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  1. So I've been playing a full reclass run lately and I kind of want to share my thoughts on each character and how they fare in their respective reclass options. Now I did have some rules in place and they are the followings: 1. Must Heart Seal ASAP, unless the unit is needed complete the following stage in their base class. 2. The only DLC is the Gold DLC, to buy heart-seals and weapons because most of money object might not be doable. 3. Must try to get the most gold in a map if there is an objective to get gold, but not necessary. 4. Their first level gained must be in their heart class, unless they were obtained before chapter 6. 5. They can never change back to a class in their base promotion tree. 6. They must stay in their heart-sealed Class until around level 20/10. (Broke this with Azura for level 5 partner sealed, but still trying to follow this) 7. No Reward or Bonus items. Note: Now the first rule is because Camilla and her retainers need to stay in their base class for you to survive chapter 10. [spoiler=Thoughts on each character] Corrin(+Str,-Lck) - SpearFighter > SpearMaster > Paladin > Bow Knight > Basara > end as SpearMaster (Maybe) Depends on how you made him, but he helps out early game as a spear fighter because of javelins and seal defense. Azura - Sky Knight > Falcon Knight > SpearMaster from S-Corrin: Azura has a hard start in that she's kind of weak, but mine started at level 1. She's the similar to what she would be as a dancer, except she can fly. So she's a strong unit, but very frail. As a Falcon Knight, she makes a great Healing Flier and also a Mage Killer. Felicia - Hero: She's great at the beginning, with good skill and speed. Her promoted str base helps early game, but she will fall off later. If you got her early, then she has decent use, but she's not great when you recruit her later. She may be able to use the Levin sword if you get lucky. She does provide decent pair-up support for Corrin. Jakob - Great Knight: Many people know how great Jakob is as a Great Knight when he is your first servant. Later on he's still pretty good, but not as good. He's better than Felicia as an early unit and late unit. He also makes a great pair-up for Corrin. Mozu - Archer > Sniper: She's great, because she's Mozu and the Sniper class is great. Elise - Wyvern Rider > Malig Knight: Now Elise actually does okay for her first few levels, and her hit rate is actually decent because of her high luck I think. She does start to fall off later in the playthrough, but she starts to shine when you get the Bolt Axe. When she turns to a Malig Knight, she starts destroying the enemies with that Bolt Axe. Arthur - Cavalier: Now Arthur is kind of slow, but he does have a pretty good physical bulk and will be able to tank some hits. His personal and luck may get him killed, but being able to tank hits and have access to shelter allows him to save your other units. Effie - Ttroubadour > Maid: Staves don't require much magic, but her heals won't be that great and she can't use her personal. Highly recommended to staff abuse. She'll have decent Str,Skl,Spd,Lck and will help GREATLY after staff abused for Chapter 13 and 14. Leo - Strategist: Now the thing with Leo is that he usually does well in his heart sealed class because of higher magic and speed. It also allows for him to heal alot with his high magic and hit with status staves if that's how the formula work. Odin - Samurai > Swordmaster: Changing him into a samurai is great for Odin's speed, but his strength might get screwed over. He does have a lot of skill, luck, and heartseeker, so expect him to hit. If his magic turns out well, he'll be a great Levin Sword user. Niles - Dark Mage > Dark Knight: He has decent Str and Mag, so he does well as a Dark Knight. He has a decent start, but he does make good use of Nosferatu. After promotion, he becomes a decent tank that won't get doubled. His luck is low though and his skill may stay low. Having access to the most accurate weapons means he won't have trouble hitting much. Camilla - Sorcerer: She had to be stuck as a Sorcerer and she should turned out okay, because she has the best magic for a Dark Mage, but she has a really hard start. Her low magic and skill base means stat screwage might make her less useful. Although D rank tomes is pretty good. She's useful if luck favors you. The thing is, you might need her as a Malig Knight to clear chapter 10. She's best used as a Dark Knight. She's great for early Nosferatu tanking. Selena - Pegasus Knight: I didn't really use her, because she had low Str and Skill and I chose Azura. She's more defensive than Azura, so she has WAY better survivability. Beruka - Fighter > Berserker: Having 50% Str growth means it's a flip of being strong or not. She's still a good unit in that she has good defence and now high HP. Her high skill helps in hitting with Gamble on, so she should hit and crit often. Her weapon rank transfers over, so she won't have to start with bronze weapons. Xander - Wyvern Lord: Upon changing, his defence increases and allows for him to take physical hits better. He should be able to take bow hits well, but it's a weakness that may kill him. Losing access to his sword, means he's stuck with D lances and that makes him less useful than usual. He's still a good unit because of his defence, and D lances allows for Beastkiller which helps alot in the Kitsune chapter. He has access to Shelter and Elbow Room, so he'll do good damage and can save you when needed. Laslow - Ninja > Master Ninja Now being a ninja, Laslow is still pretty strong and is now decently fast. Since hidden weapons are great, he'll be your main hidden user if Effie or Charlotte does not turn out well. He should have decent defences, and he does well on pulling ranged enemies with Strong Riposte. Great at wittling enemy down, or just killing them. Peri - Dark Mage: She actually can do decent chip damage as a dark mage, because she has access to Elbow Room and Devilish Wind. It's recommended to early promote her. Even if you don't use her to fight, Shelter can be used to move your characters around. She works better after promotion, but that's if you can reach level 20/1 or else you might drop her off later after promotion. Silas - Mercenary > Hero: Silas trades in his movement for great skill and good speed. He might be one of your best early game character. His personal skill and Corrin's personal will allow for Silas to one-shot enemies early on and tank hits as well. He's pretty much mandatory for the beginning of the game. Gunter - Wyvern Lord: He does well in his join chapter and does well in making a great pair-up for a Physical Corrin. He gives Corrin Strength, Defence, Mov, and Flight. Not a great unit, but he does help on chapter 15, but he can't solo it. Charlotte - Troubadour > Maid: She's the same as Effie, except she has more Hp than Def. She's great against female units, but she can't use her personal crit bonus with bronze weapons. You'll have to staff abuse her, because she will not be doing much healing. Of course, she's still good for healing if needed. Get her to D-rank hidden and she'll be great for Pegasus or Falcon units. Sadly Kinshi Knights and maybe Priestess might kill her. Benny - Fighter: Didn't use, because he doesn't have any speed and he can't crit with bronze ranks, but he has great defenses. Might want to keep him as a knight for the defense boost on pair-up until his chapter ends. Keaton - Fighter: Didn't use, because his skill is kind of low and I had Beruka. He should turn out quite good if he goes Hero, but he starts with E rank swords after E rank axes. Nyx - Outlaw: IIRC, she can't kill the pegasus units in chapter 10 with a bronze bow. She has low hit and low strength. If you can get her the Shining Bow, she'll make a great support unit as a healer and Flyer killer. Don't expect her to hit by herself. She has insanely high speed, so doubling does help her on most units. Kaze - Samurai: Didn't use, because I had Odin. He does deal more damage, but he can't really take any physical hits. He can use the kodachi with Poison Strike to weaken enemies, but he's more of a player phase unit. Shura - Berserker: I used him as a Berserker pair-up support, but he actually does really good damage. He's strong, fast, and pretty accurate upon join time. He might do better as a Ninja, but Berserker has better growths. As a Master Ninja, he's great for debuffing enemies. Flora - Bow Knight: Depends on when you get her, but getting her late kind of makes it hard to use her because e-rank. Izana - Not Obtained Yet: Depends on when you get him, but he's the same as Flora except he can rally Luck and Magic. [spoiler=Thoughts on some Chapters] Chapter 7 - Is hard as heck, if you have to reclass your characters asap. Having Elise be your flier allows for her to move around with her Personal Skill. Effie can't heal, Arthur has no speed, Elise can't take hits, and Felicia has a hard time. Jakob does okay, Silas is great with his Personal Skill. Silas might be the reason that you can beat this chapter, if your Corrin doesn't turn out great. Chapter 9+10 - You might have to have Corrin + Silas Support to take hits and maybe OHKO enemies. Tonics are VERY important here. Chapter 10 is probably one of the hardest map you'll encounter, especially if you don't use Camilla as a Malig Knight or Wyvern Lord Chapter 13 - Clear the left side, but don't pull the boss early because she brings reinforcements. Clear the right side last, but take out Takumi first. You want to go left to get the outlaw. The right side limiting and Takumi can charge in and murder your weaker units. Chapter 19: If you don't utilize heartseaker + beastkillers, you will die. Having Elise+Camilla, Xander+Corrin, and Healer!Azura allows for you to clear the left side of the map. Xander will be doing most of the killing, with Elise