Japanese Fire Emblem Twitter posts

[Noa]

17 minutes ago, Rose482 said:

 

I don't know, but I'd be all for any differences that they can add to make the two genders NOT feel the same.

 

I feel you so much. It's not limited to FE but quite a lot of games with selectable protagonists definitely don't put in any effort to make it feel like they weren't written with an explicitly male protagonists in mind. As much as it's a pipe dream I would love for the fact one might be playing as a girl to be acknowledged properly 😭

[Rose482]

5 minutes ago, Noa said:

I feel you so much. It's not limited to FE but quite a lot of games with selectable protagonists definitely don't put in any effort to make it feel like they weren't written with an explicitly male protagonists in mind. As much as it's a pipe dream I would love for the fact one might be playing as a girl to be acknowledged properly 😭

Yeah V_V </3 

And like...Three houses had some here and there lines where they acknowledged Byleth's gender, but then THAT Shamir support happened and I couldn't keep pretending that they did a good job. So I really hope you are onto something regarding Alear! 

[DefyingFates]

3 hours ago, Rose482 said:

Three houses had some here and there lines where they acknowledged Byleth's gender, but then THAT Shamir support happened and I couldn't keep pretending that they did a good job.

Well, baby steps, right?

Anyway, I'm really curious what those gender differences are going to be. While it'd be unfair for them to be too drastic (like a 100% kit overhaul or different plot) it'd be nice to have something concrete to set them apart if they really want to do something with the two versions of them. I'd love a Kotone/ Makoto split as well, but as you said before, that's probably going to be too much and the two versions already seem identical in personality so far~

[Metal Flash]

3 hours ago, Noa said:

I feel you so much. It's not limited to FE but quite a lot of games with selectable protagonists definitely don't put in any effort to make it feel like they weren't written with an explicitly male protagonists in mind. As much as it's a pipe dream I would love for the fact one might be playing as a girl to be acknowledged properly 😭

It is sadly common for games with selectable protags to show some level of favoretisom towards the male option. It would be nice to see more games acknowledge the female option equally.

3 hours ago, Rose482 said:

but then THAT Shamir support happened and I couldn't keep pretending that they did a good job

I assume you mean the A-support, since I cannot remember Byleth`s gender changing the other ranks at all. 

[Sentinel07]

39 minutes ago, DefyingFates said:

Well, baby steps, right?

Anyway, I'm really curious what those gender differences are going to be. While it'd be unfair for them to be too drastic (like a 100% kit overhaul or different plot) it'd be nice to have something concrete to set them apart if they really want to do something with the two versions of them. I'd love a Kotone/ Makoto split as well, but as you said before, that's probably going to be too much and the two versions already seem identical in personality so far~

I'm all for things being molded around what gender protagonist you have, such as with P3P.

It bugs me in games like Fire Emblem Heroes and Genshin Impact where nothing changes regardless of what gender you pick. Makes things feel weird to me.

[Rose482]

1 hour ago, Metal Flash said:

I assume you mean the A-support, since I cannot remember Byleth`s gender changing the other ranks at all. 

I don't remember which support it was exactly, but I remember Shamir telling Byleth something along the lines of how they reminded her of a man she used to know, which sounds VERY strange to say to female Byleth. 

[Noa]

It's the A support, where Shamir says Byleth (both genders) reminds her of her first love, the Dagdan mercenary man who died. The fact both of them can't S-support her despite her saying that to both just makes it like, oh, that's because this was written with a man in mind, not that she could be bisexual. Same with Edelgard's drawing in CF being m!Byleth regardless of who you're playing as... Definitely hoping Engage can improve on this kind of stuff, since 3H was already big (if flawed) steps. I'm wlw, but I like to feel like wlw stuff was intentional, not incidental.

Edit: back on topic, the poster for Engage's limited edition actually has the Alears lit up in different light; male in red, female in blue. I wonder if that has anything to do with the supposed importance of their colour schemes?

