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Topaz Light

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About Topaz Light

  • Birthday September 22

Retained

  • Member Title
    Right on!!

Profile Information

  • Pronouns
    He/Him
  • Interests
    Amateur game developer!

    Fire Emblem Fates Castle Address:
    15355 - 13086
    90982 - 69532

    Fire Emblem Heroes Friend ID:
    9904961017

    GENERAL INTERESTS:
    Video game design
    Writing stories
    Drawing (as a hobby, not a career)

    FAVORITE SERIES:
    Pokémon
    Fire Emblem (as evidenced by my presence on this site)
    Final Fantasy (Mainly I~VII because those are the ones I have significant amounts of experience with)
    Chrono Trigger
    Dragon Quest (a newer interest; I've played varying amounts of I, II, III, and IX, but only finished I and II so far)
    MOTHER/EarthBound
    Undertale
    The Legend of Zelda
    Cave Story & Ikachan
    Tales of (I've only really played Abyss and Phantasia, though, in that order. I've also dipped my toes into Tempest)
    Shovel Knight
    Paper Mario
    Mega Man
    Xenoblade Chronicles
    Super Smash Bros.
    Fullmetal Alchemist
    Avatar: The Last Airbender

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  • Favorite Fire Emblem Game
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  • I fight for...
    Archanea

