What is your unpopular Fire Emblem opinion?

[DragonFlames]

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

Ok i don't know who Lisette is but i know you're refering to Azura here and i don't really see how she's a Tear wannabe. Granted, i never played Abyss (or any Tales game aside from the first hour of Zestiria) but i watched the anime insteand. Azura and Tear had different personalities and motivations so uh, how is the former a discount to the latter?

Lisette is a protagonist from Stella Glow, who is a Witch (which in this game, is someone that can use the power of music), controls water and uses song to various effects, mostly healing or swamping entire maps... she's pretty OP, really.
Though Lisette's songs are much better than Azura's in my humble opinion (especially Levia. That song kicks major butt). But that one is up to one's taste in music.

How is Azura a Tear wannabe? Easy: Both come from an "underground world", are the key to saving the "upper world" with their songs, both can use songs to various effects and both are essentially advisers to the main character. True, they do have different personalities (and thank the gods for that one), but all in all, I couldn't help but feel a sense of... familiarity when I first ran into Azura in Fates. There was this nagging feeling of "Wait a second... haven't you seen that kind of character before? Like... it's been done before and done so much better than here?" that kept hitting me in the face.
You're right about their motivations, though. Tear's motivation is what kicked off the plot while Azura is just sort of... there.

I'll give you the difference between Inigo and Virion.
Though I was never the fan of the womanizer trope to begin with. These kinds of characters just... don't sit right with me.

About Ephraim having a personality: Kirito has one as well, if you look hard enough. He's... er... compassionate? An introvert who likes doing things on his own? Something like that?
Whereas Ephraim is a prince that doesn't like the king's burden and would rather be a mercenary to beat stuff up. And he has a tendency to be reckless af, which, thanks to his Gary Stu powers, never results in anything bad for the guy. I... really don't see one being better than the other, to be honest.
 

[Armagon]

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

How is Azura a Tear wannabe? Easy: Both come from an "underground world", are the key to saving the "upper world" with their songs, both can use songs to various effects and both are essentially advisers to the main character. True, they do have different personalities (and thank the gods for that one), but all in all, I couldn't help but feel a sense of... familiarity when I first ran into Azura in Fates. There was this nagging feeling of "Wait a second... haven't you seen that kind of character before? Like... it's been done before and done so much better than here?" that kept hitting me in the face.
You're right about their motivations, though. Tear's motivation is what kicked off the plot while Azura is just sort of... there.

Right but like, their personalities are still different enough and Azura some some slight differences here and there between each of Fates' three paths. Azura also isn't the love interest like Tear was (although she could be if the player wanted and it's likely canon but we'll never know). They have somewhat similar origins and abilities but that's as far as it goes. You can't really say one is a better version of the other. Saying Tear is a better version of Azura is different from saying Tear is a better character than Azura. Do you see what i mean?

Can't comment on Lisette as i've never played Stella Glow but is her personality and motivations that similar to Azura's?

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

Though I was never the fan of the womanizer trope to begin with.

I'm somewhat a fan of it, i just wasn't a fan of Virion particularly.

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

Whereas Ephraim is a prince that doesn't like the king's burden and would rather be a mercenary to beat stuff up. And he has a tendency to be reckless af, which, thanks to his Gary Stu powers, never results in anything bad for the guy

Nope, he gets punished for it one time. Yeah, it only happened once but at least it happened, which is more than i can say about Kirito.

[DukeOfVelthomer]

I have some unpopular Fire Emblem opinions. 

1. I hate Nino. She feels forced in the story to me and she's honestly a terrible unit. 

2. Lyn is a terrible unit too. I like her character enough even though she can be a bit bland at times but still, an awful unit.

3. I'm not a big fan of Lute. Don't hate her, just don't like her.

4. I don't hate Fates. I enjoy the gameplay a lot. Even though the story is pretty bad I find the majority of the characters pretty charming. 

[DragonFlames]

53 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Right but like, their personalities are still different enough and Azura some some slight differences here and there between each of Fates' three paths. Azura also isn't the love interest like Tear was (although she could be if the player wanted and it's likely canon but we'll never know). They have somewhat similar origins and abilities but that's as far as it goes. You can't really say one is a better version of the other. Saying Tear is a better version of Azura is different from saying Tear is a better character than Azura. Do you see what i mean?

Can't comment on Lisette as i've never played Stella Glow but is her personality and motivations that similar to Azura's?

I'm somewhat a fan of it, i just wasn't a fan of Virion particularly.

Nope, he gets punished for it one time. Yeah, it only happened once but at least it happened, which is more than i can say about Kirito.

