Book Bro

I remember posting somewhere that I thought the Flame Emperor would actually be a woman and/or related to Edelgard. Whelp.

My theory is that they originally planned for each route to have slightly different takes on some missions highlighting houses and problems in each territory in part 1 (makes more sense than only planning to feature the Kingdom like in the final game) and be totally unique in part 2. But then they took so long with Azure Moon that they realized they would have to change their plans for the other routes, so they left part 1 largely the same for VW, then realized BE would need even more cuts which led to SS being similar to VW and CF being shorter and having less cutscenes. The odd thing to me is that they seemingly left BE for last despite planning two routes for it since the beginning and given how Edelgard is the most pushed of the lords, even the theme song is named after her in Japanese. You'd think they would've prioritized that house, but I have no doubt they started with Blue Lions given how much part 1 revolves around them.

Late to the discussion, but add me to the pile of Edelgard fans who like CF but were disappointed by how rushed it is. I hope the developers one day talk about the process and difficulties of doing 4 routes, and why CF got the short end of the stick. I had hoped that they would patch in more updates to the route aside from playable Jeritza, but with all the DLC done it doesn't look like they considered it was feasible.

I didn't see Dorothea won the BE poll, nice! While I votes for Edelgard, I love Dorothea just as much. One of my favourite characters in the whole series tbh. I'm currently in my first BL run, but I'd recruited several of them in previous playthroughs. They're probably the group I'm least attached to, but I voted for Felix because thinking about his whole backstory and character growth, and especially how different it can be depending on who's side he's fighting on, he's really wonderfully written. Basically, @omegaxis1 nailed it in their post.

I hardly ever use Armour Knights. The only ones I like using are Gatrie, Effie, and Lukas. And for Lukas I see it as a downgrade tbh. Edelgard and Hector are obviously exceptional but that's because they're armoured lords, not normal units. I guess the best game for them is Fates? Because their movement limitation can be easily remedied with Pair Up and defense is a good stat to have/boost.

This I do agree with. It's clear the trend of needing games to be "open world" has led to the current stream of FE games with world maps and/or different routes. I like what they did with 3H, but I don't want that to be the only way FE works from now on. There's obviously pros and cons to each type of game design, open vs linear, and while I feel the openness of 3H worked for part 1, in part 2 it didn't mesh so well with the story. So it would be nice if the next game took a simpler approach in this sense.

Good to see that they've not only grown but seemingly have focused on hiring women. I love their ambitious approach to games and would much rather see them continue to try new and bigger things, even if they aren't executed perfectly, than settling with safe or generic games. Can't wait to see the next thing they've been working on.

Hope for FE4 Echoes. I could see Tellius remaster happening instead if IS have been busy with Paper Mario. I kind of expect Warriors 2 feat. Fódlan, Tellius, and Elibe/Jugdral within the next year depending which of 4 or 6 is getting remade next. I think they could also do a second wave of 3H DLC though. Also won't stop hoping for updates to CF.

I feel like Rhea would convince Dimitri that Edelgard needs to be dealt with, possibly by taking advantage of his mental instability to get him on her side. Claude would declare neutrality and would have to deal with an internal conflict between those who support him, those who support Rhea, and those who support the Empire. Which probably leads to Rhea and Edelgard bringing the war to the Alliance to try and gain the upper hand. I don't see the Empire falling into chaos given how swiftly Edelgard and Hubert take control and get rid of opponents, which I don't imagine being different in this scenario. If anything I feel there would more unity if Rhea were to go on the offensive against the Empire first.

Considering how surprised Rhea is that a member of House Hresvelg would betray her, I think it's fair to say she was probably so detached from real world events not directly threatening her rule that she wrote it off as humans being humans. I don't think she knew about TWSITD being involved or their experiments though, she might have acted if she had.

Exactly. One way it could be solved would be if the other professors (maybe make Seteth the third professor?) alternate in teaching each house every month, for example, and the teaching segments just become each student choosing what to focus on every week, call it homework instead of tutoring. For exploration, you would control Edelgard, Dimitri, or Claude directly. I like @NobodiePichu's idea that this way we'd get to see more of what each lord is up to in their off time.

