Retainers

[Tuvy]

I don't get the hate toward Azama....

He is easily the best healer in the game!

(at least for me...)

[Etrurian emperor]

Time for me to ramble a little about what makes a good retainer. The descriptions of the teams aren't ranked in how much I like them but are generally sorted to reflect the point I'm making. Saizo for example is mentioned right after I talk about retainers having to have a bond with their lord. 

I like team Takumi the best when it comes to the retainers because its made very clear that the trio have a very tight bond with one another. I can see them spending time with each other as best friends rather than just lord and retainers and in this capacity they add something to Takumi's character. With Takumi being such a tsundere and with the negative first reception he gives to the player its important to make it clear that he's a good guy underneath. Him being so close to his retainers despite being their boss is a good way to show that. Oboro is also one of the more interesting Hoshidans and while not terrible interesting Hinata at least manages to be constantly endearing. 
They both work very well as characters and as retainers which makes me deem them the best retainer team.

Team Camilla also have this quality in them. Through their cutscenes its easy to see how close they are to Camilla and how much their lady loves to dote on them. For Camilla this is actually very important. Camilla cuddling her retainers so much redeems her obsession with Corrin to some extend because its clear that she's not merely pandering to the player character but that she smothers everyone she loves.
I really hated Severa for being an unreasonably agressive tsundere but I can respect Selena because she shows character growth. Her behavior towards Camilla and Beruka shows she can be nice without tsundere strings attached to that kindness. She no longer has her friends jump through hoops for her. She's still a tsundre but not an unreasonable one. 

I think the ability of a retainer to interact and show a good side of their lord is one of their most important attributes. If they fail at this I find them a bit lacking in how they function as a retainer.

As a character I really like Saizo. He's a very solid combination of a baddass and a grumpybear which makes him cool while also leaving room for some brevity in his conversations. But as a retainer he's a bit disappointing. I can't see him and Ryoma having any sort of bond aside of Ryoma being his master. Kagero has the same problem when it comes to her role as retainer. I have no opinion on Kagero and while I think Saizo is great he's not the best retainer to a lord who I don't find terribly interesting either. So despite Saizo team Ryoma is probably one of my least favorite if we view the retainers as a team.

Arthur is just amazing every time he opens his mouth. He's consistently amusing but I also think there is more than Arthur then his silly antics. He isn't just a fool but also just that great of a guy. He and Elise seems close enough. Effie says he's her hero and it would be in character for Elise to be the only character aside of Percy who finds Arthur cool. I find the age difference to be very off putting but their supports are very sweet. 
I have no opinion at all about Effie though, aside from her being a very useful unit. 

I like Laslow for the same reason as I like Selena. He shows character growth, being more mature and surprisingly ending up as Xanders sole functioning retainer. The only difference is that I already liked Inigo a lot. His conversations with Xander are also pretty sweet. 
Peri is just garbage though. She's terrible for being an irredeemable serial killer but she also fails as a retainer. She doesn't reinforce Xanders as a character but actively works to damage him. There is no reason for Xander to be fine with Peri while being disgusted by Hans and Iago....um, well there IS a reason, Xander was thinking with his pants when he hired her but that's even worse!
So the team is out of balance. Laslow is great, Xander is flawed but with many strong points and Peri is the worst character in the game.

Team Leo is okay which is kind of a letdown considering Leo deserves better than okay. I like Niles well enough but he's not my favorite. Odin on the other hand I straight up don't respect. Odin's gimmick is tired now that its used again and sometimes this makes Odin turn out to be a very predictable character, the very opposite of how he is intended to come off. I also don't think he makes the most of his return, unlike Inigo and Severa. He's just going through the motions to me.
Niles and Leo are reasonably close but I don't see Niles hanging around Leo in his free time and Odin and Leo's relation doesn't really work well for me. Leo appreciates him but I don't see it as going any more then that. 