and Camilla there to support with Personals if needed, but don't exceed some Kitsunes damage with Xanders defence. The trick to beating this map is to be able to wipe out a group of Kitsunes in one go. Use Heartseaker to kill the Line of Death units. You have to attack-stance beastkillers to take down the whole Kitsune group. Chapter 21: I reclassed Corrin to a paladin through A+ Silas and paired with Xander, cleared the map in like 3 turns. I didn't want to deal with this map, especially without a good Xander, Camilla, Leo, and a good team. Chapter 22: Entraped Hana with Effie, 42% hit with Camilla pair-up, and dealt with the left side. Shelter is useful here. Cleared the right side last, to get EXP for some units. Captured Vantage+Even Handed Onmyoji. This chapter is easy if everyone is fielded on the left side. Chapter 23: I had to Entrap the right unit on the stair tiles, 60-ish% hit with Onmyoji on the second turn, because I don't think I can survive being lunged to Oboro. Captured Rallyman. Entering from the right, I had Bow Knight Corrin with a bronze bow paired with Gunter to clear the ranged enemy because my defenses were shaky with all my other units. Skipped Hinata, because I needed two units with good defense to survive the group if attacking from the right. Bowzu + ranged Corrin works wonder for this map with defensive support. My Corrin and Mozu were use to pull, one by one, the enemy on the wall and slowly took down their forces. Current Chapter - Chapter 24: There are two Falcon Knight with pass that I can capture. Future Chapter - Chapter 25+26: I have to try and clear both sides, and maybe capture a Master Ninja here. No attack>shelter>sing abuse will make these chapters harder. I might have to entrap Hans. Future Chapter - Chapter 27+Endgame: Must try not to rescue skip. Future Chapter - Child Chapter: Grind Weapon rank and level up some of the unpromoted units before chapter 25. Ignatius will be unobtained. [spoiler=Ending Stuff] I just needed to post this somewhere and to show people that the characters can do well in their heart-sealed class. It also shows that Conquest lunatic is not as hard as it may seem, but is still hard as heck though. I'm not counting child chapters, because I'm losing out on one and they scale awfully. I don't think I can save Ignatius either, but Siegbert might be doable. I might be able to answer some questions, if I remember the map well enough. [spoiler=Tips] 1. Heartseaker helps in hit rates 2. Attack stance gives hit bonus, and stacking attack stance supports gives more hit rate IIRC. 3. Shelter helps in hit and runs. 4. The MyCastle with the giant rock helps with Invasion 2, it'll slow the enemies down as the Level 2 Dusk Dragon drains the their HP. 5. Staves other than heal staves exist, you get 2 entrap and 2 rescues to use sparingly. 6. Choose a good talent, like SpearMaster or SwordMaster. 7. Healing items are IMPORTANT for the early game. Edit 1: Added spoilers Edit 2: Added Keaton Edit 3: Progressed to chapter 24 Edit Extra: OCD fixing of wording, spelling, punctuation.
  2. So...Scarlet got zapped. That sucks. A lot. Cause I really liked her. Which makes me wonder, if one was to grind an A-rank or even S-rank support with her, does she live? The game doesn't really give you room to do so since she's basically only with you for one chapter so I'm guessing her death is certain unlike Kaze's. But has anyone tried?
  3. sorrynotsorry for making this topic I just realised Flora joins when you get the Level 3 Fire Orb. ... Fire Orb. ... FIRE. i am dying goodbye
  4. So while making this magnificent hack, while rebuilding some assets and stuff, I came across the runes that circle around Anankos every time he uses his attacks. (alt links: http://i.imgur.com/WzblfZU.png http://i.imgur.com/WC0rFZd.png, yes, this is the original size of both images) Anyone have any idea of what these could possibly say? They're absolutely tiny so it's really hard for me to tell.
  5. So Heirs of Fate 4 came out 4 hours ago &... [spoiler=seeing double] WAIT WHAT YES.......YES YOU ARE [spoiler=birthright flashbacks] [spoiler=conquest flashbacks]
  6. I think bringing up Micaiah to the Robin vs. Kamui poll is going to cause some topic derail, so if we want to continue to discuss this topic we should do it somewhere else. So, I'm of the opinion that Micaiah is superior to Kamui by a long shot. Both Micaiah and Nohr!Kamui are kind of unique amongst FE protagonists in that they side with the "morally wrong" side. So how do Micaiah and Kamui stack up in their choices? Micaiah has more of a reason to pick Daein, for starters, because no one on Daein actively tried to kill her and during the period following the Mad King's War, she actually grew to love the people of Daein and their kindness in the face of adversity. Kamui's reasons for picking Nohr are … well, their siblings. Which is fair, but there is that sort of minor thing where King Garon your so-called father literally tried to kill you twice by the time chapter 6 rolls around. And Kamui has no plan as to what they're going to do once they get back to Nohr. The narrative treats them differently, too. Micaiah is allowed to do morally questionable things and get called out on it. The game doesn't really see her as a hero or a villain, everything we see is through the actions of the characters in the game. Micaiah knows that history may see her as the villain, but she accepts it because saving Daein is more important to her than how anyone else sees her. [spoiler=RD excerpt]Micaiah: I… I want to save them all. The world is a better place with people like them in it. Sothe: I know how you feel, Micaiah. That’s why we started all this. We’ve always been fighting for them. But this war we’re in… It’s not just. We’re fighting on the wrong side. Micaiah: I know. I don’t want to see anyone die. It’s ironic… I’m killing with no malice, because I don’t want anyone to be killed. I… What am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to stand back and let all of Daein perish? Is that the “just” thing to do? Sothe: … Micaiah: If that’s what it takes to be just, then I want nothing to do with justice. I’d rather be hated and feared like Mad King Ashnard. I’d rather the dark god take my soul. I’m going to save my people, Sothe. If the rest of the world paints me as a beast to be reviled and hated, so be it. But Kamui, on the other hand, doesn't really get to morally questionable things and get called out on it. Their (and Aqua's) plan to invade Hoshido (which carries with it a high probability of killing Kamui's Hoshidan siblings and innocent Hoshidans) is akin to doing nothing, and they don't even try to tell the other Nohrian siblings about Garon being a slime monster. But the biggest things that set Kamui and Micaiah apart are 1) the game's narrative and tone regarding them, and 2) the degree of self-centeredness shown by Kamui and Micaiah. Kamui is very self-centered. The entire conflict is about them. Killing Hoshidans who are only defending their country? Oh no, it's all about Kamui and how it's such a mark on their "pure, innocent" soul to have to spill blood and we should pity them. Those Hoshidans who are going to die? They don't matter, outside of what they do to Kamui's conscience. [spoiler=Conquest excerpts]Avatar: ... My happiness is a small price to pay for the good of the whole world. I will continue to fight for Nohr and follow my father's every command. If I must sacrifice my soul and walk the path of evil to end this war, so be it. Even if no one understands why I'm doing this... Even if they grow to hate me… (Conquest 15) Can't find the script for this right now, but in Conquest 24 (Hinoka's chapter), Kamui is just talking about how they have a dream about how after the war (aka after Nohr conquers Hoshido) they want to be able to laugh with their Hoshidan siblings like a family. After one of them may possibly be dead. Without giving a single fuck about how the Hoshidans are probably feeling about them razing their land and betraying them at their lowest point. Nope, all about Kamui. If I looked long enough, I could probably find other examples, but there is a stark contrast in just how Micaiah and Nohr!Kamui act. Micaiah doesn't throw herself a pity party. She made her decision and she stands resolute with no whining, whereas Nohr!Kamui whines before they throw themselves a pity party, saying how this is for the good of the world and this is going to take such a toll on THEIR happiness with no consideration for the people they are invading. And the story even treats them like a hero for it. tl;dr Micaiah is the hero that we needed and deserved in Conquest. Also, please stick to comparing only Nohr!Kamui to Micaiah in this topic. Neither Birthright!Kamui nor Revelations!Kamui are in a similar situation to Micaiah or Nohr!Kamui.
  7. So I noticed how Heirs of Fate is a AU post-story for Birthright & Conquest, &...
  8. Hey guys. Let's make a hilarious thread about nitpicking CinemaSins format. Yes, that format. Let's do it chapter by chapter. Here's the guidelines: *quote line or occurrence here* *comment her* *ding * +1 (or in case of fanservice) *optional comment here* *ngid* -1 Examples: *Camilla is speaking* Camilla IS my sister in this scene *ding* +1 *For each mention of Sub-human* That's racist *ding* If the occurrence happens to frequently, add it to the bonus round. Let's open the sin count Prologue: Ties that Bind
  9. Going through Corrin's supports, I see several options for his/her retainers. What I'm wondering is that there are clearly 3 stated retainers and up to about 6. The three I think are undeniable are: Kaze, Jacob and Felicia. REASONS: Kaze Jacob Felicia As for the rest, I think there are arguments for Silas, Flora, and Gunther. But that would leave Corrin breaking the custom of 2 retainers. So in your headcannon who is it. For me it's Kaze and Jacob for the reasons stated.
