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

[Icelerate]

59 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

...The fuck? Lekain planned on assassinating Sanaki and blaming it on the herons again!?

HOW THE FUCK IS THAT GONNA WORK TWICE, WHEN THE PEOPLE ARE WRACKED WITH GUILT OVER THE LAST TIME THEY BELIEVED THAT, AND THE HERONS DON'T EVEN LIVE IN SERENES FOREST ANYMORE OR HAVE MORE THAN TWO ABLE-BODIED MEMBERS OF THEIR SPECIES LEFT!?

 

I didn't realize he was going to blame the herons again until you pointed this out. I agree, sounds pretty ridiculous. I posted this question on Reddit.

[Jotari]

I could buy Caineghis getting there first as it's possible he had no disciples of order to fight. Even assuming he has some off screen laguz with him besides Grifca, he also has a smaller army than the ones we have so faster travel time. However it seems really odd that Tibarn got there first. He had by far the most round about route to the capital, arching far to the east. Sure he can fly, but he can only ove as fast as the slowest members of his army. By all rights Ike should have been the first to arrive.

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

Nope, that comes with Lehran. The chest had a second SS staff, Matrona. It's a super physic that also maxes biorhythm.

Rather amusingly it also has the highest crit rate of any weapon in the series with a guaranteed 100%...it's still not worth it as an offensive weapon though, but it is amusing to see the dainty little tap with the staff constantly critting.

54 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

I didn't realize he was going to blame the herons again until you pointed this out. I agree, sounds pretty ridiculous. I posted this question on Reddit.

I actually think this sounds pretty reasonable. Of all the peoples in the world the Herons have the most cause to hate Begnion, so them organizing an assassination on Sanaki, regardless as to whether people believe or not her predecessor was assassinated by them, makes sense. This could also lead to a convenient excuse to go to war with Phoniecs and wipe out the bird laguz entirely should the senate feel so inclined to go down that route.

Edited September 29, 2020 by Jotari

[Alastor15243]

28 minutes ago, Jotari said:

I actually think this sounds pretty reasonable. Of all the peoples in the world the Herons have the most cause to hate Begnion, so them organizing an assassination on Sanaki, regardless as to whether people believe or not her predecessor was assassinated by them, makes sense.

Cause to hate Begnion? Sure. Cause to hate Sanaki? No. She's been on nothing but good terms with them since the events of PoR, for very public reasons.

Edited September 29, 2020 by Alastor15243

[Icelerate]

29 minutes ago, Jotari said:

I actually think this sounds pretty reasonable. Of all the peoples in the world the Herons have the most cause to hate Begnion, so them organizing an assassination on Sanaki, regardless as to whether people believe or not her predecessor was assassinated by them, makes sense. This could also lead to a convenient excuse to go to war with Phoniecs and wipe out the bird laguz entirely should the senate feel so inclined to go down that route.

I think blaming the invading Laguz Alliance would make for a better framing target. 

[Jotari]

5 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Cause to hate Begnion? Sure. Cause to hate Sanaki? No. She's been on nothing but good terms with them since the events of PoR, for very public reasons.

Which surprisingly, could actually piss people off. Recall, Ghandi was assassinated for being on too good terms with Pakistan. Not a 1:1 comparison because he was killed by a Hindu, but I'm sure a lot of Pakistani's wanted him dead for similar reasons. Blaming the Herons would allow the senate to then turn around and say "No matter how much we offer the olive branch, the laguz refuse to forget the past and continue to seek our destruction. We must exterminate them for the sake of our dear departed Sanaki." The whole "Begnion is racked with guilt over the massacre" thing also certaintly doesn't refer to the entire nation given there are still people trading in illegal laguz slavery. For any situation like this you're probably going to have a very polarized population on the issue.

4 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

I think blaming the invading Laguz Alliance would make for a better framing target. 

Depending on the timing that might have worked too.

Edited September 29, 2020 by Jotari

[Alastor15243]

2 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Which surprisingly, could actually piss people off. Recall, Ghandi was assassinated for being on too good terms with Pakistan. Not a 1:1 comparison because he was killed by a Hindu, but I'm sure a lot of Pakistani's wanted him dead for similar reasons.

That's because Pakistan has more than three people in it though. If it did, and Gandhi were on good terms with all three of them, that kind of makes the analogy fall apart.