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Topaz Light's Achievements

  1. If what you want is MIDI files converted from existing video game music tracks, I'd recommend using VGMTrans for that. I've fiddled with it, myself, and it's very effective and relatively easy to use. Bear in mind that this program is used for converting directly from the data as it exists in the game itself. It can't generate data based on an MP3 or anything; you'll need to extract the song file directly from the ROM file, which you'll have to find for yourself.
  2. I sincerely cannot choose a favorite out of the Genealogy of the Holy War Arrange tracks. I also love the Sound Memorium arrangements for FE3, but that version of Tapestry ~ Naga's Elegy in particular is a huge favorite, too.
  3. If you want in-universe timelines, for the Archanea-Valentia-Jugdral continuity, it's... Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War generation 1 Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War generation 2 + Thracia 776 (they take place in overlapping time frames) Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (and the Blade of Light) / Mystery of the Emblem Book 1 (it's the same story for all three) Fire Emblem Gaiden / Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Fire Emblem: (New) Mystery of the Emblem (specifically Book 2 in the original SNES Mystery of the Emblem) Fire Emblem Awakening For other continuities... Path of Radiance before Radiant Dawn in the Tellius continuity Blazing Blade (FE7) before Binding Blade (FE6) in the Elibe continuity And then Sacred Stones, Fates, and Three Houses are all standalone and aren't part of any other games' continuities. I suppose you could consider Fates to be like a "#7" in the A/V/J continuity since it has a miniscule connection to Awakening that affects a handful of party members and one DLC episode in ways that have basically no bearing on the central plot, but the situation there is weird and may not count.
  4. FE4 doesn't track non-player weapon uses at all, for whatever that's worth; any weapon in an enemy's inventory has no use counter displayed and effectively has unlimited durability. Not sure how this interacts with broken weapons or with weapon durability upon recruitment for second-generation characters recruited from the enemy side, though.
  5. As before, sticking only to characters whose games I've experienced enough of myself to feel I can really have informed opinions on... MARTH: He's actually really darned good in FE1. His stats are quite solid considering the game's stat scaling (max 52 HP, 7 Res, 20 all other stats), he's got access to a great weapon type and three good Prf weapons (one of which is sold in infinite supply like ordinary weapons!), good Movement for an infantry unit... really, what's not to like? He's not quite as good in the DS games, but he's still far from terrible, and the DS installments' Forging mechanic allows you to make his Rapiers almost as silly as Caeda's Wing Spear. Not entirely consistent in terms of how strong he is, but he's pretty reliably at least a decent infantry sword guy! Also worth noting is that, in all games he stars in, Marth is the sole unit able to visit Villages, and also gains the ability to open treasure chests completely for free quite early on, so he can do some good utility things, too. ALM: Fairly strong in both the original game and the remake. Infantry swordfighters are kind of a dime a dozen in Gaiden and SoV, but he's a pretty good one, and promotion does grant him the interesting distinction of being the only Valentian character with access to two different physical weapon types at once. CELICA: I'm probably biased, but I just love the class she's in and how versatile she is. She's got physical damage, magical damage—including early access to anti-Terror effectiveness—and basic healing. She's ultimately not unique, since you can get at least three other Priestesses, but I do think she's really cool, and her sheer versatility makes me think a bit of Cavaliers in other installments, though she obviously lacks their mobility... that eternal 4 Movement smarts. LYN: She's a Myrmidon. She is literally just a Myrmidon with access to The Cooler Rapier, and she gets bows instead of +15% crit for promoting. ELIWOOD: Pretty middle-of-the-road. He's not terrible, but he's just kinda Infantry Sword Guy #7. His promotion is nice, at least, even if it does come a bit late. Paladins are consistently great, even without axes, and as an Extra-Fancy Paladin, Eliwood inherits many of the class's strengths when he promotes. HECTOR: He basically has the strong points of both a Knight and a Fighter, which makes him nice and bulky and hard-hitting, if slow and a bit less accurate than he could be. He's not comically-overpowered like old fanbase memes made him out to be, but he's a very hardy and reliable unit for pretty much the whole game! EIRIKA: Like Lyn, she is literally just a Myrmidon with Rapier access. In her case, she gets a horse for promoting instead of bows or a +15% critical bonus. EPHRAIM: Really solid stats all around, as I recall, and though he's locked to just one weapon type, it's a really good one. Boring as I find his promotion to be, a horse is an extremely useful and practical boon for any unit to have, so it naturally makes the already-strong Ephraim even more of a force to be reckoned with. CHROM: Very Mercenary-like stat line, but that's not a bad thing. He's a really solid unit, and it helps him a lot that he has incredible effective damage options straight out of the gate, too. The Falchion eats otherwise-daunting Wyvern Riders for breakfast. If you've got a Second Seal to spare, you can trade in his Rapier/Noble Rapier access for a horse (and early Lance access, depending