Alastor plays and ranks the whole series! Mission Complete! ...For now.

[Acacia Sgt]

2 hours ago, Jotari said:

White dragons live longer than Black Dragons? Huh, didn't expect that. Taking this chart we can see a roughly 60 year old Deghensea (I think he looks like he's in his 60s) would be 1020 years old, which works for the timeline if we assume he was a young strapping lad in his 200s when Ashera made him her hero. Oh wait, doing the maths, a 200 year old Deghensea would have the appearance of an 11 year old 0.o Deghensea was Ashera's Tiki during the conflict!

Of course Lehran being in a similar age range when Herons are only meant to live 300 years means being Ashera's chosen comes with special perks and Deghensea could have looked exactly the same back in the day (we do see his dragon form which looks pretty unchanged). Though his kids all look like they're in the age range of being his natural children, he's not suffering a case of immortality making him look younger than them, granted he could have started having them super late into his immortal life.

And if we're to take the red dragon life span multiplier and compare it to a human gestation period we would have the sum of 0.75*16.7=12.525 for a full red dragon gestation period. Which would make her not showing in Radiant Dawn reasonable as it's the equivalent to 2 months, but only we assume she got pregnant at the end of Path of Radiance.

The weird thing is, the artbook also states Deghinsea has an estimated Beorc age of 50.

And the war against Yune happened in the Year -155. Which means... Dheginsea was only about 50 years old!

The lifespan thing was probably an early version or got scrapped, because I doubt we can take it to face value.

1 hour ago, Sunwoo said:

Maybe being blessed directly by Ashera gave Deghinsea some weird longevity powers? Since for the laguz, you'd probably have to bless them directly to bless their claws. Also, do we know for sure whether Lehran was ever blessed by Ashera or not?

Yes. He even has the Mantle skill, which is basically one way to know who has the blessing.

46 minutes ago, lenticular said:

How in the name of all that is good and holy would a Begnion noble ever be able to get their hands on sufficiently detailed demographic and actuarial data from Goldoa to determine that black dragons live 1.8% longer on average than red dragons?

(Yeah, I know, I know. But "presenting information as if it was discovered in-world when there's no way in-world characters would actually be able to know it" is a pet peeve of mine.)

Well, maybe some dragons are like Nasir? Who travel all around Tellius.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Acacia Sgt

[Jotari]

6 hours ago, Sunwoo said:

Maybe being blessed directly by Ashera gave Deghinsea some weird longevity powers? Since for the laguz, you'd probably have to bless them directly to bless their claws. Also, do we know for sure whether Lehran was ever blessed by Ashera or not?

I don't really think that's a maybe. Unless the artbook is just plain wrong and Herons can live for upwards of a thousand years and still look like hot 30 young senators even when they can't transform, then Lehran was getting some extra Ashera vitamins.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Jotari

[Alastor15243]

Lost the maddening ironman on Chapter 19. I had reached the point where it didn't really occur to me that any of my units could be one-rounded by an enemy, and Colgette was promptly just barely one-rounded by a Wolf Knight who got lucky with two consecutive 50% hits.

I'm starting over using the lessons I learned about what I would do differently (again). But man was that a blow.

I have to say, Maddening gets quite intimidating at that point. I only managed to do the Lucina and Lyn paralogues by that point, and upon skimming the others it constantly looked like doing the next mainline chapter would be easier. I'm hoping I'm better prepared for the lategame this time.

[Alastor15243]

Engage Day 46: Chapter 25

By the looks of things, we’ll be done with the game this week. That’s a fascinating prospect.

As I said, I got to Chapter 19 in Maddening before I lost. But I’m still going with that file because I want to unlock the option to select fixed growths for Maddening, and apparently only your first file has fixed growths (as was rather conclusively demonstrated to me when my second file had Colgette get two consecutive build levels).

I have to say, this game is getting pretty nuts. I wound up beating Chapter 19 through sheer cheese and exploiting the fact that none of those reinforcements Mauvier amasses in the center actually have any ranged attacks, allowing me to send all my forces south, huddle up in the intersection with Yunaka’s fog, get the first house, retreat to the boat, plug it up, and then after taking out Mauvier before Merrin’s Ike engage ran out and Thani became a problem, just slowly whittle away at the enemies while I sent my fliers off to retrieve the dracoshield in a suicide gambit on the last turn (I had the fliers retreat from the house with a rescue staff use after triggering the house, due to the miasma, and then kill them on the docks).

I’m not so sure how I feel about the late-game design of Maddening’s enemies. I still need to process it a bit more, but the game has extremely strict doubling thresholds, Alcryst continually struggles to contribute even chip damage, and great knights have defense high enough that the prospect of any physical attacker damaging them is pretty much laughable. All in all I’d definitely say that right now Conquest has the superior highest difficulty in terms of staying fun while still being challenging, but of course I still haven’t beaten it, so we’ll see.

Right, now to pick up items and critters, see if anyone has anything interesting to say, then see if there’s an exit cutscene. There must be.

Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that we haven’t found our dragonstone to give to her, I’d half-suspect a reveal that Veyle’s gonna show up now, and it’s gonna be our Pepsiman who’s kind to her and gives her the stone.

Alfred: I feel bad for the you from a thousand years ago. I hope everything turns out okay.

You saw the future where it did, genius.

…

HOW DID A CAT GET ONTO FUCKING GRANLON!?

…Oh, right, past. I was about to say, how the flaming fuck could a cat have made it across the sea and onto this freshly-emerged land of lava and death in the day or two at most that it’s been above the water?

Everyone has some mildly interesting observations to make about time travel, but Céline appears to be the only one who even bothers to ask anything to the effect of “wait, shouldn’t we be worried about causing a time paradox or radically altering history?”. Cuz, uh, yeah, come to think of it. Actually, while Alfred’s comment was still phrased obliviously enough that I’m pretty sure he didn’t have a point on purpose, he did have a point. We made a screwup for Pepsiman Wild Cherry that he never screwed up in the original timeline. And we very decidedly came from a timeline in which that shard was never shattered.

But I’m guessing that, judging by the kind of game this is, this isn’t going to have any effects at all aside from breaking the shard.

But Pepsiman and Veyle talk about what they did, and Veyle says that what they did probably sped up Pepsiman Wild Cherry’s ascent to lucidity. Veyle wonders if Pepsiman Wild Cherry seeing Pepsiman will cause any weird time problems, and Pepsiman says it’s probably fine because he’s going to forget what he saw soon anyway, 1000-year sleep and all.

…And we apparently caused some problems for Zephia, who reported the invaders who then mysteriously vanished.

…No, Sombron sensed an “unexpected Emblem” at the time, so he knows Zephia was telling the truth.

…What?

The “Fire Emblem” used to already exist before?

…And we have this really awkward conversation between Sombron and Zephia about children and Sombron’s views on what children are, which are as cynical and morbid as you’d probably expect.

Zephia just… outright propositions Sombron… right there… and he basically says “maybe after the war”.

You know, maybe they should have kept this scene and dispensed with the one before. Used this to shine light on Zephia’s motivations, rather than have her explain them to Griss while she’s dying.

Also, curiously, Sombron talking about his children is apparently the first time Zephia has ever thought about being a mother. Which, uh… kinda detracts from the scene, honestly.

PFFFFFFFF

Pepsiman Wild Cherry is on the ground, groaning in this really awkward position, on his back with his knees bent and his head to the side. The 2D backdrop makes it feel really weird.

…And then Lumera finds him. And she’s immediately sweet and caring towards him.

…This… is not the first meeting of these two I expected to see. She acts like she doesn’t even know this is one of Sombron’s children. Not that she doesn’t care, that she doesn’t even know.

…Pepsiman Wild Cherry apparently only knows his name is Pepsiman because Sombron called him that once. Not even in front of him, but in front of his mother, who told him before she died. That is… simultaneously depressing as hell but also so abusive that it kinda crosses the line into comical.

…Yes, Lumera genuinely didn’t know Pepsiman Wild Cherry was Sombron’s son until he basically said “Lumera… isn’t that the name of the guy Dad’s trying to kill?”

Anyway, yeah, I think having Pepsiman Wild Cherry be so brainwashed was a decision made to absolve Pepsiman of any past evil, which is bullshit, and also had the side-effect of making his past self much more difficult to take seriously, and also simultaneously more boring. But it would take a great many additional changes before I’d actually consider the story more enjoyable without this. Because as it stands, it gives us the delightful “No, that is stupid”.