[Jotari]

38 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

That's because Pakistan has more than three people in it though. If it did, and Gandhi were on good terms with all three of them, that kind of makes the analogy fall apart.

Well Raifel did show up with more news of the Serenes massacre that sparked a war. So him specifically being blamed would make some sense. I confess I am thinking of the herons in a more nebulous idea as a group rather than the individual people we are shown. That being said, we also never actually see their king for some reason. So his views on events and relationship (or lackthereof) with Sanaki is a complete unknown.

Edited September 29, 2020 by Jotari

[Shadow Mir]

7 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Well Raifel did show up with more news of the Serenes massacre that sparked a war. So him specifically being blamed would make some sense. I confess I am thinking of the herons in a more nebulous idea as a group rather than the individual people we are shown. That being said, we also never actually see their king for some reason. So his views on events and relationship (or lackthereof) with Sanaki is a complete unknown.

Isn't it stated that Lorazieh has been bedridden ever since the massacre?

[Jotari]

4 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

Isn't it stated that Lorazieh has been bedridden ever since the massacre?

Yes. Which is a very strange design choice to have this big important character we never see or interact with at all. Why even have him in the story in the first place?

[Alastor15243]

Radiant Dawn Day 42: Chapter 4-E-2

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

I love Yune.

Ike: Are we going the right way?

Yune: Yes. Ashera is at the top. We're going up. This is definitely the right way.

But in Ike's defense, the place is a disorienting bit of chaos architecture, bigger on the inside than the outside, and Yune then actually points out that if you pay too much attention to your surroundings, your mind might just break.

Yune's talking about her philosophy and... It's kind of weird how we're siding with one extreme goddess against another extreme goddess. The game makes it clear, though, that while Yune is just as extreme as Ashera, she's also more whole because she hasn't isolated herself for centuries.

...Wait... did a huge-ass army of reinforcements just... march in through the door we just came through? They didn't teleport in, they just walked in? I mean, they came from behind us, so that's the door we came through, right?

But anyway, here comes the Black Knight. And here's a cutscene.

It's kind of ridiculous that these two are apparently so obsessed with their dick-measuring contest that when they get caught in a blade struggle and are pushing Ragnell and Alondite against each other, neither one is willing to use their other hand to help push the blade. Seriously, what's the point of wielding a blade one-handed if you're not stabbing with it and you're not doing anything with the other hand?

Yeah, uh... this isn't nearly as hype or satisfying as it was in Path of Radiance. Also, that huge monologue as both he and Ike convince Tibarn to stay out of this was... obnoxious. I get that some of this information isn't gonna be known unless you got extra conversations, but still...

Ah, so here's where the Heroes “One will live, one will die!” line comes from. It's not exact though. The actual quote is “One of us will live... And one of us will die.”

...Okay, yeah, Kurthnaga can just completely rip these enemies to shreds at this point. There's basically no need to use more than one laguz gem here. Kurthnaga's all I need. He can double everything but the swordmasters, one-round everything but the generals...

...And also, yeah, the difference between the Black Knight and Ike is just ridiculous at this point. I realize that Ike probably wouldn't be so broken if I didn't know how to abuse bonus exp, but really... I fought BK with capped stats in the last game and it was still a ridiculously clutch battle. Here though, Ike's practically guaranteed to win, especially since he can double with ease. Also, it's ridiculous for another reason, but I'll get to that in a moment.

Let's get on with this comically short shitshow. Which is a lovely change of pace from yesterday, I must say, even if I think I had more fun with the previous map.

I could obliterate the Black Knight almost immediately, but I've got a secondary objective. Levail is an optional boss down at the bottom (and ironically has more authority stars than the actual commander), and he has the wishblade, which I desperately want for one of my lance users, probably Oscar.

...Okay, looks like I forgot about the various defensive tiles on this map, which, since I didn't really make this clear last time, give ten to either defense or resistance depending on whether it's cover or wardwood. One warrior managed to survive by standing on a cover tile.

...In fact, fuck it, let's reset. I forgot to give Kurthnaga a satori sign, and that'll probably be useful for the rare enemies he can't kill.

Man, training Kurthnaga was so worth it, he's such stupid fun.

...Okay, so, he has room for the Satori sign skill, but... when he gets formshift, that'll be a 7^th skill... does this game actually ask you to remove one, or does it automatically remove one, or does it not give you formshift at all?