Edited October 29, 2022 by Noa

[Ivy Wife Supremacy]

Under 3 months and we’re still at the first kingdom which I’m glad They’re taking their time with all these reveals because it looks to me that not all the roster is going to show up by the time of the release thankfully more surprise characters especially with the Emblem bios. If they’re not doing 2 a week also including gameplay posts. I say 7-8 new characters including the other remaining lords and 7-10 remaining Emblems.

Edited October 29, 2022 by Chloé Waifu Supremacy

[DefyingFates]

4 hours ago, Metal Flash said:

It is sadly common for games with selectable protags to show some level of favoretisom towards the male option. It would be nice to see more games acknowledge the female option equally.

Unfortunately it's the same assumption that all gamers are men that plagues other games and the industry as a whole that's to blame for that (along with being straight - and for Western games, also white).

4 hours ago, Sentinel07 said:

I'm all for things being molded around what gender protagonist you have, such as with P3P.

I think that was a pretty mild change all things considered if you just look at the main story. Some events you see from a different perspective and Junpei's early jealousy takes on an extra sexist undertone, but the plot remains identical. Obviously Alear won't have bonus Social Links or the chance to go on holidays with "the boys" or "the girls", so it'd be nice if they took the Byleth distinctions in 3H a step further here.

2 hours ago, Noa said:

Same with Edelgard's drawing in CF being m!Byleth regardless of who you're playing as...

I didn't know that, thank you for the information! That's such a loss too, given Edelgard's whole "thing" about Byleth.

2 hours ago, Noa said:

The fact both of them can't S-support her despite her saying that to both just makes it like, oh, that's because this was written with a man in mind, not that she could be bisexual.

And also yeah, that was a really jarring exchange for me too. Part of me wonders if KT wanted to "fix" that in Hopes given her Paralogue is about a former female employer being romantically obsessed with her. (It'd be nice if everyone in Engage was romanceable regardless of gender so everyone can pair themselves with their favorites, but also to prevent awkward stuff like this.)

But moving back to Engage as you said:

2 hours ago, Noa said:

Edit: back on topic, the poster for Engage's limited edition actually has the Alears lit up in different light; male in red, female in blue. I wonder if that has anything to do with the supposed importance of their colour schemes?

I just assumed it was a stylistic choice at the time (same as with the Alears having mirrored hair and eye colors), but with the implication from that tweet... yeah, that becomes suspicious too! Of course it's going to be really awkward if the change turns out to be really minor or silly or just a misprint in the image xD

1 hour ago, Chloé Waifu Supremacy said:

Under 3 months and we’re still at the first kingdom which I’m glad They’re taking their time with all these reveals because it looks to me that not all the roster is going to show up by the time of the release

I'm really hopeful for this myself, and your suggestion of

1 hour ago, Chloé Waifu Supremacy said:

7-8 new characters including the other remaining lords and 7-10 remaining Emblems.

could pan out too, unless we get a second trailer that reveals a bunch of characters at once. We know of two more "retainers" from Firene along with three more Lords, so that's only 2~3 more people. And if those are siblings of the nobles or other retainers then hopefully that would lead the more unique/ surprising recruits a mystery for us to discover ourselves.

Also, Chloe fanart already? Something tells me she's probably going to be quite popular upon release. I just hope she's interesting enough to warrant it I wish you good luck!

 

[Noa]

57 minutes ago, DefyingFates said:

(It'd be nice if everyone in Engage was romanceable regardless of gender so everyone can pair themselves with their favorites, but also to prevent awkward stuff like this.)

Couldn't agree more. If you're going to give player the choice, you may as well go all the way! Seeing series like Rune Factory and Story of Seasons embracing this (as long-running series on Nintendo consoles) makes me hope FE will catch up some time soon... 