The second Timerra expressed excitement about smashing the fuck out of the next and last shard, and then asked Veyle where it was at, I knew there was going to be a complication with it. And sure enough, she feels it out with her Fell senses, and… promptly gasps. But she’s not saying what she discovered. She seems to want to put it off or something, because she asks to be alone. Lemme guess, the last shard is somewhere personal to her?

…Oh no. The way she’s talking about it…

…Hahahahahahahahahahaha.

Okay. So.

Remember when I made that huge deal out of Lumera’s comically overdramatic defeat line in Chapter 2? How I said there was no way they’d make that her defeat line if this was the only time we ever fought her?

Yeah, that’s yet another thing a YouTube thumbnail spoiled me on: I was right. We do fight her again. As a Corrupted. And it sounds like Veyle’s scared to tell Pepsiman he’ll have to fight his own mother if he wants to destroy the last shard.

Alright, Somniel time. BRB.

…While I’m doing this, I should mention… apparently I missed a pretty damned good performance by not having Pepsiman fight Griss. He completely flips out when Pepsiman implies Griss’s loyalty to Zephia is coerced.

Also, real quick, on that subject, I wanna see what Pepsiman Wild Cherry has to say to Veyle:

OOOOOOOH!

It seems to demonstrate that Veyle did visibly age in the thousand years! Pepsiman Wild Cherry says that this couldn’t possibly be Veyle, because Veyle looks younger!

Which means this might be a Viltrumite situation here. “The older we get, the slower we age”. Combined with an already-slower aging than baseline humans at the start.

…Uh…

…Speaking of Veyle…

…I just noticed that Veyle’s still wearing a belt collar on her neck and chains on her ankles. Even in her Somniel attire.

Either nobody thought to get those off of her… or they were a deliberate fashion statement this whole time.

…Hold on…

…Okay, so I just went to the fashion shop and they aren’t on any of her other outfits. So it’s just hardcoded to her Somniel attire and class outfit. I seeeeeeeeee…

…Uh…

…Moving on.

Oh yeah, and that thing I was hoping was going to be a quarry? Actually I forgot to mention I noticed it taking the shape of a statue earlier in the game, and now it’s complete! It’s of Pepsiman. Neat.

So I’m reclassing Pepsiman and Yunaka, and it occurs to me that the reason Pepsiman’s class skill is the same engage-meter-size-shortening thing as you get at max rank with Emblems is probably because it would be just about impossible to apply that to the Pepsiman Emblem, given it has no sync powers, only Engage powers, so they made it something that can be innate with him. Though that still means other Emblems activate even faster on him…

…I don’t know why they put you back on the class-changing screen with that unit when you’re finished reclassing. While after giving it some thought I have concluded the situations exist where you’d want to reclass immediately after reclassing (reclassing to another promoted class right after promoting, switching out of a class and back so you can reset your level without waiting to reach level 20), they’re so rare that it seems weird to keep you on that screen like it’s assuming you’d probably want to do it again.

…That is… hilarious.

I just tried to do some cooking to boost Hortensia and Veyle’s support rank… and it turns out there isn’t a single food on the entire menu that they both like.

Alright, Yunaka has Evasion +25, Hortensia has Staff Mastery 5, and Alcryst has Strength +2.

Speaking of Alcryst, one thing I find amusing about his crit quotes is that they feel like this conversation from Bravely Default where they’re all talking about special attack one-liners, and after someone points out how stupid you’d look if you talked some mad shit and the enemy was still standing, the one-liners get increasingly pathetic as they hedge their bets about what the attack will do. Alcryst, with his cripplingly low self-esteem, appears to have taken this to heart. Two of his quotes are “I hope this is enough!” (because it might not be) and “I won’t miss!” (entirely true, given it’s a crit quote).

Alright, time to get as much done as I can in the next hour, then finish up when I get back.

Time for Gradlon Temple.

Let’s check out Corrupted Lumera.

Gotta say, pretty badass establishing shot of the temple, this huge structure on a cliff. Funny though, it’s huge, huge enough that in other Fire Emblem games, storming it would be a multi-chapter event. Like in Fates, or Radiant Dawn. Kinda funny how variable that is, how sometimes storming a big location is a multi-map affair, and in other games it’s just a single battle.

…Veyle wants to go in alone, destroy the shard, and come out. I don’t know how she can possibly think she can manage that given how well-guarded the other shards have been, but it’s obvious she wants to spare Pepsiman the emotional pain of facing who’s in there. She apparently wants to spare everyone but her that trauma, given how highly regarded Lumera was by all of the main characters.

…Oh god I think I just saw Pepsiman’s eyes contract when Lumera’s voice came from offscreen. If so, and if I wasn’t just seeing things… brilliant touch.

…Oh god, they’re having her repeat some of her lines from the end of Chapter 1. It seems like fate that my maddening ironman fucked up when it did, so I had those lines fresh in my mind when I started a new file (didn’t work out, went back to the original so I could at least unlock fixed growths, as I said).

…Oh fuck, the tonal change when Veyle outs her as corrupted. I thiiiiiiiink somebody’s about to have some fun with this part.

…Not yet though. She leaves and goes inside after some sweet assurances that she just wants to have a nice chat.

…But I am looking forward to seeing how deranged she gets. Because Sombron clearly messed with her.

…And then Veyle apparently ran ahead and locked us out when nobody was looking, still determined to spare us the pain of this.

And we get a cutscene. Veyle talks about her own mother, and then Lumera… very melodramatically twists in the knife about how this would be the second time Veyle’s killed Lumera.

…Which probably goes some way to explaining Veyle’s confidence that she can do it on her own. But after something that I initially thought was just a threatening flourish but turned out to be a lethal dark magic attack… failed to do anything… she panics. Because it turned out Sombron made her even more powerful.

The lip synching here is pretty terrible, honestly. Though it’s more noticeable due to how exaggerated the lip movements are. Mommy is getting… deranged. But not as deranged as I was hoping, honestly. Bit of a letdown.

…But somehow, offscreen, we managed to get the door open. And now in a 2d backdrop scene Pepsiman is at her side again.

…Though I do like this monologue with Lumera explaining, seemingly genuinely, exactly why she fell in maternal love with Pepsiman upon first meeting him.

And yet again Pepsiman quotes stuff that happened in the earlygame that I only have fresh in my mind due to my short-lived attempt to redo my Maddening ironman from scratch. It’s kind of crazy how well-timed that was.

I have to say… I was going to say this was just a repeat of Mikoto in Revelation… but no, this is significantly better-done. Not saying it’s great or anything, but they clearly had way more ideas about what to do with the concept rather than having it be a throwaway endgame fight.

Ah-ha! So that’s why I don’t have to worry about Pepsiman’s limited 1-2 range options! There’s a legendary Divine-Dragon-only sword that Lumera’s going to drop when she dies that has 1-2 range! Okay, let’s see…

…Okay unfortunately it could have as much as 13 weight and there’s no way for me to tell right now, and it has 12 might, 70 hit, and 0 crit. Those aren’t… great.

Also… uh… did they uh…

…Did they really have to give the sword a name that looks like it could be pronounced as a homophone for “Willy Glans”?

Is that the timeline we live in right now? The ultimate weapon in the latest Fire Emblem game in the series, and one of my favorite Fire Emblem games of all time… is an unintentional fucking double dick joke?

…Alright, so, we’re split into two forces initially, then we’ll reunite in the center. On Pepsiman’s side I’ve got Clanne (obviously), and then Hortensia and Ivy for staff support, Alcryst to maximize the power of Astra Storm if necessary with these red staff users, Seadall to speed things up and make sure Pepsiman and Clanne can make it to the recharge squares on time, and Veyle in case things go horribly wrong and the team needs to do some heavy player-phasing. And also so Pepsiman and Veyle can get more support points.

Kagetsu and Yunaka are on the other side, supported by Framme and Lindon for healing, Rosado for Eirika’s corrupted-slaying on their side’s singular corrupted wyrm, and Goldmary and Mauvier for oddjob utility. We’ll reunite in the center pretty quickly at any rate. I’m not too worried.

I think this is a fairly solid plan.

Begin.

…And immediately we get a map theme so intense it feels like a boss theme. Either I just assumed it was when I skimmed through the soundtrack looking for certain songs, or I’ve actually heard it used as a boss theme previously. I can’t be 100% sure, but I think it’s the former.

…Yeah, I’ve definitely only heard the beginning before.

…This goes pretty damned hard.

…Shit, I forgot yet again to give the Pact Ring to Yunaka! Fuck, guess I’ll be doing that tomorrow.

