Leif

I actually see Nyx's design sharing some resemblance to Tharja, as well as Hinoka to Cordelia. ... Now that you mentioned it, I can tell that Marx's face is similar to Chrom's, Elise's to Lissa's... ...am I the only one noticing this?

I bet that we will get a mix of the Royal siblings in the third path. I doubt Ryoma or Marx will join, since they are both heading their respective armies. However the younger siblings may be up for grabs, like Elise and Sakura. I am not sure about Leon or Takumi since they both seem to be pretty loyal to their respective sides. I am pretty sure Hinoka and Camilla will join Kamui due to their feelings for him/her. As for the "My Castle" location. In the recent NOJ direct, I remember seeing a desert-like area where a camp was set up. Perhaps this will be the base for the third route?

Yeah, I edited my post at the last minute to correct that, but you are right regarding the small similarity between Odin and "uudo".

I noticed that the other day too. Notice that his name also starts with an "O", (well at least like his English name, ahaha). Plus, it's referencing a legendary Norse god, who was known for his weapon Gungnir! Owain loved naming his weapons. I pray this character isn't a total dork. I think he'll be Leon's subordinate. The two shared the same base starting class, like Camilla and Belka.

Ugh, with all the new features, I decided to start with the Hoshido as a 'practice run'. Don't get me wrong though, Nohr is most definately going to be my favorite campaign. However, I thought that starting with the easier route on 'Hard Mode' would help me get used to the new weapon triangle, skills, etc. Save the best for last, right? Although, it's going to annoy me that I won't be able to use any Dark Mages or Dark Knights while I am with the Hoshido. I hope there will be a special bundle, once the game reaches American shores, that will have all three routes available so I can start the three routes simultaneously..

On the 'Character Introductions' page for the Nohr allies, you can see four green higlighted tiles behind Belka and Luna. It looks like that could be an area where allies are supposed to escape? Those Nohr maps look really cool. Oh. Thanks for the nice translations, Kirokan.

I really hope it's them. I found the quality of the writing in Awakening to be superb. Not the narrative, but the script's diction and sentence structure. It was well done. Does NOA mention who is taking charge of the translation ahead of time?

I really hope for some English footage at E3. Is it possible for NOA to start translating a Japanese game (other than Pokemon) before its release in Japan?

Interesting. I believe that it's safe to assume that S-supports are coming back now, especially since we've seen in the "My castle video" and the 'Nyx-Elise' screenshot. The 'face-blushing' effect was primarily used in Awakening for S-support dialogue. I still could be wrong though; it could only be used for the hot-springs segment. I would, however, bet money that S-supports are going to be a thing in this game, considering how the masses enjoyed it in Awakening.

Will there be a part of your blog where it will be spoiler-free? I want to learn about all the skills, basic character profiles, classes, weapons and items. Do you plan on making a separate blog for the third campaign? I believe the third route will be spoiler heavy since the developers weren't too keen on sharing the playable characters for the independent route.

Their head piece looks very similar to ancient western style clothes that were influenced by the Ottoman Empire. Very interesting.

Is there anyway you can take a screenshot? If not, don't worry about it. I'm curious to see what that Inigo clone looks like, especially with the existence of Luna.

Yeah! I noticed some of the summoned Kamui's at that plaza thing in "My Castle" were capeless! So, losing armor has permanent drawbacks? EDIT: OH! I don't know why I didn't bring this up, but there also was a diner feature in the video! Food can increase unit stats. IS really took a page from Berwick Saga.

I saw that too. I definitely think this will be a new feature for battles. It, perhaps, could halve defense and resistance? It's kind of a cool thing. Maybe it is to prevent having one single unit solo an entire map?

I noticed something in the "My Castle" clip. Towards the end of the video, Felicia and Kamui were both attacking Harold. When they defeated him they knocked off his armor. When the camera returned to the overworld, Harold had a red arrow symbol, pointing down just before he disappeared. I venture to guess that removing armor causes a stat decrease based on that red arrow. It's kinda like units getting injured in Berwick Saga. I wonder if you guys noticed this too? Oh, and thanks for the helpful links, sforzur!