 

59 minutes ago, DefyingFates said:

I just assumed it was a stylistic choice at the time (same as with the Alears having mirrored hair and eye colors), but with the implication from that tweet... yeah, that becomes suspicious too! Of course it's going to be really awkward if the change turns out to be really minor or silly or just a misprint in the image xD

As did I, but this Nintendo Dream issue has me really curious! The text on the magazine preview says it wants the reader to "pay attention to the difference in hair/eye colour". I'm something of a dragon aficionado and I was always really disappointed that Fates did absolutely nothing with its dragon lore. Alear is currently shouldering all my hopes and dreams for a dragon protagonist whose dragon form actually matters, and this colour scheme thing has me on high alert. Hopefully it turns out to be something! 

[DefyingFates]

30 minutes ago, Noa said:

Couldn't agree more. If you're going to give player the choice, you may as well go all the way! Seeing series like Rune Factory and Story of Seasons embracing this (as long-running series on Nintendo consoles) makes me hope FE will catch up some time soon... 

Three Hopes had ambiguously worded endings for each character, so it feels like IS is at least considering the idea. The fact that there are already Nintendo IPs doing it is a great precedent though, thanks for pointing that out! I remember reading about it a few years back, but had completely forgotten all about it!

31 minutes ago, Noa said:

The text on the magazine preview says it wants the reader to "pay attention to the difference in hair/eye colour".

For a second I thought that just meant that was referring to their styles being unique in general (or simply the heterochromia now that I think about it), but then I remembered everything the last page or so of discussion 😛 I'd love a dragon protagonist whose dragon form actually matters too, I really hope we get just that! While I think Byleth is still the most interesting protagonist conceptually, Alear being a dragon who fought in a battle 1000 years ago is rich with potential too and I'm ready to be blown away by them being really intriguing and well-written.

Please don't let me down, IS.

[Fabulously Olivier]

The Shamir situation is not that weird. Hopes basically established that she has a type, and F!Byleth isn't it. It makes sense if Shamir's type is tomboys.

[Maimishou]

2 hours ago, Noa said:

As did I, but this Nintendo Dream issue has me really curious! The text on the magazine preview says it wants the reader to "pay attention to the difference in hair/eye colour".

Hm. Could it be hinting that maybe both versions will show up no matter which you choose to play as? Like maybe the one you don't play could show up as a relative to Alear and play a different role in the story somehow.

I also thought that maybe they could be hinting at a child mechanic returning and the difference in design playing a role in what your child would look like.

[Sentinel07]

4 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

(It'd be nice if everyone in Engage was romanceable regardless of gender so everyone can pair themselves with their favorites, but also to prevent awkward stuff like this.)

To be completely honest, I would hate something like this.

It's probably just a me thing, but I want characters to be characters first and fanservice second. To me, making all characters bi just for the sake of allowing the Avatar to romance either of them regardless of gender feels like pandering to me.

Like, I'm perfectly okay with it for characters like Dorothea. Her bisexuality is a natural part of her character, not something that's there purely for player amusement. I fully support that, and I support any Engage characters to be naturally bi as well. But going bi for all of them is a big no no for me. I don't care for the "it's a video game, who cares" excuse that I commonly see on the internet. I want characters to be characters first, not something subject to the whims of the player.

That's actually what bugs me about Fire Emblem Heroes and Genshin Impact so much. Because dialogue isn't adjusted for gender, any character who shows an interest in the Summoner or the Traveler is essentially bi by default, and it doesn't feel natural.

[Armchair General]

12 minutes ago, Sentinel07 said:

To me, making all characters bi just for the sake of allowing the Avatar to romance either of them regardless of gender feels like pandering to me.

What if an portion of the cast isn't avatarsexual in terms of being bi?

 

It worked for Dorothea

Edited October 30, 2022 by Armchair General

[Interdimensional Observer]

3 hours ago, Maimishou said:

Hm. Could it be hinting that maybe both versions will show up no matter which you choose to play as? Like maybe the one you don't play could show up as a relative to Alear and play a different role in the story somehow.

