Cysx

While it makes sense, I have a hard time believing that they realized Prime 4's development was not going well at the last second. If anything, sales might have swayed them into riding the Smash train for a while longer, and they gave it some breathing room until Joker gameplay was available/ dlc character 2 was ready to be announced. I fear a lot of people will get really annoyed if every 2019 direct is still focused on Smash, but that seems very possible at this point. They could have delayed Piranha Plant too, though. Not sure why they didn't.

Interesting that Anna, who lost due to split votes the same way Marth did in CYL2, isn't featured on the podium like he was(not that it ultimately meant much, but Marth did get an alt and a legendary in 2018). I suppose that yes, all these Annas are different persons - most likely anyway - but when it comes to the fanbase, they all treat her as the same being, and they all share the same character. So those are some strange double standards by IS. As for Marth fans, history does repeat itself it seems, and Three Houses, with its three male leads, sounds like a serious contender next year(assuming it's out). You guys have my sympathies. Our winners have considerably more votes than last year's(about 50% more), and individually they each got on average about 3.5x more votes. Meanwhile, outside of the top 20 there is a consistent +10 - 20% increase in vote numbers per spot. Be it because of multi account voting or higher participation, people really wanted their CYL alts this year.

If the game can get away with not explaining why people are endlessly being brought back in phoenix mode, I think we can survive having a simple "rewind" option in the menu, or something comparable.

I totally think it will. It just feels like something IS would do. Now do I want it back, that's another thing. I see it as a very elegant way to completely annihilate any strategical challenge the game could otherwise provide. It's really fun to use, though. I think the best way they could go about it is giving the player one or two charges tops throughout the normal game, and provide grinding options to get more from the get-go. Would probably be the best of both worlds. Or they could simply make it optional, period, I guess.

This is assuming the game is still big at this time next year, which we don't know. Heroes was at the top of the world in early 2018, and a lot of controversy has risen around it since. I'm really curious about how many votes CYL3 is currently garnering actually.

Yeah apologies, I'm joining mid conversation here Like I said, it's all about awareness, and context too. People voting for Camilla aren't doing so from a bubble in space, they know she has more representation any character could ask for over only two years of Heroes, they know she got another alt days ago, and they also know many people are frustrated at the whole situation. Yet they do it anyway.

The way I see it, while not all selfishness is bad and it can absolutely be a necessity in certain situations, the moment you know for a fact you prioritizing yourself will put others down, and you go through with it anyway, without any good reason other than you not caring about others... That crosses a line. The harder you hit them/the less you get out of it, the worse it gets. Now this is just a poll for a character in a video game, so all things considered there's really no reason to get angry at one another. But, you do know when voting Camilla, a character with six versions in the game already, that you're completely ignoring the wishes of others to prioritize yours, even though you have plenty already. That's why it's not the good type of selfishness, imo. Yeah, I'll give you that we're all doing that right now, you're just... doing it worse than most. Very surprised Alm made it to #1, and Chrom didn't get a massive burst of votes. Was really expecting a top tier position in the fresh and very successful Smash Ultimate would secure him a spot in the top 3 here.

We're just a bit restless at the moment. Last year around March that translated into fake leaks popping up all over the place, so it was even worse. But, I guess we know just enough about the game for it not to happen again right now. Or maybe people are too busy fake leaking the smash dlc.

I don't know, I just have a hard time buying that for multiple smaller reasons, though it's certainly possible. Oh, and I didn't mean to imply a rotating camera was impossible, far from it. Another possibility would be it being a relay chapter à la ch17 of PoR. That could make a lot of sense too.

I don't know about the lava field, since you can see the dark sky above the rocks. The laboratory's completely possible though, plus it does look like a basement.

I'd say so, yes. We do see quite a few spires during the free roaming part, which matches with the castle model in a general sense. I just don't think it's remotely accurate to how the real thing would actually look from afar, at the moment. Plus their editing would be really weird if that wasn't the same place, and if those really are mock battles, it'd make sense that they'd take place nearby the school. I agree that most of it seems to take place pretty early on. The only exception would be the lava field, which is rarely an earlygame location in FE games, and maybe the underground laboratory ruins/castle ruins because we can't really tell. Outside of that, damage values/HP totals(Edelgard and Byleth aside) are low across the board, iron weapons are being used... nothing too definitive, but yeah.

