NekoKnight

It's unpopular among people who like Felix.

Rodrigue is a good dad and Glen didn't die for some twisted morals, he died because he was murdered while on the job.

Basically all of her interactions with Hector. She starts out instinctively disliking him but she softens up over time. Contrast their first meeting to their scene on the pirate ship and then to their conversation in Battle preparations.

Byleth has something going with their emotions starting to awaken beneath their usual stoicism in the first half of the story, but after that, they don't really have any character specific drive; they just tag along with whatever the main lord is doing. The same can be said for most Avatar supports as well. Most of them are almost monologues from Byleth's support partner with Byleth just replying with common sense answers. Byleth doesn't really have any strong character traits that make me say "They work especially well with this character because..." All of the lords need a shoulder to lean on but their bond with Byleth isn't special for filling that role. Anyone who steadfastly supported them would have done the job. Byleth is an Avatar in its purest state so that's to be expected. In regards to Edelgard, her character arc is certainly...subtle. She's a more complete person with Byleth there but again, it's kind of a yes/no box to tick rather than the result of her character specific interactions with Byleth.

Since @Icelerate brought it up in another thread, I wanted to ask the question to the rest of Serenes. What group of lords (or main characters who interact with the lords) have the best dynamic? This isn't about how great an individual is, rather how multiple characters interact and bounce off of each other. I'm probably not going to surprise anyone when I say that the Blazing trio have the best dynamic, in my opinion. Eliwood acts as the classic hero, noble, selfless and not a stranger to softer emotions. Hector has a cavalier approach to life, is aggressive towards enemies and has difficulty facing his emotions. Lyn is determined and proud, wearing her emotions on her sleeve. Together they strive towards a common goal, developing their friendship as they go along while being distinct in how they deal with things in life. What do you think? What characters did you most enjoy together?

Not exactly. With Rhea keenly interested in what you're doing, it makes sense for her to direct you (Byleth) to where she thinks its important. Jeralt is also your father so any mission that might concern him is relevant to Byleth. Beyond that, it's just a matter of game design. They want to get all of the plot and exposition done in those school phase chapters. The first half of the game has some excellent pacing so I won't begrudge them for not making a lot of alternate missions.

They do sometimes mention vaguely that they have other assignments when you get a missions.

I think this is one of TH's biggest wasted potentials. You have 3 lords who spend the first half of the game together but the game does everything it can to avoid having them interact in order to make the other routes more enticing to play. Even in the latter half of the game, they barely interact, leading to them never really understanding each other. Edelgard is about as close to Dimitri as she is with Annette.

I'm with you there 100% It would be one thing if he avoided the company of women because he didn't trust them but he deliberately seeks them out, for his own indulgence, out of spite and indifference to their feelings. He has other positive traits but the game doesn't really take his flaws as serious as it should. His Byleth support shows him at his worst and he gets called out for it but ultimately the support shifts to "Oh, you have a sad past. I see how that messed you up." It's not like he vowed to change his ways. While this can be said about many characters with quirks or flaws, I think fewer people would forgive his rampant misogyny if he weren't attractive. I'm sure his fans will point to his interactions with all the named female characters as proof that he's not a misogynist but all that proves to me is that he thinks it's okay to "pump and dump" when he won't see his partner again. I think his attitude towards women is kind of misplaced anyway. His trauma is associated with how his brother hated/abused him because of his crest. You just have to take the game at its word that women have also tried to use and abuse him. He preemptively hates and abuses women but we never see that hatred validated even a little.

Agreed on the content in general. Even the outfits are underwhelming to me. Some bizarre basketball uniforms, slightly tweaked generic uniforms and...maids. Of all the cool ideas they could have picked, that's what they went with. Every Tales of game is running laps around TH in terms of fun alternate outfits. It seems like the final wave with make or break the DLC pack. All I really want is more story content, especially CF's four missing chapters. Isn't it extremely limiting to look at Lyn's story as being a personal conflict with Lundgren? He's just some dude antagonizing her. The real thrust of her story (as I've discussed earlier in this thread) is her quest to find peace and comfort with her family and her place in the world. Eirika is fine, and there are certainly options you can take with developing a naive character, but I'm not sure SS really made that a compelling story. In my opinion, Lyon carries the story in SS and the twins are only interesting by way of their connection to him.

Since people were talking about Fates earlier, I think the two $20 "expansions" to the base game were fairly priced and I don't consider that nickle and diming players for the full story (that's what the other DLC is tho). Each new route is a full game worth of missions so you end up paying double for 3 full routes. There are a fair number of reused assets and maps so it kind of evens out to about 2 games of content for double the price. Of course, I think it's better if the full game is in a single package but I think you're getting your money's worth with this pricing model. --- Related to the above, Three Houses has a terrible DLC plan where you are forced to buy in bulk for a steep price. I only want some of the content but I need to purchase a bunch of garbage just to get it. I wouldn't be surprised if they kept this model going forward, even though it's extremely consumer unfriendly. I rarely bought DLC before and this isn't very encouraging. --- Not sure how unpopular this is but IS should never do multiple routes again. There hasn't been a single game in the series that didn't suffer for this decision, either from the game being shorter (SoV/SS) or the development resources/time being stretched too thin in order to do the campaign justice (Fates/TH). At best, I think they could manage a single narrative with minor route branching like BB.

