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Never done a Let's Play of any kind before so here's to hoping for the best? I've been thinking over and over about how I haven't finished a FE game that wasn't localized overseas. I did try to do a ranked run of FE4 but I lost interest after I was having stressful semesters in college, among other things. A friend of mine had tried to get me to play Binding Blade (or what we called "Sword of Seals") before. I think I couldn't get it to work properly and didn't have the time either. That was years ago. Only recently have I discovered that Gringe and others have put up a near-completed (as I put it since it's still v0.99d) English-translated patch for Binding Blade after other translations, as far as I've heard, were not as good.* Classic cases of literal translation and yada yada. So with that in mind, I thought to myself, "Why don't I try a Let's Play to give me incentive to keep playing a game?" After all, my workload has lessened for the time being and even if only one person reads along, I want to try to have fun and be entertaining. But hold! You saw that [blind-ish?] in the title. Gameplay-wise, I am pretty blind to this game. Story-wise, I have heard a few things so I can't say "completely blind," but I haven't heard enough to piece together the story fluidly. I know things like Roy's super-late promotion time and Hector and Eliwood dying but, otherwise, I'm pretty much dumb about Binding Blade. I haven't even looked up the growth rates or recruitment pages. The [blind-ish?] thing is pretty important because I know there is a special ending for getting all the legendary weapons but I don't know how to do it. If there's anyone watching, would you want me to attempt it or just play through like a new player if there's no other requisite other than getting all weapons? Either way, I think I would have fun but the appeal of blind playthroughs, I think, is that the player doesn't know what to do and is likely to mess up. Also unlikely to make "biased" choices from results of playing a game too many times. I'm not playing this with any other patches than Gringe's translation patch. *I could try reading pure Japanese but that would take forever. My Kanji-reading skills are still very subpar and my slang (as video games tend to use) isn't polished enough. I trip over Pokemon because they are inconsistent between characters (I mean boku in hiragana, katakana, and kanji in the same game? That was new to me). I'd rather not attempt it until my skills are more polished. EDIT: Please read this post for details about the normal/best ending! I would like to start with a simple chapter for now and see what anyone thinks. Hope my humor doesn't come off as offensive to anyone. I just like to jab at games even I like so I'm not bored, especially in FE's beginnings where they're pretty much the same each game. [spoiler=Chapter 1 - "Bors and Wolt had one job"] THE FONT IS CHANGED. IT'S NOT BY NINTENDO Apparently the relations between gods and men back then were very red and uninviting. I think this will be a very nice, quiet game. THE Fire Emblem. Truly this is the only Fire Emblem ever. Nope. There was no shield called Fire Emblem or medallion called Fire Emblem. Intelligent Systems, stop retconning what the Fire Emblem is, you cads. Blah blah "sword of light" blah blah "pierce darkness" blah--- GAH WHAT IS THAT D8 Oh hey the start of the game. Tutorial? Pshhhhh. I'm pro at this game. I don't need no TUTORIAL, psh. But maybe I'll just check it out for good measure. Roy, my boy. You'll be a famous tactician the world has ever seen. You'll even be paired up with Marth as another famous tactician the world has ever seen. So how about that game of yours coming overseas--- At this screenshot too I like the music here. Very nice beginning theme. The hardest of matches begins. I recognize the theme here from FE7. Good lord. What happened between FE6 and FE7? It's nowhere near as energetic or crisp. I wouldn't say "bad" but it will take some getting used to. Okay. I'm bored. Leaving now. And so the hardest of matches begins. Why are we such bastards all the time? If you're anything like FE7, I will recruit my favorite class from you guys. Let's be good friends, 'k? I like nomads. Please give me a good nomad. Does it ever last in a FE game? Sounds like a nice guy. Eliwood! You're looking--oh... Just drink an Elixir, my friend. I'm sure you'll be fine. That beard is immense. And I thought you said in your Eliwood support something against beards. 0/10 lying Hector Bandits! Thus, the time for feeding Roy is nigh. OH GOOD LORD JUST WHAT WHAT IS THAT THAT'S EVEN SCARIER THAN WHAT I SAW BEFORE I just... How do your teeth... Is this game trying to make it justifiable for me to kill these people because their portraits are ugly? That's cruel, game. Oh, Merlinus. You're still here... and balding. It's kind of funny since I played FE7 first and this is the prequel. I bet people loved seeing these characters look younger in the sequel. I feel kind of sad looking at the prequel. Curse you, FE7. Isn't Lilina a mage? Why did you let her go first? Or, for that matter, why was Bors, her guard, not with her? Okay, no, Roy. That's not your fault. It's Bors' fault. Bors, do your fucking job. You had ONE JOB and you fucked it up already. Hello, cheapest Awakening SpotPass character. I don't think it's fair that you got treated