Aggro Incarnate

Is ATTACK STANCE now TAG TEAM?

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If you also don't mind including Japanese trailers... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GYm-0fyygE (I remember the lyrics for the Japanese operatic FE theme being basically a manual for the game) My favourite part is the horse neighing though.

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I mostly agree with your points, just a few comments. Edited upon reflection to reduce spoiler-y content

Are we expecting dubs as well on top of translation?

Also from the Gameplay Menu, Puppeteer is now Mechanist, which I think is interesting as a localisation decision. Hmm... (Sort of been hoping for Puppet Master, oh well) Master Ninja sounds cool though

In terms of voice acting, Arthur made my day; they kept his character so well. I quite liked Selena as well although she doesn't quite sound like her Awakening counterpart (similar with Odin as well). Silas is all right, Camilla and Takumi (So it's TA-ku-mi not Ta-KU-mi in the ENG version as well, interesting...) are OK as well although it might take time getting used to. Beruka's a bit unexpected but I think it's a legitimately good alternative take on her personality. A bit iffy with Oboro and Hinata but probably much of it is just being used to the JP voices. Felicia is a bit disappointing although her battle quotes seem better than those in dialogue, but Nyx is... well they definitely took her quirk in the storyline quite seriously, but her extremely high-pitched voice doesn't fit her looks at all (I've always imagined the whole 'everyone's treating her like a child' as simply a height issue... She actually came across as quite mature in everything apart from her height in the original). Overall the voice acting doesn't quite bother me as much as the actual dialogue, which I think feels considerably more lighthearted and casual than the original JP version (some of them I feel like are just awkward, but maybe that's just me). Compared to the Japanese version I can't help but feel that it lacks a bit of... seriousness or gravitas perhaps? It kind of reminds me of 4-Kids rendition of anime for some reason... Overall I don't think it's a bad job done by any means but I definitely feel that Awakening was slightly better in terms of localisation.

The Hoshido Ch. 13 footage seems to suggest otherwise. Heart Seals seem like Parallel Seals.

I'm guessing you have the MyUnit!Soleil conversations in mind, but were there any other localisation changes relating to homosexual supports? You seem to be indicating that there are quite a few relevant localisation decisions already confirmed, but you might want be more specific about which in particular you have in mind since perhaps not everyone follows them as well as you do.

http://www.twitch.tv/oudemiatv/v/35386078

I've seen a playthrough where a Male MU (Secondary class NInja) is paired with Mozume!Eponine (to reclass Niles into Hoshidan bow using classes via Marriage Seal more so than for Eponine's sake, though she does get her great hair colour), both of whom are reclassed into Puppeteers (Eponine via Marriage Seal) at one point to pass on Copycat Puppet and Puppet Break to Kanna. The former is useful for straightforward reasons, but the latter was what I found quite interesting. (Very specific gameplay info on chapters coming up)