No need for guilt. Almost everyone is going to die by the time FE6 rolls around so you can't make their fates worse. Being a Blazing Sword fan is suffering.

It's not amazing if you consider FE7 to be a story about racism, which it isn't. While racism is featured, the bigger story relevant to Lyn is her identity and place of belonging. She sets out on a journey to be reunited with her last surviving kin. Lyn mode plays out like the classic "secret princess returns to her 'homeland' and inherits the throne" story and it ends "happily ever after". But then we get to Eliwood/Hector mode where Lyn isn't happy because she's in a foreign world, is overburdened by her unexpected duties as the substitute marquess and she becomes ashamed of her Sacaen upbringing when before she was fiercely proud of it. In most of her endings, she decides that she belongs in Sacae, although starting a relationship with either Hector or Eliwood makes her change her mind. Edit: For more examples of racism beyond Marquess Araphen, Lyn's grandfather's prejudice towards the people of Sacae is the whole reason why Madelyn had to leave in the first place. Also, it's suggested in her Eliwood support and ending that Lyn has cause to think her Sacaen heritage will bring shame to her grandfather and that her marriage to Eliwood was highly controversial. Racism is certainly not a central theme of the game like Tellius but it's there.

Icey, I thought we were friends, y u do dis? I'm curious to hear why you think so. I think Lyn is actually one of the most unique lords in the series. Her story is divided into two phases, the first like a classical story where she gathers friends, retakes her kingdom and overthrows her wicked grand uncle (Gruncle Lundgren) and then the second where all of her values and identity as a mixed race person come into question. Eirika, from what I can recall is another naive female lord. This is why we stand on opposite sides of the debate. If you think a work is 90% solid, you might be more forgiving of their mistakes and try to see them in the best light. But if you thought 90% was awful, theories about the secret brilliance of a work seem doubtful. To go back to the the Darth JarJar example, I find it doubtful because: 1. If Lukas were capable of writing something so subtle and brilliant, why do we not see that quality in the characters/dialogue/story structure? 2. If he actually had this idea, why didn't he develop it in the movies? He just happened to scrap the one good idea he had because people hated JarJar? I'm curious about why you don't think SoV is a good story with that mindset. You've said in a thread you created that you value thematic resonance more than plot structure so shouldn't you be able to handwave the flaws of SoV in the name of the theme? "Celica trusting Jedah when she obviously shouldn't is the point of SoV! Celica's story theme is about the dangers of blind devotion and over-reliance on the gods!" or "Alm's story theme is the circumstances of one's birth do not determine their value. It doesn't matter if he's secretly the son of the emperor and a chosen one with super blood, the point of the story is that he was raised a commoner and achieved great things!" I've seen these exact opinions by other users on Serenes. Do you disagree with them? Even if Anankos being the father were one of the original ideas, I think it's a good guess that Mikoto was originally the birth mother of the Hoshidans. Apart from her looking strongly Japanese (and not looking anything like the other Vallite royals we know of), her not being the real mother creates a screwy timeline where Mikoto is in Hoshido and romantically involved with Sumeragi while the latter is still married and has two more children with Ikona after Corrin is born. The change drags Sumeragi and Ryoma's characterization through the mud and destroys the parity of Conquest and Birthright. Corrin's real birthright is to Valla (but even that's a lie if you believe what the art book said about Mikoto and Arete not being siblings). It's not like Corrin not being Hoshidan is meant to be a important plot point in Birthright. It's only understood if you get one of four S supports (they still call you brother/sister after marrying you and having at least one child, hmmm), and Corrin doesn't react negatively to the revelation as you might expect.

lol, I'm not angry. I'm not the guy dropping F bombs because people don't agree with me. I suppose I technically did when I said the writers wanted to make the siblings 'fuckable.' Don't think you're coming away from this unscathed, Benice! I respectfully disagree with your assessment that the SS lords had better interactions than the BB lords!!

