Eltosian Kadath Posted September 21, 2019 Share Posted September 21, 2019 (edited) I must admit, I barely remember Awakening. I played through only once on Hard Classic back in the day and at this point I felt like I needed a bit of a refresher. Now I wanted to see how Lunatic was like, and similar to my Lunatic Conquest I was curious how it would play without using the combat effects of pairup, but knowing how integral they tried to make that mechanic in Awakening I was uncertain if this run will be entirely possible. I have seen forum rumors of someone on another forum claiming they beaten a Lunatic no-pairup run, and theories that it is possible, but neither of these were particularly promising, so I did wait until I unlocked the ability to summon teams from the battle box that could be battled to grind before just to test how possible this run will be before committing to an LP. I suppose it is about time to set down some ground rules: 1. Having a unit that is paired up engage in combat is a reset worthy offense. 2. Having a unit paired up that could have been targeted on enemy phase is a reset worthy defense 3. No paid DLC (as I do not have any) I will also restrict the amount of off screen grinding I do based on reader feedback. Now I will still use pairup to increase my maneuverability on the map, so expect liberal use of the pairup, transfer, swap, and separate commands to give me a tactical edge. Also do be warned if things get dire enough, I may leave units dead on the field of battle, but I will try my best to keep everyone alive. Now for reader convenience I will start by try to have updates separate into 3-4 spoiler tags, as I will be looking at the story and supports I get I will separate updates into supports (if applicable) opening story, chapter, and ending story section. I guess it is time to start Edited September 21, 2019 by Eltosian Kadath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eltosian Kadath Posted September 21, 2019 Author Share Posted September 21, 2019 Let's start with the ending this time (Opening Story Premonitions) Spoiler First let's create our save file and tactician. I made her small with the stark white hair of one whose blood was altered to have the holy blood of Grima to become his vessel. I know I am mixing about three Fire Emblem game's canons with that statement, but the marking shown in Awakening and Echoes with their ties to magic weapons, the description of markings of those with Jugdral's holy blood, and the similarities between Three Houses crests and holy blood create an interesting link that I took inspiration from when making this character. I have always liked the hints of long survived violence that a scar or missing eye give. The birth date was when I roughly started the run. Speed boon seemed the obvious choice for this kind of run, and Luck bane made the most sense with me not wanting to commit to either physical or magic damage. Finally I named her Tiamat, the mother of monsters from ancient Babylonian myth. We start in media res with a cut scene With Chrom and Tiamat trying to take down Validar But Validar still has the upper hand, and he is remarkably smug about it. Already? For the opening line of text in the game that comes across as particularly silly. Then again it isn't the first game/story to start at the end only to moments into the scene jump back to X days earlier, or have it be a premonition (often in dream form), or start making time travel noises. I do love the old dastard censorship As their fate seems inescapable, (Battle Premonitions) Spoiler I start by having Chrom attack, as I vaguely remember this being impossible to lose due to Validar not acting on his turn. And Validar introduces us to a classical theme that this game wants to explore, the nature of Fate, and whether ones destiny can be avoided. From what I remember on my first play through, they start by committing heavily to the stance taken by Greek tragedies, going so far as to blatantly break the illusion of choice to reinforce the inescapable nature of Fate, but ultimately give up on the idea in the third arc to let everyone have a happy ending. But then I realize it actually is possible to die in the premonition Curiosity got the better of me, and I was rewarded With Validar reinforcing this theme even further and a game over... Honestly didn't expect them to let that happen before even the prologue. The unique death quote for Tiamat on the other hand is rather boring and wasn't worth seeing. Now back to our regularly scheduled LP. Tiamat follows up Chroms attack with one of her own and With the Chrom dual strike that leads to a 2 turn clear. Inexorably leading to tragedy (Ending Story Premonitions) Spoiler Falling to the dual strike of Tiamat and Chrom, all three return to cutscene land With Validar firing one final strike that Tiamat pushes Chrom out of the way of Which lets Validar's magic take control, leading To Chrom's death, at the player's hand (through Tiamat's first person perspective). Despite my insistence on differentiating between Tiamat and player, the game makes it clear in a few ways that you are supposed to be the avatar, and the first person perspective in the cut scenes is the first of sign of that. The End. See you next time for the actual prologue... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punished Dayni Posted September 21, 2019 Share Posted September 21, 2019 2 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said: With Validar reinforcing this theme even further It certainly isn't..... fated. 😛 2 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said: With the Chrom dual strike that leads to This confirms you're not bothering with trying to avoid Dual strikes entirely. 😛 2 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said: To Chrom's death, at the player's hand (through Tiamat's first person perspective). Despite my insistence on differentiating between Tiamat and player, the game makes it clear in a few ways that you are supposed to be the avatar, and the first person perspective in the cut scenes is the first of sign of that. Much as I do think Robin is the most fitting for that, I just kind of wish IS didn't feel like they had to do this as part of their approach. The consequential stuff from that (the pandering, the dissonance if you don't match up with this avatar, the lack of choice beyond in combat kind of limiting the full potential of an avatar character) just does not help in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eltosian Kadath Posted September 22, 2019 Author Share Posted September 22, 2019 3 hours ago, Dayni said: This confirms you're not bothering with trying to avoid Dual strikes entirely. 😛 With how many non-Fredrick units have to gang up on some of the enemies in Lunatic, finding the space to avoid Dual Strikes would be difficult in and of itself. Plus how would I gain any support points without putting units in range of dual striking, and the +10% accuracy makes things less obnoxious. 3 hours ago, Dayni said: Much as I do think Robin is the most fitting for that, I just kind of wish IS didn't feel like they had to do this as part of their approach. The consequential stuff from that (the pandering, the dissonance if you don't match up with this avatar, the lack of choice beyond in combat kind of limiting the full potential of an avatar character) just does not help in my opinion. While I agree, I do feel the need to play devil's advocate to point out a few advantages from a developer perceptive towards doing this. First it lets them get away with having cut scenes be from that first person perspective, which lets the player customize the avatar without them having to put lots of time and resources into showing those custom options in the higher fidelity cutscenes; second this role is perfect as an audience surrogate to get the player acquainted with basic in world information that needs to be known; finally it makes it easier to integrate teaching game mechanics within the story. Spoiler Once again we start in the middle of a cutscene, with some worried but friendly faces looking down at us and with a look like that we must be as adorable as a puppy. As Chrom helps Tiamat to her feet we get an ominous view of Grima's brand clearly on her hand. While Tiamat remembers both her manners and Chrom's name ...or not Sigh. This is an overused cliche means of getting an audience surrogate that needs obvious information everyone in universe should know explained to them so the audience can learn this basic info. Also lazy writing, hackneyed, and ...thank you Fredrick. Once again the hired help is the only character with common sense. Not usually a fan of this kinda lamp shading, but with Chrom displaying all the naivete of Corrin here, its nice to see Fredrick fulfilling the same role in story that he does in gameplay (at least in Lunatic); keeping the rest of the crew safe despite their failings. So we are heading into town Don't be silly Tiamat, this game is about Fate, not choice. So the answer is yes you will be a prisoner. All right Freddy is growing on me. First playthrough I dropped him like a rock, but that doesn't look like a possibility on this run. I had to look up Halidom, apparently it is an archaic word for lands held by a religious foundation. So I guess the exalt is basically the pope of some Naga/Exalt based faith. Sorry Lissa, miracle is the only way you can even pretend to take a hit, and it makes you the most delicate of characters in a difficulty where every non Freddy unit is as delicate as a flower. At first I was going to joke about them calling their citizens sheep, but with the added context of what Halidom means I am starting to get some rather Christian overtones from the presumably Naga/Exalt based faith of Ylisse. The snark coming from Freddles continues to amuse me. They do a good job of making the Shepherds feel like friends with all these little jokes and gentle ribbings. Ok only remembering her name now is very silly. She should remember it from that premonition we played through earlier, but I guess that is not canon to the story now. Based on Babylonian mythology, so yes it is foreign for Ylisse. In retrospect perhaps I should have chosen an Egyptian inspired name, as I vaguely remember being Plegian, and from equally vague memories I seem to remember Plegia have some Egyptian inspiration. When we get to the village we find it in flames. Or at least smouldering. Well with massively overused cliches like amnesia in the plot, why would I expect anything other than the most cliche early map option, bandits. The Shepards are heading into battle to defend the town, and as Freddles worries over their captive, Chrom gets to show off this great line. Nice to see a simple and believable motivation from our starting bandits. Chrom's first meeting with the maiden. I doubt they will end up marrying, but it nice to see them lay the groundwork for their possible relationship with him saving her, and her town from the opening bandits. Did Chrom just promise this will be the only bandit map? Somehow I doubt that, but we will see... Tiamat ends up joining the fight despite Freddle's misgivings, speaking of which. Spoiler Thanks flowey for explaining permadeath to me. So I start looking through my units and end up triggering This is rather amusing dialogue. It does make me wonder about the dangers of magical mishaps. After looking at my units stats...and the godlike stats of the enemy I need to face an unfortunate fact that it took me a few retries to truly internalize. Fredrick is the ONLY character that can take 2 hits. Welp lets start this game of Fredrick emblem then First Fredrick kill of the playthrough. Lissa explains healing to us. I actually do legitimately like how they are integrating the explaining of the game's mechanics with the story. I end up letting Chrom draw in one of the enemies to get him some chip xp, and end turn one Turn 2 Chrom pickup a kill on one Freddles crippled with the Rapier for the extra accuracy, and Freddles finishes the one he mildly injured as well Tiamat finishes off the other injured one from range (and drawing in the mage at the same time), and Lissa heals up her brother. Leading to the start of turn 3 From here we- Oh another dialogue This is reminding me a lot of a scene from Erf world, although less blatantly meta. I really do like how they are trying to explain in universe why you can look at the stats and equipment of enemies all across the battle field. I know a lot of people like a separation between mechanics and story, but when the mechanics fit into the world I think it makes for a better experience. Back to the gameplay Chrom continues to chip at the mage Tiamat injured enemy phase and after healing Tiamat to ensure she can live a miss. She finishes the mage off. With the rest of the enemies simple waiting for our approach I think I will heal up everyone, so I will jump back in when- ...or I get interrupted by another tutorial. So they are introducing the in battle bonuses, and possible dual strike that come with fighting adjacent, a mechanic I have used basically every turn so far. Having tutorials on Lunatic does come across as a bit intrusive, as you wont survive without already having some idea for how this works. Now I also grab the first shiny space with Tiamat netting me a rift door. Depending on how dire things are looking by the time I get access to the shop this may be a Naga-send that lets me cheese my way into getting something vital from the merchants. Lissa also levels while everyone gets healed For the first level up of the LP that is an ominously bad one. Now lets jump to when we aggro the rest of the enemies. Freddles is drawing in one of the swordsman to an enemy phase death with the silver lance, but Tiamat passed the bronze sword along to give him another option to attack, and help that lance go the distance. And that aggros all of them but the boss. So Freddles starts by deleting the only ranged threat And Tiamat chips at a swords man but gets the dual strike kill for a level instead. sorry about how blurry that one came out. The original plan was to have Chrom go to the same space as he goes to without attacking and chip that same unit on enemy phase, but the dual strike kill makes thing go a bit faster. We are getting close to end here as after enemy phase we have one enemy left and the boss Tiamat start to chip but gets the Chrom dual strike to turn what should have been his kill into an assist. This leaves only the boss, so I will jump to Chrom getting Now onto dealing with the boss, I let Freddles counter him enemy phase with that Bronze Sword. And the boss jokes about the Shepard being sheep while fighting the only member that isn't. Fredrick chips him down player phase as well. Lissa levels healing the damage Fredrick takes better than last time but not by much. Then I use the Rapier and get Tiamat in position to get Chrom the highest accuracy he can for the boss kill ...That is a terrible death quote. Chrom does get a nice level. The prologue wasn't so bad, but the stat difference between my units and the enemy units is a bit overwhelming. Spoiler That it is. Take 2 hits in a turn. Honestly this praise for Tiamat's skills feels especially unwarranted at this stage on Lunatic. Fredrick is as wary as ever, but Chrom is as trusting as Corrin, I mean for all he know Tiamat could be the vessel for some monstrous dragon, or an enemy from Plegia. I'm with you Fredrick, these lordlings should try to be more cautious, but Chrom just lets Tiamat join them Finally the plot starts to thicken, as Fredrick hints the bandit we fought might not have been bandits at all but- Oh right they still need to explain what Plegia is So Fredrick thinks the band was sent to antagonize Ylisse, and that would be in line with what I remember about Plegia's mad king. On the other hand we may be in a Thracia scenario here where the difficulties in Plegia have simply driven more and more people to desperate acts of brigandry to survive, and Ylisse habitually uses that as an excuse to wage war on Plegia, forcing more people towards that desperation in Plegia, which further "justifies" the Ylissian's extreme actions. The villagers are all ready to celebrate our heroes victory, but that killjoy Fredrick politely and humbly turns them down, ensuring that maiden wont meet Chrom today much to Lissa's dismay. And Fredrick takes the opportunity to poke fun at her for her previous words You know he's- Join us next time when things start getting...difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eltosian Kadath Posted September 26, 2019 Author Share Posted September 26, 2019 Sorry about forgetting the labels for each section, by the time I noticed the no edit glitch had already hit. When every disaster on the first page of Google strikes...