I don't like any of Sakura's retainer. I don't know why but Subaki never really gelled well with me. Hana I find to be a terrible person which isn't helped by her not really having a place on my team, even without her Corrin support she lacks Hinata's puppy factor or the godly performance of Ryoma. They do seem close enough to Sakura so at least they work in that way.

Team Hinoka don't work very well as retainers but I think that's also kind of the point. It seems they were written as some kind of burden that Hinoka has to carry as some sort of ball and chain. A weird decision but it comes off well, Setsuna and Azama really come off as terrible retainers. So I can forgive them not functioning as retainers. I just don't find either of them to be very interesting. 

The new generation does retainers rather well. Most are a foil of their lord. The serious and insecure Siegbert has the shameless and cheery Soleil, the hyper little psycho Kiragi has the super serious Hisame and gentle Forrest has retainers that can be a bit violent. Despite being foils its also established they are all very close. Team Forrest especially comes across well. Forrest is as thoughtful as ever while showing surprising leadership ablilities, his retainers are shown to care for the prince and tend to obey him rather then walk all over him. In general their interaction also just works. 

Edited April 17, 2017 by Etrurian emperor

[saisymbolic]

It's a tough choice as I like several of the retainers, but I think I may have to go with Arthur as my favorite retainer.

So, I have no real issues with him as a unit, because I tend to use even the crappiest with only a slightly strained smile on my face. His design is pretty interesting as it stands out in comparison to everyone else, and I mean that in a positive way. His gimmick, surprisingly, isn't a black hole that sucks up any other personality feature he may have; he's a kind, selfless and humorous guy that i totally ship with azura (and niles) that has a pretty decent amount of enjoyable support conversations. I like his kid, Percy, and I think the only reason I put him above my other three favorite retainers, Hinata, Tsubaki and Saizou, is because I played CQ first.

My least favorite would have to be Peri.

Edited April 17, 2017 by saisymbolic

[Extrasolar]

1 hour ago, Tuvy said:

I don't get the hate toward Azama....

He is easily the best healer in the game!

Oh, but he makes a much better physical attacking unit, which is one of the things I love about him.

I don't think we've ever gotten a priest/cleric that's actually better attacking physically than healing.

[Tuvy]

13 minutes ago, Extrasolar said:

Oh, but he makes a much better physical attacking unit, which is one of the things I love about him.

I don't think we've ever gotten a priest/cleric that's actually better attacking physically than healing.

Exactly!

[Interdimensional Observer]

And it isn't like Azama makes a crappy healer. A healing formula of base + 1/3 Magic does that for ya. A 30 Magic Sakura is only healing 10 HP more than a 0 Magic unit. 

Retainers were a nice and realistic idea that Fates tried. For whatever faults it had, it wasn't too bad. Giving every playable royal 2 retainers, plus 2 for Mikoto and more for Corrin, didn't have to stunt the roster's diversity, and it didn't exactly do that, but neither do I think the royal-retainer focus is unimpeachable. It all depends on the feel the developer wants to go for. Fates is to an extent supposed to be focused on a clash of royal families. Thracia 776 on the other hand is a small story filled appropriately with more mundane individuals. 

And as this implies, prior games had plenty of retainers in practice, if not in title.

[HK Motendra]

my two favorite were a toss up between Kagero and Lazlow respectively for each side, but ultimately went with Kagero. As much as I LOVE Lazlow's character, when it comes to my own gameplay exp, Kagero has consistently been a key player in all of my run throughs of each campaign that I simply couldn't NOT deploy her. That being said, I will say that it's a little unfair to Lazlow when considering his late recruitment in RV, but I digress. Kagero on the other hand, I see her as a ninja Mulan and she never fails to deliver for me. Best of the ninja trio. I only wish she wasnt captured every. single. TIME.

