Interdimensional Observer

But what if it was Paper Emblem? And technically we already have a Paper Mario 3 with SPM, and a 4th with SS, and a 5th with CS.

For most games as a kid, I did a lot of runs and very often switched it up, so I've used them all at some point. Gen 1: Bulbasaur might be my favorite, I think I did a fun number of Charizard runs too, Blastoise was used with the least interest. Gen 2: Cyndaquil easily, but Totodile comes in a close second, Chikorita is the distant third. Gen 3: I think my first was Torchic, but Mudkip is sweet too. Treecko comes in a distant third, but I prefer its evolutions over Mudkip's I think. Gen 4: Chimchar, with Piplup used the second most. Turtwig came in third, but from what I've played, Gen 4 has the best final evolutions overall, Torterra is a fine match for Empoleon and Infernape. Gen 5: My one run was Tepig. I predict that if I did a second it'd be Oshawott. A clear anti-Grass starter bias rises from me.

Nope. Itsuki can die without leading to a game over. They even removed this requirement in SMTIV, a sign of how dated it sort of is. Although in SMT it sort of makes sense, because the demons have no inherent loyalty to you or your cause. Once you're in a state that you can no longer exert authority over them, they'll just abandon you, and if you have say an Oni, well I hope you like being smothered in ketchup! I am in total agreement that Itsuki should have been able to be swapped out of the main cast when you have a mere three characters out at any time, that is 1/3 of your team stuck as always being Itsuki when everyone else is interesting too. It'd be one of the first things I'd change in a port. I'd like a lot of new things/changes in one.

Everyone jokes (terribly unfunny now might I add) when Arvis holds a fatal barbecue. But when Micaiah wants to give Sanaki a back rub with lots of oil, it's always taken seriously? What gives?! Flora also is treated lightly when she makes herself all warm on the inside, and Robin is largely criticized for hosting the hottest yacht party ever.

Let's not get into this baleful discussion on the Heroes board- it's too relaxing for it. I think I recall your points on this before, and I don't think either of us are going to change on this front (which is precisely the kind of argument I try to avoid getting into on the Internet since it's a waste of human existence). I'll concede that some intel work on what Ashy was doing in Crimea would have been nice (but do recall this isn't the modern day- assume their intel collecting abilities are far more limited), yet I won't take this any further. 'K? Interesting you were able to work that out. Looking forward to any creative reworking of old weapon effects the developers may try, and whatever brand new Heroes exclusive effects they do. Just give us this: @Rezzy Don't remind me how much we need Nailah, and Rafiel since I refuse to separate the two. And by indirect implication Volug, because we need the silent type in this game (I would love to see his quips!), and more abs.

Well Sephiran also qualifies for the Gharnef Archetype in the sense he is a villain, he manipulates, and he uses magic. Though he seriously messes with the archetype in breaking with the mwahaha, the ugliness, the darkness, the lack of subtlety, and the tragedy unfelt in the background (we actually feel it here). Of course you could place him like Lyon out of the archetype entirely. Caellach, Carlyle is the lovesick traitor to Ismaire who is annoying to fight since Wind Sword + throne avoid on a Swordmaster is a slow murder if you don't like being criticaled. I actually don't like them pulling the Cursed Lance thing. Valter is best not pitied in the least. I'd rather him just be a natural born serial killer with no magical artifact that drives him over the edge. Of which we know nothing. It appears in a boss conversation once and nothing more. Call him a foil to Duessel all you want, Duessel might have depth, but I could rip a thicker piece of foil off some leftover fried chicken in the fridge than Riev. Shall I mention how he says he had a grand plan for Rausten's Sacred Stone? Of which we see nothing save a generic easy attack in the night? I will play the Demon King's advocate here. Neimi is... well I wanna cry! Tana is typical for a perky pega princess. Eirika- typical. Ephraim- Hector with a perfection streak. Ewan is just a shota mage. Gilliam and Moulder are so very dull. Lute knows everything, including how one note she is. Joshua- way too much gambling! If FE8 ever gets a remake, I need him to be in the actual plot. Since him being real princey and developed isn't really well treated in his supports, and his Eirika route boss convo with Caellach and Ismaire conversation aren't enough. I won't attack everyone even in persona as Formortiis's vessel, since there is good in the roster I must concede. I like Gerik in particular, and Cormag is solid. But perfection it is not. Admittedly some characters are ones where you might like them or might not- Lute and Tana for instance. And then someone like Vanessa is so very ordinary which isn't bad nor good in itself. Forde and Kyle have been done before (albeit Forde is the probably the best carefree Cavalier). Honestly, every cast since FE7 is arguably weak or arguably strong, save for the DS remakes for obvious reasons and most of RD's new additions to PoR's cast.

