Hello everyone, I'm geraq

[geraq]

Hello there, as the title says I'm geraq.

I've been using Serenes Forest for sometime as source for information, and I finally decided to join the community. I was introduced to the series with Blazing Sword, and after that I've played as much games in the series as I could. I must admit I'm having a harder time completing the older ones.

My favorite FE game is Gaiden, because I'm fond of old NES games and I loved the two-party system, the world map, the story, the soundtrack, and of course the battles. After seeing there were very few reader reviews for it in GameFAQs I decided to write one, so feel free to check it out and tell me what you think!

I've just completed Radiant Dawn on its first playthrough, and I think it's great. Again, I loved the multiple parties, the story, the soundtrack, and the fact that it was very challenging without being unfair. It made me play in a way its predecessors didn't, I was always at disadvantage, I was always on the line, so every battle felt very vivid and decisive.

Anyway, I hope to have fun in this forum and to engage in interesting debates as the ones I've been reading here.

So that's my introduction, I'm glad to be here!

Edited December 8, 2016 by geraq

[Ycine]

Welcome to the Forest, Geraq!

Have a nice day and enjoy your stay!

[SpacelessZarius]

Hello and welcome to the forums.

[Julius Nepos]

Welcome to the forums! I hope you'll enjoy your time here.

I'm rather fond of Gaiden myself, and I like people who try to play all the FE games. Which ones have you played by now, if I may ask?

[geraq]

Hey Hattusili, thanks! I'm already having a blast, although I have to be careful to not fall into necroposting. Is it my fault that the conversations I care the most have already been closed? I guess it is...

Gaiden it's fantastic, I find it much more enjoyable than its predecessor. And it is easier too, given the time and patience, if you know what I mean. When you get to Chapter 3 and have control of both armies I could only think "Hell yeah! This is so awesome!". I always wanted that to be done again in other game, and efforts in Sacred Stones and Radiant Dawn are appreciated, even if it is not the same. Tear Ring Saga did it too, although I didn't get that far to see it.

Of course you can ask! I completed FE7-10, FE2, and FE3 book 2. About the others, up to FE10, I played them but couldn't finish them.

- I played FE1 a little (through chapter 5 I think), but I found it extremely hard and clunky. Not sure about why I didn't felt the same with FE2. In any case I went directly for FE3, which is much more enjoyable.

- About FE3, I couldn't finish Book 1. I got to the endgame with horribly underleveled characters and couldn't survive enemy's turn. Sorry, my bad.

Book 2 was insanely difficult, but fun.

- In FE4 I got to Chapter 8, but as I disregarded the pairing mechanic I ended up losing Holsety and getting my ass kicked several times. And restarting is such a pain in that game.

- I played FE5 very little, just to see how it was. I had read it was completely unforgiving, so I didn't hold much hopes in completing it either. It was a strange blend between FE4 and the Elibe series, both in terms of gameplay and aesthetics. After the mission with the pirates with the pitch black fog of war I thought I had enough for a while, and that I should return once I'm better.

- I started FE6 thinking it would be a cakewalk like FE7. I was so wrong. I think I got to the chapter in which you recruit Gonzalez, but I have the feeling I did everything wrong, most characters were very weak, I was running out of funds and such. I could beat FE7 even playing as bad as I did on my first time, and I learned the hard way to put some thought in how I play, through my time in FE2, FE3 and FE4.

- I recently finished the Tellius series, which is totally awesome. I enjoyed Radiant Dawn very much, even if the storyline fell flat in the second half and it leaves me with more and more questions the more I think about it. The multiple armies and the endgame felt so much like Gaiden. I don't want to spoil it to you if you haven't played it.

What about you, which ones have you played?

Thanks for the welcome and see you in the forums!

Edited December 11, 2016 by geraq

[Jedi]

Welcome to the forum! I hope you enjoy yourself here, I actually am currently in progress of doing Ironmans of every FE game (I've played them all in the past) and put them up on my youtube channel, maybe you'd be interested in seeing a goofball play some FE

[geraq]

Hey Jedi, thanks for the welcome! A fellow Star Wars fan like myself, I guess?

Not sure about what is an Ironman gameplay, is it some sort of speed run or walkthrough?

I guess you are jedisupersonic on youtube, if that's so I'll check it out!

