vanguard333

Yes, but he's the only one. Also; isn't he bedridden with illness throughout the game? To quote the only buff dragon, "Yes; at once!" Or at least, ones that aren't ancient-looking with rubbish stats. Or maybe a very tall and very lean young man with a longish neck; all to reflect his build as a dragon.

Thank you very much. The reverence Ike gets in RD is because he's the hero who saved Tellius in PoR. Anyway, I also agree with what people are saying about all the female manaketes that look and act 10 years old. Nagi in Shadow Dragon at least was more of a young woman, and Bantu's there but he doesn't count since he's rubbish. One reason I like the Tellius games is that none of the playable dragon laguz are like that. Ena came the closest physically, but instead acts more like a relatively mature young woman and is even tactically skilled. One thing I was hoping would be great about Fates would be the fact that the main hero is part manakete and had a dragon form. But then the dragon form was plot relevant for all of one chapter and gameplay-wise was rather... situational at best.

Am I the only one who has no problem with Alm and dead Rinea forgiving a dying man who felt true remorse for his actions? Anyway, since the worst I was originally going to say have been said (mad dragon, evil sorcerer mastermind, etc.), I will say that the crown prince lord whose kingdom gets invaded and conquered has been done to death. Why does the hero always have to be a prince or noble who's heir to the throne once all's said and done and becomes king. It would be nice if we actually saw how being heir affected them, but we almost never do, and, when we do, we almost never see their predecessor and, with it, who's shoes they're trying to fill. In Shadow Dragon, there are some indications within the game's thin plot of how having to take his father's place weighs on Marth. But it isn't much, and his father dies off-screen with no indication in the story as to what kind of king he was or his impact on the kind of king Marth would become. In echoes, Alm doesn't find out until the game's almost over, and we don't see too much of Emperor Rudolf's reign; only seeing Alm try to live up to the hope of leading the people into independence from the dragons.In Awakening, we see Emmeryn and how her reign and legacy affects Chrom; one of the few good things I can actually say about Awakening's plot. But we see nothing about how being prince or being king affects him. Ike isn't royalty or nobility, yet they do a better job of showing how stuff like this affects him. They clearly show him as a rookie in his father's company, then we see him having to grow into his new role as leader of the Greil Mercenaries, and we see how this affects him. We see how he handles becoming leader of a big army (in short; he can't handle it, and he knows it, so he doesn't try, instead deferring command to others like General Tanith). Also, with Elincia, we see how being the last of the Crimean royal family affects her, and we see her try to grow become the queen she needs to be. If FE is going to continue with these crown prince/noble's son lords who become ruler, then at least show the effect it has on who they are and who they become. If not, then stop with all these princes!

I voted for the Greil Mercenaries. The group has a lot of variety when you get them without a disproportionate number of mounted units. All the Greil Mercenaries either start off good, or become good, and most are good from the moment you get them. Also, story wise, we see just how close they all are; we even see Greil refer to them all as family. Also, when the game starts off, they're just mercenaries; clearing villages of bandits. Then comes Elincia and... they're still mercenaries; they're just now working for the princess. And that perception they have as mercenaries, and the perception others have of them because they're mercenaries, stays there throughout the game, and I like that it has such an impact. By the end of the Gangrel storyline, the Shepherds don't really exist as a group anymore. By the end of part 1 of Radiant Dawn, the Dawn Brigade has all but been absorbed into the Daein rebellion, and the original members pretty much stop referring to themselves as the dawn brigade. With the Greil Mercenaries, Greil Mercenaries they were, and Greil Mercenaries they continue to be throughout both games. And it isn't just a name-drop; it affects how they are perceived by others throughout the games.

FE 1/11: Maybe ballisticians? If they do come back, they would have to be at least situationally beneficial, and can actually keep up with the group! Also, I prefer how they looked in Shadow Dragon to Fates: a person with a siege engine, rather than a man inside a weird tank contraption. Also, variety in the types of dragons. FE 9 and 10: These two games are probably two of the best examples of cutscenes and story relevance. Also, canto was great in these games, and shove did have its uses. Ledges in Radiant Dawn, as well as archers and mages being able to shoot through walls that have holes in them. Base conversations would also be great. Finally, light/dark/anima magic the way it was in RD was fantastic. FE 13 and 14: 1-2 range swords that are thrown overhead and straightforward. That's exactly how one might throw a sword historically (it was highly situational, such as if a crossbowman is aiming towards you and you have nothing else). FE 2/15: Archers having more than a range of 2 made them very useful; more useful than they usually are. Spell selection bein unique to the magic user was also interesting.

