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


Alastor15243
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5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

God, I forgot how annoying this level is. I hate inescapable damage effects like this in games like Advance Wars. When I play this, I usually low-man it with my best units and have the rest of my army stick in the first area, keeping my proper fighters healthy to fight reinforcements while everyone just eats up fireballs to keep my enemy-phase juggernauts safe to tackle the rest of the map.

Huh, I always remember this map as one where my army is squeezing into those pathways between the fire paths, trying to find ways of safely dealing with enemies in the blast zone, but I guess baiting the explosion away from a smaller elite force that with a bunch of mooks makes a bit of cruel sense.

 

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

But god damn are there a shitton of reinforcements. Come on, this is just needlessly prolonging the map!

That is the kinda thing I remember most about Birthright...it just feels like that happens a lot in this route.

 

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

Did I forget to save the file after beating the game or something? Oh right. Yeah, I totally did, at least with the Revelation one. I remember it's supposed to ask you if you want to turn certain of your units into einherjar and I totally didn't get that. I think I was supposed to press A or something at the ending screen and I didn't.

That is kinda silly. Are you going to replay the ending of Revelations for the little mark on your card?

 

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6 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

God, I forgot how annoying this level is. I hate inescapable damage effects like this in games like Advance Wars. When I play this, I usually low-man it with my best units and have the rest of my army stick in the first area, keeping my proper fighters healthy to fight reinforcements while everyone just eats up fireballs to keep my enemy-phase juggernauts safe to tackle the rest of the map.

This chapter made me stop worrying and learn to love Renewal. ...Okay, "stop worrying" is probably an exaggeration, but still, I don't have to worry as much if the damage incurred is automatically healed off on my next turn.

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7 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Weird minor nitpick, but I hate the whole "you can't save after beating the Endgame" thing that Awakening and Fates do. Or games in general, that don't let you have a "final boss defeated" save file. It's like I have no record of actually winning the game. I mean, I usually delete it shortly thereafter, but it'd still be nice to have the option.

In Awakening you receive renown after beating it. In Fates your badge changes. I understand your frustration, but it could be worse. At the very least you can still keep playing your savefile, while there are other games in the series where you can't.

7 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

They could've explained this in one of a couple ways. Either A) Nohr has serious wealth inequality, where a few rich people (including the royal family) hoard food and resources, leaving the masses destitute; or B) Nohr actually has very poor and inefficient practices, say in terms of mining and farming, that nets them less resources than they could be obtaining. Maybe a mix of the two. Of course, the game never bothers to go into specifics.

Fates worldbuilding in a nutshell.

8 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Admittedly, my first attempt at Conquest Lunatic went rather sour, and that was at the tail end of the time I spent playing Fates for a while, so no, I haven't beaten Conquest Lunatic yet, but still...

The plot thickens...

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24 minutes ago, Maof06 said:

The plot thickens...

Indeed. I'm actually pretty excited to finally beat it on Lunatic. Gameplaywise we're reaching the "final boss" of the marathon, while critiquewise, well... hahaha... I think I've made it clear what the final boss in that respect is...

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9 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Weird minor nitpick, but I hate the whole "you can't save after beating the Endgame" thing that Awakening and Fates do. Or games in general, that don't let you have a "final boss defeated" save file. It's like I have no record of actually winning the game. I mean, I usually delete it shortly thereafter, but it'd still be nice to have the option.

Gen 2 Lewyn moment

See also - Zola in Birthright. Would've been cool to get a Dark Mage, even temporarily. Give him a personal skill that's like Xane's ability, now we're talking.

Not necessarily - if you don't visit other castles, or do the Paralogues, you probably won't have enough Dragon Vein points to fully update those features. And why would you? The Hot Springs are fluff, and the Fire Orb and Puppets are only useful in rare castle defense challenges. I'd certainly prioritize maxing out the shops, forge, lottery, and Arena, at least, before those.

They could've explained this in one of a couple ways. Either A) Nohr has serious wealth inequality, where a few rich people (including the royal family) hoard food and resources, leaving the masses destitute; or B) Nohr actually has very poor and inefficient practices, say in terms of mining and farming, that nets them less resources than they could be obtaining. Maybe a mix of the two. Of course, the game never bothers to go into specifics.

