[FE4 Novel Translation *Now 100% Complete!!*]

Wow this is great! I had never heard of these novelisations... Thank you, and I look forward to reading the rest of this!

[Genealogy of the Holy War Valkyrie Staff Help]

1 hour ago, hanhnn said:

If they are paired, then it stays like that even if you don't revive the dead unit, and you can't pair the alive unit to anyone else.

If Holyn is killed, Ayra still gives birth to the twin Skasaha and Lakche, but their stats are now weaker than if Holyn is alive.

Ah, okay, I understand now. Thank you so much! 

[Genealogy of the Holy War Valkyrie Staff Help]

6 hours ago, hanhnn said:

They return like they has never die, everything stay the same, items, love points, pairing if they were paired before death. 

When a unit dies, their love gets erased, along with their partner's love with them, right? And then it comes back when they are revived. Does this apply to both male and female characters? 

For example, if Ayra and Holyn are paired, will killing one of them remove the love from both of them (at least until they are revived), be it Ayra or Holyn that were killed? Or does this only apply if the female unit is killed? 

What I mean is, if Holyn is killed, does Ayra retain her love for him? Or does the love get erased whether it is Ayra or Holyn that is killed?

[Genealogy of the Holy War Valkyrie Staff Help]

20 minutes ago, hanhnn said:

They return like they has never die, everything stay the same, items, love points, pairing if they were paired before death.

Ah, okay. Thanks. 

[Genealogy of the Holy War Valkyrie Staff Help]

So, I'm replaying Genealogy of the Holy War again and was wondering about the Valkyrie staff. I've never used it before (either because I never had to or wasn't able to pass it down) on my past playthrough, so I don't know the details of how it works. I've looked some stuff up, so here's what I understand:

- it can only be used at the very start of a turn and the user has to be in the base castle

- it can be repaired and reused 

- it can be used on anyone who has died within the current generation

Correct me if any of this is wrong, but my question is this: does the revived character return with all items they had when they died, or are they lost and their inventory emptied? I made a pairing that I've decided I don't want, so I was going to kill them and revive them to undo this. I forgot to empty their inventory before killing them, so I want to make sure I've not lost those items. 

Also, as a side note, I know that killing them will remove the pairing, but when they are revived, do they return with love points cleared, or should I wait to form a new pairing before reviving them? I'm pretty sure that lover points are cleared for the revived character, but I'd appreciate a definite answer. 

 

Thanks. 

[Areone/Arion's motivation]

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

The Empire's reinforcements were called by Travant, long before Travant came to the decision that they should join forces. Like I said, the situation between Thracia and the empire is completely unchanged before and after Travant makes a peace treaty possible. Travant's wishes are for a truce, Arione's is not. The two characters are faced with the exact same opportunity, something about Arione's personality needs to be established to make his decision different from his father's. And at this point, the only thing that's been established is that he seems to be nicer than Travant, at least in regards to Altenna. Fighting and steadily losing war is not what's in the best interests of the people. The people absolutely are suffering if they're fighting a war, and if the liberation army go on to lose against the Empire, the Empire absolutely will swoop in and take control of a weakened Thracia. Hell even if Thracia manages to beat the Liberation Army somehow, the empire would probably barge in and take control of a Thracia weakened from the fighting. In that final attack Arione calls out the reserves, he's basically committed every able bodied person in the country to commit to destroying the Liberation Army. Even if that were a victory, it would be a Pyrrhic one at best

And in case you missed my edit, Arione absolutely does know about the state of affairs in regards to the Child Hunts as it's the whole reason Tara rebelled, which went under Thracian occupation. Arione knows the empire is no true friend to Thracia, he knows the day will come when he needs to fight the empire, yet he continues to fight for the empire using the lifeblood of the very country he's meant to be protecting.

And as for why Julius saved Arione (aside from leaving it until the last chapter to wrap up that plot arc) I would definitely like to know. He doesn't show the same courtesy to Faval or Brian for some reason, so it's not just about controlling Holy Weapons. Does he know Arione fairly well or something?

Yes, Arion does know of the child hunts, however (correct me if I'm mistaken), he does not know anything of Loptyr or the reason behind the child hunts. Also, Arion has only just stepped in to become the king, and immediately has a major decision concerning all of Thracia to make. His decision may or may not be completely logical, given the stress and pressure he was under, not to mention that his own father had just practically committed suicide and his sister and love has just realised that she is actually the sister to the heir on Manster District, Thracia's largest historical nemesis. It is understandable even that Arion at this point no longer cares, and is gambling on the slight chance that what he does may help to end Thracia's suffering. After all, none of his options seem appealing, and he simply did what he believed provided even the slightest hopes for Thracia.

