HowTragic

Scenario #3: Become the boss. Kill off both kingdoms. Assert dominance.

Wow I came to the exact same conclusion. MC's special powers will also explain why he was raised with royalty, and not taken in like a normal hostage. +1

I see. I knew there were historical examples of capture without peril or injury to the hostage (take medieval chivalry for captured enemy knights for example), but I didn't know it was as direct or widespread, though I would argue the case of Tokugawa Ieyasu doesn't fall under the same circumstances as he was taken indirectly as a bargaining chip for the explicit purpose of intimidating his father out of an alliance. Aetius I don't know much about, but it seems like he was given willingly as a political hostage (with safety and upbringing, which is different from a hostage of war). In this case, I think it was more of a hostage taken during war and conquest, though it is merely speculation at this point based on the scene right before it. Judging from the emphasis Galon put on the first part (the "I'll let you live") it seems that he was suggesting that it is commonplace for him to not let MC live, but he decided to on a whim to let him/her live (the "yarou" part), or else he wouldn't bother reiterating the obvious to someone who was already guaranteed safety as a cultural diplomat. Regardless, it's still strange that the other Nohr royalties treated him nothing short of a blood brother. That's some major departure from how I envisioned he/she entered the Nohr Kingdom. And given the vehemence professed from both sides when it came time for him to choose a side (and afterwards from the side of the betrayed), it seems like there's more to MC than just a simple war/political hostage.

I'm frankly more curious about how they're going to explain why a child born into the Hoshida royal family ends up being raised by the enemy Nohr family. The evil king dude gives a possible hint when he says "生かしてやろう、吾子としてな" (I'll let you live... as my child), referring to Kamui past, but even so it's strange for Nohr to capture an enemy royal family member , and without selling him/her to slavery or anything, decides to raise him/her as one of their own. There was clearly no discrimination against MC from the interactions with other members of Nohr's royal family either. Could this perhaps foreshadow into the underlying setting that MC's life is unique in some way, and both sides somehow knows of this, albeit by only a select few?

My hype level is so high that if I don't knock myself out soon I'll go into cardiac arrest. The struggle is real.

Judging by the progression and plot-centered focus, I'd assume that if marriage appeared, it would probably be either a post-Ultimatum-choice mechanism, or an end game story event. It seems way too nonsensical to add marriage in the middle, then demand you choose which side you want to go with (Well obviously... the side of my wife?...). Marriage in the middle of a full-blown war also seem lacking in common sense. That being said, I demand marriage be in place. All these luscious waifus and no way to court them is like a VNer's worst nightmare.

Team Nohr by far. That Camila chick won me over at first glance.

I'm kind of relieved tbh. The original promo art was borderline trash, but thankfully this reorientation came to the rescue. Frankly, if FE was redrawn in the fashion of SMT I'd be pretty irked. That artistic style appeals only to a few.

Nana Mizuki as dancer. Yes pls.

Realistically speaking 2P vs CPU is possible, but PvP is pretty much out of the question. The sheer amount of re-balancing that would have to occur for PvP to fairly function is astronomical. No one would attack first, and even if someone did, it would be a cycle of attack -> rescue staff-> attack -> rescue staff-> repeat. Not to mention, if ranging tomes were allowed, both sides would use all their mages to slowly snipe one of the opposing side's unit per turn until the battle strategically stalemates due to a lack of units on both sides. etc etc There's the possibility that these problems and more can be avoided or partially mitigated by introducing first-strike incentives, uniquely restrictive systems, and careful prohibition of certain items, but that's waaay too much effort put into a non-essential part of a predominantly campaign-based game.

Trueblade and Necromancer. A 聖女 (female saint) based off Ninian's dancer model would also be pretty cool. Playing these rom hacks are giving me some crazy ideas.

Devs are usually pretty good with allowing you to play even (non-generic) enemy chars in some way, shape or form. Since there'll likely be a "Creature Campaign-isn" Epilogue as opposed to the Trials maps of FE9/10, I'd assume that you will be able to use all playable character after clearing the game and meeting certain unlocking requirements, as forcing you to beat the game X amount of times seems too much of an overkill. Frankly, I wouldn't mind running a Lagdou Ruin-esque endgame dungeon multiple times for some kickass characters. In fact, give me back Lagdou Ruin already.

I would really like to see them implement a semi-VN system where you are prompted to make an important decision branching into completely different endings. It fits with what Iwata was saying with the central theme of "if". A theoretical example, given the introduction of a Western and Eastern theme, is a particular chapter where there's two princess held captive, one of the Western Kingdom and one of the Eastern Kingdom, and you are required to choose one to save. The princess not chosen doesn't necessarily die, but your story progresses towards the other route. Again, a much less intensive ways to introduce this branching, such as a simple choice prompt: "I will support the Western Kingdom" or "I will support the Eastern Kingdom" will also be welcomed, as long as there's multiple overall "if" endings. And once you finish both routes a "True" route opens. Imagine the replay value. But then again this requires magnitudes of work unprecedented in FE history, so I'm not sure how likely it is due to appear.

Yes yes a thousand times yes. Return of Trueblade [insert Mia-like character here]

Dual language meaning... English and Japanese? Sure why not, in which case I demand we have the same release date as Japan.