You're thinking of flails. Maces are the weapon without the chain. Neither really has been used in Fire Emblem (Fates used the kanabo club, but that's different), and they would be nice to see. Maces were anti-armour weapons like war hammers. Flails fulfilled a similar role, but also had the advantage of being able to work around shields thanks to the chain. Flails would especially be great if shields ever return, as they could halve or negate the defence bonus from the shields for the reason I already mentioned. As far as whips are concerned, they're not very good weapons of war, so they could act as a joke version of a flail, or as an anti-animal (cavalry, beast laguz, etc.) weapon.

Never got that DLC, so instead I'll give closing thoughts. The characters in Echoes were among the better ones in more recent years. A fair number of them were memorable and well-written. A few may have been hindered by the game being a more conservative remake and by not getting more time on-screen, but overall the characters for the most part had clear motivations behind their actions, and in the case of playable characters had overall better supports than in more recent games and had interesting base conversations that dived more into their backstory. If there was one particular character where it seemed like IS didn't know what they wanted to do with the character, it would be Alm. Gaiden portrayed Alm as a Marth 2.0 (understandable since it was the second game), while Awakening DLC tried to make him more aggressive and blunt, as well as focusing more on the next battle than on the bigger picture. I think a lot of us were expecting something more like Awakening, as it would be unique and fit more into Alm and Celica having to find a balance between their respective ideals. But ultimately what we got was certainly an attempt to balance the two, but leaned more towards the original Gaiden. Not necessarily bad, so long as the character remained consistent and his strengths and flaws were shown in-story rather than just being informed characteristics, but a few of them were told rather than shown. So, overall, great cast. My advice for IS would be this: in future games, make sure the characters are consistent, especially the protagonists.

Gray: I liked his character. His supports with Clair were funny, and his supports with Tobin were also good. As a unit, he was really good. Sonya: Interesting backstory, interesting design, and a decent mage. I liked her support with Genny. Duma: This is a maddened dragon villain actually done well for a change (I'm looking at you Anankos). The game really highlights the tragedy behind his character. His philosophy of humans needing to be strong led his maddened mind to be all about power. Also, while the final boss, he's not the villain; it's the Duma Faithful trying desperately to keep him alive so they can keep mooching off of his power that are the real villains. I would have liked to see a bit more of him than just the memory prism and the final level, but what they did show was very interesting. When you actually see what he looks like in the final level, he is quite literally a rotting shell of what he was. My theory is that all the sacrifices just made his madness worse, not better, but the story never says either way. It's really tragic; he just wanted to help humanity, but his time had come, and even his sane mind made the same mistake as Mila: he never considered that humanity needs to be able to not depend on them. It's only once he's put to rest that he finally realizes this. I just would have preferred if he had said his final words to Alm and Celica rather than just Alm; saying, "[Valentia's] heroes" rather than, "[Valentia's] hero". As a final boss, he was actually really good apart from the mogalls. During the fight, you really get the sense that the heroes are just trying to put him to rest, and you get a sense of how little of him is actually left.

For a game with a lot of Greco-Roman styling, I noticed that quite a few things in the game are quite comparable to Arthurian Legend: 1. A hidden crown prince raised by a knight; a prince who has no idea of his own true heritage: In Arthurian legend, Arthur was raised by a knight named Sir Ector and at first led to believe he was Ector's son by blood, when in fact he was the son of King Uther Pendragon. He also had a foster-brother named Sir Kay, who was Ector's actual son and was also not told of Arthur's true heritage. 2. Two feuding dragons: In Arthurian Legends, a red dragon and a white dragon. The red dragon represented the Romano-British, and the white dragon represented the invading Saxons. Interestingly, from what I've researched, there's some evidence that some Saxons did indeed have the white dragon as one of their symbols. Also, this is the reason the Welsh national animal is a red dragon, and a red dragon is on the Welsh Flag. 3. A sword only royalty may lift and use: obviously the sword in the stone, which was proof of Arthur's true lineage (they didn't have DNA tests or anything like that back then). Funny enough, in the vast majority of versions of Arthurian Legend, the Sword in the Stone and Excalibur are not the same sword. 4. An old wizard mentor: Merlin of course. Ironically, Nomah is Celica's mentor, and he and Alm never have any interactions in-game. What do you think? Is there anything else in SoV that can be compared to Arthurian legends?

