Your favorite paralogue, story-wise?

[pekingduck]

I am curious about which of the Three Houses paralogues have stood the test of time (or a couple of months) for you guys. For me, in first place is Lysithea and Ferdinand's paralogue, "Retribution." This paralogue works for me on multiple levels. For one, I just really enjoyed that this paralogue got into the some Fodlan history for some good world-building and lore-filling. Ferdinand and Lysithea's family backstories were both worked in pretty well into the story. Secondly, for me, it did a great job making Lord Arundel a slightly more nasty antagonist, nasty in the bureaucratic, efficient way that I love to hate, rather than cartoonishly evil. As Ferdinand is one of my favorite characters in the game, I wanted to punch Arundel in the face for Ferdinand after that. Thirdly, the level is pretty tragically engaging at a personal level, of course; the Japanese VA for Ferdinand does a wonderful scream when he

Spoiler

hears the news of his Father's death.

I also found the level pretty fun and low-stress. I actually did not mind the re-used map in this one. It wasn't hard, but I had some fun playing around with unit movements to save the commoners and bottleneck the large amount of enemy units.

My second favorite paralogue is probably Edelgard's version of the Fodlan's Locket paralogue, "Insurmountable." I just really enjoyed battling Nader as the Black Eagles. Third favorites are the Saint-related paralogues, "The Sleeping Sand Legend" and "Legend of The Lake" because of the neat boss conversations that happen if Seteth and Flayn were brought to the battle.

[Faellin]

The Ashe / Rhea one hit me really hard with the ending.

 

Having it revealed that Ashe's adoptive father figure was basically sent out to die by the western church. to cover up their own mess Really felt bad for Ashe after that.

[DragonFlames]

I liked the Petra/Bernadetta one, because it made it seem like Byleth, Petra and Bernadetta are something like a "Power Trio" (which was actually the case in my BE playthroughs). It also provides some nice character development for the both of them and some insight into the relationship between Brigid and Adrestia.

[Wuzzy]

I quite like Hilda/Cyril's paralogue, both story and gameplay wise it's pretty interesting and it shows you a decent amount about the Almyrans and why they keep invading Fodlan. Also interesting to see Cyril's relationship with Almyra and a bit on his life in the Goneril house.

Leonie and Linhardt is also pretty interesting story wise but kind of hellish gameplay wise honestly.

[Heir of Dragons and Beasts]

Marianne's it kind of reveals her past and of Maurice's past it also show's Marianne's "resolve".

[Dillthepill]

For the story it was Ingrid/Dorothea. I liked the girls sticking up for each other.

For gameplay it was Hilda. That’s a great map. I’m surprised they didn’t recycle it 100 times.

[Etrurian emperor]

Caspar and Mercedes has some great potential but sadly I haven't reached that point yet. 

I quite liked the paralogue of Ignatz and Raphael. It expanded the lore of the Alliance and Raphael's backstory. It gave us our first hint that count Gloucester is a scumbag dragging civilians into his private feuds and it was the first time I experienced Rapheal as something other than ''food food training food training food food training and more food''. He came off as quite the kind guy.

The saint related missions were quite nice too. They expanded the lore somewhat and can get interesting if you bring two certain characters. 

[Xylaugheon Daily]

In terms of story, I really appreciated Death Toll (Raphael and Ignatz) for a few reasons. Firstly, these two having a paralogue makes the most sense, besides maybe the Catherine and Ashe one. There are a few that have pairings I found strange (Mercedes and Caspar, Petra and Bernadetta, Ingrid and Dorothea) where it didn't make sense to force these characters together.

 

You also find an answer to Raphael's subplot. It's always satisfying to find out hidden truths, though this is equally measured by the reveal. Showing the fractured nature of the Alliance and the politics at play was brilliant here. There are so many moving parts. It ties together three of our students houses while showing the power struggles at play and how the nobility are treating the commoners.

 

This is a bit of a weak point, but we DO get SOME depth to Raphael. He makes a relatively profound statement and even shows while he might be forthcoming about what happened, it doesn't mean the memory is one that doesn't cause him distress. It's really too bad we don't get more of this from Raphael. He could have benefitted from some nuance.