The definition of "overthinking" is looking for deeper meaning when there isn't one. "The curtains are blue hinting at the protagonist's depression and lingering regrets about their falling out with their mother" Or maybe they have blue curtains because that's what they were selling at IKEA. I'm not going to tell you that you can't theorize hidden meanings, but sometimes things just aren't deeper than their surface value. I don't deny the existence of themes, but plot/character coherency can't be ignored when considering the theme. Otherwise SoV would actually be a good story. You didn't answer my question. Do you think it was the intention of the writers for Ryoma to be a horrible person? Because he is for telling that lie. I don't think the authors intended for that to be a reflection of who he was as a person because Corrin doesn't react negatively when the truth is revealed. He says "Huh, neat" instead of freaking out that he betrayed the siblings he grew up with for a different set of not-blood-related siblings he barely knew. That's not how humans behave, so I call it bad writing. Bad ideas include character/plot inconsistency and unbelievable events. Those are valid things to criticize in an author's craft. And yes, I think we can dismiss "a super brilliant hidden story" when most of the writer's ideas faceplant on the landing. But I don't do that out of hand, I explain why I don't believe these theories.

You really need to check yourself. Everyone is free to argue their position but few on this forum are so arrogant to get angry about people disagreeing with their interpretation of what the game is trying to say. It should have been clear as day that people don't disagree with what the game is saying. They're disagreeing with what YOU think the game is saying. Here you're arguing that Ryoma lying makes sense because it fits a theme you're imagining instead of why it makes sense for the character. Which do you think was the intention of the writers, that Ryoma is a horrible person who lied about something so critical to Corrin's identity and loyalty, or that they decided later on to make all of the siblings fuckable and didn't think about the implications for the characters? People who insist on Fates hidden depth remind me of the people who believe in the "Darth JarJar" theory. Chances are, if the rest of the writer's ideas were awful, they probably didn't have some brilliant secret story that was just way too subtle for the public to understand.

"Would it really be weird considering we're not related by blood? Haha, just kidding! unless?" Now is the time to run, Ryoma. That boy aint right.

I agree with all of these criticisms. Edelgard hiring Kostas to do a hit job on the lords, including herself feels like a scrapped plot direction where she wasn't the Flame Emperor. She also tells Kostas that she needs to look for a replacement for him as if she still intends to carry out the assassination plot, but she never does. The scene where you have to choose either CF or SS is honestly one of the worst moments in the entire plot. Edelgard has revealed herself to be behind several villainous actions and yet your only options are to trust her blindly or to side with Rhea. Like you said, choosing CF feels like less of a natural choice for Byleth, rather you would do it because you want to play Edelgard's route. I think there is a reoccurring problem in part 1 where there are pressing follow up questions you could ask but the plot contrives some reason why you are unable to. Jeralt has something REALLY important to talk about, but there's just no time (he has all month). Rhea is about to tell her relation to you but... SUDDENLY Alois has a mission briefing and Byleth can't immediately resume the conversation with Rhea. Etc The whole "choice" moment just doesn't work. You have every reason to either want to question Edelgard or insist Rhea back down until you sort things out but you can't. Edelgard vaguely states her motivations and everyone joins her because "dragon lady bad". When you start the next chapter, you learn that she explained herself offscreen and you just have to assume she was really persuasive.

While I don't disagree with Faerghus having a lot of problems, I think part of it is that they get more focus than the other nations so we just know more about them than the Empire or Alliance. The Alliance seems to have a power balance more independent of crests. In the Empire, the imperial family, and the families that hold the posts of Prime Minister and Minister of Domestic Affairs have crest bearers as their heirs. I can't remember if Caspar's brother (ie the family that inherits the position of Minister of Military Affairs) is said to have a crest, but judging by Edelgard's scathing criticism of the man, it seems he's not inheriting his position for his merits. Discounting the Vestra family, which may not have a crest, it seems more of the highest positions are held by crest bearing lineages. That we haven't seen someone robbed of their inheritance like Sylvain's brother, may just be a matter of coincidence or the Empire being out of focus. Also, as we can see with Hanneman and Mercedes, the hunger for crests has caused great suffering for many in the Empire as well. While they're not genocidal, the Empire made Brigid a vassal state and kept their royal heir as a hostage. The Alliance also has tensions with the Almyrans, with at least some of them, like Hilda for example, having racist opinions about them. My understanding of the story was that Faeghus has been fighting a losing battle with the Empire for 5 years in part because the Empire doesn't have to focus on the mostly neutral Alliance. Some Kingdom lords surrendered out of fear for their lives but it's probably the case that many were simply defeated during that 5 year period. By the time we see them, the people who opposed Edelgard in the western territories of Faerghus are either dead or have surrendered. As for being puppets of the Slitherers, it's not like anyone knows about that (it's not something even the player knows for certain in AM). Cornelia's actions undoubtedly led to the quicker subjugation/surrender of the Kingdom, so it's perhaps unfair to pin their capitulation solely on the character of Kingdom houses. In regards to the Alliance and "rolling out the red carpet", the Alliance folds after two chapters. That's pretty much the Empire walking right into the capital because most Alliance lords don't even attempt to stop Edelgard. Even in AM, the Alliance gets absorbed by the Kingdom because apparently they suck so badly at self governance that they willingly hand over the reins of the country. Don't forget what the Empire nobles did or allowed to happen to all of the imperial heirs besides Edelgard. I'd say that's pretty fucked up. As for the alliance, they didn't try to assassinate lord Riegan but they have their own power-plays which lead to the deaths of innocents, like the fate of Raphael's family. In summary, I think all of the nations got some pretty big problems but we don't get as much focus on the Empire and Alliance.

