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FE Engage chapter 17 experience: I have great disdain for skills such as Veteran+ (this ofc extends to the likes of Counter in TH).

I cannot think of any single good reason to give enemies with cracked stats a skill that completely obsoletes a form of dealing with them - effective damage. Especially when effective weaponry is so bad, the only time I´ve dealt significant damage to enemies was armors who aren´t even close to getting 1rko-ed with it, making magic a naturally superior option - for the little armor pipsqueak in 17 the singular way of dealing damage. Ridersbane the uniquely balanced weapon, which allows you to make a small doink sound for 1/3 damage and get doubled in retaliation. Muy bien.

There´s the notion that bosses or important enemy npcs should be a somewhat special encounter but they are already plenty special when they get a second health bar, a diverse inventory of "Fuck You" and shell-shocking-stats.

And then the Corrupted Fell Fire Dragons, my foot. "Look at all these types that you can´t take advantage off, I hope you have Eirika and a couple Follow-ups ready and no other enemy in range, or I´mma just deal a quick 39 damage at 3 range to you, which inconveniently 1hkos 1/3 your squad and leaves the rest at deaths door." Bah.

The only thing this clusterfuck is saved by, is stupid AI. 

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On 2/4/2023 at 11:46 PM, Mordred said:

I don't know if this is a popular or unpopular opinion but I'm also tired of every protag recently being related to dragons in some form or another.

I don't mind these protagonists being related to dragons in some form, but I'm tired of their relation to dragons being used to make them seem more unique when they really are just another sword-wielding teenage human in all but name. It's especially irritating that Engage's protagonist is supposed to be a dragon; not a human with a relation to a dragon; a dragon, and yet they are just another sword-wielding teenager; at least Corrin actually had a dragon form.

 

On 2/5/2023 at 10:31 AM, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

TBH I meant main playable characters and antagonists, namely:

  Reveal hidden contents

Ike, Micaiah, Ashnard, Ashera, and Sephiran

If anything, the fact that you fight a very powerful dragon, but they're neither the main antagonist nor the final boss, is an affirmation of the notion that dragons aren't a super-powerful or exalted race in this setting.

Almedha is a dragon laguz and she was Ashnard's wife-in-all-but-name and the mother of his child. I'd consider that as Ashnard having a direct connection to a dragon.

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I liked how Tellius handled the Dragons. They were very powerful, extremely long lived, essentially demigods of a type. They didn't seem to be particularly interested with the affairs of the other races, and just kind of sat in their own kingdom and didn't do much. 

Engage the dragons just don't make sense. You're the divine dragon and that means you can, do nothing dragon related except take extra damage from wymslayers. All right then. 

Then what's her face does get a dragon form but we don't even get to fight it when she "spoilers" what gives? 

Evil Cobra Dragon is a cool design though. 

 

I kinda liked how FE7 had just a normal fire dragon as the final boss. Playing up dragons the whole game as super scary and deadly enemies gets a bit iffy when there are mobs of them. But a singular dragon that your whole team needs to take down, that's cool lore wise. 

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48 minutes ago, scigeek101 said:

I liked how Tellius handled the Dragons. They were very powerful, extremely long lived, essentially demigods of a type. They didn't seem to be particularly interested with the affairs of the other races, and just kind of sat in their own kingdom and didn't do much. 

Engage the dragons just don't make sense. You're the divine dragon and that means you can, do nothing dragon related except take extra damage from wymslayers. All right then. 

Then what's her face does get a dragon form but we don't even get to fight it when she "spoilers" what gives? 

Evil Cobra Dragon is a cool design though. 

 

I kinda liked how FE7 had just a normal fire dragon as the final boss. Playing up dragons the whole game as super scary and deadly enemies gets a bit iffy when there are mobs of them. But a singular dragon that your whole team needs to take down, that's cool lore wise. 

Eh, little less cool when you mow down dragons left and right in the same setting in the previous game.

