Azure Sen

Given that Gen IV mentions straight-up eating Pokemon and a black market for Slowpoke tail exists, there probably isn't a taboo against eating the less sapient ones. Then again, the games have also been pretty inconsistent as to whether or not real world animals exist in the Pokemon world, so...

It's a shame that they apparently didn't change the battle system or re-balance the difficult much for Dark Dawn from what I've heard, because I do think the idea of being able to switch skills and stats in battle via the Djinn is a really interesting and creative system. Unfortunately it was wasted in the first two games, because 99% of the time the games were so easy that you could get away with just relying on weapon unleashes and the occasional heal. It's why, despite how frustrated I got with them at the time, I actually think Dullahan and the Doom Dragon from The Lost Age are two of the best bosses in the series for bringing a bit of strategy to the table by messing with your Djinn setup, even if I think Djinn Storm should have been single target instead of hitting the entire party. The only boss fight that remotly compared in the amount of strategy required was the Briggs fight, and I purposefully fought that under-leveled just so I could get Piers early.

I'm not surprised we're not getting GS 4; it's not impossible that it'll happen, but at this point it's incredibly unlikely. My own personal feelings on the franchise aside, Dark Dawn sold pretty poorly overall, and demand for a sequel never seemed that high even after The Lost Age (which is probably why Dark Dawn came as such as surprise back in 2010). Granted Dark Dawn ended on a cliffhanger from what I heard (I've never played it, for the record), so perhaps people are just eager to see that game's plots resolved. The writing in the first two games is pretty bad. The story itself is full of plot holes and has no sense of logical progression, it tends to ignore or completely forget about characters or elements that were previously established to be important (Ivan and Sheba get it the worst, but they're far from the only examples), the major plot twist is contrived and badly set-up, and in general the story dissolves like wet tissue under the lightest of analysis. The characters are bland and poorly developed, character consistency is basically nonexistent, and all the villains are incompetent idiots that make Iago look compelling and likable. It says a lot about the quality of writing that 90% of what the characters are remembered for comes from fanfiction and headcanons, not the actual game itself. I don't think Golden Sun has any chance of seeing a revival outside of a sequel or a complete Echoes-style remake of the first two games. Story aside, the gameplay is also incredibly dated, with how stale and anachronistic the gameplay was being a major complaint critics had regarding Dark Dawn, and part of the whole reason Golden Sun got big was that it was technologically impressive and mechanically deep for its time. Granted the gameplay's not bad per se, just a little too easy and lacking in depth, so a proper remake could really help in that department. The SNES era was held back by technical limitations, and even then its games managed to fit a surprising amount of characterization, world building and depth of story in scripts with what were effectively strict word count limits. Golden Sun, meanwhile, has no such excuse for its lack of any of those things, and in fact the first Golden Sun's script alone is incredibly long at 70,000 words, not including all the NPC and flavor text in towns. That's almost as long as Final Fantasy V and VI's scripts combined, for reference.

I have a longer response in the works, NekoKnight, but as it's a huge wall of text and there's things I more immediately want to talk about I'll post it later. If I can be frank here, most previous Fire Emblem protagonists are guilty of being the nigh universally beloved and flawless hero, so singling out Alm seems pointless to me. Perhaps it boils down to a difference of opinion, but the idea of a character who is universally beloved and flawless is not to me an inherently negative thing; one of my favorite video game characters of all time, The Boss, could be described as such, with the only remote flaw she has being that she's too loyal to the United States (highlight for spoilers). Likewise, I don't think either of those things are, at the core, the issue with Corrin and Robin. (Then again, I don't really think there's one defining issue with those two, but that's another conversation for another time.) And I can't speak for anyone else, but my issues with Robin were present long before I knew anything about Kris or before Corrin was created. While I can't speak for anyone but myself, Robin's not the only character I've had issues with for stealing the spotlight from a previously established main character. I've not had the chance to discuss in-depth other games and series where I had a problem with this since I started posting at Serenes outside of Ike once or twice. If the shift to Robin being the protagonist had been better established in earlier chapters rather than coming out of nowhere towards the end, or if Chrom had remained the main character but the focus of the story gradually shifted to Robin, I probably would have been less critical of it, but it wasn't. I struggled to for some time articulate why I disagree with this statement, but after some consideration I came to the conclusion that I simply don't feel you've made a strong case for why Alm and Corrin are similar, or at least similar enough to warrant any criticism aimed at them equal. I don't feel that the negative traits you're proposing that they share are equal enough in scale to justify calling them similar, and, perhaps more importantly, I feel that the problems with Corrin outside those you brought up in your post make the comparison null.