...Well I have room for it now, so I guess I'll just take paragon off next map. He won't need it by the time this shit is over.

Alright, now this time Kurthnaga's standing on the cover tile, so if he gets terrain bonuses, yeah, they won't do shit to him. And either way, without that tile for themselves, they're fucked. I was wrong, not even the generals can survive a round with him anymore.

Anyway, yeah, similar tiles are on Ike's side, and BK starts standing on one, so really, you want to make him tragically fall prey to the universally stupid enemy AI and have him come to you while you're standing on one so he can't.

...Yep, nobody can touch Kurthnaga.

Honestly, this is kind of hilarious. Nobody can get this level of reliable killing at 1-2 range with this level of hybrid bulk aside from Ike. Nobody.

Oh, and he just leveled up strike too! So now he's doing ridiculous amounts of damage now that he has an upgraded breath!

Pity how even with paragon he's somehow only getting 10 exp per kill now. Man, laguz exp scaling is a bitch.

The entire enemy army is just unmaking itself on Kurthnaga's ass. It's actually pretty hilarious how just a little bit of stat boosters and some skills were able to turn this guy into my best enemy-phase sweeper other than Ike.

He's three damage shy of one-shotting swordmasters Jesus Fucking Christ.

Alright, so, I've gotta step off the cover tile to fight Levail and these healers, but as long as he has resolve, he should be fine no matter how unlucky he gets. Especially since he started at worst biorhythm and it only goes uphill from here.

Also, he doubles Levail. Wow.

I'm concerned about accidentally critting BK, so I'm un-equipping Ragnell until Levail is dead and I can finish this.

Man, this almost makes me wish I brought Haar. He has such a badass line with Levail:

Levail: [Zelgius] is the last true night. I will die for him.

Haar: Yes, Levail. You will.

Right, so, thanks to proccing strength two levels in a row, Kurthnaga is at the point where there are some swordmasters he can one-shot. Unfortunately, it isn't any of the ones he fought this turn, but he managed to proc ire on a few of them.

...What the...

WHAT THE...!?

...Okay. So. Resolve... seems... glitched.

I attacked Levail.

Levail procced his own resolve. No big deal, I thought. Now Kurthnaga's gonna proc resolve too and go back to the point where he doubles Levail instead of Levail doubling him.

NOPE!

The game fucking showed the text of resolve activating on Kurthnaga, and yet Levail still did his second attack!

So... Guess I have to restart now.

Okay, so, two agonizingly long enemy phases later...

Since Kurth is surrounded, I have Soren dip in to kill the remaining physic priest using blizzard with Reyson's help. Now Levail has no way to heal himself and should die by the end of next turn. Then it'll be time to deal with the Black Knight.

Alright, just to play it safe, Soren's gonna assassinate Levail from range, and then...

It's time.

 

Black Knight: Why won't you draw your weapon? Come! Fight me! Fight me, Son of Gawain!

Ike: That was his name... once... but he...

(Ike plants Ragnell in the ground)

Ike: ...threw it away.

Black Knight: What... what are you doing?

Ike: The only weapon I need... (reaches behind his back)

Black Knight: No...

Ike: Is right... (hand tightens on the handle of something behind his back)

Black Knight: Nonononononononono...

Ike: (Pulls out hammer) HERE!

 

 

 

 

 

Yep. You can use a hammer on him. And when you cap Ike's strength, with the hammer he's two attack points shy of one-rounding him. I had Ike damage him the turn beforehand to prep, and down the fucker went like a pile of drowning bricks!

Yeah, and... yeah, this is the moment where Ike and Zelgius “reconcile” and, like... okay, I don't remember seeing this specific line before, but... holy shit.

Ike: To be honest... I was overjoyed when I heard that the Black Knight was still alive. That surprised me... I felt neither sadness nor hate. Just joy. My hands were shaking with anticipation. I couldn't wait to fight my most formidable enemy again!

NO. BAD IKE. YOU ARE NOT GOKU. YOU ARE NOT FUCKING GOKU. THIS MAN KILLED YOUR FATHER FOR UNFATHOMABLY PETTY REASONS. YOU SPENT NEARLY THE ENTIRETY OF THE FIRST GAME WANTING TO KILL THIS MAN TO AVENGE YOUR FATHER. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HAPPY HE WAS STILL ALIVE. THIS IS NOT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. THIS IS NOT MATURITY. STOP. STOP IT RIGHT NOW.

