Ertrick36

Though I am critical of FE14's plot and certain characters, I overall enjoy it very much. And as someone who has been a part of niche fandoms of games that the majority of people seem to hate, I think that the best advice is indeed to try to buck up and learn to deal with it. In fact, I think acknowledging the problems your favorite games have - if indeed you could see them as problems, as sometimes a flaw to one person could be a perfection to someone else - can help you foster a deeper appreciation for them. And if nothing else, remember that individual opinions don't mean much in the grand scheme (even if most of what one says is objectively correct), and that if you enjoyed it, there's an extremely slim chance that you were the only one who did, as a few million people around the world have played it. Certain critics do need to learn to respect others, though. Slinging mud at others is seldom acceptable. Though they will never do such a thing, and quite honestly, no one has the patience for such pathetic people, so they'll keep getting cut out of discussions, one way or another. I joined in 2015, so I never got to witness the vitriolic elitism many talk about here. And I wasn't terribly active until a little bit after I beat the first path I played in Fates, so I didn't get to really experience things like the Rena Strober hate-fest or what-have-you. So basically, my experience here is probably the most positive it could've been, and it's the friendliest community I've come upon on the internet. Then again, most of the rest of my time on the internet is spent on Facebook and YouTube, and I, at one point, was fairly active in GameFAQs and GTAForums when GTA V was coming out, so it was always just plain terrible for me. Though then again, I don't think that the story of Fates is the Shakespeare of the gaming world, so I'm not bothered by the criticisms people throw out there. But even so, the first time I've seen someone insult others for having another opinion on this site was in this thread (and I suppose technically at some other point before), and it was just a chum who made a few posts. However, I'm not the most active member, either, so there's a lot I don't see. Same here. Though I've progressed through the series differently. I've played the DS remakes all the way through (first Mystery, then SD, for whatever reason), played a bit of PoR, and got through a bit of all the GBA games. My mood for games constantly changes, so I tend to play many games at once. Also, I'm in a similar position to you as far as the Judgral games are concerned, but not necessarily because I think they'll be a challenge. It's more because I know they'll require me to invest considerably more time into an individual map. I can do that with Fates because I can easily just close the 3DS and come back to it later (perhaps while watching a video), but with the Judgral games, things are finicky for me and I can't just take it with me wherever I go. I guess it just goes to show how liberating a portable or handheld gaming device is for your gaming needs. I'll play them someday. Just need to set aside some time.

It's time to get... libra with my opinions. Liberal The whole "looks like a girl" thing for him is more of a gimmick than it is an actual trait that's integrated with his personality. He actually doesn't look all that girly; he more looks androgynous, as in his look isn't tied to any gender in particular. Specifically, his eyes look very boyish, and he has a fairly masculine figure. His backstory's kind of interesting; I like Tharja delving deep into his childhood and being completely disturbed by it. But like others said, not much more is done with that, and beyond the backstory, he more or less gives me the same vibes as Azura in Fates, minus the whole "my life's a mystery" thing. Anna So if I'm not mistaken, this is the first game where Anna as a character is explored in depth. Hell, in some games before, you might not ever even see her or be hinted at. In this game, it's almost impossible to not at least get a glimpse at her. I haven't explored into Anna's story as much in the other stories, but I believe this is also the first time it's mentioned that Anna actually has a ton of identical sisters, explaining why you'd find her in so many different places. I think they did a better Anna in Fates. Here, she mostly just seems like a merchant and nothing much else. She cons her comrades, but these stories aren't too expansive; they're just japes for japing sake, and... they aren't too funny to me for some reason. In Fates, even though she only had one support line, at least you got a more genuine side of her. In Awakening, she's all over the place, both literally and figuratively. And again, where the hell is Jake? I know he isn't in every FE game, but we're going cold turkey on him at this point. If it weren't for the Aritian remakes, we'd probably have all forgotten he even existed. Super Saiyan Panne I like her more than her son, but she isn't particularly my favorite. She has some nice support lines, so she isn't mediocre. And while I understand the whole "exterminated race" thing, she could lighten up a little bit. It seems that the near extinction of one's race brings out the worst in them. Who would've thought? Severa Gomez? My opinion is somewhat the same here as it is on Selena in Fates. Except her shoulder is a lot more cold, usually. Maybe it's because her default outfit in this game has no sleeves, hue hue hue. And obviously, she's less mature. So generally, I like her less here than in Fates. In this game, she's a true to the book tsundere. Even her looks are tsundere, especially since she's supposed to have red hair. She's particularly nasty, though. In Fates, she's quite a bit more laid back; sure, she still has an attitude and the whole "tsundere" thing going, but she isn't a complete tool. Yet... I dunno. I still somehow have a soft spot for her? Am I a tsundere, and I just didn't know it? That might be the reason I don't mind her. That, and her "soft" side. I'd suspect that growing up in an apocalypse would put plenty of pressure on you to better yourself, and from what it sounds like, many did talk about their reverence for Cordelia's martial skill in Severa's presence, and perhaps even did confront her about it at times. It's just that we don't ever see it because most of the characters we get aren't so sordid and petty as to bully her in this manner. But she does mention it at times. And some teens wind up having an inferiority complex without being told directly that they're lacking, so it isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility for Severa to get this way without ever being told that she's inferior. Also, I pronounce her name more like "sev-air-uh". It probably is supposed to sound more like "severe-ah" or "severe-uh", which is why in Fates, she changes her name to "Selena"; because it rhymes, and she's the least creative of the "Awakening trio". Though the only names I remember being pronounced in-game are the names of the royals. For all I know, it could be pronounced "see-var-ay", but that'd just be profoundly inane and stupid.