WARNING: major spoilers for all routes including Cindered Shadows follow. Don't read if you don't know or don't want to know all the lore and backstory. Also some FE7 spoilers. So, as someone who loves 3H but isn't a fan of avatars in FE, I've been bothered by this feeling that the game could've been better without Byleth's whole "you are the fated child of destiny" thing cheesing it up. Yet at the same time, their role is really important to Rhea's character and simply cutting that whole plot point wouldn't really work. The Cindered Shadows reveal of Byleth's mother and the way that Rhea goes to great lengths to explain that yes, she creates vessels for her own means, but she loves them as her children, made me consider a new idea. This kind of sounds like Nergal but with emotional attachment. So let's say that Rhea has still been archbishop for millenia and has also been trying to revive Sothis like in the actual story. In this case, the Knights of Seiros would be largely made up of these failed vessels who, like the morphs, do their master's bidding and have their own personalities. Think Seteth and Flayn but instead of saints they're Rhea's creations (I would keep Seteth and Flayn as they are though, as I think it's interesting to have other legit Nabateans that don't fully agree with Rhea's practices). This still allows for Rhea to maintain her status as a sympathetic but questionable character. When siding with her, we would gradually discover the truth but get to see how she legitimately cares for her children and is still driven by the same goal of reviving her mother. But when siding against Rhea, the whole question of fate vs free will and the ethics of her essentially making artificial people could be explored more deeply if she's using them as fodder to fight you: is Rhea justified in creating these beings who do have a certain degree of freedom but are nonetheless bound to do her bidding or be punished/written off as "just another failure"? I feel like the implications of Byleth's choice to go against Rhea wasn't developed as much as it could have been because of their silent and neutral nature, even when rebelling. Maybe we still get a defector from the Knights of Seiros who chooses to rebel against what they were created for and betray the church, which route you pick determines if they're an enemy or ally. They could even give this character their own route so that there's an option to go against the church without necessarily siding with Edelgard, as many find her too extreme, instead of Silver Snow and Verdant Wind being so similar (apparently, as I've yet to play SS). I realize the easier answer here is just "make Byleth an actual character and give them a full personality". That could work. Especially because removing Byleth entirely also leaves the question of who does the player control? The choice could instead be between house leaders once you get to the monastery, after a slightly extended prologue so you get to know each of them. This obviously means that the part 1 arc has to change to accommodate the fact that the whole Flame Emperor stuff wouldn't work if you have the option to directly control Edelgard. But this isn't necessarily a bad thing, as I feel a part 1 structured around each of the lords discovering snippets of the truth and that determining where they fall once Edelgard decides to rebel, based on what she discovers confirming her mistrust of the church, could work better than it basically just being about Edelgard working behind the scenes with TWSITD and the other two being completely dumbfounded. I do think the story could work without Byleth and maintain generally the same lore behind it, but at the same time it isn't as simple as just cutting them out. Would love to hear any more ideas for either improving or removing Byleth while keeping Rhea's backstory generally the same.

Shadow Dragon: Marth, Caeda Gaiden/SOV: Python/Saber, Celica New Mystery: haven't played Genealogy Gen 1: Lewyn, Lachesis Genealogy Gen 2: Seliph, Altena Thracia 776: haven't played Binding Blade: Zephiel/Raigh, Guinevere/Lilina Blazing Sword: Jaffar, Lyn Sacred Stones: Ephraim, L'Arachel Path of Radiance: Ike, Elincia Radiant Dawn: Pelleas/Ike, Micaiah/Elincia Awakening Gen 1: Gaius, Cherche/Maribelle Awakening Gen 2: Gerome, Lucina Fates Gen 1: Leo, Oboro Fates Gen 2: don't exist to me but shout out to Forrest Three Houses: Claude, Edelgard (not done Azure Moon so my feelings for Dimitri might grow) Heroes OCs: Alfonse, Laegjarn I guess?

