Eltosian Kadath

It isn't. You yourself brought up the quote where the developers said Berkut is what Alm would have been if he was raised in Rigel, and Berkut is not a good leader. If Alm's royal blood is what makes him a good leader, than Berkut would be a good leader too. Its more than just his lineage that lets him wield the royal sword, unlike Fates his swords don't magically fly into his hand, Alm has to earn it through his actions. He repeatedly rejects the idea of him becoming king. He willfully refuses to even learn the secret of his birth. He literally kills every other member of his lineage he meets. How much more fighting against his royal lineage does he need to do before you are satisfied? Alm is very explicit about not believing he is destined, even when he finally hears about the prophecy. While Celica's actions are guided by her belief in her destiny, Alm's are not. You could even interpret Alm pushing his destined partner Celica away in their argument when she confronts him with the idea of him becoming king as another moment where he defies his destiny. Outside of Alm trying to actively destroy the world, how else would he defy it? Clive almost betraying him after discovering his secret origin, Nuibaba trying to entrap him with magic thanks to his destiny, Rudolph setting up his elaborate plan to manipulate Alm to his misery, Berkut willingly embracing Duma's power because of Alm's lineage, Jedah trying to get Celica to feed Alm to Duma because of his brand. If none of these challenges hinder him, what would something that hinders him look like?

Serenes Forest's Hint's and Secret's page for Genealogy of the Holy War (https://serenesforest.net/genealogy-of-the-holy-war/miscellaneous/hints-and-secrets/) talks about the Valkyrie Staff glitch a little in their entry about getting the Balmung onto Holyblood versions of Ayra's kids

I didn't mean to imply he had it from the beginning. Repeatedly he rejects the throne, lacking in that ideal until he accepts that he needs Celica's wisdom as well as his strength to rule. To quote myself from earlier I don't see the soul eating as Celica's ultimate failure, but her success. It isn't as one sided as it seems, although the later acts end up calling upon a lot of very old western themes (in this case very christian themes), which when filtered through a foreign lens lead to some strange feelings. Alm does wrong repeatedly. In that early argument on the roof with Celica, the game makes a point of having Alm chiding himself for not asking questions he should have about their shared past, that would have led to him discovering the truth about Celica, and let him avoid the touchy subject of her awful father that drove her to the point of tears. In multiple chapters he endangers prisoners with his hasty attacks (again the game points it out with special dialogue to emphasize that Alm's decisions are at fault if they die). When he kills his own father it is the result of his own willful ignorance; he is given all the evidence he needs to discover the truth, and the game even points out that Alm knows Clive has discovered some hidden truth about Alm, and yet he refuses to press him, to emphasize that fact that this blindness is willful. Alm may have a strength of both arms, and personality, but his lack of wisdom is shown repeatedly as a weakness of his. Sorry if this seems rushed, but I am feeling a bit too lazy to go find and copy one of the versions of this argument I made that includes numerous quotes (and a few more minor examples).

[citation needed] You might want to reread the ending, where either Jesse, or Kamui become king of the lands once held by Greith despite their common birth. Or if you are looking for an earlier instance there is Lieutenant Forsyth. Or even earlier with Mycen being elevated from commoner to general even before the game began...You keep including easily disproven factual errors in your arguments about SoV... So Alm's noble blood leaves him incapable of having the right ideals to lead? That only holds water if you are still under the mistaken belief that noble vs. commoner was the theme they were going for. Like the ending shows, both common and noble can be king.