This is going to be an abject failure, just like most of Atari's recent ventures. Call me cynical, but Atari has given me no reason to consider them anything more than a relic of the past that doesn't know when to stop and couldn't design a paper airplane, let alone a video game console that can compete with the mainstays. As an aside, I'm not even sure why Atari still exists in today's video game industry. They have repeatedly proven themselves to be incompetent and unable to keep up with the times even when they're blatantly copycatting modern trends, they tanked the reputation of the Alone in the Dark franchise through sheer, dogged incompetence, and they've been bought and sold so many times I'm surprised they haven't ended up another trophy in EA's monument to all the dev studios they've destroyed. As for the Bubsy sequel...did anyone really want a Bubsy sequel in 2017?

I like Inigo and Severa, but I do not want to see them in any more games after Fates. It would just be redundant, given how much development those two got in Fates. And I hated Odin (even though I like Owain, but they feel like two distinctly different characters at times) and definitely wouldn't want to see that interpretation of Owain show up in any game again ever.

I like Alm as we got him, and I find him to be a likable protagonist. I do wish he had been given a bit more overt development because I think he has a subtle character arc that could have been fleshed out more and I do wish he had a harder time of things, but that's about the only complaints I have about his characterization. And honestly, I'm glad they didn't go with his Awakening characterization, because not only was it based off one line taken out of context from the very end of the original Gaiden, but because knowing IntSys he would have turned out to be an insufferable edgelord or worse, another Walhart.

Honestly, I'm with Thane here, I'd rather have some actual variety than just have another standard American dub, even if some of the performances are a bit off; that was one of the things I really liked about the original Xenoblade Chronicles (and Pandora's Tower and The Last Story). Sure there's some more variety in the US casting pool now that we have something of a newbie boom, but a lot of the older VAs are still working and would probably be prioritized if there was a US dub. See also Xenoblade Chroniocles X's localization, which had pretty much all the big names in it (that guy who's in everything Yuri Lowenthal, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Matt Mercer, Ben Diskin, Bryce Papenbrook, Keith Silverstein, Tara Platt, Kate Higgens, Kirk Thornton, Karen Straussman, Cristina Valenzuela, etc.).

I just want a well-written, well-executed villain with clear goals, consistent characterization, and good story presence. Whether they're human or dragon is irrelevant to me.

Lyn, Hector and to a lesser extent Ephraim are far more popular in the West than in Japan, and Koei and IntSys are only interested in pandering to the latter. Roy probably has a better chance on the virtue of being incredibly popular in Japan, but it's still unlikely, and I've already talked about Ike, who is only one character compared to the large cast they can pull from Akaneia, Awakening and Fates to appeal to potential buyers. Take it from someone who has been waiting five Dynasty Warriors games for two important and highly-demanded characters to show up: if there's a character popular in the West that you want and they're not equally or more popular in Japanese fandom, you might as well accept that they're not going to be added anytime soon, if ever, and even if they are equally popular on both sides of the ocean they still might not be added.