that way so I think I'll try you out here. Marcus... Wow. If you're anything like FE7, I will be benching you after a few chapters. Disclaimer: this is not a LTC run. And start! So now let's look at people's stats: Base Roy is base. And I'm sorry to say but you will be hitting that glass ceiling pretty soon my friend, I'm afraid. But no worries. I don't hate you. I'm pretty sure you had better bases in FE7. But that makes sense considering your age. Still benching you eventually. Good ol' Red and Green Cav archetype... but considering Sain was the strong one and Kent the average, I wonder who's better here? They did change the archetype a couple times. Tricky Intelligent Systems. I don't usually play with Cavs/Pals either but I'm willing to try them here So here's probably going to be a criticism towards me. I hate Knights/Generals except FE11!Wolf or Sedgar. I pretty much bench them every single FE game I play. Bors and every other Knight/General will likely be the case. Any defense mission I fail will likely be because I'm not using a Knight/General. But I have succeeded every FE game so far with limited use of them, dammit. ...Oh god. Wolt, bro. Your bases. I want to try you but why you gotta be like thaaaat So let's look at the enemy line-up. Shit Shit And shit Fantastic! It's time for me to FEED. Just noting inventories and it's a good thing both Allen and Lance get Iron Swords. Can never go wrong in bandit-invested early chapters. First thing I note after that: Bors cannot reach any enemy on this phase. Bors, you had ONE JOB. I can't even use you to weigh down Marcus because he can't Rescue and Attack in the same turn. What am I to do you with you, Bors? Since Lance and Allen have the same Defense but Lance has higher Speed, I place Lance to choke the northern point. Wolt hides his pitiful stats behind Lance so he might get some kills or something. Allen and Roy go to guard the south side and get some needed EXP being growth characters and all. Marcus goes to watch over Wolt and evaluates his life choices considering he had to guard both Wolt's mother and Wolt in the very first chapters of both games. Bors does his newly assigned job of making sure he stays out of the way so Roy and Allen can grow. I'm coming for ya! First of Roy's battles of this journey. He does a crit-kill. Beautiful. Keep up the good pace. Meanwhile, Lance does exactly what I want him to do and weakens the enemies to near death. A different Fighter comes down to attack Roy. He misses but Roy hits him. A Fighter and Archer head towards my group. This turn, I decide Allen deserves to get a piece of the action and net himself a kill. Lance rushes at the Fighter but he's clumsy and can't dodge a 41. Roy's short of being able to kill the weakened Fighter so I go ahead and place him north. Even if the Fighter hits him next turn, he'll survive both attacks. Wolt slays the Fighter Lance weakened earlier so he can get his kill. Since I'm a curious person, I have Bors visit the house since he will use all his movement doing so. Why, yes it is, sir. Also, can I say your hair is very jagged. Please tell me where you get your hair gel. For Marcus, I figure I'll have him go towards the village since he should be able to reach it in the next turn. Enemy phase has that Fighter go for Roy. He didn't have much of a reaction time after his miss before Roy impaled him personally. The Brigand is coming and Archer shoots at Roy and hits. My turn again! But let me just say: Bors keeps failing me. The Brigand is too fast for anyone but Marcus to double, so it takes the combined efforts of Wolt, Allen, and Lance to take him down. The Brigand was able to hit Allen in the process. I remember that Archers in any GBAFE game are crap and is doubled by Roy. But still not enough to kill the Archer. Bors goes to satiate my curiosity at the next house. The context was of terrain and how the trees of a forest will cover me. Will it teach the enemies that they're dealing with me or the trees? Also, I'm not sure how well-covered Bors will be since Knights are big and probably can't hide behind or in trees so well. Marcus goes for the village. Uh... Wow. That background seems very clashy to me. Especially at the bit where the mountain just drops to a dark green and is right next to a bright red-roofed house. At least, that's what sticks out to me the most here. Thanks for the tribute! After all, "Money is important!" I get 5000G for my troubles. Enemy phase, Archer shoots at Roy some more. With how Roy's sword juts out in his pose, I think he's itching to stick it to the Archer. Because Lance was probably the most weakened of my units, the Fighters go after him and get their just punishment by Lance smacking both two times in the face. Turn 3. Since the objective is to Seize Gate, I decide Roy won't stick his sword into the Archer and will instead stick it into the Fighter most north so he's quickest to his goal. I take my chances at the northeastern Fighter going for Roy because even with 8 HP, Roy will survive that Fighter's attack. Roy's first level up! Let's see what he gets: ...could have been worse? He got Res. Good enough for now. Wolt says "sup Roy" as he kills the Fighter nearby. He's getting close to his first level up, where I might determine to use him more or not. Lance's been a good sport so far so I give him the Archer kill. Also, this is his first level up. ...could have been worse? He