Faye is a chip off the same block as...you know what, I don't even need to name them, the comparison is that obvious. Rinea is just an Emmeryn that love Berkut instead of peace. The only way Clair makes the men look better is by being captured, an old artifact of Gaiden's design not something new (unless your comment is about her having a romantic option, in which case, I hate to tell you that almost all of the Awakening and Fates characters have those as well...). The notion that Celica's sole purpose is to make men look better is as absurd as claiming Luncina's sole purpose is to to make Chrom and Robin look better with her incompetence. Point being, Echoes is following in the footsteps of Awakening and Fates with some of its misogyny, and gaiden with the rest. Clive is moments away from betraying him when he discovers the truth of Alm's bloodline (and Alm has to overcome that through his words), Berkut's murderous attack is entirely because of Alm's linage (which he is forced to overcome through violence), and Jedah forcing him to fight Witch Celica is because of his destiny (requiring him to overcome it with an act of faith). ...What do you think the nature vs. nurture debate is? This is either a mindboggling misunderstanding on your part, or as disingenuous as claiming all the lessons, and friends Naruto made while training are his birthright. This whole exchange about how even those as noble, and mighty as the emperor will have to plow the fields, despite their high birth happens after the very late game reveal of his royalty. This theme about the nature of one birth not defining them doesn't magically go away later into the game, you just don't remember the game well enough not to actively contradict it while arguing...

And both are a product of the times of the 3ds era. In the end its a mesh of old school FE misogyny, and new school FE misogyny.

Rhea's got some real mommy issues... ...sorry, everything about romancing Rhea is really gross, and I feel kinda gross for even joking about it.

You said yourself (in the statement I quoted before) that all those other routes add is context to the Edelgard of CF, and that such drastic and wide sweeping change is necessary to bring these traits out, as opposed to very minor changes, indicate that they are less important to the character as a whole, rather than the traits that lie just under the surface like Alms. Only if you blatantly misinterpret the clear theme of your origin doesn't matter as noble vs. commoner instead. Alm is the emperor that plows; those born as lowly villagers can show themselves worthy of knighthood; sharing the same blood doesn't make Berkut as noble as Alm; outcasts like Jesse or shepherds like Kamui can become kings through their actions; princes can trade their right to rule for civil servitude; even a legacy of magic can be rejected in favor of a simple life; to quote Mewtwo "the circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant… It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.” People act like the reveal that Alm does have noble blood is a reversal of this theme, but it isn't, its a judgement on us for not accepting it. If you truly understood the theme, that Alm having noble blood instead of peasant blood wouldn't matter to you. While distasteful, this is clearly more a product of gaiden's time, than a key theme. And yet Celica is proven right. Her trust in the gods is justified, and her self sacrifice necessary for Mother Mila to unseal the Falchion, and doom her brother to death. She even helps Alm understand her position by forcing upon him a moment of true faith, put in a position where his only choice to save her is in trusting in Mila that stabbing Celica will have good results, despite all evidence to the contrary. Martyrdom is a very old and powerful idea that the game doesn't believe is worthless, despite your opinion of it. This simply isn't true for the same reason that never wearing a seatbelt is still reckless, even during the car rides that don't result in an accident. The death of Mathilda/Delthea is a result of his recklessness if it happens, but even if it doesn't, it was still reckless.

The situation is very similar, as many of your assessments of how Alm's character is thematically inconsistent are built around the idea that differing events, like Mathilda or Delthea dying in their join chapter, shouldn't be considered a part of the story. The only way Edelgard is thematically consistent in CF is if you include differing events that simply don't occur in that route. In both cases its only when you look at all possible events in their entirety that the thematic consistency appears.

I meant mundane as a way to describe which part of world exploration was removed, its the normal everyday aspect of the game in which the exploration was remove, as opposed to the fantastical part of world exploration that occurs in Tartarus and the Full Moon events, which still occur in the game.

If you see someone organizing a draft that you want to join, simply responding to the post with your interest in time is usually sufficient to join the draft. Organizing one isn't that hard either, reading through the first pinned thread in this board should give you what you need to know, looking at a few draft threads for the game you are thinking of organizing to get a good sense of the rules people generally play with (and some pointers on how to organize the thread, and handle the drafting part) can help as well, and when you are ready create a thread for the draft. Its been a little quiet in the draft section for a while, but hopefully you can get enough interest for the draft you want to run.