on when you use it) if you'd like, which is I think a pretty reasonable trade. ROBIN: Prone to some variance based on gender (due to reclass options) and the Asset/Flaw combination you pick, but I doubt it's possible to make Robin any worse than "solid". I'm not entirely sure how they compare to the rest of your army assuming being leveled evenly (probably still fairly good), but they are literally designed to snowball given Veteran and how powerful Pair-Up is in Awakening. Plus, with the exception of a few oddball (in this respect) installments, Tomes are almost never a bad weapon type to have access to. LUCINA: She's a second-generation unit in Awakening and her fixed parent is solid and force-deployed in every story map, plus she has a great Prf sword that she can use in any class that's able to use the weapon type. She's pretty much destined to be great, though just how great she is long-term is somewhat dependent on who her mother is. ALFONSE: IIRC Alfonse actually ended up being surprisingly solid, what with his refines changing his weapon's buffs from Defiant- to Brazen-type. The Triangle Adept skill refine is inherently situational, but he has potential as a slow, tanky heavy-hitter. SHARENA: She's a pretty balanced lancer! She doesn't really stand out, but she's usable for the quests you need her for and such. I've always meant to put a proper build on her, but ended up just sort of putting it off indefinitely. ANNA (FEH): I haven't quite found a use for her, admittedly. She's fast and fragile... and thoroughly outshone by other characters who are faster, stronger, and far less delicate. Her Prf refine seems like it could be fun to play around with, but I'm not sure how best to make use of it. He is really good in FE1, though his growths, while definitely very good, aren't actually remotely unmatched; there are plenty of other units in the game with similar growth rates. I think there are several meaningful differences between FE1 and DSFE in terms of Marth and how he relates to other units that contribute to him being so good in FE1: The addition of Reclassing in Shadow Dragon (and retained in New Mystery) introduces a new weakness for Marth relative to other units that wasn't a factor in FE1 (or FE3, for that matter). Because nobody can reclass in FE1, Marth being unable to isn't a shortcoming unique to him; that's just how every unit works in that game. FE1 has no weapon triangle, which means that Marth isn't stuck with constant minor stat penalties against most enemies like he is in DSFE. FE1's follow-up threshold is just one more point of Attack Speed than the opponent, and Swords are the lightest melee weapon type, which means Marth doubles a lot more frequently. This is also helped by the fact that... Rapiers, while still only usable by Marth, are sold in shops in unlimited supply like regular weapons in FE1. Combine this with the fact that they don't have weapon triangle disadvantage against almost everything they're effective against... FE1 has fairly low universal stat caps (52 HP, 7 Resistance, 12 Movement, 20 for all other stats), and uses the same style of promotion gains as Gaiden and Shadows of Valentia; that is, "raise stat to X value if applicable" rather than fixed bonuses. While promotion is still definitely a leg up in FE1, the gulf between Marth and units who can promote is significantly smaller compared to in DSFE. As well, FE1 has a lot of units who can't promote at all; the number of characters capable of promotion in FE1 sits at just over 40% of the recruitable roster. Only Cavaliers, Archers, Mercenaries, Pegasus Knights, Mages, and Curates are able to promote at all, and realistically none of your four Curates are going to be reaching level 10 considering how they have to be leveled up. The stat gulf between prepromotes and tier 1 recruits in FE1 is also noticeably smaller than in later games, which also helps keep Marth from being as outclassed, comparatively. This is just my analysis of the situation, of course. Someone else may be able to provide a more accurate one.
  6. I mean, sure, I'd be down for more characters having facial hair. Fire Emblem has very large casts of playable characters alone; pretty much all avenues for potential aesthetic differentiation between characters should be considered open, in my opinion. That said, I don't really want Fire Emblem characters to just start looking like regular real-life people or anything, but that's not really the question, haha
  7. Of the Avatar characters, I definitely think Kris is the most fun on account of having the coolest customization in all respects other than appearance. I know later Avatars can technically still be any class, but choosing your character's starting class just feels cooler to me. I also think Valentian Villagers and magic-users in general are really fun. I love how customizable Villagers are; seeing each character in various different possible outfits lights up the same part of my brain that appreciates all the different Job Class outfits in Final Fantasies III and V. As for magic-users, I just love how spell lists work in Gaiden and SoV; makes spellcasters feel easily the most varied from unit to unit within the same class. In particular, I really enjoyed using Sage Atlas a lot. Probably not particularly effective as promotion options for him go, but nuking stuff from a distance with Sagittae powered by his monstrous Attack is super satisfying.