And even when Mamori showed up, I probably used her the least, or less than everyone but Tsubasa (earlygame you use her, but three weaknesses, poor Str, and Kiria also getting Zan and Touma on Lance, hinders her later on). She is slow and has small issues Sessioning with her Axe skills because only Itsuki gets a Axe-El/Ex Session Skill. Axe coverage is useful on Cavs, but Wyverns and Pegs are inherently always weak to Force and Bow elements, her Ice coverage is her primary use. I rarely used her SP skills for healing because although they're very useful, I generally conserved my SP too much. Taunt and that covering allies skill were also a bit to luck based for me to rely on. On the boss front, Mamori is gimped by Itsuki always being in the main party and thus bosses rarely using Lances. Instead for Chapter 4, we have a boss who sometimes uses Fire, accompanied by a powerful foe who always uses Sword. Then the next boss heavy uses Sword and has three allies to Session off of so Mamori is dead if she isn't always defending. The final boss then uses Fire and sometimes a Sword attack, and it even has the ability to Session off itself. I found myself much more reliant on Yashiro's Counter for defensive purposes, and isn't he mandatory for his 3rd Sidequest and Chapter 5 boss battles? For standard battles, I tried most often to lead with Yashiro and Eleanora, since they're both fast and I can always swap them out if I need someone else. If I can strike heavily before the foes do, I'll take much less damage and don't need Mamori's heals or tanking. Savages when i decided to fight them relied on me waiting for a non-Itsuki character to get the mercy first turn, and then swapping in Kiria for a Pastel Power to cripple them.

It's PoR Ike. Who never committed the crime of stealing Micaiah's spotlight. Unless Micaiah was secretly in PoR all along. And genetically speaking, combining the strongest warrior in all of Tellius with the Heron Branded of Goddess channeling powers, should result in the true second coming of Altina, nay even better, the perfect heir to her and Lehran. Micaiah endorses this you know! What do you think she meant when she called Ike "the father of Sothe's children"?

I ran into some nasty situations with the Chapter 2 boss, who you just don't have enough flexibility for at the time. The Chapter 4 boss is also very strong once it gets down to 1/2 to 1/3 of its remaining HP and enters the all out Ma-dyne mode. If you can survive its initial assault when it switches over (and luck out against the other baddie) and get some Magic Mirrors up, you'll win, but surviving the transition isn't assured. The Chapter 5 boss was a giant headache for me, although I didn't realize killing the clones would reduce the main one's HP and curtail their number of actions.

Unless they're cruel and send her Mage Knight (which is totally out of character), to add insult to injury, they deny her Sacred Excalibur and instead give her some crappy tome.

I think QTEs, which is basically what you're saying, work for the Mario RPGs, since the core of the Mario franchise is Platformers. The use of Action Commands can be seen as an effort to retain reflexive elements and liveliness derived from platforming. FE is already a set of dice rolls in part, adding more variability, but variability a player can control, would be workable, if perhaps too much variability for some (and QTEs in video games sometimes attract controversy for being unnecessary). If there were reduce incoming damage commands, I can't see a number of players on Classic relying on them, since a permadeath because your reflexes were a little off would be a thought they don't want to see real. Enemy and player stats would partly have to be made with QTEs in mind, since if you make it like the player fails everything/not thinking about the QTE factor at all, everything will be a little bit too easy. If you emphasize a perfect record of QTE performance, that might make things too harsh. Starting with a fair 100% fail base value and then adding as much HP/whatever other stat would be affected based on the effects of 50% QTE performance would be tricky to calculate (player stats being variable with growth rates and people using different characters under different circumstances), but perhaps the best answer.

Pretty much. Since if you give enemies access to two weapon types, they potentially have more WTA over you, which in a game where WTC matters, is important. Plus, if Knights have Axes + Lances, well if one is presently equipped with an Axe, the Mercenary/Myrmidon, the traditional enemy Knights perfectly counter, would have the advantage. While Fighters, the supposed perfect physical counter to traditional Lance using Knights, lose a little of their usefulness. But besides what I said before, IS could do plenty of things to balance this. Such as making Fighters not so-so units.