…Entrap had a waaaaaaaaaaaaay lower accuracy rate than it should have. As in it didn’t have any at all on Kagetsu when it should have 45. Does it take Kagetsu’s fog-pillar terrain into account? I suppose that would be important against bosses, as is the case in previous games, but this game isn’t a fan of having bosses stick on their terrain, so it didn’t really occur to me that that would still be the case. Well at any rate I’m glad I don’t have to worry about the entrap guy. I kinda forgot he was there when I moved in and was worried things would go horribly wrong.

…It’s weird going from Maddening, where I’m completely out of my depth and even my toughest units need to be exceedingly cautious, back to this file where every last one of my best units is an unkillable dodgetank who mows through damned near everything.

…Back after doing my assorted daily professional obligations. Unfortunately it seems that staff users will prioritize using their staves over attacking in this game, even when you get right up in their face. The fact that the freeze staff user couldn’t do jack shit might have had something to do with it too, in fairness, but thankfully this still means I can take the bastard out next turn given that Clanne, the guy he froze, is literally in his face.

Complication: the map attack du jour. I’ll need to wait for enemy phase to be over to gather the full scope of how much danger I’m in, but it seems the attack is pretty damned wide-reaching.

…I am very curious what the animation for this attack is. It seems to be an aimed cone with some safe spots “behind the pillars”, but it’s hard to find consistent rules for what “the pillars” are judging by what I’m looking at. But I still can clearly see the threat zones, so I can work with this. I’ll need to restore Clanne though, or he’ll get hit. And I don’t want to have to find out how much he gets hit for.

…For the first time I’ve run into Corrupted Wyrms with multiple health bars. Damn, didn’t even notice. Okay, thankfully I didn’t count on that one being dead.

I’ve noticed an unnaturally long delay after using support actions on Kagetsu before the exp bar goes up. Does Wolf Knight just have an unnaturally long “rejoice” animation?

…The map attack was a single, oddly narrow laser. I don’t get what the other purple lines way to the sides of it were supposed to be, it doesn’t look like this attack would go anywhere near them.

…Reinforcements showed up just as Engage+ wore off and I put Seadall in a rather precarious position to facilitate recharging it immediately. Well, looks like we’re gonna have to break out the utility engages.

…Only Astra Storm was necessary, thankfully. Managed to get everyone into a good position.

…Oh dear. The reinforcements have Void Curse. Which means they’ll be endless. Noted.

…The laser targeted the east side this time, and there doesn’t appear to actually be any shelter on this side from the laser, leaving some of my units in a very compromising position. Thankfully, a combination of using physic for chip healing solely to activate Canter on Framme and Lindon, and then using Reposition on Rosado thanks to Kagetsu, I manage to get everyone in danger to safety. Goldmary and Yunaka meanwhile hide by the hallway the reinforcements came out of, and finish off the swordfighter reinforcement Yunaka couldn’t kill due to being hit by the fracture staff. Mauvier didn’t need any help at all getting free of the blast, so he just did so.

Meanwhile, Pepsiman and Clanne are poised to storm the central chamber with two full turns of Engage+ left.

Rosado’s Eirika engage lasted just long enough, and he unlocked Sieglinde just in time, to kill one of the thief reinforcements in a single hit. The remaining reinforcements are far away and will not make it in time.

Hopefully.

I position Clanne, Pepsiman, Seadall and Kagetsu in front of the main room (after using Seadall and Clanne’s head start to kill two enemies in advance while taking position) and Goddess Dance all four of them with Veyle.

Reinforcements from the rear appear to be… extremely rapid-fire. Thankfully I doubt I’ll be here more than three more turns.

And our first treasure is… a dracoshield! Always welcome!

Unfortunately, Goldmary couldn’t make it out of the laser’s range without risking getting cornered by the reinforcements. Yunaka’s hanging back to keep the reinforcements off of the main group to buy us some more time, but Goldmary’s gonna have to take a hit, however big that hit turns out to be. Thankfully it’s just the laser, and surely it can’t one-shot her from full health, right?

…The laser did 13 damage to Goldmary. That… wasn’t nearly as terrifying as I was expecting.

Clanne gets entrapped, but his evasion is so freakishly high that I’m not remotely scared.

…Oh nice! Clanne has dialogue with Queen Lumera!

…And she repeats to him the words she said to him during the mock battle. “Sharpen your focus, Clanne, lest you miss.” She says it genuinely, as if it’s a real part of her speaking through the Corruption, but then she laughs and says “let’s find out if [those words] save your life!”

She has a hit and crit rate on Clanne, which was terrifying to see, but thankfully both were small and nothing came of it. Once Pepsiman’s at his side I imagine he’ll be a lot safer.

…Yep, they’re both safe now, and positioned so that both can counter the stationary Lumera with ease.

Also, I love this boss music. It feels like an evolution of the map theme in a way.

…And it looks like we got a good legendary dagger! Awesome, let’s see how that looks on Yunaka next chance we get!

Pepsiman: Mother!

Lumera: Here we are at last, Pepsiman… How about we train here? You’ll be the one fighting. The Emblem -- Ugh…

Pepsiman: What? You said that back at…

Lumera: The Emblem lends you their… Ugh… No! These memories… I wanted to spend time with you. To chat for hours, take long walks together, share meals… And then… Then…

Pepsiman: Stop, please! It’s all right. There are lots of things I wish we’d done too. We weren’t able to. But that’s okay. It’s better than seeing you suffer like this. You can still surrender, Mother. Please. For me.

Lumera: No. Lord Sombron gave me more time with my child. I refuse to waste it. I won’t let anyone take that away. Not even you. I waited for so long! A thousand years of waiting!

…Like I’ve said before… a lot of times… it hurts when the writers demonstrate the ability to write a compelling story… given the context that they… y’know… didn’t.

At any rate, she’s down to two health bars. Which means it’s checkmate. A double-elfire from Lumera… and then a Bond Blast.

…

…

…

…

…

…

What the fuck, game.

Okay.

SO.

You know how my basis for assuming you’d fight her again was because of how comically unfitting her defeat line was? How “I’m… so sorry…” couldn’t possibly be the line they’d write to solely be used in that friendly little spar?

APPARENTLY IT WAS.

Because she has a completely different one here.

Lumera: What have I…?

So… I was right for entirely the wrong reasons. Begging the question… WHY DID THEY MAKE HER DEFEAT LINE SO MELODRAMATIC AND DEATH-LIKE!?

…I just got the Willy Glans, and it is statistically inferior to my +5 Liberation in every way (or maybe the Lyration, not sure what stats it’s showing me now), though in fairness I’m guessing that means this can be forged too. I hope so. At any rate, what’s important is the 1-2 range. That’ll allow Pepsiman to contribute to Engage+ just as well as Clanne.

I’ve been prompted with a save screen, and I’m sorry, but I’m taking that opportunity to end for the day. I’m starving, and I’ve got several pages of this to edit before I can eat (reading/writing on a full stomach tends to sap my mental energy like nothing else), so I’m gonna leave off here. I’m not sure how much time that will leave me to do an episode tomorrow, but thankfully it seems like I’ll have a bit of leeway for finishing this week, so we’ll see.

Anyway, this was a pretty fun map! I liked the pressure to move forward and how frantic the reinforcements got at the end, though I’m concerned that on Maddening all of these factors might turn it from fun and intense to absolutely frustrating. Well, hopefully I’ll be catching up soon.

Alastor, signing off!

[Acacia Sgt]

22 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Alfred: I feel bad for the you from a thousand years ago. I hope everything turns out okay.

You saw the future where it did, genius.

It's the thought that counts?

22 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…

HOW DID A CAT GET ONTO FUCKING GRANLON!?

…Oh, right, past. I was about to say, how the flaming fuck could a cat have made it across the sea and onto this freshly-emerged land of lava and death in the day or two at most that it’s been above the water?

If not for the fact Gradlon will sink beneath the waves, you'd think removing the animals from the past would cause some repercussion. But then again, if they were already going to die, then it's best this way.

22 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

The “Fire Emblem” used to already exist before?

The line got mistranslated. It's not that Sombron sensed familiarity, but rather, it's the fact he's not familiar with what he's sensing that brought him this way. At least, from what I recall how the Japanese line goes. I forgot where I looked it up. It was in a Reddit thread, I recall that at least.

22 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Anyway, yeah, I think having Pepsiman Wild Cherry be so brainwashed was a decision made to absolve Pepsiman of any past evil, which is bullshit, and also had the side-effect of making his past self much more difficult to take seriously, and also simultaneously more boring. But it would take a great many additional changes before I’d actually consider the story more enjoyable without this. Because as it stands, it gives us the delightful “No, that is stupid”.

Wouldn't say brainwashed, more like... jaded? Past Alear by that point is pretty much cowed, so resigned. It's interesting, at least.