^ This. She seems like a really original character; I hope they write her well. I like that they mentioned how she used her looks for manipulation. IS probably took notes on Miriel and Sumia's Summer Scramble conversation and decided to make a character who was legitimately using her womanly wiles to use men for her own goals. It sets off a nice contrast with that male armor knight who is scary and a little ugly, but has a good, kind spirit.

OH MY GOD. Yeah, now that you say that, I guess this isn't all that bad. watch as they will include a bath, face-washing feature in FE15

I saw the same little Awakening heart effect appear on both Kamui and Felicia during the My Castle clip, so I assume they will have regular supports. Just as Amie wasn't all that necessary in GEN 6 Pokemon (based on what I've heard), I highly doubt that this is needed for supports in this game; it will probably add some "spice" to the normal support system. I am not into anime or video games as much (Fire Emblem and Smash Bros are the only series I really follow), so this face rubbing thing kinda alienates me. Nonetheless, I will still try the feature out for some fantastic cringeworthy moments. I still can't watch Kamui poke Felicia's and Joker's faces without feeling a little unclean.

I am eagerly looking forward to seeing how this will all translate to the American version! I would love it if Harold would say things like "Oh... stop that you naughty boy!" This is going to be so awkward, I don't see how this feature will not reach some level of infamy. Honestly, I thought this game was going to have some dignity over Awakening, but it appears that isn't the case. Aside from that, I am actually kinda liking this "My Castle" feature. I don't mind designing a city to my likes. It will offer a unique gameplay feature when battles start to get a little stale.

Ahahahahaha!!!! This is genius. Absolute genius. I never thought that I would be caressing the faces of all my allies in a Fire Emblem game. I eagerly await for the English version of this; I can't wait to hear all the hilariously awkward dialogue in the "My Room" segments. Bathhouses too!? Camilla with a jester hat AND foxtail? This is too much. Well, I probably shouldn't tell my friends that I'm getting this game, else they think I was a raving lunatic. On a positive note, since it is seen that Male Kamui has the option to interact with both male and female units in my room, it shows that there could be the possibility to be intimate with same-sex units? There was a heart icon by Suzukaze. That's good at least. Also... ...there is a new Dark Mage named Odin who looks pretty cool. I hope he's decent-looking.

Not necessarily; the Hoshido could be deeper that what we've learned so far. They could be so obsessed about keeping the peace that they've become isolationists -- going so far as to push other people and even civilizations out. With characters, like Orobo, racism could also be a problem in Hoshido. The Hoshido could have created a kingdom where progressiveness was sparse. Why else would a character, like Suzukaze, be a drifter and hold no allegiance to the Hoshido?

Well, assassins have existed in both Western and Eastern cultures, right? You are right that 'cross-promotion' would conflict with If's duality theme, but it's plausible that both thieves and ninjas promote to assassins. Perhaps there will be two different forms of an assassin class that would function similarly; one with a Hoshido-like garb and class name, and a Nohrian styled one? EDIT: Agh, NekoKnight beat me to it...

I hope one of the reasons why Nohr wants to invade Hoshido is Hoshido's refusal to share or give some land to help the Nohr out. Hoshido believes that sharing part of their land would disrupt the peace in their kingdom. This causes enough tension for both sides that the two countries kidnap Aqua and Kamui respectively. Thus, like in The Iliad, all out war commences between the Nohrians and Hoshidians. I hope that Nohr follows some 'Manifest Destiny' mindset, which would be backed up by their belief in that ancient dragon god. I also hope religion factors into the story too. Characters, like Orobo, would help supplement the theme of Fire Emblem if -- that war is devastating for both sides. She despises the Nohr for suffering some sort of trauma, but doesn't bat an eye at taking out other Nohrians, failing to realize that she is inflicting the same kind of pain on other Nohrian families. This story has so much potential; I hope that the writer makes the most of this premise!

Harold is eerily similar to Reb Brown's 'Captain America' character; he has the blond hair, large chin, and even the red, white, and blue color scheme. I venture to guess that he could have been written to poke fun at American culture, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's original and we've hadn't had a character like this in the entire Fire Emblem series -- as far as I know, at least.

If you look at that blue and pink-haired female cavalier from that picture (where she's dual striking with F!Kamui) from way back when, it seems like she has black tights on and a light-pink, long-sleeve shirt under her armor. I think her design (her clothes, at least) will be better than Sully's. I liked Sully's personality, so I secretly hope that she'll be a similar sort of character.