I'd rather they go back to mono-weapon on the Cavs like RD and partially Jugdral (Cavs mixed with monotypes). Therefore removing that advantage (which historically has made Cavs good in the axe-heavy earlygame and solid come the lance-heavier mid and late games), would make them closer to Knights. Although adding a second weapon type to Knights wouldn't be a bad idea alongside the reduction of Cavs to 1 weapon type. I wouldn't give Generals Bows though, the idea of someone in so heavy and restrictive armor using one is a little strange. But I'd be perfectly fine with bringing back Crossbows and letting them use them (1-2 Range would be perfect for these enemy phase tanks). Full Sword-Lance-Axe would be perfectly reasonable. As for complaints about enemy Knights being able to use two weapon types as too strong, this isn't the same as giving Archers 2-3 range. Programming enemy archers not to shoot from 3 range would be odd from a player perspective. Furthermore, the developers wouldn't always have to give both weapons to a Knight. They don't always give GBA Cavs both a Lance and a Sword, the developers could just decide when making the maps the ratio and locations of Lance to Axe to Axe & Lance Knights.

PoR's shortage of Supports (not as bad as SoV, but still a problem) is to blame. To compensate in the gameplay bonuses department, IS invented Bond Supports to get close individuals out of the way- but from a characterization perspective, this hurt. Maybe not so badly IkexMist or the Three Brothers (MORE! is always better though), but CalillxLargo and ElinciaxLucia and MuarimxTormod were to name some. Agreed. PoR and RD have a very basic system. SD and NM made it a little cooler (and more broken thanks to effective forges) thanks to being able to forge almost anything. Awakening culled the extremes of the DS version. Fates added a slight tedium to the system via resources and needing to expend extra weapon copies (which effectively kills effective forges since two Beast Killers is better than one on CQ). SoV, well the system is blind in showing you what you get from forging, but otherwise the best so far. Unless you count Heroes possibly. Forging is a frill to FE I'd say. A little ironic given the discussion that has been had on how the Micaiah and Sothe relationship isn't openly romantic enough in spite of all that time together. Too many brother-sister/mother-child vibes and not enough sexual partner ones for a number of fans.

Ike not getting involved in a continental war would be really weird, given his occupation is mercenary. Not to mention of course his personal connections to the elite in numerous countries. There is no denying though that the Part 2 introduction was a spotlight steal. But at the same time, it'd be anticlimatic if the GMs save of Lucia was low key, and that'd be in direct opposition to the moment that preceded it- Elincia letting Lucia die. Not good for ending a storyline to do it on a low note. And for anyone who played PoR first and wasn't asking for the GMs to impaled on poles Wallachian style (the pastime of the historical man who became immortalized as the vampire Dracula), it must be kinda happy nostalgic. As a silver haired lining for Part 3, try looking at it as, until Chapter 11 (when Ike gets elevated by Sanaki) let's say, as not really being about Ike himself. Ike shows up, he talks, he's playable, but he isn't the main actor in Part 3 within the Laguz Alliance. He didn't make the call for war with Begnion, he doesn't command the army, he just follows orders and offers his resources. Skrimir, Tibarn, Ranulf, they're just are as much if not more drivers of the plot than he is. And Skrimir, a totally new character to RD who never appeared in PoR, gets solid character development that continues to be manifested in Part 4. Tibarn and Ranulf admittedly suffer from Ike's issue of not undergoing development (at least Ranulf is pretty likable to me).

Started with PoR back when it was first released and then moved on to RD upon its release. Neither lord am I big on. I don't think I ever was a major Ike fan, even in PoR; nor did I playing RD the first time notice the issue of Micaiah getting sidelined. I'll praise their good characteristics and ignore the rest. Never hated Ike for his reappearance in RD and I consider it to have been unavoidable that he would have shown up once more, though I see grounds for disikeing it.