Billy Nal the Science Gal Her thing is that she's a scholar who doesn't particularly have feelings for others. So... she's an autistic savant? Kind of? I mean, not to the point that Raymond in "Rain Man" is, but probably more like Sheldon Cooper from "Big Bang". You know, the goofy, quirky kind of autistic savant. Though since she's capable of S Supporting and expresses genuine feelings, I suppose she's more empathetic than these people. She does have some funny supports, so I genuinely like her. Not much depth to her, but I don't always need depth to enjoy a character. Still, though, a little development can go a long way. Guy Fawkes So another of the top picks for the Awakening Beauty Contest of 2013(?). Honestly, I only really think one of the characters that got top picks actually deserved it; I've already expressed my opinions on two of them, and this one's gonna be in the same league, so guess who the winner is... I mean, he seems like a chill guy who does care for people to an extent. His gimmick isn't brought up in every support, which is good, though I do think his gimmick kind of holds him back. Otherwise, I'd actually like him a lot more. I certainly like him more than Asugi.

Cord So I've seen some people talk about how some characters go over-the-top with worship over other characters. People say this with Tharja -> Robin, Rhajat -> Corrin, Oboro -> Takumi, etc... and in some cases, they're right, and in other cases, it's pretty far from the truth. Well, Cordelia's one of those that takes this a little far. Not quite as far as Catria does with her obsession with Marth, but it does manage to leak in certain supports (*cough* Frederick *Cough*) in a bad way. It's one reason I've never had any intention of marrying her to my avatar. I mean, hell, her favorite hobby is reading soppy love stories, and she goes on and on with Frederick about how much she loves Chrom. She's a total wreck, and anyone she marries is guaranteed to be little more than a sloppy second to her. Aside from that, I do appreciate her role in the story. You know, the other justification for her to be an emotional wreck. I mean, first she had to run away from her comrades, then she had to sit there and watch more of her comrades die because Gangrel and Aversa are shitty little cheaters. She has a reason to beat herself up over her not-so-stellar relationship with her comrades and over being "Miss Perfect". And she has a justification for continuing to push herself to be better. There's also the fact that she had plenty of time both off-screen and on-screen to prove that she's a brilliant soldier, and she doesn't particularly like the fact that everyone fawns over her "perfection". I say this to compare her to Caeldori, as I'm pretty sure the writers don't remember what made Cordelia a popular character. The operative word here is "popular". Cordelia, by my standards, isn't really a "good" character. She's not as bad as people are making her out to be, but... well, I just don't really know where the popularity thing comes from. Bootleg Batman Batman with the added bonus of a fondness for his wyvern. Is there anything else to him? If there is, I don't recall... Oh, he does hate it when people remove his mask. But that's not really a personality trait so much as a quirk, so it doesn't count...

