Patty- Diminutive of Patricia Leif- Norse name such as in Leif Erikson Nanna- Sumerian goddess of the moon Ares- Greek god of war Lene- Unknown Tine- Derived from Tini mac Conri, Irish king of Connacht Febail- Irish hero Bran mac Febail Ced- Corruption of Forseti, Norse god of justice Hannibal- Carthaginian general who fought against Rome in the Punic Wars Cairpre- Medieval Irish name with various associated figures Altena- Possible combination of Greek goddesses Athena and Artemis Arion- Possibly from Greek poet Ἀρίων Villains: Alvis- Corruption of Alviss, a dwarf whose name means “All-wise” Andorey- Likely a corruption of the name André Lombard- Also known as Langobalt, both are names in reference to the Lombards, a Germanic people who lived in northern Italy Reptor- Unknown, likely original Travant- German word “trabant” meaning satellite Manfroy- Unknown Loptyr- Name used for the Norse god Loki Story Characters: Eldigan- Original name Grahnye- Corruption of Grainne, Irish heroine and lover of Diarmuid Kurth- Corruption of the name Kurt Cigyun- Corruption of Sigyn, wife of the Norse god Loki Azmur- Original? Mananan- Corruption of Manannán mac Lir, Irish sea god Mariccle- Corruption of mac Lir from Manannán mac Lir EDIT: New etymologies for Friege, Lopty, etc. thanks to comments

Yeah I agree that IS probably realized this and would want to fix it in a remake. I honestly love the massive size of the chapters but since a remake will likely include much more dialogue and plot related events, the massive chapters will probably be interrupted. I think the best approach would be something like having your army regroup after seizing a castle. In the meantime, you can have more things to do in the castle besides the shop/arena that it normally has. Increasing the enemy amount in some of those empty areas can mitigate the tedium some and remove the need to use the arena so much. Honestly I didn't mind the arena since I made a habit of having every unit go through it at the start of the chapter and those who couldn't complete it would do it in the later castles.

I think you are right in saying that there should be some time to see if the translated names are actually what NoA wants, though I do think that some of the translated names make a lot of sense. For example, Holyn was translated as Chulainn, which is a direct reference to the actual etymology of the name. Similary Bridget/Briggid was translated as Brigid, the actual spelling of the etymological source. Even Delmud is correctly spelled as Diarmud, and the list goes on. These are the most accurate translations for their names, at least according to the source material, which is the main reason that I felt these translations could be the official names. At the same time however, NoA can re-translate the names to whatever they feel sounds/looks better so I won't hold my breath.

Will the character names be updated in this patch? Now that Nintendo officially translated every name for all the characters it would be cool.

I decided to pick up Fire Emblem Awakening again recently and now that I find myself knowing what I'm doing when it comes to playing the game, I can focus more on the pairings and grinding my characters. My first playthrough worked out fine since all I needed was a level 30 Polestar King Marth with the Exalted Falchion... Anyway, I originally paired MU with Lissa and it worked out great, but I barely used any of the Gen 2 units besides Morgan and Owain. This time I wanted to try something new and pair MU with Nowi for the lol(i)s. At the same time however, I realized that Cherche is really good too and I can have Nightwing as MU's son. What this comes down to is which character is a better pair for MU in terms of combat ability, skills, and children.

I am totally for Lewyn as the main mage. He was so unbelievably overpowered in FE4 and I'm certain nintendo is going to do its best to ignore FE4 characters. The one issue with most FE4 characters is that they practically all fall into a character archetype where there are more popular and well known characters from later games that can easily fit that position. The basic character types like cavaliers and archers already have good options and FE4 would just be too obscure. Lewyn/Ced was decently unique an Forseti was awesome. I would also love to see Lex since he was the first axe character I actually found to be useful and he seems to have that witty ass-kicking personality that just works for a wild hack and slash like a Warriors game.

FE4 has arguably the best story in the series though I agree that a big chunk of it is locked in lover conversations or even in developer notes. However, the Oosawa manga shows that there is SO much that can be done to extend the plot so I want to see some more detail put into it. Please please PLEASE do the Eldigan x Lachesis arc. That was the best part of the manga and it completely develops up the personalities of the two characters and gives a lot of Lachesis's motives. Not to mention it automatically adds some significance to Nanna and Ares. In regards to the incest I think that FE4 does over do it (even though I am totally ok with it). The relationship bewteen Claud and Sylvia is so basic and unexplored that the whole incest thing can be ignored or, like they do in the game, barely hinted at. The Arvis x Deirde ordeal is completely important to the plot and I think is well executed. I don't think incest will be too foreign anyway since Fates was shag your sister simulator.