55 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Fighting the liberation is no better an option. It's a much worse option, because no matter how things go down, Thracia is going to come out on bottom. Either he loses and everyone suffers, or he wins and everyone still suffers because the Empire will not hesitate to invade afterwards (as they've done to literally every other nation on the continent). The only way he could be victorious is if he thinks he can completely win the war without weakening Thracia at all, which is basically impossible (and not at all helped by the fact that he literally gives a holy weapon to his enemy in the form of Altenna). While siding with the Liberation Army comes with a feasible chance of actually winning, they've already liberated two countries. Either Arion is a coward who is shit scared of the empire, or he's a complete overconfident idiot who thinks he can win even when Thracia castle itself is the only fortification left standing. The former is completely unsupported by the game (and Thracia especially) while I don't think the latter is exactly the impression the game wants to give of him.

Corple was on a holy quest at the time according to Hannibal, he was picked up in Munster along with a load of other Munster children.

Even though Arion probably knows that the Empire will likely overtake Thracia in its weakness, there is the chance that it will not, as well as the high ransom on each of the Liberators' heads. Given how much damage the Army has done to the Empire, Arion may believe that the Empire will actually uphold its promises. Invading Thracia is something that would not provide any sort of benefits to the Empire for the most part, given the arid climate and remote location of the kingdom. It may even be wiser of the Empire to keep them as allies instead, so that they would not have to provide for these suffering people while still having the advantages of squadrons of dracoknights. But even still, it is unlikely that the Empire would opt not to overtake Thracia. However, as I've said, Arion has few options left and he's taking what he thinks to be the most promising gamble. 

1 hour ago, ATNAK said:

But Trabant's actions have never been confusing and even at the end when he decide to basically commit suicide his motivation is what's up for debate not his actions. Precisely because despite not being the main character (or even the main villain!) he does spell out his motivation for us. We saw him discussing it with Arion on screen, it's not a designer's notes or left out on the cutting room floor stuff, it's right there in the game itself. 

The only ambiguity is exactly what Trabant thought and feel as he fly off to his death when he was super gung-ho on fighting the liberation army before. Still by his actions, saying Arion is complying with Trabant's wish by refusing to even entertain the thought of a truce feel off. If Trabant is really all for siding with the empire (which he explicitly said before that he's not) and want to fight the liberation army to the best of his ability there's no reason why he should gave up his holy weapon. That make it seem like 1) Trabant literally don't care anymore and just want to die or 2) He's getting himself out of the equation so Thracia could reasonably call for a truce. 

Either way, Trabant clearly left the decision up to Arion and well you brought up how lowly Thracia is regarded in the empire's eyes... that just make the case for Arion's decision is all logic look weaker here. Arion knows what the empire is like by now, there's no way he doesn't because we already see Trabant already talk to him about this. Sure Julius teleport in to save him for a bit, but there's no illusion here. Thracia has already lost. 

Travant's last words to Arion:

Spoiler

Trabant:
“Here, I’m leaving this lance with you. Thracia is in your hands now.”

Areone:
“Isn’t this the Gunguneel? Father, what’s the meaning of this? Don’t tell me you’re going into battle without it.”

Trabant:
“Areone, I’ve grown tired. It’s me they’re after anyway. Do as you see fit after I’m gone, okay?”

Areone:
“So you’re suggesting I call for a truce!? I will never, ever give in to them, father!”

Trabant:
“Like I said, do as you see fit. I only ask that you see an end to the people’s suffering. Farewell, Areone!”

Areone:
“Father…”

Before Travant leaves, he states that he has "grown tired" and that "it's...[him] they're after anyway." This seems to imply that he is kind of done with life, as you mentioned as a possibility. He's tired, and ready to die. Maybe he is even hoping that he will be more useful to Thracia in death than he was in life, either that Arion will hopefully be a better king than he, or in his death, as you again mentioned, it may open the possibility for a truce, or convince the Liberation Army to stop with its invasion of Thracia, which also seems to implied in Travant's second sentence: "It's me they're after anyway." Travant's suicide likely makes Arion even more spiteful towards the Liberation Army, and less rational. Perhaps Arion even believes that at this point, with Altena gone, Travant dead, and Thracia incredibly weakened by the Empire and the Liberation Army, Thracia has no future left, and that it could at least go down fighting against the men who killed their king and his father. But I think that it is more likely that Arion is simply trying to decide what is best for Thracia in a time of crisis, probably with little experience and after going through a very traumatic event. 