I do see what you mean. It's just that their similarities were enough for me to compare the two and with the "right" mindset, Azura just seems like a massively inferior version of Tear. "Right" in quotation marks, because I will admit to being heavily biased against Azura. I can't even put my finger on EXACTLY why I dislike her so much. It's bizarre, really.

The Lisette thing is just that they both use water and have magic songs. It's a bit of a stretch, I'll admit.
Lisette is basically a girl next door with a kind and compassionate heart that found the amnesiac protagonist three years before the game starts proper. She gives him a name and a new home. She says that the two are family

but in reality, she crushes hard on him, but denies it, which is the reason she can't actually sing for most of the game until she can admit it after almost dying to a magic dagger. It makes more sense in context, trust me

.

To each their own, I suppose. I'd say Virion is one of the funnier examples of that trope and he can be at least somewhat likable when he isn't chasing skirts, like in his supports with Robin. Inigo, too. Which brings me to say that I never said I hated these characters - I know, you never implied as such - just that I didn't really understand why one was more popular than the other when the two of them are basically the same character on the surface.

Once is still better than nothing, right? Ephraim's still a massive Gary Stu to me, though.

[Nobody]

Most of Radiant Dawn's soundtrack is horrible and legitimately hurts my ears.

There's just too much going on on those songs, and no focus at all. 

[Interdimensional Observer]

8 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

I don't see why Anna is as popular as she is

I think Awakening was a mixed blessing, or should I say mixed curse for Anna.

Prior to Awakening, Anna was just a reoccurring mascot character. She would appear when you selected certain menu options, when you visited a secret shop, maybe she'd appear in a village or someplace else. Always a little mischievous, always having her signature look, with nothing else to her, she was largely an inoffensive character whom nobody really could hate.

Then came Awakening.

The blessing:

1. The reoccurring mascot character is playable! That is so cool! (And she obsoletes Gaius as a Thief, but that is besides the point.)
2. She has a fleshed out backstory and personality, you can even marry her, awesome!

The curse:

1. Even if you like her money and business puns at first, they grow old before you know it. Anna by gaining a personality, has become a monotone trope.
2. Anna has suddenly multiplied into infinity. Whereas in the older games she'd appear in maybe 3 capacities, she is now all over the place, to the point of it being no longer special at all to see her.
3. What do all these Annas have in common- an obsession with money that can cross the line and go too far. See her Tiki support where she exploit's Tiki's popularity. And the Hot Springs DLC where she becomes a hellish paparazzo intruding on Robin's privacy! I hate you for this Anna.
4. And why does she have things like a magical predecessor to a modern camera? I think she called Tiki a communist/socialist once- even as a joke, I did not like this anachronism, nor the technology, keep FE technologically in the past, or at least not overly modern.
5. As a fifth, smaller note. She hardly gets any Supports, so if she had other facets to her being, we wouldn't know it. And because you can't have steady preexisting lovers in Awakening due to baby making (and yet Anna doesn't even have a kid) and the Avatar having sexual rights to all, Jake got axed from existence. So Anna is all alone, nobody but herself tying her down to the world or playable hero group. At least the Khans had each other, and Nowi entered the scene with Gregor.

The end result? Like Grandma's cookies, putting Anna everywhere has made her unique no more, just common fare whose flavor is now identical to packaged mass-produced cookies. And like Grandma herself, learning more about her has revealed she had some serious character faults, like being a big racist (the hypothetical Grandma, not Anna). An inoffensive little nicety has become a widespread offensive banality.

Fates continued in this, albeit to a lesser degree (and they made the cheap move of locking Anna into being DLC). SoV was spared from the modern Anna, since being very attached to the original game here meant excluding Anna, as she never appeared in Gaiden.

[SoulWeaver]

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I think Awakening was a mixed blessing, or should I say mixed curse for Anna.

Prior to Awakening, Anna was just a reoccurring mascot character. She would appear when you selected certain menu options, when you visited a secret shop, maybe she'd appear in a village or someplace else. Always a little mischievous, always having her signature look, with nothing else to her, she was largely an inoffensive character whom nobody really could hate.

Then came Awakening.

The blessing:

1. The reoccurring mascot character is playable! That is so cool! (And she obsoletes Gaius as a Thief, but that is besides the point.)
2. She has a fleshed out backstory and personality, you can even marry her, awesome!