22 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Yeah, that’s yet another thing a YouTube thumbnail spoiled me on: I was right. We do fight her again. As a Corrupted. And it sounds like Veyle’s scared to tell Pepsiman he’ll have to fight his own mother if he wants to destroy the last shard.

And the Mikoto-ness comes full circle.

22 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

I have to say… I was going to say this was just a repeat of Mikoto in Revelation… but no, this is significantly better-done. Not saying it’s great or anything, but they clearly had way more ideas about what to do with the concept rather than having it be a throwaway endgame fight.

I guess they already had the experience, heh.

22 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Did they really have to give the sword a name that looks like it could be pronounced as a homophone for “Willy Glans”?

Is that the timeline we live in right now? The ultimate weapon in the latest Fire Emblem game in the series, and one of my favorite Fire Emblem games of all time… is an unintentional fucking double dick joke?

I'll take your word for it.

But no, it's meant to be Shining Will in German, or so.

22 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…The map attack was a single, oddly narrow laser. I don’t get what the other purple lines way to the sides of it were supposed to be, it doesn’t look like this attack would go anywhere near them.

Those are still affected by the attack. I think the gaps represent the "pillars blocking the laser" effect.

22 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Like I’ve said before… a lot of times… it hurts when the writers demonstrate the ability to write a compelling story… given the context that they… y’know… didn’t.

Still think her death would've been good at Chapter 10...

---

Hmm, now that you're at this point, I wonder... well, maybe if I have the time for it.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Acacia Sgt

[Alastor15243]

22 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Wouldn't say brainwashed, more like... jaded? Past Alear by that point is pretty much cowed, so resigned. It's interesting, at least.

The monotone and robotic speech patterns, along with various things characters have said, heavily indicate literal brainwashing. And it's not like he'd be the first time... or, last time I guess.

[Acacia Sgt]

28 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

The monotone and robotic speech patterns, along with various things characters have said, heavily indicate literal brainwashing. And it's not like he'd be the first time... or, last time I guess.

It's more indicative of how Alear copes with their situation in life. Traumatized with the deaths of their siblings, how their father doesn't care or outright shows disdain towards them, feeling they have to please him lest they fall the same fate (the whole 'defect' mantra), all this from quite likely a very young point in life, it's deeply ingrained on them.

It's hence why Alear is quick to latch onto Lumera as a parent-figure. She's so unlike how Sombron, their actual blood parent, acts, and having gotten even a small glimpse of how things could be different and better, they don't want to let go.

[Jotari]

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that we haven’t found our dragonstone to give to her, I’d half-suspect a reveal that Veyle’s gonna show up now, and it’s gonna be our Pepsiman who’s kind to her and gives her the stone.

Wow, that's such an obvious idea, I'm surprised they didn't go with it.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Alfred: I feel bad for the you from a thousand years ago. I hope everything turns out okay.

 

You saw the future where it did, genius.

Well...we don't really know that. We don't know what principle of time travel is at work here. Though clearly it's not a fixed timeline where what ever happened happened, otherwise the shard would have already been broken in the present. So they did change the timeline. Which is a hell of a lot of narrative implications to throw at us in the last minute that the game has zero intention of examining.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Zephia just… outright propositions Sombron… right there… and he basically says “maybe after the war”.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Also, curiously, Sombron talking about his children is apparently the first time Zephia has ever thought about being a mother. Which, uh… kinda detracts from the scene, honestly.

Having a kid with him has been her motivation for the past 1,000 years when he hasn't been around. During the actual war for the majority of it her motivations were "Idk, he seems like a cool dude."

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Anyway, yeah, I think having Pepsiman Wild Cherry be so brainwashed was a decision made to absolve Pepsiman of any past evil, which is bullshit, and also had the side-effect of making his past self much more difficult to take seriously, and also simultaneously more boring. But it would take a great many additional changes before I’d actually consider the story more enjoyable without this. Because as it stands, it gives us the delightful “No, that is stupid”.

More boring would depend on what potential alternatives there are. Because if we had the psycho slasher Pepsiman from that dream sequence, that'd honestly be pretty boring too. At least Brain Dead Robot Pepsiman is a bit less expected, a bit more tragic and, yeah, actually kind of funny in a weird way. So I'd prefer that over most alteratives I could reasonably imagine them giving us. Not that this segment even needed to exist at all.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

…I don’t know why they put you back on the class-changing screen with that unit when you’re finished reclassing. While after giving it some thought I have concluded the situations exist where you’d want to reclass immediately after reclassing (reclassing to another promoted class right after promoting, switching out of a class and back so you can reset your level without waiting to reach level 20), they’re so rare that it seems weird to keep you on that screen like it’s assuming you’d probably want to do it again.

If you're reclassing multiple units it could help to stay there so you can cycle through them with L and R.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Did they really have to give the sword a name that looks like it could be pronounced as a homophone for “Willy Glans”?

 

Is that the timeline we live in right now? The ultimate weapon in the latest Fire Emblem game in the series, and one of my favorite Fire Emblem games of all time… is an unintentional fucking double dick joke?

It's German, so a phonetic spelling would probably be more something like Vill Glance

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Anyway, this was a pretty fun map! I liked the pressure to move forward and how frantic the reinforcements got at the end, though I’m concerned that on Maddening all of these factors might turn it from fun and intense to absolutely frustrating. Well, hopefully I’ll be catching up soon.

I sort of cheesed it in Maddening by having my Micaiah rewarp everyone from the right side to the left side, effectively ignoring a third of the map. It was still pretty intense though, as I had to rush to the centre to kill a thief using Astra Storm lest they open the door and unleash the side I'd cheesed. Funny to see the infinite reinforcements pile up in there though and just not even attempt to move away from their starting position.

 

[Alastor15243]

17 minutes ago, Jotari said:

I sort of cheesed it in Maddening by having my Micaiah rewarp everyone from the right side to the left side, effectively ignoring a third of the map. It was still pretty intense though, as I had to rush to the centre to kill a thief using Astra Storm lest they open the door and unleash the side I'd cheesed. Funny to see the infinite reinforcements pile up in there though and just not even attempt to move away from their starting position.

I considered that, actually! But I dismissed it as an unnecessary use of resources. As it almost assuredly was on Hard. On Maddening? I'm not nearly as confident.

 

18 minutes ago, Jotari said:

If you're reclassing multiple units it could help to stay there so you can cycle through them with L and R.

Ahhhh, yes, I suppose so.

[Sunwoo]

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

HOW DID A CAT GET ONTO FUCKING GRANLON!?

…Oh, right, past. I was about to say, how the flaming fuck could a cat have made it across the sea and onto this freshly-emerged land of lava and death in the day or two at most that it’s been above the water?

Because cat.

Never doubt cats.

Also, it's genuinely frustrating knowing that the writers are capable of writing a good story. They just ... didn't really follow through for a lot of it.

[Acacia Sgt]

Even with no time travel the cat could've simply snuck on board the ship the party uses.

Still, high atop a mountain still is a bit too remote for a housecat to be at.

[joeygreedy]

4 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

I’m not so sure how I feel about the late-game design of Maddening’s enemies. I still need to process it a bit more, but the game has extremely strict doubling thresholds, Alcryst continually struggles to contribute even chip damage, and great knights have defense high enough that the prospect of any physical attacker damaging them is pretty much laughable. All in all I’d definitely say that right now Conquest has the superior highest difficulty in terms of staying fun while still being challenging, but of course I still haven’t beaten it, so we’ll see.

I think some people did an endgame doubling analysis, and realized that it's basically impossible to double Swordmasters, Griffin Knights and Wolf Knights in the mid-late without copious amounts of speed stacking. That's why targeting weakness in lategame is so important. Because those guys are doubling you unless you immediately wipe them out. Hurricane axe also has some niche on a Great Knight/General since it can deal heavy damage to Griffin Knights and Wyverns on counter through it's base might alone ( 20 base, forged to 25, tripled by weakness to 60-75 mt ), even if it's really heavy and not very accurate, while Radiant Bow also has enough sheer base might and cheap forging costs to just help delete a particularly annoying enemy type.  

Also, Res targeting seems to be the way to go lategame, the low-def enemies also tend to have low health except for the aforementioned Wolf Knights and Griffin Knights, while high-def enemies are just tanky enough nothing short of a fireball or armorslayer ( Or Strength-stacked to oblivion Crit build ) will scratch them.

Also, Sieglinde, god that weapon is amazing. Corrupted effectiveness is most of chapter 21 onwards, minus paralogues.  

