Incorporating the other Lords into Part 1

[Jotari]

So I'm sure I'm not the only one who came to the conclusion that the lords whom you're not following in each route are seriously underdeveloped as characters. Edelgard's betrayal comes right out of nowhere in Verdant Wind. Dimitri's ghost appearance in Silver Snow is downright random. Who even is Claude in any route that isn't his own and even in Blue Lions the bare minimum is done to establish Edelgard as a major character. These characters all hang around in the monastery and you can get dialogue from them, but aside from the two mock battles and some very rare isolated scenes, they might as well not exist until Part 2 by which point it's pay off time without any set up. They really should have done more to actually include the other lords in the story of Part 1. Even if you just force deploy them for a single chapter like Mission Assistance characters I think it would help. Dimitri and Claude definitely should have had a presence on the battlefield in the last chapter of Part 1. They're right there in the FMV. Discuss.

Edited January 6, 2020 by Jotari

[Reality]

I agree they need more, because it does seem like the game is trying to push the idea that even though you are the professor of your chosen house you still teach some classes to students from all three houses (like the other profs) do, even if in actual gameplay there is a disconnect (and you probbabbly don't even talk to most of non-house students during explore).

[Silver-Haired Maiden]

There are a few chapters where Claude and Edelgard could have been deployed alongside your own students as representatives of their classes. The first one that comes to mind is the chapter where Jeralt bites it. Why wouldn't they deploy their force against an incursion of Demonic beasts when student's lives are at stake? Of course chapter 12 would be a good option for Claude and Dimitri on non CF routes. Also fighting Kostas could be a good option as the Church was obviously super ticked that he was in Zanado. The biggest thing I think is just giving them more presence in the conversations that go on.

[Geenoble]

On 1/7/2020 at 1:44 AM, Silver-Haired Maiden said:

There are a few chapters where Claude and Edelgard could have been deployed alongside your own students as representatives of their classes. The first one that comes to mind is the chapter where Jeralt bites it. Why wouldn't they deploy their force against an incursion of Demonic beasts when student's lives are at stake? Of course chapter 12 would be a good option for Claude and Dimitri on non CF routes. Also fighting Kostas could be a good option as the Church was obviously super ticked that he was in Zanado. The biggest thing I think is just giving them more presence in the conversations that go on.

They have that one dialogue between Edelgard and Dimitri after the mock battle in BL where Edelgard flames Dimitri until Manuela calms it down. That’s really it for other house leader dialogue outside of monastery and grondor.

[NekoKnight]

They could have made the three lords tag on to many of the story chapters, even if it was just contributing lines of dialogue. Choosing a house should have been primarily a gameplay choice (your starting group of students) with the real narrative divergence saved for the war phase. The tragedy of Three Houses isn't that the three leads go to war with their former friends, it's that the three leads are like total strangers, even into the war phase. 

Even as a bare minimum, they could have had some special bonding scenes like the dance at Garreg Mach or the feast after the Battle of the Lion and Eagle mock battle. It's implied that these scenes happen but we never see them. It's such a waste.

[paladin21]

What I thought about the story is that Jeritza should have been the Black Eagles professor until Flayn's chapter, when he leaves and Byleth takes over. Until that moment, Byleth should be able to choose any of the students missions, which would be more house related. I find the missions highly tied to the Blue Lions house (Lonato, Miklan...). Alternative (and simultaneous) missions taking place in the empire (having Jeritza as an ally to explain the relics) or the alliance (with Holst to protect the border from a raid), would have been a nice detail.

The second part of the White Clouds is totally main story, so it shouldn't matter which house you choose, everyone should be able to be deployed.

Then, in the second part, I think it should have been different, with characters partying ways. Some of them would always join the empire (Hubert, Ashe, Gloucester boy), while other ones would always side against it (Ferdinand, Dedue, Hilda), and the rest being dependent on their support levels with other non-Byleth characters (rising Lysithea's support with Edelgard would make her join the empire from the beginning). Eventually, there would be a rift between the kingdom-alliance factions making you choose one over the other.