I was on break for... pretty much no reason Let's get to picking gods and praying! Cherche-eena I'd like to say she's probably underrated, but in truth I haven't explored too much into our lady with an entirely exposed back. She brings Minerva back, though, so that's fine by me. Sure, Minerva's a wyvern now, but sometimes that's how the cookie crumbles. Frederick, Please... He's the Meme Man of Awakening. Not like it needs to be stated; I just wanted to acknowledge this fact. This guy. This fuggin' guy. Dude, what a tough break for you when you try to marry Cordelia, man. Especially since you're actually a kick ass unit. Everyone's got stories of how this guy saved their high-difficulty or beginner runs early on in the game, so it's impossible not to have an opinion of him. And boy, not only does Chrom need him gameplay-wise, he needs him in the story, as well. Sure, he doesn't have the tactical brilliance of Robin nor the foresight of Lucina, but someone's gotta stop Chrom from being totally reckless. He's the father Chrom never had, basically. The overly protective, highly OCD father with an aversion to gamey meat. To me, he's a better Jakob, which is pretty good. Indigo Needs No Aid So, for some reason, Inigo seems like a brother to Owain. I guess it's because of how they didn't really hit it off all that well at first, but then in Fates, they're talkin' like good chums to one another. Or maybe it's literally just because he's part of the "Awakening Trio". I like him well enough, but he isn't as great as he is in Fates. I really should play Future Past to get more out of him, but even in the other DLC, you see a more sincere side of him. I dunno, I just really like it whenever he and Owain talk about the morality of killing mortal men. But in all other respects, you can see that he's still got some growing to do. That makes sense, though, as he's likely a teenager. Virion, Groper of Pigeons It seems that people hate this guy just because he's really flirty. But if that's true, then how the hell did Inigo become one of the most popular Awakening children? Is it just because his first flirt was shot down, whereas Inigo's wasn't? If there's one thing that my sister and I agree on, it's that we actually really like this guy. He's got a surprisingly mature and intelligent side of him that doesn't often come up when he's talking to girls due to his gimmick. And even though he might seem cowardly and selfish for fleeing his country when it was being taken over by Valm, you find out via supports that he actually cared very deeply for his people, and if I recall correctly, he did try to evacuate as many of his people as he could. And when he genuinely cares about a woman, he usually makes efforts to try to make her happy instead of imposing himself on her. All in all, a terribly underappreciated character who merely gives off a bad first impression. KeeYell-Dead-Cell So when you play the Harvest Scramble and have her and Severa talk, you find out that she actually has the hots for Severa. No joke, no "only pretending" BS; she actually wants to get in Severa's pants. I could only assume this is the result of the steamy, kinda awkward C Support between these two characters. And she also has a huge lady crush on Lucina. Is she a lesbo/bi or not? She was Soliel before it was cool... except it technically already was "cool" before she did it. Aside from... that, she's... not too terribly interesting? Why is it that whenever I see a female meathead in these games, they're usually dull? You could totally make a great one. Just put some goddamn elbow grease into it, man! Er, or woman! Tharja... Joins the Battle in Smash Infinite I'm not joking, there's actually a mod for Super Smash Bros Brawl where Tharja's an alternate skin of Zelda; hilariously enough, the Sheik transformation turns her into... Sothe, of all people??? So, isn't this controversy number one? You know, I already made a rant about how I feel regarding the whole stalker thing. Summary: it isn't cute, isn't funny, and isn't worth the effort to get it. This is tacked on top of an implied rape in Robin X Tharja A support, where Robin faints and Tharja comments on how... "helpless" they are. And yes, she fawns over female Robin, too, in pretty much the exact same way. I personally would like to see it as more of an anti-hero thing - where a bit of her "Plegian" side still lingers - but it's treated as a gaff. Purely entertainment. The only funny part is the B Support, which admittedly did make me laugh (I may be wrong, but wasn't there actually a voice clip of Tharja doing a girly giggle that only plays in this support?). I want to appreciate her. She isn't particularly that socially awkward gothic girl, but I just generally like the witchy, gothic types anyway. But... there's more wrong with Tharja than there is with Rhajat. She's morally corrupt, and again, I'd like to see it as a sort of moral ambiguity that she brings from Plegia, but it's treated as if it's supposed to make you laugh. And it's treated as something that's somehow... okay? Kinda? Like, her whipping up all these curses to torture her comrades doesn't get her thrown out of the army immediately? Or, you know, torturing her own daughter? Come to think of it, I don't think I ever recall Noire telling Tharja that she loves her. I suppose some might call me a hypocrite for not having a problem with Henry... except Henry doesn't whip up curses to torture his comrades. Sure, he's totally screwed up in the head and does dabble in curses, but he's not into hurting his comrades for "experiments" or whatever.

Oh hey, I actually liked one of these two gen 2 units. Tom Brady He talks like an uncultured idiot, just like me. Therefore he's quite appreciable. He comes across as pretty endearing, which is great since he has the appearance and speech of a thug. I'm always a fan of those types of characters. He has more guts than I did as far as playing the violin is concerned; when I was in the Fifth Grade, I quit playing because my teacher told me that if I screwed up, the audience would through tomatoes at me. Brady, however, continues playing, even when others wince in pain because of it. Ball of Yarne So... yeah. What about him? Remember when I was praising Awakening for how they did some of the character gimmicks? Yeah, well, they managed to screw that up here. And in other places, which I'll talk about later. I guess he's half supposed to be representing a rabbit, which obviously is mostly prey for other, larger animals, and half representing a sentient being who knows he's the last of his kind. But you can have a good or interesting concept and screw it up royally. He's a coward with nothing much else to him, really. The only times he does any good is with Noire and Nah.

Oh boy, I missed some high quality stuff. Do not forget Gregor I always get a kick out of the Russians who constantly mess up English idioms. But I gotta ask; why is there a Russian in this game? At least with Athena, it was more just treated as a strange speech pattern. Gregor's got a full Russian accent, complete with common mistakes Russians make when trying to speak English. I mean, I know there are some real-world parallels, like Say-ri's country being Japan, but we know nothing of where Gregor's from, nor do we run into any other Russians in the game. Gags aside, Gregor's that older fellow who lectures the young folk. But his gimmick does seem to overshadow this part of him a bit, given that it appears in every support of his. But if you can look past that, he's a good chum. And it does become easier to adjust to his manner of speech, the more you use him. Henry Weinhart So we got Henry Rollins, the anti-hero with a sick sense of humor. And I share in that sickness, because every line he puts out cracks me up. There's not much I can say about him that I dislike. I guess like Gregor, his gag can overshadow his more genuine side, but again, I can see past it. But even if I couldn't, he's still a fun character. I think maybe the people who wrote the gimmick characters for Fates missed the memo with Henry. His humor is dark, sure, but it's done right. N-Sync I know absolutely nothing about the band beyond what I saw in some shovelware N-Sync gameboy game. Nah is... interesting. I like her more than Nowi. At first glance, she seems to be very mature. However, in her lesser supports, she acts like a typical anime schoolgirl. Some people like the stark contrasts between maturity and immaturity, but I don't particularly like it. That aside, I do like her, and the fact that her design does look older than a typical loli. Then again, I think that's my desire for a proper adult Manakete talking, and look where that got us. Goddammit, Corrin... Also, I hear people talking about her supports with Brady and Inigo. I know nothing about Brady's, and all I remember about her support with Inigo was that in the S support, he ticked her off, so she turned into a dragon and tried to eat him. 'Cuz... that's love? Or oddly catering to a fetish. Enter the Unintentionally Gay Innuendo To be fair, though, Vaike does have a massive man crush on Chrom, so maybe... ah, nevermind. His thing is that he's a big, dumb oaf with an ego who grew up in a slum. Wow, talk about stereotypes, huh? Not the best Awakening has to offer, really. And since he's a fighter, there's no real reason to let him grow other than to get him a kid with that tasty Armsthrift right off the bat and the ability to get dat Counter. He's forgettable. Though I will say he doesn't have any overtly terrible supports.