[Areone/Arion's motivation]

3 minutes ago, Jotari said:

It's absolutely established that there is a very tenuous alliance between the empire and Thracia, but imo, that's just more reason that Arione shouldn't do what they say. It's clear that the Empire will not respect Thracia sovereignty forever, Travant knows it and that's exactly why he tries to get Thracia on the Liberation Army's side. Travant is in the exact same position as Areone in regards to the empire, yet he chose belligerance and ultimately an alliance (he just had to remove himself from the equation first due to bad blood). Nothing changed about Thracia's relationship to the empire once Travant died, for Arione to act wildly different to Travant's wishes, then it needs to be established that Arione is, well, more cowardly than Travant. Which isn't the case at all. In fact, in his one scene in Thracia 776, Arione is the one who's more gung ho about  openly defying the empire and needs to be cautioned by Travant (albeit more because he wants to protect Tara than actually destroy the empire, although it's made equally clear that Arione absolutely knows Thracia will have to fight the empire one day).

However, Arion is not acting against Travant's wishes. Travant's final words were advice, and telling Arion what it means to be a king. Travant instructed Arion to do what he saw fit, but to keep the people of Thracia at the forefront of his mind and decisions; Travant didn't tell what to do specifically, just that he should recognise that as a king, Thracia and its people should come first, before any personal desires or issues. Arion listened to his father's advice and chose to fight the Liberation Army instead of calling a truce, thinking that it would prove to better the state of Thracia. Whether or not it was the same decision that Travant would have made, it is what Arion thought was the right choice after Travant caused him to recognise his duty as a king. 

 

As a side note there's also the fact that Julius saved Arion from the Liberation Army on the verge of death, and I suppose as well as that Imperial reinforcements that arrived to assist Thracia, so choosing to side with the Empire certainly did get Thracia in favour with the Empire.

[Areone/Arion's motivation]

16 minutes ago, ATNAK said:

There's one problem with this interpretation though, Thracia is never better off under the Empire's rule. Thracia is not exempted from the child hunts and the only reason why Manster isn't already under Thracia control in Gen 2 is because the Empire just move in and took over (when Trabant already succeed in offing Cuan and everything!). 

If the empire won, there would still be child hunts in Thracia and I am sure Thracia still wouldn't get their hands on Manster anyway (we are talking about an evil empire run by a human hating dragon after all). So with that in mind, even an uneasy truce with Manster would still be an improvement for Thracian people and it's not like the new emperor couldn't force a fair trade agreement that would solve Thracia's starvation problem (even if the solution is hardly permanent and Manster could still force outrageous tariffs on Thracia later down the line just like what started off the civil war to begin with)

Thracia always have it bad, but siding with the evil empire isn't going to change that. 

That's true, that's a very good point. However, it's not as if Arion knows much or anything about Loptyr or anything else yet. From his point of view, siding with the Empire could very well offer benefits to Thracia, especially if Thracia were to succeed in taking out the Liberation Army. It's also important to understand that Arion is choosing what he think will have the best outcome for his people, from what he understands about the Liberators and the Empire, and that even if the outcome isn't necessarily a good one, it's all relative to what other choices would present. Even if siding with the Empire and fighting the Liberation Army offers few or no benefits, choosing to side with the Liberators, who are not necessarily likely to succeed, or even calling a truce will make Thracia much worse off. 

[Areone/Arion's motivation]

7 hours ago, Jotari said:

That's all nice and logical, and discussed at length in the other topic, but its completely unsubstantiated by the actual game. There's not a single line that I can find that suggests Arione is intimated by the empire or threatened be Leif.

I'd argue that it is, in fact, shown in the game, just its implied rather than being explicit, and is quite vague, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The game doesn't specifically tell you Arion's thought process or reason for his decision, instead shows things such as Grutia being held by the Dark Bishop Judah, and how both Judah and Musar of the Empire are not fond of Thracia and quick to call it useless, how all of Travant's actions, while confusing, were often done out of concern and desire to improve the lives of the people of Thracia, and showing Arion's love and concern for Altena, and their relationships with Travant. After all, Arion is not a main character, so it is not really necessary to spell everything out so clearly and provide set-in-stone answers regarding things such as Arion's decision. I agree that it is likely that dialogue got cut that may have made this more clear, but it being a little vague, ambiguous, or up to interpretation is not a bad thing. Even more dense dialogue explaining every little nuance in the game like this would be overkill and would honestly probably do the story bad rather than add to it, not to mention the hardware limitations of the time. 