The curse:

1. Even if you like her money and business puns at first, they grow old before you know it. Anna by gaining a personality, has become a monotone trope.
2. Anna has suddenly multiplied into infinity. Whereas in the older games she'd appear in maybe 3 capacities, she is now all over the place, to the point of it being no longer special at all to see her.
3. What do all these Annas have in common- an obsession with money that can cross the line and go too far. See her Tiki support where she exploits Tiki's popularity. And the Hot Springs DLC where she becomes a hellish paparazzo intruding on Robin's privacy! I hate you for this Anna.
4. And why does she have things like a magical predecessor to a modern camera? I think she called Tiki a communist/socialist once- even as a joke, I did not like this anachronism, nor the technology, keep FE technologically in the past, or at least not overly modern.
5. As a fifth, smaller note. She hardly gets any Supports, so if she had other facets to her being, we wouldn't know it. And because you can't have steady preexisting lovers in Awakening due to baby making (and yet Anna doesn't even have a kid) and the Avatar having sexual rights to all, Jake got axed from existence. So Anna is all alone, nobody but herself tying her down to the world or playable hero group. At least the Khans had each other, and Nowi entered the scene with Gregor.

The end result? Like Grandma's cookies, putting Anna everywhere has made her unique no more, just common fare whose flavor is now identical to packaged mass-produced cookies. And like Grandma herself, learning more about her has revealed she had some serious character faults, like being a big racist (the hypothetical Grandma, not Anna). An inoffensive little nicety has become a widespread offensive banality.

Fates continued in this, albeit to a lesser degree (and they made the cheap move of locking Anna into being DLC). SoV was spared from the modern Anna, since being very attached to the original game here meant excluding Anna, as she never appeared in Gaiden.

I think you mean they made the Anna move of locking her behind DLC - Anna herself probably suggested it, to be realistic, or else only agreed to it if she received a sizable cut of the profits. Also RIP Jake.
I actually thought the snapshot tome was kind of a cool idea seeing as how it's about as practical as Laurent's collection as far as battle is concerned - I was sad you couldn't get one for him. I suppose I do agree with your argument, though.
Again, RIP Jake - he's appeared what, twice in the course of all 16+ games of Fire Emblem(counting Warriors + Heroes for the 16+)? I haven't played Tellius or Jugdral and wouldn't know if he was referenced there, but he's recruitable in Shadow Dragon and at least mentioned in Blazing Sword and consequently Anna's Support with Lyn in Warriors, though I don't think that was by name.
You should probably drop point 2 on your pros list - it really doesn't flesh out her backstory at all, especially considering you can play the two Anna Paralogues in reverse order and mess up what story there was, and marrying her is kind of ruined by her confession quotes both still referencing money, especially in Fates. Really, her Fates Supports with Female Corrin are the closest thing to any actual backstory building they even tried to get, and that was just some BS about Anna's parents somehow managing to contort the two syllables of the name Anna enough times for every Anna to have a different pronunciation they could recognize as their own, which, considering the number of Annas being at least 100 because I take Cipher cards too seriously, is ridiculous.

All of this of course does not change the fact that I want Awakening Anna, Heroes Anna, and Tellius Anna added to Warriors as an Anna DLC Pack so I can cover the entire Weapon Triangle with just Anna, and Awakening Anna, Tellius Anna, and Warriors/Fates Anna added to Heroes so I can do the same thing there. Also RIP Jake once more.

 

By the way, question for anyone who might know: I tapped Oliver on my Heroes Home Menu, and he says "I thought this realm so dreary…until I spotted a feathered angel. Tell me, what's that lass's name?" and I'm curious as to who he's referencing. Is it Feh? I'm pretty sure Feh is the only one in Heroes who might even slightly qualify at this point.

Edited January 24, 2018 by SoulWeaver

[Acacia Sgt]

21 minutes ago, SoulWeaver said:

By the way, question for anyone who might know: I tapped Oliver on my Heroes Home Menu, and he says "I thought this realm so dreary…until I spotted a feathered angel. Tell me, what's that lass's name?" and I'm curious as to who he's referencing. Is it Feh? I'm pretty sure Feh is the only one in Heroes who might even slightly qualify at this point.

Unless it's a slip-up or deliberate foreshadowing... who knows. He only ever called the Herons feathered angels, best I knew. But for what it's worth, Fjorm has feathers in her outfit...

[Interdimensional Observer]

3 minutes ago, SoulWeaver said:

Again, RIP Jake - he's appeared what, twice in the course of all 16+ games of Fire Emblem(counting Warriors + Heroes for the 16+)? I haven't played Tellius or Jugdral and wouldn't know if he was referenced there, but he's recruitable in Shadow Dragon and at least mentioned in Blazing Sword and consequently Anna's Support with Lyn in Warriors, though I don't think that was by name.