Holy shit does this line ruin Ike as a character. I can't believe they did this. It's as if the mere revelation that Zelgius was the Black Knight all along was supposed to inherently redeem the Black Knight instead of condemn Zelgius.

And then Ike and Zelgius have this moment where they talk about Greil, and Ike asks Zelgius if he was as skillful as Zelgius remembered Greil being, and like... holy shit. This... I hate this so much.

...But now, thankfully, he's dead.

And we get his sword! Yaaaaay!

...The sheer absurdity of the implication that Ike was just not going to take it until the two swords started glowing and Yune told him he should. Like, the thought didn't even occur to him to take his opponent's badass weapon. I mean, it's consistent with game logic I guess.

Now we get another voice-acted memory. This one is a bonus one you don't normally get though. It has Zelgius and Sephiran arriving too late to stop Greil from murdering his wife under the medallion's madness.

...Weirdly, a couple of lines aren't being voice acted. I don't know if it's because I keep pressing the home button to pause, but it's happening even when I haven't done it in a while, so...

Oh god. And now little Mist and Ike show up, and, okay, I've heard that little Ike... is still played by the same manly voice actor. Oh god, this is gonna be so uncomfortable...

Mist's the one talking first, and... like, it's not too bad, but it's not a convincing child, just a woman in a high-pitched tone talking childishly.

I'm not sure what that healing staff spell on Elena's dead body was supposed to do, Sephiran.

Ike still hasn't spoken yet, we just got a brief-flash of his terrified child face.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

HE'S NOT EVEN TRYING TO SOUND LIKE A LITTLE BOY OH MY GOD.

Okay, so, Sephiran apparently purged Ike's mind of any memory of the moment Greil killed Elena, and thus, I guess... his memory of ever hiding out in Gallia? This is Gallia, right? But then why didn't Mist remember Gallia either?

Okay, so, wait, when was this? This is after the Serenes Massacre, isn't it? That was 24 years ago at this point I think, and Ike's only like 20. So this is after Lehran snapped and started plotting the destruction of all reality, right? So why is he so gentle and kind and willing to let Mist keep the medallion? And wait...

Wait...

...If Zelgius saw Mist carrying the medallion...

Why wouldn't he think that was where it could be when he was interrogating Greil in Path of Radiance? He saw firsthand proof that Mist could carry it!

Oh wow, this is... really clumsy. We get two flashbacks in a row, in almost immediate succession.

Okay, quick correction, I mis-interpreted what Zelgius said about his laguz ancestor. It was someone on his father's side who was “with” a laguz. Not necessarily a male ancestor, just an ancestor on his father's side of the family. So that doesn't actually do anything to prove that his laguz ancestor was female. Still, if the apostle rules do apply with all branded, what he says is still at least consistent with that. It would have to be someone his father was descended from, and not his mother, if this were a line of firstborn sons inheriting the effects of the blood of a female laguz ancestor.

...Apparently his father doesn't have it though? It can skip generations or something? Is that what happened with Micaiah and Sanaki's mother?

Yeah, so, Sephiran says that he has a “task” he “must accomplish”. So even now he's plotting to end the world, right? So then... what was with that scene where he didn't take the medallion and let Mist keep it? Surely his plan would be so much easier if he had it in his possession, right?

Okay, what? Zelgius... just introduced himself to Sephiran.

At the end of this conversation.

Apparently Zelgius exposed his brand to Sephiran before they knew each other enough that he even told Sephiran his name? What was this, some kind of religious confessional? Happening inside of an armory?

What the fuck is the context of this!?

Also, is this guy really using the exact same name fighting in both the Daein army and the Begnion army? I guess this is before photos and everything, but surely he would've felt the need to play it safe and go under an alias, right?

...Ugh. Fuck this. I've checked out of this nonsense.

Alright, that's it for today. Tomorrow, well... you know the drill.

Stay safe, everyone.

[Jotari]

Sephiran might want to destroy all humans, but he's not a total dick. I guess he just left the medallion with Mist because they figured they could get it any time they want. Not that it matters if Heron Galdr can't release it and Sephiran doesn't know about Micaiah's existence. Doesn't really matter where the medallion is for his explicit purposes in that case.