While I agree with some of what you're saying, I can't agree with your conclusion as a lot of what one could criticise 3H for also applies to Fates. The story falls short of what it could've been? Check. Repetitive gameplay? I felt it by the time I got to Revelation. Difficulty issues? The only route that Fates got right was Conquest and with Maddening there's at least some improvement in 3H. I personally prefer 3H's story being divided up in the four part 2 routes that, when taken together, at least form a cohesive narrative, than Fates' three full price routes that make little to no sense individually or together. I agree that 3H part 1 could've been better, and I believe they might have intended to include more differences for each house since it's really focused on Blue Lions, but as you said it's a consequence of 3H being one package as opposed to Fates. And tbh I'm willing to settle for a samey part 1 and pay only once. I mean, it's basically like replaying any of the other games that don't have route splits, only in 3H you at least have the freedom to try out new class builds. If you are locking the characters in to what you perceive their roles to be, that's on you. I've done shit like Gremory Hilda and Wyvern Rider Lysithea is a thing in the community. 3H encourages experimentation and unless you're playing Maddening non-NG+ you probably won't be punished for it. Presentation is pretty even between the games as 3H has full voice acting and, imo, better battle scenes, while Fates has really slick menus and is great looking for the 3DS. Map design and mission variety definitely goes to Fates but mainly because of Conquest, and tbh considering how awful Revelation maps are it might cancel out. As for the choice... While it definitely feels like a more pivotal moment in Fates, this really only applies if you purchased the LE. If not, you're making the choice at the store, between two physical packages. 3H may not give you much information in-game before asking you to choose, but at least you can make the choice in-game every time. In the end both choices are probably more based on character looks and limited information about the campaigns rather than actually siding with who you think is justified in the conflict to come. I'm sure Fates has its fans and that's totally fair, as I consider Conquest a great game despite its massive flaws. But it does kind of feel like "last game nostalgia" in this thread to me. Like I said, there's some massive flaws even in the best route of Fates, while personally I consider 3H's flaws to be minimal.

Currently doing Azure Moon Maddening NG+ and it's super fun. Want to try it without NG+ but also afraid it'll be too difficult without the bonuses.

I sent everyone to the right, kept Yuri and Balthus out of enemy range, and used Retribution to kill the mages with Byleth/Dimitri. Then it's just a matter of waiting until the boss is out of Meteors so you can get a couple of characters to ambush him (I used, again, Byleth and Dimitri). With some gambits and lucky criticals he shouldn't take too long to go down. I definitely think this map was the hardest of the DLC, I had to restart a few times because I ran out of divine pulses.

I'm disappointed with the story they chose to tell in this DLC.

About time these characters were added! I never heard Fiora's voice in Heroes before, definitely doesn't suit her. The rest are great even if Rath seems a bit too talkative lmao.

In the order I played them: FE7: 8.5 - great cast, decent story, great gameplay. Still a top tier FE. Its biggest "faults" are maybe the smaller scale story and inconsistencies, but honestly these things don't bother me that much. FE8: 7 - the cast and story to me are good, but not among the best in the series. The best part of SS is the gameplay, I loved the openness and freedom compared to 7. FE6: 7 - really like the game, it's very fun to play despite being so bare bones. Might have something to do with me liking Elibe but I just always have a good time going back to it. FE9: 9 - an almost perfect FE. The only negatives imo are the bad graphics/cutscenes and that the difficulty could be higher. FE10: 9 - same score as PoR. While the presentation is a lot better (I honestly don't dislike the graphics), the story has more issues than its prequel and the lack of supports is disappointing. FE11: 3 - it's good fun if you can't or don't want to play any of the others for some reason. The main cast is cool but there's so much dead weight, and the story is decent, but it isn't told in a very interesting way. Still can't understand why they went for that god awful graphical style. FE13: 5 - mostly everything about it is just mediocre or disappointing. Bad story, bad writing, mediocre cast, mediocre gameplay. FE4: 8 - the gameplay is definitely the low point as there are so many things that feel dated and can make it a chore to play. Story, cast, and music are among the best in the series. FE14: Birthright 6.5, Conquest 7, Revelation 0. Overall 6.5 (not an average). Birthright is passable, thanks to the interesting aesthetic that feels refreshing. Conquest is saved from having the most embarrassing story in the series by having amazing gameplay. The soundtrack is overall really good, and I like most of the cast well enough. Revelation is pure garbage, it doesn't do anything right. FE15: 8 - held back by the maps and the bad characterization of Alm and Celica in the later parts of the game. Otherwise a great title with a lovable cast, good writing, and great presentation. FE16: 9 - best "modern" title. Positives: amazing cast, world building, OST, story is very good, gameplay is phenomenal, voice acting adds so much value. Negatives: graphics could be better, Hard mode is too easy, certain routes and story bits should've been better fleshed out, monastery can get boring.