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27 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Those aren't real dragons though. They're ''war dragons'' bred by Idunn. The gigantic size difference should suggest the Fire Dragon is in a league of his own.

You could argue that, if it weren't for the existence of Yahn who uses the same sprite as war dragons and goes down with a poke despite being a true blood Fire Dragon who confidently declares he is at full strength.

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5 minutes ago, Jotari said:

You could argue that, if it weren't for the existence of Yahn who uses the same sprite as war dragons and goes down with a poke despite being a true blood Fire Dragon who confidently declares he is at full strength.

They likely didn't bothered to give him a custom sprite. Blazing Blade has the Fire Dragon be Idunn-sized, after all. Alternatively, would've been something of a twist if he too had been a War Dragon all along and he didn't knew. Morphs are curiously close to War Dragons in concept. I wonder if that's basically what Nergal found out in the Arcadia archives and thus thought to do the same but with the human form.

Using the Legendary Weapons? Sure, they were made to kill dragons easily after all. Or he really goes down quickly with regular weapons too?

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4 hours ago, scigeek101 said:

I liked how Tellius handled the Dragons. They were very powerful, extremely long lived, essentially demigods of a type. They didn't seem to be particularly interested with the affairs of the other races, and just kind of sat in their own kingdom and didn't do much. 

Engage the dragons just don't make sense. You're the divine dragon and that means you can, do nothing dragon related except take extra damage from wymslayers. All right then. 

Then what's her face does get a dragon form but we don't even get to fight it when she "spoilers" what gives? 

Honestly, the more later games have disappointed me with how dragons have been handled, the more I have come to appreciate the Dragon Laguz of Tellius. They actually feel like a major part of the world without being center-stage. Also, MULTIPLE MALE DRAGONS exist and aren`t evil for a change. 

With the newest games, we usually get one good and one bad dragon 

Spoiler

Except in Three Houses/Hope where they are one in the same

I miss when dragons were more of an established race, rather than just consisting of dragons that are worshiped like gods. Or citizens of a long fallen/forgotten country that have since faded into obscurity. 

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1 hour ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Those aren't real dragons though. They're ''war dragons'' bred by Idunn. The gigantic size difference should suggest the Fire Dragon is in a league of his own.

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

You could argue that, if it weren't for the existence of Yahn who uses the same sprite as war dragons and goes down with a poke despite being a true blood Fire Dragon who confidently declares he is at full strength.

1 hour ago, Acacia Sgt said:

They likely didn't bothered to give him a custom sprite. Blazing Blade has the Fire Dragon be Idunn-sized, after all.

A better explanation is that FE7 is just a stupid game that sucks and doesn't think anything through.

The Watson hat is not very useful if the author is a hack.

1 hour ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Using the Legendary Weapons? Sure, they were made to kill dragons easily after all. Or he really goes down quickly with regular weapons too?

His res is exceptional for a Fire Dragon but still a conceivable 21. You could theoretically beat him with crits, wyrmslayers, and magic pokes from 2 range since he has a regular firestone. I actually prefer this quite a bit, please refer to Imuabicus's post below.

53 minutes ago, Metal Flash said:

I miss when dragons were more of an established race, rather than just consisting of dragons that are worshiped like gods. Or citizens of a long fallen/forgotten country that have since faded into obscurity. 

Yeah, I think there's something a lot more compelling about a civilization whose ancient splendor has been lost to time and their own hubris is a lot more interesting than the anime conception of a monotheistic deity.

On 2/8/2023 at 3:07 AM, Imuabicus said:

FE Engage chapter 17 experience: I have great disdain for skills such as Veteran+ (this ofc extends to the likes of Counter in TH).