Sumia (AKA the girl who always says something's amazing) This chick was the first gal I ever married to my avatar, sort of because I felt guilty after the first support (I was a sucker back then, what can I say?). Then one thing led to another... Anyway, she has a fairly... "vanilla" design compared to the presumed love interests of the lords throughout the series. Lack of male supports is a reasonable concern when you figure that there are other men who she might click well with. It's funny, because she's one of the more gimmicky characters in this game, but compared to some of the stuff seen in Fates, she seems so tame. And people apparently say she's submitting to gender roles, which... I mean, by the very nature of her being in the military (and not being some dingy damsel in distress at any point in the game), she's opposing the more negative roles that typically are imposed upon women in media. Though then again, I'm not one to focus too much on negative things. She's alright. She doesn't really deserve much hate, but at the same time, she isn't very praiseworthy. Although I, too, appreciated her just punching Chrom in the face. Out of nowhere, just... BAM! And it wasn't even supposed to be a punch! Flavia Does anyone really love the tale of the characters who lack supports? 'Cuz I sure don't, and Flavia and the others were the start of it for me. I don't have a real opinion on her. She's just one of those brave warrior types who cares for her comrades. Aside from that, there's not much to tell.

Glory/Ruined Story It fits in two out of the three cases it's used. A sinister sounding theme that actually sounds cool. It does contain a lot of instrumentation, which sort of adds to the theme of chaos prevalent throughout the Deeds version of the song. Not really a song to add to a casual playlist, as it's anything but casual. And it doesn't seem to contain any leitmotifs.

Averted So maybe it's solely the... design choices and maybe the voice, but after playing Fates, I can't help but think of Camilla when I see this lady. I hear that it's revealed in the Spotpass content that she was supposedly manipulated by your not-so-friendly neighborhood Validar, which... eh? I guess that's interesting? Why not have this expressed in the main plot (and earlier in the plot, at that)? Then I'd actually have felt bad for killing her in the main story, and there wouldn't be a need for her to come back to life. Outside of Spotpass stuff, she caters to an overplayed trope that wasn't all that well done here (though not terrible, either). Though she isn't scarred or ugly like most of the villains in this game, you can still tell that she's a villain from her getup and her poses. These two thing combined make her a pretty generic villain, though I will say I appreciate her much more than most of the villains in Fates if only because of the Spotpass stuff expanding upon her character. Lissa Bosconovitch She isn't some crazy cyborg with wings, but dammit, I tried. Alright, even though Lissa is sort of a main character, I still have to try hard to remember my feelings about her... I don't know why, but there seems to be a common theme with these young, relatively innocent girls in the last couple FE games. They see more than all the adults do, and are greatly cherished for their role as morale boosters. Perhaps the writers actually value younger generations more than they value their own generation. Anyway, I've actually gotten her to obtain a rather ridiculous strength stat in a playthrough, so she actually wasn't so much "the delicate one". I also love that certain livid face she makes where her pupils seem to disappear and her mouth is just sort of left agape; she makes this face as soon as you and Chrom reunite with her after the earthquake in the first chapter. She looks possessed! Now, for her character... it's nice enough, I suppose. She doesn't really get grating, but at the same time, she isn't all that remarkable. She has some sweet supports, including the ones between her and Bread Chrom. Not too sure why some people praise her role in the story, because she barely had a presence in the story after Emmeryn's fake death, and her presence as a whole seems to be just for developing her character instead of giving her a meaningful role; in other words, she's just there to look pretty and entertain everyone. I'm gonna go the Swedish way and stay neutral. Also, goddammit, Lissa, why do you need to keep dying when I try to play "Before Awakening" in Fates?

The Song That Might Play For Azura When It Isn't "Lost In Thoughts" (AKA Water Maiden) I would've been more surprised if her theme didn't at least have one leitmotif of "Lost In Thoughts". However, that's pretty much all the song is; various repetitions of the "Oceans Grey Waves" leitmotif, with a bit of originality in the final dozen seconds or so. It's nice sounding, though. It could make it into a playlist if the recording you have only has two or three loops of the song. Any longer than five minutes, and it might get a little stale.