I mean there's an entire Twitter account dedicated to tweeting things cheaper than a year of FEH pass that also include much more bang for your buck, including full FE games with DLC, passes to the FE Expo, a Nintendo Switch Online membership, and FE Figmas, so I'd say the price is a big issue. What they're offering is worth $3 to $5 USD per month max, not $10.

Ike: amazing queer representation in a genre that doesn't tend to do them well, fights for his friends the oppressed, generally a likeable and "unconventional" protagonist who speaks his mind. Lyn: I like that her story is really personal and the themes of racism, family, and identity resonate with me strongly. Edelgard: she's the best iteration of a morally questionable main character in the series as far as I'm concerned, and her backstory, motivations, and ideology make her a very intriguing character to me. Zephiel: similar reasons as above. He's the most interesting antagonist of the GBA era to me due to seeing him as a child and how his trauma shapes his actions as king. Hope the eventual Elibe remakes expand on his characterization. Arvis: clearly have a thing for antagonists with sympathetic goals/motivations. His shift from gen 1 to gen 2 makes him especially interesting. Lewyn: his free spiritedness and struggles with his inheritance and how this shapes his arc through both generations. I'll stop there, this list was getting way longer so I had to leave some characters out.

Edelgard > Dorothea > Petra > Linhardt > Hubert > Caspar > Ferdinand > Bernadetta Honestly though, I love them all... except Bernadetta.

Micaiah, Edelgard, and Dimitri are the only ones imo. Corrin tried to be morally grey but the game went out of its way to pretend nothing he did was wrong, so eh. I considered voting Sigurd but in the end I think he's way more good than questionable. It would be interesting to see a remake make him more complex. Alm pre remake would've fit this definition, but SoV didn't run with it. Oh and Chrom could've been another but he suffers from a similar problem as Corrin. The game should've called him out more for essentially making excuses for his country's past injustices while condemning others for similar deeds. But in the end it turns out he's justified and Ylisse can do no wrong.

Feh pass is dumb but I gotta say I'm surprised that I like the Askr outfits so much on Lyn and Cordelia (who I thought was Lucina from the silhouette, I was shocked it wasn't tbh). Not generally a fan of the Askr aesthetic but they look good.

Plumeria is exactly what you're claiming happened with Edelgard. She's the new, attractive, fanservicey character and so Heroes players rallied around her like they did with Loki last year. The claim that Edelgard had the most votes because a lot of them were probably waifu votes from people who didn't play 3H assumes that not only did a significant amount of Heroes only players pull her, but they also found her non fanservicey design attractive enough to use her, liked her personality from level up lines more than original Heroes characters who feature in story mode, chose to vote for her War Arc form due to convenience or curiosity, and that there was enough of them voting to successfully push her over Dimitri as the top scorer. It's a lot of assumptions that make no sense considering people who haven't played 3H have no reason to care about her when the game they are playing, Heroes, just introduced a bunch of new characters that are specifically designed for the waifu crowd they could vote for instead.