  8. Sticking only to characters whose stories I've experienced enough of myself to feel I can really have informed opinions on... MARTH: I actually like him a lot! He is, in a lot of ways, pretty "vanilla" as heroes go, but I think he's a pretty compelling instance of that type of character. I appreciate how genuinely thoughtful and conscientious he is. One of my favorite details in FE1 is how many special animations Marth has; he actually has distinct animations for each of his three Prf swords, though the difference between the Rapier and Mercurius animations is rather subtle. ALM: He's a pretty fun and likable character! I'll admit I'm not as enamored with him as a lot of people, but I do still like him. The big twist about his character really undermines the message his side of the story seems to be aiming for in the remake, which is a shame. CELICA: I actually like her a good bit. It's still really disappointing to me how shafted she gets in the writing department later on in her route, but I really like her and her party as characters quite a lot! It also doesn't hurt that she's one of my favorite classes in the series. LYN: My perception of what popular opinion of her actually is has been reduced to a fine powder by all the reactions to her prolific inclusion in Fire Emblem Heroes, but Lyn herself is actually a really interesting spin on a Fire Emblem Lord to me. I didn't really think of it this way before watching the Support Science video on her, but I think it's cool how her introductory arc is an abbreviated version of the standard Lord arc, and then the rest of her personal development is a sort of more low-key examination of whether or not that "ending" actually works for her as a person. I don't know if IntSys had actually meant to do that sort of examination of their own commonly-used tropes thing, but it kind of ended up like that, and I think that's pretty cool. Really hate IntSys using a fifteen-year-old to draw in sex appeal money, though. Don't mistake that distaste for anything like surprise or disbelief, mind you, but I still hate it. ELIWOOD: I appreciate how he's just an earnestly nice dude, and he gets some pretty cool moments in the plot, I think! I actually really like characters who are just genuinely nice and chill people, though I get that they're often considered boring. I also really love the voice casting for Eliwood in FEH. If all but one of Yuri Lowenthal's Fire Emblem roles had to be recast, I'd pick Eliwood to be that "one", honestly. HECTOR: He is pretty strong as a unit, but I feel his reputation as one is... a bit exaggerated. As a character, having played FE7 again recently, while he is definitely "the muscle" of the game's main trio, I really wouldn't consider him dumb muscle. He's blunt and direct, but a lot more thoughtful than I think people both in-universe and out give him credit for. An Armored Axe Lord is also just plain cool. EIRIKA: I still need to replay Sacred Stones to refresh my perspective on her, but from what I recall I actually like her a lot. I love her design and personality, and she's actually always appealed to me more than Ephraim does out of the two Sacred Stones Lords. Really boring promotion, though. Her and Ephraim both. EPHRAIM: A lot like with Alm, I've never been as big into him as a lot of people, but I do still like him and think he's cool. I do appreciate his sheer gutsiness, and I can definitely appreciate the concept of a character a part of whom would love to just ditch the obligations others have placed on him to live his own dreams, too. Really cool to have a lance infantry Lord... though, like his sister, his promotion's super bland. CHROM: He's a pretty versatile character, which I think is his biggest selling point. He can be serious, caring, a dorky goofball, or a long-suffering straight man depending on the scenario, and none of it really feels out-of-character to me. He's not especially deep, but I do think he's pretty fun. ROBIN: Relatively inoffensive as Avatar characters go. It definitely helps that I think Awakening does the best job in the series of balancing an Avatar and a predefined Lord as co-protagonists in its narrative. Technically they're a very similar class to Celica, but it's just not as cool without the healing magic access and "holy magic knight" theming. LUCINA: She has a very strong character design. One of the best in Awakening, I'd say. She's also inherited some of her father's versatility as a character, though she tends to lean "serious" more frequently than he does... and understandably so, honestly, considering her backstory. I don't have quite the same level of attachment to her a lot of people do, but I do think she's pretty cool. Kinda wish she had a stronger presence in the plot post-reveal, though. ALFONSE: I definitely fall into the camp of people who were initially pretty ehhh on him, but came around a lot as new arcs fleshed him out more. I like him pretty much on the same sort of level as I like some main series Lords, actually. I find him pretty likable, and I think he has some solid motivations underpinning his character. SHARENA: Really wish IntSys would put her on more even narrative footing with Alfonse, and it feels kind of insulting that the closest they came to doing that more or less got All Just a Dreamed in the end. For a while, she was actually my favorite of the Askr trio. I appreciate how good-natured she is and I love her design! ANNA (FEH): Counting her because she's clearly meant to form a trio with Alfonse and Sharena, and they're both definitely Lords. Actually, I think that's... kinda the most interesting thing I have to say about her. I like her design and the fact that she's allowed to do things besides being a greedy moneygrubber, I suppose.
