What are your thoughts on Alear? [Please Avoid/ Tag Spoilers]

[DefyingFates]

At the risk of alienating most of this forum, I... really like Alear. It's like IS finally realised the best way to write an avatar was to just... write a regular, likable character that just happens to have a variable name and gender. Part of that is due to the great voice acting, but I think they have a really interesting character arc and are genuinely enjoyable without feeling like someone who's just there to be pandered to. Heck, even when others do act sycophantic, it's treated as a bad thing that makes Alear uncomfortable, which is a far cry from how Fates' cast continually bent over backwards to make Corrin out to be the greatest thing to ever exist.

So yeah, maybe my thoughts will mellow out once this honeymoon period ends, but for now I'm very pleased with how they handled Alear and was curious what you all thought as well. Let us hear it!

[Azz]

I have to agree, I am really loving Alear. I find them so endearing and likeable. I have to say, at the beginning of the game where we first meet the corrupted and Vander is like 'lets fight them together brave divine one' and Alear is like 'lol nope I'm running'. I think a big help is their VA. I've only played as M!Alear however his VA has done a fantastic job. He delivers emotion so well, especially in chapter 3 when Lumera dies. Overall, probably my fav avatar

[DefyingFates]

26 minutes ago, Azz said:

I have to say, at the beginning of the game where we first meet the corrupted and Vander is like 'lets fight them together brave divine one' and Alear is like 'lol nope I'm running'.

Yeah, I think that was a great way of telling us right away that Alear wasn't going to be a typical avatar or Mary Sue.

26 minutes ago, Azz said:

I think a big help is their VA. I've only played as M!Alear however his VA has done a fantastic job. He delivers emotion so well, especially in chapter 3 when Lumera dies.

I went with F!Alear and feel the same about her. That Lumera scene is a great example too. We all saw it coming to the point that even Nintendo straight up opened the story trailer with it, but the way Alear breaks down is done so well and perfectly carries all the weight that someone in that position would have:

Spoiler

namely that of someone feeling guilty about not being the child their mother wanted and being terrified at the prospect of not being able to connect with them the way they both want to ever again.

 

26 minutes ago, Azz said:

Overall, probably my fav avatar

Oh, easily! I still have a soft spot for Byleth and Shez is a lovable dork, but Alear is so fleshed out and acted so well that they blow the competition out of the water and into space.

Edited January 27, 2023 by DefyingFates

[Armchair General]

It's still kind of forced, as far as I can tell. Granted, the writing for Alear is an little bit better than Fates, 3 Houses, or Hopes; but it feels like Alear is essentially an background character in the chapter that I'm currently on.

[DefyingFates]

5 minutes ago, Armchair General said:

It's still kind of forced, as far as I can tell. Granted, the writing for Alear is an little bit better than Fates, 3 Houses, or Hopes; but it feels like Alear is essentially an background character in the chapter that I'm currently on.

Which chapter is that?

[Armchair General]

Around 10 or 11. It's after the cathedral and it feels like shit has hit the fan, but our protagonist was standing there, in shock. But to be fair, most of the stuff that was going on was pretty good; sure, it's cliche, at this point (especially  if you played through Conquest)

[DefyingFates]

20 minutes ago, Armchair General said:

most of the stuff that was going on was pretty good; sure, it's cliche, at this point

I think that's a fair assessment of the story at large. Pretty simple, but told well so still entertaining as a result~

[Keikyushi]

I haven't been too far into the game (just finished chapter 4), but from what I've seen, Alear's a bit on the bland side. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but objectively speaking, that's how they are. At least there's nothing too offensive about them, unlike magically-not-kill-your-enemies Corrin.

However, Alear has their moments, and that's where they really shine to me, like when 

Spoiler

They nope out of a Corrupted fight in chapter 1, or gets uncomfortable with Framme's over simping. It makes them relatable, which I think is what the devs are going for. Kudo to them!

Spoiler

Also seems like they have an established fear for the Corrupted. I'm interested to see how it'll play out

 

All in all, they're definitely up there as one of my most favorite Avatars

[Nukemind]

Without spoiling anything, he and his story is predictable as hell. Nothing has shocked me yet, and frankly I’m disappointed in the story. It’s not horrible, it’s just generic. Gameplay is great though and it is a classic fire emblem story… and I don’t need a Three Houses story everytime. English VA also does amazing as him. He’s just entirely predictable.

[Mirron]

Enjoying myself, basically at the end game. He's not doing anything crazy different, but he doesn't need to do anything too different to be fun to be around either.

[Fabulously Olivier]

Personality-wise, they're endearingly awkward, and also play the sane man to everyone else's quirks. It works. But their design is... impossible for me to get past. It's just so bad, and it actively gets worse on promotion. Maybe if they add the ability to wear outfits everywhere in a future update, I'll enjoy them more. Gameplay-wise, they also leave a lot to be desired with their jack-of-all-trades stat line, and sword-locking (I guess they get B rank brawling, but brawling isn't good in this game). 

 

My favorite avatar is still Shez. Solid male design, top tier female design, awesome promoted class, fun gameplay, and their lovable idiot routine also plays well off everyone.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Fabulously Olivier

[FlyingKitsune]

The design didn't bother me, like, at all, so that wasn't a factor in my liking of the character.

Spoiler

I also thought it was neat that it was explained WHY the dual color thing happened.

Ignoring that, I enjoyed Alear's role as protagonist! The Voice Acting and personality really makes it feel like that rather than being an Avatar, Alear is their own character. Their discomfort when it comes to things like the corrupted or praise makes them just work so much more as a character.

Spoiler

Also, the endgame sequence is just so good that I really enjoyed Alear that much more. Their past, the Lumera fight... Yeah, it's good.