SRW has done this a few times with its original protagonists.:

• SRW D gives you a male protagonist option and a female one, whichever you don't pick will join later with a different mech. You later lose them, and possibly regain them afterwards, provided you don't meet the requirements for the secret character (which differs depending on if you picked a male or female protagonist).
• SRW 30 lets you recruit the other of Edge and Az if you complete three short Relic missions. Although the other protagonist is stuck in a kinda mediocre unit, and they basically have no story presence (the DLC Expansion Pack apparently gave the protagonists some additional sibling bonding together).
• SRW T gives the protagonist of the gender you didn't pick the SRW classic mech known as the Gespenst.
• SRW 4/F and Alpha 1 allow you to pick a main character from one sex (out of four options), and a lover for that character from the opposite sex. Whoever you pick as the lover joins later (and unless you're playing the Super Robot path in Alpha 1, the lover doesn't get as awesome mech as the main protagonist).
• The most interesting example perhaps is A/A Portable. Whoever you don't pick of Axel and Lamia ends up among the villains.

-Mind you, I've only played SRW30 of the above games. Although I kinda have an idea of how SRWA plays out with its protagonists.

Oh, and Alpha 1 (and copying it, Original Generation 1) did this thing where they took the male and female protagonists from Super Hero Operations and made them (parallel dimension versions of them -not literally the same people) coexist in an interesting way IMO...

Spoiler

Ingram, the male protagonist of Super Hero Operations, was cloned. The female SHO protagonist, Viletta, was the result. Ingram is tragically forced to be a villain because of mind control, but he was able to free Viletta before he fully lost his free will. Ingram sees Viletta as part of him, and through her, he will continue to live in a figurative sense. Viletta is saddened there is no way to free Ingram of his shackles except through killing him, but she accepts the task he gave to her.

 

2 hours ago, Sentinel07 said:

To be completely honest, I would hate something like this.

It's probably just a me thing, but I want characters to be characters first and fanservice second. To me, making all characters bi just for the sake of allowing the Avatar to romance either of them regardless of gender feels like pandering to me.

Like, I'm perfectly okay with it for characters like Dorothea. Her bisexuality is a natural part of her character, not something that's there purely for player amusement. I fully support that, and I support any Engage characters to be naturally bi as well. But going bi for all of them is a big no no for me. I don't care for the "it's a video game, who cares" excuse that I commonly see on the internet. I want characters to be characters first, not something subject to the whims of the player.

Understandable.

Admittedly, at a cast size of over 30 characters per game at a minimum. FE could tolerate "realism" in the sexuality department while maintaining adequate choice for players of different sexualities. This isn't the case with other games with a dating sim element/is a dedicated dating sim. Rune Factory 5 IIRC has 6 male and 6 female romantic options, if we made 2 gay, 2 straight, 2 bi per sex, 4 options per sexuality is a little unusually small for Rune Factory, and the writing department I take it could only handle so many characters per game. The average bishoujo, otome, and maybe yaoi (IDK about yuri) visual novel is like 5 or 6 suitors I think okay maybe not the best example of limited writing resources b/c these by definition cater to specific sexualities.

While FE could "tolerate" not making everyone bi, I don't necessarily agree that it should do that. We should restore characters who are already married or in committed relationships, and let really old people and perhaps a few people who lost spouses/fiancees off the hook. But the majority of people who are least 18 should be marriage material, for now.

I do see your point. And I would like to some games with dating sim elements go more realistic. Let players be turned down by pixels that just really aren't all that into you, or want to settle on a platonic friendship. Let their decisions be made not just on sexuality, but because they simply aren't attracted you even if they are attracted to your gender, that's life. Let there be asexuals and aromantics too. -Just, not Fire Emblem.

Not now. Not until we get one or three FE games where every adult able to give rational consent is on the table for either gender of protagonist, because we haven't gotten that yet. And yet, going this mild yet positive rainbow way has begun in other non-obscure games with dating sim elements. After the gates of acceptance have been open for a while, we could consider closing them slightly for "realism". Although FE could also use its non-protagonist relationships to reflect a wide variety of relationships among both sexes sexually, romantically, and platonically as well. MCs are totally overrated anyhow.