Edited December 11, 2016 by geraq

[Jedi]

Hey Jedi, thanks for the welcome! A fellow Star Wars fan like myself, I guess?

Not sure about what is an Ironman gameplay, is it some sort of speed run or walkthrough?

I guess you are jedisupersonic on youtube, if that's so I'll check it out!

It's just regular walk-throughs with an ironman stipulation, i'm not focusing on speed or LTC sorry! Haha

Yeah i'm a starwars fan too, Ironman is basically "No resets allowed"

[geraq]

Oh, good to know, I've seen the term here and there but I didn't know what it meant. It is hard not to swear and turn off the game out of anger with an unlucky enemy critical hit and things like that, doesn't it?

I'll check it out then. See you around in the forums!

[Caster]

Hello! I saw you post a few times in one of my playthroughs.
Welcome.

[geraq]

Hello! I saw you post a few times in one of my playthroughs.

Welcome.

Thanks!

Yes, I was watching a little bit of the FE4 playthrough you are doing with Eleanor Hume. Nice job! I didn't know there was another translation, I knew only about Twilkitri's one, so I have to thank you both for the tip.

[Caster]

Heh... I find it funny when people refer to others as their username. Regardless I hope you're enjoying yourself, and have fun!

[geraq]

Heh... I find it funny when people refer to others as their username. Regardless I hope you're enjoying yourself, and have fun!

Err, sorry, how else would I refer to others? Is there a button I didn't see or something?

And thanks, I am, and I will.

Edited December 11, 2016 by geraq

[Rezzy]

Hi, and thanks for posting the family tree. I've honestly never played FE4 before, or rather I tried playing and stopped after the first map, because the interface and gameplay was so weird.

Err, sorry, how else would I refer to others? Is there a button I didn't see or something?

And thanks, I am, and I will.

No worries, Eleanor Hume, or until recently, Ayama Wirdo, goes by Julian and other derivations of that name, but I'm not sure if that's on his profile or not.

Likewise, you can either call me Rezzy, or Rachel, Rae, or that dumb ginger, if you want. My nickname of Rezzy actually predates my using it as a user name here by about 20 years or so.

[geraq]

Hi, and thanks for posting the family tree. I've honestly never played FE4 before, or rather I tried playing and stopped after the first map, because the interface and gameplay was so weird.

No worries, Eleanor Hume, or until recently, Ayama Wirdo, goes by Julian and other derivations of that name, but I'm not sure if that's on his profile or not.

Likewise, you can either call me Rezzy, or Rachel, Rae, or that dumb ginger, if you want. My nickname of Rezzy actually predates my using it as a user name here by about 20 years or so.

Hi Rezzy, thanks for the welcome! Yeah, the tree is very useful as there is quite a big roster and there is no in-game library as in FE10. And the bloodline genetics are quite confusing and arbitrary, or at least it seemed to me when I played it.

I tried FE4 once and couldn't get past Chapter 8. I like to think it is because I disregarded the pairing mechanic, so I ended up losing Holsety for good, but maybe I just relied too much on overpowered units like Shanan or Oifey. At first the interface seemed weird and clunky to me too, because I was used to the interface of FE7 and FE8, and for some reason I was expecting it to be identical in all games. The big maps seemed quited interesting at first, and very different from other games, but yeah, it turned into a drag in Chapter 4.

Anyway, I loved the story of FE4, for its epic and tragic scope and focus on earthly politics, betrayals and such. The amount of patricide, fratricide and such crimes was quite surprising. But at the same time I found the game incredibly hard and frustrating (no trading, seriously?), and I was not a big fan of the pairing mechanic, or the fact that it came back to punish me 5 or 6 chapters later. I think I improved my gameplay at least a little bit, so I might be able to try again and beat it this time.

See you around!

Edited December 12, 2016 by geraq

[Julius Nepos]

Hey Hattusili, thanks! I'm already having a blast, although I have to be careful to not fall into necroposting. Is it my fault that the conversations I care the most have already been closed? I guess it is...

Gaiden it's fantastic, I find it much more enjoyable than its predecessor. And it is easier too, given the time and patience, if you know what I mean. When you get to Chapter 3 and have control of both armies I could only think "Hell yeah! This is so awesome!". I always wanted that to be done again in other game, and efforts in Sacred Stones and Radiant Dawn are appreciated, even if it is not the same. Tear Ring Saga did it too, although I didn't get that far to see it.

