TigerKatt

That's alright :D since after that it's just opinion based for enjoying it or not! :) Back to FE14 though, having the warring context (introducing war-politics/alliance-politics) could be rid of the unjustified revival that seems to be generally disliked and still make way for recruitment! Gahhh waiting till 2016 is an awful long time to see how it goes though....

I feel like this just turned into FE13 hate though? I mean as a comparison towards what they could do better in If, or hopefully they won't put anything that was perceived as bad in If, that would be okay. There could definitely be areas where they could improve a lot in FE13, but If is another case so perhaps they'll survey criticism and improve? They are developers famous for the series :) Personally I enjoyed Awakening for its quirky humor and cute dialogue scenes although I enjoyed shipping too. :P

That's true! I was speaking from mainly a traditional FE sense, which would therefore mean from the Hosidan side. But maybe that's why the developers are hinting that the Nohr experience will be vastly different than the Fire Emblem traditions we know? I mean it definitely sounds like a challenge without outside-storyline leveling and only a set amount of units that are effectively supplied to you. It's a small chance that it's the reason for dlc as well, so we get to experience each side as we want to and allow each side of the game to freely develop as the producers would like it to? :)

Being misguided is the theme of Nohr though? I mean the characters and siblings that you grew up with in the Dark Nation don't know of the supposed evil that's going on, and if you're required to drive a revolution within the castle walls (if you pick that version/side of the game), then I'd say the same could potentially happen with the Hoshidan side. I don't think it would undermine your route choice as such though? I mean logically thinking, to recruit someone from the enemy side (given that they're misguided and have no idea about what they're doing for Nohr), would be extremely difficult because not only do you have to prevent them from dying, but there's the convincing aspect too. :P Edit - I forgot to say that by having recruitment levels that difficult would add a challenging aspect to the game (while abiding to FE traditions) and keeping your crucial decisions intact. I'm not sure how it'll all play out in the game, and I'm really excited to see how it actually is! They might not have recruitment after all, and just leave it as a single route plus DLC (the darker, more depressing side). In my opinion though it'd leave a more interesting twist of reality in FE: If, supposing that they do implement recruitment options (and therefore more heart-wrenching choices to decide between).

That's true! Latias is a really flexible Pokemon to be able to work with, and the same goes for Latios where I believe the artist made the same variations plus one or two that were based on increasing speed. Illuminated and Fire Opal (I think) were built upon the assumption that multiple Latias (as seen with multiple Celebi/Shaymin etc.) could exist, and I suppose if they were conditioned for contests or royalty, it'd be enough an environmental stimuli for it to generate 'evolutionary change'? As for complete body morphs, that's usually something done with abstract or psychic Pokemon fan arts, but tiny interesting variations do exist that I think are okay? I've seen Absol variations where they changed the coat, but also the horn to reflect its sensing capabilities/personality/battle prowess. Generally for land-locked Pokemon the variations are just going to vary among coat patterns if not for an entire coat scheme change...and it'd be hard to come up with anything entirely original while keeping the design intact. But I think it'd be enough for an entirely personalized feel towards catching a particular Pokemon - like Spinda with its ever changing swirls. I'd really love to catch an Growlithe/own an Arcanine that had its completely unique coat pattern compared to a buddy :P Maybe more could be done with the Pokemon inspired by inanimate objects/possession? I mean they could do a lot with Yamask masks, apart from the fact that it might make that a tad too scary xD Edit - maybe they could do something for community based Pokemon like Braviary as well - its dex entries said Braviary hierarchy was based upon battle experience and often times scars were signs of pride or high power.

Well Pokemon variations have been done without greatly altering the color palette. Latias is below; and the creator gave small descriptions to the background of each variation - quite clever! (Latios has been done too.)

I was....5 I think, when my Dad came home and stuck me in front of Pokemon Red. I don't remember anything from that aside from picking Charmander! Then I grew up a bit, picked it up again at Colosseum and RSE, then I've been playing ever since :) It's become my favorite series of all time, and honestly Pokemon is a game that just brings people together as friends.

This is so true....simply attempting to choose a side is already making my brain hurt. Granted that I'm assuming choosing a side will result in a somewhat dark/grim decision of killing the other (I'm hoping there's a cheerful, happy/peaceful end though) - the only thing I see that can compensate for the feeling of depression and betrayal would be to play both sides via DLC (or the third one, whatever it may be about) xD Edit - maybe through choices you DO get to save the other side? (disarm/knock out instead of kill during combat)...but I'd imagine it'd be very difficult to arrive at a situation to get to save them, and the map itself would be hard to get through (maybe similar to recruitment paralogues in Awakening; but more deeply embedded into the story arc and affected in various ways) :P