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So i just finished Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force

I've to say, i enjoyed my time with it, but sadly, alot of wasted Potential (i feel like that's always the case with any non neptunia IF/CH ganes)

Pros:

  • Gameplay is Super fun. It's the Neptunia Re;Birth gameplay, but refined & with difficulty Options. Hell difficulty is really fun. Not as good as MegaNep's gameplay, but for that it has the challenge i found lacking in MegaNep alot of times 😉
  • Interesting Setting. Kinda reminds me of Fate/Stay Night will Humans and their Spiritual Partner and stuff. There's also the Price of a wish for the winner.
  • Midgame is really freaking good, with reveals, turns and twists. The transition from first half of the game to the 2nd half leaves you with a lot of wonder, and trying to figure out wtf is going on (especially in 2nd & 3rd route)

Cons:

  • Lacking Backstory: this something that really annoyed me & i thought i will be shown in other routes at first, but it didn't. Characters have at best, a minimal Backstory, with the Fang (the MC) having 0 Backstory. There are some hints thrown around that made me think that he does have one, but the game never goes into it. 
  • Unaswered Questions: You might have noticed me rating the routes higher at first, but that's because i thought unanswered Questions would get answered in other Routes, but they didn't, sadly
  • Late game: This is something all routes share, but late game was usually lacking, in a way. since i already talked about the first 2 routes, i'd say that while i enjoyed the 3rd route the most until a certain point, it was also the one with the most Plot holes, especially with some stuff happening super late in 3rd route that didn't get hinted at at all in the other 2 routes or pre-rout Split. Stuff literally came out of nowhere, along with the 2 meh introduced Character.

All in all, i enjoyed it however, and i'd rate it a solid 7/10.

 

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

I think the character i liked the least though was RED.

Agree with that. The whole Waifey thing was meeeeeeh, and that's her only trait.

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

All I'm saying is that she really shouldn't be the "Big Bad" anymore.

tbf, she's been a joke from Re;Birth 3 onwards. only in R;B1 and 2 was she the big bad.

Even in Cyberdimension she's just an Eggplant seller lmao

 

And enjoy FE16, both of you. I will catch up with you in a few months 😄

 

Next on the list: Finishing Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and starting Tokyo Xanadu

Edited by Shrimperor
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11 hours ago, Lightchao42 said:

You can only pick between Easy and Normal when starting a new game, but you can switch to Bringer of Chaos or Custom in-game while playing your file.

Of course... the options menu, duh. Thanks for this, I actually never noticed that. Another thing I noticed playing both 2 and Torna, Mythra is really bad in Torna in comparison to 2, is there a reason for that?

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On 7/27/2019 at 5:33 PM, Shrimperor said:

So i just finished Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force

I've to say, i enjoyed my time with it, but sadly, alot of wasted Potential (i feel like that's always the case with any non neptunia IF/CH ganes)

Pros:

  • Gameplay is Super fun. It's the Neptunia Re;Birth gameplay, but refined & with difficulty Options. Hell difficulty is really fun. Not as good as MegaNep's gameplay, but for that it has the challenge i found lacking in MegaNep alot of times 😉
  • Interesting Setting. Kinda reminds me of Fate/Stay Night will Humans and their Spiritual Partner and stuff. There's also the Price of a wish for the winner.
  • Midgame is really freaking good, with reveals, turns and twists. The transition from first half of the game to the 2nd half leaves you with a lot of wonder, and trying to figure out wtf is going on (especially in 2nd & 3rd route)

Cons:

  • Lacking Backstory: this something that really annoyed me & i thought i will be shown in other routes at first, but it didn't. Characters have at best, a minimal Backstory, with the Fang (the MC) having 0 Backstory. There are some hints thrown around that made me think that he does have one, but the game never goes into it. 
  • Unaswered Questions: You might have noticed me rating the routes higher at first, but that's because i thought unanswered Questions would get answered in other Routes, but they didn't, sadly
  • Late game: This is something all routes share, but late game was usually lacking, in a way. since i already talked about the first 2 routes, i'd say that while i enjoyed the 3rd route the most until a certain point, it was also the one with the most Plot holes, especially with some stuff happening super late in 3rd route that didn't get hinted at at all in the other 2 routes or pre-rout Split. Stuff literally came out of nowhere, along with the 2 meh introduced Character.

All in all, i enjoyed it however, and i'd rate it a solid 7/10.

 

Thank you for that! I think I'll be getting this game sometime in the future. The things that bother you will most likely be bothering me as well, but the pros convinced me.

On 7/27/2019 at 5:33 PM, Shrimperor said:

Agree with that. The whole Waifey thing was meeeeeeh, and that's her only trait.

Seconded. Million Arthur kinda has that, too, but it's far from her only character trait and it is very, VERY minor.

On 7/27/2019 at 5:33 PM, Shrimperor said:

tbf, she's been a joke from Re;Birth 3 onwards. only in R;B1 and 2 was she the big bad.

Even in Cyberdimension she's just an Eggplant seller lmao

Yup, and I kind of want it to stay that way from now on. In Re;Birth 2 (especially the Conquest route), she was at her most threatening in my opinion (even if I would have preferred CFW Magic to be the actual final boss).

On 7/27/2019 at 5:33 PM, Shrimperor said:

And enjoy FE16, both of you. I will catch up with you in a few months 😄

I'm enjoying myself, I'll have to admit. I'm surprised by how much considering my initial skepticism. Then again, I don't think I'm even at the halfway point right now (finished Chapter 7), so I hope there's a lot more good stuff to come.