He does get a little appearance in Genealogy, in Chapter 8 if you move Linda and or Amid (but not Tine/Arthur) onto the right space, Jake appears and gives them a Res boost.

The Jake point was added later on in my lengthy critique, and admittedly it isn't quite as strong because Jake appears so little. It was a bit more subjective of a point. I wasn't the biggest fan of Jake's personality in the Archanea remakes, but I liked Anna having a mascot partner to keep her company. And even if Jake was a flirt type, he at the end of the day was bound to Anna by deep love, with no fear of being clobbered for infidelity from what little we know (that cliche is okay, but fear of punishment alone should not bind a man to his wife).

Also, I wouldn't have a problem with FE using some sci-fi elements, the same way I've become okay with Zelda using sci-fi as of Breath of the Wild. But more realistic modern things, that is what I dislike. Maybe you could move me to being okay with a snapshot tome- but you have to really divorce it from modernity and modern pop culture. If Anna ever said "Selfie!"....... I honestly can't fathom just what I would do.

[Acacia Sgt]

Personally, I don't find the Snapshot Tome to be that weird. Photography can trace its roots to natural phenomena observed since Ancient China, and ancient Greeks would come up with a "chamber/camera" to reproduce the pheonema artificially. What took so long to happen was coming up with a way to make it long-lasting (and actually imprint on the surface it's proyected). So really, with magic, it makes sense if the fantasy-medieval society of FE could come up already with the "camera" as we know it.

Edited January 24, 2018 by Acacia Sgt

[SoulWeaver]

2 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Unless it's a slip-up or deliberate foreshadowing... who knows. He only ever called the Herons feathered angels, best I knew. But for what it's worth, Fjorm has feathers in her outfit...

And now I know who to have Oliver Support with on my main account. Thanks!

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

If Anna ever said "Selfie!"....... I honestly can't fathom just what I would do.

I can - either scream in rage and break whatever screen you saw her on, or else have a complete mental breakdown and just drop to the floor gibbering like an idiot.

[Chrom-ulent]

I was never a fan of the "Great Lord" title. To me, it will always be associated with Hector the axe guy, while Master Lord is more fitting for the Sacred Stones and Awakening lords.

And Hector's promoted map sprite makes him look like a high school football player.

[Dandy Druid]

I know this one is definitely unpopular:

I don't like Azura's design at all. And her character not by much. To me it feels a bit hobby lobby, tropey dopey to me if you get what I mean. I like it in cipher art, but in-game I don't get the appeal.

• First of all, the lack of shoes puts me off. This is also a complaint for Corrin. But you're in a fantasy war Azura, at least put on a heel.
• I understand her hair is supposed to be like water, but it's too much for me. Compared to the rest of the cast (and the entire series), it looks out of place. It looks especially out of place for the Hoshido royalty, where her sisters have short hair. I think if they wanted to keep her hair long, then maybe they should've had her hair up in a more stylized version of these. Or maybe they could've kept it at this length.
• I find her personality boring. Since she has the second most supports in the game, no doubt she has some good ones, but I find a lot of her supports to be in the benefit of the other characters, if there's a benefit. I'm also confused as to why she has no support with Camilla, but I'm not sure if it would've been interesting anyway. I feel like she's pointlessly mysterious, like they tried to make her Ninian 2.0, but I didn't find her as intriguing. 
• I don't like the strip of hair going down her face. It makes her look unkempt, which isn't fitting for a princess. I know she's not the one to worry most about these things, since she has bigger fish to fry, but I think it would be annoying to have your hair in your face 24/7.
• I feel like her design in general just has a lot going on. Idk, I would've liked something more like this, except in Azura's color palette. Her current design is just too busy- there's all of the ribbons across her torso, her weird almost connected sleeves, the half footless pantyhose, the designs at her hips, the necklace despite having a chest design, the ruffles at the bottom of the skirt, the veil that's not serving its purpose... I can see it as haute couture (sorta...) but at the same time, it's just a weird looking garment. I know Fates isn't exactly a treasure trove of practical character design, but I feel like she really sticks out from the cast, and not in a good way.
• Also, I dislike her "singing" animation. It looks like she just woke up and she's stretching and yawning. I wish it was a quarter as elegant as her CG Dance of Death on Garon.

I don't hate Azura or anything, but I don't see the appeal she has that some people seem to love. Her design is all over the place and her personality is hidden under a pile of supports despite her immense screen time within all 3 main story paths. 

[Ablast6]

On 1/23/2018 at 2:00 PM, Ike.of.Tellius said:

2. Lyn is a terrible unit too.

That's not an opinion, that's objective fact lmao

[Azz]

Rowan isn't that bad as people make him out to be. He's actually pretty decent, especially after some of his supports where he learns things, like how being king ain't that bad.