Ooooh you're right, I forgot. All right then, that's most likely what it is. Yeah, didn't really get into it, but my take on mustache man's case is pretty much the same as yours. And if we're correct, I look forward to him as an ally, I think there's a lot of potential there. Beyond that, truth be told I've been sitting on some of this stuff for a while. I'm just so concerned nobody will care, just in general, and it gets seriously debilitating at times. Regardless, thanks for the kind words:)

... because new old information is better than what we've gotten recently, aka nothing. If any of this is common knowledge already, do tell me, and I'll turn my profile pic the other way to symbolize my everlasting shame. Also quick disclaimer... long three parts post ahead. It's mainly images, though. TIDBITS 1: This looks familiar This is the first environment we see in gameplay. Shot 1, the player is about to select Edelgard, shot 2, it zoomed in and Edelgard is about to attack Mercedes. On the first shot, notice the fork in the road in the top left. On the second shot, the fact that it keeps going to the right at both top corners of the screen. Also note the specific 7 trees formation visible on both(top of shot 1, left of shot 2), and the darker path, above Edelgard on shot 1, and under her on shot 2. Now here's a shot of another environment we see slightly later, which I'll turn around 90° and touch up a bit ... fork in the road, path that goes to the right, specific seven trees formation, and the darker path(which isn't too visible here, so here's a bigger version : https://i.imgur.com/OBEOpHb.jpg So yeah, it's looking like the same place. To further prove it, here's one combat shot from each, of Edelgard attacking Mercedes, and Byleth attacking Hilda; both are fighting an enemy further down in the direction of the path, and the camera is showing what's behind them. -> -> The angle is slightly different, but you can clearly see a really specific rock formation on the left(which I'd guess is also where that fork in the road leads to). I think this is pretty definitive proof so I'll leave it at that for the sake of brevity, but there are more details if you're not convinced, such as boulders, the moving camera as Mercedes counterattacks Edelgard, etc. Just to commentate on this real quick, at first I wondered if it only meant that this was the same chapter and we'd get a camera rotation feature. But, that doesn't seem too likely. Look at the minimap on that Byleth screenshot, and you should spot a reversed L-shape made of six grey squares, with a red sword unit at the tip. Considering the seven trees formation is also visible on the map, and we can see in the distance that those grey squares are in fact rocks, those are the same ones Mercedes' squad is standing close to... But those characters are not here. So, this specific place is likely being reused in two distinct chapters, which, when you think about it, is not that common in Fire Emblem. Maybe a sign of things to come, maybe not. Tidbits 2: Okay, but where's the castle? For anyone wondering if the castle we see Byleth free roaming through in the trailer is nearby, and where, I have a relatively conclusive answer... it's at the end of the road I mentioned earlier, and I can tell because of landmarks(as well as the general topography of the place) that are visible both on the shot of the castle in the distance, and the one right before Byleth attacks Hilda. That being said, they're pretty small and partially covered by trees, so I'll try to convey them as best I can with color coding and bigger screencaps(sorry). So first, the basic images: ... and now the color coded stuff Now assuming you're not busy thinking I'm stretching, you might have noticed the small orange circle. This is the house. What house? Why, this one of course: (went with a big image here too so that you could spot the path going up the mountain behind it, reinforcing the idea that there is something up there). So yeah, a house with blue walls(and potentially the objective of the map). On the image above, what I circled is a dark blue part that stands out behind the trees, though it might not be too easy to see without zooming in. Pretty strong chance they're one and the same. And this is all I have. So clearly it's not 100%, but I feel it's pretty decent proof, and in this case too there are more smaller details here and there, on top of, again, being a bit more obvious in motion than with still images. Now about the castle itself. I tried really hard to map the thing out with the various shots we got throughout the trailer, but... I failed, basically. I've concluded that the faraway shot displayed above features a low quality model that's not exactly going for incredible visual fidelity; and overall, we just got too little for something that appears to be decently big. I still have two little somethings, though. Shot two especially is much easier to see in motion plus the music at this point of trailer is glorious so you have no excuse. But anyway yes, apparently what we can probably call the entrance of the castle leads directly into that building. And for thing two... see that silhouette in the lower left of that last image, near the throne of sorts? ... now I will admit that this one is a bit of a stretch, but enemy-induced shade of red aside, there's definitely a resemblance. And assuming I'm correct, this could strengthen the theory that the battles we've covered so far are just training between students, because what would an enemy be doing peacefully hanging out right under your nose? Of course, there are other possible explanations, though. Anyway that's it for tidbits 2. One more to go. Tidbits the third: Mapping that foggy chapter we see a few battles in So out of the 5 gameplay environments showcased in the E3 trailer, only two really gave us anything to work with: the one I've covered above, and a cloudy riverside area we see three combat clips in. Well these can all be located relative to one another, getting us a decent part of the map through the process. So let's start with the third and last clip because it gives us a nice, convenient angle; you can see the enemy leader's feet right under the mage's dress. As for the map(s), in blue are the allied units, in red the enemy they're targeting, and the grey lines are the limit of our sight. The rest is scenery; azure for the river, green for trees, etc. What's out of sight I left blank because... well we don't see it, simple as that. This river is nice and all, but it's completely out for the remainder of the clips, so maps will be flipped vertically from here on, and the river will be to the south instead of north. Oh and by the way, nobody carries a tome in the above shot. Does that mean anything? Who knows. The mage then throws a fireball and we get the enemy's viewpoint. For a larger version: https://i.imgur.com/DNk1D9z.jpg Most of the interesting stuff is to the left. There's a boulder there, with a mountain in the background(both in brown on the map), and even further away, barely visible here, a castle can be spotted(black tiles). I'll detail why the castle in particular is important afterwards, for now what matters is that they're here. Okay, so now we go to Dimitri... but wait, that looks familiar doesn't it? Same boulder with a mountain behind, same trees to the right, same castle in the background. Indeed, it's roughly the same place, I've estimated thanks to specific trees visible on both that this is merely one space away. In fact, since this is close range combat and we're getting a view of the enemy space, I'd say Dimitri and the mage attacked from the same tile. You may have spotted a problem with the map though. Dimitri attacks from 2 range here for the angle to work, that shouldn't be possible when he's fighting with an iron lance. I chose to assume things were the other way around, and the mage is the one attacking diagonally, since of the two only she should be capable of doing that. So let's flip the map 45° degrees. Last time, I promise. Also, we can see that the mountain keeps extending to the right, so I put that in. And finally, the last clip, starring Claude: Now I believe the mountain to the right of Claude's shot to be the same as the one in the other two. Unfortunately even by zooming in, trees partially block the way and this cannot be established with 100% certainty. They share the slanted shape however, and match geographically in the end, so I rolled with it. Regardless, the big thing is the castle in the back. Oh, and I didn't show it on the map because this thing is speculation heavy enough as it is, but judging from everything else, Claude seems to be attacking from 3 range here, with an iron bow. Anyway. From Claude's clip, in the top right: Now from Dimitri's, in the top left: From the mage's, same And the two fused: Seems specific enough that it's no coincidence. So, taking into account that the castles in the back of previous maps are seemingly one and the same, the complete thing looks like this: ... give or take a bunch of spaces here and there at least, and it could be flipped 90°, 180°, or 270°, too. But I think I got relatively close(barring the 50% or so we don't get to see:p). Ok that's the bulk of it, thanks for reading this, hopefully it was worth your time. Here's one last thing I spotted after a while that I think bears mentioning, from Claude's clip: ... some sort of rune on the ground. Not sure what it could be, since things like healing tiles and such tend to only appear on the map, not in actual battle. I guess it's a new game though so who knows? Anyway, that's it, now to continue waiting for more info from Nintendo... sooner than later hopefully. Y'all have a good one.