I cannot think of any single good reason to give enemies with cracked stats a skill that completely obsoletes a form of dealing with them - effective damage. Especially when effective weaponry is so bad, the only time I´ve dealt significant damage to enemies was armors who aren´t even close to getting 1rko-ed with it, making magic a naturally superior option - for the little armor pipsqueak in 17 the singular way of dealing damage. Ridersbane the uniquely balanced weapon, which allows you to make a small doink sound for 1/3 damage and get doubled in retaliation. Muy bien.

There´s the notion that bosses or important enemy npcs should be a somewhat special encounter but they are already plenty special when they get a second health bar, a diverse inventory of "Fuck You" and shell-shocking-stats.

And then the Corrupted Fell Fire Dragons, my foot. "Look at all these types that you can´t take advantage off, I hope you have Eirika and a couple Follow-ups ready and no other enemy in range, or I´mma just deal a quick 39 damage at 3 range to you, which inconveniently 1hkos 1/3 your squad and leaves the rest at deaths door." Bah.

The only thing this clusterfuck is saved by, is stupid AI. 

Yeah, I'm gonna stand in full agreement with this. I thought this was a game about tactics and strategy, and now you're telling me to not use any of those? I hate you. Go away. You're not cool or special, you're that kid on the playground who says they have "invincible-piercing missiles", an obnoxious self-aggrandizing punk. You weren't content to be good enough and you ruined it for everyone, you wretched prick.

This is why Jahn is the best end-game Fire Emblem villain, and I will hear no counter-arguments.

Anyway yeah, I kinda understand with flier bosses resisting bows since those are so common and have silver and brave variants, but it's really kinda stupid. I suppose that's the cool thing about Winged Shield in Fates, it doesn't remove a bosses dragon or beast weaknesses since those are less easy to cheese with.

I still prefer how the "Stalwart" skill worked though, merely reducing the effectiveness multiplier, but even then I don't favor it terribly much. Armorslayer isn't all that impressive with just double damage.

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46 minutes ago, AnonymousSpeed said:

better explanation is that FE7 is just a stupid game that sucks and doesn't think anything through.

The Watson hat is not very useful if the author is a hack.

I actually have more respect for the idea that dragons are exceptionally powerful, than of the idea that their mute elite mooks pooped out by Idunn.

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On 2/8/2023 at 12:07 AM, Imuabicus said:

I cannot think of any single good reason to give enemies with cracked stats a skill that completely obsoletes a form of dealing with them - effective damage. Especially when effective weaponry is so bad, the only time I´ve dealt significant damage to enemies was armors who aren´t even close to getting 1rko-ed with it, making magic a naturally superior option - for the little armor pipsqueak in 17 the singular way of dealing damage. Ridersbane the uniquely balanced weapon, which allows you to make a small doink sound for 1/3 damage and get doubled in retaliation. Muy bien.

I'm mixed about this. Honestly, in many games, I'd approve of Veteran+ or similar skills, because weakness-hitting weapons are incredibly overtuned in some Fire Emblem games. Any idiot with a Silver Bow can one-shot fliers, anyone with a Poleaxe can wreck cavaliers? That's arguably fine for mooks, but not bosses. Killing a pegasus knight boss with a single crossbow shot is idiocy and I don't want to see that again. Optimally bosses need to present distinct challenges and you probably should not be able to easily kill them one in one combat (I'm not saying it should be impossible, but it should feel impressive when you manage it... Jeritza on Maddening is about as tough to kill with weakness-hitting damage as a boss should be, IMO). So in many games I'd approve of such skills.

But it's arguably unnecessary in Engage specifically, because (a) weakness-hitting weapons aren't tuned as strongly as many other FEs, unless you invest a lot of resources into forging them, and (b) bosses have multiple healthbars so one-shotting them alone does not prevent a poatentially interesting fight; you have to do it 1-3 more times.

Personally I'd probably have given Zephia a Winged Shield-type ability since she's a major opponent and meant to be intimdiating, and Radiant Bow is one of the few weakness-hitting weapons which does reach silly numbers, but I'm not sure how many other bosses need it. Mauvier and Marni would not be terribly affected.