Which reminds me that I wanted to offer some non-spoiler-y thoughts on the Blue Lion characters as units. Most of these will probably be perceived as "wrong", but to heck with that. I'll put it in a spoiler tag just in case, though. If you want a tl;dr: my top four Blue Lions are Dimitri, Annette, Felix, and Ashe in that order.

Dimitri - Starting with the house leader, Dimitri is an absolute monster. Strong from the get-go and he quickly spirals out of control once he gets a few levels. I made him a Cavalier and he's shaping up to be one of the strongest of his kind.
Dedue - I made this guy an Armored Knight. He tanks everything physical, but he's incredibly slow and doesn't have a lot of Resistance, so Mages are very dangerous to him. He's fairly strong, though. I like him.
Felix - The second beast of the Blue Lions. He's strong, he's fast, and his personal skill makes him even more dangerous. I made him a Brawler first, but I switched him to Thief to play more toward his personality and background as a swordsman, and to have him as an Assassin later, which I think fits his character pretty well.
Sylvain - He's probably my least favorite of the Blue Lions (leave it to me to pick the house that has the token philanderer in it...), and his performance as a unit leaves a lot to be desired. He's weak, frail, and slow, especially when compared to Felix and Dimitri. I made him a Brigand, because it fits his philanderer tendencies.
Funny thing about this guy is that if he's not talking about hitting on girls, he's actually a decent enough fellow.
Ashe - He took a while to get going, but he's shaping up to be a pretty strong Archer, all things considered. Definitely not on the level of Dimitri, Felix, or Annette, but he's still pretty good.
Ingrid - The second weak link in the Blue Lions. She's not very strong and has trouble doubling with anything heavier than Iron weapons (damn the one who thought bringing back weapon weight was a good idea). I first tried to turn her into a Mercenary, but I have switched to Pegasus Knight in the hopes that she might turn out better in this class. Also because one of her strengths is flying.
Mercedes - I made her a healer. Not much to say about her, but she learns Physic quite early, which is useful. She's a bit slow, but as a Priest(ess) she doesn't really need to fight, anyway, so it's all good. As a character, she's okay. Not the best, but decent.
Annette - Personal favorite Blue Lion character so far, and the second monster in the group. I turned her into a Mage and she has been nuking everything ever since. Her only weakness is her physical defense and that she can't wield physical weapons too well because of low strength, so the moment her spells run out, she's a sitting duck for that map. Luckily, spell uses increase with weapon ranks, so I haven't run into that issue too often.

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2 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

Ingrid - The second weak link in the Blue Lions. She's not very strong and has trouble doubling with anything heavier than Iron weapons (damn the one who thought bringing back weapon weight was a good idea).

I'm fine with weapon weight being back since it works like it does in SoV where it's just a speed penalty as opposed to.......however the fuck it worked in previous games.

Anyway, the problem you're having with Ingrid is one i'm having with Bernadetta. I made her a Sniper but she rarely is able to double with anything that wasn't an Iron or Training Bow. Also i just wanna say that one of the Combat Arts the Archer line gets is one called Deadeye, which has a range of up to 5 (or 6) tiles except it's hit-rate just doesn't exist. I'd use it against enemies in plain sight and i'd have a hit-rate of like 20. A small price to pay in order for Archers to have Close Counter as one of their Class Skills, i guess.

I also have that doubling problem with Ferdinand but i think it's just because i neglected him. I forgot to promote him past his initial class until like 6 chapters in. Oops.

Anyway, have you attempted to recruit characters from other Houses yet? Unless you really optimize, you ain't recruiting everyone so just go after the ones you want (though keep in mind that the more you recruit, the more likely your Byleth ends up a jack of all trades, master of none). 

There are two characters per House you can't recruit though: Edelgard and Hubert for the Black Eagles, Dimitri and Dedue for the Blue Lions and Claude and Hilda for the Golden Deer.  

 

Edited by Armagon
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Atm i am on the final Boss in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Literally Trump

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Honestly, the game is really fun, since i usually like those fast Action games. But the final boss is unfair, since 1 combo literally kills you, and he has 200 HP and you only do 1 damage per attack <.<

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14 hours ago, Armagon said:

Anyway, the problem you're having with Ingrid is one i'm having with Bernadetta. I made her a Sniper but she rarely is able to double with anything that wasn't an Iron or Training Bow. Also i just wanna say that one of the Combat Arts the Archer line gets is one called Deadeye, which has a range of up to 5 (or 6) tiles except it's hit-rate just doesn't exist. I'd use it against enemies in plain sight and i'd have a hit-rate of like 20. A small price to pay in order for Archers to have Close Counter as one of their Class Skills, i guess.

I also have that doubling problem with Ferdinand but i think it's just because i neglected him. I forgot to promote him past his initial class until like 6 chapters in. Oops.

Anyway, have you attempted to recruit characters from other Houses yet? Unless you really optimize, you ain't recruiting everyone so just go after the ones you want (though keep in mind that the more you recruit, the more likely your Byleth ends up a jack of all trades, master of none). 

There are two characters per House you can't recruit though: Edelgard and Hubert for the Black Eagles, Dimitri and Dedue for the Blue Lions and Claude and Hilda for the Golden Deer. 

I discovered that, for Archers, the farther away you are from your targets, the lower your hit rate is. I have experienced pretty much the same thing with Ashe, where his Deadeye skill only really did well against enemies closer to him. It's kind of like Tellius, where Archers had a similar problem.

I haven't attempted to recruit characters from other houses, because I have decided to keep my first playthrough of every house as "vanilla" as possible, so I'll only be using the Blue Lion OGs and whatever joins for story related reasons.

I did recruit Cyril, though that was by an unintentional mis-click.

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15 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

I discovered that, for Archers, the farther away you are from your targets, the lower your hit rate is.