My point didn't necessarily revolve around the nutritiousness of a sandwich. In fact, I'm not sure why I put it there other than for the fact that it was very early in the morn, and thus I was not fully awake yet. Though the parts involving it being ordinary and delicious (at least to me and numerous other people in the western world) are fully intended. If you don't like PB&J, then think of another staple food that you might like. If you don't like staple food... then I dunno. Also, who in their right mind would use white bread for their sandwich if they are trying to get the maximum nutritional value out of a sandwich? Or artificial jam?

Yas! I've been dying to provide my opinions on the characters of Awakening. To be perfectly honest, I totally forgot how I felt about the cast as a whole, and somewhat forgotten about certain characters, so this will also be a journey of self-discovery for me. Walmart I know someone else made that joke, but dammit, I wanna have fun, too. I've never played any of the StreetPass maps in my playthroughs of Awakening because I thought the idea of all these supposedly dead characters coming back to life to hang with you was absolutely ludicrous. Gee, remember before Fates, when something like that seemed like one of the most ridiculous things FE had to offer? Good times... He's one of the more interesting villains in Awakening, if only because his reasons for doing what he did were morally grey. However, you barely see much of him, so he becomes forgettable. I mean, they built him up all the way from the moment you see wee baby Lucina, but you only fight him in two chapters and the rest of his development is spent with him conspiring with the other villains who work for him. Oh and he almost kills Basillio after mowing down a bunch of other chums. In that sense, I guess out of all the characters who are brought to life, his survival would've made the most sense. Seven foot tall dwarf? Pretty sure that's a paradox, lol Lucina AKA the person literally everyone in the Smash 4 community likes to shit on. Alright, how exactly do I describe my opinion of Lucina? I guess I'd say maybe like a PB&J sandwich or a nice, home-grilled burger; a very ordinary dish that just about everyone has at least taken a bite of, but that's because it's genuinely delicious and pretty nutritious. I say she's ordinary because she shares traits with a lot of the "young hero" types of character, but that doesn't mean she's terrible or unoriginal. She's arguably the strongest character in the game, personality-wise. She's reasonably pragmatic (more so than Chrom), brave, and genuinely kind; there's no one in the second gen army she doesn't want to befriend. In this, she's just as great a leader as Chrom. But she does have flaws. She is very protective of Chrom, to the point where she was about to kill one of the most valuable soldiers in the army, who might've even been her mother or lover, just to prevent the possible killing of her father that they knew about and thus could prevent without needless bloodshed. And in her efforts to be a proper leader, she has a tendency sometimes to literally tune out the overtly negative aspects of an ally (e.g. convos between Lucy and Noire in Hot Springs), which bewilders some characters. Overall, she's one of my favorite characters in this game, which is good since she's a fairly major character. That being said, she and Chrom alone wouldn't be enough to compensate for a terrible cast; luckily, I don't think there were very many characters in Awakening that I hated. Also, as I think I said before, I'm pretty sure I have a weakness for the deep-blue haired characters, so maybe I'm biased towards her. But that hair doesn't mean a thing if it's on top of a butthead who's barely likeable.

Oh, didn't realize RoyLKing continued this thread, since the topic title didn't get updated. Petals in the Wind Another song that carries the "Oceans Grey Waves" leitmotif. Also another song that isn't particularly memorable, if only because it's very light and thus gets overshadowed by the more dramatic tracks in this game. It's purely to set a particular mood, though it does sound very nice. Even though I forget its existence, it could make it into a casual playlist. Spreading Shadow One of the generic plot suspense tracks, and one of the songs that doesn't carry a leitmotif. Sinister sounding, its sole purpose is to set the mood for a worrisome scene, so it fulfills its role. Aside from that, it's not a song one would put in a casual playlist. It only fits in certain places, and your daily life isn't one of them.

Depends on numerous factors. Do you want the characters involved in the pairing to be strong (reaping partner seal and general support benefits), do you want their children to be strong, or do you simply want the best written pairings (or is it a combination of all of this)? And if you are doing this for the former, do you intend to partner them for the sake of class diversity or simply so that they can reap the benefits of the class's growths and skills?

I'm burning for more opinion stuff, so why not? Abundant Solace Very laid back theme. Doesn't seem to have any leitmotifs from this game (other than a slight one that's hard to notice if you aren't paying attention) or any of the other FE's, so it's its own unique composition. While not particularly memorable, it's a nice, non-offensive track that you could probably put in a playlist while you're just doing whatever. For some reason (might be instrumentation, but I'm not sure), it sort of reminds me of the Path of Radiance barracks music. Puppet's Feast I don't think this has any leitmotifs, either. It's a particularly stressful theme, which seems to suggest both great power in the enemy and hectic confusion. It works well when it's only against Takumi, but otherwise it gets overused. Quiet Burn I think "burn" is apt, since I get super burnt out listening to this song while grinding for tons of resources. But it fits with the whole "arena" feel that also works with some of the grinding DLCs. It's nice enough, I suppose. Not sure if this has a series leitmotif, but I know it doesn't have a leitmotif specific to this game. Justice RIP A lot of the map music in this game is actually pretty good. This track isn't the best that Fates has to offer, but the name does fit the tone of the song in both versions. Though then again, I might be all burnt out on this one after getting stuck repeating two out of the three Mokushujin maps over and over again. It's one of many songs that contains the "Oceans Grey Waves" leitmotif (I know the song name, that's just what I call that particular leitmotif).