Silque: Good design, interesting backstory, and an interesting character. I would have liked for her to have more supports than just Faye, but I liked their a-support. As a unit, she was great. Deen: No idea; I recruited Sonya. He was an alright boss fight I guess. Mila: Fantastic design; possibly the best design in the game. I like that they explained her sealing herself with the falchion as having been because she wanted to protect her brother Duma, not knowing how far along Duma's madness had become. I didn't get the impression that she was just as bad as Duma, but at least it was clear her own degeneration was causing problems; namely spoiling the Zofians and allowing the king to be a bad ruler, which in turn allowed pirates like Greith to end up running half of Zofia. Also, her ensuring that Zofia always had a plentiful harvest meant that, once she was gone, the Zofians had no idea what to do. So I actually quite liked her character.

I really like that, when it comes to fantasy races, Nintendo prefers to make their own, rather than use elves, dwarves and orcs. As much as I like when some games try to be creative when using elves dwarves and orcs, they're still using those fantasy races that are overused in my opinion. Honestly, I very much prefer when Fire Emblem uses its own fantasy races. I don't see elves, dwarves and such ever really adding anything to Fire Emblem.

Lukas: An interesting character. He was not my favourite, but was fairly well done. His backstory was a really good explanation for his stoicism. As a unit, he was fairly good, though I ended up not using my barons by the endgame. Catria: The one whitewing I kept up to the endgame. As a character, she was good. I like how she's not actually quiet; she just rarely gets the chance to speak compared to the other two siblings. As a middle child, I can sometimes relate (although it might also have to do with my high-functioning autism). I like her design for the most part. As a unit, she was alright; though none of my Pegasus knights turned out very well. I ended up mainly uses her to fight the eye monsters. Jedah: Another generic evil mage villain pulling the strings to destroy the world, except not really. There are a few things that make him interesting. He is the epitome of the Duma Faithful: a human parasite mooching off of Duma's power. He knows that the dragons do not live forever, but he thinks Valentia cannot survive without Duma. But he doesn't care about Valentia; he admits he'll let Valentia fall to chaos if Duma's maddened mind wills it; all so that Duma remains alive so he and the faithful can keep feeding on Duma's power. When he talks about seeing the world fall to chaos, that's not his ambition: it's maddened Duma's 'ambition'. So, his motivation is clear and understandable. Him being utterly despicable does not diminish him as a villain: him sacrificing his own family for power illustrates how much of a mooch he is, among other things. He's doing this for himself, not Duma. If he truly cared about Duma, he would have helped put Duma to rest. The problem is his plan. He knows Celica is a brand-bearer, and he somehow learns that Alm is also one despite Alm being in Zofia to keep the Duma Faithful from finding out about the brand. He has a minion create an earthquake that separates Alm from Celica. Good plan: divide and conquer. I also have no problem with him thinking he can be as despicable as he wants around Celica; he knows he has what she wants: Mila. He probably felt that, as long as he dangled Mila over Celica's head, Celica would follow. It was the way they wrote Celica; trusting Jedah to free Mila despite everything, that was poorly written. My problem is, how did Mila end up there? Why would Rudolf let the Falchion end up in the Duma Faithful's own basement?

I confess that, when I saw the trailers for Fire Emblem Fates, I actually thought the story was going to be good.

Knights typically end up competing with cavaliers as cavaliers usually end up with similar (if a little less) defence but better speed, resistance, and movement. I would suggest balancing the game so that there are ways in which cavaliers are better, and ways in which knights are better. Chokepoints on maps would seem beneficial, but if cavaliers have almost as good of defence than they can guard such areas as well. I would suggest making it that cavaliers thrive better on open field, but suffer at guarding narrow areas on a map. One way to do this might be to have cavaliers have just that much less defence than knights that they can't stand enemies piling on them. Wary Fighter would also be good. Another thing that might just make it that much harder for cavaliers to hold a chokepoint would be an anti-cavalry bow. It doesn't sound like much, but it could very well act as a deterrent against cavaliers trying to guard chokepoints and create an incentive for keeping cavaliers on the move.