Yeah, i figured that out after i made my post and i've kept that in mind when using my Archers.

Anyway, i'm two chapters into the timeskip, so now i'm really not gonna talk about the game here. The next time i talk about the game in detail will be when i make my review.

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Just started playing World of Final Fantasy, and I am really amused by Lann's (and sometimes Seraphie's) silly antics. Also am playing Final Fantasy 13 for a while - and still not making sense of the story.

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2 hours ago, henrymidfields said:

Also am playing Final Fantasy 13 for a while - and still not making sense of the story.

FF XIII is a bit higher on my list of FF games, since I enjoyed the characters and the way they were put into "groups" to develop them was different. I can say that the story isn't the best out there, though. It generally just jumps from one point to the next, making it hard to follow.

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I reached the time skip in Three Houses. Oof. Just... oof.
That's all I will say for now, because like Armagon, I'll only write more after I finish the thing. So... see you next year! (I'm kidding XD)

Rest assured, the "oof" isn't meant in a negative way.

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Due to being busy for the past few days, I haven't been able to get Three Houses until today. Since the Black Eagles and Blue Lions are already accounted for in this topic, I went with the Golden Deer for my first playthrough. I'm two hours in but I've barely done anything because I'm too busy running around and talking to everyone...

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I've been trying to get back into Infinite Space.

The narrative is getting better, not all the way there yet, but it's improving. Space pirates are starting to fade, politics, character drama, and sci-fi elements are increasing.

The gameplay has had some improvements as well. I've been using a guide, at least until all my crew slots are filled in (and there are so many to fill), but I was forgetful and missed a certain character earned via not shooting his ship in a battle until it's the last one.

 

I've reached Chapter 7, and now I'm at a temporary route split. But I can't decide who to side with. Anyone want to help me decide?

I describe the following scenario:

Spoiler

Two multi-planetary countries in outer space exist. Let us call them Country R, and Country M.

Backstory:

Country R, with assistance with a third party called Country F, is the first to discover an uninhabited sector of outer space.

People from a Country S, after a natural disaster destroys half of their planets, migrate into the uninhabited sector of outer space discovered by Country R. These migrants become entirely independent of Country S and establish Country M. Country F supports establishment of Country M.

Country R is angered over the creation of Country M, believing they stole the space sector from them, denying them all its geopolitical and economic benefits. The people of Country M argue for their country's right to exist and deny Country R's claims. Country R and Country M go to war, which sees both of them survive.

Present Day:

120 years pass from the end of that war. Country M and Country R continue at the governmental and popular levels to generally oppose each other. Country F continues exist as a "friendly" neutral, stronger than Country M and Country R, and benefitting from them wasting their military energies against each other.

Country R is reliant on raw material exports for its economy. Country M has the appearance of being richer overall.

Then, an uninhabited Sector Y is discovered near Countries M and R. Sector Y is rich in resources, and both Countries M and R wish to claim it as their own.

The Problem:

Country M claims a planet in Sector Y as its territory. A privately-owned Ship V of Country R approaches this planet. Country M's defense force sent to defend the new planet believe Ship V to belong to Country R's military, and warns them that they have breached the international border rules of military vessels of foreign nations.

Ship V's captain is admittedly dismayed that this planet cannot belong to his country, but he tells his a member of his crew he will simply move on and look elsewhere.

But before Ship V's captain responds to Country M's warning, Country M fires on Ship V, destroying it and killing all on board. Whether the commander of the defense force of Country M ordered the attack or it was the result of a panicked underling is unknown.

This incident leads to war between Country R and Country M. Country R declares all planets within a detailed zone in Sector Y belong to it, and this includes planets that had been at that point claimed by Country M. Country R uses force to back the line it has drawn. And so diplomacy ends and the war begins.

 

Now, who is in the right and who is in the wrong in the above incident? Who in this newly begun war would you support, with the assumption that assisting them will lead to their victory and control of Sector Y?

 

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Sooo, I promised not to talk about Three Houses until I finish the game, but I do have one thing more to say (putting it in spoiler tags to be safe. Don't read until you have reached post time skip. Of course, I'm not going to talk specifics, but still).

The story pacing is all over the place with this game. Nearly every major reveal happens at the end of Part One, to the point where I seriously wondered what the heck the time skip was supposed to accomplish and what exactly is left that necessitates an entire second half (or two thirds, I dunno) of the game. True to my fears, the pacing slows to a crawl and I don't see it picking back up any time soon. Also, what is the point of keeping the Monastery system from Part One there besides padding? Not that I dislike it, but it's weird having characters say "we have to go there and fast!" only to have an entire month of nothing happening. No wonder people said it takes 80 hours to finish the thing.

Maybe all of this is unwarranted (which I hope is the case, honestly), but I just wanted to get it out there.

---

Also, are data sizes on the Switch small or what? The entire Atelier Arland trilogy supposedly only takes 8.5 GB of space.
I distinctly remember reading about people saying that some games are too big for the built-in hard drive, necessitating an additional saving device.

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3 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

Also, are data sizes on the Switch small or what? The entire Atelier Arland trilogy supposedly only takes 8.5 GB of space.
I distinctly remember reading about people saying that some games are too big for the built-in hard drive, necessitating an additional saving device.

It depends on the game and the developer.

Switch game cards can hold 8, 16 or 32 GBs, but the 32s are currently expensive for developers to put their games on, so not all want to do it (The Witcher 3 will use a 32 to fit the entire game DLC included).

They were able to shrink the entirety of this high-powered FPS game down to 22 GBs, which has been called a miracle. There are technical performance compromises compared to other versions of the same game, but it's perfectly playable. They didn't put it on a physical card, it's digital only, but they could have made it fit on a 32 for sure.

