Byte2222

Real answer: 1. dark is scary and thematically aligned with villainy and 2. hold-over from FE4, where it was genuinely evil and the domain of the Lopt cult. Lore discussion: the lore of different FE 'verses is independent and magic is a prime example of this. You don't have to dig too deep to find contradictory information from, say, FE5, FE7 and FE10. In Akaneia, there was no distinction between magic types (beyond some tomes being enemy only). In Jugdral, dark magic was explicitly evil and was practised exclusively by the Lopt cult. In Elibe, it was just different to anima and light (it was 'Elder magic') but it was powerful and willful, capable of corrupting its users. Magvel didn't elucidate much, if I recall correctly, but in Tellius it was said to be practised by spirit charmers (source: Gareth in a second playthrough base conversation in the tower). Spirit charmers are explained to have made a deal with a spirit - magic power for your soul - and it is therefore implied that dark magic is so hard to learn that only spirit charmers can use it (Pelleas is a spirit charmer, the druid boss Veyona has a spirit charmer mark on his forehead and Lehran is a special case). In FE13, a clear distinction is made between conventional magic (of which dark magic is a subset) and hexes, which are stated to pervert the course of nature. FE14 doesn't discuss the nature of dark magic, IIRC. TL;DR: dark magic lore is different in different games, with very few common threads

Yeah, this is the crux of the argument. So many paralogues ruin the game's pacing and mess up lategame recruitment, the marriage supports (and romantic swerve from A rank) are poor and it forces the first gen cast (at 90% of them) to all be single 16-26 year olds. The 'anyone can marry anyone' idea also gets my goat - some people are just not compatible. Basically, the children weaken the game around them

Thank you Geek! We're always grateful for your fanart services, even if we only post from time to time

Gaiden, please. I'll admit I suck at fanart but I've never been able to find much fanart of FE2 and even I've found even less that's not Alm or Celica

Celica promotes in Geyse's fortress when she talks to the priestess. Alm promotes when Celica talks to the sage in the lost woods (in chapter 4). In chapter 4, DO NOT move Alm onto dragon mountain until you've played all of Celica's maps. At the risk of stating the obvious, do not kill Dyute at the end of chapter 3. Shuffle the angel ring to get the most out of your levels (if you feel like it).

I've never done this but would be interested to hear from someone who has. Looking at the mage class, the defining trait is what spells they learn. Everyone learns fire at base and heal on promotion but other spells are what really matter. The only extra spell Dean learns is arrow - the worst high damage spell for its low accuracy and high HP cost. By contrast, Saber learns angel - light enough to use regularly, strong enough to matter and bonus damage against monsters - Kamui learns excalibur - the best spell in the game for its low weight, moderate damage and high crit - and Jesse learns both excalibur (at level 2 no less) and thunder - occasionally useful for 1-3 range. I'd never put Dean in the mage class but I might try it with Saber, Kamui or Jesse. Stat-wise, class promotion gains can be huge, depending on the unit's growths (e.g. Luka and Force will get big str/def gains from promoting). However, class-changed mercs will be coming from the demonslayer class which has very high bases - anyone who comes from it will already have high stats, particularly with all the extra levels. The only reason you'd reclass them is for more movement or so they can use bows. Not bad reasons but not really worth the effort, as far as I can see. The only other thing to consider is that reclassed villagers will gain experience as if they had never levelled, so they will grow like crazy if they keep fighting the same enemies they did as a demonslayer (which they can do with their high stats). If you're going to keep grinding before promotion, do so in the low-tier classes for maximum efficiency. Sorry, that was a bit of a meandering ramble through my thoughts on reclassing. I'm looking forward to what everyone else has to say.

The question is wrong. In Fates in particular but Awakening to a lesser extent, there is no distinction between 'Mages' and 'Dark Mages'. There are only magic users and some who can use the special tomes subset. If a dark knight has shadowgift, they can use dark tomes, if they don't, the can't, but this doesn't make the class 'Mages' or 'Dark Mages'. You could say you mean in lore - are they trained in dark magic or not, or perhaps do they see themselves as a dark mage or a different kind of mage - but even here, there doesn't seem to be any distinction. A simple reclass tears down a lifetime of training - indeed, it seems the outfit means more to whether they can wield dark magic than how they were taught and trained. It's almost as if IS don't consider the characters' lives outside the frame...

