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Thoughts on Birthright Plot/Gameplay *Spoilers for both Birthright and Conquest*


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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.

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Plot: The Nohr siblings shine here, and you get to see the consequences of siding with Hoshido. Otherwise. . .meh. It's a straightforward plot for a straightforward game.

Units: There's so many -faires to choose from~!

Castle: I really like the stat boosts on the Hoshido weapons, though I'm meh on the Def/Res drop on katanas. However, I've got way too much daikon for my liking. HELP!

Chapters: Chapter 22 can still bite me (yes I got critted again). Chapter 23 requires some thought, but it's possible to mitigate the Dragon's Vein damage. I did NOT like Spikes From Underground, even after a replay.

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Plot: Skipped everything but Hinokachopter and "Girl on fire" (which I put on loop to laugh at) to preserve my sanity

Characters: Why is the Nhorian cast still so much more likable in birthright? Azama and Setty are fun though and Rinhak is oni waifu.

Gameplay: Just as superbly polished in every aspect as conquest but aimed at a more casual audience. Overall I never really had any issues on blind lunatic (resets total, 0) but despite the ease of play the game never got boring at all. Fun as hell will play endlessly.

Edited by joshcja
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Plot: Skipped everything but Hinokachopter and "Girl on fire" (which I put on loop to laugh at) to preserve my sanity

Characters: Why is the Nhorian cast still so much more likable in birthright? Azama and Setty are fun though and Rinhak is oni waifu.

Gameplay: Just as superbly polished in every aspect as conquest but aimed at a more casual audience. Overall I never really had any issues on blind lunatic (resets total, 0) but despite the ease of play the game never got boring at all. Fun as hell will play endlessly.

In Conquest, Camilla and Leo's only personality traits are turning a blind eye to Garon's atrocities. In Hoshido, you get to see their love tested in a way that makes them seem more sympathetic and well-rounded. I would argue that Xander is pretty awful on both, and Conquest brings out more shades in the Hoshido siblings.

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In Conquest, Camilla and Leo's only personality traits are turning a blind eye to Garon's atrocities. In Hoshido, you get to see their love tested in a way that makes them seem more sympathetic and well-rounded. I would argue that Xander is pretty awful on both, and Conquest brings out more shades in the Hoshido siblings.

Not gonna argue subjective "Likeability" outside of my own experience with the game here as it's a 100% "your opinions" thread but...

Don't they 100% try to prevent the atrocities in a pragmatic "don't kill me dad" way in conquest? There's a cutscene, the yato digivolves, it's pretty silly but it's a thing.

Xander is flat out wrong in Conquest a lot though; Xander: "Justice isn't real Corin", Corin:"Dude he lives in our house, you talked to him, today, at breakfast"

Edited by joshcja
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