[General theorizing thread]

6 hours ago, HappyHawlucha. said:

I have a feeling the two Golden Deer with the white hair will be sisters, not having any sibling units yet is a bit odd ngl :/

Well, it's not like we know for sure that there aren't any.

[Classes You Know About, Expect to See, or Want to See]

28 minutes ago, Guest LSM said:

Hah - I just came back in here to mention that exact thing with Bernadetta (you noticed it in the Skills and Combat Arts Thread like me, right?). 

[Also: I was super slow at actually posting and I can't edit as a guest, so apologies for repeating some of what you had said.]

Well it reminded me of it:p Lots of information at once for that small brain of mine.

[Classes You Know About, Expect to See, or Want to See]

I edited the above a bit late for you to see, but Bernadetta has lance and bow lv1 above her battle forecast, so lances are probably her secondary weapons. Which is funny because they suit her about as well as they suited Amelia back in FE8.

Yup, the secondary reason tome will probably modify stats in some way, which would make it the new shuriken!
But frankly it's unclear what it'll do at this point.

I'm willing to trust trailer one overall. It's not been straight up proven wrong(or on very few things), and if anything Edelgard's 5 man team showcased a lance user that could very well be Ferdinand, since both emo boy and him are once again shown alone with Edelgard and Byleth in trailer 2. So emo man would have a bow/reason focus, and perhaps Hilda and Claude will be differentiated by Claude getting his own class line. Mercedes certainly doesn't look like a sword user, though, I'll give you that.

I think the different builds were pretty clearly a result of the models not being made yet. I'm even wondering if what we've seen in trailer 2 is final, because of the similarities first, but also because your analysis made me realize that a lot of characters are carrying swords right now... even emo-man, making his potential focus reason swords bows... that'd be fresh at least.

[Skills and Combat Arts]

55 minutes ago, Ayra said:

Well, not necessarily. It's certainly possible they don't have skills, but they might have out-of-battle skills like rally or swap, stat boosts (ala Awakening / Fates) or skills might simply not trigger in training duels.

Yes, that is also possible. But it'd be weird of them to include weapon levels then, considering they do not seem extremely relevant in that situation either. They're also grouped with Bernadetta's skill above her battle forecast.

I don't see those levels as what a student can and cannot use personally, since that would seem a bit redundant when ranks are also in this game(also neither of the three cases where they appeared showed every weapon type, even for Bernadetta who is a confirmed noble)... but it's true that it's unclear what purpose they serve. Maybe they're tied to combat arts, or the weapon triangle. I'm confused as to why the lack of swords specifically is what surprises you here though, since Ferdinand doesn't have levels for fists, bows, etc either.

[Classes You Know About, Expect to See, or Want to See]

21 hours ago, Guest LSM said:

So: thoughts?

I generally agree with your conclusions, and you spotted many things I didn't. As for the few I "disagree" with:

Bernadetta: It bears mentioning that this is a lone classroom shot, so it might be a studying book rather than magic, especially since beyond the icons, magic users do not seem to wield books in battle, implying it's not necessarily that closely tied to reading. She also has remarkably low res for a character with magic affinity(2). I do agree about the bookworm appearance though, and am not too sure what other weapon she'd get.
Edit: Worth noting is that she has a LV1 lances icon above her combat forecast.

Dorothea: Considering that the mage Caspar fights shows us that fire is a black tome, I think it's more the black and white magic of Echoes than the Light and dark we see usually. Anyway out of her two focuses reason is the one at D, so I'd expect a primarily magic-based hybrid out of her, and yes, tactician seems perfect.

Leonie: Her design screams tomboy that gets up close and personal to me(not only because of Chie from Persona... but that obviously doesn't help), so while she is seen with a bow, I assume she'll be using gauntlets as her primary weapon, and will perhaps be a thief.

Hilda: ...which would open up the archer slot, beyond Claude I suppose. I'll trust the first trailer on this one.

Also, I find myself wondering if any of them will have authority as a primary focus, and what kind of class would result from that...

 

[February 2019 Direct Analysis]

1 hour ago, VincentASM said:

Similarly, in the Japanese trailer, after teaching Dorothea, her icon on the left side has two arrows increased, instead of one. I'm assuming that means she gained more support/bond points. Although I'm unsure why. For reference, her "interest/motivation" gauge starts at 3 (or 75%) rather than 1 (25%). So that could be a factor. Maybe the first time you teach a student, they gain more bonding points?