[DragonFlames]

On 23.1.2018 at 11:40 PM, Interdimensional Observer said:

I think Awakening was a mixed blessing, or should I say mixed curse for Anna.

Prior to Awakening, Anna was just a reoccurring mascot character. She would appear when you selected certain menu options, when you visited a secret shop, maybe she'd appear in a village or someplace else. Always a little mischievous, always having her signature look, with nothing else to her, she was largely an inoffensive character whom nobody really could hate.

Then came Awakening.

The blessing:

1. The reoccurring mascot character is playable! That is so cool! (And she obsoletes Gaius as a Thief, but that is besides the point.)
2. She has a fleshed out backstory and personality, you can even marry her, awesome!

The curse:

1. Even if you like her money and business puns at first, they grow old before you know it. Anna by gaining a personality, has become a monotone trope.
2. Anna has suddenly multiplied into infinity. Whereas in the older games she'd appear in maybe 3 capacities, she is now all over the place, to the point of it being no longer special at all to see her.
3. What do all these Annas have in common- an obsession with money that can cross the line and go too far. See her Tiki support where she exploit's Tiki's popularity. And the Hot Springs DLC where she becomes a hellish paparazzo intruding on Robin's privacy! I hate you for this Anna.
4. And why does she have things like a magical predecessor to a modern camera? I think she called Tiki a communist/socialist once- even as a joke, I did not like this anachronism, nor the technology, keep FE technologically in the past, or at least not overly modern.
5. As a fifth, smaller note. She hardly gets any Supports, so if she had other facets to her being, we wouldn't know it. And because you can't have steady preexisting lovers in Awakening due to baby making (and yet Anna doesn't even have a kid) and the Avatar having sexual rights to all, Jake got axed from existence. So Anna is all alone, nobody but herself tying her down to the world or playable hero group. At least the Khans had each other, and Nowi entered the scene with Gregor.

The end result? Like Grandma's cookies, putting Anna everywhere has made her unique no more, just common fare whose flavor is now identical to packaged mass-produced cookies. And like Grandma herself, learning more about her has revealed she had some serious character faults, like being a big racist (the hypothetical Grandma, not Anna). An inoffensive little nicety has become a widespread offensive banality.

Fates continued in this, albeit to a lesser degree (and they made the cheap move of locking Anna into being DLC). SoV was spared from the modern Anna, since being very attached to the original game here meant excluding Anna, as she never appeared in Gaiden.

This makes sense, which is why I still have to wonder about Anna's popularity.
The girl is basically what people criticize Charlotte for (you know, being a gold-digger and all) and in today's times, where being a money-hungry greed isn't exactly viewed as something positive (hello, EA and Activision-Blizzard!) I really do have to ask: Why? Just because she's the "mascot" of the franchise?

The bolded part could be said about the Fates Royals, too, at least within the confines of the games they appear in. They are always there, in your face, whether you like it or not (I, for one, really don't), to the point where they annoy you just by being there.

It's like how I feel about the starter Pokémon for the 4th Generation. Those things were literally EVERYWHERE. No set in the Trading Card Game went by without at least one of these f***ers being included somewhere during the time of the Diamond & Pearl and Platinum sets, and Infernape, to this day, stands as the only starter to be used by a member of the Elite Four, because Game Freak were too stupid to put in more Fire-type Pokémon, but at the same time thought it would be a good idea to make an Elite Four member use Fire-types back in Diamond and Pearl (luckily, they fixed this for Platinum, though that stupid monkey is still there, for... whatever reason). This also basically proves my theory about Game Freak designing these games while wasted on Sake, which is why they constantly screw up movesets (why does Wooper learn Ice Punch when it doesn't even have arms?), stats (a fat cat with stubby legs that is somehow faster than a bird of prey that can supposedly fly at Mach 2 levels of speed. How?) or straight up confuse animals when naming creatures (like, naming a frickin' BIRD OF PREY after a pigeon. Bitch, please!).

Another example is Alisa R. (not mentioning her full name because SPOILERS!) being pushed as the protagonist's main 'love interest' in Trails of Cold Steel. While I personally don't mind this as much, because it isn't as egregious of an example as the above mentioned, I can definitely see why people would be miffed.

Then, there's the rabid Makoto Nijima fanbase of Persona 5 fame, who will never stop to tell you how great their 'waifu' is...