Edited October 30, 2022 by Interdimensional Observer

[Ivy Wife Supremacy]

6 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

I just hope she's interesting enough to warrant it I wish you good luck!

 

I’m already loving her she’s basically a combination of Sigrun and Sumia(without the clumsyness) plus love her JP VA and design I’m optimistic! 

Edited October 30, 2022 by Chloé Waifu Supremacy

[Metal Flash]

13 hours ago, Noa said:

Same with Edelgard's drawing in CF being m!Byleth regardless of who you're playing as

There is a separate S-support CG for F!Byleth, so it should up when playing as F!Byleth.

6 hours ago, Sentinel07 said:

To be completely honest, I would hate something like this.

It's probably just a me thing, but I want characters to be characters first and fanservice second. To me, making all characters bi just for the sake of allowing the Avatar to romance either of them regardless of gender feels like pandering to me.

Like, I'm perfectly okay with it for characters like Dorothea. Her bisexuality is a natural part of her character, not something that's there purely for player amusement. I fully support that, and I support any Engage characters to be naturally bi as well. But going bi for all of them is a big no no for me. I don't care for the "it's a video game, who cares" excuse that I commonly see on the internet. I want characters to be characters first, not something subject to the whims of the player

I also feel the same. 

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

And I would like to some games with dating sim elements go more realistic. Let players be turned down by pixels that just really aren't all that into you, or want to settle on a platonic friendship. Let their decisions be made not just on sexuality, but because they simply aren't attracted you even if they are attracted to your gender, that's life

Same. Even as someone who enjoys dating sims/ dating sim elements in games, I do wish there more of them had some restraint. Have some characters who just aren`t into the player no matter what.

Back on topic, I hope that, in addition to getting two more Pegasus Knights to get our trio back, we can get each pegasi rider to wield a different weapon. Chloe has lances, so the second could use swords or daggers, while the third wields bows or magic.

7 hours ago, Maimishou said:

Hm. Could it be hinting that maybe both versions will show up no matter which you choose to play as? Like maybe the one you don't play could show up as a relative to Alear and play a different role in the story somehow.

I would love that, having the Alear you don`t pick show up in some way would be sweet. An idea I had was that the enemy would rally behind the other Alear, denouncing you as imposter or pretender.

[DefyingFates]

8 hours ago, Sentinel07 said:

It's probably just a me thing, but I want characters to be characters first and fanservice second. To me, making all characters bi just for the sake of allowing the Avatar to romance either of them regardless of gender feels like pandering to me.

Oh, this is absolutely the case for me too. I was thinking more along the lines of Three Hopes, where you can have a platonic relationship with everyone (though Linhardt flirts pretty openly with you in his A Support), but if you can get a paired ending that's open to interpretation if you want (and only if you go out of your way to get it). Basically it'd just be a bonus for people who really like a certain character, and the cast would be free to have their own separate endings/ relationships otherwise, that's all.

That said, I'm just talking for people who really like certain characters. I'm pretty neutral on the subject myself, so may very well be arguing the opposite a month or so from now xD

39 minutes ago, Metal Flash said:

I would love that, having the Alear you don`t pick show up in some way would be sweet. An idea I had was that the enemy would rally behind the other Alear, denouncing you as imposter or pretender.

Ooh, that would be really interesting!

8 hours ago, Maimishou said:

Hm. Could it be hinting that maybe both versions will show up no matter which you choose to play as? Like maybe the one you don't play could show up as a relative to Alear and play a different role in the story somehow.

It would be the first time FE has done that too! @Interdimensional Observer gave some great examples, but maybe the other Alear could be a secret Emblem from a world where they beat the Fell Dragon who shows up to give our Alear a pep talk in their darkest hour or something? As someone who was upset that the alternate Byleth you see if you use amiibo in FE3H didn't do anything, that could be really cool to see on top of being a nice character moment for both versions (or rather two moments for the same Alear at different points in time).

But you wouldn't need to draw attention to their different appearances for that...