Fixed that for you.

Aight, after going on about Fates for a bit in some other threads... It depends. Storywise, I prefer Awakening. It's comparatively simple, but it doesn't try to bite off more than it could chew. It finds a way to involve a lot of the non-royal characters while Fates struggles with figuring out how to involve even some of the main characters, and on a ratio basis, Awakening has more good than bad or mediocre characters than Fates does, though to be fair, I'm pretty sure Fates has quite a few more characters than Awakening. But lots of garbage is still garbage; doesn't make it any prettier. Gameplay-wise, Fates is an improvement. It can be hard to go back to Awakening because it feels like an alpha version of Fates. Battles don't feel as disjointed, you aren't concerned about your special weapons breaking, and the game found a way to integrate the pairing and reclass systems so that it's far more balanced. Even the simple things like Fates zooming in for battles versus Awakening's fade-to-black deal just make the game feel much more fluid. Overall, I still have a soft spot for the Ylissean tale. It was my introduction into the franchise, much like it was for many, and it brought FE back to life. Fates is nice, too, but it more just ensured that FE is here to stay.

It's been a long and arduous journey of shitting on all the unpopular characters. We finally made it. Elise Now, I did say at some point in the thread that I could relate to Sakura's timidness towards older figures. Well, there are ways I could relate to Elise as well. Obviously as a child, I was interested only in playing with friends and family. But as an adult, I can relate to her belief that true peace can ultimately be acquired and in the desire to befriend others. There's a sort of beautiful simplicity to her character that ties well into the themes of perpetual war, even if the story itself is trash. I do think her sacrifice scene in the end of BR was stupid, but due to no fault of her own; the stupidity is mostly on Xander's end. Ryomer Gomez So we got lobster man. Just like everyone else in the plot, ol' Ryoma's f'd in the A by the plot, though his is probably the most gentle. Throughout most of the story in CQ, he thinks you're brainwashed... which I guess is fine. But his final scene in it is kinda lame. Like, here you have the man/woman who led an army to destroy your entire nation and possibly killed your brother and eldest sister, and you're gonna kill yourself just because he/she doesn't want to kill you him/herself? For all you know, they're just hesitating because they used to love you, but are still ultimately aligned with everything Garon wants. Maybe Corn wanted to destroy Hoshido after all. Some find it emotional, but I just was confused as to how he ended up trusting me if he never trusted me since the beginning of CQ. His supports are kind of dull, too. The only ones that are good are with characters that generally have good supports, so maybe it's more of a "them" thing than it is a "him" thing. He just feels like the infrastructure for the supports; he's there to set up the supports for others. The only exceptions are the Revelation specific ones. Also, he is totally broken as a unit, but that defense ain't really going anywhere (though it's better than Hana Barbara's), so every time you send him out to fight a horde of strong foes, you're taking chances. A speed tank with vantage relies too much on chance, and with the stories I hear about the RNG in this game, it's pretty hard to rely on that. He's good for taking down strong foes and fending off against mutli-range enemies, but don't plop him down in a chokepoint unless you're out of options. AnanKOS-MOS The true big bad... *sigh* He might've been cool in a different game, but for what they were going for in this game, his existence ruins the entire story. What we could've had was a real, large scale war with leaders who have their own misguided reasons for fighting. Instead, we got Okay King/10 turned Saturday Morning Cartoon VillainTM thanks to some evil, conspiring Dragon God hidden in some alternate dimension that you can't talk about because "Dammit, we need to make this into a workable plot somehow!" It really truly is the premise that killed it. Or rather, the fact that the writers went with a premise that they couldn't turn into gold. It's a real shame, because Anakin has a rather interesting design, and has a background that could work. It's just... this isn't his place for him. Conclusion Fates has a bad plot; that much, I'm sure most, if not all of us agree on. But that doesn't mean the characters themselves are also terrible. Admittedly, I don't hate a single one of these characters. Not even ones that give me ample reason to hate them. When I talk harshly about 'em, it's because I didn't care for them all that much or because I genuinely think their writing was shoddy, but neither of those things equate to loathing. We had characters that are the center of controversies, some of which may have something to do with opinions we have outside of the game. We had characters that were little more than gimmicks set to appeal to niche tastes. We had dickwads and idiots. And we had characters who were simply screwed over by the plot. But we also had some true stars. Characters that we love and remember. It's a reminder that plot and characters, while they're co-dependent, they don't entirely make one another. In truth, any anger I ever feel in a game is the short-term bursts of rage induced by RNG BS and other things that cause me to lose. The game, while it didn't always leave me feeling the emotions the writers intended for me to feel, it did ultimately make me laugh a number of times and it has kept me hooked. And unlike games such as Call of Duty or Bethesda RPG's, Fates made me genuinely care about a good chunk of the cast. So yes, in a way, Fates is better than a number of western AAA titles.