  10. Every time I see a thread about the story of Fates, whether it be Birthright, Conquest, or Revelation, it always ends up in a never ending discussion as to whether Conquest/Revelation story is the worst written story in existence. It never really ends positively, just filled with arguments about the varying opinions on Conquest's story, or as Thane and a few others call it, Serenes Law. I have seen the opinions on what was horrible and almost downright offensive to some people about the story, so I want to see what people enjoyed about it, if there is anything at all. Was there anything salvageable from Fates story, anything that you enjoyed at all? Something that made you smile, laugh, or in anyway enjoy yourself?
  11. Fire Emblem Fates Plot Analysis UPDATE: 4/3/16 Disclaimer Please note that this thread will discuss the plots of the three Fire Emblem Fates campaigns: Birthright, Conquest, and Revelation. There will be spoilers in my analysis, so read it at your own risk. To my fellow members: please put all spoilers in spoiler tags. Also, I want to make it clear that I do not dislike this game. The gameplay is, by far, the best in the series. The music is almost euphoric, and the visuals are gorgeous. It is, objectively, Intelligent System's best Fire Emblem game to date (strictly from a gameplay perspective, of course). I only have problems with parts of the story. My analysis will go in the order that I played the game: Birthright first, Conquest second, and Revelation last. I did not have a clear picture of the Fates universe and lore when I began Birthright. On another note, I want to point out that character supports will not be apart of my analysis/review. I will refer to the writing team behind this game, excluding Shin Kibayashi, as "Intelligent Systems." Without further ado, I'll begin my analysis. Beware of the wall of texts in the spoilers below. Moderators, if this plot analysis and discussion belongs in Written Works, feel free to move this thread. ========================================================================================== Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright [spoiler=Lord Corrin the Crybaby and the Mystery of the Exploding Crystals] Introduction: Fire Emblem Cliches Past Fire Emblem titles have a strange obsession with, what I like to call, "the underdog verses evil empire tale." Whether it be the Grannvale, Grado, or Bern empire, previous Fire Emblem games almost always follow a young lord, determined to end the tyrannical reign of an evil despot. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright, falls under a similar trope. We are thrust into the shoes of Lord Corrin, a sheltered, dragon boy youth who, after uncovering the truth about the atrocities that King Garon has committed towards the Eastern Kingdom of Hoshido, decides to side with his Hoshidian blood "relatives" (?) to put an end to the evil Nohrian kingdom. From there, Lord Corrin takes on a military campaign, full of death, drama, betrayal, and, strangely, utter hilarity. Despite his hardships, Corrin ultimately triumphs against the evil gorilla King Garon and helps his elder brother, Ryoma, ultimately restore peace between Nohr and Hoshido. Part 1: Politics? To begin, the words "brainwashed" and "deceive" stood out to me while I squashed the Nohrian armies in Birthright. These are terms that often come up when the Hoshidan protagonists come into contact with their Nohrian counterparts. Whether it be Prince Ryoma accusing Prince Xander of deceiving Lord Corrin, or Prince Leo warning his sister, Camilla, of Corrin's supposed attempt to delude her during Chapter 13, the two warring kingdoms do their best to demonize each other. During a few the chapter battles, some of the Nohrian royals' retainers even call the Hoshidans "fiends." Where did this tension occur between the two kingdoms? Was it simply the death of King Sumeragi at Garon's hands, the kidnapping of Azura and Corrin, and Garon's general aggression towards Hoshido that led to this divide? There is more to the story, of course, but Intelligent Systems should have, at least, put in more information regarding how the Hoshidian and Nohrian conflict arose in the first place. It’s treated simply as a given: Nohrians and Hoshidans hate each other. Period. Prince Ryoma says something that struck me as odd during Chapter 23. He states that he had no idea Nohr was a destitute kingdom with limited resources. He then makes an interesting remark; he plans on extending a helping hand towards Nohr by offering them a share of their bountiful resources once the war is over. Was Ryoma as sheltered at Corrin? This was, again, a failure on Intelligent Systems’s part to address this issue even more; the political tension between the two countries was reduced as a mere side note. The lack of resources in Nohr could have been the primary reason why the partially demented Garon sought to invade Hoshido. Is this why the Nohrians refer to the Hoshidans as fiends and/or deceivers? Are they pointing out the duplicitous nature of the Hoshidans? If they are such a peaceful kingdom, why haven't they helped Nohr in the past? Are they isolationists? These are questions that desperately needed answering in this campaign.The Hoshidians were portrayed at goody-two-shoes; there was nothing about the Hoshidans that would make Corrin regret his decision siding with them. Intelligent Systems and Kibayashi could have done something with the Mokushu, but, sadly, their leader was only an egotistical, megalomaniac that simply wanted to be king of Hoshido. Whoopdeedoo. The only instances of true gray morality in this plot was Corrin's decision to side with Hoshido. Adding more political drama to the story could have afforded Intelligent Systems the opportunity to add morally questionable situations. I understand that this campaign only tells a fraction of the overall plot, but I believe that it would have been better if Intelligent Systems focused more on the politics rather than Iago's booby traps and disappearing acts, Garon's evil schemes, and the mysterious invisible warriors. This issue partly stems from Garon's poorly constructed character. He is just a big old bully who got all sad (and possibly possessed?) when his wife died. If Garon were more calculating, emotionally manipulative, two-faced, and sly, he would have worked as a better antagonist. Kozaki should have designed him so he didn’t look so evil from the get go too. Part 2: Lord Corrin likes to Cry Corrin is more interesting as a lord than his predecessor, Chrom. Unlike Chrom, Corrin has a real dilemma to overcome--choosing Nohr or siding with Hoshido. Unfortunately, after Lord Corrin decides to side with Hoshido in Birthright, he seems to forget about his Nohrian siblings entirely. Save for the casual mention of his childhood here and there, Corrin hardly sheds a tear for abandoning the family he spent his whole life with. If he doesn't run into his Nohrian adoptive siblings on the battlefield, he doesn't express any doubts about his choice. All Intelligent Systems needed to do was add one cutscene (NOT a throwaway support conversation), perhaps with Azura, where he expresses his sadness about abandoning his adoptive siblings. That hypothetical cutscene would have made Corrin just a tad more of a three-dimensional character. Granted he does get distraught when he runs into Camilla and Leo, but he merely tries to win them over to his side. He doesn’t really empathize with them. If there were more cutscenes devoted to his regrets, Corrin would have been more of a real human being than an idealist. After the deaths of his comrades and two of his Nohrian siblings in the last chapters of Birthright, Corrin gets reduced to a crybaby. Corrin’s sadness wasn’t earned, however. Birthright makes the player feel that they made the right choice from the beginning, because Hoshido does absolutely nothing wrong other than be racist towards Nohrians. All his sadness anger is shifted towards King Garon and his kingdom. For a game that started off with an amazing premise, it was reduced to good versus evil, black versus white. The story is written in a way to make the reader/player despise Garon. The plot's conflicts were all Garon's doing. Everything boils down to him, so his death absolves Corrin of his misdeeds he committed during his campaign, such as the slaughtering of the Wolfskins in Chapter 15 and the Wind Tribe villagers in Chapter 8 (conflicts started by Iago, Garon’s subordinate). I think Corrin's sadness is fine and justified for this kind of plot, it simply was not done well. It would have been earned if there were more instances of grey morality where the player questioned their choice. Part 3: Death by Fire and Exploding Crystals I applaud Intelligent system's attempt to create tragedy in Lord Corrin's adventure. Despite their valiant efforts, the deaths of Lilith, Elise, Xander, Flora, and (potentially) Kaze were utterly botched in execution (no pun intended), save for Elise’s, maybe. Let's start with the silliest death, Flora's. Because she betrayed her former retainer's trust after an unsuccessful attempt to kill him, Flora, overcome with guilt, LIGHTS HERSELF ON FIRE. No only that, but she also does this in front of Lord Corrin, Jakob the butler, and her TWIN SISTER. What an incredibly melodramatic and selfish act on her part. Perhaps a simple knife to the throat maneuver would have been better. I had no idea that members of the Ice Tribe could spontaneously combust. Her death could have been more effective if she stabs herself when Corrin, Jakob and Felicia leave the Ice Tribe's village. Kate's potential self-sacrifice was also incredibly silly as well considering that Hinoka has a FLYING PEGASUS. Should the player have an A-support rank with Kaze, the ninja will notice a random crystal that explodes upon contact with a throwing knife. Who would have known that. I appreciate intelligent systems attempting to incorporate supports into the campaign's story, however, it could have been done in a more meaningful, less ridiculous manner. You have to step up your game, Intelligent