Of course you can ask! I completed FE7-10, FE2, and FE3 book 2. About the others, up to FE10, I played them but couldn't finish them.

- I played FE1 a little (through chapter 5 I think), but I found it extremely hard and clunky. Not sure about why I didn't felt the same with FE2. In any case I went directly for FE3, which is much more enjoyable.

- About FE3, I couldn't finish Book 1. I got to the endgame with horribly underleveled characters and couldn't survive enemy's turn. Sorry, my bad.

Book 2 was insanely difficult, but fun.

- In FE4 I got to Chapter 8, but as I disregarded the pairing mechanic I ended up losing Holsety and getting my ass kicked several times. And restarting is such a pain in that game.

- I played FE5 very little, just to see how it was. I had read it was completely unforgiving, so I didn't hold much hopes in completing it either. It was a strange blend between FE4 and the Elibe series, both in terms of gameplay and aesthetics. After the mission with the pirates with the pitch black fog of war I thought I had enough for a while, and that I should return once I'm better.

- I started FE6 thinking it would be a cakewalk like FE7. I was so wrong. I think I got to the chapter in which you recruit Gonzalez, but I have the feeling I did everything wrong, most characters were very weak, I was running out of funds and such. I could beat FE7 even playing as bad as I did on my first time, and I learned the hard way to put some thought in how I play, through my time in FE2, FE3 and FE4.

- I recently finished the Tellius series, which is totally awesome. I enjoyed Radiant Dawn very much, even if the storyline fell flat in the second half and it leaves me with more and more questions the more I think about it. The multiple armies and the endgame felt so much like Gaiden. I don't want to spoil it to you if you haven't played it.

What about you, which ones have you played?

Thanks for the welcome and see you in the forums!

Well, if there's old threads that you find interesting, but they're too old to post in, you could make new threads for these topics. But that's up to you, of course.

I like Gaiden a lot and I've been meaning to replay it for some time, but other things take priority for me right now. I like hearing what other fans think of it.

FE1 is indeed old and clunky. I think Gaiden feels better because even though you still can't see weapons' stats, they're added directly to the units' (e.g. might is added to the unit's strength, weight is deducted from the unit's speed), plus a unit can only have one weapon in their inventory, so there's much less to deal with.

For some reason, my team in FE3 book 1 ended up being a bit underleveled too, though their problems were mostly fixed by promoting them. I like the dynamics in FE3; book 1 is very basic gameplay-wise, then book 2 starts mixing things up. It would be a great game to start with if it weren't so old.

FE4 can be difficult in the generations if your pairings didn't work out very well, but it can still be doable. I ended up with Holsety on Corple in my first playthrough, so I practically didn't get to use it either (only once or twice in the final chapter). I still found it very doable though, if you manage to find out who your best units are and focus on using them. You can't really go wrong with Shanan, Oifey and Sety, and Larcei tends to be great as well.

FE5 is very difficult, although I've heard it's a breakable game if you're not playing blind and ironman (like me). It's an interesting experience, but definitely more... advanced.

FE6 is a bit of an interesting middle ground between FE5 and FE7. On the one hand it feels more similar to FE7 than to the SNES games, but on the other hand its map design and difficulty are reminiscent of FE5.

I'm very fond of the Tellius series myself, though I also have my questions about the plot in the latter half of Radiant Dawn. I especially like how Radiant Dawn took some of Gaiden's ideas (multiple armies, third tiers), but gave them a very unique spin.

I have beaten FE1-10 and I'm currently in the process of beating FE11 (yes, there's a pattern here). I also played a bit of FE13 in some distant past.

[OliKad]

If you're curious, I'm currently doing a project, which is of ranking the various units of FE4 into a tier list! You can find it in the NES/SNES section of the forest. Maybe it could help you find the motivation to replay one of my all-time favourite games by giving you pro tips on who to use and how to use them. ;)

Also, although i'm not overly knowledgeable in that, I might help a little in pairings if you'd like...
Anyway, enough advertising! Welcome to the forest (although maybe I've seen you before?) and enjoy your stay! ^^

[geraq]

Well, if there's old threads that you find interesting, but they're too old to post in, you could make new threads for these topics. But that's up to you, of course.