Clive: I like his character for the most part: a knight of Zofia who led the deliverance but, with repeated defeats, his sister getting captured, and his girlfriend getting captured, he understandably thinks he's failed as leader of the deliverance and he's willing to give the command to anyone who might do a better job. In comes Alm: a supposed grandson of Mycen (remember his original plan was to have Mycen: a distinguished knight who originally hailed from Rigel replace him) who managed to rescue Clive's sister. Of course he will put Alm in charge! It's like the Dauphin giving Joan of Arc command of the French armies: in his mind he has nothing to lose since he's getting nowhere, and, at the very least, Alm will be a morality boost for the army. So I have no problem with that. It's only in act 3 where I feel like he's there to make Alm look even better. I like his almost defeated attitude; he knows he's not the best and he (understandably) feels like he's let everyone down, though it would have been nice if we saw him grow out of it. I like his interactions with everyone other than act 3 Alm. I understand him denying the old man saying Mycen had no kids: it's the reason he put Alm in place and Alm just won him a major victory. But, in act 3, another person tells him this and he keeps it to himself, even when Alm says he knows Clive is hiding something. What!? As a unit, he's... okay. I kept using him because, aside from dungeons, I was trying to use almost everyone. He's not that bad... but Alm gets quite a few better cavaliers. Jesse: He's a flirt, but, unlike Gatrie, Virion or Inigo, it doesn't render him stupid or make it seem like women are all that's on his mind. In the memory prism, he sees Silque, sees that unfriendly characters are following her, and he... helps her. He's a flirt, but he's not nearly as bad as the other three. As a unit, he was okay. He was not the best dread fighter on Celica's route, but it didn't hurt to have another. Rudolph: There's a lot I could say, so I will try to be as efficient as possible. He was an interesting subversion of the FE conqueror villain (Ashnard, Walhart, etc.) His memory prism with Mycen is great; we see the pain of him having to give his own son. The motivations behind his plan are clearly laid out and understandable. It's his actual plan that's the problem. He sees his people have become dependant on food trade with Zofia, which itself is dependant on Mila, and when the Zofian King cuts them off, he puts his plan into action. He uses the falchion on Mila, who then seals herself with it so it can't be used on Duma, and invades. This is not a bad idea in theory: at the very least, Zofia is spoiled from MIla's blessings, and the Rigelians are used to farming harsher lands, so they'd be able to help the Zofians. Unfortunately, that's not how conquest works. His plan then really becomes weird when Alm starts leading the Deliverance. Not only that, but, while he seals away Mila, he don't see him do anything about the Duma Faithful: the actual threat. He doesn't seem to do anything to help his own people. There are plenty of other things that are wrong with his plan. His plan to bring the people away from dependence on Mila & Duma, and pave the way for Alm is extremely convoluted. His actions just seem bizarre. One more thing; the backstory states that Zofia prospered from Mila's blessing, but sank to depravity. We see this with the Zofian king, who is pictured when the narrator says this. He sank into depravity, and all of Zofia became dependant on Mila's blessings. However, it says Rigel's "hearts grew numb to all kindness" while showing King Rudolph. When in the game was numbness to acts of kindness ever established as Rudolph's flaw?

Python: Decent character. I didn't like his laziness, but did enjoy most of his jokes. As a unit, he was alright; archers in general were more useful in this game than in others. Mae: Great character; very entertaining. Also a good mage. Nuibaba: Another generic villain who could have been used to great effect to show the state of things in Rigel and the Duma Faithful, but wasn't really. However, she was memorable in just how creepy she was, and for giving Berkut that weird mirror which, as a plot device, could have been done so much better but at least showed Berkut beginning to sacrifice more of his values for power in moments of desperation. Wait; was she supposed to be... sexy? She just struck me as very creepy and off-putting. To be fair though, I usually find most characters that are supposed to be evil and sexy are actually not sexy at all in my opinion. I actually enjoyed the map where you fight her (to some extent). I just had some units circle around while my archers picked off some of the various units and I also largely employed warp and rescue. To me, it was challenging and perhaps could have been better, but was nowhere near the most disappointing map.

Kliff: A good unit when made a mage. His support with Tobin was interesting. Not much else to say. Palla: I tried training all three Whitewings, but ended up just training Catria. Palla was alright in the chapters that I used her. Grieth: IS; if you really want more major bandit villains, this is how. He has almost half of Zofia under his thumb, he helps illustrate how negligent the King's leadership was, his presence is felt almost from the first time you encounter pirates in chapter 2, and he (somewhat) lives up to that menacing presence. He actually felt like a real threat, unlike Desaix. He's not as memorable as he could've been, due to the number of recurring/major villains in the game, but this is a pirate boss done well.