[Alastor15243]

1 minute ago, Jotari said:

Sephiran might want to destroy all humans, but he's not a total dick. I guess he just left the medallion with Mist because they figured they could get it any time they want. Not that it matters if Heron Galdr can't release it and Sephiran doesn't know about Micaiah's existence. Doesn't really matter where the medallion is for his explicit purposes in that case.

Oh that's right, he thinks his entire branded bloodline is dead.

...That just reminds me that we still don't know how Micaiah wound up in Daein in the first place. And also, the subject of branded and whether depowered laguz can sense them reminded me that Kurthnaga either can't tell Pelleas isn't branded or hasn't broken it to Almedha for some reason.

[Icelerate]

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Also, is this guy really using the exact same name fighting in both the Daein army and the Begnion army? I guess this is before photos and everything, but surely he would've felt the need to play it safe and go under an alias, right?

 

What do you mean? In Ashnard's army, he is known as the Black Knight, not Zelgius. Same in RD. If you mean why he uses that name when he serves under Gawain, well there was no need to change his name when serving Begnion. There was no need for Haar or Shiharam to change their name when serving in the Daein army despite serving in the Begnion army before. Later on when he decides to serve Ashnard, he is keeping a secret identity and no longer known as Zelgius.  

[Alastor15243]

1 minute ago, Icelerate said:

What do you mean? In Ashnard's army, he is known as the Black Knight, not Zelgius. Same in RD. If you mean why he uses that name when he serves under Gawain, well there was no need to change his name when serving Begnion. There was no need for Haar or Shiharam to change their name when serving in the Daein army despite serving in the Begnion army before. Later on when he decides to serve Ashnard, he is keeping a secret identity and no longer known as Zelgius.  

No, he talks about how, during his time serving Gawain, he's reaching the point where he has to leave and start a new life elsewhere before anyone figures out he's a branded because he isn't aging enough. But it defeats the entire point of doing that if anyone figures out that Zelgius the supremely talented soldier of Daein and Zelgius the elite general of Begnion are the same ridiculously long-lived person.

[Shadow Mir]

On 9/18/2020 at 11:38 AM, Alastor15243 said:

Anyway, Sothe promotes, and he gets the standard bonuses, plus a new portrait. For some reason I always thought as a kid that the midriff top was exclusive to this outfit, but no, he had that before. But the midriff window is certainly a bit wider now. Not sure what that does for people who are into dudes, but as for me... hm. Well one one hand, it certainly could look goofier on other people than it does on him, but on the other hand... it still looks kinda goofy to me, and more importantly, he doesn't really strike me as the sort of person who would wear that. It's kinda like the male version of those infamous female characters who dress like strippers while having completely serious, all-business attitudes that don't match their manner of dress at all.

Except, y'know... all he's showing is his fucking navel.

Yeah, it's kinda hilarious that we're even discussing this. That outfit would be like, comically tame in terms of fanservice if it were on a girl, to the point that it would barely even qualify as fanservice at all, but the instant you slap that kind of top on a guy, it starts looking extremely questionable, despite the fact that it isn't really even showing anything. It's this really weird aspect of human sexuality. For some reason, when it comes to guys, showing your entire upper body is completely normal, but the second you wear something that exposes the midriff and only the midriff, suddenly questions get raised about who exactly you're trying to get the attention of.

 

On 9/18/2020 at 4:04 PM, Interdimensional Observer said:

And regarding the promotion attire, in Japan, translated...

Micaiah:
“It really suits you. This costume.”

Sothe:
“Are you sure…?”

Micaiah:
“Mmm-hmm.”

Does Micaiah like male midriffs? No qualms with that, you can act like a saint and dress like one (or however you'd describe Micaiah's actions and personality), doesn't mean you can't have some eros. Why should casanovas and femme fatales have a monopoly on known lust in FE?

Pft. XD

This little tirade reminds me, I generally have little issue with females wearing midriff-baring outfits in fiction (blame what I was exposed to growing up), but I can't help but find female Byleth's outfit  to be just bad. FFS, if you're supposed to be a professor, at least dress like it!