Characters on enemy sides could be recruited with their bestie or Byleth of the had the required support level with him from the first part.

[Jotari]

2 hours ago, paladin21 said:

What I thought about the story is that Jeritza should have been the Black Eagles professor until Flayn's chapter, when he leaves and Byleth takes over. Until that moment, Byleth should be able to choose any of the students missions, which would be more house related. I find the missions highly tied to the Blue Lions house (Lonato, Miklan...). Alternative (and simultaneous) missions taking place in the empire (having Jeritza as an ally to explain the relics) or the alliance (with Holst to protect the border from a raid), would have been a nice detail.

The second part of the White Clouds is totally main story, so it shouldn't matter which house you choose, everyone should be able to be deployed.

Then, in the second part, I think it should have been different, with characters partying ways. Some of them would always join the empire (Hubert, Ashe, Gloucester boy), while other ones would always side against it (Ferdinand, Dedue, Hilda), and the rest being dependent on their support levels with other non-Byleth characters (rising Lysithea's support with Edelgard would make her join the empire from the beginning). Eventually, there would be a rift between the kingdom-alliance factions making you choose one over the other.

Characters on enemy sides could be recruited with their bestie or Byleth of the had the required support level with him from the first part.

Oh, I like this idea. Basically being able to use everyone for the first quarter of the game before deciding on the house. That would give you a good feel for gameplay of each unit and allow you to make a choice based on something more than which character design and opening line the lords have. It would also be really weird that you basically only have a single consistent playable character for several chapters, with the others auto levelling. I diesagree with everyone being able to be fielded after the second half of Part 1 though, I think locking it in and making a more solid choice is better. Or at the very most have cross house recruitment like the game currently does.It'd kind of suck if you were fielding Dedue for almost the entirety of part 1 only to have him leave (I mean...the game already does that with Edelgard and Hubert, but that's kind of necessary, would be better to limit it). Better yet, this would also allow you to skip a lot of the game's opening like in Fates. Part 1 has become incredibly boring for me plot wise after four playthroughs where I have to half pay attention for the scattered plot points that might be different.

[paladin21]

6 hours ago, Jotari said:

Oh, I like this idea. Basically being able to use everyone for the first quarter of the game before deciding on the house. That would give you a good feel for gameplay of each unit and allow you to make a choice based on something more than which character design and opening line the lords have. It would also be really weird that you basically only have a single consistent playable character for several chapters, with the others auto levelling. I diesagree with everyone being able to be fielded after the second half of Part 1 though, I think locking it in and making a more solid choice is better. Or at the very most have cross house recruitment like the game currently does.It'd kind of suck if you were fielding Dedue for almost the entirety of part 1 only to have him leave (I mean...the game already does that with Edelgard and Hubert, but that's kind of necessary, would be better to limit it). Better yet, this would also allow you to skip a lot of the game's opening like in Fates. Part 1 has become incredibly boring for me plot wise after four playthroughs where I have to half pay attention for the scattered plot points that might be different.

Cross-recruiting would be based on gameplay during the first half. For example, Dorothea and Ingrid end in opposing sides of the war, but if they developed their support AND did their paralogue achieving some "hidden" side-objective, they can recruit each other. The same could happen with Ashe and Catherine.

The key for this type of recruitment is bonds. If characters developed them during the first part, they'd be more open to sever tires with their former allegiance. That would require very careful planning from the start to recruit all the possible characters each route.

[Elephantus]

Thinking about it, here's one more: Part 1 > Part 2. I have never enjoyed the war phase in any of the routes I've played (all but Silver Snow) as much as the early game for some reason. I personally actually enjoy the monastery quite a bit, but I feel like none of the routes really capitalize on what the early game sets up properly. All that intrigue and mystery that is built up just... disappears.