Interdimensional Observer

So Digital Devil Saga much? Mmm... that game made me hungry. *Licks lips* Pardon my appetite. Now how much SP must I spend and heroes I consume to get Nul Attack/Mantle on Serph M!Corrin? Need I spend hours farming Titanias again? Also, if Ilyana becomes playable- think she'll have mega inheritance with her devouring powers?

I don't believe an actual reason is given why Sanaki can't use the Holy Guard instead- even though it seems to be under her direct control with little oversight by the Senate. Perhaps she could hide her actions better this way- the Senate would be suspicious of the Holy Guard doing things and demand an answer, even if they can't block such actions. Whereas Sanaki can just excuse whatever she's having Ike do as "I'm just testing Princess Crimea's escort to see if she's worthy of Our aid" and then not given an exact answer as to what exactly she's having Ike do under grounds of confidential diplomacy. A mercenary group from within Begnion wouldn't have worked- as the Senate could ask what the Apostle was doing consorting with lowly mercenaries. We do have to ask ourselves when Sanaki first conceived of this plan though. Was it established by the time she taunts Elincia? Given the GMs saved her life, it's possible that Sanaki already had her plan in mind by the time of Ike's outburst, given a few days to travel from the coast to Sienne and then a little time waiting for the formal reception of Elincia. In which case, Ike, while still possibly in danger of losing his life had he acted like a complete beast, may have in hindsight had little to fear from his outburst in the first place. This has me thinking- how was Sanaki inculcated with such guilt towards the Massacre? She's only a child. Does her youth and innocence play a role? Perhaps Sephiran bred it into her?

Couldn't they just cast Hong Xiuquan as a Zhang Jiao? Make him comically crazy. The Christian influences do pose something of a problem to be sure- but Xiuquan's bastardization is removed enough that they could possibly make it work. I did read the history-like-literature classic God's Chinese Son, and it's pretty clear that Xiuquan was leaned more towards a cultist than a devout Christian fundamentalist. Though I do concede it would still be a sensitive issue. And by Manchu Conquests- I'm guess that means Qing's conquest of China, and subsequent expansion into Inner Eurasia? The former sounds fun (with a side battle between Zheng Chenggong and the Dutch for Taiwan). As for the fights against the nomads- chasing after Galdan Teseren again and again would be way too annoying.

Pelleas. Fenrir and staff use should give him some utility.

As an SMT fan, I'll be sure to follow this.

RD is hard to construct a tier list for due to its Part structure constantly forcing you to switch between totally different teams. This said, Haar generally ranks as No. 1 with wickedly good Part 2 and Part 3 performances, only tapering off in Part 4 Final. Titania is a much nerfed Haar for P3 alone. Ike generally ranks behind Titania. Sothe is clutch for Part 1 given he starts strong while the rest of the DB starts fairly weak. He is only satisfactory in P3, and becomes a liability in Part 4 Final, but does have near guaranteed treasure getting in 4-3 going for him.

Slique's Dread Fighters bailed me out on my first run SoV run. Better strategy plus Warp+Rescue (Faye went Peg on my first run) made them unnecessary for my second and current run though. I also sought to save as many of Zeke's NPCs in SoV- all the Pallies died, but at least all the Bow Knights made it. And thank you RD for tossing Physic healers in the Crimea chapters.

Well a one-sided love at least, shakes things up and makes it a little funny.

Well Ninian is an Ice Dragon- somebody's gotta make sure it's a white Christmas! In Japan Christmas seems to have a romance aspect- so Tharja and M!Robin would be the lovers. This leaves the question of who'd be the fourth and what role they'd play if any in this little Christmas setup.