I do approve of all bosses being immune to break. Break would just let you walk over them.

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On 3/6/2023 at 4:31 AM, -Moonlight- said:

coming from someone who's been playing for a few years, it's perfectly fine to be "bad" or at least not the greatest at casual mod

Same here, everyone has different skill levels, I see nothing wrong with being "bad" at casual mode.

 

Probably said this already, but I want physical 1-2 range swords back. Having only magical ranged weapons means only a handful of units can effectively use them. Giving the rest a physical alternative would help avoid that. Also, the Wind Edge line weapons just look cool.

Edited by Metal Flash
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On 3/7/2023 at 3:30 AM, Metal Flash said:

Same here, everyone has different skill levels, I see nothing wrong with being "bad" at casual mode.

 

Probably said this already, but I want physical 1-2 range swords back. Having only magical ranged weapons means only a handful of units can effectively use them. Giving the rest a physical alternative would help avoid that. Also, the Wind Edge line weapons just look cool.

I suppose this is the unpopular opinions thread, but to add on to this, I'd argue that it's important that weapon types feel distinct in a way that is noticeable to players who aren't the kind hyped up by tiny adjustments of 1 or 2 Mt and 5 or 10 Hit.  In Fates, where Katanas did get the Kodachi, Naginatas lost a physical 1-2 weapon and instead only had the magical Bolt Naginata, similar to Nohr having the Levin Sword and Javelin but no physical 1-2 sword.  So, sure, give Swords the Wind Edge back if you want, but then find some other way to create some distance between weapon types, whether by removing 1-2 range from some other weapon type, or giving some new unique strength or weakness to each branch.  If all weapon lines do the same basic things, that can make unit differences feel rather flavorless.

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I do not like Eliwood and Ninian being paired together at all. From when I discovered Blazing Blade in 2016 all the way to now, I’ve never understood it and how people say it’s ‘canon’ like it’s Ikesoren.

I know they’re bad as units, but I think archers are neat.

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6 hours ago, SnowFire said:

I suppose this is the unpopular opinions thread, but to add on to this, I'd argue that it's important that weapon types feel distinct in a way that is noticeable to players who aren't the kind hyped up by tiny adjustments of 1 or 2 Mt and 5 or 10 Hit.  In Fates, where Katanas did get the Kodachi, Naginatas lost a physical 1-2 weapon and instead only had the magical Bolt Naginata, similar to Nohr having the Levin Sword and Javelin but no physical 1-2 sword.  So, sure, give Swords the Wind Edge back if you want, but then find some other way to create some distance between weapon types, whether by removing 1-2 range from some other weapon type, or giving some new unique strength or weakness to each branch.  If all weapon lines do the same basic things, that can make unit differences feel rather flavorless.

That is a fair point, it would make the weapon lines feel very same-y. Classes with multiple weapons would especially suffer in that case.

Now that you bring this up, I`m unsure how I would go about doing that. 

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3 hours ago, Hectorcopter said:

I do not like Eliwood and Ninian being paired together at all. From when I discovered Blazing Blade in 2016 all the way to now, I’ve never understood it and how people say it’s ‘canon’ like it’s Ikesoren.

I know they’re bad as units, but I think archers are neat.

Are yoy saying Ikesoren is canon?

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4 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Are yoy saying Ikesoren is canon?

Sort of. Unlike Elinini, I like Ikesoren and support it. However, I also feel like Ikesoren has better evidence backing it up than Elinini does.

My main point with mentioning Ikesoren was that there’s a lot of people in the fandom saying both of these ambiguous ships are confirmed canon.

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58 minutes ago, Hectorcopter said:

However, I also feel like Ikesoren has better evidence backing it up than Elinini does.

Honestly, I don't think this is true. The game script pretty much spells out that Ninian is quite infatuated with Eliwood:

Spoiler

Ninian:
“I wonder if Eliwood and the others are well.”