[Sunwoo]

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

NO. BAD IKE. YOU ARE NOT GOKU. YOU ARE NOT FUCKING GOKU. THIS MAN KILLED YOUR FATHER FOR UNFATHOMABLY PETTY REASONS. YOU SPENT NEARLY THE ENTIRETY OF THE FIRST GAME WANTING TO KILL THIS MAN TO AVENGE YOUR FATHER. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HAPPY HE WAS STILL ALIVE. THIS IS NOT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. THIS IS NOT MATURITY. STOP. STOP IT RIGHT NOW.

Holy shit does this line ruin Ike as a character. I can't believe they did this. It's as if the mere revelation that Zelgius was the Black Knight all along was supposed to inherently redeem the Black Knight instead of condemn Zelgius.

Yeah, I never really liked this either ;/

On the one hand, I could believe that Ike has matured over the years and has learned to let go of the blind hatred he had for the Black Knight back in PoR.

On the other hand, that's not what he's actually saying in the game what the fuck.

EDIT: Also, I wouldn't take Micaiah and the Apostles' heritage and inheritance as the "rule" of how Branded work, tbh. They're just "special".

Edited September 29, 2020 by Sunwoo

[Alastor15243]

37 minutes ago, Sunwoo said:

Also, I wouldn't take Micaiah and the Apostles' heritage and inheritance as the "rule" of how Branded work, tbh. They're just "special".

All I'm saying is that as far as I know, all of the available evidence is consistent with all branded working that way.

[Punished Dayni]

6 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Black Knight: Why won't you draw your weapon? Come! Fight me! Fight me, Son of Gawain!

Ike: That was his name... once... but he...

(Ike plants Ragnell in the ground)

Ike: ...threw it away.

Black Knight: What... what are you doing?

Ike: The only weapon I need... (reaches behind his back)

Black Knight: No...

Ike: Is right... (hand tightens on the handle of something behind his back)

Black Knight: Nonononononononono...

Ike: (Pulls out hammer) HERE!

 

 

 

 

 

Yep. You can use a hammer on him. And when you cap Ike's strength, with the hammer he's two attack points shy of one-rounding him. I had Ike damage him the turn beforehand to prep, and down the fucker went like a pile of drowning bricks!

Yep, this is so stupid.

Even worse? In my first playthrough I then proceeded to finish him with Urvan. Because I had Ike sit there and hit him on EP. (Not like I was doing good with Ragnell anyway because my Ike was kinda lower on strength than I'd have liked.)

Because the only thing worse than insulting him with a hammer was insulting him with the axe BK just treated as a joke when killing Greil in PoR.

6 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

NO. BAD IKE. YOU ARE NOT GOKU. YOU ARE NOT FUCKING GOKU. THIS MAN KILLED YOUR FATHER FOR UNFATHOMABLY PETTY REASONS. YOU SPENT NEARLY THE ENTIRETY OF THE FIRST GAME WANTING TO KILL THIS MAN TO AVENGE YOUR FATHER. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HAPPY HE WAS STILL ALIVE. THIS IS NOT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. THIS IS NOT MATURITY. STOP. STOP IT RIGHT NOW.

Holy shit does this line ruin Ike as a character. I can't believe they did this. It's as if the mere revelation that Zelgius was the Black Knight all along was supposed to inherently redeem the Black Knight instead of condemn Zelgius.

And then Ike and Zelgius have this moment where they talk about Greil, and Ike asks Zelgius if he was as skillful as Zelgius remembered Greil being, and like... holy shit. This... I hate this so much.

Yep, Ike = Goku ruined Ike.

It's honestly fascinating that they decided for no reason to handle their relationship like this. HOW is this the way it went after the poor reveal at the end of Part 3, for them to get excited at the chance to attack each other and fight one last time? It's just such a mess that no matter anything else you can criticise Ike for, it's this that is the worst thing about him for me.

It also is quite apparent that they're trying too damm hard to redeem BK/Zelgius by elevating both throughout RD, while forgetting how he acted in PoR. It's one of the things that absolutely should be reviewed if they ever go over the text again, because honest to fuck the sheer difference in how he acts towards Mist vs Micaiah should aggravate me a lot more.

6 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

...Weirdly, a couple of lines aren't being voice acted. I don't know if it's because I keep pressing the home button to pause, but it's happening even when I haven't done it in a while, so...

Nope, they don't seem to be.