I.... cant entirely say on who my LEAST favorite, other than perhaps based on the ones that I use the least, which would put Azama, Setsuna & Niles and Peri respectively. I like very much like Niles, but I can never get him to work for me to last the entire campaign, giving me a bit of a unit bias. But what puts Niles above the rest aforementioned retainers is that while I'd at least ATTEMPT to make Niles work for having a niche, I can never say the same for everyone else here, and its not like I ever really use them either. Otherwise, i'm pretty neutral, personally

[Alkaid]

My favorite is a hard pick. I like a few, but I think Beruka is the best for me. I like her silent emotionless assassin thing and her backstory for it is decent. Her supports with a number of units are good and make her likable knowing there's something under her hard exterior too. Also as a unit I really love her, she's usually badass semi-tank for me and really fun to use.

Others I really like are Oboro, Kagero, Niles, Selena and Peri. I completely get why people hate Peri's one-dimensional murderer thing, and they could have made her a lot better with less-lazy writing, but I dunno, it doesn't bother me too much and I enjoy her quips as she revels in taking out enemies. I know Reina is that way too, but something about her is a lot more boring instead. Plus being a top class chef on the side is pretty funny(and useful). Also got a unit bias with her since she regularly becomes an absolute monster of a unit for me somehow. I rarely get another less than 3 stats ups per level with her and it's great.

Least favorite is much more clear cut. Azama. Can't stand him. I see how some could appreciate the humor his character tries to bring, but I just hate his shitty attitude and how he's an asshole to everyone just for the sake of being an asshole more often than not. Just annoying and unpleasant. Jakob is similarly bad and a runner up. The way he treats Felicia alone could make me hate him. Those two regularly remain un-paired for me.

Edited April 17, 2017 by Alkaid

[Azure Sen]

Favorite is Oboro, for being a really good unit on top of being a well-rounded character with a likable personality. Close seconds are Kagero (personal bias), Laslow (got some great character development), Hinata (all of Team Takumi is great, really) and Tsubaki (personal bias).

Least favorite is actual serial killer Peri, for obvious reasons. Close second-worsts are Azama (irredeemable douche), Odin (nothing but his gimmick now), and Setsuna (no actual personality).

[Thor Odinson]

Favorite (both gameplay and story in this case): Saizo. Dude has surprisingly good supports, and I really like running him as a Dark Flier. He pulls of hybrid offense really well. Honorable mentions to Oboro and Tsubaki. 

Least favorite: Peri's writing is... eh. Also don't like Azama and Setsuna. I feel bad for Hinoka. For gameplay, probably Setsuna.

[The Malign Knight]

Favorite: Laslow, without any doubt. He always comes off as one of the most normal characters in the game and you can really see that he has maturated a lot from his Awakening and sure, he still hits on women here and there, but It doesn't really devour his character. At all.

Least favorite is Laslow's companion, Peri: she makes Xander look like a total idiot and an hypocrite and she also tries hard to sort of entertainmening, but she completely fails in every way possible. Also, I dislike that she gets a happy ending, even if she really, really shouldn't.

[emyloid]

Is it weird that Setsuna is my favorite? I don't know why, but I enjoy her personality so much. She's so clumsy, but so chill. I think I love her because out of the vicious and buff retainers out there, Setsuna is that weird outlier. Her voice is also super fitting in my opinion, and makes me love Setsuna even more. However, as a unit in battles, she could be a lot better (at least in my file). I would have easily replaced her, but I put her in all of my battles anyway because I love hearing her voice lines when she can get a crit or levels up.

[Shadow Mir]

From a gameplay perspective, Arthur is my least favorite because he just can't pull his damn weight on the battlefield. Being in a class that's churned out terrible units time and time again doesn't help. . . It's like Unintelligent Systems doesn't know how to make fighters NOT suck. As for favorite...I'm having trouble deciding.

[MeddlingMage]

My favorite is Odin.   Kinda figured I to go him because the female avatar always marries him for some reason.  My 2nd would be Oboro.

 

My least favorite is Subaki.  I never really use Subaki that much and Caeldori always replaces him.