I assumed Dorothea gained more because in the japanese trailer, the chosen category had two bonuses(strength and that hand thing), as opposed to just one.

26 minutes ago, Guest Pence said:

Sooooo did anyone notice how the Curved Shot art uses durability instead of HP now?

Yes, many people did.

[Something special about Byleth’s sword? (Speculation)]

1 hour ago, vanguard333 said:

Wait; when was that sword on fire? Also, interesting. But the sword on the mural doesn't have a lightning design. If you look at something like the Levin Sword; the blade is very angled; giving the distinct lightning bolt appearance. The blade on the mural is a wavy blade; much like an actual Flamberge, which would actually fit the idea of it being a fiery sword quite well. 

I don't know, the edges look just sharp enough to evoke lightning, to me at least, but, your point definitely makes sense here. And I did misspeak, it's not literally engulfed in flames, there's just a bright red aura emanating from it.

[Skills and Combat Arts]

The fact that Edelgard has what very much looks like vantage as a noble makes me wonder if we're not going back to way Jugdral/Tellius approached skills. As for class mastery, maybe mastering a class opens up new reclassing exams?

What's for sure is that neither of these two gentlemen seem to start with a skill so it might not be an universal thing:

As for combat arts... maybe that's what the + ranks are about, and maybe just maybe, you can actually choose to skip them and sacrifice getting the art for faster progress? That's just wishful thinking though, because I'd really like that kind of choices.

Overall there's quite a bit of potential here. Probably the part of the game I'm the most eager to learn more about.

 

[Unimportant, but on the topic of female Byleth...]

4 hours ago, eclipse said:

. . .I figured it out.

Female Byleth's eyes are fairly wide apart. . .a little too wide IMO.  Put them a little closer together, and make them slightly narrower, and I think it would look a lot better.

Yes, her eyes are just too big. M!Byleth's aren't and there's no real problem with his face as a result, despite his iris being just as empty.

It's an acquired taste as far as I'm concerned though, so I'm sure it'll be fine in the end.

[Something special about Byleth’s sword? (Speculation)]

Thane theorized that the grand battle we saw in trailer 1 was from the past, and considering we got two lookalikes in it(the blond church warrior and the older enemy general, looking like the current head of the church and Jeralt respectively), it makes a lot of sense to me. If that's correct and those are ancestors, Byleth can use the whipsword due to his lineage.

In any case, it ends up in possession of the church at some point, but also seems to be cursed in some way, so maybe Byleth obtains it as a poisoned gift? And as Vincent pointed out in his analysis, it used to house a crest that is now gone. So clearly there's a lot going on here, and this thing is probably going to be Yato levels of importance.

Edit: Also, someone else(I can't remember who, apologies) pointed out that the flaming sword of the swordswoman jumping at the screen(Vincent's analysis has a good shot of it) looks a lot like the sword of Seiros on the mural, with that distinct lightning design... so maybe these two blades are representing opposing forces, and while she's the warrior of light so to speak, Byleth is the warrior of dark. Or something like that.

[So About Byleths Father, Jeralt...]

The one thing I'll say is that there's an assumption that Byleth's powers come from his mother, when I see little reason to think Jeralt doesn't have them too; time rewinding sounds pretty useful in becoming the successful mercenary he seems to be.

Also I don't want him to just die off because that's boring. But I said that about Mikoto as well.

[February 2019 Direct Analysis]

3 hours ago, Othin said:

Given how novel the feature is, it's a place where I think that kind of revision would make a lot of sense.

I guess you're right.

[February 2019 Direct Analysis]

1 minute ago, RexBolt said:

@Cysx don't you think IS maybe just renamed Formations as Gambits?

Well it's not a translation change at the very least. They're different options in japanese as well, and no other term has seen any change in that version from trailer one to two as far as I can tell. But, it's still possible I guess.

[February 2019 Direct Analysis]

12 hours ago, Enduin said:

Trying to figure out what the green Triforce symbols mean, at first I thought it was just a formation indicator, and then just a battalion indicator, but now I don't know. Could be both.

I unfortunately don't have much to add to your ideas, you pretty thoroughly covered those leads. What I do find weird is that we can switch weapons and combat arts in the pre-battle forecast... but not this, apparently, even though the L and R key are left unmapped. Maybe they're for the camera.

I do think the wedge symbol doesn't necessarily contradict the symbol. It also disappears as the screen fades to black, so as you said, gambits are probably separate from formations. I think somebody theorized that gambits are only available when you're next to an ally(it was probably LuckyCrit), but regardless, it's weird that we can't seem to get both options at once. Even if gambits were only possible when near allies using the same formation as yours(just spitballing here), the gambit option should simply disappear if you switched.