 

If we talk about gameplay, slot of them are some of the better maps in Three Houses, but that says more about the games poor quality in that department. That said, I really did appreciate Legend of the Lake.

 

I understand fog of war isn't everyone's favorite mechanic, but I've always enjoyed how it drastically affects the approach to a map. Now, my experience with this paralogue is somewhat unique in that my first time playing it was on my non-NG+ Maddening playthrough. It actually gave me my second Game Over screen of that playthrough, though a big part of that is how the description of Quick Riposte is misleading.

 

So, we've got ambush style reinforcements from three different locations, fog, and a giant, tanky af boss with a broken skill combination. It was really fun and challenging. It really showed my ability to adapt as well as learn. My second attempt was a total dominance of the map.

Edited October 1, 2019 by Xylaugheon Daily

[De Geso]

From a story perspective, so far, I've really liked:

Marianne's, because I like how it shows in greater detail what her deal is with respect to her Crest and how that has shaped her life.

Ashe and Catherine's, because it showed the resolution of Ashe's mini-arc about Lonato.

Flayn and Seteth's, because it gives the player a lot of information about who they are and lets him speculate about their connection to Byleth and Rhea.

[Brave Lance]

Story: War for the Weak (Dedue). It's nice to see a paralogue actually affect the main story again, and in general I find the Tragedy of Duscur and the history of Faerghus to be more interesting than anything else in the game.

Gameplay: Rumored Nuptials (Ingrid/Dorothea). As lava maps go, this is one of the better ones, especially since fliers can actually hover this time. It has a good amount of difficulty, but as long as Ingrid is a pegasus knight, you can play it kind of like a stealth map, trying not to trigger enemy AI so she can sneak through. It's probably a concept that's been utilized before, but I just have fun with this map.

[Gregster101]

I enjoy Dedue's paralogue, Raphael and Ignatz's paraluge, Dorothea and Ingrid's paralogue, and Catherine and Ashe's paralogue quite a bit.

[eclipse]

Alois/Shamir shows a nice slice of life in the eyes of the church knights.  Rather than being some faceless entity, they're right in the thick of everyday Fodlan.

Though having a bunch of flying pirates sucks. . .

Edited October 1, 2019 by eclipse

[Jingle Jangle]

My favorite paralogue is the one with Flayn and Seteth. For showing their lives before the monastery, more details about the Western Church, and showing a place outside the church that's not another battleground.

[DefyingFates]

I love Ashe/ Catherine's Paralogue for what it does for the former, as well as for unlocking one of my favourite Support chains. It does so much to flesh out both of them (and Lonato/ Christophe's pasts)!

[Xylaugheon Daily]

1 hour ago, Brave Lance said:

Story: War for the Weak (Dedue). It's nice to see a paralogue actually affect the main story again, and in general I find the Tragedy of Duscur and the history of Faerghus to be more interesting than anything else in the game.

See, I really wanted to enjoy this paralogue, for the same reasons, but it didn't feel nearly as believable as it should have. It was not given the attention it deserved. Ultimately, I was actually kind of unsatisfied by it, though a portion of that was building it up in my head before playing it.

[Harumaki]

The Face Beneath (Caspar/Mercie), I love how bittersweet it is with the ending and it made me like Caspar, not to mention the rewards are great and I love the map as well.

Some honorable mentions would be Darkness Beneath the Earth for some of the same reasons above and just because listening to Hubert's voice is always a bonus, Silver Maiden

Spoiler

despite bolting Hanneman and assassin Manuela being the bane of my existence, seeing them again without recruiting them is pretty interesting

and Weathervanes of Fódlan just because I love exploring more of the relation between Gilbert and Annette.

[Anathaco]

Felix: Seeing more of the relationship between him and Rodrigue is always nice

Ferdinand/Lysithea: Gave some nice insight into the politics of Fodlan and some nice drama for Ferdinand:

Dedue: I really liked the premise of it, and I enjoyed seeing Dedue interact with some other Duscur survivors

[CyberNinja]

Weathervane of Fodlan, Silver Maiden, The Face Beneath, and Felix's paralogue were all rather interesting to me. The last one especially since when I first played, I never really had a good read on Felix or if he was just an edgy boy, the paralogue actually gave me the first hint there was more to him than just the edgy fire emblem swordmaster dude.