Zeke: He's okay. I would have liked a good explanation for how he managed to wash up in Valentia. All we learn is that he washed ashore grievously wounded. How did he float all the way there? If he was grievously wounded, how did he not bleed out before washing ashore? He presumably was unconscious, so he couldn't swim, so how did he not drown? He managed to float all the way across a sea from one continent to another while badly wounded, all without dying? If he had said something like: "I was found washed up on a [piece of driftwood/corpse of his horse/something plausible to provide floatation]; half my bones broken", that would have given a clear idea of what happened. Anyway... he was a decent unit and I liked his relationship with Tatiana. But then I have another problem: he was loyal to Rudolf but opposed both the war and Jerome & Nuibaba's tyranny over the local populace, so they controlled him by holding Nuibaba hostage. That's all fine, but my question then; why did Rudolf do nothing? If he was hoping the Deliverance would kill Jerome and Nuibaba for him, then he risked losing Zeke: a loyal soldier, as well. Why did Zeke feel that he betrayed Rudolf by killing Jerome and Nuibaba? Saber: Good unit; that's really all I have to say. Desaix: He was meant to be a despicable man who used King Lima's bad reign as an excuse to take over. An early major villain. He certainly was despicable. I can understand him being less competent than he appears, simply because his main advantage was persuading people to his side (framing Mycen for the near-complete assassination of the king's children, and swaying the Zofian nobility to his side after killing the king). And yet, defeating him the first time felt anti-climatic. I completely agree. I understand his defeat in chapter 3, as most of Zofia now supports the Deliverance, and the Rigelians never considered him anything more than a puppet ruler, so of course they don't care about him after his failure to hold the capital. Besides, even if they did, he thinks Rudolf has betrayed him by making Alm head of the deliverance (more on that next paragraph). But they still could have made it a more climatic desperate last stand, and his defeat in chapter 1 was so abrupt. Also, how did he know Rudolf had a son? Supposedly no one knew that except for Rudolf and Mycen. I can understand him knowing about Mycen and Rudolf having been old friends, and him knowing Mycen never had kids. And yet, even though everyone believes that Rudolf had no surviving kids, Desaix hears, "Mycen's Grandson" and after only a moment of thinking deduces, "Rudolf's son". How? I can understand him thinking Rudolf has orchestrated Desaix's doom after deducing that Alm is Rudolf's son, but how did he figure it out? It makes no sense that he knew of Rudolf's kid in the first place! Besides, if he knew, why did he never try to use that!? He just kept it to himself until his dying breath.