Edited September 29, 2020 by Dayni

[Alastor15243]

Okay, I'm looking for feedback... when I start Shadow Dragon next, would you guys rather I ironmanned one of the lower hards, or did H5, but without ironmanning?

Edited September 29, 2020 by Alastor15243

[Benice]

14 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Okay, I'm looking for feedback... when I start Shadow Dragon next, would you guys rather I ironmanned one of the lower hards, or did H5, but without ironmanning?

H3 on ironman, if you asked me. I feel like you should assess games at their best, or least bad in Three Houses' case and shadow dragon's best is definitely not H5 or 4.

[Alastor15243]

15 minutes ago, Benice said:

H3 on ironman, if you asked me. I feel like you should assess games at their best, or least bad in Three Houses' case and shadow dragon's best is definitely not H5 or 4.

I'm curious why the line is drawn there, at H3 specifically. Is there some specific benchmark enemy stats reach that starts making things ridiculous?

[Benice]

Just now, Alastor15243 said:

I'm curious why the line is drawn there, at H3 specifically. Is there some specific benchmark enemy stats reach that starts making things ridiculous?

From what I've heard, H3-1 are mostly fair, but 4 and 5 are less interesting and more boring. Especially since on H4 and 5, you have to breakthe weapons of quite a few bosses to kill them, whereas In H3, THAT ISN'T THE CASE.

Also, you should do the prologue on normal before doing Hard, since it is quite well-written, if not boring from a gameplay perspective.

[Interdimensional Observer]

2 hours ago, Dayni said:

It also is quite apparent that they're trying too damm hard to redeem BK/Zelgius by elevating both throughout RD, while forgetting how he acted in PoR. It's one of the things that absolutely should be reviewed if they ever go over the text again, because honest to fuck the sheer difference in how he acts towards Mist vs Micaiah should aggravate me a lot more.

Ike's treatment of the BK in RD in the duel wasn't the issue for me, it was the flashback to him and Sephiran that was the noticeable end-of-game fumble.

But hey, it might make Ike consistent with how he acts, but it does make IS consistent with how it acts. How is this different from the Berkut & Rinea (and Alm) debacle? Mayhap you could say Seliph and Arvis too.

 

2 hours ago, Dayni said:

because honest to fuck the sheer difference in how he acts towards Mist vs Micaiah should aggravate me a lot more.

Threatening Mist wasn't done in front of her, although having her attack him in PoR 27 is mean on his end besides the "flee, weakling". 

And why would the BK be mean to Micaiah? His master wanted her alive, being mean to her wouldn't likely allow him to close to protect her. For Micaiah's part, she didn't know who he really was, so I'd forgive her for her liking of him. If she knew his full story, then yes Micaiah bad, but she didn't until the Tower methinks.

[Alastor15243]

1 minute ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

For Micaiah's part, she didn't know who he really was, so I'd forgive her for her liking of him. If she knew his full story, then yes Micaiah bad, but she didn't until the Tower methinks.

On one hand, Sothe apparently talked Micaiah's ear off about his adventures with Ike in the Mad King's War, but then, I don't think Ike ever really opened up about the really fucked up stuff he saw BK do, like threaten to torture a 14-15 year old girl.

...Honestly, I wonder what Tauroneo and Jill and Zihark and the other MKW veterans thought of BK joining the Daein Liberation Army.

[Jotari]

15 minutes ago, Benice said:

From what I've heard, H3-1 are mostly fair, but 4 and 5 are less interesting and more boring. Especially since on H4 and 5, you have to breakthe weapons of quite a few bosses to kill them, whereas In H3, THAT ISN'T THE CASE.

Also, you should do the prologue on normal before doing Hard, since it is quite well-written, if not boring from a gameplay perspective.

There are hacks out there that let you play the prologue and gaidens on higher difficulty levels. I know quality of life hacks and stuff were skipped over for Thracia, but it might be something to consider in this game as Shadow Dragon has the whole "SLAUGHTER YOUR ARMY TO PLAY A FIFTH OF THE GAME". 😕

In any case I would like to see the Gaidens played as it's the only new content Shadow Dragon provides and this will be the third run through of the War of Shadows so it's not like there's going to be a massive amount to talk about in terms of plot and even gameplay. So if hacking isn't off the table, I vote for slaughtering your army while simultaneously playing it iron man. Hooray for replacement units.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Jotari