(Opening Story Chapter 1) Spoiler Unwelcome indeed. For once we start away from cutscene land the night after the brigand fight with Lissa complaining about insects. Oh Naga that is disgusting. Oh don't you pull that building character Cr- You tell him Lissa. Well the game continues trying to sell the idea of camping outdoors as awful with bear meat? As someone who has never had bear meat I have no idea if it is good or not and with such varied responses I have even less of an idea. ...Fredrick is absolute terrible at lying apparently. After dinner Chrom awakens as... They didn't properly put out their fire. This is some of the most basic fire safety that they need to follow when camping OUT IN THE WOODS. Remember the sage advise of Smokey the Bear "Only YOU can prevent forest fires"...wait bear meat? Fredrick you didn't... Lissa joins her brother as he is worried To be fair when the forest gets quiet it is a sign of something large and dangerous (like a human) wandering around in the woods, but this is the middle of the night, when most bird aren't active. Then there is an earthquake and Chrom warns his sister about The next cutscene. That sort of movement looks so unnatural to me simply due to the type of fault lines in my area. A bit of research shows this kinda movement might occur in a dip-slip fault line (like those around Japan), where as the faults local to me are strike-slip. ...That is Lava, which indicates a divergent boundary (so a "normal" dip-slip fault). ...and now the forest is on fire. As Chrom and Lissa try to outrun the flames this whole thing is getting ridiculous. ...and now there are meteors. I feel like someone just googled disasters and tried to combine them all into the same cutscene. And now there are Zombies. They were real thorough with that google search. Sorry these action shot came out so poor. Chrom clashes with the first of the risen. But Chrom only blocks one of them, and Lissa is doomed But then from that same sky portal Lissa gets saved by a masked hero, and together with Chrom defies my experience of Lunatic mode by managing to deal with one enemy only using 2 non-Fredrick units. It would take a Miracle to save us (Battle Chapter 1) Spoiler Fred bear shows up too late, but thankfully the power of cutscenes kept everyone safe. That is a good question. This is a fantasy universe, and monstrous creatures like the Risen wouldn't be unheard of. Plus the monsters of Valentia (and the Risen in the Thebes labyrinth) are similar creatures in universe. Lissa has a surprisingly accurate and sobering realization of her frailty. Unfortunately our masked hero is no help in this map. More unfortunately this is the real starting position of the troops (and we have yet to unlock the prep screens...sigh) Maybe on other modes/challenge runs (or if we had the prep screen) those forts might see some use, but alas Fredrick can't reach one first turn without risking the lives of other units, and the hammer bro will drive him away from it by time he can reach it. It took a lot of tries to reach victory on this map. The end of first turn I drive as many into hurting themselves on Fredrick, while everyone else flees in terror of these monstrosities. The speed on those sword wielders is particularly dangerous. Then we meet Sully She has enough speed to avoid being one rounded by some of the enemies, which makes her usable spoiler alert it is going to be the sword monster. I see I'm not the only one using cutoff dialogue to censor- Uh... I am getting some weird slight masochism (or some kinda fetish) vibes from being left behind in that "sweet dust". good answer/question Ok that is sounds like the kinda desperation that makes people think basic human courtesy is flirting. All right I like the word play of this Arch Duke (or at least I vaguely remember that being the joke). Beautifully shut down by Sully, he ends up desperately begging for her name, and expertly emphasizes how little anything about her matters to his flirtations. The name is so fitting as that the "stark beauty" would be sullied by her uncouth personality. That isn't to say Sully isn't appealing just that Virion is blatantly ignoring the person in front of him for the person he imagines. Naga this man is a moron with regards to women. Watch out Sully he might actually... like that oh Naga why... ... Sorry, I just can't believe you are going along with this. Always the showman I see I do like how they have put a lot of effort into giving him a clear and distinct style of speech that reinforces his character, that of a fop. and the way they use his distinct wordplay to explain game mechanics does amuse me. Now Virion is slow enough that everything kills him, as an archer he can contribute plenty by hitting the mostly melee enemies from range. Once enemies start getting 1-2 range he might start to drop off in usefulness, but so far he does well. Back with the gameplay I pull Fred bear back onto the shiny space for some extra Ending with Sully drawing the injured swordsman to his death, while Fred bear draws two again. Fredrick levels enemy phase and is great, although more speed would be appreciated. Now Sully killed the swordsman, but drew enough enemies in her direction that Virion (who stayed next to her for that +10 hit) needs to pairup to get dropped out of range by Sully. Now Chrom moved a bit away to kill the injured brigand on enemy phase, and draw the bow attack a bit away from the group (the woods and WTA gives him just enough bulk to live this on 1) Then the crippled Chrom uses Tiamat to escape While Fredrick charges south to buy us some breathing room. And Tiamat arranges an enemy phase kill for herself while dropping off Chrom Leading to the end of turn. And Tiamat kills the enemy swordie on player phase for a level and misses both speed and magic. Now pairup and separate let me escape the enemies for another turn with the scrub squad Next turn I try using the same kinda strats to pull back, and heal Chrom but while I try to setup some enemy phase chip on the archer with Tiamat, I find that the difficulty of telling which tiles are forest tiles on this map have left me in the unfortunate position of having to rely on Miracle. I wish they hadn't let their artistic style hamper gameplay, as it would have been possible to use pairup and seperate to escape this situation if I could tell from the map which spaces where forest tiles and which weren't. I guess I will have to get into the habit of temporarily removing my ability to see unit stats from time to time to determine the actual forest spaces, which while inconvenient can be done. By the ever merciful bounty of Mother Mila, Miracle saves Lissa, and Fredrick one shots the hammer monster before it can one shot him. I then heal up Sully, as the only unit the boss can one shot is Lissa, so I am making my stand here this turn. Sully and Chrom chip the archer, and The achest of archers proves his worth. Thanks to healing Sully takes the boss hit. Then I pull back to get Fredrick even more Lissa heals him up for an alright level. Chrom can take the hit, and after some Fredrick chip, and Tiamat enemy phase chip and more Fredrick chip and some safety heal in case Chrom misses, and Tiamat has to finish the job but Chrom grabs the kill for a level that is again great, but I do wish I were seeing more speed levels. ...And somehow we return to the status quo (Ending Story Chapter 1) Spoiler Soloing on Lunatic without pairup... I literally do not believe that is possible at this stage So "???" goes all silent protagonist on us as Lissa starts fawning over "his" bravery, while her brother asks the question all of us are and "he" claims to be Marth. If this is FE1 Marth with the invincibility granting Falchion maybe the Lunatic soloing could make sense, but future events prove it is a far weaker version of the Falchion "he" is wielding. Lucina is such a history nerd for cosplaying as the Hero King. Sorry for spilling the beans early but there are only so many quotation marks I can handle. and Lucina feels the need to be mysterious by avoiding question, and adding an ominous premonition Lissa is annoyed she couldn't learn more about her mysterious savior and Fred bear despite his usual distrust is far less antagonist toward Lucina than Tiamat, but he does have other concerns on his mind. Its kinda weird that the capitol is so similarly named to the country, but I guess that isn't unheard of just unusual ...Wait is that the maiden again? Let me look it up...no this one has different eye color, as the maiden Chrom might marry has darker eyes like the one seen in prologue, despite the same outfit and blond hair. In the wise words of Freddles himself that is a load of pegasus dung, if nothing else the great quake should have been felt in Ylisstol with the extreme movements shown, and exposed lava. Now we get our first glimpse of the Exalt. With Plegia sending agents to antagonize Ylisse into war, this seems like a valid concern. If Plegia wanted war sending some agents to assassinate (or attempt to assassinate) the Exalt would have been very effective at driving Ylisse to war. ...Yet their father wage violent war. Seems a bit disingenuous to describe peace as the countries "most prized quality" Plus the first Exalt is famed for destroying the Fell Dragon, again not very peaceful. This is reminding me of "the purpose of all wars is peace" (other translation I have seen have it as "we go to war that we may have peace"), a Saint Augustine of Hippo quote about the just war theory that attempt to reconcile the idea of waging war with a religion that explicitly forbade killing. Again I am getting some major Christian overtones from this religious organization in charge of this Halidom. To be fair this Exalt is committed to peace and avoiding war, but with what little we know of its history, Ylisse as a country doesn't seem as devoted to peace. Then Lissa drops the bombshell that her and Chrom are royalty and Tiamat is rightfully stunned and Freddles utterly incredulous of Tiamats response. Again he is either calling his citizens sheep, or calling on some distinctly Christian imagery here. Or you know they are the kinda friends that tolerate some well meaning teasing. Oh Fred bear, never give up on that charming snark. Next we meet the Exalt in person. Again Chrom promises we are out of bandit chapters. I guess that just means they get replaced with Risen chapters doesn't it. Some pegasus knights to train would have been nice to have... I guess I see the logic in using them as bodyguards, as their flying mounts would let them easily spirit her out of danger. Freddles really was a lot of help. ...No of course not, but I suppose Tiamat must be introduced to Exalt at this point. I guess she did help about as much as Chrom, so she has earned her place as a Shepherd. That really is a funny way of spelling Fredrick. This is the first the Exalt has heard of Tiamat having amnesia, so this feels a little off, but Fredrick does raise some solid concerns. But Chrom, with all the trusting naivete of a Corrin already trust Tiamat. That seems to be enough for the Exalt, but she does have the sense and/or political acumen to encourage Fredrick's caution, and Freddles gets the praise he deserves. Good to see that even Chrom and Lissa recognize he is the one carrying the early part of this run. Now the question of what impact the Risen are having comes up. And it sounds like it is concerning enough to need Chrom's input in a war council to deal with these growing threats. and Lissa leads us away. With the support feature unlocked, I will end off this with the first support of the playthrough. But it was hard to run with your foot in your mouth (Support Chapter 1) Spoiler We have our first support of the playthrough Sorry Maiden, but this probably ensures you will never marry the prince. It starts with Tiamat diligently training and researching the arts of combat and war. Chrom has some rather good advice here, rest and relaxation are vital to prevent burnout, and maintaining a healthy balance between work and life. This clashes a little with the gameplay here, as I do have complete and utter control over when the next battle will break out, but its easy enough to ignore. That is very unhealthy, you need the energy that food gives both for battle, and intellectual pursuits (like the reading of history that started this support). Thanks for jinxing it for us Chrom. Good to see she has a healthy understanding of the value of rest in maintaining a healthy body. Oh no, Chrom stop, this is a bad idea... *face palm* You have earned everything that is coming to you Chrom. You are only digging that hole deeper... Its like watching a train wreck in motion. Yes it is. Then again I am not sure how this could come out right... Apparently not. Clearly you needed another- ...exactly He doesn't know when to stop... Oh Lord Duma, this boy is going to have to learn his lesson the hard way. Beating some sense into that emp- ...close enough. I know, who expected him to do something sensible after all that... Ouch. To be fair you learned about him being a prince, like less than a day ago. Next time we face off against an even harder chapter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eltosian Kadath Posted October 4, 2019 Author Share Posted October 4, 2019 Sorry for waiting so long to get this up, was a bit busy on the weekend, plus the last update was a bit of a hassle to get up due to the captcha trap. We come to care about our cast of characters (Opening Story Chapter 2) Spoiler Again there seems to be almost no down time between the chapters, as this one starts moments after the last with Lissa having led us to Shepherd headquarters. Here we meet the new recruits ...even