The yet to be released Spyro trilogy on the other hand, will have only 6 GBs on the physical card, and the other 9 GBs (originally ~60 GBs on PS4) will have to be downloaded.

If a company is devoted to it, they can find ways to downsize their games, unless they're absolutely top-of-the-line, to fit on Switch. It will require sacrifices in performance, but if made wisely, the game will still be very playable.

Unfortunately, not all companies have the will to be smart and dedicated to the downsizing endeavor. Companies so I hear are getting lazy nowadays on PC and PS and Xbox with file sizes, assuming the consumer will just pay for lots of storage. That isn't so much the case on Switch.

Edited by Interdimensional Observer
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@DragonFlames to anwser your question in a non-spoilery way (but still tagging it to be safe)

Spoiler
18 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Also, what is the point of keeping the Monastery system from Part One there besides padding? Not that I dislike it, but it's weird having characters say "we have to go there and fast!" only to have an entire month of nothing happening. No wonder people said it takes 80 hours to finish the thing.

It makes sense from both a gameplay and story standpoint. From a gameplay standpoint, they can't just throw out the biggest mechanic in the game. From a story standpoint, the monastery is the most strategic location in all of Fodlan. It's at the center of the continent, you can launch an attack to pretty much wherever you want. But obviously, you have to prep for it, which brings up the second part of you question. You still have to prepare when launching an attack. So using the month at the monastery to prepare is a form of gameplay-story integration. Previous Fire Emblem games just skipped over the preparation part completely, or just have it be told and not shown.

I can't comment on the pacing though. I'm doing the Black Eagles - Crimson Flower route and the pacing's been pretty solid, even after the timeskip, though i just recently found out that it's the shortest route in the game, so maybe that's why. It's worth noting that the game does want you to play through all of the routes to understand everything (that's why New Game+ is there), so just because the route you're currently on has revealed a lot doesn't mean everything has been revealed. Just doing one route in this game will leave you with unanswered questions, questions that will get answered in other routes. It's not like Fates or heck, even Radiant Dawn, where you can just play the game once and maybe you miss out on some stuff but for the most part, you'll have gotten everything the game wanted you to.

 

30 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

The entire Atelier Arland trilogy supposedly only takes 8.5 GB of space.

That is false. Each of the Arland trilogy games takes up about the same size. So if you want the entire trilogy downloaded, that's 24 GB. Ironically enough, Atelier Lulua only takes up 5 GB.

But yeah, as Interdimensional Observer said, it depends on the game and the developer.

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16 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

It depends on the game and the developer.

Switch game cards can hold 8, 16 or 32 GBs, but the 32s are currently expensive for developers to put their games on, so not all want to do it (The Witcher 3 will use a 32 to fit the entire game DLC included).

They were able to shrink the entirety of this high-powered FPS game down to 22 GBs, which has been called a miracle. There are technical performance compromises compared to other versions of the same game, but it's perfectly playable. They didn't put it on a physical card, it's digital only, but they could have made it fit on a 32 for sure.

The yet to be released Spyro trilogy on the other hand, will have only 6 GBs on the physical card, and the other 9 GBs (originally ~60 GBs on PS4) will have to be downloaded.

If a company is devoted to it, they can find ways to downsize their games, unless they're absolutely top-of-the-line, to fit on Switch. It will require sacrifices in performance, but if made wisely, the game will still be very playable.

Unfortunately, not all companies have the will to be smart and dedicated to the downsizing endeavor. Companies so I hear are getting lazy nowadays on PC and PS and Xbox with file sizes, assuming the consumer will just pay for lots of storage. That isn't so much the case on Switch.

Good on Nintendo, then.
PS4 data sizes are ridiculous, that has come to my attention as well.

16 hours ago, Armagon said:

@DragonFlames to anwser your question in a non-spoilery way (but still tagging it to be safe)

  Hide contents

It makes sense from both a gameplay and story standpoint. From a gameplay standpoint, they can't just throw out the biggest mechanic in the game. From a story standpoint, the monastery is the most strategic location in all of Fodlan. It's at the center of the continent, you can launch an attack to pretty much wherever you want. But obviously, you have to prep for it, which brings up the second part of you question. You still have to prepare when launching an attack. So using the month at the monastery to prepare is a form of gameplay-story integration. Previous Fire Emblem games just skipped over the preparation part completely, or just have it be told and not shown.

I can't comment on the pacing though. I'm doing the Black Eagles - Crimson Flower route and the pacing's been pretty solid, even after the timeskip, though i just recently found out that it's the shortest route in the game, so maybe that's why. It's worth noting that the game does want you to play through all of the routes to understand everything (that's why New Game+ is there), so just because the route you're currently on has revealed a lot doesn't mean everything has been revealed. Just doing one route in this game will leave you with unanswered questions, questions that will get answered in other routes. It's not like Fates or heck, even Radiant Dawn, where you can just play the game once and maybe you miss out on some stuff but for the most part, you'll have gotten everything the game wanted you to.

 

Excellent points. I admit, I hadn't thought of that.

You know, not FIVE minutes after I made my post and continuing to play, the story picked up again. That's what I get for prematurely laying out some fears. Ugh.


Also, funny story, the Blue Lions route is called "Azure Moon" in-game... a thing that the plot of Nights of Azure 2 revolved around. I'm half expecting Malvasia to show up.
And of course I'll play every route, and I am aware that's what multiple routes are there for.

16 hours ago, Armagon said:

That is false. Each of the Arland trilogy games takes up about the same size. So if you want the entire trilogy downloaded, that's 24 GB. Ironically enough, Atelier Lulua only takes up 5 GB.

But yeah, as Interdimensional Observer said, it depends on the game and the developer.