One successful run usually takes 30mins-2hrs, although earlygame chapters go faster. Due to having little time, little brainpower and playing hard classic on my first playthrough, Conquest has left me stuck on the same chapter for weeks at a time. I am struggling to accept that I need to turn down the difficulty

None, I think the next FE should be on the 3DS's successor. FE has had far more success on handhelds than consoles and, with the high dev cost of consoles, it's far safer to stick to handhelds. Maybe the next FE will be complete before the 3DS reaches the end of its life but I doubt it - the GBA managed to get in 3 games but the DS only managed 2.

To add my voice to the chorus: yes, every day. In fact, most days it's the only thing I look at on SF, it's just I don't normally have anything to say (except 'wow, what a huge amount of awesome art, I really should get a Pixiv account so I can browse it myself')

I am very fond of Gaiden. Clever ideas, aged poorly, yada yada, I'd really love to see a judicious remake. That was mega quake, I believe. As I understand it, it appears in the last few maps (notably Doma's Gate) and, on the off-chance that it happens, it's quite a nasty surprise

Stagnation. From the broad narrative strokes of 'evil country invades good country, save good country' to the earlygame archer always being a slow starter, I feel the series relies too much on its tropes. I'm avoiding spoilers for Fates but I'm hopeful the Nohr campaign can shake things up a bit.

The first Fire Emblem game was made by people who didn't know how to make a turn-based strategy RPG, which is fair enough, as turn-based strategy RPGs didn't exist back then! It had some pretty major flaws - to name a few, the mission/map design was bland, the characters had little or no characterisation, not all units were able to grow and be useful and healers couldn't gain experience (not without being put in danger, at least). Shadow Dragon addresses some of these flaws - weapons, items, classes and experience were brought up-to-date - but some elements, such as story, characterisation, cast structure and map design were not. This leaves a game that is not obviously broken but lacks some of the features that make the rest of the series good. Fire Emblem has always had strong characterisation (the famous 'support conversations') and has challenged the player to assemble a team and make best use of each unit's strengths. These strengths don't come across in Shadow Dragon at all. I know what you mean about seeing how the series evolved but, take it from me, it is just as interesting to trace the history backwards to see how things evolved ('oh, so that's why knights promote to generals!'). Once you have some more experience (do not play it until you have some experience with the series), Fire Emblem Gaiden (the second game) is fascinating and I think you'd have fun playing it (but do not play it until you have 2 or 3 newer titles under your belt). Don't be put off Awakening. The game had its flaws (most prominently the story) but it is still a very good game. It always gives you a wide range of options so you can rise to the varied challenges it gives you and, as has been said before, it is the most enjoyable Fire Emblem game for a beginner by a huge margin. The more dedicated fans were upset by some of the more radical changes in the game, such as the ability to pair up units, but they were much more upset by the type of new fans the game attracted. As a more accessible game, it attracted players who were less keen on challenge and more interested in... shall we say 'secondary features'. I'm trying to stay neutral here but I hope you get the picture and I hope that you never avoid playing a game because it has abrasive fans. Fire Emblem: Awakening is an excellent starting point and a literally perfect place if you want to start your own journey through the series.

I think most people would recommend against playing the games in chronological order. Some of the older titles have not aged gracefully (especially the first one) and the series has become more accessible over time. To answer your question: Shadow Dragon is an excellent substitute for the first game but, as it was not a very pragmatic remake, it is still quite weak compared to the other international games. Loathe as I an to admit it, it may be best for you to start with Awakening, as it is the most accessible game of the series (so far). It is... less than representative of the rest of the series, however, so I think you should also consider which other games you might be able to get your hands on. If you want to play the older games (the first 6), an emulator is essential, as the games were never translated into English and need to have a translation patch applied (to say nothing of the rarity of old game cartridges). As for what order to play them in, just play the one that appeals to you most (and be careful of asking for advice here, as we can be... opinionated). The only remakes are Shadow Dragon and Heroes of Light and Shadow, which are remakes of the first and third games, respectively (Heroes of Light and Shadow was never released internationally (it's sometimes called New Mystery of the Emblem) and you'll need to emulate it)

Perennial topic is perennial I've been an archer for nearly 5 years and have just got onto my club committee so archer, maybe sniper