one from a fair number of chapters in the future. I must admit, one thing Awakening does really well is making the characters distinct by the language they use when they talk, and make sure to establish the relationships between them. Well... I guess you have Miracle...but that is far more confident than you should be. Not to mention the apocalyptic cutscene that followed after. And now we meet Vaike. The goofball, the joker, the ...Teacher? more like his rusty axe (sorry couldn't help myself) I really like how much they joke around, and use that not only to show off their character's traits, but their relations. A lot of these games have to really lean on the support system to flesh out characters and the connections between them, but Awakening did a good job of incorporating that into the plot section. And now we meet Sumia, the pegasusless peg knight. Who has a massive ...cripplingly large crush on Chrom. ...I feel like we have stumbled into a high school romance with that kinda awkwardness. Tiamat is finally introduced as the Shepherd's fighting tactician (as opposed to Mark, the first player avatar of Fire Emblem, and non-combatant tactician). I guess magic and physical weapons is a neat trick, as the last time there was a mixed attacker was in Thracia. Well I guess Tiki could kinda act as a mixed attacker in New Mystery with the Magic Dragon Stone, but that is a little different, as dragon stones are kinda special weapons. I kinda wish I had a more magic focused avatar, but the speed boon was necessary to keep her alive. I like how they show Tiamat starting to integrate into the Shepherds by having her joke around with Vaike. While this emphasizes that Maribelle isn't really part of the Shepherd, and is in more that friend of a friend position. Yeah that's starting to move from gentle ribbing among friends to kinda mean. They are really emphasizing how prim and proper Maribelle likes things, and how that makes it hard for her to connect with people (even if she wants to). Sorry missed Sumia doing the anime trip over her nonexistent feet. Finally the story section gets to the plot. With an explanation for what Regna Ferox is. Calling them barbarians is an interesting touch, as it hints at events from the past. Sumia makes it clear that she both recognizes the negative connotation of calling them barbarians, but also that this is a common perception of Ylissians. Add to this the massive wall that is Regna Ferox's border, at first it made me think the Feroxi were in the habit of invading the "civilized" nations to the south, but as next chapter shows, the Feroxi are guarding that wall. This seems to hint that the "peace loving" Ylissians, and other "civilized" nations like Plegia probably invaded Regna Ferox in the past. Excusing conquest and exploitation through the guise of "civilizing" barbarians seems in line with the way Chrom's father had to justify his war for religious reasons. Than again I am still going off of memory for the details of what Chrom's father did, and it has been a while. Chrom has a far more practical appreciation of the Feroxi. A perfect excuse for gameplay. ...Oh Kellam, I forgot about you. You really blend in with the scenery. If I have to replay this chapter I will check the veracity of this claim. Its nice that they try to explain why you don't get everyone at once in the gameplay, even if they are tagging along in the story. Then we jump to a weird scene where they hastily introduce Stahl. In some ways I think this scene would have worked for another way to delay adding Stahl if he arrived next chapter. Poor Stahl gets overshadowed by Vaike and Lissa's comedy act. Poor Miriel barely gets name dropped immediately before being recruited. She really got the short end of the Awakening story introduction stick, but Stahl doesn't do much better. Time for a hard chapter. ...So that we are invested in their deaths when the Risen arrive. (Battle Chapter 2 ?) Spoiler Now for a Risen filler chapter. Than again maybe they will find a way to make this random Risen encounter relevant like they did with that first Bandit chapter. Its kinda silly that we have a weaponless unit but it is part of the trading tutorial. First things first, I use pair and separate strats to get Tiamat, Chrom, Lissa, and Sully into this defensive corner, with Fredrick positioning himself next to the mountains to add some extra safe space, while getting in some enemy phase chip. The rest hide in the starting area. Next turn Miriel arrives with a tutorial. She does seem to be the perfect character to force a tutorial on us. Next Fredrick finishes one of the Axe wielder with a bronze sword to save a Silver use (and to have 100 accuracy). Tiamat also trade switches Fredrick back to the SIlver Lance. This swordsman is particularly deadly as he has just enough speed to double (and kill) Tiamat. It can also randomly have the Patience skill giving him an extra 10 avoid/hit on player phase, which is annoying. Lunatic seems to be randomly adding lv 10 skills to enemies at this point, and resetting changes which units have skills. Soon Chrom will take position just south of her to hold the east. In a complicated maneuver, Vaike pairs with Miriel, she moves and trades him back his axe, and transfers him over to Lissa. Triggering this interaction to the trading tutorial, with him barely on the map. This is some of the early Miriel introduction, and makes it clear she is an overly verbose teacher/mother character. Now to hold the northern pass Sully blocks the open terrain, and Lissa drops Vaike onto this mountain to keep the Soldier from passin over them. He is being doubled by the Soldier, but with weapon triangle, the extra mountain defense, and his massive pool of health he can just barely take the hit. Then Stahl drops Virion into this safe area we have carved for ourselves. Speaking of Stahl he doesn't have the base speed to survive Lunatic. Everything on this map doubles and kills him, and he has no range to compensate. Sorry Stahl fans, but he probably wont see much use. With this mass of enemies pressing in from the east, its time to take the northern pass, and have Fredrick hold it. Sully starts by chipping the soldier Vaike injured. Then Virion chips in position to pass his exiler off to Fredrick and Tiamat uses her full move to finish it. Next Lissa gets Sully just enough health to let her take another hit just like that one for future turns. Fredrick nabs and uses Virion's elixer. Then everyone pulls out of enemy ranges with pairup and separate strats. This challenge is fairly merciless, and mentally taxing. Its nice that Fredrick is thinking about the players well being, but... ...autobattle is the worst idea ever for this mode and challenge. Autobattle is only safe on a Pheonix or Casual mode run, and even then it probably will still fail you on Lunatic and Lunatic+ At least they warn that it can be a bad idea to use autobattle. Virion starts by trying to get the ball rolling on clearing out some safe space south of the mountains with some chip. With Tiamat following suit, but misses Sully has just enough health to take a hit, but with the Tiamat miss there is no way I can finish the soldier this turn, and hold the northern pass with Fredrick (plus had some miss clicks with other units that wasted a few actions). Sully waits instead of attacking, and lets the forests to the south keep him from getting at my squishier units. Fredrick burns another elixer use to make sure he survives for the end of turn Note Vaike had to flee to the north to escape enemy ranges. Its time to finish the first half of this map. First Fredrick adds some chip to the Soldier to let someones else pick up the kill (even with the Sully dual attack that triggers). Speaking of kills Tiamat grabs one For a level that thankfully adds the one speed she needs not to be killed by the Mercenaries on this map. I let Virion grab the next kill. and Chrom grab the last. With that the first half if this map is done, and I will jump back in when I start dealing with the other half. Lissa grabs a bad level while healing people to full, and Chrom gets the first shiny spot for Now it is time to draw in the enemies ... or I have to go one space closer for some reason. With the rest of the enemies on the map charging our troops Fredrick holds a fort, while everyone else uses pairup and separate strats to pull far back. Fredrick gets an enemy phase level that at least gets more speed. Then Fredrick pulls out of the boss's range, and I try to get Chrom some enemy phase xp, but alas I use the damage Fredrick took from the Mercenary on enemy phase in my calculations, forgetting that he will take more damage off the fort leading to a reset. It would take about 4 more resets to get to the second half of the map next time (One reset due to a first turn crit kill on Fredrick from a Barbarian with gamble, two more with key misses that weren't survivable, and one where the AI behaved differently for indeterminable reasons, that thew me off), but end up falling to the boss, it would take even more resets before finally getting to that second half a third time for the win. Sorry for cutting things off with a loss, but I wanted to emphasize how difficult this map was, (and so I didn't have to recapture the in map dialogue every time). If there is any interest I could add the images from another failed run that fell to the boss as some bonus content, but next time I will finish this chapter off (hopefully I can get the update up by Sunday). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eltosian Kadath Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 Sorry about getting this out late, but I had internet troubles and was told it would get resolved until Monday. Third time's a charm for battle(Battle Chapter 2) Spoiler A shot of the illusive Kellam there in the far left side. Catching images of him feel like trying to get pics of Big Foot You may notice the place I dropped units off in the opening move is a little different, I was hoping that would reduce the chance of that Soldier going west instead of east. As you can see it didn't work, and this random move by the AI means I am not going to be able to kill it when we cross the other side of the mountain, so there will be a spare soldier I must deal with later. It also means a different formation here, as the soldier threaten an extra space south, and I don't have to ferry Vaike north to block the mountains. The rest of the strat is fairly similar, Fredrick holds the pass as the rest of the troops flee north, with an elixer use for health Although I drop people off in slightly different places to let Lissa heal Chrom (he took a hit from the extra Soldier). I conserved my Silver lance a bit more on this run, so I need to clear out a Brigand before blocking the Soldier with the help of the forest. Virion starts by chipi- or he can gets the Fredrick dual strike for a kill. Even without it the Brigand would have died, but having gotten it Miriel can start with some chip on the Soldier, and Lissa can use her healing to let Fredrick save an elixer use. The extra Soldier complicates things a bit here, as he heads south, and the enemies that attacked Fredrick to the north can cross the mountain, so I either need to kill both Soldiers, or find three non-Fredrick units the can take a Soldier hit, and reach the spaces to block up that path. Either way that first Soldier has to die and the positioning of Virion makes it clear I am shooting for the double kill. That extra hit on the rapier makes my accuracy a bit less shaky on the Chrom kill. Next I soften the uninjured one with both of the mages Then Sully drops him down low enough (and can takes the counter) So Vaike can finish him off. Funny how this emphasizes how necessary the mountain was in the previously shown run to letting him live a round against an enemy Soldier. Fredrick pulls back to block the path the enemies could take over the mountain, while still covering our rear, but he does end up using the elixer use I saved last turn. Fortunately Fredrick saved the kills for Tiamat to gain a level, and get that key point of speed that lets her live Mercenaries. Virion has to chip the one with mountain buffs and Chrom lucks into the kill. He could take the hit, and I have two other units that could finish it if he missed so I went for it. So that is the first phase done. Third time is the charm for this second phase. This time Tiamat claims the shiny for Now lets draw these enemies in, and both level enemy phase, for a great Chrom level, and ... well I guess defense is nice. Fredrick holds down the fort, while I pull the rest of the troops way back. Fredrick pulls back out of boss range, but with lucky misses I don't have to heal him, and Sully should be able to grab an enemy phase kill. Fredrick draw off some of the enemies while the bulk of our forces heads back into that defensive corner. With him enemy phasing the axe, I let him finish the Soldier with a Silver use, and we get both the dropped item tutorial, and a spare lance for Freddy. Things are looking dangerously tight for the rest of the army though. Stahl drags Vaike north to get us more room. I manage to get some healing on Sully in the hope that she can take a hit next turn, but I need to use pairup to find the space to keep Miriel safe. With my rule set, this is going to cost me key actions next turn. Fortunately the enemies heavily split their forces, so that crew only has to deal with one Mercenary Which Virion chipped for a rather meh level. and Tiamat finishes it, so Lissa starts healing her so she can survive an attempt to chip the boss, and get. a fine level off of the heal. Meanwhile Fredrick kills a soldier that took a SIlver on enemy phase, while getting in the face of another enemy. Finally Vaike rides with Stahl back to rest of the army, leaving the bosses too far away to threaten anyone. Next turn Fredrick chips the Bandit, and Vaike trade, pairs, and separates with Stahl in position To let Sully Reach 100% accuracyon the Bandit kill, ensuring she cannot miss and die. Speed is so critical, but I still wish it was a better level up. Everyone else keeps out of the boss's range to gank him next turn. Starting with Fredrick's Silver to deal over half his health, Then Chrom gets some key chip with the Rapier for 100% accuracy but crits for the kill. That was difficult, and I kinda wish I could have jumped strait to the second half of that after a reset, instead of having to hope I don't get too many misses or see an enemy crit before retrying. and lets us charm the Pegasi (Ending Story Chapter 2) Spoiler You said it Chrom, that was hard, and I am glad to be past it. I hope this isn't a sign of more Risen filler chapters, and is simply an excuse to explain the grinding maps. Then we meet a Pegasus, that is already wearing barding, and saddle. This has to be some Pegasus rider's mount, as it is all decked out for battle. The Pegasus doesn't appreciate Chrom's attempts to help her, and seeing as the Shepherds end up stealing her away from her previous owner (who to be fair might be deceased, as the Pegasus is injured) that makes her a rather clever Pegasus. Missed the anime pratfall again Chrom is being a bit hyperbolic here, whether that is just to protect Sumia, or indicating