Nils:
“Please, Ninian. That’s all you’ve spoken of since they left. I understand your concern for Lord Eliwood, but…”

Ninian:
“Nils! I…”

Nils:
“You don’t have to hide anything from me. But you must not fall in love with him, you know? We…are different from them.”

Ninian:
“…I know. But I cannot… ……I…”

Nils:
“Ninian! Where are you going?”

Ninian:
“I need time to think. May I be alone, please?”

Nils:
“Ninian…”

(intro to Unfulfilled Heart)

And while iirc, Eliwood's feelings aren't made as obvious (...outside of supports, of course), the story still ticks off several romantic tropes between the two - the Dashing Knight rescuing the Damsel in Distress (including Bridal Carry, if there were any doubters left); Eliwood offering his arm in the desert chapter; the Hero Tragically Slaying The Woman He Loves.

I agree that there's nothing making Eliwood/Ninian any more "canon" (which is a bourgeous concept anyway) than the other possible Eli-ships, but I'd put it in the same category as Roy/Lilina, in that it's the only pairing that gets any support outside of the support chain itself, and that it's the pairing that a blind player is the most likely to run into. Eliwood's supports with Lyn and Fiora aren't as laughably slow as Roy/{girl that isn't Lilina}, but his Ninian support is still the only support in the game growing at a +5/turn rate.

And finally, it's worth noting that while the romantic potential between Eliwood and Ninian is made explicit simply by their "And then they married" ending existing. Soren's endings (both paired with Ike and not) still require a little bit of conjecture to be read as romantic. It's definitely very plausible to read them both as romantic, or at the very least as romantic intentions on Soren's side, or as the writers making it as gay as they could without saying 'and then they kissed', but you don't have to jump through too many hoops to just read Ike as ace/aro, either, or to assume that he just didn't click with any of the Tellius ladies and might have found somebody elsewhere.

I'm certainly not saying that your opinion is wrong or that you're incorrect for reading Ike/Soren as romantic. I'm just being rather nitpicky about what evidence I think the game present. ;): Personally, I definitely think that Soren is holding a torch for Ike, but also that such a relationship would be doomed to fail, not the least because Soren is so obsessed with Ike and only Ike, even if Ike reciprocated.

Edited by ping
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53 minutes ago, Hectorcopter said:

Sort of. Unlike Elinini, I like Ikesoren and support it. However, I also feel like Ikesoren has better evidence backing it up than Elinini does.

My main point with mentioning Ikesoren was that there’s a lot of people in the fandom saying both of these ambiguous ships are confirmed canon.

I don't know what's ambiguous about a paired ending saying they got married and had a son together. 

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Okay, I'll be upfront here in that I'm not what I'd call the most serious person about Engage's story. In fact, I find it hilarious. But even despite that, I had a consideration I doubt many would be on board with for this story (Spoilers up to 22 to be safe, that's about where I'm at anyway).

I think the backstory for:

Spoiler

Veyle could have been, if not particularly deeper, certainly darker.

If playing as F!Alear, she eventually transitions from saying she's looking for her sibling to sister. Naturally, this combined with the other Veyle being female initially made me consider the possibility that the evil half of Veyle was the sister she'd been looking for. That she had been placed in her body at the time of the war or Zephia did so at the behest of Sombron when he was revived. Now, you might wonder what sense that makes. And from what we see of Engage I get your point. Why would E-Veyle be someone Veyle wanted to find? Be trusted? It could have been that she felt for the runt of the litter in the past or did so to make Veyle trust her to be used as a pawn in time and that regardless in the present she resents being in Veyle's body, being somewhat limited in power and being unable to invoke emblems herself, limiting the actions she could take. However, the idea that Veyle has been looking for her sibling all this time and it turned out she was so close and yet impossible to reach would be a punch to her gut, especially having to confront her and throw her away after seeing all the terrible things E-Veyle was willing to do to serve Sombron.