[Alastor15243]

3 minutes ago, joeygreedy said:

I think some people did an endgame doubling analysis, and realized that it's basically impossible to double Swordmasters, Griffin Knights and Wolf Knights in the mid-late without copious amounts of speed stacking. That's why targeting weakness in lategame is so important. Because those guys are doubling you unless you immediately wipe them out. Hurricane axe also has some niche on a Great Knight/General since it can deal heavy damage to Griffin Knights and Wyverns on counter through it's base might alone ( 20 base, forged to 25, tripled by weakness to 60-75 mt ), even if it's really heavy and not very accurate, while Radiant Bow also has enough sheer base might and cheap forging costs to just help delete a particularly annoying enemy type.  

Also, Res targeting seems to be the way to go lategame, the low-def enemies also tend to have low health except for the aforementioned Wolf Knights and Griffin Knights, while high-def enemies are just tanky enough nothing short of a fireball or armorslayer ( Or Strength-stacked to oblivion Crit build ) will scratch them.

Also, Sieglinde, god that weapon is amazing. Corrupted effectiveness is most of chapter 21 onwards, minus paralogues.  

This is sounding uncomfortably similar to Shadow Dragon's H5 meta.

[joeygreedy]

24 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

This is sounding uncomfortably similar to Shadow Dragon's H5 meta.

To defend Engage a bit, it does give you much more varied tools to bypass enemy stats, and the things I mentioned were moreso ways to ignore high speed and high attack enemies like those types and outright one-shot them instead before they can land the 2nd attack or even attack via PP weapons. But Res targeting does seem more effective, between 80% or so of the physical enemies having lower Res than Def and the innate 1-2 range of tomes.

From the emblems, with Corrin giving debuffs via Draconic Hex ( which puts aforementioned units into "Can be doubled" territory and freezing, Micaich giving AoE obstruct and freeze to delay, or a map-wide healing burst to negate damage is taken by your units during the last PP or EP combat, Ike to tank 3-4 enemies while still getting doubled depending on who you put him on, Eirika to just partially ignore enemy defense via true damage and Lunar Brance, Lyn to bait and chain attack. Hell, chain attacks in general for chipping in general, it helps a lot with lowering the OHRO thresholds against particularly high HP enemies like Generals or Great Knights.

This combined with some class abilities like Chaos style, or just Halberdier's pincer attack to force a double. And Speed stacking isn't as much of a hassle compared to other games, at least to let you hit thresholds, with Lyn giving spd+ access, a few emblems giving strong survival tools and enemy debuffing to let you survive EP with smart positioning.

There's also the break system, since it lets you take their weapons out of commission for a 2nd, slower unit to attack with smash weapon like a forged greataxe to deal massive damage, ideally with a Warrior for Merciless ( 150% damage attacking broken units ).

Granted, if you really want to ORKO or OHKO enemies using 1 unit, it's still very tough to hit those thresholds, but Engage doesn't do swarm tactics so much as encourage heavy PP moves to clear out areas where you can safely advance ( Unless you let reinforcements pile up, then it becomes chaos. 

From doing a few playthroughs, it was never really "Use this strategy or you won't win the game", since enemy and player tools are varied enough anyways, unless the strategy is a lot of emblem usage. Hell, from doing a thief-and wolf-knight only run ( Levin sword for magic ), a royal only run and then a regular run where I don't use the units I relied on in previous runs, it's really not that bad. Minus the pain of thief damage falling off a bit in the very-lategame. Of course, using the 'optimal' unit/emblem combinations makes things easier, but it never felt unfair or bullshit, thankfully. 

Edited March 14, 2023 by joeygreedy
Added paragraph

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Even with no time travel the cat could've simply snuck on board the ship the party uses.

Still, high atop a mountain still is a bit too remote for a housecat to be at.

Makes me wonder, if there's a cat there, then surely that suggests there's some kind of mountain village up there...Said mountain villages no doubt not appreciating Robot Alear spamming avalanches every ten minutes. Granted they say it happens all the time...which just makes a cat's presence even more inexplicable!

Can that map be played for Skirmishes? I don't think I've ever played it in a skirmish, which makes sense, can't go back to the past and all, but if so, that makes that cat something of a permanently missable item (though I'm sure it's identical to other cats elsewhere).

7 minutes ago, joeygreedy said:

To defend Engage a bit, it does give you much more varied tools to bypass enemy stats, and the things I mentioned were moreso ways to ignore high speed and high attack enemies like those types and outright one-shot them instead before they can land the 2nd attack or even attack via PP weapons. But Res targeting does seem more effective, between 80% or so of the physical enemies having lower Res than Def and the innate 1-2 range of tomes.

From the emblems, with Corrin giving debuffs via Draconic Hex ( which puts aforementioned units into "Can be doubled" territory and freezing, Micaich giving AoE obstruct and freeze to delay, or a map-wide healing burst to negate damage is taken by your units during the last PP or EP combat, Ike to tank 3-4 enemies while still getting doubled depending on who you put him on, Eirika to just partially ignore enemy defense via true damage and Lunar Brance, Lyn to bait and chain attack. Hell, chain attacks in general for chipping in general, it helps a lot with lowering the OHRO thresholds against particularly high HP enemies like Generals or Great Knights.

This combined with some class abilities like Chaos style, or just Halberdier's pincer attack to force a double. And Speed stacking isn't as much of a hassle compared to other games, at least to let you hit thresholds, with Lyn giving spd+ access, a few emblems giving strong survival tools and enemy debuffing to let you survive EP with smart positioning.

There's also the break system, since it lets you take their weapons out of commission for a 2nd, slower unit to attack with smash weapon like a forged greataxe to deal massive damage, ideally with a Warrior for Merciless ( 150% damage attacking broken units ).

Granted, if you really want to ORKO or OHKO enemies using 1 unit, it's still very tough to hit those thresholds, but Engage doesn't do swarm tactics so much as encourage heavy PP moves to clear out areas where you can safely advance ( Unless you let reinforcements pile up, then it becomes chaos. 

Combining the S Ranked Smash Weapons with some Engage Attacks is a pretty potent way to ensure a 1 hit kill. Specifically  Georgios Loedstar Rush will deal a tonne of damage to most enemy types.

[Acacia Sgt]

4 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Makes me wonder, if there's a cat there, then surely that suggests there's some kind of mountain village up there...Said mountain villages no doubt not appreciating Robot Alear spamming avalanches every ten minutes. Granted they say it happens all the time...which just makes a cat's presence even more inexplicable!

Can that map be played for Skirmishes? I don't think I've ever played it in a skirmish, which makes sense, can't go back to the past and all, but if so, that makes that cat something of a permanently missable item (though I'm sure it's identical to other cats elsewhere).

Considering Corrupted just happened to be nearby... I don't think the villages minded anymore...

I... don't remember seeing or not seeing a Skirmish spawn there, actually. Since it has a map node and everything. Unlike the maps we definitely can't revisit (Chapters 1-3 and 21, which is just a non-destroyed version of 22 anyway).

Edited March 14, 2023 by Acacia Sgt

[joeygreedy]

1 minute ago, Jotari said:

Combining the S Ranked Smash Weapons with some Engage Attacks is a pretty potent way to ensure a 1 hit kill. Specifically  Georgios Loedstar Rush will deal a tonne of damage to most enemy types.

Oh yeah, Smash weapons, their base might makes engage attacks do absurd amounts of damage lol. There's also Twin Strike on a Cav unit ( 50% bonus Ephraim damage is just death, he's already effective against Corrupted ), Override with a ridersbanes + Momentum for murdering Mage Knights and Wolf Knights, Astra Storm with Mulagir for sniping Griffins and Wyverns, Torrential Roar can debuff and entire swarm of enemies, Great Aether can bait in and cripple a full squad with a fully healed and tanky unit. It's just very varied with the tools it does give you. 

The things I mentioned like Hurricane Axe, Radiant Bow and Riderbanes are just counters for a few specific, particularly annoying enemy types that are especially hard to reach doubling thresholds for, since these few units types are just extra speedy dodge monsters that refuse to stand still and die, with high avoid and decent health.

[Jotari]

15 minutes ago, joeygreedy said:

Oh yeah, Smash weapons, their base might makes engage attacks do absurd amounts of damage lol. There's also Twin Strike on a Cav unit ( 50% bonus Ephraim damage is just death, he's already effective against Corrupted ), Override with a ridersbanes + Momentum for murdering Mage Knights and Wolf Knights, Astra Storm with Mulagir for sniping Griffins and Wyverns, Torrential Roar can debuff and entire swarm of enemies, Great Aether can bait in and cripple a full squad with a fully healed and tanky unit. It's just very varied with the tools it does give you. 

