Constable Reggie

What does this even mean. Society has moved on from wanting good stories with well-written and consistent characters? I mean, if you want to say society has moved from wanting that to wanting masturbatory self-insert stories that decides that, no really, it totally wants to be taken seriously while also including a shitload of shameless fanservice, go ahead, but I don't think that's anything to be positive about. Also, you don't worry about the incest; it's optional.

Because it creates a jarring and inconsistent tone for the game. If you're going to enjoy the game because of/despite the fanservice, great! It's good enjoying things, and I sincerely hope no wants to prevent you from enjoying it. But please keep in mind there are legitimate criticisms that hamper others from liking the game as much, and we voice those criticisms because we love(d) the series in the first place.

As a matter of fact, the entire story except for parts you like is optional! Just skip/close your eyes during any part of the game you don't like

The same way that an "optional" intermission scene of Gustav and Zero fucking would take away from my immersion in The Grand Budapest Hotel. It's there, and it's meant to be digested along with the rest of the game. Claiming that it's optional as some sort of catch-all defense is ridiculous.

Sorry, the "it's optional" trite doesn't fly with me.

You're right, I'm not super well-versed in GoT. Thanks for informing me of the other things involved. My argument on Fates' jarring tonal inconsistency still stands.

Was the latest rape of the previously untouched character fanservice?

I can't speak super in depth for Game of Thrones, but from what I gleaned about the show from pure osmosis, claiming that Game of Thrones' sex scenes are fanservice seem to be laughable. Horrific sexual assault and rape scenes are fanservice now? Second, GoT's sex scenes are not there to be purely ogled by the watcher - they serve the story. When I say fanservice, I'm talking about lingering ass + boob shots, the ability to undress every character down to their underwear, rubbing people's faces and tits, lesbian relationship between male players' favorite female character and the self insert, etc etc. Fanservice directly affects a story's tone. Ergo, it directly affects the story. You're only furthering my point by claiming that people say the game is meant to be taken seriously. Contrast that with the ample sexual pandering, and you've got ridiculously jarring tonal shifts that utterly destroy immersion. For example, right after you fight your opposite family, a moment of heavy betrayal, you unlock mycastle and the ability to rub people's faces. When Camila comes over to your army, the game's camera makes an effort to linger on her ass and boobs. What does this add? The game's filled to the brim with pandering fanservice. To then expect us to then take the supposedly grimdark story seriously is an insulting joke.

You seem to imply that the mere mention of sex is a juvenile thing. On the contrary, the emergence of love in war can be excellently handled, and I will argue that it's perfectly mature and in line with Fe4's story. The specific support you seem to be referring to ends with the implicit understanding that they will never see each other again. This is coming from the most lighthearted character in the game at an emotional climax in the story, so it's perfectly in line with the rest of Fe4's tone. On the flipside, what does being able to touch Tharja's breasts add to Fates? Do I get a deeper understanding of Tharja by doing this? I'm not sure why you seem to think the fanservice is strictly tied to "optional" content. Is having to watch this optional? I suppose if I were thick I could argue that it's optional in the sense that you don't have to look at the screen when this comes up, but really. The "its optional" argument requires a ridiculous amount of mental gymnastics to take seriously that it isn't even worth acknowledging. Please try not to take criticisms of a game personally, it's not intended as such.

Examples, please. edit: let's be clear how stark the tonal shifts in this game are. This is a game that contemplates heavy issues. This game is supposed to be more heavy than say, Luminous Arc 2 "if we work together we can triumph over anything!" level of serious.

The fanservice in itself is not the troubling aspect - I can understand it existing in games such as Hyperdimension Neptunia, the problem with its inclusion in Fire Emblem in particular is that it vaporizes any semblance of a consistent tone. Games like HN and Disgaea have consistent tones - lighthearted and jokey, and so the fanservice in those games don't feel out of place (though I still personally struggle to play the HN game I bought on a sale whim despite this). The interviews with the Fates guys indicate that they want to make this game's story meaningful. What a joke. The decision to include so much fanservice (which include the likes of a pandering lesbian Tharja), along the other horrible choices IS have made (in particular, the decision to split the game at the store, rather than at the player's choice) butchers any possibility of this game having a quality story. Wasn't that the initial hope when this game was announced? Enjoy the fanservice if you want, but there's no denying that until IS just up and make the straight hentai game they seem to really want, its a significant detraction. Focus on either a "heavy, meaningful story" (ex Fe 4, 5, 9. 10, etc), or a non serious "rub everyone's tits and strip them to their underwear anime" (ex HN, Senran Kagura, etc). Trying to combine the two, like Fates is doing, is laughable.

I find the problem to go further than IS just being incompetent at writing anything close to resembling good characters and relationships. The support in question halfassedly dwells on the taboo nature of their relationship (Tharja: "I wish I was a man so my attraction wasn't weird!") - doing this shifts the focus on homosexual relationships as opposed to the characters themselves and subsequently, predictably makes a mockery of it. As a result I find its inclusion to be detrimental to Nintendo's approach on equal representation as opposed to just not including it in the first place. If the notTharjaxKamui support was in line with the typical S support from Awakening, I wouldn't have as much an issue with it. Instead, they make an effort to point out and dwell on the homosexual relationship. As for the other relationship, this quote from a redditor sums up my thoughts: "Wow, IS made the sadistic prison rapist the only gay option."

I can only speak on the SharaxKamui relationship, since that's the only one I've read (If the S support translation I've read is inaccurate, the rest of this post is moot, but I honestly doubt it is), but it's saddening that one of Nintendo's first direct forays into such a topic is a hugely insulting one. The support is horrendous in that reads like it's aimed at the (male) players who say their favorite Fire Emblem character is Tharja (read: the developers at IS), as opposed to being a remotely dignified or nuanced approach to a topic that deserves much better than this. If people like this inclusion solely because their lesbian Tharja fantasies have finally been realized, then more power to you. Let us not pretend its inclusion accomplishes anything more than that. We should expect better than this; more Arcade Gannons and less of this pandering shit.

Chrom I've had time to ponder Ylisse's place in the world, Frederick. ...And my own. We must stand against evil, in all its forms, or there can be no peace! He says this immediately after seeing Dalton kill the villager (imagine how much better this would have fit if he said this after, say, chapter 15). Regardless of Valm's (single) action right before he says this, it still shows that Chrom easily accepts Virion's words on their surface and heads straight to battle, while ignoring any course of action other than full confrontration. Of course, right after repelling Valm's advance force, he doesn't try any sort of negotiation (it's irrelevant if it would have failed, what's important is him trying), he goes and gets war materials in order to gain an upper hand against Valm. This is after just one battle with Valm, where Chrom generalizes the entire opposing force as savages because of the actions of one commander. All he knows about Valm at this point are the testimony of one person (something which, if we saw ourselves, might have bettered the story), and the actions of the commander of the vanguard. Better just mark Valm as savages and call it a day, I guess.

I find it humorous that having a comic relief character exposit "Trust me guys, this Walhart is a really bad dude" is apparently sufficient motivation to initiate a full-out war with another nation. I may rag on Sword of Seals for being the worst FE game, but I at least distinctly recall it at least showing Zephiel/Bern doing bad things in order to sufficiently motivate your group (and by extension, you) to fight them. Good stories aren't accomplished by having mere exposition entirely dictate motivation. This is why the Valm arc fails to be one.