So it's 8 GB per game. Yeah, that makes slightly more sense. Weird how the eShop lists only the requirements for one game on the Arland Trilogy Deluxe pack.

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Playing Three Houses like most the others here, and I gotta say, there aren't a lot of weapons for you to choose from/use in this game, which is a tad disappointing. I don't count upgraded versions of the same weapon a unique idea, either. I'm impressed with the story, though. I initially had low expectations because of the pseudo Avatar system. I also like the characters more than I initially seen of them, as well which is nice.

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So, I finished my first route of Three Houses. Gotta say, I did not expect to like it as much as I did in the end, despite a few pet peeves. So, let's get started with the "review".
I started out with the Blue Lions, so this "review" is going to be about the Blue Lions path only. Originally, I was gonna go Golden Deer, because I felt like that was the route the fewest people would pick, but Dimitri and Annette sold me on the Blue Lions instead. Not bad, considering my initial dislike towards Dimitri from pre-release stuff.
I will NOT post any spoilers, just general impressions from gameplay, characters and the such, so don't worry, everyone. This "review" is completely spoiler-free. And subjective.

What I liked:

  • The world-building in this game is excellent. I'd argue it's even better than Tellius in many ways, because it does a better job at explaining the history of the continent, its countries, its history, and its culture.
  • I LOVED the writing in this game, especially when it comes to the characters.
  • The Blue Lions are all very likeable (with one exception) and engaging characters with great chemistry going on between each other.
  • Characters in general are multi-layered and don't rely on a singular gimmick. Sylvain, for example, is a decent fellow... if and when his speeches aren't about chasing skirts.
  • Continuing on with the writing, I loved the supports in this game. They do a great job of fleshing out and developing the personalities of each character. Compared to the gimmick vs. gimmick supports of past FE games, barring Echoes, this was a very refreshing sight.
  • The fishing minigame is great fun.
  • The monastery is a really cool place to explore. And for me, exploration never got boring. There are also plenty of dogs and cats running around.
  • I like the guard that cheerfully reminds you that there's "Nothing to report!".
  • I like that you can freely customize your units in this game. I imagine this will add tons of replayability to the game. Sure, the units are predispositioned to certain classes thanks to strengths and growth rates, but it's still a cool feature.
  • Byleth is the best implementation of an Avatar character this series has had so far. A silent protagonist with dialogue options, like Persona and the Etrian Odyssey Untold games. I've been saying it since Awakening, but this is how to do an Avatar.
  • Music is great, even if it's not something I would listen to in a vacuum. It creates a great atmosphere and isn't intrusive or annoying even after long playing sessions (which has been my biggest gripe with Conquest's map themes). It's not Echoes, music-wise, but Echoes set the bar very, very high when it comes to the music in Fire Emblem, so... yeah.
  • The marriage thing didn't feel as weird as I feared it would. The scene with Annette was incredibly cute and I don't regret picking her.

What pet my peeves:

  • While I do like the monastery and school system, it does drag a bit, especially if you want to know what happens next in the story.
  • I also wish weapon and class ranks would increase a teeny tiny bit faster than they do now. During my playthrough, I got exactly zero class mastery skills.
  • Unit balance is all over the place in the Blue Lions. Don't know if it applies elsewhere, but it's very noticeable, even moreso than it was in Fates, I'd argue.
  • You. Can't. Pet. The. Dogs. Or. Cats. Seriously, this is the biggest problem in the game and makes it teh worest Faire Embum geym EvaR!
  • The people that said one route takes 80 hours were exaggerating a bit.
  • Map design could have been better. I'd appreciate it if they could dial it down with the siege weapons, especially in the late game. Ballistae and siege spells like Meteor really got on my nerves after a while and made certain units borderline unusable toward the end.
  • Speaking of gameplay pet peeves: Monster battles. A novel concept, but the execution is questionable, especially because some maps tend to throw more than one your way and the only way of attacking them safely is with gambits... most of which you can only use once. And they can miss. Amazing. /s
  • Some plot threads were left completely hanging. I'm guessing they will be addressed in other paths, but still. Don't expect the Blue Lions route to tie everything up. (btw: I know that's the point of having multiple paths. Don't kill me, please.)
  • The ending came a bit abruptly, adding to the impression that the pacing of the story is a little odd at times.

In the end, is this the best Fire Emblem game yet? I dunno. I'll have to play the other two routes first. But for what it's worth: I do not regret buying a Switch for this game.

If you're curious, here's my personal ranking of the Blue Lion characters based on their personalities:
Males: Felix > Dimitri > Dedue > Ashe >>>>>> Sylvain
Females: Annette > Mercedes > Ingrid
Overall favorite: Tied between Annette and Felix
Annette, because best girl is best girl
Felix, because the guy is literally me irl.

Edited by DragonFlames
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Soooo I'm sixteen and a half hours into Three Houses and I'm only on chapter six. Just how many chapters does this game have? (You don't have to answer that.)

I'm not too far in yet, but none of the Golden Deer have been lagging behind thus far. I haven't recruited anyone else yet, though I think someone might be available by now. Sans Byleth and the mage girls, I try have everyone specialize in two weapon types. If you're curious, I put my underdeveloped observations and plans in the spoiler tag below.