The things I mentioned like Hurricane Axe, Radiant Bow and Riderbanes are just counters for a few specific, particularly annoying enemy types that are especially hard to reach doubling thresholds for, since these few units types are just extra speedy dodge monsters that refuse to stand still and die, with high avoid and decent health.

By far I find Wolf Knights the most difficult enemies to deal with. As not only are they so fact that they dodge everything and double my units, but they come with 1-2 range as well and inflict poison which makes a unit more vulnerable for pretty much the rest of the battle, unless you can spare a turn to toss an antitoxin on them (which you commonly can't as you need every unit to be working at all times).

[joeygreedy]

2 minutes ago, Jotari said:

By far I find Wolf Knights the most difficult enemies to deal with. As not only are they so fact that they dodge everything and double my units, but they come with 1-2 range as well and inflict poison which makes a unit more vulnerable for pretty much the rest of the battle, unless you can spare a turn to toss an antitoxin on them (which you commonly can't as you need every unit to be working at all times).

IMO, it's Griffin knights, they usually sometimes come with both a physical and magic weapon so no unit can fully tank them, have high avoid, the most absurd speed in the game, decent Res so my usual strategy of 3 range magic attacks don't work as well, can fly and have 6 move so your ground units get attacked from impassable terrain. They aren't THAT tanky from HP and don't hit quite as hard as some other enemy types, but 3-4 of them coming at you is usually grounds for an Astra storm, with my usual playstyle. 

Wolf Knights are the 2nd one, for the same reasons as you stated, but their attack tends to be just low enough Armors can attack them without risk, plus, their weapons aren't as strong because enemies don't have forged daggers. Hobble is also annoying when it lands. 

Wyverns, compared to their bird cousins, don't have magic weapons, or as much Res/spd, so I can blast them with magic to kill them, while other cav aren't as annoyingly dodge.

Honorably mention to staff users, which just looooove to freeze you, or entrap you, or silence your mage, oh joy, my unit is useless for 1 turn. 

[Eltosian Kadath]

10 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

Zephia just… outright propositions Sombron… right there… and he basically says “maybe after the war”.

 

You know, maybe they should have kept this scene and dispensed with the one before. Used this to shine light on Zephia’s motivations, rather than have her explain them to Griss while she’s dying.

Knowing that Sombron has been dangling that lure over her for over 1000 years does add a little something to her contempt of the man as she is dying.

 

10 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

…Speaking of Veyle…

 

…I just noticed that Veyle’s still wearing a belt collar on her neck and chains on her ankles. Even in her Somniel attire.

 

Either nobody thought to get those off of her… or they were a deliberate fashion statement this whole time.

It is such a weird decision to have her wearing those chains to begin with. Was it some old design detail from when we would rescue a chained Veyle or something?

 

10 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

…Shit, I forgot yet again to give the Pact Ring to Yunaka! Fuck, guess I’ll be doing that tomorrow.

I am not that surprised by this choice, and fittingly is a solid choice for what it does mechanically as well.

 

10 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

…The laser did 13 damage to Goldmary. That… wasn’t nearly as terrifying as I was expecting.

Yeah, that map attack is really underwhelming. I am a bit curious if anyone knows how it actually calculates damage, as like you I avoided it up until near the end, and took the one hit I did from it on one of my more defensive units.

 

[Alastor15243]

Engage Day 47: Cleanup

Yeah, sorry for tempting fate yesterday, but today is waaaaaaay too busy for me to commit to a proper chapter. I’m just going to do the story for the end of this part, then devote this day to cleanup.

So, resuming where we left off…

…Looks like Lumera’s dying with a few moments of lucidity, just like Hyacinth and Morion did.

…It’s weirdly adorable that Pepsiman’s partially using this time to go “Look, Mom! I’m an Emblem now!” like he wants her to be proud of him, or he’s reassuring her he made something of himself in her absence.

…Seeing him show off the ring with a clenched fist, looking amusingly in a few moments like he’s about to punch her in the face… made me realize he’s in a class that can actually do that, if ineffectually. Which makes me wonder if the rings, or arts themselves, have some sort of shielding to them that keeps wearing a ring while doing fisticuffs from being super awkward.

PFFFFFFFFFFFFF

LUMERA’S ARM IS CLIPPING THROUGH HER HAIR AS SHE REACHES UP TO TOUCH PEPSIMAN!

Actually, come to think of it: at no point in that battle did Lumera enter her dragon form. It’s kind of comical how utterly pointless that form wound up being. It feels like it solely existed to justify the Divine Dragons being called dragons when the devs had no interest in that being a game mechanic.

…outside the DLC.

Honestly, this is making me wonder if somehow, for some reason, we won’t even fight Sombron in dragon form. Unlikely, I think, even with what we’ve seen so far… but it would be hilarious.

Again though, there’s only so much I can feel at this scene. Like I’ve said before, Lumera really should’ve died at Chapter 10. We needed more time with her for, like, any of Pepsiman’s emotional reactions here to not feel forced.

Oh, and they actually show the pinkie promise this time. How cute.

…Lumera’s saying the sky is beautiful above her, but given we’re indoors… I’m assuming she’s seeing some afterlife thing.

Okay, what next, after exploration?

Alright, so a shot of the portal sans barrier…

…Which begs the question of how we’ll get to it.

I hope it’s something ridiculous yet awesome, like flying the Somniel like a starship a la the end of Super Mario Galaxy.

OOOH! OR! Pepsiman turns into a dragon, literally just for the cutscene to fly everyone up there on his back! For some reason!

…And now all the heroes are talking about the idea of Pepsiman ruling everything, and I’m like can we not? Do we have to do this again? Are these people allergic to checks and balances or state rights or something? The next rulers of the nations are right fucking here! Please tell me the nations don’t dissolve and become some kind of creepy utopian one world government again!

But yes, it seems like this next battle is the last one, or at least the first part of the final two-parter.

…I wonder if they’ll let us save in the second half of the two-parter this time, since that’s how two-parters have worked elsewhere in the game. It would be weird, but maybe once you beat it you’re sent back to the world map prior to the first part so you’re not permanently locked out of the rest of the game.

Alfred seems to think that since the miracles have been used forever, nobody will try to steal the rings anymore.

Oh yes.

Sure.

I’m certain nobody would be tempted to steal the rings at the mere promise of teleportation, super speed, long-distance sniping and nigh-invulnerability.

Actually, come to think of it, something occurred to me…

…What’s the game’s explanation for what happens in Chapter 10/11 if you didn’t put one of your rings on someone? Are they implying that the ring wouldn’t stay at the Somniel, and that you’d bring it with you completely unused?

And actually, after that bullshit, why did it never occur to anyone to single out one Emblem Ring to leave at the Somniel just to make sure Sombron never gets his hands on all 12 in the worst case scenario?

Though in fairness had they been that smart, Pepsiman would still be dead because the miracle couldn’t have happened when it needed to and the last ring would have been locked forever inside the Somniel where nobody alive can access it.

Still, I do like this conversation, talking about all the things that the rings can do now that they don’t need to be completely locked away for fear of ending the world.

Ah yes, but of course, I sensed some hesitance in Marth talking about sticking around…

…Fuck, yes, Marth’s now talking to himself in terms that heavily imply they’re going to leave. Or die. Or something.

I hate this.

…“May soon have to part ways”?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, moving on…

Veyle got a C bond with Byleth, so let’s get that out of the way…

Whoop! Whole lot of supports! Alright, let’s get started!

Clanne and Hortensia’s A.

…Oh goodness this sounds like it’s going to be cringe. It sounds like it’s gonna turn out Clanne made a fan club in between the B and A.

Though I do like the line where Hortensia’s annoyed that everyone, when told she made up the fan club, was like “Yeah, I figured”.

…Yeah, I was right. This is really awkward that Clanne did this. It feels kind of out of character, and it seems like it was solely because Hortensia had the courage to own up to the embarrassment she brought upon herself.

Yeah, this is cringe. Pure unleaded cringe. I can barely watch this. Please make it stop, like, immediately.

…Well, while not immediately, it did, in fact, at least, stop.

Clanne and Veyle’s C.

Oh, woo! Hopefully this is good!

Please be nice to her, Clanne!

He’s nice to her, that’s a good start. He seems to be doing his little pickling hobby I’ve seen him talk about here and there.

Veyle has… apparently never heard of pickling. In more than a thousand years.

Then again, it’s more than a thousand years of being on the run and alone.

Hahaha, Veyle thinks the pickles are too basic for her tastes! Because she’s obsessed with spicy foods!

Clanne: You can’t make pickles with peppers.