I doubt it'll go above 40 characters; my conservative estimate would be around 35, and I'd be genuinely surprised if they went to Warriors Orochi levels. I wouldn't count on it. If there's one company worse than IntSys in the "pandering to Japanese fans and only Japanese fans" department, it's Koei. Ike might get DLC at some point because of his recent surge in popularity, but it's more likely that there will be few or no characters from outside Akaneia/Awakening and Fates' casts. I mean, you can, but knowing what I know about Koei and IntSys, you're just setting yourself up for disappointment. I doubt it. Even after they started diversifying movesets, a fourth of the cast of Dynasty Warriors still uses swords and about another fourth uses some sort of polearm, compared to the much lower numbers of other weapons.

Elibe is probably the best continent to live on. It seems to be fairly politically stable both before and after the Black Fang and the war with Bern, there aren't rapidly degenerating dragons running around, and there also aren't horrible abominations or undead sprouting out of nowhere. Magvel is probably second best for similar reasons, but loses points because monster outbreaks are possible. The worst is probably tied between Jugdral, for the reasons Hylian Air Force mentioned, and Tellius, between Ashunera and her two halves running wild and the racial conflicts brewing between the beorc and the laguz. Jehanna probably became a land of mercs for the same reason Ilia did, little arable land and a population that needed to be fed (in fact, Jehanna is basically Ilia but in a desert, given Magvel's backstory). Given its close ties with Freila and its status as a merchant republic, Carcino probably didn't gain its independence in a violent revolt.

Probably not. I'll be satisfied as long as we get some more information on the new No More Heroes game, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. It and The Evil Within 2 are the only games I really care about this year.

This is long because I like a lot of units and in no particular order, but: Barst: Barst is a walking harbinger of death who leaves none alive in his wake in SD/New Mystery. WTA don't mean nothing when you double everyone when you aren't OHKO'ing them. Palla + Catria: While Catria can never measure up to the majesty of her older sister, all hail Palla the best Whitewing I personally prefer Palla, both are fantastic units that have never done me wrong in Shadow Dragon or New Mystery. Mathilda: All hail the Valkyrie of Valentia. I usually give her a Blessed Lance and let her destroy anything that dares challenge her. Conrad: Another Blessed Lance user who wrecks faces and steals hearts. I turned him into a mage later and he continued to wreck everything with Excalibur. Feena: Aside from being squishy, she always ends up being a speedy attacker with maxed Str, Spd and Luck. I give her a couple Killer Edges and watch her go. Ayra: A living, breathing sword tornado. 10/10 would sacrifice Alec to recruit her again. Larcei: The second coming of the sword tornado. Unfortunately unlike her mother she falls behind towards the end due to all the Barons roaming around, but she's still great. Clarine: The Untouchable and She Who Dodges All Attacks. I also let her crush Narcian because it's funny. Echidna: Because bias, and also because she's the only decent axe user without grinding. Priscilla: Maybe it's just because I'm biased towards them, but every GBA Troubadour tends to turn out fantastic for me, and Priscilla is no exception. Ewan: Favoritism, but he's always turned out great when I've used him. L'arachel: She's a GBA Troubadour, of course she's on this list. Chrom!Inigo: Bias plus just being a really great unit in general. Why you no give him Aether, IntSys? Stahl: A unit I constantly use, even though I frequently change him into a Dread Fighter. Oboro: A good all-rounder who always turns out good for me. Takumi: The best archer, will crit everybody. Camilla: An all-around great unit, who carried me through my one Conquest playthrough. Charlotte!Siegbert: The MVP of my Conquest playthough, completely replacing Xander because Seig actually got speed.

Useless redhead saves his magical girl princess waifu, ends the tyranny of a guy with daddy issues, and assaults a defenseless woman.