Spoiler
  • Claude: Bows and Swords, targeting Lord.
  • Lorenz: Lances and Reason, presumably a Mage? Everyone's favorite student, his strength and magic being equal is useful for those pesky units with specialized defenses.
  • Hilda: Axes and Lances, targeting Brigand. Despite her self-proclaimed laziness and noodle arms, she somehow has the highest strength and defense of my entire group.
  • Raphael: Gauntlets and Axes, targeting Armored Knight (or maybe Brawler). He may not have the highest strength or defense despite all his eating and training, but he's a close second in both those categories.
  • Lysithea: Reason, with some Faith for extra healing, targeting Mage. The magical nuke, and the only character aside from Byleth to have her crest activate on a regular basis. Her resistance is lower than what I would expect though.
  • Ignatz: Bows and Swords, but I'll try to give him something else to distinguish him from Claude, targeting Archer.
  • Marianne: Faith, targeting Priest. The designated White Mage and Best Girl, she also has the highest resistance.
  • Leonie: Lances and Bows, targeting Cavalier. The fastest member of my team.

If I'm lucky I might finish the game in a month or so...

Edited by Lightchao42
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16 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

So it's 8 GB per game. Yeah, that makes slightly more sense. Weird how the eShop lists only the requirements for one game on the Arland Trilogy Deluxe pack

Yeah, i nearly got bamboozled. It is cheaper to buy the pack but i didn't want to take up 24 GB (i have a 128 GB SD card and 24 GB is still a lot) so in the end, i just got Atelier Rorona and then i got the other two games in the trilogy on my PC.

15 hours ago, lightcosmo said:

there aren't a lot of weapons for you to choose from/use in this game, which is a tad disappointing.

As you progress, more and more stuff unlocks. Though i'm still surprised by the lack of Killer Bows. Where the fuck are they, i'm nearly at the end and haven't seen a single one.

9 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

In the end, is this the best Fire Emblem game yet? I dunno. I'll have to play the other two routes first.

Mmm yes, let me correct you on that. You'll have to play the other three routes. Without getting into spoilers, Black Eagles has two routes. You need to fulfill some requirements to unlock the second route but it's super easy to do. How easy? I didn't even know there were requirements when i got it. Unless you actively rush and purposely skip everything, you shouldn't miss the option to go the second Black Eagles route.

I can give you the requirements in a non-spoiler way, if you want.

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8 hours ago, Armagon said:

As you progress, more and more stuff unlocks. Though i'm still surprised by the lack of Killer Bows. Where the fuck are they, i'm nearly at the end and haven't seen a single one.

You have to smith them, I think? And I've already beaten one path, and from I can tell, there are not a lot of weapons to choose from.

 

18 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

I also wish weapon and class ranks would increase a teeny tiny bit faster than they do now. During my playthrough, I got exactly zero class mastery skills.

The Knowledge gem makes this go by much quicker, if you got it.

Oh, and something I don't like about this game, the really low growth standard. It's annoying to get all that exp only to get hp and res or something of the like most of the time.

Edited by lightcosmo
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Well fellas, i did it. I completed the Black Eagles - Crimson Flower path in Fire Emblem: Three Houses on Hard/Classic. This was one of my most anticipated games of the year and it delivered a lot. Here are my spoiler-free thoughts.

The good:

I was a bit worried that the writing quality of Shadows of Valentia was just a fluke in modern FE. Awakening's writing was decent enough, i guess. Fates was, well, do i really need to go over that? Shadows of Valentia's writing surpassed both of them and i was a bit worried it was just gonna be a one-time thing. But i was pleasantly surprised with the writing quality of Three Houses. The worldbuilding is excellent, the characters, the story is well told and the characters! Oh, the characters! There wasn't a single member among the Black Eagles that i disliked. I remember reading the previous and thinking i'd probably dislike Caspar but he turned out to be a bro. I especially like that even the more gimmicky characters such as Bernadetta and Lindhart still felt more grounded than any of the gimmicky characters from Awakening and Fates. I can't comment on the other Houses as the only character i was able to recruit was Lysethia from the Golden Deer. She's a good girl. Oh and on the subject of characters, i can't ignore Edelgard. Man, the writing with her surprised me. She's such a refreshing change of pace for Lord characters. Both in Supports and in the story, she's a character that is written very well. I'm definitely considering her as one of the series' best Lords, if not the best. Claude and Dimitri have a bar to reach.

On the subject of the story, while i've heard that the pacing is off in some routes as well as the endings kind of being abrupt, i can't really say that with the Crimson Flower path. Pacing was solid throughout and the ending, while definitely some leaving questions unanswered and handwaving others (motivation for you to play the other routes), the ending was fine. The story ended where it needed to. I wouldn't say it's a great ending but it's definitely not a bad one. Oh and in case you wanted to know who i S-Supported first, it was Edelgard. I was originally going to go with Dorothea but Edelgard's A-Support with Byleth is just really heartwarming. The music isn't as great as Shadows of Valentia's but there are some really good tracks in here. Definitely one of the best soundtracks in the series. On the subject of gameplay, it was enjoyable. I liked Battalions, i liked how magic is used, the Monastery is cool, there's so much replayability here. I really like that you can zoom in during maps and move your units around as if it were Valkyria Chronicles. It's not ideal but it's a nice change of pace if you get tired of looking at the grid.

The biggest thing i like about the story this game presents is that it's all a matter of perspective. Dark cult aside, no side of this game's conflict is truly good or evil. FE hasn't really done this before, even the games that had a bigger a focus in politics. Before, it was pretty much always "we're the good guys, they're the bad guys". Games can do that and still have good writing but in the case of FE, a series about war, it's a reason why it's plots have always felt....samey.