a fear or distrust of Pegasi is harder to say. Then Sumia reveals herself to be our first Pegasus rider. Plus all the weird gendered nonsense that a lot of the games attach to Pegasi helps a bit too. It is a bit strange that none of them question what happened to her rider, but I guess I shouldn't be looking a gift Pegasus in the mouth. Don't worry Chrom she arrives at the start of next chapter. Well at least until the shops, and infinitely respawning grindable encounters show up, then we have all the time in the world to faff about before the plot catches up. and fair maidens too (Support Chapter 2) Spoiler Now for the Supports, first the Fredrick and Tiamat C support With some training, where Tiamat is being told off for apparently being a rank amateur. ...yikes, those criticisms constitute better than her previous effort. Than again compared to the Fred bear Tiamat has a lot to learn. Again I like how they reference gameplay mechanics (her skill that boosts xp) as being a part of the world. Too bad it requires pairup to function so I don't get to see the benefit. Seems about right, the kinda thing that practically kills Tiamat doesn't even phase the Freddles. ... an ominous prediction, but the way things are going... Yeah Chrom needs him to carry through this section of the game. I mean he already promoted. I don't think Awakening tracks internal levels like Fates, but if it does I would be curious how much higer his level is supposed to be and he walked to school in the snow, up hill, both ways. ...That is a weird head cannon Tiamat was making there, although I guess pebble collecting does sound like the kinda thing some Fire Emblem units might do. Remember that famous quote from our good friend Smokey the Bear And that is why you don't eat a cultural icon famous for his PSAs ...this sounds suspiciously like the setup for an S support, but its a little early for that. Next we have the Fredrick and Virion C ...Fredrick, Virion is an archer, and only uses Bow. Even his reclass options do not use blades (although two of his promotion options can use them he is nowhere close to that) Thanks for cutting through the blather to get to your point. Do we ever hear more about this house Claive in the story? Ah so it was a dagger, with that not being a weapon in this game it would be more like a tool or ornament. Than again the Golden Dagger was a sword from his homeland. Is he about to give away his secret Valmian noble status early? ...Oh he slept with a young noble women, and was given this blade as the price to defend her "honor" if ever asked about it. ...That is generally not the kinda thing guys are proud about, you don't want to be known as a prema- Oh he is just saying it was a one night stand. ... more like incredulity. Jumping from one sugar momma to next. ...Except when you spill the beans with your friend Freddy, and he has the basic mental capacity to read between the lines. Or your friend Freddy can think you are full of - I guess his plan is to sleep his way into an army to reclaim his home. ...Freddy don't be a peeping tom. That is it for the supports. See you all next time for a map that took the least resets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eltosian Kadath Posted October 22, 2019 Author Share Posted October 22, 2019 Sorry for the delay, had the update mostly done a week ago, and my computer froze, and lost it. When the war grows cold (Opening Story Chapter 3) Spoiler We open on this adorable commentary on the cold. That seems to indicate that it is either winter, or there has been some severe climate change on the continent, as the map shows this to be on what was formerly the plains of Aurelis, and the only really arctic region we have seen before was far to the north east. F-F-Frebberick is a sweety isn't he. Also do we ever hear more about his horse, or find out her name, like Cherche's Wyvern Minerva? Here is where we learn that this great wall has been made to protect the Regna Ferox from the "civilized" nations to the south. All right, a great wall, and isolationism are giving me some heavy Chinese vibes, and with their rules called khans it make me think of the Yuan dynasty (which was founded by Mongol conquerors that kept their khan titles). They might be hinting at the fleet problems I vaguely remember from the Valm arc, as the Yuan's incompetence with regard to ocean going ships was a key reason their invasion of Japan failed twice due to timely typhoons (most of their fleet were incompetently converted river bound ships). There might be other parallels I am not remembering or don't recognize. I mean this is a fire emblem map, so hostilities are inevitable. Which is why Ylisse sent the Shepherds, a paramilitary group, instead of a diplomatic envoy. Being less sarcastic Emmeryn seems politically savvy enough to recognize that she might have trouble negotiating with the Feroxi for troops, and maintain her pacifist image. Ah the old WWI paradox, if the Feroxi mobilize the Shepherds have to mobilize as well or be overwhelmingly behind. Oh ever bountiful and merciful Mother Mila, the prep screen. Having this makes things so much easier, as we can trade, and pick the deployment locations. We transition to wars of words (Battle chapter 3) Spoiler This is the first have to bench anyone, and Stahl was the obvious choice, his speed is just too low to survive, and he has no two range option to avoid melee counters This conversation probably should have happened before they both deployed against eachother. It's nice to see Raimi has a strong understanding of the weapon triangle. With the Shepherds having prepared themselves for battle I can see why Raimi might doubt they are here for diplomacy. I am somewhat amused with us being mistaken for brigands, as a nod to how cliche brigand maps are. I like how they put Ylisseans in quotes to emphasize that intrigue is going on behind the scenes. I love how they use this joke to help build our understanding of the world. From it we learn first that Valm is a powerful country whose prestige is continent wide. Plus it makes me think of the classic Indiana Jones scene First I like this emphasizes how misguided the view of the Feroxi as barbarians is by emphasizing that they have an organized law code. Second it is interesting that this comes up enough for the border guard Raimi to know the penalty for this law off the top of her head. Meaning trial by combat. Historically a trial by combat was usually single combat, and originated from Germanic law codes, but Fire Emblem doesn't have to follow history. Plus the game needed an excuse to have combat with our allies. I think she knew what she was doing sending Chrom as an envoy. Chrom is a known warrior whose reputation wouldn't be undermined by combat, which she might have anticipated. Finally we can get- ...to a cutscene. As enemies launch Javelins from positions that don't exist on the map and Sumia swoops in to save the day. I do like how they show Chrom and Sumia paired up on the map, to explain how she saved him. Don't be looking a gift pegasus in the mouth Chrom. It was mostly cutscene power that saved you, but I am thankful for having a Pegasus Knight. That is kinda adorable, but also makes me think this pegasus might be kinda tsundere. Finally the map begi- ...With the pegasi tutorial It's an odd coincidence how every mount so far has been female (plus Cherche/Gerome's Wyvern is as well). I wonder if we ever learn her pegesus's name. I just wanted to emphasize how the enemy doesn't start aggroed on this map. Don't be getting too jealous now Tiamat. On a more serious note, it seems odd that the pairup tutorial comes as late as it does considering how vital they made it. Sorry Tiamat we wont be using those powers this run but that I will let pass, making pairup a more convenient version of rescue on this run, plus Back with the map, its time to bait the side with more archers After Fredrick chips I give Sumia her first kill (on one of those archers she was watching for. I think they expected Fredrick to claim the first key with him voicing the door key tutorial when it dropped. Next Chrom uses the effective damage bonus on the rapier to chip the Knight to give Tiamat the kill Then have Miriel trade tomes to exactly kill the Soldier Fredrick shipped enemy phase. Unfortunately to pull that off I had to put Miriel into the last archer's range, even if I surround him like I planned. Looking at the numbers I should have traded tomes from the perp screen, but then Vaike got a dual strike Which put that last archer into kill range with Virion claiming the kill, saving me a reset. With my only reset before being a quick check of enemy behavior to figure out what I wanted with my units starting position, this felt like a one and done. Lissa moves last and fills Fredrick's health. Fortunately there is a good choke point nice of it to point itself out to me there. Lissa starts getting Chrom back into a health range to use that rapier again in the future. This should draw that archer in close enough for Fredrick to stab him next turn, but first we have another tutorial. Seeing as all the maps before they start heading towards Regna Ferox happened within days of each other, the travel time between Ylisstol and the Longfort is effectively how long Tiamat has been a Shepherd. I feel like we have already had the support tutorial, but I guess they just unlocked the menu option before. I like how they explain supports as basically the power of friendship. Back with the map Virion starts to chip the Soldier protecting that archer ...or he gets the dual strike for the easy kill. I heal up Fredrick as he will be choking half the point this turn. Fredrick uses a precious Silver use to kill this archer faster Miriel and Tiamat trade tomes back for higher accuracy on Miriel's kill on the archer. Chrom trade switches Fredrick to save Silver uses. Thanks to that green Kellam tile, Fredrick and Tiamat can hold off the enemy safely. Fredrick chips the Soldier and gives Virion another kill. Next Miriel chips the Knight for a level that misses both speed and defense. Lissa finally gets Chrom healthy enough to choke the point which lets Tiamat pull back for the retaliation free Knight kill and an unfortunately bad level for what I have been using her for. I should probably start getting more sword rank to take advantage of that strength. Chrom then chokes the point And Fredrick sets up the kill and Lissa heals Chrom to keep him alive which proved unnecessary as he kills the last Mercenary for a speed level. Time to finally recruit Kellam Perhaps because you were using Kellam as part of a chokepoint just last turn ..Kellam has been in plain si- ... He has - well, you are now at least, even if you have been taking the jist of my lines. I really like how the Feroxi are coded to ignore him; its a nice touch how they integrated that story point (even if it is silly) into the gameplay. Plus it let me use the green Kellam choke point. Kellam has enough defense to sometimes survive hits despite his unfixable speed. There might be times he sees some use, as when using pairup and separate, his lower movement is massively mitigated. With the southern section cleared I will jump to A solid Lissa healing level she gets preparing for the next section and Tiamat getting the first shiny for an item no one has the ranks to use. At least it was free... Time to finally open the door with Chrom's rapier at the ready (note the marked range is an enemy hammer). ...That only aggros one unit? Is this game about to let me trivialize this by baiting enemies one at a time into a one square choke point? Miriel then sets up the one damage Sumia kill. Lissa heals Chrom back up before I try baiting the next enemies out. Hopefully this doesn't set off the whole beehive, as Sully is baiting in a Mercenary. ...Oh well, at least I have a solid choke point, but once again it isn't safe until I deal with another threat. In this case either the two archers or the hammer. I pull back and let Fredrick chip the Merc some more enemy phase. My plan is the strike as this Hammer breaks through the choke point, and hold it with Fred Bear. I bungle things a little in the retreat, as Fredrick could use a heal, and Lissa can't take a Merc hit. So Lissa has to use Chrom's movement to heal him. Unfortunately I can't let anyone other than Fredrick take the enemy phase kill with that Archer in the picture. At least Fredrick gets a great level out of it. Now it is time to strike. Kellam passes his Javelin off to Fredrick, as he makes the first strike Miriel couldn't safely make her strike, but at least she lets Vaike get some extra accuracy on his. Then Sumia claims the first kill of the assault and her first level is amazing. She is going to be useful, if she can just get the levels need to take a hit. Lissa gets an amazing healing level getting Fredrick backing in fighting shape. Now that he is healthy, Fred Bear Javelins the hammer, while blocking up the choke point (while capable of countering the archer). Next Chrom and Virion whittle down its hit points further and Virion gets a good level for once. Finally Tiamat finishes him with a hammer. That was a tense section. There were a lot of hit rates in the 70s and 80s (even a 69), and I could not afford a miss. We are out of the woods now. ...That is a lot of damage to Freddles. Ok time to back up so that next turn my range units can use 3 spaces to turn the space in front of him into a killing field, and then finish off that archer in melee. But first healing. Now I start with Virion and he gets the Fredrick dual strike for the kill. Unfortunately the Archer got blocked, but he needs to die, hence Fredrick crippling him with the Javelin to finish him enemy phase. Finally the Archers are gone so someone other than Fredrick can hold the point. He gets a bit of chip in with a Javelin But with Virion returning the favor of a dual strike, so Tiamat gets the certain kill. Chrom gets ready to enemy phase chip with the rapier for effective damage. My original plan is to kill with the hammer on Vaike, but looking at the accuracy, it just isn't safe, so time for plan two. Unfortunately two of my main units who can take a hit had to move to set this up (as Tiamat got the hammer as an enemy drop earlier) But first plan 1.5 as this is a long shot. Virion gets a little extra chip, but he doesn't get the dual strike, so I will have to setup a unit to tank. Sully gets healed by Lissa, but she still needs that extra one hp, so she uses a vulnerary. It missed anyway, so I let Miriel get the kill from the safety of range. With that done the only thing left is the boss, so I will jump to The other shiny space for some free xp. The boss has a crit rate, which frightens me enough to enemy phase with Tiamat (as with both support partners near, she doesn't have to face that). It has been a while since the enemy boss quote has been intelligible, but it does fit with the philosophy that would bring this battle about. Tiamat also gets a solid level out of this, with both speed, magic, and skill (which is getting worryingly low for her level). Thanks to Tiamats position, Fredrick has the crit avoid to chip her safely. Now it is time to heal up Tiamat. Lissa gets an amazing level off of the heal (despite missing speed). But