Mathilda: Excellent Unit and interesting character. I liked her supports with Clive and Clair. While I found her epilogue weird at first, there are actually a number of reasons why she would become a housewife; especially since we're not told when. One of them would be that she had her fill of fighting and decided to retire. Another could be that she figured one of them should stay home with the kids and didn't want Clive to have to do that. Who knows? They could have written it a lot better, but there are decent reasons why she would've done so; they just didn't bother to give any. Genny: Interesting character, and they gave her a clear personality. She was also a really good healer. Her support with Sonya was great, but she probably should've had more supports than that. Fernand: I have been waiting for this since I stated my opinion of Berkut. I found his character actually quite interesting. The reason for his bigotry is very clear. It isn't executed very well when he leaves the Deliverance, but, in my opinion, all his scenes other than that were great. He doesn't immediately switch sides; he gets captured and is brought before Berkut: a man who seems to share if not epitomize Fernand's views. Actually I would argue that his behaviour is very consistent. One important thing to note is that, while he defects to Rigel, he isn't actually loyal to Rigel: he's loyal to Berkut, and how he becomes loyal to Berkut is very well done in my opinion. When he gets captured, it's clear he still doesn't like Desaix or Rigel, but then he's brought to Berkut. The first thing he sees of Berkut is Berkut dancing happily with Rinea, and it is clear from Fernand's reaction that Berkut's not what he expected; something further made clear when Berkut seems to share Fernand's views. Berkut: Hmph. What nonsense. One is born either noble or common. This destiny cannot be changed. Has a sheep any hope of leading wolves? No! Fernand: *gasp* Yes! Yes, exactly! Truer words were never spoken, Lord Berkut! To Fernand, Berkut becomes the personification of his values, and so he becomes unquestionably loyal to Berkut; failing to see Berkut's flaws and failings, mainly because he's not there to see them; only seeing Berkut in battle or overlooking the battlefield. And, of course, just as Fernand walking in on Berkut dancing with Rinea was Fernand's first indicator about Berkut that brought about Fernand's loyalty to Berkut, his last scene with Berkut was him walking in on Berkut sacrificing Rinea to Duma was the moment he realized his error. Rinea was supposed to personify or at least illustrate Berkut's good side, and Fernand sees Berkut no longer happy with Rinea and instead sacrificing her to Duma for power.In that moment, he sees that Berkut was not what Fernand thought he was. Fernand ends up mortally wounded and running away while offscreen. People have said his remorse for past actions when found doesn't make a lot of sense. One thing to consider is that he's become disillusioned with Berkut; realizing he made a terrible mistake. Him running through the tunnels while wounded would certainly make him ask himself, "Where did I go wrong?" We don't see it, but it's certainly implied. He was dying because of a mistake he made. It wasn't a moment of redemption equals death; it was a moment of, "What have I done?" So I found his remorse completely believable and in-character. Honestly, I think the scene where he abandons the Deliverance could have been a lot better. But, other than that, I thought his character was really well done. Like Berkut, I don't think we were ever supposed to have sympathy for the character; we were only supposed to understand. And, in that regard, they did a really good job. He was an interesting character, and the rise of the deliverance DLC really added to the tragedy in his character. I liked his character as a villain and a tragedy of blind loyalty and blaming the many for the crimes of a few, among other things. EDIT: Also, as with Rinea forgiving Berkut, what's wrong with people forgiving a dying person who shows true remorse for his actions. Am I the only one who would forgive the guy; even if only to let the guy die in peace?

Last year, I might have said no; despite a large number of people liking the Warcraft film and the Assassin's Creed movie, critics spat on both of them just because they were video game adaptations (read some of the reviews, and you'll see immense bias). But then I saw the Castlevania show, saw that, in my opinion, it was quite good, and then saw that people gave it largely positive reviews with almost no one bashing it for being a video game adaptation. Honestly, a Fire Emblem anime could be very good, so long as the people making it actually care about what they're making. Path of Radiance in particular would be pretty good for this. Fire Emblem does have a huge cast, but it wouldn't be too hard to balance them, especially since the base conversations and supports help give a sense of how they should ideally be balanced. This might be interesting. The question would be if they should make it before or after an anime about Marth.

Best: Tie between Ashnard and Ashera. Ashnard moves and is rare in being a human final boss, yet one that actually feels like a force to be reckoned with unlike some (looking at you Takumi: gameplay-wise you were somewhat interesting but a second rematch where all you have is a new bow and a purple glow is not even scary; just seems like an abrupt nuisance rather than a menacing boss). Ultimately it actually felt like an interesting fight. Ashera was really interesting. You had to destroy every barrier surrounding her, fight off spirit reinforcements, take her AoE attacks into account and everything. Ike being the only one able to kill her is a bit strange, but I honestly did not mind. Worst: Anankos, Grima Both of them could have been great boss fights with interesting theatrics and some slightly interesting mechanics, but somehow manage to be dull and bland. Grima was interesting in that you fought while on top of him. This could have been so interesting with the map itself trying to kill you: he could have tried to shake you off his back, swipe the back row with his tail, used dragon breath as an AoE attack, etc. But he just... flies around, while risen appear, and don't even block your way to him! You can just run your best units up to him and just keep attacking until he's dead. What!? You're fighting on an evil dragon's back! Anankos could have been a decent final boss to make up for Fates' bad story, but it was just bland... Having to attack different limbs as a team was nice, but it would have been more interesting if the limbs were actually some distance away. I barely had to divide my units! It also just felt repetitive. Attack two arms, attack head, boss is dead. Honourable Mention: Duma. His HP being ?? actually made it interesting, as did his being able to move and him having two different attacks: one physical and one magical. The problem was that, despite being a rotting shell of what he was, he was a bit too good: go in for the first time without prior research and I basically ended up warping Alm to deal with most of the damage. Perhaps the problem had more to do with it having been my first playthrough of Echoes. If he had a good final chapter map to complement the good boss fight, he probably would have been up there with Ashnard and Ashera; maybe even better. Dishonourable Mention: Takumi. Gameplay-wise, he was alright. Where Duma was a good boss fight in a bad map, Takumi was a bad boss fight in a decent map. I defeat Gooron, the slime monster king of Nohr, and the thing that's supposed to be an even stronger boss is a second rematch with Takumi where almost nothing's changed?