You could make the case for Earth possibly. Not a strong one, but cold barren earth sounds sufficiently chilly. The Personage of Permafrost, the Terror of the Tundra could very well exist. I say this partly influenced from Arc Rise Fantasia, which made Ice magic a secondary element, obtained from having Water and Earth on a character. (Wind + Water = Thunder, Fire + Earth = Dark, and Fire + Wind = Light in the same game.) Also, according to Shin Megami Tensei's compendium entries, however reliable they are, the Aristotelian elemental system defines: Water as Cold + Moist, Fire as Warm + Dry, Air as Warm + Moist, and Earth as Cold + Dry. So Water and Earth aren't total opposites. And in Golden Sun, which I know you might have some familiarity with due to your prior Sheba avatar, Venus/Earth is neutral to Mercury/Water & Ice (and I'm guessing influence from GS made you say this, because Mercury and Jupiter/Wind & Lightning have a positive affinity for one another- brought up owing to the Jupiter and Mercury Lighthouses being lit before Mars causing Prox to suffer from extreme cold).

Mario... timeline? Bwahahahahahahahaha! Really now? People are trying to make a timeline for a series defined by fish-plant hybrids living in comically large green pipes that send you places? And I thought it twas absurd enough to give Zelda a timeline. What next? A Kirby timeline- oh wait- I already heard people have tried to do this. Which reminds me, I must feed Kirby my trusty pet from a very... Chrono-logical world right now. If KIrby copies it, Kirby shall gain the power to consume timespace itself, and with Kirby's unlimited appetite gone shall be this pesky notion of timelines where they don't have to be! Also, Jumpman is one word I believe.

Forgot that line until you brought it up. But yeah that line can only be interpreted one way really. Relationships can evolve too, but maybe overall the evolution wasn't made clear enough? Though at the same time, it is nice not to have it shoved in your face all the time. I'll agree on Pelleas stepping down as not necessarily a bad thing, it might be selfish in the sense that he is abandoning duty, but selfless in realizing he isn't the most suited for the task. If by an act of nepotism or manipulation you became the leading surgeon at a hospital, and yet you were squeamish at the sight of blood, and after trying some realized you'd never overcome that fear completely, it'd be for the best of the hospital to step down. As for Micaiah, what can be said? You can label me as overly moderate and overly willing to back and criticize both sides, and hence its a bit hard to get a feel where I stand, not even I know exactly. So, having said Micaiah being Queen of Daein would be somewhat out of character, at the same time being selfless is very much in her character. Her self-interest would tell her not to become General of Daein, since that is a public position and as a Branded, if that truth was revealed from being in the limelight, she'd be branded a dead woman. But she does it because she loves Daein more than she loves herself. Taking on the role of Queen would be just another step like this. And who is to say as Queen she wouldn't do a bunch of public visits to slums and the common folk and listen to their grievances and whatnot? She might have royal duties to attend to, but by the same virtue, she'd have the power to do whatever she wants.

That reminds me that I once heard, dunno how true it is, but they were playing Thracia 776 and they had their thief steal the bow off an enemy Sniper. There was an armory nearby and the Sniper went there on the enemy phase and bought a new Silver Bow. The player then stole that bow and the Sniper bought yet another Silver Bow. The player was able to continue this for quite some time.

Now when Awakening gets brought up, the term "Arc" as in a cohesive part of a story is often brought up, and the main story is divisible in Plegia/Gangrel, Valm/Walhart, and Grimleal/Grima Arcs. But Awakening isn't the only game with arcs, all FEs do. RD is obvious here, divided into four Parts with each being its own arc. You could possibly even divide RD's 1st and 3rd Parts into two arcs each- the pre- and post- joining with the Daein Liberation Army, and Part 3 into pre-Chapter 10 and post Chapter 10. Sacred Stones is also readily divisible- Eirika pre-route split, the route split, and then the twins reunited. I could name others. So what single chunk of any FE game is your favorite? Not a single chapter, not the whole game, just a section. I'm focusing on story here, but you can bring up gameplay too.

I did go back and count the number of specified instances of her use of clairvoyance for battle, which are admittedly fairly few in two out of three parts she appears in, strengthening your hand. Nor did I quite denounce her abilities as a a tactician. She makes 1-8 work out very well to name another instance. Although 1-8 is her only commanding a small group, which is different from an entire army, which the latter being something she would likely need help with. Ike is the exact same way, he can manage his handful of mercenaries, although he never needs to think of strategy, not so much out of brainlessness as having always had Soren by his side. When Ike gets a full army, he does need Soren more than ever on the tactics front and him plus Titania on the minutiae of logistics and managing units and whatnot. Ike learns some on the job in PoR displaying competency in this regard, and Micaiah must obviously do the same in RD. I messed up with my original comment that started this back and forth, probably overemphasizing the miraculous power-heavy Chapter 6. Which is but one fight in RD, and even before I emphasized that, I knew in my mind she is powerless in Part 3 and thus everything there was accomplished on her own merit, with a debatable measure of other things like chance thrown in there. Mostly for the sake of making the named heroes look really exceptional. Why the whole point to 3-7 was to free Daein veterans in POW camps. Now to us, we know said veterans are useless compared to a big-boned girl in armor, but that is us as the player knowing this is a game. For Micaiah a character who doesn't know this, she might think she actually needs the help of Lieutenant General Sufolus and Scout Captain Petroni, to invent some names for these cannon fodder. This is not to say Sufolus and Petroni are the men responsible for 3-6, nor is Tauroneo. Micaiah as the leader exercised the greatest power over how things went probably and thus she deserves the most credit for the successful battle. But isn't part of FE's theme "Victory isn't something one person accomplishes- everyone contributes in their own little way? ".