Tiamat still needs a Vulnerary to get into safe range. These strats would lead to victory eventually, but a stroke of luck ends things prematurely, as Tiamat gets both a crit, and dual stike to Claim an early - ...or not so early victory. The lack of resets made it feel early Which never seems to sway the hidebound (Ending Story Chapter 3) Spoiler That seems a bit unlikely as fire emblem Brigands tend to have more axe wielders, and less mounts. ...Seeing how massive the stats are on the enemy Brigands we faced, I can only assume she is complimenting my tactics here. Than again it would be funny to see this dialogue show on a goofball run that used the autobattle feature to win. Seems she is going to be a bit of a recurring character, which does bring up a bit of an elephant in the room, the way this battle is non-fatal to the enemies. Awakening did handle this idea a bit better than Fates did for a few reasons. First there is the sense that both parties are in on this being a non-lethal battle for the Feroxi (this battle is about convincing the Feroxi of Chrom's identity, and you can't convince the dead). Second the Feroxi are supposed to become allies, and are not already bitter enemies. Finally the idea hasn't overstayed its welcome, as it is only this chapter and the next (from my vague recollections of Awakening). Seems Freddy is falling into that whole Barbarian warrior culture stereotype, which seems consistent with the stereotypes of the Feroxi that Ylissians are stated to have. An alternative theory is that Raimi recognizing Chrom as a prince is treating him with the deference due his station. If the Feroxi were as strength obsessed as stated, they probably would have tested the defense of a nation led by a pacifist leader for their perceived lack of strength. I have always found it telling how the origin of the word barbarian shows how discriminatory it has always been. The word comes from ancient greek slang for those that didn't speak greek, as they all sounded like they were making unintelligible sounds like "bar bar" ...sigh, I was kinda beginning to like you Fredrick, but this is getting to be kinda close minded. I going to take this figuratively and agree, lets get out of here, before my like of these characters freezes over. On a positive note, with the wireless features arrival, so does the option to grind. That it is an option is as merciful as Mother Mila, but with the difficulty level bleeding into the grindable encounters, it shall be as much a testament to Lord Duma. But Porn seems to permeat all cultures (Supports Chapter 3) Spoiler Lets start with the Chrom/Tiamat B support. I should probably think about pairings, but I do not know if I will be able to pull any of the children out of the level deficit they will inevitably start with. The generic barracks in the background kinda harms the presentation here, as we will see where it takes place is an important part of the support But the shouting does make the important point that the characters are distant enough that communication is difficult. ...Not even close to what she said, and steam should probablyly key him into what is going on (and ideally the game should SHOW US THE STEAM, not simply state it is there). Chrom is apparently one of the moronically clueless harem anime protagonists Chrom's blushing and stammering is kinda adorable, but the situation is moronic. ...Chrom knew it was a bathing tent, and charged in anyway? Maybe he is a pervy eechi protagonist instead of the clueless harem kind... ...Knowing this took place in the women's bathing tent makes me doubt that. Also before it goes away, just wanted to say the Tiamat blush is adorable as well and compliments the previous Chrom one. Your excuse better be good Chrom. That's it? Why is this so pressing that you needed to barge into the middle of your tactician's bath? This is so contrived. At least he has the common courtesy to apologize this time. Let's ...sigh Hopefully the Lissa Chrom support is more wholesome and less moronic. I feel you Lissa. At least they got a bit of the sibling snark right. Duh, although imposter syndrome is common enough that I see where this is going. I like how they portray their sibling relationship, this snarky joking hits the right notes. He totally did, but when your sibling leave themselves open like that, how can you not poke fun. Poor Lissa, those are some solid self doubts she is facing thanks to her successful siblings (and she can't see her own value from inside her own self loathing). Who ever wrote this must have a sibling, as this insulting affirmation of her value is spot on. Now if only they could find someone that has spoken to women before to write the Chrom/Tiamat support. His elaboration is both succinct and sufficient. # Yep definitely sibling, with that classic half enemy, half friend mixture. But that self doubt beneath the surface is kinda sad to see. Finally a Freddles and Chrom support You don't have to take on everything by yourself... Oh who am I kidding, he practically does one Lunatic. Chrom, workaholic behavior isn't healthy, and shouldn't be encouraged. Perhaps this is crunch culture from the games industry seeping into their work... I wouldn't have expected Fredrick to have such a solid fashion sense, but with blue as the player's color this is for the best. I seem to remember Fredrick more being an Oifey, but if he turns out more like a Jaigen this could be them setting up a great gameplay/story moment with him burning out after overuse. I am tempted to call this karma, but am also a little weirded out by how obsessed these supports are with nakedness. I guess they have to setup those supports somehow. I am tempted to just put an image from a simple "Chrom Wants You" google search, but those would probably break whatever lewd content rules this site has. ...That's sexual harassment. Yeah, you cut the gay subtext here with a knife. I guess Fredrick wants everyone to have Chrom images in their - Good luck Chrom. Than again the internet isn't around yet, so you have a chance. I think I will have to add a section for a quick report on grinding. The only images I have from the grinding is the stats page from those that gained levels, and supports earned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eltosian Kadath Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 This has been dead for a while. My last computer died when I had an update for this chapter almost complete, and while I had the images for this chapter backed up online, I didn't for the next chapter, which I had already completed. Now I have been rotating this game between two saves so I was able to go back and complete the next chapter a second time for more images, but the whole process was very disheartening, and I got distracted by other things. Fortunately for this LP, the two main reasons I started this never really went away, first finding this game unmemorable enough that I wanted to get a better understanding of it through analysis, and being curious about the hypothetically completable run of a Lunatic difficulty, effectively no pairup run. Plus multiple things have come up that reminded me that I wanted to start this LP up again, although it will probably be updated at a slower pace than I tried for before, as I have other things (LPs included) that I want to do. The toilsome cost of grinding (Grinding and Supports Chapter 4) Spoiler So the first grinding session was against a group of thieves that parked themselves on the shop that gives out the first round of tonics. All the thieves have capped speed, so defense was the more important than speed for once. Only Fredbear and Kellem were able to take a full round of combat against a thief, and unfortunately there was an undead of some sort that was less speedy, but could one round Kellum. Freddles did most of the work, but I managed to feed a few kills to people on enemy phase by killing after taking the first hit, or nabbing one from range. I also earned a speed wing, which I have no idea how I will use. By far the most important thing is Freddy and Chrom got just enough speed that "Marth" no longer doubles them, and I can access the tonic shop. Here are the stat pages from everyone that gained any levels from that map battle and we even got a pair of supports out of it. She missed her chance on the chapter proper, but here comes her first support on the grinding map. Youch, the poor girl is playing messenger for her rival in love. ...I think one of the writers had a typo, as clumsiness is Sumia's personality quirk. I hope this isn't me just projecting, but it feels like there has already been a workaholic warning in earlier supports. Is this an underlying theme I have never noticed in the piece? I suppose the marriage/support mechanics could be a way of hinting at a way of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Was there major crunch on this project that some of the writers felt the need to vent in some of these supports? Now they emphasize that finding this work-life balance isn't just a personal problem for Chrom. I know I keep mentioning it, but soul crushing levels of crunch is so ubiquitous in the video game industry that its hard not to see these as warning about the dangers of crunch. Of course she spins him acting normal as him doing something special for her. She is crushing so hard on him. The only one carrying extra burdens on this run is Fredrick. Silly Chrom, Fredrick isn't the commander, either you or Tiamat are. You have shown plenty of weakness, but when/if Fredrick does, that is when we will be in trouble ...uh oh, is this one of those we have a (pointless) secret which makes us closer sorta subplots starting up here. I mean her first scene involved her worrying about you Chrom. She is a little obsessed with you in that way. At least she isn't as overt or over the top about it as Faye. ...well this is Lunatic, so like two battles without healing is too much for every non-Fredrick at this point. Is Fredrick invisible to these people? ...this game is so anime that even half remembered knowledge of the tropes made this a bit of an obvious move. Wait why is she bring up a Fredrick joke here... is she projecting the actions and mannerism of Fredrick onto Chrom or something. I guess that would explain why she thinks Chrom is so great, she sees Fredrick and somehow thinks of Chrom. On the one hand I want to reprimand her being a Morgana, but rest and relaxation is an important part of maintaining a healthy work-life balance, which keeps coming up in these supports, so I will let it pass. Just look at that smile, she would love to tell Tiamat that Chrom is blowing her off. Fairly weak blackmail, but it works as weird flirtatious banter in a slightly creepy way. Little over the top there Sumia. ...Oh blessed Naga, he likes this slightly stalkery attention doesn't he... Now for the other support I unlocked Funny that it starts with just Miri- AHHHhhhh... oh, its just a Kellam. Honestly if you aren't staring at that guy he just disappears. See she gets the old Kellam jokes. Its fun to have someone play it so straight. I do like Miriel's curiosity, and I get the feeling she is a bit underappreciated by many fan of this game Alright you are killing the joke a little Mirirel. Lamp-shading is rarely as good of writing as people act, and beating a dead horse with a lampshade is even worse. To be fair this is a literary trope that is well established, and in normal situations probably would be a good explanation. Ouch, that is harsh. Nice to see one of these creepy "romantic" moments treated as such. Well... that has got to be somebody's kink. If you say so... ...What can I say, I kinda like history (Opening Story Chapter 4) Spoiler Its a shame they didn't remember about Alm's Falchion, as there should be another... I have already mentioned how naming the leaders khan is clearly meant to evoke the Mongol Empire (or at least one of the states it split into during succession), but I want to emphasize a bit about why I think evoking this idea was a bit clever. Just like the way the Ylisseans treat the Feroxi, the Mongols have the reputation of barbarians despite a lot of indication of progress and civilization.They united the largest land empire in history, ushering in a staggering era of peace, and progress along the silk road, often called the Pax Mongolica, and were famous for having a lot of religious tolerance, and meritocracy for the time. On the other hand they were brutally destructive against those that resisted their conquest, with the Western Xia so thoroughly and systematically destroyed that little evidence for their entire civilization is left, the population of modern Iran dropped so low that it didn't fully recover until the mid 20th century (to be fair the black death didn't help their recovery any), and the House of Wisdom, the great library of Baghdad, which was the greatest repository of the knowledge created and accumulated in the Islamic golden age, was so thoroughly destroyed by the Mongols, that it was said that the Tigris ran black with ink of the books, and red with the blood of the scholars. Although now I am reminded of the Romans, a civilization just as warlike, but without that baggage of supposed barbarism. One of the main reasons why is the requirement for military service and expertise in the advancement of Roman politics, with the lowliest elected position requiring 10 years of military service to be eligible for. I am particularly reminded of an anecdote about Gaius Flaminius from the second Punic war, where he was too afraid of being bogged down by Roman politics that he left to lead the armies before even the official rituals that would confirm his consulship. This comments feels especially silly, as war is politics. A state does not commit the kind of resources needed for battle without a political motivation. This moment of sexism from Tiamat feels especially flat with a female avatar. Although the Chrom-Tiamat support makes Chrom's surprise at the Khan's gender entirely believable. Sorry for how much into history I am getting with this, but I see both the empires I have mentioned hinted at here, not only is the East-West split in Rome Empire that came into being during the third century crisis, but also the way Ghengis Khan split his empire into khanates for each of his sons with Ogedai as the heir for the empire as a whole. Admittedly the East and West Feroxi have more the feel of the Mongol version, as the two Khanates have one overall ruler, whereas the East-West split were more independent. I wish there was a different line if someone died in the previous chapter, but I doubt it. At least a quick check on the main site shows no mention of a variable line here So many questions. What did these bandits do to impersonate Ylisseans? Why would they have damning evidence proving they are Plegians on their person? Why couldn't the Ylissians give raiding forces forged, or stolen documents "proving" they were Plegians to push the Feroxi towards friendlier relations with Ylisse? The obvious answer is to prevent an alliance like this from happening (or forging one of their own), or if its actually Ylisseans like postulated above, help create an alliance. I like to read this as a moment where IS makes clear that they