I like Gaiden a lot and I've been meaning to replay it for some time, but other things take priority for me right now. I like hearing what other fans think of it.

FE1 is indeed old and clunky. I think Gaiden feels better because even though you still can't see weapons' stats, they're added directly to the units' (e.g. might is added to the unit's strength, weight is deducted from the unit's speed), plus a unit can only have one weapon in their inventory, so there's much less to deal with.

For some reason, my team in FE3 book 1 ended up being a bit underleveled too, though their problems were mostly fixed by promoting them. I like the dynamics in FE3; book 1 is very basic gameplay-wise, then book 2 starts mixing things up. It would be a great game to start with if it weren't so old.

FE4 can be difficult in the generations if your pairings didn't work out very well, but it can still be doable. I ended up with Holsety on Corple in my first playthrough, so I practically didn't get to use it either (only once or twice in the final chapter). I still found it very doable though, if you manage to find out who your best units are and focus on using them. You can't really go wrong with Shanan, Oifey and Sety, and Larcei tends to be great as well.

FE5 is very difficult, although I've heard it's a breakable game if you're not playing blind and ironman (like me). It's an interesting experience, but definitely more... advanced.

FE6 is a bit of an interesting middle ground between FE5 and FE7. On the one hand it feels more similar to FE7 than to the SNES games, but on the other hand its map design and difficulty are reminiscent of FE5.

I'm very fond of the Tellius series myself, though I also have my questions about the plot in the latter half of Radiant Dawn. I especially like how Radiant Dawn took some of Gaiden's ideas (multiple armies, third tiers), but gave them a very unique spin.

I have beaten FE1-10 and I'm currently in the process of beating FE11 (yes, there's a pattern here). I also played a bit of FE13 in some distant past.

Now that you mention it, I think that I paired Levin and Sylvia too, because as they are recruited together and spend several turns together until they reunite with the rest, I figured it would be a "cannonical" or default pairing, even when Levin said (If I recall correctly) that they had fun and all but that it was just that. Or something like that, I don't remember exactly, it was quite a while ago. Same with Claude/Tiltyu, Azel/Aideen, Midir/Briggid and Lex/Ayra. I don't know, I thought it made sense into the story instead of having to manually optimize breeding as if they were cattle or something... Just kidding, it is an interesting mechanic, even if a little tedious and too critical for the overall outcome.

I can't remember who was Lachesis husband, maybe it was Holyn. I don't know what went wrong, but I ended up with Arthur and Tinny being extremely weak , and the same with Femina, as I left Fury unpaired. Shanan is good, and Oifey is good, but they are not enough against 15 or 20 riders and armors, or when 3 crazy witches come running to kill everyone in your team. Not to mention Ishtar. The point is, had I won, maybe I could have gotten Corple/Holsety. At this point I think a restart would be much more beneficial. Again, back then I didn't put much thought about stats, items or growths when deciding pairings, I just went with what seemed to me the most "default" setting.

So, thanks for your tips and comments. I agree with your points about the titles I played, and I'll keep in mind the ones about the titles I didn't. Good to find another Gaiden enthusiast, I find myself wanting to replay it from time to time too. Chapter 3 is beyond cool, and most of Chapter 4 maps too (like the one with the waterfall or the battle with Rudolf). And the final map, man, that is great. Even the hardest maps (the one with Matilda, the one with Dyute, the dragon mountain, the poisonous bog) are so enjoyable and are quite satisfying once completed.

I think I'll make a post, once I finish my current "research" for answers in the existing posts. Thanks for pointing out that to me, I didn't want to be asking again what was already asked before.

Hey, I started Shadow Dragon too just yesterday, I got to Chapter 5! Good timing!

Edited December 15, 2016 by geraq

[geraq]

If you're curious, I'm currently doing a project, which is of ranking the various units of FE4 into a tier list! You can find it in the NES/SNES section of the forest. Maybe it could help you find the motivation to replay one of my all-time favourite games by giving you pro tips on who to use and how to use them. ;)

Also, although i'm not overly knowledgeable in that, I might help a little in pairings if you'd like...