Gotta appreciate the Oboro love up in here Oboro Gee, what a shit character; 0/10, not enough fashion. Jk Ah, my favorite female character in the game, and possibly even my favorite Fates character in the game, competing for the spot with the likes of Takumi and Leo, among a few select others. I just want to go back to when her parents were killed, hug her, and tell her everything will be alright. She has a few quirks, but they aren't inflated to the point where she seems like some cartoon character. She's got the Batman story going on, but it doesn't turn her into an anti-hero. She wants justice for her parents, but she doesn't go so far that she'll let it destroy her. She's the only character in the game where I cared enough to avoid killing her in Conquest (you know, besides the ones you can't avoid killing), which you have to put a lot of effort into (seriously, I had several chums unequip their weapons and surround her while Corn and some other person attacked Edgekumi). She's kind, yet reasonably racist. And even then, she's realistic in her attitude towards Nohrians because when she has to work with them, she puts in an effort to get over her hatred instead of being an annoying jerk about it, even going as far as to approach Niles, who everyone knows likes to sound off raunchy things at women. Every trial she meets, she seems to ultimately succeed with. And her hobby is obviously tied to her parents, but it isn't an all encompassing thing. Sure, tailoring is a thing she likes to do a lot (so much so that at least a couple of her supports revolve around that), but she also enjoys running shops, organizing items, and simply tidying up late at night, all of which also tie into her backstory. I also like her philosophy behind giving people makeover, in that it's about reflecting one's natural beauty instead of trying to cover up their ugliness. Seriously, I think if she existed in the real world, she would start a fashion revolution, since a lot of today's fashion is pure "aesthetic" garbage that exists for the sole purpose of robbing Kanye West and the Kardashians rich suckers who actually want to buy it from a shitty catalog instead of simply replicating it. She knows what fashion is all about, and she knows what works and what doesn't. The only negative thing I can say about her is mentioning this odd-ball line in her S support with Silas: "I look forward to seeing just how good a Nohrian can be!" I guess they had to sneak a few suggestive lines straight from a porno, probably under the radar, huh? What a strange thing to say, though, given that she had to already be friends with a Nohrian in order to get this support. Also, it's a tinge racist. What if I said "Let's see how good a Mexican can be" before I had sex with a Mexican woman? See how that might seem kind of racist? Love her to bits. She's a total monster in combat, too. She's been on this crit streak, lately. And yes, I did have Corn marry her at some point; don't you criticize me! Hana Montana I thought she was alright. A bit wonky that she got mad at Corn for getting kidnapped, but, unfortunately, that's par for the course in anime garbage, and her supports in general with Corn are just... stupid. She's kind of like Silas and Effie; she has a subject to worship, and she's an overachiever in that endeavor. That's also par for the course in anime. She just isn't quite as gimmicky as some other characters, so... yeah... Anna The RNJesus we all know and love. You know, how appropriate is it that she's locked behind a paywall? I mean, kind of stupid, but I feel like there's fourth wall joke in it. I would've like her to appear more in the main game; I'm fine with some units being made available only through DLC (as long as said DLC is made post-production), but she as a whole only exists in the Outrealm gate and in DLC. I liked her having her little Secret Shops scattered throughout the various chapters, and her sisters occasionally appearing on the map was okay, too. Hell, even her showing up in New Mystery when you decided to make a new avatar was nice, too. In short, I want more Anna. And him, too. Why can't he show up as a ballistacian again? Why am I cursed to have to make him as an Avatar?

So you're saving the Fashionista and Cinna-rolls for last? That's fine by mii. Staff Lieutenant Kaden Alenko Alright, so lemme be frank with you. Furry appeal characters tend to annoy me. Furries in general tend to annoy me (at least the... uh, "vocal" ones). To me, they just seem like Mary Sues with the added bonus of being hypersexual and anthro. Either that, or they try way too hard to be endearing, sometimes with their personalities oozing with the author's intent. So as soon as I saw him, I was prepared to hate him. But lo and behold, I actually don't hate him at all. To be fair, he's much less a furry than most furries I see; he only has the ears and tail (and probably some body fur we don't see), whereas most furries are full-on anthro, with the whole animalistic look while still being bipedal and probably having human-shaped hands. I mean, the way he's portrayed in BR cutscenes, he seems to be every bit as annoying as I thought he'd be, but he's a man with great integrity. Sure, he's got that kinda "furry" attitude going for him, but he's more than just some jackass obsessed with his own species, and he isn't looking to "yiff" in the Buvins. Keaton I'd say he's sort of the same as Kaden's case, but not really. I actually thought I'd end up liking Keaton more, seeing him in BR, since that was the first one I played. He seemed cold and harsh to his enemies, yet protective of his friends; he seemed like potential for a great, well-developed character. Yet when I actually get him... he's a furry Frank Reynolds with a tendency to get lost a lot? A really off-the-wall character, and really not what I was expecting. He's pretty gimmicky, so he ultimately isn't all that great. But he's not really too terrible, either. Arete how the fuck is this supposed to be pronounced? Was there any voiced dialogue with her name spoken at all? So there's a pattern of garbage story-writing going on here. It's the kind of crap you'd see in a shitty fan-fiction or YA story (written by a young adult, mind you either that, or written by a sleuth of Japanese businessmen). You know you've got a shoddy story when dead characters - some of whom you've never seen before, but knew about through dialogue - come to life to fight you. I'd understand if this was, say, some immortal plane of Hell or whatever, but Valla is just as much a mortal plane as any other; it just happens to be ruled by some crazy dragon god dude, and it has a rather convenient plot device curse attached to it. There's nothing that can actually be said about any of these characters because there's scarcely any real character development. Arete has the most development (or rather, build-up) out of all of them, and even then, it's rather lacking. And like someone said, you don't even know what they were like when they weren't in Valla (well, except Mikoto), so you don't know if they even have a semblance of themselves left in them. It's just fan-service garbage. Nothing more to it than that.