The thought depresses me so I don't want to talk about it. But not anytime soon.

That doesn't sound like a plothole to me. Even to this day people care about their lineage not dying out, so in a medieval setting... it's a decently logical compromise. I take offense to this obvious(and completely harmless) display of sarcasm. After all, Trude's our dude.

I guess, but... she looks happy in a very emotionless kind of way, if that makes sense. Looks robotic, or psychopathic even.

Edelgard: I like her. Very elegant design. Can't wait to see more of her. Dimitri: Someone pointed out how bad certain parts of his art look and I can't unsee it. Also his haircut is something else. That being said, I have fairly high hopes for him as a character, coming from a nation that eventually opposes Edelgard's. Also it's neat that we get an infantry lancer as a main character after so long. Claude: He just screams Lewyn/Joshua archetype to me. His nation is by far the one I'm the most curious about, though, and his design is definitely pretty good. Byleth: Hopefully a mute avatar for a change, design is quite to my liking as well Mercedes: I feel like she's either going to be a favorite of mine or the complete opposite. Design is okay, we don't know much about her class yet. Screams healer, but has a sword. Hilda: Cute, a bit generic looking though. Might finally reveal to us how good Rebecca would have been with 1-2 range, assuming she joins early. Yes, I'm assuming she'll join. I mean, look at her. Goddess: Eh. Clashes with the rest, but that's nothing too new. Seiros(?): I really don't know about her. The first cutscene where she's on the front line watching the battle unfold, and doesn't flinch as she's about to get tackled, that hit all the right spots. Her lovingly embracing a weapon potentially freshly recovered from its previous owner's corpse, on the other hand... Previous owner potentially made into a corpse: Design is okay. Maybe Dimitri's father or something? Who knows? Unsure if he'll play much of a role. Dragon Girl that definitely could use more clothing now that I look at her: Feels like we've been there before, doesn't it? And IS aren't exactly known for subverting expectations. I don't... really care, for now. Ally archer: Something tells me he won't be the friendliest of allies. If taken to the extreme, could be similar to Shinon. Design doesn't do much for me, though I'm surprised at how... old, he looks. Enemy sage: Are these scars on his face? Anyway, pretty sure that guy is the teacher of the other team or something to that effect. Edit: I guess a monocle is a possibility too. Edward I mean enemy archer: Yeah, I'm not buying that we won't be recruiting this gentleman at some point. There's just no way. Aaaand lancer guy: Looks unremarkable. Doesn't mean much for now, though.