Also, @Chloé Waifu Supremacy: she has a really famous VA so no wonder you're a fan! Again, congrats on getting someone who ticks all those boxes for you like that, and I hope she turns out great in the final product too!

Edited October 30, 2022 by DefyingFates

[Noa]

1 hour ago, Metal Flash said:

There is a separate S-support CG for F!Byleth, so it should up when playing as F!Byleth.

Ah, not the S-support CG, I mean the actual drawing Edelgard does of Byleth during CF. It's m!Byleth regardless of who you're playing as, but the S-support CG does change. It's weird!

9 hours ago, Maimishou said:

Hm. Could it be hinting that maybe both versions will show up no matter which you choose to play as? Like maybe the one you don't play could show up as a relative to Alear and play a different role in the story somehow.

I really hope this is it! It's definitely a long shot, but I loved how in Astral Chain, the protagonist you didn't pick was your twin and had a role in the story. I like it a lot when games do things like that, so while I think it's unlikely, it'd be really neat to see.

Edit: as for the sexuality thing, I think the "everyone is bi is pandering" is sort of a disingenous argument. Like it or not, discounting Echoes, the last three mainline games have all allowed marriage between heterosexual pairs for the player character without limit (even if there really, really should have been limits) and that's already pandering to the presumed-straight audience. I think it's a bit unfair to say "everyone is straight for the Avatar" is okay but "everyone is bi for the Avatar" isn't. At the end of the day, it is a video game, and characters are made to appeal. I definitely agree with @Interdimensional Observer's take on it - realism would be nice in other genres (personally I like the Dragon Age style best, and I do want more varied relationships between NPCs too), but FE hasn't had the full lineup available for everyone like, ever. 

Edited October 30, 2022 by Noa

[Metal Flash]

2 hours ago, Noa said:

Ah, not the S-support CG, I mean the actual drawing Edelgard does of Byleth during CF. It's m!Byleth regardless of who you're playing as, but the S-support CG does change. It's weird!

Oh, right, that drawing is the same regardless. I don`t remember the drawing ever being seen/shown, but I have not played Crimson Flower in a long time, so I could be wrong.

2 hours ago, Noa said:

(personally I like the Dragon Age style best, and I do want more varied relationships between NPCs too),

That is one of my favourite parts of Dragon Age, that the romance options have many different sexual orientations and preferences. I wish more games did something similar. 

3 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Ooh, that would be really interesting!

Glad you also like the idea.

[Maimishou]

10 hours ago, Metal Flash said:

I would love that, having the Alear you don`t pick show up in some way would be sweet. An idea I had was that the enemy would rally behind the other Alear, denouncing you as imposter or pretender.

Yeah something like this is what I was thinking as well, but I wasn't sure how to explain it. I think it'd be really cool. I also like @DefyingFates's idea of the other version being an Emblem from another timeline who shows up to inspire the player, but like he said there wouldn't be any need to point out the differences in design for that. I'm really interested to know what the different designs is relevent if it's really not just a cosmetic thing.

[DefyingFates]

13 hours ago, Maimishou said:

I also like @DefyingFates's idea of the other version being an Emblem from another timeline who shows up to inspire the player, but like he said there wouldn't be any need to point out the differences in design for that.

Thank you very much, I'm glad you like the idea, even with that caveat!

It seems like we're not getting any posts today, so we're probably just getting one on Thursday. But that may be a blessing in disguise if it keeps a potential overload of pre-release info to a minimum. But as always I'd still really like a mechanics breakdown.

Edited October 31, 2022 by DefyingFates

[Ivy Wife Supremacy]

Figures once again I’m happy they’re not dumping everything per week. Funny that Etie and the Axe guy are the only early game characters not yet revealed but I wouldn’t be surprised if Sigurd is next before them lol. Plus any new gameplay info would be great like how Engage forms work.

Edited October 31, 2022 by Chloé Waifu Supremacy

[Crubat]

babygirl

Edited October 31, 2022 by Crubat