Now who deserves swimsuits the most? Or who'd pull them off the best? Hawkeye is already shirtless, but a swimsuit could accent his rugged, tanned desert-shaped body. His daughter Igrene would be fine too- a mature female with her dusky complexion would work nicely. And on the continued topic of skin tone- Boey would be a mage who wouldn't look kiddy or nerdy in a swimsuit, and Gray would obviously look good too. RD with some conservative fashion designs could give us Mist (one-piece for her), Rolf and Tormod for kids at the beach given they're a tad older looking, but still childlike to an extent. Sain or Gatrie or Saul or some other womanizer needs a speedo. L'Arachel, Maribelle, and Serra get conservative, but in some way utterly outlandish outfits. Sumia gets a swimsuit plagued by quality issues that she must work around, same for Setsuna. Mozu, Nephenee, or Florina could give us timid girl at the beach- and in Neph's case, she'd be wearing a design Calill forced on her. Mia and Hinata would make for perky/wild youths ready to swim from Archanea to Valentia and back and then party! Which reminds me, Calill would make for a good adult woman in a swimsuit- given her slightly flirtatious nature- though Orochi could work. Nailah too. Or Brigid, who could get a pirate motif. Izana would make the most sense in a swimsuit of the feminine males- followed by Libra and Lucius- can't see the Herons in swimwear. On the Laguz as a whole- the dragons don't have single living member who is very pretty- so I'd rule them out. Tibarn oozes masculinity and already has a pirate-like design, he'd be fine in a swimsuit. I'd rather have Vika over Naesala though for variety's sake. Lethe can sate the catgirl lovers, while Skrimir and Volug appeal to straight ladies. Ranulf gets a thong for Kyza and other gay males. And oh yeah, Heather gets in if she really appeals to lesbians. Now for those who enjoy riding their horse along the beach and taking in the tranquility, Camus/Zeke/Sirius would be the first choice for a male in a swimsuit on horseback. Followed by Xander, with Sigurd coming in third. On the ladies side of this equation, Sigrun, Shanna (or Caeda), and Mathilda.

Milla from Freedom Planet

Delicate and a bit gloomy, much like Ninian herself. Highlights how special she is. Unfortunately, GBA sound quality works against it. I'd throw it a 6/10- it does its job. The E3 beta version of the Fire Emblem Theme for Radiant Dawn- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IFlncXEvBM

That's Tiki's weapon right? So she becomes so envious of the endowments of every other female out there that she maniacally runs around mutilating their chests? What is wrong with you IS?

I was wondering if Japan threw an FE into it. And so they did. Have no idea about the soccer game, but Goemon is/was popular in Japan, and Panel de Pon it'd make sense they'd drop it from an international version. And Kirby's Dream Course as one of the replacements (I'm guessing for Panel de Pon)? Kinda weak- not that KDL3 is that good, but better than a golf spinoff? Quite possibly. Super Castlevania IV was likely chosen to replace Mystical Ninja- given they're both platformers. Super Punch Out probably replaces the soccer game- both are sports, and that means Mystery of the Emblem, an SRPG, was replaced by a pure RPG in Earthbound. And why would Japan get Super Street Fighter II over the Turbo edition? Isn't Turbo better? (What is the premiere pre-modern edition of SSFII by the way?)

I had posted this in a different topic, but just in case nobody noticed, I'm reposting it here. It's a little of a lot. It includes a look into his development mindset and a vague hint of what he wants to do with XBC2. Also: VR games, the Japanese industry, and his personal VG tastes. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/a-peek-inside-the-mind-of-xenoblade-devs-legendary/1100-6451138/?utm_source=gamefaqs&utm_medium=partner&utm_content=news_module&utm_campaign=homepage

Normal difficulty I guess? As for a Celica solo- I might try that. The ugly terrain would be a chore, but between a shield for Defense, her decent Res, all the Lion Heads, and the Mage Ring for countering Mire Arcanists, she has durability enough. Plenty of offense too via her magic selection and any sword she wants.

The sunset makes this battle look so memorable in 3D- more than it actually is. And the castle's design combined with the dusky setting makes me want an FE with Medieval/Abbasid Middle East aesthetics.

Wow. Nintendo did something nobody expected- release a game that landed on the cutting room floor decades ago and which few actually knew or cared about. Also, I hope that they consider VCing it when the SNES Classic dies down/is prematurely taken off the market. Secret of Mana is nice too. I got the game on iOS b/c it wasn't on the Wii U eShop- the controls are being more of a pain than I hoped for. Unfortunately, they didn't give us everything we could ask for- just like with the NES Classic: no DKC/MMX 2 or 3, KDL3 or FFII. Nor Pilotwings which Ninty liked advertising in SSB4. But what we do have is still excellent and worth buying.