Systems. Sadly, there isn't much to say about the purpose of Lilith's death aside from being a cheap attempt at a tear-jerking scene. We saw her for a bit in the prologue, then she disappears entirely as soon as Corrin chooses to side with Hoshido. She is reduced to something to pet and feed in the game's My Castle section. There's no character to her; she's one-dimensional, unfortunately. Now, I have more to talk about regarding Elise's and Xander’s death. It was, by far, the best out of the others. However, it still failed to deliver any emotional impact, simply because Xander IGNORES Elise’s dying words entirely. I know Corrin has to fight Xander for gameplay reasons, but I think that Xander should have learned from what his sister said. Perhaps Xander desired Corrin to put him out of his misery? Even though Elise’s death tugged at my heartstrings (just a little), I think Elise should have been slain by a Hoshidan. This would have better illustrated the horrors of war. This would have given Hoshido just the right amount of darkness that would prove that the kingdom is just as capable of committing atrocities as Nohr. I think it would have evoked more of an emotional response from the player that way, especially since Iago kept foreshadowing that there was a traitor in Corrin’s army (sadly, possessed Takumi was not impactful enough for me). Unfortunately, Nohr and its inhabitants were treated as pure embodiments of evil. There were hardly and redeeming qualities to the kingdom. I’m not referring to Nohrian characters; I’m referring to Nohr as an entity. Hoshido is a peace-seeking entity where Nohr is the opposite. There needed to be more time devoted to showing good things about the country. Showcasing a few good Nohrians, like Silas, Elise, Scarlet, as well as others simply doesn’t cut it. What humanitarian efforts has Nohr done? Since Garon is such a crappy character, he takes away any potential depth to the kingdom. He just orders everything and everyone to die. Elise’s death at the hands of a Hoshidan would have been more emotionally impactful and would have given Xander a reason to kill Corrin and, ultimately, himself. Final Thoughts: You're a Wizard Lord Corrin The final chapter pits Lord Corrin against the evil Garon. Garon, in his dragon form, presumably slays Corrin after slamming his wing on the lord, breaking his Yato blade and presumably every single bone in the young lord’s body. Corrin wakes up in the afterlife(?) where he meets the ghosts of Lilith, Elise, Flora, and Xander. I take issue with this scene because it is almost identical to Harry Potter reuniting with Dumbledore in limbo King’s Cross station in The Deathly Hallows, down to the point where the ghosts tell Corrin that he has the choice to return to life, it could have ended with a heroic sacrifice, like Awakening’s ending did (Robin’s sacrifice was the ONLY thing I really liked about Awakening’s plot). Unfortunately, that honorific was passed to Azura. Even though Corrin was revived, I’m surprised he could walk, talk, and look pretty as ever despite JUST being squished. Aside from the occasional hilarious moment, like the one just mentioned, I’ll give Birthright credit; it flattens Awakening’s pathetic excuse of a plot. However, it’s no masterpiece. We needed better antagonists. This would also give the Nohrian siblings a legitimate reason to be loyal Garon. Xander seems to be blindly following a CLEARLY demented king purely for loyalty’s sake. Had we had antagonists who were human beings instead of character tropes, the player would have questioned their choice to side with Hoshido more. Birthright’s (as well as the other routes) primary theme is about choices and their repercussions afterall. The Nohrians were demonized to a point where the player had no choice but to dislike them. Birthright needed to have Hoshido do some terrible things to make the player question if they made the right choice. Birthright’s only consequences were the deaths of Lilith, Xander, Elise, and Flora (and potentially Kaze too). That’s it. Even Camilla and Leo seem to get over the deaths of Elise and Xander a bit TOO quickly. That’s all I have for Birthright. Let me know what you think. I’ll admit that it’s harder for me to write academically when I do not have the entire script available for me to reference. Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest [spoiler=Lady Corrin Wishes King Garon Senpai Were a More Compelling Character] Introduction: Law and Chaos in Conquest The juxtaposition of order (law) and disorder (chaos) often emerges in many forms of artistic media, ranging from films to artwork. Piet Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie Woogie (1942-43), is the pièce de résistance of the blend between order and chaos. At a cursory glance, the arrangement of the blue, red, and yellow rectangles appear to have no rhyme or reason. Upon closer examination, however, they are all unified by thick yellow lines that crisscross and intersect, similar to the streets in a metropolitan city. It is an incredible piece that not only reflects the hustle and bustle of city life, but also the unification of order and chaos. Though many continue to debate whether or not video games can be considered art (I’d argue that they are), the dynamic between lawfulness and disorder often appear in the gameplay and narratives in various video games. Perhaps, I should define lawfulness as going with the flow (in other words, submitting to authority) and chaos as standing against the current (making choices that are not in accordance with said authority). Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest’s narrative is no exception. This campaign in the Fire Emblem Fates universe places Corrin (now Lady Corrin, [i made Corrin female in this play through to match the game’s box artwork]) in the same, heart-breaking predicament as the male Corrin faced in Birthright: will she choose to fight with the Kingdom of Nohr or will she defend Hoshido? Unlike her Birthright counterpart, Lady Corrin decides to side with her heart and stand with the Nohrians. When the princess mentions that she had followed as her heart commanded, I began to question whether or not Lady Corrin was making a chaotic or lawful choice. Upon further examination, I believe that she made a chaotic one. It was her birthright to side with Hoshido, in other words, it was by order of her blood to be a part of the Hoshidan royal family. In Conquest, Lady Corrin rejects her birthright and stands against the Hoshidan royal family, who are, in all honesty, perfect strangers to her. The princess’s choice can be considered “chaotic” because she refuses to bend to the authority of her Hoshidan birthright and, instead, follows her feelings, not her mind. The narrative that follows in Conquest does display a unique blend of order and chaos that was not present in Birthright; everything that Lord Corrin did in Birthright can be considered “lawful”. He submitted himself under the Hoshidan, “peace-seeking” way, suffered the losses of Lilith, Flora, Xander and Elise and committed genocide on the Wolfskin. Lady Corrin wrestles with both law and chaos in Conquest. She simply follows Garon’s orders for the first few chapters, then, upon Azura’s shocking revelation regarding the king’s true identify, makes the conscious choice to deceive and, ultimately, backstab the king when having him sit on the Throne of Truth, a chaotic mindset. It adds depth to Lady Corrin that is not present in Lord Corrin. Though not free of absolute stupidity, I believe that Conquest’s story was more enjoyable than Birthright’s. Part 1: Silly King Garon, You Shot Yourself in the Foot I will begin this analysis by discussing the stupidity (for lack of a better term) present in this narrative. I believe it is better to start with the negative and end with the positive. After Lady Corrin reunites with her Norhian, adoptive family, she is immediately accused of treason by the nefarious Iago. If it were not for the whims of the childish King Garon, she would have been, most likely, executed on the spot. The King decides, by divine decree of the divine (most likely VERY evil) dragon Anankos, to send Lady Corrin down to the Ice Tribe to quell their rebellion, alone. Though Lady Corrin manages to peacefully resolve the Ice Tribe’s rebellion with the help of her friends, she almost suffered a terrible death at the hands of Iago’s Faceless. This, unfortunately isn’t the only time where King Garon and Iago try to make Lady Corrin’s life utterly miserable. Similar instances occur, again, through out the story, such as Iago’s attack in the Eternal Stairway. Garon and Iago’s attempts to end Lady Corrin’s life do not make sense. Why would Iago and Garon want to kill the princess when she has not only proven her loyalty, but also been assisting Nohr’s conquest against Hoshido? In fact, she is the REASON why Nohr prevailed against Hoshido in the end. Garon attempts to hand wave this nonsense by claiming that making Lady Corrin suffer would only allow her to become an adequate sacrifice for Anankos. What purpose (other than seemingly pleasing Anankos) would the princess’s sacrifice serve for King Garon? It is, unfortunately, never addressed. This is, yet again, Intelligent System’s failure to adequately explain Garon’s reasoning behind this. I understand that all of this will (hopefully) get answered in the final campaign, Revelation, but as a standalone story, Conquest’s loose ends desperately needed to be tied. Part 2: Failing IQ Tests The problems with Conquest stem from the shoddily-written character that is King Garon. Iago and Hans are, like Izuka from Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, rather meaningless in the overall scope of the plot. If I wrote this game’s narrative, I would have had King Garon fulfill a “Prince Lyon”, “King Pelleas”, or “Emperor Arvis” archetype, so to speak. These antagonists were better developed characters and were, somewhat, relatable human beings (what a shock). Iago could have, perhaps, fulfilled the same role that his Shakespearian counterpart did in Othello. Had King Garon at least