To make the long story short, Yes. Although how easy/difficult this makes the gameplay may depend on what exactly you mean by reclassing. I'm guessing you're allowing for promotions via Master Seals since otherwise the answer might turn into a No for many other games as well. But for instance is Paladin -> Great Knight (which share the same unpromoted class) a reclassing you'd want to avoid? For sake of clarification perhaps it's best to go into how reclassing works in this game. There are 5 ways units can class change in FE if/Fates [1] Promotion via Master Seals (straightforward) [2] Promotion via Child Seals (2nd gen only: this not only promotes the unit but grants level-ups depending on your progress on the game I think? Later recruitment means child seals promote those units into higher levels and corresponding amount of stat growths) [3] Reclassing via Parallel Seals (similar but not identical to Second Seals in Awakening) [4] Reclassing via Marriage Seals (allows reclassing into the primary class of one's spouse) [5] Reclassing via Buddy Seals (allows reclassing into the primary class of A+ Support; a unit can A+ support with maximum of one unit) This may initially suggest reclassing is even more broken in this game, but this is actually far from the case. 1) Reclassing choices have been nerfed since Shadow Dragon/New Mystery (where there were just so many reclass options) and Awakening, although there are more choices than the GBA or GameCube/Wii FE games. Given your familiarity with Awakening and the inherent initial similarities between the two games I'll mostly make comparisons between Awakening and if/Fates. In Awakening each 1st gen character has 3 unpromoted base classes available to reclass into, and this means each 1st gen unit has access to 4-6 promoted classes.If you get to 2nd gen. Plus the Avatar and his/her offspring has access to all classes (except Dancer, Manakete and Taguel) as their gender allowed. FE if/Fates reduced the number of accessible unpromoted base classes for each character from 3 to 2, and this is the case for the Avatar as well (you get to choose their 2nd base class during character creation). This means each character has only 3-4 classes to choose from after promotion by default. In addition to that reclassing seals tend to be quite pricey and not so great on availability outside shops. While there are special seals throughout the game that allows units into class change into the primary class of his/her spouse (S support) or best buddy (A+ support; max. 1 per character is possible), those are also pricey and less in availability, especially so for Nohr/Conquest where the amount of gold you get from the game without DLC is quite limited. 2) Units retain their level when reclassed via a Parallel Seal, and one can no longer demote units into their unpromoted classes. While this makes skill farming a bit easier, this also means there's a limit as to how many times a unit can earn skills since one skill is obtained during a level-up. (Total of 19 level ups before promotion, 19 more after promotion) Once you hit the level cap you cannot learn any more skills unless you use an Eternal Seal which increases max level by 5, but eternal seals are very expensive in this game (1 eternal seal may amount to something like half or more of all your gold in a no-grind run) Also consider that reclassing changes growth rates since each class has its own growth rate bonus in addition to of those of individual units. This on top of limited availability of these niche-seals means reclassing is less broken (under no-grind contexts). Here's an example, taken from the Fire Emblem Wiki (http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Parallel_Seal) 3) Skills are more balanced in this game; more of them are useful, less of them are overpowered. I'd say that in FE if/Fates every skill has potential of being an major asset, some of them can be extremely helpful, very few have the potential of breaking the game, and none of them are necessary to the point that one cannot progress in the game. If you're playing Conquest in higher difficulties, I don't think any skill set really breaks the game per se. In general in all 3 routes, skill farming is useful but not necessary up to Hard mode. In Lunatic mode skill farming can be extremely helpful but still not necessary. No-reclassing playthroughs are hence still going to be a challenge, but less of a preventative measure from breaking the game. Well, that is, unless you're using Streetpass to recruit OP units or buy skills... Moving on to the details of your post, 1. Lunatic Mode in if/Fates is manageable playing with a moderate degree of flexibility. In terms of difficulty and flexibility only (and not features of the entire gameplay) I'd say Hoshido/Birthright Lunatic is closer to Hector Hard Mode, Nohr/Conquest Lunatic is a bit more like RD but with less of those powerful recruitable units later in the game, and Invisible Kingdom/Revelations a bit more like Awakening between Hard and Lunatic (IK is like Maniac mode in Awakening if there ever was one). In terms of stats and early game, the game is much more balanced than Awakening. There's nothing like FeMU!Chrom Sorcerer Nosferatu tanking family of death destroying vanilla Lunatic Mode back in Awakening present in if/Fates. In terms of classes certain classes may have generally better stats than others, but with stat growths, healing, types of weapons, and maybe skill farming in mind having a bit of everything is generally a plus. My personal impression from what I've seen so far is (this is personal so take it with a grain of salt) Enemy stats relative your team: Awakening Hard ~ Hoshido Hard < Hoshido Lunatic ~ Nohr Hard < IK Luantic < Nohr Lunatic < Awakening Lunatic=Lunatic+ Amount of thinking required: Awakening Hard < Hoshido Hard ~ IK Hard < Awakening Lunatic (allowing for broken mechanics) < Hoshido Lunatic < IK Lunatic < Nohr Hard < Nohr Lunatic < Awakening Lunatic+ (Hoshido/Birthright Lunatic is a bit like playing Awakening Hard mode without grinding, a bit like Maniac Mode in New