Yeah, Zola I would have liked to have seen too for the same reasons. Though as I recall Zola hangs around for a longer proportion of the plot than Elise, and unlike her who would be a tire 1 healer that you'd have little reason to actually use, would be a somewhat viable offensive candidate in a niche class, so it might seem a bit scummier to give him to the player and then take him away. I'd personally have not minded, but I could imagine a lot of other people complaining.

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

I mean it wasn't very hard, so maybe. Nooooot a high priority though.

Just make sure you don't make the same mistake when you finish Birthright.

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8 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Yeah, Zola I would have liked to have seen too for the same reasons. Though as I recall Zola hangs around for a longer proportion of the plot than Elise

Zola joins in 10 and 11 and dies in 12. Elise joins in 23 and 24 and 25 and dies in 26.

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1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

while critiquewise, well... hahaha... I think I've made it clear what the final boss in that respect is...

my first in-depth exposure to anything three houses (i only know broad strokes of the storyline, and a bit more of how the gameplay works) will be your evisceration of it. i have high expectations and i don't even care about being spoiled. i am so excited.

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3 minutes ago, Axie said:

my first in-depth exposure to anything three houses (i only know broad strokes of the storyline, and a bit more of how the gameplay works) will be your evisceration of it. i have high expectations and i don't even care about being spoiled. i am so excited.

I sincerely hope I don't disappoint.

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52 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

I sincerely hope I don't disappoint.

I chanced upon a ~400 page history of universities at my local library. The first of the seven sections looks to be on the founding of European universities, which go back at least to the early 1200s judging from when the pope quoted in the book's summary lived. I'll borrow the tome and tell you exactly how accurate Garreg Mach is to the real Medieval European higher education experience.😛

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14 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I chanced upon a ~400 page history of universities at my local library. The first of the seven sections looks to be on the founding of European universities, which go back at least to the early 1200s judging from when the pope quoted in the book's summary lived. I'll borrow the tome and tell you exactly how accurate Garreg Mach is to the real Medieval European higher education experience.😛

That'll be fascinating trivia, though obviously I'm not in the habit of giving or taking away points for historical accuracy or realism. That would hardly be fair. Looking forward to it though!

Edited by Alastor15243
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7 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Zola joins in 10 and 11 and dies in 12. Elise joins in 23 and 24 and 25 and dies in 26.

Ah, so he's actually around shorter. Huh, I remember a more lengthy redemption arc on his part. Still though my points would stand about how I'd like it, but most others wouldn't as he'd be seen as a more viable unit, especially since he'd be gained much earlier in the game than Elise and thus more on par with other unit's stats, where's Elise, unique class aside, wouldn't be able to provide anything your other healers don't already provide and would be an outright hazard to be using so late in the game. So the number of people who would actually feel screwed over by having her playable and then die would be relatively minor in comparison.

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25 minutes ago, Jotari said:

, where's Elise, unique class aside, wouldn't be able to provide anything your other healers don't already provide and would be an outright hazard to be using so late in the game. So the number of people who would actually feel screwed over by having her playable and then die would be relatively minor in comparison.

I have to hard disagree here, its her personal skill that would make her shine, especially in Birthright where finding ways to tank are difficult to begin with. If I were given access to Lily's poise, and then had it taken away, I would not be happy...

Edited by Eltosian Kadath
fixing minor typo
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1 minute ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

I have to hard disagree here, its her personal skill that would make her shine, especially in Birthright where finding was to tank are difficult to begin with. If I were given access to Lily's poise, and then had it taken away, I would not be happy...

Fair point, though you don't need to actually do much with her to make use of it, hence all you'd really be losing is Lilly's Poise. So it would be a net gain to have her for those chapters compared to not having her for those chapters as we do now.

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11 hours ago, Jotari said:

Yeah, Zola I would have liked to have seen too for the same reasons. Though as I recall Zola hangs around for a longer proportion of the plot than Elise, and unlike her who would be a tire 1 healer that you'd have little reason to actually use, would be a somewhat viable offensive candidate in a niche class, so it might seem a bit scummier to give him to the player and then take him away. I'd personally have not minded, but I could imagine a lot of other people complaining.