got Spd. Good enough for now. Bors is doing a good job of seeing to the houses. I say he should visit the last. You know, I'm out here risking my life everyday to protect the nation. I don't come home after a long day's work just to hear this stuff. He doesn't need to. He's got a horse. Don't tell me the horse died. This would be the worst FE game if that horse died. Apt to his description, Allen gets hot-headed and charges towards the castle. He will be doing great things for his country. Marcus is catching up now. This Enemy Phase's first blood is a Fighter who spots Allen and foolishly thinks he can slay a man on a horse. That northeastern Fighter mentioned earlier predictably goes for Roy. Roy stabs him for his incompetence. This is one reason I don't like Knights. Allen is jealous that even Wolt will be getting his level up sooner and so I concede and give him that Fighter kill. I pray to Naga that Roy won't kill the Fighter just so Wolt can get his level up. It was successful. Wolt joins Roy so he can get his kill and first level up. ... You had one job, Wolt. To impress me. I can't risk giving you another 100 EXP out of bias. If you end up getting another 100 EXP out of attacking rather than killing and you get a better level up, maybe you will be redeemed in my eyes. Bors huffs it towards the rest of the group. Lance sinks into the forest. Marcus catches his breath as he finally reaches everyone. Enemy finally realizes that they are doomed and don't come for me. Turn 6. Roy's looking bad so I have him move closer to the castle and heal himself since I plan for him to take the boss kill. More like "You bumbling idiot!" for I accidentally fumble with the controls and had Allen attack the boss. Thankfully, boss misses him while Allen hits him once but misses the second attack. Allen is at risk of dying because there's two Fighters and an Archer left. So I have Lance, who's still weakened, go up and out of the range of the Archer in hopes that the closest Fighter will go for Lance instead. Wolt's like, "Wait! I'll help out with my new HP and Str increase!" and runs towards the castle. Bors is running and panting. Marcus is like, "You fool!" to Allen's brashness and is running to try to save him. On counter, Damas misses Allen, but so does Allen before he hits on the second attack. Allen's brashness nets him a shiny level up To be fair, getting him 5 Skl and more Def sounds good around now. The distant Fighter is dumb and doesn't wait for his buddy to move so he can't attack this turn. The nearby Fighter sees Lance and thinks he's getting a hit. He's absolutely wrong. Lance uses his new Spd to easily give him two whacks. That Fighter that moved also blocked the Archer from getting at Allen. I'll give the boss a screenshot for his description. Succinct description. No issues. I don't want to give Wolt that Fighter kill so I have him try to redeem himself by shooting at Damas. I'm prioritizing more kills this turn so I have Lance attack the Fighter with full health so Roy has access to kill the weakened Fighter. Fighter misses and Lance hits him twice. Roy screams for blood and does an overkill to the Fighter from a crit. Close to victory theme plays! I'm still not used to the difference in familiar tunes, though I don't want this to mean I'm bashing it since I would like to appreciate older games. Allen makes a convincing argument that he survived the turn without dying and I say he can go ahead and get the Fighter kill. Bors isn't making it. Marcus heaves a sigh and Rescues Bors. The weight of Bors on Marcus' tiny horse means he will be slowed down. I have Marcus move in front of the boss. Marcus can't kill Damas and can't double. Damas misses Marcus but Marcus can sure hit him back. Damas is down to 8 HP now. Archer goes for Lance. He hits. I accidentally fumble with my controls again when I wanted to check the hit rate Lance with a Javelin had against Damas. Two 36s means Lance misses twice. I curse under my breath for my fumbling. I ask that Wolt attack Damas with a hit but not a crit. It's successful. Marcus sets his sights on the Archer and weakens him so Allen can get the Archer kill. I have Allen equip the Iron Lance to get WEXP and kill the Archer. Roy smirks because he has just enough Attack to kill Damas. I boo at the fact Damas doesn't have a special boss quote for Roy. However: Roy's ken is real. No more enemies! I still gotta wait a turn because Seize is stupid. We saved the day! No. Eliwood. ;-; Lilina is like, "I'm a mage and I'll help Roy!" and I say, "SURE THING." But Eliwood's gotta be a bugger and be all, "You will do no such thing, little lady. Sit your pretty ass on the throne until your father comes back." "Sure thing, Pops. Except I'm hitting that glass ceiling pretty soon." Oh no you don't, Lilina. He fucked up the one job he had. Sonuva-- You will do no such thing. In fact, you will protect the very bench with your life. Well, that was the end of chapter 1. Overall, a very typical FE beginning. One bad level up, two meh level ups, one okay-ish level up, and one good one. I can't say much on the plot since, well, it's just a typical FE beginning. Everyone's levels and stats so far: Class Lv HP S/M Skl Spd Lck Def Res Roy Lord 3.29 20 6 6 7 7 5 2 Marcus Paladin 1.08 32 9 14 11 10 9 8 Allen Cavalier 2.56 22 7 5 6 3 7 0 Lance Cavalier 2.22 21 5 7 9 2 6 0 Wolt Archer 2.22 19 5 4 5 2 4 0 Bors Knight 1.00 20 7 4 3 4 11 0