Edelgard's lifebar is weirdly misplaced on that shot now that I'm looking at it

7 hours ago, Lord_Grima said:

We saw the "support of all" on Linhardt's healing magic, but if you flip the Western Church Soldier's magic you can make out more of the words. It's three phrases around the edge, all in english.

"The goddess always lives(?) in heaven and Fodlan."
"___ ___ __ing over is for the mother of all living beings."
"As support of all m___ things."

Linhardt and Casper both block the start of the second phrase, but there is one frame where the Soldier's Fire reveals part of it.

Not much to add here either, just wanted to say, really good stuff.

[The place of a protagonist in Fire Emblem]

9 minutes ago, NekoKnight said:

I know, I shouldn't speak so derisively of those who need the confidence boost. If a video game makes you feel better about yourself, that's great, I just wish it didn't come at the expense of the writing quality. I like to think the series is also for people like me and not just adolescents. A lot of gamers are adults now.

It is also for you. That's the difficulty of it, they have to compromise as a result of trying to reach several audiences, and with Fates, they failed(imo).

Going on a bit of a tangent here, but a nice part about teenagers is that they can generally enjoy the same quality standards that already work for adults, as opposed to how it is with children. The main issue, however, is that you don't draw them in the same way at all. I think avatars are in part a consequence of that, because they're easy to advertise.

[The place of a protagonist in Fire Emblem]

55 minutes ago, NekoKnight said:

My life isn't so unfulfilling that I need the emotional crutch of a video game telling me I'm a flawless individual and that everyone loves me.

I think a more healthy way to look at it is that you may not be the target audience in terms of age(for that aspect of the game in particular, I mean. Not the whole product.). If I had to guess, it's to appeal to early teenagers, who typically have a lot of self-worth issues, as opposed to adults suffering from depression, that would indeed not find much respite in a videogame telling them they're cool repeatedly.

[Every character organized by house(with images!)]

On 15/02/2019 at 10:37 PM, alphfreddo said:

there's also two more people with the golden deer you can see in the trailers but you can only see the back of their head unfortunately 

Yup, I just decided against listing them at the last moment because while they're pretty definitely from the Golden Deer house, the fact that we saw so many other backs of so many other student heads made me doubt that these two in particular would be playable.
It's probably happening still, that's just me being cautious.

On 15/02/2019 at 11:43 PM, Lord_Grima said:

What are everyone's thoughts on this "Plague Doctor" mage character? They are part of a CGI cutscene, so they seem more important than a generic boss, but we don't see a face or anything else that would make them unique.

Their existence is interesting because we saw nothing remotely similar to what they're wearing, to my knowledge. Typically when characters wear masks in Fire Emblem, it's either to conceal their identity, or because they're mooks. So this person appearing in cgi either revealed to us that we'll have a mysterious opponent/ally, or that there's some sort of additional faction, on top of the four we currently know of, with its own agenda.

None of that is exactly unheard of when it comes to FE, but anyway, that's my take on it.

36 minutes ago, kratoscar2008 said:

Thanks. My favorites so far are Dorothea>Edelgard>Bernadetta>Petra>Mercedes>Magic teacher>Sothis>notEmmeryn. Edelgard's house is so much superior to everyone else that it isnt funny, will be hard to play the other houses first and leave Edelgard's house for last.

Nobody else got much spotlight, to be fair, especially the Golden Deer.

[Chinatsu Kurahana is Three Houses New Artist]

11 minutes ago, DarthR0xas said:

Like that one girl with the Jojo hat? Definitely a hit. That one short orange haired gal? Definitely a miss.

You say definitely but it's the exact opposite as far as I'm concerned.

[Chinatsu Kurahana is Three Houses New Artist]

I won't lie, this is pretty much exactly what I expected. I don't dislike it though. The style itself is only decent in my eyes, but she seems to have a lot of experience so the result isn't too bad, Dimitri uniform aside.

1 hour ago, Glennstavos said:

hence why I'm with people in hoping there's some visual customization to make this game look more like Fire Emblem.

Byleth is wearing a dark swordmaster(probably, looks a lot like Awakening's version) outfit in the US trailer and a white one in the japanese one. Same for edgey mc edge wearing a black and a red robe respectively. While it could be different versions, I doubt they ever considered actually making the swordmaster(probably) outfit white, so light customization elements might indeed be a thing.