Just make sure you don't make the same mistake when you finish Birthright.

Y'know, I should give Fates more credit. It's hardly the type of game to give a unit to the player, let them be used for a couple chapters, then take them away with arbitrary caprice. I checked with Kaze and Scarlet, and they reassured me that doesn't happen.

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Just now, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Y'know, I should give Fates more credit. It's hardly the type of game to give a unit to the player, let them be used for a couple chapters, then take them away with arbitrary caprice. I checked with Kaze and Scarlet, and they reassured me that doesn't happen.

Haha. They did jump to my mind when talking about this. But I think that's a good example of why I think Elise would be more appropriate than Zola. Lot's of people pretty justifably complain about losing Kaze in Birthright, but no one complains about losing Scarlet in Revalation. Becuase she's around for, well zero chapters. You get her at the end of Chapter 17 and lose her at the start of chapter 18, but between that she is palyable for any number of paralogues or DLC missions you might be on. And unlike Gunther (who you lose for one chapter, I think he's playable after you beat him), you can even support and romance her. And maybe someone did do a bunch of paralogues and S supported her at this time (it is when paralogues really start showing up) and then got burned by her dying, but not nearly enough people are going to have significantly invested in her for her to up and die for there to be general complaint, unlike Kaze whom you absolutely can have invested a lot into and then die on you. Elise likewise probably wouldn't see a significant exp investment if she were playable for three chapters near the end game, though as pointed out, she would still be useful for her personal skill, and D rank staves is never terrible.

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Birthright Day 16: Paralogue 3

Everyone gets a pink beret today! Hope you enjoy! Except Zayne. Since he's clearly starting out, I decided to give him a chef's hat in case he doesn't already have one on this file. Lemme know if anyone else doesn't have one yet on their current file!

Alright, my player-phase units have some serious catching up to do, so I'm gonna take this opportunity to do one of my favorite training levels, Shigure's paralogue. I'm gonna have to do that, because the enemy levels have started jumping up ahead of my units all of a sudden, and they're gonna need more firepower to take out the enemies on the first turn of the next map. Enemy levels have stayed pretty consistently low compared to what I've seen of Conquest at this point in the game. For context, by Chapter 23 in Conquest, you can have basically your whole army learning promoted level 15 skills. Meanwhile on this file, Ryoma, who practically solo'd last map, mind, is still only level 13. I've noticed enemies being several levels higher in Conquest 23 compared to Birthright 23. We've only got a handful of chapters left before the end of the game, and my army is still really far away from getting those nice level 15 skills. I'm gonna see what I can do to get my army closer to them.

Yeah, I kinda like this map, weird as it is. You have enemies aggressively rushing you from both ships, which each alternate between going to sea and docking every turn. It doesn't make much sense, but it makes for simultaneously interesting strategy and very good training opportunities for player-phase attackers and enemy-phase units alike. Some of the enemies are actually pretty intimidating. Enemy magic users' attack power is starting to get patently absurd. It's getting to the point where few of my player-phase attackers can even survive if two mages dual strike.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Okay, so for anyone who's played Melee, when Asugi used his critical hit as a master ninja, a combination of a whooshing sound and one of his battle cries was a fucking dead ringer for that “TWAH!” thing Marth always does when using his up B.

Sweet! I got Saizo to 99 exp. If I wait until the end of this map before giving him even a single point more, and if I've given him enough support points with Subaki already, then the second he gets into a fight next map, he'll get darting blow. Nice. Alright, time to focus on training Mozu and Takumi then.

Just finished up. The really high level enemies interspersed through the map were kinda nice, but I appreciate them more when I'm trying to dump all of the exp of the map into one unit rather than several.

I've got very little to say about the story, by the way. It's nearly impossible to take the alleged drama of this scene seriously given how utterly fucking terrible the entire Deeprealm system is.

Moment of truth. Did Saizo and Subaki A rank, or didn't they...?

YES! THANK YOU! THEY DID!

Alright, let's check this out.