pretended to be a caring, compassionate individual like his Hoshidian foil, Queen Mikoto, Lady Corrin and her sibling’s loyalty to him would have made more sense. Not only that, but the revelation of Garon’s true identity as melty-face abomination at the end of Chapter 15 (if I am not mistaken), would have been more of a shocking plot twist. The weak-willed façade Garon could have used would have made it seem like Iago was the reason behind Nohr’s corruption, when it was, in fact, King Garon all along. This way Xander and Leo’s allegiance to Garon would be justified, since they could have been emotionally manipulated all along. Consequently, their behavior in Birthright would make sense as well. Many individuals who have played this campaign of game complain that Lady Corrin is stupid. I would not go so far to say that she is stupid, I would say that Garon’s poorly defined character spread to the other protagonists like a disease. I see what Intelligent Systems was trying to do. They wanted to have Lady Corrin feel so strongly for her Nohrian adoptive family, that she would turn against her (supposed) blood relatives, fight in the name of a corrupt king, and commit atrocities, all to bring the Nohrian kingdom back from the ashes. This is a similar character arc to “Law Route” Denam Pavel from Tactics Orge: Let Us Cling Together. Denam, when deciding to partake in the massacre of Balmamusa, knows that he is committing a terrible crime. However, much to the chagrin of Ravness and Vyce, he believes that the horrible means will justify a better future for the Walister. This is what Lady Corrin believes; by siding with the Nohrians, she can end the war through through the reformation of a corrupt kingdom, even if it meant rejecting her birthright. As controversial as this sounds, Conquest’s premise is just fine. It’s amazing in all actuality. Since when did a Fire Emblem lord have to lie, deceive, and fight for the “evil’ empire? I loved that Lady Corrin was not a goody-two-shoes. The only thing that needed to be changed was King Garon’s character. Should King Garon have acted and, perhaps, looked a bit more like Prince Pelleas (an older version, at least), he could have successfully pulled off being a horrible monster disguised as a weak-willed king. He could have used his weakness to manipulate the Nohrian siblings to do his bidding. He would guise his selfish motivations as for the betterment, NOT GLORY, of their country. Despite the fact that Nohr’s destitute condition was established in Birthright, it is hardly brought up, if at all, in Conquest. Why did Garon never bring up Nohr’s lack of natural resources? I would assume a good half of the Nohrians would be starving to death, unlike their Hoshidan counterparts. Imagine King Garon commanding Xander to lead the charge against the Hoshidans for the survival of their people. That would have been more of a compelling motivation than simply “for the glory of Nohr”. What a missed opportunity. Rewriting Garon’s character would have made this campaign the best plot in the entire series. All the plot inconsistencies and the stupid decisions, made by the protagonists, stem from Garon’s horrid character. It’s as simple as that. Imagine if Prince Pelleas acted like King Garon in Radiant Dawn. I think the Dawn Brigade would have received a lot more hate had that been the case. Part 3: The Butcher of Nohr The most poignant moments in the entire Fire Emblem franchise came from both Lady Corrin’s entrance into the Hoshidian Capital with the Nohrian Army, and her mental breakdown after Ryoma’s seppuku. These moments actually made me shed a few manly tears. They were the very culmination of Lady Corrin’s struggles in the campaign. They signified the terrible price she she had to pay to remedy Nohr’s corruption. She was called a demon by the Hoshidans as she marched into the capital. There were also moments, where the Hoshidans questioned the reason why the Yato chose her, going as far to say that she did not even deserve the blade. In addition to this, Lady Corrin’s reaction to Ryoma’s death showed the depths of her despair. She went as far to call herself a cold-hearted murderer. That line of dialogue revealed all the pain she had to endure. As veterans of the Fire Emblem series, we’ve NEVER seen anything like this. All the Fire Emblem lords never had to shoulder the enmity of the supposed “good guys”. Not only that, but we’ve never seen a lord lie about killing someone, like what Lady Corrin did to Ryoma regarding Hinoka. This is what real conflict is about. Fire Emblem is notorious for oversimplifying and hand-waving the absolute hell on earth that is war. Conquest had other great moments, such as the revelation that Takumi ended up getting possessed exactly like Garon did. I did not see that coming. In addition to that, Chapter 8 gave us a better glimpse of Nohr’s political climate. There were also decent interactions between the Nohrian siblings, especially when it came to Leo and Lady Corrin, but the aforementioned moments from Chapter 24 really stood out for me as the brief glimpse into what Conquest’s plot could have been. I applaud Intelligent System’s attempt to break the mold with Conquest, however, they went about it in a horribly misguided way. They seemed to focus too much on building up Revelation. If only I had been there to share these thoughts with the writers, we could have had a, potentially, more engaging plot. It had all the right set-ups, it just did not deliver. Conclusion: Tactics Ogre Fire Emblem: Let Us Rewrite This, Please The plot behind Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest is the semi-spiritual successor to Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. It came so close to capturing the moral greyness of human conflict and war, in addition to blending aspects of law and chaos. Sadly, it was muddled by the horrendous monstrosity that is King Garon. Garon somehow made all the protagonists seem like stupid devotees, blindly following his bloodthirsty whims. King Garon needed a SERIOUS makeover. From what I discussed previously, had he been written differently, I speculate that many of the problems with Conquest’s plot would have been remedied. I thoroughly enjoyed this plot more so than Birthright and, perhaps, other Fire Emblem plots too. I do not deny that it is flawed; it was simply misguided. I think I am fond of the potential that it had to be a great story. Overall, Conquest is truly bittersweet. Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation [spoiler=Lord Leif's Gay, Melodramatic Adventure in Invisible Land] Introduction: The Importance of World Building Every story requires a sophisticated description of its setting in order to help immerse the reader in a fictitious world. There is, however, a certain “je ne sais quoi” that authors must reach when they are building their respective settings. Authors not only have to detail their world enough in order to ground the reader in their world, but also avoid over-saturating their audience with too much information (take Moby Dick for instance). They run the risk of alienating readers. This crucible, if created masterfully, can enhance the interactions with the author’s characters. For example, one of the biggest reasons why J.K. Rowling found success with Harry Potter was due to her talent of building a memorable world of witches and wizards. Though the overarching narrative of Harry Potter was somewhat cliché, it was the believability of her world that made readers feel as if they were attending classes with Hermione Granger or thwarting Lord Voldemort’s nefarious plans with Potter. Though there are countless literary masterpieces that achieve the same effect, such as Pride and Prejudice and To Kill a Mockingbird, no other novel series, to my knowledge, has spawned eight blockbuster films and an amusement part. That is the power of Rowling’s world, not necessarily her plot or her characters. Now the big question is: “What does this have to do with Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation?” My answer is this: “nothing, other than to reveal how poorly Revelation set up it’s setting.” The world of Fire Emblem Fates is, unfortunately, almost non-existent; we know next to nothing about Nohr’s, Hoshido’s and Valla’s history. Also, the continent, where Hoshido and Nohr reside, is not even named. That has NEVER happened in a Fire Emblem game. Even though aspects about the respective countries are told through character support conversations, they are almost never brought up during the actual story. It is unfortunate that Intelligent Systems focused too much on character melodrama, because if they had put more effort in creating a more believable setting, the story would have made more sense, such as Nohr’s reason to invade Hoshido, etc. This, along with the characterization of King Garon, is one of the many major problems that lead to Fates’s mediocre plot. These issues all come together and rear their ugly heads in the final campaign of this Fire Emblem game. As a consequence, they create the weakest plot out of the three campaigns. In this final campaign has Corrin the avatar (now named Lord Leif because he is my shameless self-insert), refuse to choose Hoshido and Nohr, only to make his own army to fight the evil Anankos. What could possibly go wrong? Part 1: Where in the World is the Silent Dragon? As I mentioned in the introduction, Fire Emblem Fates would have had a stronger plot had we been given more information about the kingdoms’ histories. All we know about Hoshido from Birthright is that it is a bountiful, isolated, peace-seeking kingdom that merely reacts to Nohr’s invasion with a devastating counter attack. We learn that Nohr is a desolate, impoverished, corrupt kingdom (thanks to Garon) in Conquest. Finally, all the information we receive about Valla is that the Silent Dragon, Anankos lost his mind and ravaged the kingdom, destroying almost all life in the land. Of course we get the occasional mention about the past rulers of each kingdom, but even with all that information, one can hardly ground themselves in Fates’s world. Why does Valla have floating continents in the first place? Why is Valla separate from Hoshido and Nohr? Why does Castle Valla resemble a Hindu temply when this kingdom was, clearly, inspired from Norse mythology? Why is Anthony still around when everyone else is dead? Why would he EVEN serve Anankos after the dragon destroyed everything? Why was Anankos such a prick in the first place (we learn why in Hidden Truths, which angers me a bit)? We never learn anything about this world. My questions were never answered. This is because Intelligent Systems focused too much on the melodrama between zombie parents and the main cast. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to critique about the setting, because there is hardly anything to talk about in the first place! This really is a tragedy because the art book that came with my special edition of the game had some impressive illustrations of the setting. I am very disappointed in you, Intelligent Systems. Part 2: The Return of Evil Zombie Relatives This is the real meat of Revelation’s plot and the source of its biggest weakness. Half of the plot is spent recruiting allies for the Avatar’s cause, and the other half is exterminating zombie Arete, Mikoto, Scarlet, Sumeragi, a possessed Gunter (kudos to Intelligent Systems for making a twist that genuinely surprised me), and a megalomaniacal Anankos. The Avatar looks like a raving lunatic attempting to recruit two warring nations against a single enemy he is not allowed to even name. How he got the two sides together is mind boggling. As mentioned before, we learn almost nothing interesting about Valla, other than some exposition to give our heroes a motivation to overthrow Anankos in the first place. All that there is to talk about is the unfortunate reunions that take place between the royals and their respective parents. The evil Anankos resurrected these individuals as ghostly puppets to work for him. Sadly, these reunions were about as emotionally impactful as spilling a glass of milk on yourself or accidentally stepping on a snail. The reason why these interactions fail to deliver any sort of emotional response to the audience is due to the fact that we never get to know any of these characters. We only spend five seconds with Mikoto before she is blown to bits, see Sumeragi’s backside in a cutscene, and hear about Arete once in Birthright. We don’t even know what Arete even looks like until we see her in Revelation. Clearly, the protagonists are upset about this, but we are not given any reason to feel anything other than superficial sympathy for Azura, Ryoma, Corrin, etc. In all honesty, these resurrected invidiuals were simply there to be bosses for their respective chapters, nothing else. There is also unintentional hilarity with their deaths. We witness the cliché “as I lay dying” scene THREE times in a row (almost) towards the end of Revelation’s campaign. How many times must we witness the avatar and the gang bent over the corpse of a reanimated parent? At least Gunter’s “death” did something a bit different, though I didn't expect him to survive Anankos's mind control. Izana's death was rather hilarious since he seemed to be totally fine with it. Overall, the character interactions and drama in the last few chapters can be accurately summarized by these clips: and Scarlet's death was the most effective out of all the unfortunate souls simply due to the fact that her passing deeply wounds the stiff and rather stoic Ryoma. This is especially tragic since Scarlet and Ryoma display a chemistry that is much more enjoyable than the majority of his potential wives. Revelation frustrates me, not only for being more barebones than Birthright (and also reducing the significance of the previous campaigns), but also failing to take advantage of a unique plot premise. Once again, Intelligent Systems focused too much on characters we could care less about, and not enough on plot points that desperately needed attention. I have nothing much to say about Anankos’s final battle other than the fact that I was very disappointed to have to purchase DLC to learn more about him. Why they could not AT LEAST hit at his relation to the avatar is beyond me. Also, Lilith seemingly vanished from the plot entirely since Hans wasn't there to squash her, which very peculiar considering her relationship to the Avatar. In the end, once Lord Leif, my avatar, overthrew Anankos, he and his husband Niles became the new kings of Valla. I wonder if, by Niles’s royal decree, he forced the people of New Valla to speak in nothing but double entendres? Part 3: Come Together, Right Now Nohr and Hoshido joining forces was the only good part of Revelation’s plot. It was nice, for once, not having Xander and Ryoma at each other’s throats, Takumi being a whiny little brat, Sakura and Elise being very sad, or Camilla being overtly crazy about the avatar's betrayal. I’m a sucker for long-time enemies becoming allies to fight against a common cause, due to the potential of interesting interactions. While we do get some comical and somewhat heart-warming interactions between the royals, the melodrama (discussed in the previous section) detracts from this dynamic. I would have rather seen cutscenes involving the royals sharing a meal or pep-talking each other than to witness the deaths of characters I did not care foe. Much like Iago and Garon staining the Conquest plot, it was Mikoto, Sumeragi, Anankos, and Arete that squandered any potential in this story. Not only did they take much needed cutscene time away from the royals, but also the development of the setting. Even the campaign maps, though gorgeous to look at, were very tedious and boring. Many of the issues with Fates’s plot have already been discussed already in the previous sections, so I will not waste my breath. Revelation, unfortunately, did not really bring anything new to the table for me to discuss, which is really disappointing. Conclusion: The Future of Fire Emblem I wonder where Intelligent Systems will go from here? Fates is essentially THREE Awakenings in one. Not only that, but the scale of the game is much grander than any of the previous titles. It was almost as if Fates was written to be the swan song of the series. Awakening, despite all the nods to past titles, felt more like a franchise reboot (which is ironic considering that it WAS thought to be the last game, but ended up revitalizing the series anyway). I am curious to see where Intelligent Systems will go from here. Will we finally have our space odyssey that will take place on the planet Mars? Regardless of what comes next, I will forever be a loyal Fire Emblem fan and will continually support the beloved series. I just hope that Intelligent Systems will spend more money hiring writers, who have experience writing for video games, because the series's gameplay is quite amazing. I suggest that the writer base the next Fire Emblem story off of real historical events, like the fall of the Roman Empire. ================================================================================================ Xenologues Before Awakening Hidden Truths ================================================================================================ Post Scriptum - Miscellaneous Things about Fates [spoiler=Gays and Lesbians in Flaming Emblem] This kind of analysis most definitely belongs in something other than my plot analysis, but I could not keep it in the closet anymore. To put it simply, I am not too pleased with how gay marriage was handled in this game. First of all, I should make it clear that, overall, I am happy that Fire Emblem is Nintendo’s first game (to my knowledge) to include same sex marriage. It’s a huge accomplishment on their part. However, even though I am blessed to have the option to make video game males marry another men, the options are, sadly, limited to one man and the (potentially gay) character in question is, Niles, the suave, yet creepy outlaw. Lesbians do not have it much better, unfortunately; they are only afforded the opportunity to court a woman, Rhajat, who is a stalker at heart. To begin, the way the game set Niles up bothers me quite a bit. It’s not necessarily Niles himself (though some of the stuff he says to both Arthur and Mozu is VERY questionable), but, simply, the fact that he IS the only gay option. Why did Intelligent Systems decide to make a sexual deviant (in terms of his addiction to sadism) our option for marriage when other characters, like Silas for example, could have been better fits. In many forms of entertainment media, gays are portrayed with flamboyant qualities (most likely for comedic relief) and/or have villainous qualities (see Scar from Disney’s The Lion King and the two hitchhikers from Vanishing Point (1971)). Unfortunately, Niles fits into this category, based on his dialogue and support conversations. Though some of his conversations with a few of the characters can be sweet, such as his discussions with Elise, his primary gimmick is to be a flirtatious, sexually aggressive man. Not all gay men are this way, and it is unfortunate that Intelligent Systems limited our options to him. This choice also has negative effects on gameplay. By making Niles the gay option, the gaymer misses out on not only Kana, but also Nina. This is especially detrimental in Conquest where experience is limited and the paralogues offer the opportunity to train your units even more. Beyond the detriments to the gameplay, the implication of Fates’s new DLC, Recollection of Bubbles[?], seem to point to the fact that all the second generation characters are, indeed, canon, similarly to how Awakening’s second generation units were confirmed to be canon in Future Past. [Please note that I only read the summary of the new DLC because I didn’t want to spoil myself on plot points. I only read that the DLC revolves around the children characters, so I am assuming that Nina and Kana are in it.] Should this be true, I can logically deduce that Niles ending up with a woman is canon in the Fates universe. This is a tad frustrating since this implies that gay marriage was nothing more than an afterthought on the writer’s part. It was almost as if they programmed that option at the last moment to prevent another “Tomodachi life” controversy and fill some form of a politically correct quota. I know this is simply a game with fictitious characters and, in the grand scheme of things, I really do not care that Niles is supposed to end up with a woman, if that is to be what the developers wanted. I guess I am just miffed that a game, designed to have players pair characters together, handled gay marriage so poorly. Japan is not at the level of social progressiveness that the United States is at, and I know that I should not hold them to that standard. Another other strange thing is, is that Treehouse absolutely neutered the S-supports with both Rhajat AND Niles. In the Japanese version of the supports, both Corrins bring up their genders when they hear Rhajat and Niles confess their feelings to them (respectively). In the American translation, it’s only Niles who implies that he knew that male Corrin was gay all along when he says “Ah, I knew I was right about you. How splendid!”