And then, there's of course that large portion of the Fire Emblem community who hates Sumia solely for the fact that she is pushed as Chrom's main love interest in Awakening (which, admittedly, is a terrible, terrible idea in a game about choosing these things for yourself). This is heat that another Fates character mysteriously avoided, despite being even more guilty of a similar 'transgression' (more on that below).

My point is, characters being pushed down your throat to the point where they come back out of your ears is just being obnoxious, it annoys the ever-living crap out of me and it certainly won't make me like the character more. Truth is, the opposite mostly holds true, because I do not like being told who or what to like, which is what the above examples all are ultimately trying to accomplish. And it seems like, in some cases, the same holds true for many people.

22 hours ago, Dandy Druid said:

I know this one is definitely unpopular:

I don't like Azura's design at all. And her character not by much. To me it feels a bit hobby lobby, tropey dopey to me if you get what I mean. I like it in cipher art, but in-game I don't get the appeal.

• First of all, the lack of shoes puts me off. This is also a complaint for Corrin. But you're in a fantasy war Azura, at least put on a heel.
• I understand her hair is supposed to be like water, but it's too much for me. Compared to the rest of the cast (and the entire series), it looks out of place. It looks especially out of place for the Hoshido royalty, where her sisters have short hair. I think if they wanted to keep her hair long, then maybe they should've had her hair up in a more stylized version of these. Or maybe they could've kept it at this length.
• I find her personality boring. Since she has the second most supports in the game, no doubt she has some good ones, but I find a lot of her supports to be in the benefit of the other characters, if there's a benefit. I'm also confused as to why she has no support with Camilla, but I'm not sure if it would've been interesting anyway. I feel like she's pointlessly mysterious, like they tried to make her Ninian 2.0, but I didn't find her as intriguing. 
• I don't like the strip of hair going down her face. It makes her look unkempt, which isn't fitting for a princess. I know she's not the one to worry most about these things, since she has bigger fish to fry, but I think it would be annoying to have your hair in your face 24/7.
• I feel like her design in general just has a lot going on. Idk, I would've liked something more like this, except in Azura's color palette. Her current design is just too busy- there's all of the ribbons across her torso, her weird almost connected sleeves, the half footless pantyhose, the designs at her hips, the necklace despite having a chest design, the ruffles at the bottom of the skirt, the veil that's not serving its purpose... I can see it as haute couture (sorta...) but at the same time, it's just a weird looking garment. I know Fates isn't exactly a treasure trove of practical character design, but I feel like she really sticks out from the cast, and not in a good way.
• Also, I dislike her "singing" animation. It looks like she just woke up and she's stretching and yawning. I wish it was a quarter as elegant as her CG Dance of Death on Garon.

I don't hate Azura or anything, but I don't see the appeal she has that some people seem to love. Her design is all over the place and her personality is hidden under a pile of supports despite her immense screen time within all 3 main story paths. 

Aside from the crossed-out parts, I totally agree with you. It's nice to find at least one person who agrees with me. It's sad to be all alone with one's view.
Ninian did what they were trying to do with Azura better (being a canon love interest to the main protagonist and a mysterious dancer who doesn't talk much) and there are other examples of the Mysterious Waif trope that Azura takes from that have done the concept so much better that it isn't even funny (I already mentioned one (Tear) and the other I mentioned (Lisette) could be argued to be one, too).
That's not even mentioning the fact that pushing a 'canon' love interest in a game about choosing your own like in a dating sim or visual novel is a really, really terrible idea in and of itself, and you have to admit, Azura is being pushed pretty hard. I would have actually preferred the end scene with her in Revelation to be replaced with whatever spouse you chose. It would have made MUCH more sense, though it would also have required effort AND they couldn't have shoved this blue haired monstrosity even further down people's throats, so no way they could have done that!
I'd also like to add that her default expression in her in-game portrait makes her look a weird mixture of mentally unstable, actually stupid (as in, the elevator doesn't go all the way to the top if you catch my drift) and really, really creepy... like, she'll murder you if you aren't paying attention for even a second.
Why do people think she's pretty, again? Then again, people find Camilla attractive, soooo...