No, but you can pickle peppers! Either that or I have been the victim of a conspiracy of insidious lies since preschool.

But anyway, Veyle’s telling Clanne that he needs to have a broader concept of what pickles could possibly be if he wants to make cool new recipes.

Honestly, I think this conversation is pretty cute. I’m glad they’re getting along. I was kinda scared Clanne would be uncomfortable with the whole “killing Lumera” thing and might have residual trauma towards her.

Alcryst and Ivy’s A.

Interestingly, Alcryst says “toward” as “towards” in the vocalized line.

Honestly, while this support chain is rooted in the awkwardness of empty and unsubstantiated claims of Elusia being a victim, I do think that Ivy and Alcryst are cute together, and I like their dynamic.

Seadall and Veyle’s C.

Honestly, I think it really speaks to casting and character design that while Veyle has some annoying elements regarding the construction of her backstory and character… the instant I see her face and hear her voice I am completely suffused with a desire to see her happy and safe. She is very precious, and I like reading her supports and seeing her being cute with people.

Anyway, this is about Seadall apparently being “in a rut” with his fortune-telling lately. Veyle asks him to tell her her fortune anyway and she’ll just assume it’s wrong, and he says in a comically “mystical” voice that she should go to the market and act like a cat.

I have a feeling the next support is going to reveal she did it, and that it did actually bring her good fortune. I mean, she’s cute enough that I could believe she could get away with acting like a cat in public without serious social consequences.

Framme and Goldmary’s C.

…Goldmary is apparently stripping in front of Framme in the middle of picking fruit in a remote field. …Apparently because a spring was nearby. Framme is understandably alarmed.

…Something tells me that “shy” is not the correct translation for whatever the hell Japanese word was originally in this script. I cannot fathom how Framme could ever get the impression that Goldmary is “shy”. “Prim” or “proper” maybe? I’m assuming it was some other word for “disinclined to get stark naked in the open”.

Mauvier and Lindon’s C.

Ooooh! I’ve heard about this one!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

So, Lindon has this thing with “experiments”… and also cooking with lightning magic. He wants Mauvier to throw up an ear of corn so that Lindon can fry it in midair and create a shower of elthunder popcorn.

When told the most likely complication would be that Mauvier’s head could possibly be hit by the blast and explode instead, Mauvier gives the soon-to-be immortal line:

“I will not risk my life for corn.”

…However, while this was a great support… thinking of the fact that Lindon and Mauvier are in my army reminds me of something unpleasant.

I have to say, I have a bit of a complaint about the game’s late-game recruits.

So, the last proper replacement unit you get is in Chapter 19, with Saphir.

I say that because Mauvier and Veyle aren’t “replacement” units. They join simultaneously with a commensurate increase in the size of your deployment slots. And if anyone dies after that, you’re shit outta luck, and gotta whip out someone you benched multiple chapters ago, if not longer. Like I had to do with Lindon here.

That and the occasional but present unpleasant “gotcha” moments combine to mean I think this game isn’t quite getting a perfect ironmannability rating.

Alright, last support.

Lindon and Saphir’s C.

…Oooh, old soldier from Elusia meets old soldier from Brodia! Let’s see how this goes!

…Okay, so Saphir’s talking about something that happened 30 years ago. Which, apparently somehow, would have been when she was 5.

…Yeah, she suspects Lindon might have been among the soldiers who attacked her village by the looks of it.

But she doesn’t complete the question.

…I’m interested in seeing more of this.

But that’s enough with supports, so time to do some game maintenance.

The Cinquedea is worse than Yunaka’s Steel Dagger +4 in every way, but then the latter has the Pepsiman engraving on it. Let’s see how it looks with a little tweaking…

…Yep, it’s stronger after just three forges. Alright, time to make that her new weapon then, and put the Pepsiman engraving on that.

Apparently when it comes to engraving, Pepsiman’s engage is called the “Emblem of Fire”, and not the “Fire Emblem”.

Thankfully Pepsiman has enough bulk that he can wield the Wille Glanz without any speed penalty. In fact, he could afford to let it get one heavier. So with that in mind, what should we engrave his weapon with…

Yeah, Leif makes sense. It was already on his Liberation+5, so no reason not to put it on his new weapon of choice.

Now then! I’ll do some assorted Somniel stuff, head out to do my job, then get back…

…and finally give that ring to Yunaka.

…Okay no, first, one thing before I go: I just did the arena to level up Hortensia, and my god, some of the mini stories these arena bouts tell are priceless.

Hortensia introduces herself.

Saphir reciprocates and hopes for a fair fight.

She immediately whips out a bow on a flier.

Too bad for her, it’s the radiant bow.

Hortensia wipes the floor with her.

Saphir: You got me good.

Hortensia: Obviously!

Okay, now to head out and then give that ring to Yunaka when I get back!

…Back.

Okay, let’s do this. Where is she…?

…Nowhere. Gotta sleep and reshuffle then.

Just as well, given I totally forgot I have to take it out of the bedroom drawer first, and going there was a good reminder.

Kagetsu trolls me by making me think I overslept, and implies I’m just as annoyed as Ivy usually is by his antics.

Alright, she’s in the plaza. Let’s go.

I give it to her, and immediately we’re somewhere else, and she’s apparently the one starting this conversation, saying she wants to “come clean”. I take it this is where she tells me the truth about her?

…The concept of the S-rank ring-giving just felt so Three Houses to me that I temporarily forgot we’re in a game with a protagonist with an actual personality who can talk. I was kind of disarmed for a moment when Pepsiman reminded me.

…It’s been a long day, okay?

So, Yunaka’s real name is Larimar. And yes, she used to be an assassin, as was fairly obvious.

…Yeah, this… I distinctly notice they avoid using the word “love” anywhere in this conversation, which is…  so profoundly awkward as to beggar belief. They seem to have decided that since you don’t have an entire cast of characters Pepsiman can marry without it being awkward, he can’t marry any of them. This feels like they’re watering down the whole story appeal of S-ranking in order to maximize the gameplay utility of it, similar to what Radiant Dawn did with supports.

And you know me. Gameplay over story, big time. I’ve got “writing” as just this single category in my rankings, and it doesn’t even give all that many points. I hear people say “the only good part about Conquest is the gameplay” and it literally does not compute to me, I go “how the fuck can that be an ‘only’ to you!?”. I can count the number of games in this series with stories worth shit on a single hand, and I still love this series enough to devote years worth of days of my free time to cataloguing my journey through it.

The point is, I feel like I’m in a better position than most of the fandom to tell people who don’t like S-supports being watered down: “calm down guys, this isn’t a big deal”…

…And in spite of that, that’s not my answer. I agree with them. This sucks. This is boring. Bring back S-supports and romance properly, or don’t bring them back at all. Don’t make a mockery of them like this just because you don’t want to worry about leaving any characters out.

You’ll notice I didn’t give the pact ring to Clanne, the character I actually use Engage+ with. I gave it to Yunaka. The character I most wanted to see more of. Well, among the living, that is. I’m not a cold-blooded machine. I still get attached to, or pissed off at, these characters. Sometimes I insist on using some of them over objectively superior options because I like them, or I refuse to use them on principle of finding them ungodly insufferable to be around. And sometimes, crazy enough, I even like seeing characters fall in love!

…Actually, I’m curious if anyone else has paired endings, and if they’re going the Three Houses route of having it be almost entirely out of my hands.

Christ on a silver platter I hope not.

But hey! Look! It’s the first time we’ve ever seen 2D artwork of Yunaka in the entire game! Because the game doesn’t use portraits for mugshots, it just uses the 3D models! That, personally, I don’t really mind. I think it probably pressured them to make the 3D models more expressive, and if so, it was worth it.

…They don’t even call it an S rank.

It’s just a fucking ring icon for the rank.

It’s a pretty mediocre bond rank 21 bonus (a player-phase crit and dodge boost), but again, at least that minimizes the pressure to actually Engage+ with your… ugh… ring-rank partner if you’re too attached to the build you’ve already set up for them.

Aaaaaaand I apparently got 1000 bond shards for using the pact ring and getting that achievement! Okay, that’s nice.

But yeah, I’m gonna have to call it here. I’m tired, I’m hungry, and I’m honestly a little disappointed at the game, and I’d like to take some time to address all three of these things.

Tomorrow we get cracking on the beginning of the end.

Alastor, signing off.

[Ether]

Apparently the wakeup scenes with your s rank are more explicitly romantic in some cases, but I've rarely if ever slept in the Somniel to see them so I can't say for certain. As someone who can't read Japanese I can only echo what I've heard, but it really seems like the localization butchered S rank supports in general. It seems like the only thing they did right is make folk like Jean and Anna platonic at the expense of... pretty much everything else.