...This was a rather generic conclusion, apart from the bullshit claim that Dakota of all people was observant enough to notice they were using real weapons and as a result broke up the fight. I'm annoyed they didn't go back to Saizo's concerns about Subaki's character. He seems to have gotten over them, but... it's kind of unspoken, and that's a bit of a shame, because it wasn't quite clear what he truly thought was going on.

But yeah, now Saizo will get darting blow next level.

We got some more, too, so let's check them out!

Ooh, we got Mozu and Subaki too! I'm not sure how likely it is that Subaki will be staying in the army much longer, but sure, let's check this out.

That was kind of okay. Mozu basically wound up improving on Subaki's advice for dealing with a cold. Subaki's would have worked, but Mozu knew how to do it with ingredients that would be more available in war time.

Now for the parent-child supports.

Azura and Shigure's support is... cute, but also complete garbage. First off, they have Azura and Shigure sing a song together, but Shigure finds he can't sing the high notes anymore because his voice has changed since when they sang it when he was a child.

Cute idea.

Problem:

The song they are singing is, yep, you fucking guessed it, “Lost in Thoughts All Alone”.

Reason 1 why this makes the entire support stupid: Shigure already sang the damned song at the end of his paralogue. He should already know he can't sing it the same way anymore.

Reason 2 why this makes the entire support stupid: “Lost in Thoughts All Alone” Doesn't have any fucking high notes. In fact the part of the song he's singing when this happens is the “destined to seek life beyond the shore” part, which is moving down in tone, not up!

Reason 3 why this makes the entire support stupid: Does this woman know a single other fucking song besides “Lost in Thoughts All Alone”!? She sings it for everything! Fucking everything! Can you create a single other song she knows!? You don't even have to write notes! This is a non-voice-acted support conversation! Just write lyrics! Have her sing “Shanty Pete Danced on a Barrel of Rum” for all I care, just don't make it seem like this is literally the only fucking song this woman taught to her son!

But yeah, with his dad Takumi, it's a talk about an art exhibition (part of what made me ask if Unassuming Venusaur did a parent-child support between Shigure and Kagero). He's really shy about it, but Takumi thinks it's important to show everyone Shigure's awesome artwork to help distract people from the war going on.

And finally for today... Shigure's promotion. Obviously he's going kinshi knight, because I need him to get quick draw and only need two levels in sniper to get certain blow and bowfaire when he reclasses right after hitting level 13.

Which is one level away.

Yeah, so that's the thing. Mozu, Saizo and Shigure will all be reclassing to sniper temporarily in order to get certain blow and bowfaire, two crucial skills for their line of work. Then they'll be reclassing back. I don't think it's realistic to get everyone to level 15 before the next map. Tomorrow I'll weigh my options for how realistic taking on the next map is with my newly-upgraded army, or if it would be wise to upgrade them a bit more.

Sorry for the really short episode, but it's kinda badly timed. I didn't have much to say, but it took juuuuust enough of my time that doing another one wouldn't be wise.

Stay safe, everyone!

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27 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Reason 3 why this makes the entire support stupid: Does this woman know a single other fucking song besides “Lost in Thoughts All Alone”!? She sings it for everything! Fucking everything! Can you create a single other song she knows!? You don't even have to write notes! This is a non-voice-acted support conversation! Just write lyrics! Have her sing “Shanty Pete Danced on a Barrel of Rum” for all I care, just don't make it seem like this is literally the only fucking song this woman taught to her son!

For starters, let me just say, that ballad is a work of pure fiction. Shanty Pete was dancing on a cask of port-wine - I should know, I rolled it out to him meself!

Also, wait - if Azura hurts herself by singing that song (according to a vague yet menacing plot point), is this an example of self-harm? Clearly, this is the writer's subtle hint that she's dealing with depression. This is so sad, Azura play "Lost in Thoughts All Alone".

34 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

But yeah, now Saizo will get darting blow next level.

Don't you have to reclass him to Falcoknight for that, using a Friend Seal? Or do I not understand how gaining first-tier skills in a second-tier class works?