. ​However, Niles S support conversation is virtually identical to his S support with female Corrin (since he says the same exact thing), which really is a shame. Though others may disagree, I think removing Corrin bringing up his gender with Niles (or Rhajat if female) removed depth from the characters. Consider the day and age in the Fates universe. It’s medieval/feudal Japan high-fantasy; I do not believe homosexuals were all too common especially in royal families where bloodline were SUPER important. I think it would be fair to bring up the fact that people (and even their own army allies) may not react all to favorably. All that was needed was perhaps a few lines of dialogue that addressed the issue, perhaps something along the lines like… “But you know that I’m a man, right?” “Yes, but who cares what other people think about our relationship!” This would have made Niles and Rhajat, more three-dimensional in my book. But, the characters simply stuck to their gimmicks, which is really unfortunate. It was another missed opportunity. I am surprised that the Japanese characterized Niles and Rhajat better than the American version did, which is contrary to what I said about Japan earlier. I propose two alternative ways Intelligent Systems could have better implemented gay marriage. Let’s start with the one they wouldn’t have ever dreamed of: REMOVE THE CHILDREN. As we know, children were shoehorned into the Fates story utilizing a more ridiculous plot device than time travel: pocket dimensions. Honestly, the parents abandoned their children by doing this. I am surprised that not all the children were furious with their parents. Nina, Shiro, Hisame, and Percy had legitimate reasons to be angry that their parents since they left them on their own to grow up for most of their lives. I think their parents are perfect strangers to them. I think those twenty-some paralogues could have been used to develop the universe more or better develop the first generation cast. We have just under seventy playable characters. That’s way too many. Had I had my way with the development of this game, I would have axed all the children. Unfortunately, IS included them again, simply because they believed that's what made Awakening sell so well. It was a business decision only. Here is the other method: change the gay options to Shiro and Soleil. Soleil would have been the obvious and better lesbian option than Rhajat, because her whole character revolves around her flirting with other women! I don't know how IS screwed that up. Now, you may be thinking, “why Shiro”? he’s easy on the eyes Well, this way, a male avatar won’t miss out on another child aside from Kana and counter balance the Nohrian (Soleil) gay option I suggested. This would be similar to they did with Niles and Rhajat (one Hoshidan and Nohrian option respectively). Shiro takes somewhat of an interest in Nina’s male-on-male pairing fantasies in their support when the two go to various plays. However, should Shiro have been the option for the gay support, his character would have to be rewritten to an extent. Perhaps he could have been more of a free spirit? I still stand by the fact that Silas makes the better gay pairing for males (due to the fact that is entire character revolves around Corrin), but, like Niles, the player would miss out on both Sophie and Kana. Since children are tied to the fathers (save Azura) in this game, lesbians don’t have the issue of missing two children. Having a gay male second generation character would not have been as detrimental to the gameplay for those interested in having two men reach an S support. Forgive this not-so-academic rant. I wanted to get this off my chest and hear what others thought about this. I really am thankful that Nintendo is just starting to become more inclusive in their games. Fates was a decent start, but Nintendo and Intelligent Systems need to step up their game to get with the times. As a gay man myself, I long to see the day where Nintendo will make a canonically gay male or female who is not defined by their sexuality. For now, I will settle for the table scraps that have been given to me and will proudly display my Niles badge in the hopes that in future Fire Emblem games and Nintendo games as a whole, we will have better handled gay pairings.
  12. Hi, Ok so, if you're reading this, you've already beat Revelation I hope. So after the very happy cliche ending, Kamui is the king/queen of Valla and the siblings are all like "if you need anything please let us know/come to us. But in Kamui's ending story thing, it ssys that the Bottomless Canyon was sealed. We saw that the Bottomless Canyon was used as an entrance to Valla, and that the only person who could open a partal outside of the Bottomless Canyon was Azura, who stays in Valla, i'd assume (i fon't remember but mist likely) So if the siblings wanted to communicate, or visit Kamui, how would they do it? Just a random thought.
  13. Ok, so while I was given great units, they level ups they got until chapter 10 was terrible and they were NOT able to compete against the Chapter 10 mons. So 16 characters, be rutheless, can use kids, can use any seals, request avatar, and best of all, be wild. I know in my friends PMU he got a Merchant Corrin which is actually quite cool. Also, if you guys want I will keep track of my progress here, but its all up to you. I am sorry if I sound desperate and that I post these a lot, but I just really want to complete one of these. Also, all DLC classes besides Vanguard and Witch and Tank. Only 2 Ebon Wings and 2 Dread Fighters. 1.+Mag/-Str Sorc Corrin 2.Dark Flier Orochi 3.Dread Fighter Sakura 4.Wyvern Lord Camilla 5.Strategist Elise 6.Priestess Effie 7.Swordmaster Xander 8.Kinshi Knight Subaki 9.Onmyoji Hana 10. Bowknight Trash, I mean Nyx 11.Hero Saizo (A+ with Inigo) 12.Master Ninja Ryoma (A+ Saizo) 13.Falcon Knight Azura 14.Lodestar Azama 15.Sorceror Niles 16.Great knight leo Chosen Pairings: 1.Azama x Effie (Favorite pairing for these two btw) 2.Sakura x Xander 3.Hana x Subaki 4.Corrin x Azura 5.Niles x Nyx 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
  14. Hello everyone. First of all, I apologize for the confusing title. I wanted to create a thread which piqued people's curiosity while at the same time didn't sound like a mouthful; the full name of the thread is: "How would the story have changed with a different Awakening baby trio, and how would it affect the dynamic between them and their lords as well as each other?" Secondly, this thread might contain spoilers for all routes as well as the Hidden Truths DLC, so if you want to avoid that, then please don't read the thread. Now, let's begin! Like many others, I would assume, I'm pretty mixed when it comes to the Awakening kids in Fates; on one hand it's always fun with familiar faces but on the other I get the impression that Fates was developed in the shadow of its predecessor, which can be seen in not only the kids coming to Nohr, but also the "reincarnations" of the most popular first generation characters in Hoshido, not to mention the similar DLC structure. Then there's the fact that the Hidden Truths DLC made them all look like complete idiots in the main story, but I digress. I really liked what they did to Inigo: keeping the core intact while making him much less gimmicky. Owain is still Owain and I wouldn't say they did as good a job with Severa, but I suppose it's a matter of opinion. I did like their supports with each other and thought the dynamic worked fairly well for the most part, which got me thinking: how would things have changed if three other characters (or just one or two others) won the Japanese popularity poll a few years back? How would they've fit in in the new environment? Which Nohrian royal would they have served? For instance, I believe Nah would've been forced to change class much like Owain, since another dragon running around would've definitely been odd given the setting, but I imagine she would've kept her Dragonstone close just in case story-wise. She would've most likely served Camilla since she's arguably the most affection-starved of the second generation, and I think their support would've dealt with Camilla seeing the result of her going on a rampage in her dragon form in secret (much like Robin did), and it would end with Camilla understanding - but not inquiring further out of respect - that she was something more than human, and would end up leaving one day. I could also see her support with someone like Inigo dealing with her not wanting to get too attached to someone in that world since she knows it would just make it that much harder to return, and that she already feels bad for planning to abandon Camilla - Inigo would, of course, tell her to loosen up and deal with it when the time came as opposed to worry about it prematurely. So who would you have liked to see in Fates? How would they have grown during the time between the end of Awakening and traveling to Nohr? How would they affect the story and trio dynamic?