Don't be sad. What's important is that they have loving fans and aren't so well hated. I mean, FE is considered a niche, but no one here is sad about that. Anyway, moving on to the characters of the day. Rhajat Guh, I hate her supports with Corn. Why does she always have to be stalking the Avatar? Why can't it be that she does it at first, but learns the folly of her ways? Instead, you've got her pretty much always stalking the Avatar in the supports, and it gets to a point in the S support where Corn actually turns and stalks her, turning it all into some sick stalking game. Ugh, that's not cute or funny, that's creepy as hell. And how does it fit with the established character of Corn? And how is it that they turn this fucked up relationship into something long-lasting? In this respect, Rhajat is way worse than Tharja; at least Tharja had the integrity to try something different (but then again, there was an implied rape scene, so... yeah...). Outside of those supports, I don't know too much. I hear that there's no mention of Corn in her supports with other characters, so that makes her a tad bit better than Tharja. If it weren't for her being obsessed with Corn and basically being a clone, I feel she'd not only be a significantly better character, but make a great bisexual option. But I guess we can't always get what we want, can we? Here's hoping next time, the writers will have enough confidence in the series to let the next game stand on its own two feet, with characters returning only in DLC akin to what we had in Awakening. Though we do need more RNJesus in the next game. There was a crazy lack of her in most of this game. There wasn't even a Secret Shop anywhere! Ophelia Female Odin, pretty much. If she was her own character - completely unattached from Odin - and Odin wasn't in this game, she'd make for a fine appeal to the Owain fanbase. However, as it stands, her existence is really redundant. I mean, we had an Owain in the previous game; then he came to this game. And now he has a daughter who's pretty much the same. I mean, I love Owain, but goddamn, this is too much Owain. Seriously, if Ophelia replaced Odin, things would be better for her (and possibly the story and overall character make up). Sumeragi Got nothin' to say about him that wasn't already said. Poor world building and all that.

Yah, OP may or may not have taken one of my suggestions! Rinkah "The Fire Tribes frostiest daughter," as Jakob put it. She's a stubborn, anti-social tribal who likes to make fire puns (seriously, what's with all these tribes and their puns based off of their own elements?). That being said, I've liked some of her supports, and she isn't a huge gimmicky character, so all in all, she's alright with me. I guess she requires extra care to work as a unit? I've never really tried to play this game like a traditional FE game, so I wouldn't know. Ignatius The only character I've actually never recruited. And because of that, I've got no opinion. I'm so sorry I don't use Benny at all. I like him, but I've got no need for specialized units when I've already got a nice balanced team. Crenando Garon Oh boy, slime monster. He's a very thinly veiled villain. They were pushing the narrative that you're supposed to be conflicted about helping Garon in CQ, but I never for a second thought that anything he did was good (because literally none of it was good in any capacity), and since I didn't know him before he became possessed, I didn't really have any feelings for him other than thinking that he's a total dickbag. The main reason I had to continue following orders was to protect my own skin and the Nohrian siblings, but even then, I was always thinking about how stupid it was that our strong, powerful league of elites couldn't lead the people of Cheve, the Ice Tribe, and other oppressed communities within Nohr and possibly the Hoshidan army in a rebellion against this asshole king. The only reason you don't try to fight Garon is the reason Thane stated; Xander is too selfish, stupid, and spineless to go against daddy, and his siblings are too intimidated by him and Garon to do anything. And then it turns out he's a literal monster that was, at some point, possessed by some dragon god. There could've been ways Garon was done better even with this plot device, but the writers went for the dumbest, laziest, most backwards route on this one.

I know this isn't the majority opinion, but I actually do like Sakura more than Elise. I think it's because I can relate to her being intimidated by older people. I find it difficult to talk to people who are even so much as five years older than I am unless I've known them for a long time. And yet, she's shown through gameplay and some supports to have hidden strength. It reminds me of some other female characters that I tend to like, and it isn't done in a way that is forceful or demeaning to her as a character. Also, I think holding out on Rhajat is probably for the best. Until then, I say bring up some of the more lukewarm characters. Save the really popular ones that you have left (like Oboro and Elise) for second last and save the controversial ones for very last to go out with a bang. Or maybe inverse the two so that we don't leave with a bitter taste in our mouths. Either way, don't throw down the notorious characters immediately because I think you might lose some regulars for the last few characters due to a lack of interest.

If you want a shit show, bring up a shit character. Or, you know, bring up Rhajat. Plenty to talk about there. Or maybe Garon...