That's definitely unexpected, but I guess it makes sense? The award itself existing is pretty weird, though.

It's true that it's difficult to say if this matters at all, especially with Heroes art being the way it is. To me it seems like they're fairly lenient when it comes to games that don't garner that much attention(which progressively applies less and less for Fire Emblem), and themes don't matter as much as visuals, hence why I think things like skinship can cross the line easier than incest as a major plot point, or a design like Camilla's vs child hunts. But that could be incorrect.

I don't hate the games themselves(Awakening somewhat, but not really). However, I do think that they incarnate a direction shift for the series, and this on the other hand bothers me. But really, I kinda want to address the notion that fanservice should absolutely keep being a big part of it, because I think that's pretty debatable all things considered. First, there is no denying it's been massively helpful in reviving Fire Emblem. It's put it on so many more people's radar and the brand really needed such exposure; so all things considered, it probably was the right call(until they went overboard with Fates). But when it comes to the future, there's an issue; for as many people that deeply care about fanservice, there are those that are instantly turned off by it, especially outside of Japan. Now it's hard to gauge exactly how big this series can ever get, considering s-rpgs aren't exactly among the most popular genres out there, but I feel it will have a very hard time growing any further if it suffers from an image problem, which is difficult to avoid when everyone's throwing around "waifu emblem"s and character designs such as Nowi's exist. What's interesting, and I'll stop after that because I'm threading the line of being off-topic here I feel, but this last console generation has shown that great games can and will sell... only by virtue of being great games, that can appeal to most people. I think especially on the Switch, where there is currently a huge demand for solid exclusives, there are lots of points to be gained by releasing a genuine, controversy free, great Fire Emblem game in 2019, much, much more than by focusing on pleasing the fanservice crowd again. You'll probably tell me that fanservice and quality aren't incompatible, and granted, you're not wrong, but what I really want to hammer down is that it shouldn't be a big part of the appeal, nor one of its main selling points. I just don't think you can reach globally respected franchise status by wearing waifu emblem on your sleeve, plain and simple. There's also the issue of Nintendo needing to conserve a family-friendly image at all times, meaning a decently big name like FE could potentially not get away with Camillas forever... but who knows.

Awakening lunatic Warrior ambush spawns that may or may not have counter and thus make one of your units kill itself on them before you can do anything, just because. Conquest lunatic Stoneborns because they shut down 99% of your options by default.

Yup, everything falls into place, with Alm in the back... and no Leif. They all look a lot happier than I expectedXD

Oh, sorry I didn't make it clear, but I think you're right and I'm wrong, so disregard my original version. As far as I'm concerned, yours is the correct one, outside of Feh. I actually doubt IS would give Echoes the cold shoulder, not after Celica got first place in CYL2; pretty sure one of the two is gonna be in the middle. Leif being another matter entirely...

Well no, I placed Alm and Ephraim in lieu of Sigurd and Roy, because Falchion lookalike(I always forget the Tyrfing also shares that property), and thin weapon for Ephraim, though it lacks a tip so it's probably just angled, and the haircut works for Roy(a bit short, but eh). I guess only Echoes/Gaiden is missing, then. Potentially in the middle? Interestingly, this image solidifies the top ones... ... though Feh is clearly flying over the group alongside Yune, so yeah, the space behind Lyn is someone else. The change of uniform theory is interesting, though to be honest I don't think there'd be much harm in using the ones we know on a banner with just silhouettes.

I'm probably looking too deep into this, but I can make out all of the silhouettes on this banner, and... nobody from Three Houses in here. No Roy, Sigurd/Seliph or Leif either, though, but my point is, if part of it was meant as advertisement for TH, characters from the game would probably be featured; which leads me to the actual problematic part... ... why wouldn't they advertise the game so close to its release window?