Clair: Not my favourite character, but quite interesting nonetheless. She was an alright unit, though none of the Pegasus knights I used turned out very well for some reason. Leon: He was a useful archer. Massena: Cool that he resembles Cervantes, but he was not very memorable (and, to be honest, so was Cervantes in Awakening...).

Tobin: A good archer and a good enough character. I wasn't a fan of his Alm inferiority complex at first, but I realized that it fit his character; even now my only gripe with it is that it can be added to the listed of ways characters practically revere Alm in the game. Overall he was an interesting character. Conrad: I did not like his repeated out-of-the-blue come-to-the-rescues, but I liked his personality; both with and without the mask. Him being Celica's brother was predictable; him being half-Rigelian, less so. He was a really good unit despite Celica's route not favouring cavaliers. And what can I say; as a male redhead, I enjoy there being more red-haired heroes (though, ironically I'm not a big fan of Roy). EDIT: Funny enough, the epilogue where it felt the need to specify that he was single the rest of his life despite female suitors made me think he had a support with another character, but of course he only has a support with Celica. Slayde: Two words easily define his character: despicable coward. He obviously was never going to be a major villain, and never needed to be. Where Fates tried to force Hans into greater plot-relevance, Slayde was just a recurring nuisance, and it worked. Who didn't want to punch him in the face? His final return was pretty much the moment one would forget he even existed. One theory of mine is that even Rudolf wanted him to die: hence his 'promotion' at the last fortress before the capital; somewhere Alm's army would have to go but would be less well defended.

For some reason, I enjoy villains who are trying desperately to rebuild something long gone and arguably not worth trying to rebuild: Even a few historic figures had this as at least part of their motivation. With this in mind, an FE villain who is trying to restore an empire that once ruled most of the continent before it fell; either crumbling under its own weight or for another reason related to one of the game's central themes. This is a character who refuses to let go of the past and will do whatever it takes to rebuild the empire of old; refusing to realize that the empire he fights for is dead, and even if restored will never be what it was.

Mycen: Actually a little disappointing. I was expecting him to actually act like a grandpa to Alm. Instead he acts like more like a distant mentor to Alm. Where's him actually caring about Alm? The support conversation was alright, but I feel Mycen should have been at least a little apologetic. I understand Alm forgiving him, but there needed to be a bit more cause-and-effect (he justifiably felt extremely deceived and sorrowful; that doesn't necessarily go away, but people can still find ways to forgive). But Mycen did nothing to show he felt apologetic or even felt like he needed forgiving! That sickens me far more that Alm not holding a grudge. I know what they were trying to do with his character, and they did a lot of good. I just wish they did a better job in-story of showing that he actually cared. Only the memory prism, and the support conversations (which could have been better) ever gave any indication. Also, what was with his sudden disappearances and reappearances? That could have been done a lot better. Boey: A really good character actually, and a good mage. I liked his interactions, his personality, and I liked him and Mae. Boey: …Er, you’re headed back to the island, right? Mae: …Yeah. Boey: Then that’s where I’m going as well. Mae: Huh? Wait, what’s that mean? Boey: Are you really such a dope that you can’t figure it out? Mae: WAAAAAAT?! Absolutely hilarious... Rinea: I don't know what to say... I like her character, and characters can still be great and plot-relevant even if they mainly interact with only one person (Horatio in Sakespeare's Hamlet comes to mind). I do agree that they should've have done a better job using her to show Berkut's better side, but I like how their interactions helped show how much he was spiraling. Am I the only person who likes that Rinea forgave Berkut? Am I the only one here that likes when stories have characters forgive each other? Rinea struck me as one of those sweet characters that can almost never be angry; only sad. In my opinion, It was perfectly within character for her. And, even if forgiveness were out of character, Berkut was on his death bed, regretting pretty much every decision he'd made, and his sanity was grasping at straws. She told him what he needed to hear in order to actually die peacefully. Why wouldn't she do that?