The bad:

No game is perfect and this one does have some flaws. Visually, some parts of the game just don't look and you can even clip through things. The animations, while not bad, aren't on to par with Shadows of Valentia's. I'm also not really a fan of +ranks, especially when it comes to skill. E rank in this game is effectively just J rank. With Supports, i'm more forgiving as + ranks there mean more Support Convos. The maps......eh, they're fine. They aren't that amazing but they also aren't Awakening levels of simple. One map in particular though that i want to talk about is the one in Petra's post timeskip dialouge (gotta specify, as i'm not sure if she had a pre timeskip one). The objective there is to get Petra to her destination. Simple enough right? Well, when she or anyone gets close to the destination, the game says "sike", summons reinforcements from three corners of the map and changes the objective to rout the enemy without letting any of the commanders reach the spot Petra was supposed to go to. The map is filled with thickets by the way. And no, you can't warp cheese. I've tried. It is by far the worst map in the game (that i've seen).

Upon seeing discussion, i realize i'm in the minority but i have to agree with @DragonFlames here: Demonic Beast battles are not that good. I thought they were fine the first time but literally every time since then, you end up fighting multiple of them on the same maps. Some maps even had the audacity to have Demonic Beasts as reinforcements. What the fuck IntSys? Also, i'm not really a fan of motivation. All it does is make it so that you can't train your units and it's upsetting when multiple characters are "unmotivated". I also wish gold was a lot easier to acquire. In Part One, you get gold every month but in Part Two, at least in the Crimson Flower route, it's like old FE. You gotta make do with what you've got. You can do quest battles and get bullions to sell but even then, it's not enough. Recruiting other characters definitely has to be made easier as well. I spent nearly all of Part One trying to recruit Lysethia (and then i found out too late that Annette's requirements are the same as hers.....whoops).

Conclusion

Mmm, i can't give a rating on this game yet. I don't want to give a proper rating without seeing all the paths the game has to offer. However, i will say these two things:

  1. It is one of the best games in the Switch's library.
  2. it is my favorite Fire Emblem game. It has dethroned Shadows of Valentia. 

wt2MDJi.png

Now if only Serenes Forest would let me.

This game wants you to replay it multiple times, seeing different routes. That's why New Game+ is there. Which is why i'm going to..........replay this exact same route. Hear me out, because of how the Black Eagles storyline works, there's some interactions i didn't get to see because i didn't recruit certain characters. And i want to see these interactions. 

 

 

 

Edited by Armagon
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15 hours ago, Armagon said:

Mmm yes, let me correct you on that. You'll have to play the other three routes. Without getting into spoilers, Black Eagles has two routes. You need to fulfill some requirements to unlock the second route but it's super easy to do. How easy? I didn't even know there were requirements when i got it. Unless you actively rush and purposely skip everything, you shouldn't miss the option to go the second Black Eagles route.

I can give you the requirements in a non-spoiler way, if you want.

Oh yeah, there was that rumor about a fourth route floating about. I completely forgot.
As for the requirements, I'm good for now. I'll just go with the flow and see where I'll end up. Thanks for the offer, though!

7 hours ago, lightcosmo said:

The Knowledge gem makes this go by much quicker, if you got it.

Oh, and something I don't like about this game, the really low growth standard. It's annoying to get all that exp only to get hp and res or something of the like most of the time.

I know you can get it in a chest in a paralogue, but I missed it, so I didn't have it.
Yeah, the low growth rates can screw you over if you're unlucky. That's what happened to Byleth in my first run. The second seems to be going a little better, at least.

4 hours ago, Armagon said:

Well fellas, i did it. I completed the Black Eagles - Crimson Flower path in Fire Emblem: Three Houses on Hard/Classic. This was one of my most anticipated games of the year and it delivered a lot. Here are my spoiler-free thoughts.

The good:

I was a bit worried that the writing quality of Shadows of Valentia was just a fluke in modern FE. Awakening's writing was decent enough, i guess. Fates was, well, do i really need to go over that? Shadows of Valentia's writing surpassed both of them and i was a bit worried it was just gonna be a one-time thing. But i was pleasantly surprised with the writing quality of Three Houses. The worldbuilding is excellent, the characters, the story is well told and the characters! Oh, the characters! There wasn't a single member among the Black Eagles that i disliked. I remember reading the previous and thinking i'd probably dislike Caspar but he turned out to be a bro. I especially like that even the more gimmicky characters such as Bernadetta and Lindhart still felt more grounded than any of the gimmicky characters from Awakening and Fates. I can't comment on the other Houses as the only character i was able to recruit was Lysethia from the Golden Deer. She's a good girl. Oh and on the subject of characters, i can't ignore Edelgard. Man, the writing with her surprised me. She's such a refreshing change of pace for Lord characters. Both in Supports and in the story, she's a character that is written very well. I'm definitely considering her as one of the series' best Lords, if not the best. Claude and Dimitri have a bar to reach.

On the subject of the story, while i've heard that the pacing is off in some routes as well as the endings kind of being abrupt, i can't really say that with the Crimson Flower path. Pacing was solid throughout and the ending, while definitely some leaving questions unanswered and handwaving others (motivation for you to play the other routes), the ending was fine. The story ended where it needed to. I wouldn't say it's a great ending but it's definitely not a bad one. Oh and in case you wanted to know who i S-Supported first, it was Edelgard. I was originally going to go with Dorothea but Edelgard's A-Support with Byleth is just really heartwarming. The music isn't as great as Shadows of Valentia's but there are some really good tracks in here. Definitely one of the best soundtracks in the series. On the subject of gameplay, it was enjoyable. I liked Battalions, i liked how magic is used, the Monastery is cool, there's so much replayability here. I really like that you can zoom in during maps and move your units around as if it were Valkyria Chronicles. It's not ideal but it's a nice change of pace if you get tired of looking at the grid.

The biggest thing i like about the story this game presents is that it's all a matter of perspective. Dark cult aside, no side of this game's conflict is truly good or evil. FE hasn't really done this before, even the games that had a bigger a focus in politics. Before, it was pretty much always "we're the good guys, they're the bad guys". Games can do that and still have good writing but in the case of FE, a series about war, it's a reason why it's plots have always felt....samey.