  9. I don't really have too much of a preference when it comes to deployment limits, since I think what makes sense for those is something best determined on a per-chapter basis, depending on what experience the chapter is trying to provide. I do tend to prefer larger rosters of characters, although not infinitely large. Something in the realm of 1.5x ~ 2x as many recruitable characters as there are chapters is about how I like it, to give a broad estimate. I think it gives you a good number of characters to pick from and play around with, and it's also a good roster size-to-chapter count ratio if you're designing around permadeath, I think. In a story like the ones Fire Emblem often tells, I'll admit I also rather like the "aesthetic" of a larger cast. Having more people involved can contribute to the feeling of the world being bigger, the events of the story playing out on a larger scale, etc. Granted, not every story is going to be going for that sort of feeling, and that's alright, too! I just think that it's something a larger party size is complementary to.
  10. Wouldn't say I'm glad it's gone, but I do think it's a good thing for it to be viewed as just another mechanic to either include or not depending on what suits any given individual game. So, I don't think it's necessary for a good Fire Emblem game, but nor would I say I hope it's gone for good.
  11. I believe Yexin is talking about the cancelled second Wii Fire Emblem game, which looks to have been planned as a sort of JRPG / RTS semi-spinoff. Tellius visual assets shown here were likely placeholders (Stefan, Ilyana, and Rhys would be quite an arbitrary party lineup), and it's unknown if the game was actually intended to have any plot or world connection to the Tellius games. As for me, I would, in fact, love to play a finished version of FE64, since every indication is that it was just a completely separate game from anything that's actually been released. "FE5.5" would be really interesting to see, I think. On the topic of N64 games, I'd also love to try out Mother 3's original N64 incarnation. I know the core plot wasn't changed in the process of porting the project over to the GBA, but a ton of details were, and I'd love to see that earlier draft of the story. Also, I'd adore getting to play the little-known canceled fourth mainline Final Fantasy game on the NES. No, it wasn't The Final Fantasy IV We Actually Got, but On the NES; it was its own game, and the SNES FFIV was always intended as a SNES game and was originally planned to be numbered V. According to Hironobu Sakaguchi, NES FFIV was "around 80% complete" when it got canned, and many of its ideas ended up being used in games Squaresoft released in the years to follow, although exactly what those ideas were wasn't clarified in the interview. There are screenshots and a translation floating around for an article about the game in an old Japanese gaming magazine, but it seems that article was entirely speculation about what a fourth NES Final Fantasy would be like written by people who didn't know anything about it beyond just that it was in development, so it's not really indicative of what the actual game was like. Er... that turned into a bit of a rant, but I love classic Final Fantasy games (particularly the first four odd-numbered ones), so the idea of there being another entirely distinct one that was canceled just piques my curiosity like few other things can.
  12. ...What? Ricken and Donnel have the same marriage option parameters as every other Gen 1 character; they can marry anybody of the other gender who's recruited by Chapter 12, save for Anna and Sumia, who, along with Chrom, does have limited support options. The only pairing in Awakening that was "edited out" is Lucina and Owain, who can even still reach S rank, just with the relationship reframed as purely platonic / familial on account of them being cousins.
  13. I think the animations for Sacred Stones-original classes are kind of a trade-off, for the most part. On the one hand, they're generally a lot smoother and higher-quality on a purely technical level. On the other hand, though, the... choreography, I suppose? How the classes are animated to move, is often a lot less exciting. So, better animation, but used to depict less eye-catching action. That's my take, anyway.
  14. I do, yes. I see no sense in sacrificing the security of living with people I trust and saddling myself with a ton of extra expenses, given, well... the state of things nowadays. Besides, do correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the whole "rush to move out as soon as you're legally an adult" thing a distinctly Western concept? I've heard that, globally, multiple generations of a family sharing a living space together generally isn't considered unusual or shameful or low-class at all, but I haven't really extensively researched that or anything.
  15. To be honest, they're one category of character that makes me wonder if how I mentally process fictional characters is somehow different from how most other people do, since how much I like a character as, well, a character is oftentimes entirely detached from how much I'd like them as a person, and in fact almost always takes priority where the two opinions may conflict. For example, if Shinon were a real person, I'd want absolutely nothing to do with him, but I love him as a character because what he contributes to the story and the dynamic of the Greil Mercenaries makes things more interesting. When I say that I "like" a fictional character, it's in the latter sense that I mean that statement, and I find this ends up being applicable to a lot of characters who are abrasive or even frankly bad people. This isn't exactly applicable to Shinon, but I also find that it's actually pretty easy for me to forgive a prickly exterior if a character is ultimately a good person at heart... probably in part because I can, in some ways, relate to the feelings that lead to that behavior, even if actually acting on those feelings in that way isn't something I generally do.
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