[Dandy Druid]

3 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

Aside from the crossed-out parts, I totally agree with you. It's nice to find at least one person who agrees with me. It's sad to be all alone with one's view.
Ninian did what they were trying to do with Azura better (being a canon love interest to the main protagonist and a mysterious dancer who doesn't talk much) and there are other examples of the Mysterious Waif trope that Azura takes from that have done the concept so much better that it isn't even funny (I already mentioned one (Tear) and the other I mentioned (Lisette) could be argued to be one, too).
That's not even mentioning the fact that pushing a 'canon' love interest in a game about choosing your own like in a dating sim or visual novel is a really, really terrible idea in and of itself, and you have to admit, Azura is being pushed pretty hard. I would have actually preferred the end scene with her in Revelation to be replaced with whatever spouse you chose. It would have made MUCH more sense, though it would also have required effort AND they couldn't have shoved this blue haired monstrosity even further down people's throats, so no way they could have done that!
I'd also like to add that her default expression in her in-game portrait makes her look a weird mixture of mentally unstable, actually stupid (as in, the elevator doesn't go all the way to the top if you catch my drift) and really, really creepy... like, she'll murder you if you aren't paying attention for even a second.
Why do people think she's pretty, again? Then again, people find Camilla attractive, soooo...

LMAO at the one crossed out part.

More about the mysterious thing- this could be attributed to game design, but it just grinds my gears that you can reach level A support with her relatively quickly and she says she could feel like she can completely trust us, but STILL not tell us about the whole "secret country" thing. Like wtf, how can you keep that a secret from us.

The 'canon' part didn't bother me, since I was never that heavily moved by the story to begin with. Reading it was just a time killer, if anything. It's not that I found it to be terrible (like many people have), my initial thoughts was that it was just straight up boring and cliche at times.

Spoiler

I know her "death" in BR and CQ was supposed to be emotional, but I felt nothing. I felt like she left without the viewer really knowing who exactly she was. Despite her large amount of screen time, she wasn't characterized well at all.

Also, about the pretty thing. For me, I just have never been a fan of Kozaki's artwork. It's good, but something just didn't click for me. I feel like a lot of characters look better in their cipher art drawn by a different artist than their original forms like Azura. It's weird how I like his style for No More Heroes, but idk, it's not poppin for me with FE.

[Armagon]

13 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

That's not even mentioning the fact that pushing a 'canon' love interest in a game about choosing your own like in a dating sim or visual novel is a really, really terrible idea in and of itself, and you have to admit, Azura is being pushed pretty hard.

To be fair, while the players see Azura as a secondary protagonist, IS sees her as the main protagonist alongside Corrin. So it makes sense why Azura is has so much relevance in Fates. Which is really ironic because Azura gets less stuff in Heroes compared to the Royals (yes she has two seasonal outfits but shhhh) and in Warriors, Azura was cut from the base game because there were "too many Fates characters".

10 hours ago, Dandy Druid said:

Also, about the pretty thing. For me, I just have never been a fan of Kozaki's artwork. It's good, but something just didn't click for me. I feel like a lot of characters look better in their cipher art drawn by a different artist than their original forms like Azura. 

I get what you mean. Despite starting with Awakening, Kozaki's artstyle isn't as memorable compared to the other artstyles in the series (i mean, it's more memorable than the, uh, wonders that is the FE1 and 2 artstyles) but i think the issue with Kozaki's FE artwork is that he tends to go for darker colors/darker shades but it makes his designs not as visually appealing. This isn't the case for every Awakening and Fates character but let's compare (going in spoilers so the images don't take up space)

Spoiler

 vs

Notice how Eirika and Ephraim's colors are more visually appealing. Even the Askran trio fall into the same blend of "dull colors" though not as much. I don't hate Kozaki's artwork and i do like some of his designs, but i think the reason he's not as memorable is because his designs aren't always visually appealing. My friend here made a similar comparision and we both have the same agreement

WHICH IS REALLY WEIRD because when Kozaki draws non-Fire Emblem characters, his colors and general character design are much more appealing. Like, here's some examples

Spoiler

Heck, Robin and Lucina have more pleasing to the eye here

Agate and Aegaeon are my favorite Kozaki designs and that's totally not my Xenoblade bias speaking. But like, Aegaeon on the right here is a case of Kozaki using darker colors (like he does in his FE artwork) and still making the design visually appealing.

 

 

 

[SoulWeaver]

16 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

Then again, people find Camilla attractive, soooo...

Look, some of us find purple hair hot, ok?

I mean, it's possible to find a part of someone's personality attractive without necessarily appreciating the rest of them(as in, maybe we liked Camilla in Fates when there was almost half a reason for her to be like that and we could look at the backstory they were supposed to write for her but didn't for whatever reason, but dislike where they took her in Heroes and Warriors), and of course, to quote an earlier post by Loki:

Quote

Its really none of anyone else's business that someone likes Camilla because she has huge tracts of Jötunheim and a butt that won't quit.

Some people do like the characters for those kinds of reasons, and that's fine too. You don't necessarily have to respect their choice or reason behind their choice, but we should at least respect their right to have those choices and those reasons.