are moving past the basic bad word censorship of old. RIP Dastard, your venerable and lovable use to disguise bad language in Fire Emblem games will be missed. I do kinda like this little moment where it seems like this whole thing was a waste of time, and the heroes are on their own, but... ...Then why aren't the heroes talking to whoever does have that authority? Its interesting that the overall leader of the Feroxi (I will call them the Great Khan until the game gives me a better term), has a term of office. I wonder how the East and West Khan are chosen... If Flavia weren't taking advantage of the situation to coerce Chrom into making her the Great Khan, she might have bothered to introduce us to the West Khan who could have granted him the alliance he needs... Now that is a bit dense of Chrom, what she is hinting at is fairly clear (although admittedly contrived to make a FE map happen...), but I guess she is going to have to spell it out for him. That Flavia doesn't know/use Raimi's name is kinda sad. I guess her time being relevant to the story is at an end. Ok, I guess Chrom had a reason for being so dense, as using foreign intervention to gain the throne would have some serious consequences to it, if it weren't for their strange system for deciding government. Now I do see some of the logic here, presumably it started out as a way to show military proficiency without the full scale destruction of a civil war. As the need for military expertise became less necessary (perhaps due to the success of the great wall in deterring their "civilized" neighbors to the south from invading) the concerns about avoiding blood feuds, and lost kinsmen became a greater concern(although it was so entrenched in tradition that it remained as the means of deciding the Great Khan). Additionally the shift to using outsiders made it more about judging the ability and character of foreigners, and how effectively a Khan could negotiate to secure the support of the most skilled warriors, making it more a test of their ability to exert their will in foreign affairs. Then again, I think this does emphasize that having Chrom be her champion is a dangerous precedence to make, which justifies Chrom's reaction a bit. Well, really the Plegians, as the Risen are simply for filler chapters, random battles, and being entirely pointless and out of place. I guess we did need to have a battle somehow... Them pointing out that this might be fatal feels especially weird considering that I know his opponent will survive this duel Well seeing as this is Lunatic, she is going to be far superior to everyone (while she is an enemy at least). The dramatic irony here being that Lucina would have secured the alliance for Ylisse without Chrom. Its one of those nice and subtle ways that they reinforce that central and defining theme of the piece, that fate is inescapable (but alas it ultimately gets abandoned in the end to force a happy ending down everyone's throats, but that is a long time to come...) skip 2 The problem with the soft numbers... (Battle Chapter 4) Spoiler Now for an important bit of prep luck, an Anna managed to supply the tonic shop with one of the best things it could have an HP tonic, and together with a defense tonic, fielding Sumia isn't suicide. The small number of deployment slots makes the numbers on this chapter a bit tight, as I only barely have the actions I need every turn. Sorry Lissa, I spoiled that it was going to be "Marth"/Lucina a bit before the story shows up. Well at least this "sword talking" takes place in cutscene land where nobody gets hurt. I do kinda like how they really mirror eachother in this passing clash, to emphasize the similarity between their techniques Although the Aether flip thing is kinda ridiculous... In some ways good advice, but the way they are timed to approach us that isn't much of an option In many ways this chapter is rather frustrating, as I don't have the extra actions to spare on being less aggressive with almost any of my moves and the hard numbers are so tight, that I can't afford a miss unless it gets compensated for with an unlikely dual strike (like Tiamat will squander here for the kill). The accuracies I am seeing this chapter aren't terrible, but with so many 80s to 90s you are bound to see a miss in there at some point (or Naga forbid a single digit crit), so I had a few resets, and getting the extra hit from attacking adjacent (not to mention chance to dual strike) to allies became a critical part of my tactics throughout this chapter. Fortunately, due to the enemies going for damage over survival we get some enemy phase chip on the mages I kinda regret how much of this is Sumia setting up kills instead of getting them, but the hard numbers are just too tight to budge so easily. Also the Miriel level is excellent. Fredrick gets in position for his effective damage enemy phase hit so Tiamat can reach 100 hit on this attack. I also want to point out that these guy's crit can be boosted by randomly having the focus skill On the one hand she managed to miss both Magic and Defense, but its so hard to complain when you proc everything else... That should let me deal effective damage to both of the armored knights coming in Fredrick even nabs the enemy phase kill Unfortunately Tiamat has to stay in enemy phase next turn to grab this kill, but that should be enough to keep her alive. Unfortunately the enemy will be getting a free attack on enemy phase thanks to the 1-2 range these jerks have, but Fredrick can take it, and it should buy me some time to deal with him. Chrom manages to get this solid level on the enemy phase dual attack but "Marth"'s advance has threatened me into retreating but first I have to take out the one that Fredrick distracted # The strength is really nice for her (also unlike most attacks, Fredrick has the extra action to grab the kill if she had missed) Tiamat heals up enough to grab some more enemy phase chip while fleeing this last axeman. Lissa gets a solid levelup out of the healing as well. Fortunately everyone else can pair-seperate out of enemy range. Another dual strike keeps me from having to repeat that same basic tactic for a second turn, which leaves just "Marth" I heal Fredrick, so even if "Marth" crits it wont be fatal as he chips with the carefully preserved Silver Lance. To be fair I do have an easy way of cheesing my way into getting another with the bonus box teams. Seeing as my next two attacks are going to be ranged attacks that she can't counter, I may be breaking that promise a bit, but I wanted to chip her enough for Chrom to get the final strike ...sigh, Tiamat never gets the kinda levels I want does she. Oh well, that strength is nice, on the ocassions I use a physical weapon. and then Miriel ruins the Chrom kill plan thanks to a Fredrick attack stance. Honestly I should have played that a little safer and had Fredrick chip on enemy phase so he could grab the kill in an emergency, but all is well that ends well. Better left for the external materials, only people too invested to care will find(Ending Story Chapter 4) Spoiler Seeing as Lucina's whole trunks plan involves saving Emmeryn (for now) those troops were never really in doubt. This vague statement makes me wonder how long Flavia and Basilio have been the East and West khan, and by extens- Oh right, we haven't actually meet Basilio yet That sounds so antagonistic, for someone I remember as a fairly solid ally. Then again a big part of the reason I began (and continued) this LP is due to how little I feel like I remember of this game. I mean you did, we just had better teamwork, and the power to retry until things stopped going wrong... I love how dismissive Basilio is about "Marth", it literally made me laugh. I seem to remember there being some kinda outside material indicating that what really took down Lon'qu was him realizing "Marth" was a girl due to an accidental boob brush... Seeing as everyone is still using male pronouns and masculine names, I guess that makes Basilio Bi. Too bad he is a straight only Robin-sexual in the gameplay department. Also he is apparantly supposed to be old, I guess. I am giving Lissa a pass on the FE incest jokes under the Star Wars exception. Definitely, but also secretly your niece, so reign it in girl. It's kinda cute to see Chrom get kinda defensive and awkward about his sister's sexual attraction to the mysterious young stranger that saved her. Feddy is clearly sick of this high-school romance drama, and he is right, this isn't a support where we can tediously faff about, but the story section, where stuff should happen. A free killer sword, you shouldn't have. Also Lon'qu. Of course the killer sword myrmidon has to be a stoic killer. Combination of his gynophobia and accident anime boob touch...with how dumb that looks written down, it is probably a good thing that got cut from the actual game, and had to be saved for some cringy external material. Lon'qu looks big and strong? Did they not have the character concept down before writing this? I mean he's not a tiny wimp, but big and strong are not his defining character traits... To be fair his gynophobia is a unique character trait to distinguish him from the likes of Navarre, but is also a little dumb. This makes it sounds like Khan isn't an inherited title, but some form of appointed, or elected one... ...So a single warrior is all we are getting out of this alliance? From a gameplay perspective that seems fair, but that sounds out right ridiculous in all other contexts. ...cringe.... I do like that they show us moving to where the next bit of story takes place. Fortunately they keep the recap sho- before we are cut off with an invasion! Time for the Plegian arc to really get going I like that they introduced Maribelle before she became so plot relevant, as it makes this feel a bit more personal for the player, to give you an appreciation for the personal stakes for Lissa (and Chrom...maybe?) This has the ridiculous feel of people claiming Trump had his election stolen, after all of the blatant voter disenfranchisement the Republicans attempted before the election... The man has clearly done nothing bit lie to you (OK, OK, I will stop with the Trump is Gangrel jokes...sorry, its still so close to the election...) Also I can't help but appreciate being wrong about dastard being gone. Chrom's hotheadedness is getting the better of him, as stabbing Gangrel in the gut will get him the war he wants, and it will drag the continent into a very bloody war of vengeance. Think back on WWI and its simple start as the assassination of the heir of the Austro-Hungarian empire... You do need to show the Plegians that there are consequences to actions like this, but it can't be something that would create such a justified war. Even using Maribelle's rescue as a justification for an invasion would be less disastrous than assassinating the Plegian monarch. I think this is the first mention of their father's war on Plegia, although they are still trying to lie to us about how peaceful Ylisse is, by framing it in an ambiguous way where it sounds like Ylisse might have been the defenders. While parley makes me think of pirates, checking the definition, it is the perfect word for the situation. I said I would stop with the Gangrel Trump jokes, but it is so hard when they are giving me such low hanging fruit... They really are trapped between a rock and a hard place. Forfeit the life of someone you care about, or force your entire nation to endure the horrors of war that you doubt they will survive. The utilitarian in me sees this as an obvious choice of let the girl die, but personal connections are a powerful thing that shouldn't be so callously disregarded either. Emmeryn is starting to sound like Revelation Corrin with all of this third path talk ...The Corrin vibes are really growing with how easily everyone jumps on board with the impossible plan... at least the story isn't forcibly designed to have her always succeed... Seeing as I will be doing the gaiden next chapter (not to mention probably another grinding map of some sort), all this talk of going to the western border ends up especially silly. This might have worked better just before next map instead of at the end of this one... ...and yet he is still old enough to join the Shepards? Wait, how old is Ricken? How icked should I be when this kid inevitably gets paired up for sex with an older woman? Pretending that he has been left behind to "protect" the garrison is down right insulting to his intelligence, and drives him to reckless action he will take...two maps from now. Fortunately I get access to the random free boons from the barracks, and gain access to a less ridiculously difficult form of grinding Reaching social maturity, after physical maturity (Supports Chapter 4) Spoiler Now for the two Tiamat supports I unlocked, first The awkward romantic subplot with Fredrick ...That sounds incredibly dumb. What does Fredrick expect Tiamat to do about this? I kinda like how Tiamat is waxing nostalgic over that night camping out in the woods (and was too distracted to actually notice Fredrick not eating the meat). That is an apocalypse scenario there. Well, I guess the Shepards are a small enough paramilitary organization that Bear meat might be a feasible way to feed them for a noticable period of time, but Bears are not common enough to be used to feed an entire army. And Fredrick needs Tiamat to help with this training...somehow? This is incredibly weird. As that famous saying goes an army marches on its stomach... I guess Tiamat will be a good motivator...yeah I still do not see how Tiamat will really be helping in this strange training... ...Wow I never knew Fredrick thought so poorly of Tiamat... ...sigh... Its interesting to note that the domesticated farm animals in Archanea are the same as our own. Its a small thing, but I like seeing these little details fleshing out the world. You kinda deserved that after the remakes you made about Tiamat there. I am starting to wonder if they are implying Fredrick has some issues with identifying basic social standards and cue, as he also didn't seem to understand the issue with putting out naked images of Chrom, and even in the last Tiamat-Fredrick support he second guessed his ability to understand the figurative nature of the clear hyperbole she was using. Yeah it wasn't just an awkward lie designed to spend time with you...instead it was an awkward truth used to spend time with you... Alright time to move onto the first Tiamat and Lissa support. ...Why do I have the bad feeling this will move onto childish prank territory, like dipping Tiamat's hand into warm water.... I guess that is a bit less gross than I was assuming. Altough, waking Tiamat up from desperately needed sleep sounds unnecessarily cruel, especially after all the don't work yourself to the bone warnings we got in the Chrom-Sumia support from earlier. Actually Risen riding wolves would have been an interesting enemy type to face... Lissa is such a child... What is so funny about having a nightmare about Risen? Well Wolves and Risen.... I feel like this support would work better if it was the Lissa-Chrom support, or possibly even Maribelle-Lissa support, where they might be hearkening back to the interactions and dynamics of their childhood relationship. ...Oof. That moved into a tragic direction. That was a surprisingly understanding and mature response, given the overwhelming childish responses we have seen from her so far. This makes it feel like Lissa is being manipulative throughout this support, looking for some way to mitigate the consequences of her actions... ...Lissa is supposed to be an adult right? Who doodles in someone else's book like that? This feels like it took place in Middle School, or Elementary School (or possibly even High School, but it feels immature even for that setting) with her doodling in Tiamat's textbook... ...What a monster... Tiamat shouldn't be giving her this much of a pass. Tiamat should be gentle in her response, but Lissa should help in replacing the book she destroyed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punished Dayni Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Spoiler 1 hour ago, Eltosian Kadath said: Youch, the poor girl is playing messenger for her rival in love. I was thinking Cordelia reading this forgetting Tiamat was the name for this Robin. And then thought it was like she was trying to shut Cordelia out. 1 hour ago, Eltosian Kadath said: Just look at that smile, she would love to tell Tiamat that Chrom is blowing her off. See why I thought that? 1 hour ago, Eltosian Kadath said: and then Miriel ruins the Chrom kill plan thanks to a Fredrick attack stance. Honestly I should have played that a little safer and had Fredrick chip on enemy phase so he could grab the kill in an emergency, but Would trading Frederick's weapons away have helped? 