Leon does his job- the defensive stats generally don't matter thanks to Archer/Sniper range. Skill and Strength matter the most, with Speed being remedied via the Killer Bow or Longbow (Encloser looks great- why doesn't anyone talk about it?). You get an Iron and Steel Bow on Celica's route pretty early (plus a Silver later). So even if you make Atlas an Archer, Leon and him still don't have to fight over weapons (unless you want to put your forging funds elsewhere). Luthier is plain sad. On Hard he couldn't double the Knights with Excalibur during Berkut 2 with his base Speed- Knights! That Skill growth, though incredible, is for all intents and purposes worthless- it's a mere 1 point of critical every 3 levelups on average. His Speed base is really bad despite a usable growth, and he doesn't have mega Atk to compensate. His durability isn't amazing either. And the only useful spells he gets are Sagittae and Excalibur- no Aura, nor Seraphim, Ragnarok, or any useful White Magic either. Even if you didn't make any of the Villagers a Mage, Luthier is pretty useless, particularly since his little sister Delthea outdoes him pretty quickly save for her lack of 1-3 spells. I guess he can be salvaged with the Speed Ring though- yet that alone is his saving grace- take it away and he's nearly useless.

We already had Caulder on a smaller scale with Izuka. That said I wouldn't mind actually having him show up with his nasty CO Zone- 50% HP regen and Str/Mag and Def/Res bonuses for him and all enemy units in his range? Yes please! Maybe IS can go a little crazy next time and set an FE DLC in the Dark Conflict/Days of Ruin world- just a brief appearance, with maybe a few unique enemies appearing, but no actual interactions with COs. Make the music remixes from DoR (the no CO battle theme called Days of Ruin in particular).

Why didn't she get a Spotpass Paralogue!?! If pretty much everyone else does- why not her? May we call her death Revelation-esque? Having her triangle attack with Cordelia and Sumia would have been nice.

Pelleas is a pathetic character, I wouldn't say tragic. Back when I read Catch 22 in high school, the teacher made a distinction between pathetic and tragic- that being tragedy happens to those who fall from a great height- a height of ability or character- while the average or mediocre when they fall suffer a pathetic fall. Pelleas is an ordinary bookish scholar with some obvious ability has his Spirit Contract shows, but he has zero talent as a leader. Even as a pathetic character (who does try to the best of his limited talents), I like Pelleas. He isn't perfect at all and ultimately turns out to have been a puppet ruler- he's something I don't think we see much of in FE. You're not supposed to like him as a monarch, but he isn't evil either, he's fairly unique. I sometimes self-deprecate by comparing myself to him. Ike-bashing on SF isn't so uncommon as to call disliking him an unpopular opinion. Though I don't think there is a lord above being criticized- some are harpooned more than others (Corrin, Alm and Celica presently, Ike has had a resurgence of dislike, Chrom), but there is no truly sacred one among them. As for my own unpopular opinions, I don't know if I have any. My FE opinions tend to be rather weak, and open to seeing contrary viewpoints.

Leon. This is "The Man Whom Dagdar Loved" after all. How about Bastian?

For me it's less the reasoning behind why he killed Greil (he didn't want to kill him, but he didn't realize Greil wasn't at full power anymore and didn't hold back to compensate- the death was an accident) that is bothersome, though it is a problem for sure. My bigger issue is with his insecurity of "I don't want to be alone". Is is possible to be badass with a tragic backstory? Yes, and the reason behind the loneliness explains Ranulf's observations that the BK moves too fast for wearing heavy armor. But the way it was presented was less than ideal. Everything was going well for the BK in PoR and RD up to the reveal of his true identity and the revelations of the Tower. Though the reveal was logically placed (IS used logic for once- yay!), they could have had Ranulf call Ike over just before the start of Part 4 so he can tell him about the BK's true identity, but cut it right there so the player doesn't know. Thus maintaining logic in the characters' actions, and at the same time allowing for the element of dramatic surprise for the player later on.

Why no Kent alongside Lowen and Sain?