Anyway, enough advertising! Welcome to the forest (although maybe I've seen you before?) and enjoy your stay! ^^

Hey OliKad, thanks for the tip! I have a strange relationship with FE4, on one hand I love its story, its soundtrack and its big battles, but on the other hand I find the lack of trading, the individual gold bags (in a game in which the message is about friendship, trust and sharing... seriously?), the ginormous maps, some annoying skills like Great Shield and the over-reliance on holy weapons very much discouraging. But rest assured I will check out your tier list!

I hope my time with FE10 has improved my gameplay, so I'll finally be ready to face FE4 again, even if they are quite different. Heck, I never paid attention to caps, growths, supports, skills and such until my life was on the line like in Radiant Dawn. FE7 and FE8 were so easy that they were perfectly winnable without having to think about those things hehe.

I doubt you have seen me before unless it was on my review on GameFAQs, as I don't appear that much in the web, lol.

Thanks for the welcome, see you around!

Edited December 15, 2016 by geraq

[OliKad]

Hey OliKad, thanks for the tip! I have a strange relationship with FE4, on one hand I love its story, its soundtrack and its big battles, but on the other hand I find the lack of trading, the individual gold bags (in a game in which the message is about friendship, trust and sharing... seriously?), the ginormous maps, some annoying skills like Great Shield and the over-reliance on holy weapons very much discouraging. But rest assured I will check out your tier list!

I hope my time with FE10 has improved my gameplay, so I'll finally be ready to face FE4 again, even if they are quite different. Heck, I never paid attention to caps, growths, supports, skills and such until my life was on the line like in Radiant Dawn. FE7 and FE8 were so easy that they were perfectly winnable without having to think about those things hehe.

I doubt you have seen me before unless it was on my review on GameFAQs, as I don't appear that much in the web, lol.

Thanks for the welcome, see you around!

I think I read your Gaiden review, but nothing more than that :P

And yeah, I know that FE4 is sort of polarizing because of its differences (skills, gigantic maps, trading, etc.), but that's what makes a part of its charm for me tbh. Plus, I think I'd prefer the holy weapons to be that broken! xD

Still, if you ever tackle FE4 again, let me know, and I'll be glad to fanboy talk about it! ^^

[geraq]

I think I read your Gaiden review, but nothing more than that :P

And yeah, I know that FE4 is sort of polarizing because of its differences (skills, gigantic maps, trading, etc.), but that's what makes a part of its charm for me tbh. Plus, I think I'd prefer the holy weapons to be that broken! xD

Still, if you ever tackle FE4 again, let me know, and I'll be glad to fanboy talk about it! ^^

lol, maybe. I find the holy weapons too much RPG for my taste, but can't deny they are cool.

Thanks, I'll let you know. Hey, good to see a fellow Mega Man and Castlevania fan (Mega Man 4 and Aria of Sorrow are my big favorites). And about anime, I saw Cowboy Bebop recently, and I enjoyed it very much. Planning to see Fullmetal Alchemist sometime in the future. I saw Evangelion too but didn't understand a thing in the last six or so episodes.

[OliKad]

lol, maybe. I find the holy weapons too much RPG for my taste, but can't deny they are cool.

Thanks, I'll let you know. Hey, good to see a fellow Mega Man and Castlevania fan (Mega Man 4 and Aria of Sorrow are my big favorites). And about anime, I saw Cowboy Bebop recently, and I enjoyed it very much. Planning to see Fullmetal Alchemist sometime in the future. I saw Evangelion too but didn't understand a thing in the last six or so episodes.

Oh hey, that's really cool! :D

My personal favourites of those franchises are Mega Man X (which is also one of my fav. games peiod) and Super Castlevania IV. Yeah, I'm a huge SNES fan if you couldn't have guessed. xD

Bang.

[OliKad]

lol, maybe. I find the holy weapons too much RPG for my taste, but can't deny they are cool.

Thanks, I'll let you know. Hey, good to see a fellow Mega Man and Castlevania fan (Mega Man 4 and Aria of Sorrow are my big favorites). And about anime, I saw Cowboy Bebop recently, and I enjoyed it very much. Planning to see Fullmetal Alchemist sometime in the future. I saw Evangelion too but didn't understand a thing in the last six or so episodes.