1 hour ago, Eltosian Kadath said: I seem to remember there being some kinda outside material indicating that what really took down Lon'qu was him realizing "Marth" was a girl due to an accidental boob brush... Ah yes, that material. How canon are the 4komas? 1 hour ago, Eltosian Kadath said: Seeing as everyone is still using male pronouns and masculine names, I guess that makes Basilio Bi. Too bad he is a straight only Robin-sexual in the gameplay department. Also he is apparantly supposed to be old, I guess. He's probably joking. That doesn't mean he isn't bi, just clarifying. I'm still disappointed the game didn't utilise the S rank support with Flavia that was coded for. 1 hour ago, Eltosian Kadath said: I am giving Lissa a pass on the FE incest jokes under the Star Wars exception. Ah yes, that old rule. 1 hour ago, Eltosian Kadath said: To be fair his gynophobia is a unique character trait to distinguish him from the likes of Navarre, but is also a little dumb. It doesn't even distinguish him from Navarre, just takes him to the next level. 1 hour ago, Eltosian Kadath said: This makes it sounds like Khan isn't an inherited title, but some form of appointed, or elected one... And from what we know about Regna Ferox is true. I don't think we hear about the election of either Basilio or Flavia though. 1 hour ago, Eltosian Kadath said: This has the ridiculous feel of people claiming Trump had his election stolen, after all of the blatant voter disenfranchisement the Republicans attempted before the election... The man has clearly done nothing bit lie to you (OK, OK, I will stop with the Trump is Gangrel jokes...sorry, its still so close to the election...) I mean, the comparison makes sense, it's close to the election, I don't blame you. At least Gangrel gave half of a shit more about the people than Trump did. 1 hour ago, Eltosian Kadath said: They really are trapped between a rock and a hard place. Forfeit the life of someone you care about, or force your entire nation to endure the horrors of war that you doubt they will survive. The utilitarian in me sees this as an obvious choice of let the girl die, but personal connections are a powerful thing that shouldn't be so callously disregarded either. And that last point does fit with the theming about the bonds you forge that this game will keep using. 1 hour ago, Eltosian Kadath said: Pretending that he has been left behind to "protect" the garrison is down right insulting to his intelligence, and drives him to reckless action he will take...two maps from now. So Donnel first? Ouch. 1 hour ago, Eltosian Kadath said: Actually Risen riding wolves would have been an interesting enemy type to face... That would have been cool, though the Risen themselves seem to have limited intellect isn't there risen on horses? Or wyverns? Point being Wolf riders could have been cool and the hypothetical Gothic FE should use it. Sorry for not responding up to now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eltosian Kadath Posted December 17, 2020 Author Share Posted December 17, 2020 Responses Spoiler On 11/16/2020 at 3:33 AM, Dayni said: And then thought it was like she was trying to shut Cordelia out. On 11/16/2020 at 3:33 AM, Dayni said: See why I thought that? About the only thing I remember about Cordelia is she is a peg knight with a "perfect" gimmick, so I guess I will have to see their dynamic again for myself. On 11/16/2020 at 3:33 AM, Dayni said: Ah yes, that material. How canon are the 4komas? I...don't know. On 11/16/2020 at 3:33 AM, Dayni said: I'm still disappointed the game didn't utilise the S rank support with Flavia that was coded for. Is that why I remember them being able to marry. I even had to edit out some commentary I made about that after some quick fact checking.... On 11/16/2020 at 3:33 AM, Dayni said: It doesn't even distinguish him from Navarre, just takes him to the next level. Perhaps you are right; I always got more of a cringey white knight kinda vibe with how Navarre acted around women, which seems like a different direction (although it might not be depeding on your perspective...). On 11/16/2020 at 3:33 AM, Dayni said: At least Gangrel gave half of a shit more about the people than Trump did. Shots fired (but you are not wrong...) On 11/16/2020 at 3:33 AM, Dayni said: And that last point does fit with the theming about the bonds you forge that this game will keep using. From what I remember, that theme gets heavily carried by the gameplay, until near the very end, where it becomes a heavy focus of the story. Although this does show that it shows up in smaller ways throughout...I may want to keep a closer eye out for that sorta thing... On 11/16/2020 at 3:33 AM, Dayni said: So Donnel first? Ouch. The longer I put off the introduction of both ambush spawns, and Wyvern knights, the better. Plus I wanted to have the rescue staff in reserve, in case I needed it to save Ricken and Maribelle. On 11/16/2020 at 3:33 AM, Dayni said: That would have been cool, though the Risen themselves seem to have limited intellect isn't there risen on horses? Or wyverns? Referencing the old "leaks" about FE16 having a gothic horror themed game with vampires? I was willing to try it out, and with how effectively Three Houses managed to burn me out, I suspect I would have ended up enjoying that gimmick better... On 11/16/2020 at 3:33 AM, Dayni said: Sorry for not responding up to now. No worries, I have been rather slow to update it as well. It just takes a lot of effort to write about this game, even if the gameplay challenge I have made is rather interesting. Greasing the wheels of fate (Grinding and Supports Paralogue 1) Spoiler Now for a quick review of the grinding. Now that I have access to the free DLC map, I played that to grind this time, as it is less frustratingly difficult then the random encounters. The big thing was trying to get Sumia into a state where she can function without being drugged up on tonics, although Miriel got a level while chipping, and Fredrick is close to his next one as well. Also got two supports from it, first Miriel and Tiamat This is putting an image into my head of her carrying a pile of books that is stacked to above her head. Or I guess simply papers piled high, as Tiamat is somehow shocked that she was carrying a book (despite it being one of the most in character thing for her to be carrying). Also before I forget, the mention of herbs makes me think that the game is hinting that spell-casting requires spell components, which might explain why you can run out of book uses... With how she is acting it seems to be a personal journal, although when journal was first said, I thought of a research journal. Using the word lodestar like that is being a bit obtuse. To be fair, I know the word thanks to Marth's class arbitrarily being named lodestar, it means north star, and she is using the way the north star was used in navigation as metaphor. Seems I was right about the journal twice, both personal, and a research journal. I wonder if they mean because of its age, or simply that it was not professionally bound... Miriel,Tiamat is clearly just trying to find out more about you. It might just be the whole Fredrick talk from last time, but this sounds like she isn't understanding some basic social cues. Assuming they care about the person, and want some kind of friendly relationship with them. This is really making me think about the idea of the mechanical learning of social norms by rout... Maybe you are right, it is just one support, and the idea of the nerdy character being awkward in social situations is a bit of a cliche... Well onto the next one with Lissa and Fredrick. Starting out with Lissa seeking out her support partner again. Why do I get the feeling she is up to some mischief. Fredrick failing to understand a basic figure of speak, where describing the face is used as a metaphor for describing a facial expression. I just can't unsee this.... This kind of activity is getting mentioned regularly enough that I am starting to think it is a bit of an obsession for Fredrick. Whether to view it as part of the recurring warning against workaholic behavior, or another piece of evidence that Fredrick might be on the spectrum. That sounds like trouble in the making. Fredrick, even in the game that most uses damsels in distress (FE3...) there were still plenty of princesses who didn't need someone to save them. Lissa is one of the units that has always been useful, and she doesn't need more protecting than the majority of our units so far... That is another way of putting it... This is sounding a bit like the premise of an Elise support. They do have fairly different personalities, but they really are in similar roles...I guess I will have to see how this plays out, and I guess it would be more on Fate's writing than Awakenings if they seem too similar. You have been holding your own, you just fit a different role from everyone else... A be careful what you wish for line if ever there was one. Well that was the Fredrick and Lissa support, now onto the last, a Sumia Fredrick support Why is that surprising, I though Fredrick was always up early doing som- Again with the weapon inspection... Now that is starting to encroach on the don't work yourself to death sorta themes that keep coming up. I wonder if she is going to try and get him to relax like she did with Chrom. Fredrick, you have taken on far greater of a burden in this run, than Chrom is even capable of... ...Don't work yourself to death yet Fredrick.... Alright that is getting into the mean territory. The birds were certainly nesting there before Chrom setup camp, perhaps Chrom even wanted to be woken by the songs of those birds that you scared off.... Yeah this is getting a little repetitive... That is kinda charming, despite my previous cynicism, this is heading in a different direction from the Chrom version, and instead she is seeing the best in Fre- ...of course she has to make it all about Chrom. Now this is a nice change of pace. She is showing a bit of self awareness about one of her major cliches, seeing the positive side of it, but still wanting to change for the better. ...On some level I doubt it, but I suspect she is the first person to put it so bluntly, and sincerely that Fredrick properly identified it. I was working on that by grinding Sumia up in particular. I rather liked the Sumia side of that support (even if the Fredrick side was a little dull...) The Property of Chrom (Opening Story Paralogue 1) Spoiler Now that is a goofy face to start this story off with Seems the plot wont wait for an explanation, its just going to whip us around wherever it needs to go Speaking of which, Chrom did kinda promise we were done with those kinda maps. Sure its an optional one, but it has not been that long since he said it... Talk about damning the feudal system of the world with a single word. Chattel, used to describe people as property. This isn't him talking about slaves either, but serfdom. This story section is really whipping all over the place tonally, from terrified human property, to screaming banditry... This seems really out of character for Chrom. Why is he letting this vicious bandit go? Especially when the next map objective is rout, where we leave nothing alive... This sorta fear does not seem warranted from what we know of Chrom, which makes me think of two things, first that the society Chrom supports is horrifyingly oppressive (which was hinted at by calling them chattel), alternatively this may be a holdover from the actions of his father. Either one is a bad look for Ylisse... Huh, it would be interesting to see people shift from Donnel to Donny as his support with them grows. I kinda regret not making him a part of the team (although I might end up grinding a child out of him latter in the game...) Awww...he thinks that is actual swears. Once again Awakening does a good job at adding some characterization through their use of word choice. Oh wow, are they hinting at the bandits taking the villagers as slaves after shying away from Knorda Market being a slave market in FE11... Seems Donny is a bit of a mama's boy. It also sounds like his dad is already dead, and he has no living siblings by the way he said that... They probably should have waited for the war to actually start before this side chapter, if the story is going to blame it on the war... Alright, time to sta- Or see what happened to the bandit Chrom inexplicably let go... The local religion (presumably the Ylissean religion) having Saints is giving me some distinctly Catholic vibes now. I know he is joking, but the idea of sainted mothers has to come from somewhere. That is a fair point, and makes me think this should be a chapter without death, as the enemies intent is capture...but this is before Seeing as its Lunatic, that is probably accurate, but hopefully Fredrick (and my own tactics) can keep him from having the opportunity. Seeing as there are two chests that the bandits will try to loot themselves, that makes it clear that she is lying through her teeth... Nice to see the bandits have the same view of Ylisse's citizens as the Shepherds...