The bad:

No game is perfect and this one does have some flaws. Visually, some parts of the game just don't look and you can even clip through things. The animations, while not bad, aren't on to par with Shadows of Valentia's. I'm also not really a fan of +ranks, especially when it comes to skill. E rank in this game is effectively just J rank. With Supports, i'm more forgiving as + ranks there mean more Support Convos. The maps......eh, they're fine. They aren't that amazing but they also aren't Awakening levels of simple. One map in particular though that i want to talk about is the one in Petra's post timeskip dialouge (gotta specify, as i'm not sure if she had a pre timeskip one). The objective there is to get Petra to her destination. Simple enough right? Well, when she or anyone gets close to the destination, the game says "sike", summons reinforcements from three corners of the map and changes the objective to rout the enemy without letting any of the commanders reach the spot Petra was supposed to go to. The map is filled with thickets by the way. And no, you can't warp cheese. I've tried. It is by far the worst map in the game (that i've seen).

Upon seeing discussion, i realize i'm in the minority but i have to agree with @DragonFlames here: Demonic Beast battles are not that good. I thought they were fine the first time but literally every time since then, you end up fighting multiple of them on the same maps. Some maps even had the audacity to have Demonic Beasts as reinforcements. What the fuck IntSys? Also, i'm not really a fan of motivation. All it does is make it so that you can't train your units and it's upsetting when multiple characters are "unmotivated". I also wish gold was a lot easier to acquire. In Part One, you get gold every month but in Part Two, at least in the Crimson Flower route, it's like old FE. You gotta make do with what you've got. You can do quest battles and get bullions to sell but even then, it's not enough. Recruiting other characters definitely has to be made easier as well. I spent nearly all of Part One trying to recruit Lysethia (and then i found out too late that Annette's requirements are the same as hers.....whoops).

Conclusion

Mmm, i can't give a rating on this game yet. I don't want to give a proper rating without seeing all the paths the game has to offer. However, i will say these two things:

  1. It is one of the best games in the Switch's library.
  2. it is my favorite Fire Emblem game. It has dethroned Shadows of Valentia. 

wt2MDJi.png

Now if only Serenes Forest would let me.

This game wants you to replay it multiple times, seeing different routes. That's why New Game+ is there. Which is why i'm going to..........replay this exact same route. Hear me out, because of how the Black Eagles storyline works, there's some interactions i didn't get to see because i didn't recruit certain characters. And i want to see these interactions.

Congrats on finishing it! I agree with most of what you've said here, except for the stuff I couldn't possibly know about due to picking a different route first.
As for the part about not getting free Gold during Part Two: Blue Lions is the same way. I'm guessing it'll be like that for every route, meaning the Relics are even more pointless, because as I've outlined in another topic, the cost for repairing them is way too high to be worthwhile, as you're struggling with finances enough as it is. And for how much it costs to repair them, they don't have too many significant advantages over other higher-end weaponry, like Silvers, of which you can get forged ones for free during the tournaments at the practice area. 

---

I'm actually playing the Black Eagles right now, because I was curious how certain developments are handled when you side with Edelgard.
So far, I like the Blue Lions overall better as far as characters go. Most of them are fine, but Ferdinand and Caspar are getting on my nerves, and Hubert just kind of... exists. The Blue Lions only really had Sylvain as an outlier. So far, Petra and Bernadetta are definite candidates for favorites, however, right alongside Annette and Felix.
Edelgard also doesn't seem to be as broken as Dimitri is. She has a little defense problem right now, which hopefully will sort itself out soon. At least my Byleth isn't as speed screwed this time around, so... yay, I hope?

One thing I forgot to mention in my "review": my favorite music track in the game is what I assume is Sothis' theme (because it usually only plays in scenes where she is involved). It has this sense of mystique to it that I really like.

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1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

I'm guessing it'll be like that for every route, meaning the Relics are even more pointless, because as I've outlined in another topic, the cost for repairing them is way too high to be worthwhile, as you're struggling with finances enough as it is. And for how much it costs to repair them, they don't have too many significant advantages over other higher-end weaponry, like Silvers, of which you can get forged ones for free during the tournaments at the practice area. 

Pretty much this. Relics are pretty much just there for when you want that extra damage for Demonic Beasts. Though i will say Edelgard's Relic has a busted Combat Art in that it's basically Galeforce except it doesn't have to kill the enemy to activate. Though it does cost 4 durability in a 20 use weapon. But still, i used it like three times to deal as much damage as i could to the final boss before it broke (durability aside, there's no limit to how many times you can use it during a turn). 

 

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

Most of them are fine, but Ferdinand and Caspar are getting on my nerves, and Hubert just kind of... exists.

It's ok, Ferdinand gets on Edelgard's nerves too.

Nah, but i can see where you're coming from. While i didn't dislike anyone among the Black Eagles, Ferdinand and Caspar did take a bit before they grew on me. I liked Hubert from the start though because he's hilarious. That wasn't the intention of his character but the way he acts regarding Edelgard is just funny to me.

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

So far, Petra and Bernadetta are definite candidates for favorites

They are such good girls. 

Honestly, everyone in Black Eagles is best girl tier imo.

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

Edelgard also doesn't seem to be as broken as Dimitri is. She has a little defense problem right now, which hopefully will sort itself out soon.

Oh it will. Her unique class and it's promotion are basically just the spiritual successor to Hector Great Lord. If her defense is lacking right now for you, i wouldn't worry about it. She'll get it back. I believe the way promotion works in this game is like SoV where promotion gains simply bring the character up to par with whatever class they're becoming.

Edited by Armagon
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