That was worded very poorly on my part. The "there is a reason" didn't actually have to do with the aging issue. What I was more referring to was the brother-sister like relationship. As for them as a couple- they're quite open about their close relationship. None of the typical anime hero- stoicism or obliviousness- or embarrassment on either's side about the relationship exists. Heck Sothe is definable in RD as Micaiah's shadow and almost nothing more. Sothe might be jealous of the closeness of others to Micaiah, but why does it have to be lovers' jealousy? Perhaps we just place different emphases on different lines and events. I for instance place a high value on the 4-Final-3 Base Conversation and accompanying CG: I also like to keep in mind the Muarim-Tormod comparison brought up in PoR and subtly referenced in RD with the Micaiah-Muarim chat. I think the problem with Soren taking over Daein is it'd be just as out of character for him. Soren is a brilliant mind, but he lacks any charisma or personal charm. Daein could bear an ice cold but brutally efficient ruler- they put up old Ashy. But still, would Soren actually want to be a king? Maybe a minister or some other bureaucrat, but he seems too introverted for kingship. He has no personal tie to Daein (or anything but Ike), Ashnard and Almedha were never in his life, I can see him just turning it down. Really, the Daein throne has few good options at the end of RD. Micaiah is obviously the best being talented and extremely popular, but she might not love the position. Soren wouldn't want it, Pelleas realizes he's better a professor at Nevassa University than a monarch, and the traditional Daein royal family is next to dead if not completely dead if Soren opts not for the throne. Tauroneo is the sole surviving Four Rider of fame, but as I said before he'd lack a ready heir even with a son alive and is past the point of having kids anymore. Or Ike could take it as the son of the fabled Gawain, but we know he'd run into popularity issues, and isn't a fan of monarchy and nobility and all their customs on his end. Soren as his advisor could manage the kingdom, but he'd do nothing for the low favorability ratings. Well the two don't really have any true animosity towards each other. They just so happen to be fighting on opposite sides and remain loyal to their causes. Micaiah initially dislikes Ike because of what he did to Daein (or more accurately what happened indirectly as a result of Ike's actions), but the very little time (thanks stupid Chaos Goddess pretending to be a bird!) they talk together in Part 4 is amicable enough.

Well how did the lolis do? Maybe it is just a pro-loli anti-shota bias? I can't really say anything about Percy (other than he's one of the best kids in gameplay), but I really liked Tormod, PoR Sothe, Kurthnaga, Nils (Ninian is too cliched for my tastes, Nils is a little more his own character and benefits from it), Ewan and Ross are okay, Franz too if he counts. And although I find his Rhys support a little too juvenile, Rolf is generally considered the kid who addresses the issue of kids fighting in war the best/most seriously and I find him very likable for that. I don't like Ricken very much though (well Ricken is good with Henry, that I concede). Frederick could smell that it wasn't his Chrom, rather the Chrom from a different Outrealm. Hence he was obligated to pulverize him. Fredericks are very competitive with each other over who cares for their Chrom the best. And to gain an edge over the others, they sometimes resort to brutalizing their rivals' lieges. Once I found a Frederick gnawing on a Chrom's fingers and tearing the ligaments and tendons apart like a chicken wing while pouring hot tar over their groin. The world isn't pretty out there let me tell you.

Watched part of the run, including that Sand Bird segment. What kind of trickery is that Rocket Nozzle super launch? Or more importantly, that body slam with more air under it than a 747? Also, fun to watch how the Spin Jump got used so much, when for me it was a frilly unnecessary technique. Really, this shows that for all my years of gaming, I am only average or mediocre.