More actual tactics would be nice, even just as bonus/optional objectives. Hitting supply lines, night attacks, using siege weapons, etc. (This isn't really specifically a medieval thing, just a complaint I have in general.) Also, let's get some early firearms going, since actual gunpowder-based weapons existed since at least the 1000s outside of Europe and the 1300s within Europe, even though the former were the fire lances of China which were only useful at short range. Otherwise I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas exclusive to the middle ages that would work well in the fantasy equivalent culture FE uses. Half because most of them are too limiting either to gameplay or to story, and half because the rest of them aren't exclusive to or didn't originate in the medieval period. Greatswords as we know them didn't exist until the Renaissance, hand-and-a-half swords are basically just longswords by a different name, halberds/poleaxes have been in the series before, and war axes were generally single bit even when two-handed. "Plague" refers to a disease caused by a specific type of bacterial infection, and Elise had none of the symptoms indicative of it. Said disease is also highly contagious and can be spread by physical contact between humans, so the fact that no one else in the army got sick disproves the plague theory even further. Crossbows have existed since the 6th century BC in China and the 4th century BC in Europe, with both the ancient Greeks and the Roman Empire using crossbows and similar technology.

Story-wise, absolutely not. He's barely a presence in any route, even the one you fight him in, which makes the "SORE MO WATASHI DA!"-esque reveal about his involvement in Birthright and Conquest feel forced. His backstory is locked behind a paywall for some reason, and honestly it's just a rip-off of the Earth Dragons from FE1 with some extra angst thrown in. His entire story presence is also locked behind that same paywall, which leaves him feeling underutilized despite being the main villain. Gameplay-wise, not really. He's largely just a watered-down copy of Grima, with the only notable thing about him being his multi-stage boss fight. And honestly, taking the above into account, I think that's by biggest problem with him; Anankos is just really, really derivative, with nothing about him that some other FE villain hasn't done better.

Parallel Falchion is actually stronger than Falchion in Awakening's base game at 12 Mt to regular Falchion's 5 Mt. The Parallel Falchion is just Falchion from another universe, that's it. Lucina didn't mess up her world's Falchion in some way; the Awakening kids came from their timeline because one of the gems of the Fire Emblem was missing, not because of Falchion.

I wouldn't mind an actual gaiden game about it, but it being the next mainline title in the series is a big no for me. Let's move on from Akaneia for the time being, because even as someone who likes the Akaneia games and Awakening I'm getting sick of Akaneia.

Nah does actually age slowly, she's about the same age as the other kids but still looks like a child. Compare to Morgan who is probably the youngest of the kids, and is at least the youngest-looking, aside from her but still looks older than her. Anyway, Kamui ages like a normal person, because if she was truly aging like a Manakete she'd look about ten years younger. Plus you'd think they'd point that out at some point if it was the intention. (Well, ignoring that the writers forgot that Kamui was half-dragon, so we probably wouldn't have gotten confirmation either way regardless.)

For me: Limited plot importance if any. The Avatar should just be treated as another unit in the army. Choose a limited support pool via a personality selection. More customization options, with at least three separate body types and facial hair for the males, among others. No unique class or personal weapon. As Glaceon Mage said, they should play by the same rules that everyone else does. The reclass options should be just as limited as the other units'. If there are children, let the player pick the gender of the child.

Berkut and Fernand are leagues above Validar, Grima, Gooron and Anankos because they have actual motivations that make some sort of sense and act in a consistent manner, but that isn't saying much considering how badly written the latter four are. Otherwise, I find Berkut and Fernand to be generally pretty poorly written themselves, given that they were both obviously supposed to be sympathetic and yet they have no real traits to make them actually sympathetic. Berkut had maybe one redeeming trait in his love for Rinea (even though I don't think that the capacity to love automatically makes a character sympathetic, but I digress), and he just pisses that away late in the story by sacrificing her to Duma for power. Fernand doesn't even have that, and shows an alarming willingness to abandon his friends, the woman he maybe likes, and his country over what can be called an ideological difference if we're being nice and a huge tantrum if we're not.

I am glad that he isn't playable, because goodness do these lines make him sound more insufferable than he already is. (And also because it makes more sense for his character not to be playable, but that's a given.)

Honestly, I would rather they be separate games. The two don't interconnect enough to justify a Book 1/2 scenario like Mystery, half of which is a direct sequel to the original Shadow Dragon, nor do they have enough direct connections to justify a two-in-one deal like Genealogy, which had the 2nd Gen directly deal with the ramifications of what happened in the 1st Gen.