 

…Plus I'm starting to get sick and tired of people just assuming everyone who likes Camilla only likes her for the reasons quoted, particularly as I'm not in that camp and consequently can't say she's my favorite Nohrian sibling because everyone starts acting like I only play this game for the boobs(my favorite Awakening characters are Cordelia and Severa, so there's that argument out the window, btw). The whole 'Waifu Emblem' crap whoever started however long ago also means I can't say Sakura is my favorite Hoshidan sibling for similar reasons - everyone assumes I mean as a marriage partner, not as a little sister or caring royalty.

Edited January 26, 2018 by SoulWeaver
accidental early post

[Miracle-Flora]

In Heroes, Regular Lyn is more fun to use than Brave Lyn.

[CallieCat]

To be fair it's more the art direction of Fates and Awakening than Kozaki's actual art style. For example people still blame him for the fan service despite art director Toshiyuki Kusakihara being the one who is responsible for the armor designs. Kozaki's art of the Fates characters on his Twitter are more fluid and natural compared to his designs for Fates.   

I personally think the GBA graphics are too bright and it hurts my eyes. I have light sensitivity with my vision so that could be why. I do like the art style, it's the in game graphics and backgrounds that make it hard to play the GBA games after awhile.

[Flee Fleet!]

 

On 1/26/2018 at 10:29 PM, Armagon said:

i think the issue with Kozaki's FE artwork is that he tends to go for darker colors/darker shades but it makes his designs not as visually appealing

I actually like the darker colors and shades in Kozaki's FE artwork. Gives off kind of a...I dunno, more realistic feeling to me. Although I'll agree that the GBA ones are more visually appealing. 

The only problem I have with Kozaki's FE art is the...well, the faces and eyes of the characters. I just don't really like it. 

 

[Jave]

I believe the decision to make the designs brighter and colorful in the GBA games were partially due to the GBA originally having no backlight and therefore requiring a much brighter color palette in order to make the easier on the eye. FE8 has a less brighter color palette compared to FE6 and FE7 because it was done with the GBA SP model in mind, which had a backlight.

That being said, I do like both the GBA and 3DS designs, in their own way. My least favorites would actually be the DS ones, mainly due to the designs themselves looking rather dull.

[NekoKnight]

14 hours ago, Miracle-Flora said:

In Heroes, Regular Lyn is more fun to use than Brave Lyn.

She was a bench warmer for me until she got the weapon refinement and Wrath, now regular Lyn is one of my most fun characters to use, especially together with Guidance.

On 1/25/2018 at 1:29 PM, Dandy Druid said:

I know this one is definitely unpopular:

I don't like Azura's design at all. And her character not by much. To me it feels a bit hobby lobby, tropey dopey to me if you get what I mean. I like it in cipher art, but in-game I don't get the appeal.

• I find her personality boring. Since she has the second most supports in the game, no doubt she has some good ones, but I find a lot of her supports to be in the benefit of the other characters, if there's a benefit. I'm also confused as to why she has no support with Camilla, but I'm not sure if it would've been interesting anyway. I feel like she's pointlessly mysterious, like they tried to make her Ninian 2.0, but I didn't find her as intriguing. 
• I feel like her design in general just has a lot going on. Idk, I would've liked something more like this, except in Azura's color palette. Her current design is just too busy- there's all of the ribbons across her torso, her weird almost connected sleeves, the half footless pantyhose, the designs at her hips, the necklace despite having a chest design, the ruffles at the bottom of the skirt, the veil that's not serving its purpose... I can see it as haute couture (sorta...) but at the same time, it's just a weird looking garment. I know Fates isn't exactly a treasure trove of practical character design, but I feel like she really sticks out from the cast, and not in a good way.

I'm down with most of her design but what really irks me is that patch around half her waist where there is no cloth. It doesn't have a purpose or serve to enhance her aesthetic. It just looks like the character designer forgot to color that part in. Her arbitrary mysteriousness doesn't do it for me either.

Edited January 28, 2018 by NekoKnight

[Flee Fleet!]

38 minutes ago, Jave said:

I believe the decision to make the designs brighter and colorful in the GBA games were partially due to the GBA originally having no backlight and therefore requiring a much brighter color palette in order to make the easier on the eye.

That's true, they did that for a lot of GBA games, such as Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow.

 

40 minutes ago, Jave said:

My least favorites would actually be the DS ones, mainly due to the designs themselves looking rather dull.

I have to agree with this. Excluding FE1's and 2's art, the DS ones were just really...bleh, compared to the others. I can't really properly explain why I dislike it...it just isn't really appealing to me, I guess.