3 hours ago, Jotari said:

Haha. They did jump to my mind when talking about this. But I think that's a good example of why I think Elise would be more appropriate than Zola. Lot's of people pretty justifably complain about losing Kaze in Birthright, but no one complains about losing Scarlet in Revalation.

I've heard plenty of complaints about losing Scarlet in Rev, though. Mostly on a story basis - like, she's killed off arbitrarily, to give Corrin a "gotcha" moment against possessed (?) Gunter 10 chapters later. As a flier, she'd be really good to have in those Valla maps with weird empty spaces. Of course, the greatest crime has always been not letting her support with Ryoma.

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

Don't you have to reclass him to Falcoknight for that, using a Friend Seal? Or do I not understand how gaining first-tier skills in a second-tier class works?

If you get a new base class through marriage or friendship, and you then gain levels in a promotion that your existing class pool and your new class share, then you'll start getting the skills from both base classes you could have become it from. I'm 99% sure this happens regardless of why you're in that class. Saizo got kinshi knight through archer, and now he has sky knight, which can also promote to it. I should get the sky knight's darting blow next level.

Edited by Alastor15243
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4 hours ago, Jotari said:

Haha. They did jump to my mind when talking about this. But I think that's a good example of why I think Elise would be more appropriate than Zola. Lot's of people pretty justifably complain about losing Kaze in Birthright, but no one complains about losing Scarlet in Revalation. Becuase she's around for, well zero chapters. You get her at the end of Chapter 17 and lose her at the start of chapter 18, but between that she is palyable for any number of paralogues or DLC missions you might be on. And unlike Gunther (who you lose for one chapter, I think he's playable after you beat him), you can even support and romance her. And maybe someone did do a bunch of paralogues and S supported her at this time (it is when paralogues really start showing up) and then got burned by her dying, but not nearly enough people are going to have significantly invested in her for her to up and die for there to be general complaint, unlike Kaze whom you absolutely can have invested a lot into and then die on you. Elise likewise probably wouldn't see a significant exp investment if she were playable for three chapters near the end game, though as pointed out, she would still be useful for her personal skill, and D rank staves is never terrible.

Weirdly enough, Scarlet has an unused Paired ending with Corrin in Revelations.

Maybe they were going to do the Kaze "Survive if Sranked" thing.

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3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Alright, my player-phase units have some serious catching up to do, so I'm gonna take this opportunity to do one of my favorite training levels, Shigure's paralogue. I'm gonna have to do that, because the enemy levels have started jumping up ahead of my units all of a sudden, and they're gonna need more firepower to take out the enemies on the first turn of the next map. Enemy levels have stayed pretty consistently low compared to what I've seen of Conquest at this point in the game. For context, by Chapter 23 in Conquest, you can have basically your whole army learning promoted level 15 skills. Meanwhile on this file, Ryoma, who practically solo'd last map, mind, is still only level 13. I've noticed enemies being several levels higher in Conquest 23 compared to Birthright 23. We've only got a handful of chapters left before the end of the game, and my army is still really far away from getting those nice level 15 skills. I'm gonna see what I can do to get my army closer to them.

 

Is it because Birthright has unpromoted enemies longer than Conquest does? Or is it something else?

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3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

For context, by Chapter 23 in Conquest, you can have basically your whole army learning promoted level 15 skills. Meanwhile on this file, Ryoma, who practically solo'd last map, mind, is still only level 13. I've noticed enemies being several levels higher in Conquest 23 compared to Birthright 23. We've only got a handful of chapters left before the end of the game, and my army is still really far away from getting those nice level 15 skills. I'm gonna see what I can do to get my army closer to them.

I think that is a bit of an exaggeration, or assuming the XP curve of hard mode here. Chapter 23 Conquest with the Lunatic XP scaling is where you have your first few level 15 skills show up (you might be able to reach for one in 22 if you are really trying), its more like chapter 24, where its basically your whole army that has level 15 skills. Don't get me wrong Birthright is behind the Conquest xp curve (I think its closer to the XP level of roughly Lunatic Conquest chapter 21 with that vague description of Birthright levels...), but you have set a high bar that even Conquest can't set on Lunatic with that description. Than again, I tend to do my paralogues early, so that might be the cause for the difference between perceived Conquest levels...

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