[Areone/Arion's motivation]

To me, Arion's decision as well as how his father's final words impacted it seemed rather clear. Nevertheless, I do see where the confusion has arisen from. Allow me to explain what I believe on this matter.

Arion, in the moments from when the Liberation Army first began advancing on Thracia to when King Travant fell in battle, was met a multitude of decisions to make. Most important of these was the decision of what to do regarding the future of Thracia. 
Arion's options were:

╭─━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━─╮

1) Join or ally with the Liberation Army, and effectively call a truce with Manster District

- Siding with the Liberation Army (and Altena, who he loved) would result in Thracia becoming an enemy to the Grannvalian Empire, and if the Liberation Army were to win against the Empire, Seliph would almost certainly take up most of the burden of restoring order. Leif would return to Leonster and conflict may continue between Manster and Thracia, despite the truce, with Seliph again almost certainly choosing to side with Leif and Manster. If the truce were upheld and conflict between Manster and Thracia subsided, then Thracia again would not be well off, and stuck barely surviving in the arid mountains of the southern end of the peninsula, unless they received a lot of foreign aid from Seliph and the Liberation Army's reconstruction and peace efforts, but relying on that would not be ideal. 

Spoiler

Trabant:

“Everything rests on the unification of the peninsula. The fertile lands to the north hold the key to eliminating poverty within our kingdom. Areone, our ways have often been likened to that of hyenas… Yet our mercenary work for foreign lands has meant the kingdom’s survival. However… I’ve had enough. It’s time we move up in this world. Areone, the rivalry before us will determine the fate of Thracia.”

If the Liberation Army were to fail, Thracia would be severely punished by the Empire for choosing to support the Liberators. So, whether the Liberation Army succeeds or fails, Thracia will be worse off. 

2) Abandon Thracia independently and join the Liberation Army

- Thracia is left without a king, at least until (if) Arion returns, which will obviously not be good for Thracia. No doubt it will not be long before the Empire discovers what Arion has done, at which point the Empire could, and likely would destroy or exercise total and cruel control over the already weak, leaderless Thracia to teach a lesson of what it means to support the Liberators. If the Liberators were to succeed, Arion would be left with a broken kingdom to rebuild, likely with help from the Liberators and Seliph. Afterwards, things would continue as in the first option. If the Liberators were to fall to the Empire, Arion would be killed and Thracia would be thrown into dissaray, likely becoming subject to much abuse from the Empire. 

3) Do nothing and let the Liberation Army pass, calling a truce with both the Liberators and Manster District (so that the Liberation Army can be sure that Thracia will not attack them from behind as they advance into Miletos) 

- This would be the same as the first option, except Thracia would have less favour with Liberation Army, putting them even worse off if the Liberators succeed, and Thracia would not be punished quite as severely by the Empire. Against, not a smart option in regards to Thracia and its people's prosperity or even survival. 

4) Continue war with the Liberation Army

- If Thracia defeats the Liberation Army, then Thracia will undoubtedly be better off with the great bounty on the Liberators they'd receive and the increased support Thracia would receive from the Grannvalian Empire, and controlling the entire peninsula and taking over Manster would become an easy feat. 
- If they fail to defeat the Liberation Army, but the Army is later defeated by the Empire, then Thracia will still be rewarded and in the Empire's favour because they still tried, at least. This is even shown in the game by Julius personally saving Arion from being killed by the Liberators, clearly a sign of Thracia in favour with the Empire, which is not something that would have happened had Thracia not resisted the Liberation Army. 
- If Thracia fails to defeat the Liberation Army, and the Army later defeats the Empire, then Thracia will have had the Empire's support until the Empire was toppled. After which, while Thracia certainly will be punished for supporting the Empire, it would not be too severe a punishment as the goals of Seliph and the Liberation Army after defeating the Empire would be to return peace and order, not repeat the same creutly that met the world with Arvis' reign. Thracia would likely only have to pledge a pact of non-violence (or just less violence) and pay in work or money to help with reconstruction. Definitely not an ideal outcome for Thracia, yet still not the worst.