Course, playing as M!Alear means eventually she says brother and that pretty much undercuts this idea.

8 minutes ago, ping said:

"canon" (which is a bourgeous concept anyway)

I've been bougy all along?

Oh no.

On 2/8/2023 at 8:07 AM, Imuabicus said:

FE Engage chapter 16 experience

So fucking true.

I did feel like I could do enough later on, but the first time I actually had to fight corrupted dragons I felt like 90% of units out were outclassed and not being able to use Wyrmslayers on them was frustrating. Eirika Emblem was mandatory.

If you want one that'll require people using Emblem Alear, that's one thing, but it's not hard to have it separate from these lesser dragons that do massive damage.

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Fresh unpopular opinion: the game that did pairings the best was Genealogy, specifically because it took those pairings outside of the player's direct control. Instead, they were a consequence of gameplay decisions that the player makes. This way, while it's the player "guiding" characters into a certain pairing, the player isn't "forcing" them in the same way as "activate S-rank, get hitched". It comes across more naturally, as a decision that the characters themselves have made, thus reinforcing their individual agency.

15 hours ago, Jotari said:

I don't know what's ambiguous about a paired ending saying they got married and had a son together. 

Ninian is also the only potential partner whom Eliwood has a CG with. Lyn and Fiora aren't afforded that luxury.

On 3/7/2023 at 3:30 AM, Metal Flash said:

Probably said this already, but I want physical 1-2 range swords back. Having only magical ranged weapons means only a handful of units can effectively use them. Giving the rest a physical alternative would help avoid that. Also, the Wind Edge line weapons just look cool.

Diagonal take here, but while I like physical ranged swords, I think they only make sense as throwing swords, like the Kodachi. When weapons are attacking with an "energy blade", having them do physical damage is just nonsensical. If that's not "magic", then what is?

Weird solution, but it's crazy we haven't seen Knives or Daggers as a subset of Swords yet. Either Knives don't exist, or they exist and they're totally their own thing. Thieves either wield Swords, or they wield Knives, but never both (excepting Master Ninjas). Why not have Knives as a weapon subtype, like Longbows are to Bows? Knives are already basically just tiny swords, and that way, Thieves (among other classes) can use both while trainkng only one weapon rank.

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14 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Ninian is also the only potential partner whom Eliwood has a CG with. Lyn and Fiora aren't afforded that luxury.

Ninian is pushed so heavily by the game, it honestly makes me wonder why they even gave Eliwood other paired endings. It feels very much like the story was originally conceived as the story of Roy's parents and that she was intended to be his canon mother (that one ambiguous reference to her in binding Blade not withstanding). I think the thing that made them change their mind was when they came up with an idea of a prologue campaign for the western fans and thus Lyn was created. Sensing the marketing appeal of supports (which had only been around for a single game at the time) and how players would like to pair their female lord with their male lord, they abandoned the idea of Eliwood being a canon partner and auto support with Ninan, but created Pent and Louise so the idea could be expressed elsewhere. The story was then left pretty much entirely the same.

All purely speculation on my part, but it would make a lot of sense if that's what happened behind the scenes.

14 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Weird solution, but it's crazy we haven't seen Knives or Daggers as a subset of Swords yet. Either Knives don't exist, or they exist and they're totally their own thing. Thieves either wield Swords, or they wield Knives, but never both (excepting Master Ninjas). Why not have Knives as a weapon subtype, like Longbows are to Bows? Knives are already basically just tiny swords, and that way, Thieves (among other classes) can use both while trainkng only one weapon rank.

What would be the appreciable difference though? Would the knife basically just be the sword's hand axe and the default equipment for thieves? Or would it be like the way some games handle the long bow and wao dao in that only certain classes can wieled it (say infantry sword classes but not mounted sword classes)?

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