[Escape the Fate]

On 10/1/2019 at 2:13 PM, Harumaki said:

The Face Beneath (Caspar/Mercie), I love how bittersweet it is with the ending and it made me like Caspar, not to mention the rewards are great and I love the map as well.

Some honorable mentions would be Darkness Beneath the Earth for some of the same reasons above and just because listening to Hubert's voice is always a bonus, Silver Maiden

  Hide contents

despite bolting Hanneman and assassin Manuela being the bane of my existence, seeing them again without recruiting them is pretty interesting

and Weathervanes of Fódlan just because I love exploring more of the relation between Gilbert and Annette.

Considering the Kingdom liberation happened hilariously quick in Azure Moon, part of me believes Silver Maiden should’ve been a chapter rather than a paralogue.

Also agree with Death Toll, made my opinion on Raph flip from “lol meme character” to “I’m recruiting him every BL run because I’d feel horrible about killing him”. A shame he didn’t get more depth outside it.

[Fabulously Olivier]

I haven't done some of the paralogues, but I would say that story wise, my favorite is probably Marianne's. She's an excellent character and this paralogue really fleshes out her story and Fodlan. My least favorite is Darkness Beneath the Earth. Because it doesn't really do anything for anyone involved, and rescuing TWSITD feels wrong.

 

Gameplay wise, my favorite is probably Lorenz's paralogue. It was just difficult enough to keep me engaged, felt like a true defensive mission for the first few turns, and didn't have obnoxious rush objectives. My least favorite is The Face Beneath, because it's literally impossible to beat if you benched Caspar and Mercedes. Even the infamous Manuela rescue can easily be cheesed with Rescue or a flying unit, but this one puts two fragile units on the opposite side of a huge map, and the enemies will reach them within a few turns.

[Xylaugheon Daily]

13 minutes ago, Etheus said:

I haven't done some of the paralogues, but I would say that story wise, my favorite is probably Marianne's. She's an excellent character and this paralogue really fleshes out her story and Fodlan. My least favorite is Darkness Beneath the Earth. Because it doesn't really do anything for anyone involved, and rescuing TWSITD feels wrong.

 

Gameplay wise, my favorite is probably Lorenz's paralogue. It was just difficult enough to keep me engaged, felt like a true defensive mission for the first few turns, and didn't have obnoxious rush objectives. My least favorite is The Face Beneath, because it's literally impossible to beat if you benched Caspar and Mercedes. Even the infamous Manuela rescue can easily be cheesed with Rescue or a flying unit, but this one puts two fragile units on the opposite side of a huge map, and the enemies will reach them within a few turns.

I didn't use them and only struggled a little when the reinforcements showed up. Though, I've yet to try it on Maddening, so I'm sure you could make the case then.

[FoxyGrandpa]

I liked Claude's paralogue since it was one of the few chapters to feature yellow units, though its a shame they didn't contribute more. 

 Felix's paralogue was cool too since you were helping his father in a middle of the battle, but saving the villagers was annoying. I liked the conversation between him and his father at the end too.

The demonic beast paralogues felt uniquely, especially Sothis's paralogue since you had a limited amount of divine pulses, were separated from the rest of your units,, and this was fairly early in the game so you were underleveled. Marianne's paralogue was similarly intense, but the fog of war mechanics annoyed me a lot.

[Relag]

Dorothea and Ingrid's paralogue is excellent. You ever meet a man so bad that you have to immediately take the quickest route away from him, even if that means going through an active volcano?

Wonderful storytelling through game mechanics right there.

[Faustino]

I really loved Marianne’s paralogue because it reveals her past and what the deal is with her Crest. Plus she’s an amazing character.

I also like Felix’s paralogue just cuz of the interactions between him and his old man.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

I like the lore offered by the Claude paralogue, and the Leonie-Linhardt paralogue. Their bosses also presented unique challenges.

In terms of character development, I like Ignatz-Raphael. It really shows the dynamic between the two, and kind of casts a shadow on both of their behaviors.