╰─━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━─╯
I believe that looking at it this way makes Arion's decision much more understandable. Initially, he was considering calling for a truce, as seen in his conversation with Altena.

Spoiler

Areone:
“Prince Leaf is waiting for you. Go to him.”

Altenna:
“But what’s to become of us?”

Areone:
“Altenna… this is our fate. And the sooner we resign ourselves to it the better.”

Altenna:
“Areone, we can call for a truce! With King Trabant gone, there’s nothing stopping us! Besides, I’m not about to fight you!”

Areone:
“If it weren’t for father’s parting words, I would… Just go, Altenna… now! Next time we meet shall be on the battlefield. But be ready… I won’t go easy on you!”

Altenna:
“Areone…”

A truce with Manster would been appealing, especially seeing as he had only just learned of Altena'a ties to Manster. He would not want to war with his sister and love, and he holds little against Manster and the Liberation Army anyway, so to fight rather than form a truce seemed foolish at first, when he was thinking more only of himself and Altena. 

However, his father's final words incited him to think of his duty as a king, made him think of how his decisions would affect Thracia as a whole, rather than just himself and Altena.

Spoiler

Trabant:
“Here, I’m leaving this lance with you. Thracia is in your hands now.”

Areone:
“Isn’t this the Gunguneel? Father, what’s the meaning of this? Don’t tell me you’re going into battle without it.”

Trabant:
“Areone, I’ve grown tired. It’s me they’re after anyway. Do as you see fit after I’m gone, okay?”

Areone:
“So you’re suggesting I call for a truce!? I will never, ever give in to them, father!”

Trabant:
“Like I said, do as you see fit. I only ask that you see an end to the people’s suffering. Farewell, Areone!”

Areone:
“Father…”

He realised that calling for a truce would ultimately be detrimental to Thracia, and the best way for him to better his kingdom would be to continue to war with the Liberation Army.

┬┴┬┴┤┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈├┬┴┬┴

Going back to the options I mentioned earlier, the first would result in becoming dependent on other countries as Thracia's condition only worsens, or at best remains poor, if the Liberators succeed. Else, Thracia would be greatly punished by the Empire. Supporting the Liberation Army and/or calling for a truce with Manster hardly seems a fine choice for the fate of Thracia.

The second option would result in a similar but worse fate than the first option if the Liberation Army succeeds, but otherwise would result in the likely destruction of or cruel dominion over Thracia by the Empire. Against, not a smart option.

The third choice would result in the same as the first option, except Thracia would have less favour with Liberation Army, putting them even worse off if they succeed, and Thracia would not be punished quite as severely by the Empire. Again, terrible choice.

Finally, the fourth option would result in Thracia gaining support and money from the Empire and extending control over the verdant, fertile plains on Manster if they defeat the Liberation Army, or still be better off and in the Empire's favour should the Grannvale Empire defeat the Liberation Army later. If the Liberators succeed, then Thracia will not be well off, though their punishment would not be too severe. Overall, this option definitely seems the most appealing and practical in doing what will benefit the people of Thracia most. Despite this option distancing himself the most from Altena, Arion chooses to do so as it is the most beneficial for the people, as Travant's words make him realise.

· · ─────── ·?· ─────── · ·

So, to recap, Arion initially considered a truce, as it would allow him and Altena to remain close, and avoid conflict between them. However, a truce would benefit few others than themselves, and as Travant's final words reveal to Arion, he must choose what is best for the people of Thracia rather than himself. Following his father's advice, Arion chooses to do what he think will be best for Thracia, and continues to war with the Liberation Army, despite the distance it draws between himself and Altena. 

While Arion's actions seem foolish, or even antagonistic, to Seliph, Altena, and the rest of the Liberation Army, as well as the player, Arion was actually being quite selfless and doing what is both expected and dutiful of a king, and given the position he was in, I believe that Arion made the more difficult choice. Whether or not it was the "right" choice is all up to personal interpretation and opinion. 

[About a Jugdral remake...]

A remake of these games is one of the things I look forward to most in the coming years, as they are some of, if not my favourite Fire Emblem games. Regarding my hopes and expectations/predictions, I'll tackle this in pieces:

First, the story, characters, script, and everything related. I really hope that they do not make many changes to the stories, including the details such as incest and child hunts mentioned. While some of these things could be altered without too large of an effect on the overall story, they still contributed to the mood or atmosphere of the story. They could change hunting babies and children, killing them in the masses and cruelly kidnapping them to kidnapping teens or older children, but the added detail that it was young children being killed makes the story darker, and adds to the characters such as Julius while also even adding to the plot. I'm honestly not sure what Nintendo and Intelligent Systems will choose to do regards these darker details and themes, but I've said what I hope for them to do. 