[How do you think the routes will work?]

1 minute ago, colossus86 said:

I'd say the first trailer was lore focused with some story implications. Learning about the history of the Continent and church is important but it doesn't tell us anything about what happens during this game.

That's true, but it could be a consequence of it being a reveal trailer rather than the story being basic. I mean look at Botw, the story elements weren't revealed until very late.

... actually, do not look a Botw. Let's forget I said that.

[How do you think the routes will work?]

24 minutes ago, colossus86 said:

I wouldn't get your hopes up for this one. Maybe the reason thr game's been so delayed is that they wanted to be really ambitious and include 3 distinct campaigns or substantial branching but I feel like they would have made that clear. The marketing so far makes it damn near impossible to actually discern the true nature of the game's main conflict and that's very intentional. The story, in content or structure, is likely not a selling point here so they focused on what they thought was the biggest selling point i.e. the school stuff.

Might also be a result of them revealing things progressively. They have an FE-focused expo coming, potential months of coverage in Famitsu, and a golden opportunity to generate hype at E3 since the game releases a month later.

Plus the first trailer was pretty story focused.

[First game to have no name changes (so far)!]

7 hours ago, Rezzy said:

Nice to see, although I wonder why they felt the need to reuse already used names, like Claude and Raphael.

Well, it happens from time to time. Also Rafiel ( ラフィエル ) and Raphael ( ラファエル ) are different. Unless you were referring to somebody else.

[Three Houses is co-developed by KOEI TECMO]

On 16/02/2019 at 8:31 AM, Jedi said:

Yeah, IS has always struggled with 3D models, PoR is rather spotty and RD while improved was still rather rough. 3DS era was better but still kind of rough.

While I agree(and have been preaching the same thing in the past), that is also why you hire people that are specialized in that field. We'll just say Three Houses was too far along in development when Heroes exploded for them to retroactively up the budget, but in the future, unless TH majorly bombs, IS really ought to grow as a studio and not run into these kinds of problems anymore.

[How do you think the routes will work?]

It's interesting that the winning options for question 2 and 3 almost directly contradict one another, unless the conflict is extremely short.

Honestly while most of us have been too burned by Fates to be optimistic, it is a very ambitious idea they went for once again. There's a lot going on here, with characters that are friends with different allegiances and us having to pick one of three potentially very different sides. Thing is, considering they don't have to sell us on several versions, they didn't really need to make things that complicated on themselves, so maybe this design choice actually is a result of ambition rather than smoke and mirrors. But yeah, they outright lied to our faces with Fates and it's going to take quite a bit for me to trust them again when it comes to story elements in trailers.

[The place of a protagonist in Fire Emblem]

While I don't specifically want to make this conversation about Alm, it's worth noting that the game doesn't present him as being always right, if anything, Celica's point of view is given considerable credence... until a certain point of the story, that is. Alm's plans aren't presented as flawless, and the main opposing narrative isn't presented as constantly wrong. His actions also led to the deaths of his father and cousin. Overall, his successes are conveyed as happenstance rather than him being flawless, and though I agree that he doesn't leave enough shining room to the supporting cast, I don't think this is specific to him at all as far as FE protagonists go. He's just slightly worse about it than most of the others.

 

Anyway, I too had a bunch of red flags raised as a result of the newest trailer. There's no longer a doubt that Byleth is gonna be super special and central to the plot, and also potentially the kind of characters everyone relies on completely and that has all of them, even the reasonably competent ones, completely hopeless without him around. Hopefully, that second part doesn't end up being true.
Still, there were other interesting things that may prevent another Corrin; for example Byleth was never presented as the commander of armies. While he will likely be de-facto if we're being honest, as far as the narrative goes... well he's a teacher. His role is parallel to the students/headmasters rather than higher on the same scale. As an instructor, even if he has some larger place in the plot, the dynamics are necessarily different because his primary goal is for his students to become better, not himself through them; allegedly anyway. And, as we all know, we have characters to fit the commander roles that were actually repeatedly shown doing just that. Unfortunately this was also the case for Xander and Ryoma, so we can't rejoice just yet.

Now the fact that Byleth joins battles and was clearly shown getting his hands dirty and wielding the super special weapon of legends TM does undermine what I just said. Also, him going from mercenary to teacher implies that education might just be the mean to a different, currently unknown goal. So, it's all about whether or not they'll balance the whole thing properly. But, still, the fact that he was presented as a teacher first and foremost is a good thing, methinks.