Mystery methinks; IK/Revelations Lunatic can be done with low manning using OP units but not broken, Nohr/Conquest Lunatic is a challenge) 2. The game in general is much more balanced to the point where I'd say most balancing issues in Awakening has been fixed. (Conquest is one of the best balanced game in the series IMO) Up to hard mode I think almost all units are usable up to endgame, though Invisible Kingdom/Revelations has issues with base stats on some characters. In Lunatic mode I'd say around 75% of units available to each route are well usable by the endgame. (This does not mean you can train ~75% of your units close to max-level in a single playthrough though - you've got to pick and choose eventually. Perhaps the percentages may go a bit less for IK/Revelations due to base stat issues with some units). There are few good units that will most likely be extremely helpful in your endgame if don't bench them but not baby them either, but with some calculated effort (not necessarily grinding as in Awakening) most units are candidates to be profitably used throughout the entire game. Also the game encourages players to train your units overall since EXP decay occurs much more rapidly in this game; once a character is overlevelled, the EXP they get from battling/defeating units decrease quite dramatically, considerably more so than the previous FE entries, and the map design, chapter objectives, enemy placements and reinforcements tend to be such that discourage low-manning, especially in Nohr/Conquest. 3. Depends a bit on which path and difficulty you're playing, but in Nohr/Conquest Knights/Generals are invaluable assets since tanking units are a thing. Generals at level 5 also learn the Defensive Formation skill where neither they nor the enemy can double-attack in battle, making up for their low speed so they don't get double-attacked. 4. Most staff users, although to varying degrees, function as something other than healers: Maids/Butlers use daggers, War Priests/Priestesses and Adventurers use bows, Falcon Knights use lances, Strategists use tomes, and White Blood uses swords and dragonstones in addition to staves. 5. No Sages in Nohr/Conquest, but there are Spellcasters/Exorcists which are Mage/Sage equivalents in FE if/Fates available in Hoshido/Birthright and Invisible Kingdom/Revelations. Dark Mage, Sorcerer and Dark Knight have been heavily nerfed, mostly in terms of speed and skill base stats and growths. Also, Troubadour -> Valkyrie has been renamed to Rod Knight -> Strategist (in the Japanese version) probably due to these classes no longer being gender locked, and these classes can be useful for certain characters but they to have the same the same issues as the other tome-users in Conquest. Magic in general has been nerfed since Awakening, although less so for Hoshido/Birthright than Nohr/Conquest. Granted, magic users are still quite helpful throughout the game, but they're not to the point where they completely overshadow bow users. On the contrary, you'd find that using bow and kunai/shuriken units to be extremely useful in this game. Note that Sorcerers are the only class in FE if/Fates to reach S-rank in tomes, and the Dark Mages/Sorcerers (not Dark Knights though) are the only classes that can use Dark Magic. However there's only one dark magic tome in the entire game, Nosferatu, and it's taken a big nerf since Awakening (more on that below). Dark Mages/Sorcerers are just better thought of as standard magic users in Nohr as opposed to Spellcaster/Exorcists in Hoshido. 6. IMO the Jagen in FE if/Fates is one of the more lackluster units in the series, in terms of growths and availability. I'd say the Gunther, the Jagen in Fates, is only slightly more useful than Jagen in Shadow Dragon. He is not at all an Oifay, Seth or Titania. 7. I don't think so. For example, Nosferatu can no longer hit twice, critical hit, or trigger in-battle skills. (I wouldn't say Nosferatu is useless in FE if/Fates though, just not as broken as it was in Awakening: it can be very useful when the right unit at the right time and positioning, but it's by no means a panacea move) In general, there's no single weapon that gets you through the entire game, and especially in Conquest Lunatic you'd have to be switching and trading weapons A LOT. 8. I don't think the new system desperately calls for players to create their own durability system to make it fair, although you could perfectly go on about doing it if you wanted to. With the removal of weapon durability the way in which one utilises weapons become quite different from previous FE games. Here's a summary of some changes. (Spoiler Tag not necessarily entailing spoilers but more so just to hide a long list) It's not like with weapon durability gone one can break the game with forged armoury, Killer/Silver/Brave weapons and Nosferatu. The game becomes more about the right unit using the right weapon at the right time and place, while you'd probably have to play the actual game to get used to it though.

Hiya, just a few questions about skills in-game 1) If I have a unit with Cut Through and Deadly Breath, which one of the two activates first if I attack through CUT? I feel that the wyvern class became really strategic in Fates given some of their really interesting skills and just wondered whether cutting through will allow me (or the enemy for that matter, especially in Lunatic mode) to cause some damage to units further away. 2) I'm planning to raise an army of kunai/shuriken users which probably would include generics once I get my hands on the English Copy so that I can ninja my way through some of the enemy encounters just for fun. Given that one can capture any generic units (barring those from special classes) with Zero/Niles or Orochi, does that mean I can have access to units with Negative Chain (which I won't be able to have access otherwise since it's normally locked to certain enemies) that can stack debuff on enemies? 3) Question within spoiler tag (Multiple Edits are due to me trying to work with spoiler tags and attachments for the very first time)