Oh hey, that's really cool! :D

My personal favourites of those franchises are Mega Man X (which is also one of my fav. games peiod) and Super Castlevania IV. Yeah, I'm a huge SNES fan if you couldn't have guessed. xD

Bang.

[geraq]

Oh hey, that's really cool! :D

My personal favourites of those franchises are Mega Man X (which is also one of my fav. games peiod) and Super Castlevania IV. Yeah, I'm a huge SNES fan if you couldn't have guessed. xD

Bang.

In my opinion Mega Man X1 was absolutely great, X2 was good, and didn't like X3. Played a little of X4, and didn't played the others.

Super Castlevania IV is quite good (setting aside the insane difficulty), but among the action-platformers in the series, I find Rondo of Blood the most enjoyable. And among the Metroidvanias, even if Symphony of the Night is clearly the best, Aria of Sorrow is the one I find myself going back to more often. Mirror of Fate is also really cool.

The SNES has excellent titles (Super Metroid, Terranigma and Chrono Trigger are big favs), and one of the most unique and unknown games I ever played on that console is a survival-platforming called SOS. I've never seen a game like that, although it might not be everyone's cup of tea.

[Julius Nepos]

Now that you mention it, I think that I paired Levin and Sylvia too, because as they are recruited together and spend several turns together until they reunite with the rest, I figured it would be a "cannonical" or default pairing, even when Levin said (If I recall correctly) that they had fun and all but that it was just that. Or something like that, I don't remember exactly, it was quite a while ago. Same with Claude/Tiltyu, Azel/Aideen, Midir/Briggid and Lex/Ayra. I don't know, I thought it made sense into the story instead of having to manually optimize breeding as if they were cattle or something... Just kidding, it is an interesting mechanic, even if a little tedious and too critical for the overall outcome.

I can't remember who was Lachesis husband, maybe it was Holyn. I don't know what went wrong, but I ended up with Arthur and Tinny being extremely weak , and the same with Femina, as I left Fury unpaired. Shanan is good, and Oifey is good, but they are not enough against 15 or 20 riders and armors, or when 3 crazy witches come running to kill everyone in your team. Not to mention Ishtar. The point is, had I won, maybe I could have gotten Corple/Holsety. At this point I think a restart would be much more beneficial. Again, back then I didn't put much thought about stats, items or growths when deciding pairings, I just went with what seemed to me the most "default" setting.

So, thanks for your tips and comments. I agree with your points about the titles I played, and I'll keep in mind the ones about the titles I didn't. Good to find another Gaiden enthusiast, I find myself wanting to replay it from time to time too. Chapter 3 is beyond cool, and most of Chapter 4 maps too (like the one with the waterfall or the battle with Rudolf). And the final map, man, that is great. Even the hardest maps (the one with Matilda, the one with Dyute, the dragon mountain, the poisonous bog) are so enjoyable and are quite satisfying once completed.

I think I'll make a post, once I finish my current "research" for answers in the existing posts. Thanks for pointing out that to me, I didn't want to be asking again what was already asked before.

Hey, I started Shadow Dragon too just yesterday, I got to Chapter 5! Good timing!

Let's see, my pairings in my first FE4 playthrough were... Dew/Aideen (bargain on Lana was nice, Lester was terrible), Holyn/Ayra, Beowulf/Raquesis, Lewyn/Sylvia, Jamke/Briggid, Claude/Tiltyu. They weren't exactly optimal pairings either, but I found them to be workable.

Balmung makes Shanan's avoid gigantic, which is something you should make good use of. But even then, he won't dodge everything. Ishtar can be quite a problem for him, because she has high enough hit to overcome Shanan's avoid and Shanan's resistance is low. I found Ares to be better at dealing with her, because Mystletain gives him critical and a resistance bonus. And of course, holy weapon users are best fought against with holy weapon users.

I have mixed feelings about chapter 4 in Gaiden myself. I like how there's an optional route for Alm to get Teeta and Zeke, there's a few really cool maps (battle maps and dungeon maps) and I like how Alm's and Celica's route interact through Alm's ensnarement in Dragon Mountain. On the other hand, I feel like there's too little story progression until the huge plot dump at the end, which makes it feel rather long-winded. I'm still fond of it though.

Haha, and I beat Shadow Dragon just a few days ago now. I wish you good luck on it!