I also think that they will likely add in supports, which would help flesh out many characters and would be a nice addition to the love system already present. There are already quite a lot of character conversations with the chapters, but support conversations would really be nice, and seeing characters slowly grow closer through conversations would be quite an improvement to the love system that doesn't have much effect out of gameplay. 

We'll also obviously get the first official translation for the games, and I also wouldn't be surprised if they added voice acting. 

I don't think they'll make any major changes to the soundtrack, just increase the quality, maybe add some complexity or instruments here and there. 

The graphics will obviously get a huge boost from the originals, and from past remakes, as this will likely be on the Switch. It will be really interesting to see how this will look with 3-D or high-quality animations, especially if they add in fully animated story cutscenes like they have with many of the recent installments. 

One addition that I think would be quite nice, which would relate to gameplay and graphics would be making the castle towns to be fully explorable and 3-D, kind of like the My Castle from Fates, the villages from Echoes, or hopefully like what we see from the trailer for Three Houses, with what seems to be 3-D, explorable castles and areas, exactly how I would like the castle towns to be in a remake. 

I hope that the art style will be nice and fit the dark atmosphere of the games. An art style similar to Echoes would fit well, I think, or they could keep the old art style Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776 had, which I would be all for. 

Finally, regarding the gameplay, I do think that they will do something regarding the large maps in Genealogy. I was personally quite fond of the massive map, but I know that many others do not share my opinion. However, I do not think that they can simply make the maps small, nor split the maps into multiple chapters, particularly for chapters such as chapter 9 of Genealogy and others, where there is movement and things happening throughout the entire maps. However, I do think that there are ways to fix the issues present with the large maps without actually changing the maps. For example, to decrease the length of enemy phases, they could incorporate buttons to speed up or even skip the enemy phase like in other games, and/or implement a way for legions to move all at once. For instance, imagine a legion of 10+ dracoknights (or anything else) making a direct path for the player's units. Normally, you'd have to watch each individual unit move in the exact same path to get closer to your army. However, what if all the units in the legion could just all move as one legion, just all moving at once? I think ideas such as these would work well and could fix many issues without actually changing much or creating more issues. 

Some people disliked the absence of a trading mechanic, however, including one would honestly break the game and devalue the usefulness of gold, inciting even more changes to fix the many new problems that that solution would create. I suppose there may be a way to make a trade mechanic work well, but I think the remake should stay without one; I think it simply makes more sense and does the game good leaving one out. 

Though we know little yet of it, I do think that the formation mechanic present in Three Houses could work really well in a Genealogy remake, including visually representing each unit as an army, as that would really fit with Genealogy's story. 

I also agree with what you said about borrowing mechanics from Thracia 776 to add to Genealogy of the Holy War in the remake of the games, and vice-versa.

They could also add small chapters or sidequests to the games, or NPC's within the castle towns or something to make the castle towns feel more alive, though I'm not too sure on that last one. I'm also not sure if they will add items such as vulneraries in, but I'm leaning towards no. 

I personally hope that they don't decrease the difficulty, particularly with Thracia 776, though I suppose a difficultly option couldn't hurt things.

I am also very against adding an avatar, no matter how relevant to the story, even if it were like Mark, because it simply would not fit into the story at all, and would only hinder it, in my opinion. Also, what impactful purpose would it serve to the gameplay, story, or anything at all?

I suppose they could do with some balancing, though I didn't find too much at fault with the balancing as it is. Maybe just make fire spells do more damage and/or wind spells weaker. As it stands, wind, fire, and thunder tomes are all the same save for weight, making the only reason to not use wind is for magic-triangle reasons, but normally wind tomes have a distinct and clear advantage over the others. A lot of people seem to want changes with the Pursuit skill, but I'm not too sure where I stand on that. I personally didn't have any issues with doubling dependent on a skill, but I don't know. I am also mostly against legendary weapons being nerfed, because they are really supposed to be overpowered, and I didn't find them too game breaking. 

They could maybe add in a few weapons or items, such as maybe killer weapons, weapons that reverse the weapon-triangle, etc.? 

Lastly, I suppose they could make it less easy to boss-grind somehow. 

That's really all I can think of right now, so I'll end it here.