[Acacia Sgt]

33 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

I hope it’s something ridiculous yet awesome, like flying the Somniel like a starship a la the end of Super Mario Galaxy.

Nah, now you're talking crazy there.

33 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…And now all the heroes are talking about the idea of Pepsiman ruling everything, and I’m like can we not? Do we have to do this again? Are these people allergic to checks and balances or state rights or something? The next rulers of the nations are right fucking here! Please tell me the nations don’t dissolve and become some kind of creepy utopian one world government again!

For your ease of mind... no, that doesn't happen.

33 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Alfred seems to think that since the miracles have been used forever, nobody will try to steal the rings anymore.

Oh yes.

Sure.

I’m certain nobody would be tempted to steal the rings at the mere promise of teleportation, super speed, long-distance sniping and nigh-invulnerability.

Let's just say they're on borrowed time...

33 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…What’s the game’s explanation for what happens in Chapter 10/11 if you didn’t put one of your rings on someone? Are they implying that the ring wouldn’t stay at the Somniel, and that you’d bring it with you completely unused?

Canonically, the Rings get used, no matter what you do in the gameplay. Heck, the cutscene doesn't even change, so even Vander is using a Ring even if you didn't even field him.

33 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

And actually, after that bullshit, why did it never occur to anyone to single out one Emblem Ring to leave at the Somniel just to make sure Sombron never gets his hands on all 12 in the worst case scenario?

Since Veyle admitted she needed the Time Crystal to do it, they figured so long they kept that safe, then she couldn't steal them again... somehow. Apparently what she did in Chapter 11 only works if the Ring isn't being worn.

33 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Though in fairness had they been that smart, Pepsiman would still be dead because the miracle couldn’t have happened when it needed to and the last ring would have been locked forever inside the Somniel where nobody alive can access it.

Or the fact that Sombron wouldn't have left. Could he have pierced whatever protections the Somniel has? Does the Somniel even has? Divine Dragons can open a portal... but like, can you also just fly up there or not?

The manga has Alear just... accidentally fall off onto Lythos below, for its worth.

33 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

I hate this.

It does suck, isn't it.

33 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Honestly, while this support chain is rooted in the awkwardness of empty and unsubstantiated claims of Elusia being a victim, I do think that Ivy and Alcryst are cute together, and I like their dynamic.

You know, I do wonder. If Morion wasn't attacking as an act of retaliation for whatever Elusia did before that... or was he? Hmm...

33 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…And in spite of that, that’s not my answer. I agree with them. This sucks. This is boring. Bring back S-supports and romance properly, or don’t bring them back at all. Don’t make a mockery of them like this just because you don’t want to worry about leaving any characters out.

Well, blame localization for that. They watered it down, for better or worse.

33 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Actually, I’m curious if anyone else has paired endings, and if they’re going the Three Houses route of having it be almost entirely out of my hands.

Christ on a silver platter I hope not.

Nope. Didn't I mentioned this before? Alear is the only one allowed to have paired endings here.

33 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

But hey! Look! It’s the first time we’ve ever seen 2D artwork of Yunaka in the entire game! Because the game doesn’t use portraits for mugshots, it just uses the 3D models! That, personally, I don’t really mind. I think it probably pressured them to make the 3D models more expressive, and if so, it was worth it.

By the way, fun fact regarding the artworks.

Not everyone holds the ring the same way.

Some carry it on their hands. Others wear it on their middle finger.

And some wear it on their ring finger.

It's not a perfect solution, but you can use the artwork to tell who are actually meant to be romantic partners for Alear.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Acacia Sgt

[Sunwoo]

Man, even as someone who's not super invested in pairings and stuff, Engage letting only Alear have paired endings is lame as fuck. I also miss non-romantic pairings that some of the previous games had at times.

Really, I don't think the writing staff at IS understands that the major problem with their avatars is the whole they're being treated as special thing, whether it's in game mechanics or story elements.

I don't think putting avatars that are supposed to be "you" into a game like FE was a good move. I don't think appealing to the players who want to insert themselves into the story and can't get invested unless they can project themselves onto a character and only care about getting pandered to works with FE's basic setting of taking place in wartime. Sure, it's "just" a fictional story but I've seen some fans support ... very problematic real world ideals just to argue that their side or stance in FE is correct. I can't tell whether they can't make the connection to real life, or if they're able to and just don't care/have shitty IRL beliefs, but it's really not great!

[joeygreedy]

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

You’ll notice I didn’t give the pact ring to Clanne, the character I actually use Engage+ with. I gave it to Yunaka. The character I most wanted to see more of. Well, among the living, that is. I’m not a cold-blooded machine. I still get attached to, or pissed off at, these characters. Sometimes I insist on using some of them over objectively superior options because I like them, or I refuse to use them on principle of finding them ungodly insufferable to be around. And sometimes, crazy enough, I even like seeing characters fall in love!

I'm not gonna lie, there are so many characters I want to see have a paired ending, it's painful. I like this cast of weirdos, and seeing most of them just have endings unrelated to their supports or bonds they forged, for how much this game talks about Bonds and literally The Power of Friendship makes the way nobody really gets paired up to adventure, work, study or become roommates together is a little saddening. It doesn't even have to be romantic, just let people who become close friends have some influence on each other's lives, that aren't just Royal-Retainer. There are only 1-2 other "unique" support specific ending artworks, but I'll leave my opinion on those until after you complete the game.

 

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Yeah, this… I distinctly notice they avoid using the word “love” anywhere in this conversation, which is…  so profoundly awkward as to beggar belief. They seem to have decided that since you don’t have an entire cast of characters Pepsiman can marry without it being awkward, he can’t marry any of them. This feels like they’re watering down the whole story appeal of S-ranking in order to maximize the gameplay utility of it, similar to what Radiant Dawn did with supports.

Ok, so, here's the weird part, it's not fully consistent about the romantic-platonic scale of so many of these pact ring supports. Hence, the infamous "Ally-zoning" of you, where some support somehow feels romantic, but every word is "Partner" ( Ambiguously romantic ), "Ally" ( Ambiguously romantic or platonic ), but I'll admit the ones that go "Spending our lives together" are pretty romantic, NGL. Its just not really consistent, and the phrasing is kinda awkward at times.

Some are really explicitly romantic, some aren't, some are definitely platonic, but the phrasing awkwardness remains. 

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Well, among the living, that is.

Oh, well, that's just... oof.

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

That and the occasional but present unpleasant “gotcha” moments combine to mean I think this game isn’t quite getting a perfect ironmannability rating.

Honestly, the enemy emblems alone might have been enough to partially drop it to +6 instead of Conquest's +9. Not because they blindside you with them, but because their abilities occasionally can come across as a bit unpredictable on certain maps when you don't realize what they do or the new skills/weapons they get after you break their first stone, like Marni unlocking the Binding Blade, Mauvier unlocking Thani, or Griss's unlocking Unholy Stance ( I nearly suicided someone into Counter 1/2 ). It's not particularly bad like ambush spawns, or god forbid "Timewheel fodder", but it's still a minor blemish. 

Tripwire reinforcements of chapter 14 specifically were also a bit annoying, why trigger on Hortensia health bar. 

Oh, Pact Ring Paralogue and Chapter 22 too, nuff said. 

Thank fuck it's not ambush spawns, I would have been malding if reinforcements in chapter 4 spawned under my feet and immediately wiped half my team sitting near the forts. 

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Actually, come to think of it, something occurred to me…

 

…What’s the game’s explanation for what happens in Chapter 10/11 if you didn’t put one of your rings on someone? Are they implying that the ring wouldn’t stay at the Somniel, and that you’d bring it with you completely unused?

 

And actually, after that bullshit, why did it never occur to anyone to single out one Emblem Ring to leave at the Somniel just to make sure Sombron never gets his hands on all 12 in the worst case scenario?

I meeeaaaan, leaving the superweapon at home so nobody else can use it is both smart, but also not that interesting from a gameplay or story standpoint. You know your enemies sure have them, and you need every tool in your hands to win, Elusia was confirmed to have Byleth, Lyn, Eirika and Lucina at that point, with only Ike and Corrin being unaccounted for.

See also, Morion going up against Lyn + Lyacinthea and getting deleted with a Mulagir crit. His actual cutscene death was dumb before that, for standing there while Hyacinth monologued and put on the Ring ( Why didn't he put it on beforehand and just Astra Storm the dude to break him so the Corrupted could swarm ), but Hold Out sure would sure have saved you from that crit. No way a Qi Adept was decreasing your HP to below 30% on 1 hit and a miss. /s