  15. Have you ever had that moment when you see something in a game and it's so brain-jarringly odd it blows your mind? I saw that the other day, and I have pictures of it, too! I haven't figured out how to add pictures from my computer to the post, or how to put them in spoiler boxes anyway, so I hope you'll forgive me if I attach them to the post. I encountered not one, but TWO cases of Engrish in some support conversations. Well... the one with Saizo (for spoilers sake I won't say the other names, only who said it) was a simple matter of one letter, but to me that still counts. As for the one with Mozu, it seems to me as if the writer didn't decide properly on which words he wanted to use. My friend argues that it could be because Mozu is still basically a child, but I've never seen anything else like it in her other conversations. I have no idea if someone has posted this already- it is my first day, after all- but if not, I hope you'll enjoy it like I did. (Edit: Mozu's file says "edit" in the name because I had to crop it. I apologize for the bad quality as well.)
  16. Does anyone have grisly wound on a female kana. If you do can I have your castle address. I want the skill on my female kana, but you can only get it on a female kana if you marry Velouria.
  17. I am at the endgame for Birthright. I randomly looked at the Fates Birthright recruitment page on the main site and noticed that if Corrin didn't have an A support with Kaze, he would have left the party! I can't believe that I saved myself from that without knowing I had to support the two. O_O Would Kaze have fallen to his death if Corrin didn't have an A support with him? That's horrible! Btw, expect a Birthright plot analysis from me once I find the time to clear the Birthright endgame.
  18. Yay, I just finished Birthright Lunatic after giving up on Endgame Conquest Lunatic, and it was a very fun, very balanced ride in my opinion. I didn't find myself needing to use grinding for either gold or experience much, but was happy to be able to go back and catch some units up for their children. Plot Thoughts: Invasions and Nohr? *I was under the impression that a lot of the game would be about defending Hoshido from invaders, but from like Chapter 11-on the focus of the game seemed to be invading the shit out of Nohr. Looking at both Conquest and Birthright, I get the impression that Nohr is a completely ineffective and weak nation. The escape Xander and Garon level was the only one that came close to making them feel like a force to be reckoned with. Siblings * I was very pleased with the characterization of the Nohr siblings. You really get the sense that they love you and feel betrayed, and the battles you have with them are quite epic. Camilla, Elise, and Leo stood out to me as well-written compared to the way they act on Conquest. Unfortunately, this seems to come across at the expense of the Hoshido siblings who just seemed to talk about what was going on or where we were headed instead of having really fleshed-out personalities to me. Sakura likes to heal people and gets scared a lot. Hinoka likes trash talking even though her stats barely back it up. The reveal of Ryoma in Cheve felt completely random and poorly plotted to me. I could have used more character development/scenes for Xander but he was built up as a total badass! They were supposed to be my allies and close family, but I didn't feel like I got much of anything in the scenes and dialogue I saw. Takumi's "betrayal" could have been foreshadowed better or maybe just more utilized? Something like a recurring murder mystery subplot where a couple named looks or allies get hurt or outright murdered and we can't find the culprit? The only thing that stood out to me amongst the Hoshidan Siblings were the kindnesses and sympathies they seemed to have in certain situations like upon Elise's death. Their bond with Azura also felt very palpable. Villains * I didn't feel like Garon made enough appearances to really feel like the main villain, but I guess we learned everything we needed to learn about him in the early choice chapters. I understood that they kept some details hidden for both Conquest and Revelations, but one or two lines hinting that he was no longer human or of his motives would have been helpful. I guess I liked when he threatened Iago, more of that would have been fun to watch. *Iago in this path actually seemed like he was trying to do harm and got away with it, but the execution was still way off. Again, it made no sense to reveal Takumi as the traitor without him genuinely having done something awful or violent. Iago begging for mercy only to be killed by Leo felt silly to me as well. There was no reason for Leo to step in there when Corrin and co. had the situation under control. Hans is almost irrelevant in this path, but his killing Lilith generally seemed like a better writing choice than a random Faceless. Supporting Villains *There were some generally shocking twists like Flora's betrayal. I guess Zola's involvement in the plot was handled better, too. Hoshido felt like it had more supporting characters. And the leadup to Azura's song wasn't a travesty of logic like it is in Conquest. Azura *I liked Azura's involvement in the plot much better than in Conquest. She's still enigmatic for no reason and only as helpful as the plot demands, but at least her song saw some freaking use and got explained. I think you get to hear it like 5-7 times over the course of the game--now that's how you use a theme song. In Nohr she sings like maybe twice and barely at all after the dance cutscene. There was absolutely no reason her dissolving cutscene couldn't have been featured in Nohr. She only walks offstage in the Conquest endgame because they did such a poor job at explaining her powers and importance to the plot. Granted, she had a few too many damsel in distress moments for my liking, but she felt central to the plot in Hoshido! On Female characters ***I haven't played any other Fire Emblem games beyond Awakening, but Birthright certainly felt like a horrible place to be a woman. Between Azura, Mikoto, Elise, Flora, and Lilith, the game felt like a series of Women in Refrigerators. I get that a lot of this deathtoll is shared between versions, but it felt higher and more "bloody" than usual to me. Gameplay Thoughts: The only chapters I found difficult enough to warrant multiple resets were: Chapter 9: Land of Gods * Only because my ranged units were still pretty squishy and I couldn't take my time because Hinata kept getting slaughtered before I could recruit him and Oboro. I eventually aced this chapter and have to thank it for really forcing me to learn the nuances of guard and attack stance. Bringing along a bunch of extra healers helped, too, though I regret missing one of the chests. Chapter 13: Another Hope * At this point in the game, you have a bunch of strong units who can kill fliers and cavaliers and knights no problem, but it really helps to know where the enemy AI will drag them because if too many swarm you you're screwed. I mostly reset because I wanted to get all the village items. Kagero and Saizo were invaluable at getting them for me. It really helps that you can plan your movement in such a way that Camilla can be baited before her minions and Hans can get dragon veined before you fight him, though it's not at all necessary to kite too much. Besides the thieves, only the promoted armored units were troublesome when they started lumbering over. I had fun reclassing Corrin to a magical class for that. Chapter 23: Camilla *A lot of people like to talk about the difficulty spike in this chapter. Between the infinite Dragon Vein Chip Damage, the narrow corridors, and the reinforcements, it's easy to get screwed. I got through it by putting my tanker characters in one corridor to clear while my weaker ones fell back and drew Camilla's fire. Putting my strength-blessed Sakura into Priestess and giving her a Bow ended up being a great investment here. Camilla and her retainers themselves weren't too difficult upon being kited. Ryoma, Dark Flier Caeldori, and Oboro were all-stars here! Chapter 25: Traitor Revealed *I think this one took more resets than Chapter 10 on Conquest Hard did for me. The opening reinforcements are just completely brutal--a waking nightmare if you're not prepared! I think there are like 3-4 waves on each side of Great Knights, Dark Knights, Paladins, and Bow Knights. It's the most ridiculous thing I've seen in awhile! Especially when you consider the lack of reinforcements in Chapter 27. Shigure with a Beast Killer, Silas, Ryoma, and Caeldori's Galeforce really saved the day. I had some trouble with the Fortify Strategists at first until I realized they could be baited out, and didn't always just use their staves. The Dragon Vein in the middle is so absurdly good, it made me question its presence. Where I made things close to impossible for myself was trying to give Takumi the kill on Iago for the special dialogue. Iago's Bowbreaker and Vengeance made that a very poor choice. Chapter 27: This Chapter wasn't hard or scary after I realized that Garon wouldn't have any reinforcements coming for you. Takumi with a Spy Yumi was invaluable in eliminating his Maid and General minions a 3-range. I was a little disappointed that there weren't any reinforcements at first, but after Chapter 25 I was grateful for it.
  19. See them here. I felt there was something really lacking in the encounter with Keaton, so I made some small ish changes to the script and the events.
  20. After you beat the game (FEFates) you get the option to select 5 cards depicting characters from the game. What exactly does that do, does choosing certain characters unlock certain things? Answers are appreciated, thanks.
  21. Hi, SF! I'm really struggling with the final chapter of Conquest. (End Game: Night Breaks Through) Are the reinforcements endless? What triggers their appearance? I'm torn between riding out the waves of reinforcements until they run dry or trying to blaze ahead blindly to the boss. Neither strategy is working too well. Any tips or advice to beat this map? My tanks are Xander, Effie, Midori and Princess Popo. Everyone else is capped at level 20 and honestly trash. I got destroyed by the RNG this time. TToTT
  22. There are a lot of cutscenes in this game. My question is, which did you like the best? Here's a video of all of them (including Revelations) As for me, I'd pick Takumi Revealed as my favorite, although True Form (Travis Willingham did a fantastic job as Garon) is a close second.
  23. Some of you may have played the game already and went into some paralogues. Based on your observation, which canon does each child comes from? Birthright; or Conquest? or maybe fit with any canon
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