(for slight clarification bleating is the word for the sound that sheep make...) Moving onto cows now. What barnyard animal will they think of next? skip1 ... looks like poor Donny lost his father recently. I am a bit tempted to joke about Fire Emblem and dead fathers, but having a canonically alive mother is a lot better than most Fire Emblem characters get. Did Roddrick just imply that Donnel's mom has brass balls? Woah...that is a lot darker than I would expect. Then again after the heavy hints of Ylissean society being horrifyingly bad for the peasantry, and slavery from the bandits, perhaps it is in line with the rather strange tone of this chapter. ...I must admit all this emphasis on Donnel's child like nature makes me feel uncomfortable about the fact that he might become a father at such a young age...or gutted in front of his mother at such a young age... At first I though they might be using the word stuck as a way to justify his use of a polearm in combat, but a bit more digging into the origin of the phrase, its about sticking the pig with a knife. That Chrom is so awkward and uncomfortable after this exchange is interesting. Is he uncomfortable about the class differences between them, and the way it informs how he views violence as natural? Is he uncomfortable about Donnel being forced into fighting at such a young age? I do kinda like how they emphasize that he is an Est even in the story. The way they describe Donnel makes it clear that villager is effectively a trainee class, although having to get to level 10, and use a second seal to get out of it is kinda cruel. Also this kinda implies all the characters we get had to second seal out of their own version of trainee classes, prior to us getting them. I think it would be similar to a lancereaver, as the hooking of the axehead is often seen as the justification for the WTA against lances, and the hooking of the sickle blade would probably work similarly, but alas Awakening doesn't have WT reversing weapons. Also this makes it sound like Villager should wield swords. That is a massive understatement in Lunatic mode... skip 2 All right lets do what we can to recruit this scrub. ...I probably should have remembered to grab a shot of the initial deployment location, but I guess that would go in the gameplay section anyway, speaking of which Controlling the Ranges with Crafty Lures (Battle Paralogue 1) Spoiler Well I did catch images of the important tonic use, and random stat buffs for this map Lon'qu gets a defense tonic to let him survive even if the enemy hits. Fredrick gets a defense tonic as well to help him deal with the amount of punishment he has to take to get away with the treasure... Sumia is going to be using this to get some key early kills The random magic boost on the two magic attacks was fortuitous (and the defense on Tiamat is nothing to sniff at either) And with that out of the way its time to- get some more Donny lines. I mean you will, but that is fine. Its nice of them to spell this out directly. Now onto the map, and lets start this mess. Fun fact I actually had to complete this chapter twice due to losing the images from it when my old computer died, but fortunately I still remembered how my opening worked, and I completed it the second time without any extra resets needed. by putting that Sumia strength tonic to use ensuring this archer dies, which nets her a solid level as well. More strength would be nice, but those are a lot of good stats. That silver lance is almost gone, but one shotting a thief is well worth it, as they double everything. Plus the extra defense and speed are nice for what he is about to be doing. Those magic buffs are really helping here, although I only needed one of them for this kill. If neither got it I would have had to trade over the killing edge just for the extra raw might... Here is our position end of turn one, with Lon'qu getting some enemy phase killing edge chip, and Chrom drawing in another one. Fortunately both of these are melee only... Tiamat earns this level by getting a dual strike with Chrom, and I can't help but feel that she might be a little stat screwed...I guess defense is nice to get but... Thanks to the dual strike, that set him up perfectly for this Sumia kill. Note that without the defense tonic Lon'qu was risking death enemy phase...despite that being a low hit rate, I have seen him die to this attack. Fortunately this jerk is still equipped with his melee only weapon to make killing him easier. Thanks to the higher might on the steel axe, dropping Virion here convinces this jerk to also stay with the melee only weapon to maximize damage, while avoiding counter attacks. I am not certain exactly how the AI works, but this is covering enough bases to work... as this archer went for Miriel to maximize its damage output, which resulted in it taking the highest damage it could enemy phase, which makes it look like the AI only cares about damaging us... Its hard to complain about her getting the best offensive stat boosts she could... Now for a big play, thanks to terrain penalties, Fredrick pairs with Chrom to get dropped even further ahead than he could possibly reach on his own. I have him equipped with a javelin to get some counters in, although it will result in him having to tank even more damage to WTD, but he needs to rush over to stop the thieves from raiding all that precious loot. I almost forgot to grab an image of Virion chipping the guy that attacked him, but that heal should suffice to keep him alive, as I am blocking him from attacking at 1 range (or getting at Lissa) with Lon'qu (he didn't attack to prevent the possible death from him being hit twice...) and the damage drop from using the short axe should keep Virion alive. He ends up going for the short axe hit on Tiamat instead. Thank goodness for that bonus defense boost. Fortunately Tiamat still chips him which put him in Miriel's kill range. She needed that recovery... This turn is all about preparing for next turn. I was hoping for one of them to attack either Lon'qu, or Chrom, but alas they all still pile on Fredrick. And with the last use of the Silver Lance, the thief is dead, and the treasure is safe (with the door open). Now its time to clear out the survivors of Fredrick's charge. At least he got speed. Miriel has been at critical health for a while. At this point I have gotten used to level-ups being mostly terrible on this run... The thief may double, but he should die before the second attack. With the last thief suiciding on Tiamat, Fredrick comes back and heals, although after that thief hit, Tiamat needs some healing, so That should work. Hopefully this bandit will let Tiamat chip him (and his short axe), but even if Fredrick did I could still feed the kill to Sumia. This separate maneuver should get Donnel in position to secure his recruitment next turn, as I am drawing in the archer from maximum range And with him surrounded Donnel can just wail on him until he gets the required level. Unfortunately he needed the kill for it. A nice enough level, but there is no way I am babying him through this difficulty. We are at a point of transition. Now before moving onto the next section lets healup, and get an OK piece of random loot. Getting the weapon ranks for it will be an absolute pain, but it should be excellent against the staggeringly dangerous wyverns to come. They don't take the bait here. It must be some kind of linked AI situation, which makes things a lot more complicated. I have to find a way to survive a 1-2 range enemy, and a hammer, so I can't just take it with Fredrick. This might work, Chrom has an extremely high avoid thanks to being adjacent to everyone that has a support being adjacent, and WTA, plus the squishier troop adjacent just might lure the short axe one into moving deeper in, preventing the steel axe from killing Chrom. Now I should be able to chip away at him from range or she can crit for the kill. To be fair 18% is a fairly high crit rate. ...and despite how good the level looks, she still misses speed...and defense... After a dodge Lissa can heal up Sumia instead of her brother. And with that we have cleared this little section, and we are ready for the next one. I will start by dealing with the ranged threats. Oh, and before I forget, I start grabbing the loot with those chest keys that were dropped. Tiamat gets a lucky block on enemy phase, and while I consider this attack, instead I go for the slightly safer option of letting this happen enemy phase. Now Miriel can grab the kill him, and after more looting Miriel levels enemy phase and its excellent. Dealing with this enemy phase is overly cautious, but still technically safer, but after the kill Lissa levels healing Miriel. This is the last mobile enemy to deal with, but before that Tiamat grabs the last shiny zone, which gets her sword rank out of the terrible E rank. And with that only the boss remains. Having him start with a Silver equipped gives me an opportunity to get some free range attacks in. From what I can tell, the Shepherds were fairly used to fighting bandits, so this sounds kinda silly... After this Tiamat can chip it into ki- ...or Fredrick can get a dual strike for the kill. ...why are your level-ups so bad Virion. Bows are about to become vital, despite how bad the archer class is, and your terrible level-ups are not helping anything... So ends the repeated chapter. Don't say his name...(Ending Story Paralogue 1) Spoiler Well this band at least. ...not really, but I plan on trying to keep everyone alive. Seeing as the bandits threatened him with death that seems fair. Is Donnel's mom supposed to have taken a knee, or mid curtsy, or something here? ...This statement defies reality so much.... Don't fake me out like this game, I got him a level, he should be my newe- Good. Even getting him relationship points is going to be tricky, but it might be worth the effort. ...How is that relevant? Is he going to be the one taking care all of the mounts from here on out, or are we leading a herd of cattle as a source of supplies for our army, or something? Seeing as her boy is offering to go to a war (that hasn't technically been declared yet...) that sorta reaction seems very warranted. ..the hick grammar here is getting a little hard to decipher, but that makes it clearer, and the poor boy is blinded by a sense of duty, or greater purpose. That poor mom. Chrom is so willing to employ a child soldier like Donnel... That is some fairly desperate straights, when Donny is the kinda soldier we need. She doesn't want to crush her boy's self esteem, but... One of the better reactions to Awakening's story. How old is Donnel supposed to be? Is this another "technically an "adult"" situation... I kinda wish they had Donnel showing some kinda emotions in his face sprite here. Its especially weird when the NPC is showing a far wider range of emotions in her face... That makes it sound like Donnel's mom is going to defend the town. I guess she would have to after her husband died attacking those bandits...and the bandits did imply she had brass balls.... Donnel is a sweet kid. At least he can express some joy. Also what would bringing home some glory even mean? That is a sobering comment to end this story segment off with. Although it does feel rather odd that neither of them are talking about Donnel's father that must have died rather recently. It feels really weird that there is no commentary about them mourning him, or Donnel feeling like he got revenge against his father's murder, or even just mentioning him. There is more than one way to skin a man (Supports Paralogue 1) Spoiler Time for the two notable supports we have gained, first This incredibly awkward support continues. Give me a moment to get that clip I used before ready, as I will almost certainly need it again. I am surprised you never had to deal with that kind of embarrassment after Fredrick plastered naked pictures of you all over camp...also its hard not to look at the language they decided to use, and not think of the euphemisms they always use to joke about ED... Talking about it after clearing his head isn't the worst idea for trying to solve this issue. Although its kinda obvious to see where this support is going... Tiamat, that is Fredrick's overused cliche... How do you mistake the bathing tent for a storage tent. I know from the last support that they heat the water until it steams up, which must require some mechanism, or support staff that should give away what this tent actually is... That is a bit of a subdued reaction to someone bursting in on you while bathing... That is right, you really should be the one screaming here. Or even reacting at all. Why is this making me think Chrom may be a bit of an exhibitionist... Unless Chrom is being a lot more aggressive with exhibitionism than is made apparent in the dialogue, this violence is completely unwarranted. Seeing as we just saw the other side of this sort of interaction, it also emphasizes a bit of a double standard here... Have YOU no shame Tiamat? You just walked in on someone bathing, not the other way around...like last time... He should wear a towel...WHILE taking a bath...the amount of stupid in this one support is just...just...There is NOTHING stopping you from just leaving.... ...alright its time. Too much stupid has occurred to prevent this At least sense returned before the support ends. I kinda see where he is coming from with that logic, but its kinda undermined by the clear double standard shown here... ...sigh. That is probably the best approach towards getting this back to something that even resembles normal... Talking about actual injuries that occur, kinda undermines the comedy of the slapstick. The violence is only funny when there are no consequences to it... Yeah this just comes across as a little creepy... ...as long as nobody else knows...yikes...this is whole support just feels so...slimy... ...unsavory past... yeah this whole support is just putting a bad taste in my mouth, especially when its forced on the avatar character. ...unfortunately there is another part to this support due to gender...sigh.... Alright, hopefully the next one is more palatable This has a nice little in medias res feel, with Fredrick covering for the hiding Virion. And cleverly reveals that Virion has some severe debts from what is presumable a fairly dangerous loan shark. This makes me think Virion is squandering fists fulls of money on massive parties, or something equally debaucherous. Although on the other hand, he might be intentionally hinting at that excuse, as he has other concerns that could require vaste sums of money as well... I assume Fredrick is hinting that he offered to loan the Shepherds money, and Freddy's rejection (not to mention Virion's reaction) just reinforces the notion that this mysterious debt collector is a loan shark. I don't think that is quite as odd as Fredrick is hinting, unless one or both of them were unreasonable antagonistic. It could easily be a simple part of buisiness for the loan shark, and not something as personal as Fredrick thinks. Plus, an organization like the Shepherds might need the kind of money it implies Virion borrowed, not to mention the individual nobles that are a part of the organization. Well that is a narcissistic view on it. Rather fitting for Virion really. Probably both Fredrick... I wonder if Fredrick actually meant that as an insult. I rather like how easily they made that smile of Fredrick come across as creepily ominous with Virion's reactions. Fredrick certainly has the means to pull off that kind of threat. Thankfully this was a far more normal support, and with that I am dpne with this chapter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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