Favorite trope: Maybe the older sister flying mount user like Minerva, Fiora, Laegjarn etc. Flying mounts are cool and those characters come off as cool beauties while also showing care for their younger siblings. Laegjarn is my personal favorite because she's also a well done Camus, which should be celebrated. Least favorite trope: I'm going to callthis the "devotee", a character who is obsessed with another (typically the main character) for little reason, like Tharja, Camilla and Faye. It's not always all encompassing of who they are but the character worship is grating. I'm never gonna be over Tharja being in love with Robin because of a sex dream she had.

There are a lot of things about Heroes that are different from all of the mainline titles. In FEH, the bulk of the gameplay is fighting player created content. Arena, Arena Assault, Aether Raids, Voting Gauntlet and Grand Conquest are all vs player built units, teams or maps. In FEH, the player's inventory, unit progression and even character availability are independent of the story progress. In FEH, the story is a series of loosely connected books unlike a mainline game that has a strong core narrative which ties almost everything together. In FEH, unlike literally every other mainline title, there is no accuracy mechanic in gameplay. The maps are all very small. Units don't promote to new classes. The list goes on. In FEH, the bulk of the cast are taken from other games. It's a massive crossover. Do you understand now? If those things don't matter to you, that's totally an opinion you can hold but I doubt many will agree with you.

I'd like to see an end to the "all loving hero" trope. Granted, it's not super common (Alm is the biggest example) but it always grinds my gears when I see it. I hate that, well, hating things is considered a villainous trait and conversely, that forgiving truly horrible people is a heroic trait. Sympathy for one's enemies can work depending on the writing (such as Tanjiro in Kimetsu no Yaiba. In that series, his sympathy for the demons is valid as they're ultimately victims themselves of a corrupting influence) but if the enemy really has no redeaming qualities, forgiving them just makes the hero seem inhuman. Rudolf and Berkut were shitty people and Alm forgiving them just makes Alm more impossibly perfect than he already is. Just for a change of pace, I'd like a hero with some realistic distrust/distaste for another person/faction. Things like Ingrid being prejudiced towards the people of Duscur speaks to the strength of Three Houses' writing. --- Another uncommon but still obnoxious trope is prophesies. They're always used to forward information to the player that the writers are too lazy to include organically. Who tells these prophesies? How do they have this power? If it's a god telling these mysterious seers, why do they do it? It's incredibly lazy story telling and there is also the byproduct of fate being on rails. You already know what will happen in the story, the game told you, and unless they do a clever subversion, like a certain Tales of game, there is nothing left to explore. When the prophesy includes a chosen one, it elevates those people above ordinary humans and makes their achievements less their own and more "because fate decided you win". I think Camus' remain popular despite their often flawed execution because it contributes to moral greyness that we don't get enough of in the series. Noble people trapped by their own principles or loyalties is more interesting than all enemies being mustache twirlers. It's a shame Xander and Fates faceplanted on their execution because that seems to be the first game where a Camus was given a large roll as an antagonist. Had they just toned down on Garon and better justified Xander's personal biases, you'd have a tragic character instead of the go-to example for "terrible Camus archetypes". I agree that it should be given a rest but I think these visions are sometimes valid. In Awakening and Three Houses, there are reasons the player/character can see these things. For the player, it's to forward information that increases the hype for a critical event in the plot (or relevant lore in the case of TH). For the characters, it's their connection to a plot relevant something, which justifies its inclusion in the story itself. Fates and Echoes is where things don't really work. The "hype" device is still present but it's never explained how the characters have these visions. They just... do, and you're asked to stop caring about why after the scene you see them. Celica's vision is especially problematic because she sees things that she couldn't possibly know (like what Rudolf and teenage Alm look like) but none of the things she sees come to pass or are averted by things she does, so it's a fake prophetic dream.

It bothers me that a lot of C supports sound the same, often highlighting some flaw or extreme personality a character has. The path of these supports usually works towards them overcoming or confronting a flawed part of themselves but when you're playing the game, you're bombarded with a wave of C supports, aka the character at their worst, and first impressions really do make a difference. Look at how many supports Lysithea has that make her look like a brat (or worse) to start with.

This basically. Mark is a non-character which makes the few acknowledgements of his existence a non-issue. He might get a very, very, watered-down version of the praise the other avatars get but the scene is never really about Mark, and he doesn't get in the way of the story the game is trying to tell unlike some of the other avatars.