 

[vanguard333]

48 minutes ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Gameplay-wise, they also leave a lot to be desired with their jack-of-all-trades stat line, and sword-locking (I guess they get B rank brawling, but brawling isn't good in this game). 

If only Alear was of a species that could have some really cool natural weaponry, like claws or magic breath, but I guess Alear is only human after all...

…Oh, wait; no they're not; they're a dragon!

How many times is IS going to promise a dragon protagonist only for the "dragon" part to basically be completely irrelevant? This is twice now that they've done this. At least Corrin actually had a dragon form.

[ricostel]

3 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

It's like IS finally realised the best way to write an avatar was to just... write a regular, likable character that just happens to have a variable name and gender.

I agree! Shez was really really good, too. I like that recently they're doing this more instead of going for the silent protagonist angle. 

I just finished the game and I really like Alear. He's so silly and kind of a loser in a cute way, who doesn't really know how to react to others putting him on a pedestal. 

[Scaramuccia]

Like design(but I am in a camp of weirdos who like Engage style). Like dialogs, behaviour. Also really like consistency of character - "Run" in the first fight lines up perfectly with what follows after. Another nice point - gameplay and plot Alears are similar - gameplay Alear is "average character" and plot Alear is "average character".

[DefyingFates]

3 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Personality-wise, they're endearingly awkward, and also play the sane man to everyone else's quirks.

Considering how adamant you were about hating Alear pre-release, this is quite the turnaround, I'm glad!

2 hours ago, FlyingKitsune said:

Ignoring that, I enjoyed Alear's role as protagonist! The Voice Acting and personality really makes it feel like that rather than being an Avatar, Alear is their own character. Their discomfort when it comes to things like the corrupted or praise makes them just work so much more as a character.

Yep! And the stuff in the spoiler tags was so good too. I don't think IS has ever gone this hard on fleshing out a single character over the course of a story before, have they? Even Ike didn't get as detailed a character arc in PoR...

2 hours ago, ricostel said:

I agree! Shez was really really good, too. I like that recently they're doing this more instead of going for the silent protagonist angle. 

Don't get me wrong, I love that Shez was such a lovable dork, but they had to share development time with the three House Lords and Arval whereas Alear gets an entire game to flesh themselves out and they make incredible use of said opportunity.

1 hour ago, Scaramuccia said:

Like design(but I am in a camp of weirdos who like Engage style).

It's cathartic to have been one of the people who always liked Alear's design before release too 😛

Also, after seeing some people hate the story I admit it's also been really nice seeing so many people like Alear themselves. I'm still going all in on Lyon during the next CYL, but if one or both of the Alears win instead... I'm not going to be too mad.

[Sidereal Wraith]

Best protagonist in the series!

[DefyingFates]

9 minutes ago, Tsundwraith said:

Best protagonist in the series!

Ooh, very glowing praise! It's difficult for me to admit this, but I think I agree. At the very least, they're tied with Eirika for my favorite 🙂

[Smokie1437]

They worked well as a female character, but the male version makes me think of "beta harem MC #2827"

[Vicyus]

Generally like their character arc. He goes from overly trusting cowardly hero with a good heart to a still kind but non naive leader of men. His ch 14-15 moments with certain characters help establish that what he experiences does change him/her (Ill be going with him since I went male). His supports are also interesting from the get go, though I'll admit they are a bit redundant. I especially love his B with Vander, his C with diamant, his B with yunaka and his C with Boucheron. 

[Ririn]

Just finished Chapter 5 and so far, I'm currently neutral. I was surprised and chuckled when they suggest running though. 😆 I might be playing too much Western RPGs and it has been while since I last played a JRPG so my feelings with Alear is a bit mixed at the moment. I do hope to see character developement. 

[goomoonryong]

Opinion about the character design is subjective so I think I'll pass that.

 

For starter, I dont care about characters' design in general that much, so I was indifferent to Alear at first. However, as the game progress, I grew more and more like the character as this game doesn't leave many things questionable like 3H. I'm sure many people will get to like Alear more if the dialogue in this game isn't at the same level as Star War esp 2.

[Quillmonger]

I was one of those people who, when I saw the leak, I was sure that it had to be real. So when they announced the game the look of Alear was something I was ready for. I really like her though, I find it genuinely interesting how different she acts than Byleth. Like even in the game where Byleth isn't controlled by you, she's cold and pretty much ready to throw down all the time. She also, while having emotions, seems to have a problem conveying them. 

Alear seems to be the opposite and she feels like she is very upset at times or cautious at others and the like. I like this kind of character and I would like them to continue doing this same thing. I kind of wish we could get the character design thing back from Fates, but I think that would make animated cutscenes a pain for them. 

If there is anything I dislike about Alear it is how she seems to drop off in power level near the middle of the first half of the game. I found myself having to depend on a lot of other units to carry the weight and it feels like I only just started to get her back around where I am. 

The (English) voice acting is good, she feels awkward and kind of unsure of what to do with the attention thrust upon her and the people worshipping her. It helps that some of them, like Framme, say some unhinged stuff from time to time. But her reactions to it are great. 

[CompteSecours]

At first I didn't like him.

But all the other characters are such weirdos/creepers, that his reactions are funny sometimes.

Of course, concerning the story he is bland.

[Lemmy]

Dislike the amnesia, it kept them childish (simple, naive) the whole game, and I am disappointed this thousands of years old character remained childish the whole game.

Dislike them being the revered as the divine dragon, I dislike reverence in general, though some of my feelings might be a hold over from disliking the real Monica, and Edelgard being best friends with Hubert AND Monica lowered my opinion of her. I've been mulling this over, but I doubt the plot holds together without tons of blind reverence, which is my least favorite flavor of reverence.

And I've never gotten over their dual coloring.