If I remember correctly, there was a significant part of the development process where it was supposed to be taking place much earlier (similar time frame to Fallout 1 I think...).

I wonder if the crafting material costs might be a small part of it, with a part of your mind having to track it, or potentially having to back out of the repair menus to buy more (or god forbid actually having to grind a monster map for some more...) adding to that annoyance. Can't agree more that they should have gone with the different starting positions for this map.

You can do the Chidori revival event in P3P as well, and do note that the Shinjiro saving event only occurs in the Female MC option that P3P added, as it changed up quite a few of the social links (making Shinjiro the Moon for her if I remember correctly). Its minor, but P3P added a tiny bit to the ending where you can interact with allies that you don't get social links with. I think this is P3P only, but I am not entirely sure, but on New Game + you can spend the last scene in the game with someone you had a romantic maxed social link with (although the original version fits the story much better...) On the less secret side, a few things you should probably know about the difference between the versions. P3FES doesn't give you full control over your allies in combat (which can be very annoying, such that there is a common P3FES patch which adds this feature to the game), and P3P also changed how extra attacks work with multitarget spells to match P4's system. P3P also ended up gutting the fatigue system of the other versions, which while annoying early on, become kinda interesting after you get more than a full party's worth of allies. P3P also has a few clear limitations added to it from being on the PSP, like some cutscenes becoming talking head scenes, and removing the mundane world exploration with a system more reminiscent of Visual Novels. P3P added rescue quests, where normal people will become trapped in Tartarus until you save them, as well as some late game content with the Vision Quest hall, including an optional boss fight with Margaret. Some other minor changes in P3P include limited the MC to the weapon type that only they could use, instead of letting them wield any weapons they wanted; letting you level persona to get skill cards; added more possible events for Tartarus; removing the late night studying; and replacing the combo spells with item equivalents. And of course there is the big one of P3FES having The Answer, and P3P has the Female MC. Personally I slightly prefer P3P, but its really down to personal preference.

I am usually not one to share videos, but this one ends up kinda amazing. This whole series RubberRoss has been doing with real animators/artist doing Gartic Phone is great, but this one...

Its been a bit, but another update on my nuzlocke, Zelda the Dunsparce manage to sweep Pryce, I may regret giving her the only Gold Berry I am likely to get for this one, but she needed it if the Piloswine crit with blizzard...or at least that was the plan. Pryce started that fight by having Seel debuff her speed using Icy Wind, and I just went all out with Rage. She sweep through the Seel and Dewgong just fine, and I was lucky enough that the Aurora Beams they spammed didn't trigger the 10% attack drop, but the Dewgong crit with the last one. I wasn't entirely sure she could finish the Piloswine off if it spammed Blizzard, but I risked it anyway...and he utterly threw the match by using Fury attack, which super charges rage due to it being a multi-attack move. Gen 2 really is the best generation for Rage, as it is one of the worst moves in Gen 1 (arguably worse than splash, and the bugged Focus Energy), and ends up mediocre in Gen 3, with an extra nerf after Gen 4. Currently grinding up for the Jasmine Fight, so it may be a bit, as I have exhausted all trainers, and her Steelix jumps the Pryce level cap by 4... Also figure I would point out to all those interested that Toby Fox just setup a Steam page for Deltarune, and dropped a "Demo" that includes chapter 1, and a brand new chapter 2.

Lot of folks spreading the Trump message online aren't actually American. Doesn't keep them from parroting, propagating, or perpetuating those ideas.

Surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, but the United States of America is suing the state of Texas over its detection of Embryo Pacemaker signals bill (which they in error refer to as the Fetal Heartbeat bill, despite the fact that at that stage in development it is an embryo, and has yet to develop a heart...). As for the attempted recall of Newsom, I am not surprised at all by the results. I still remember the shitshow that was the last recall, and Newsom did nothing that would warrant a repeat of that. The debate really cemented this stance, as it made it clear that most of them were incompetent, and the tiny handful that didn't were rather outed as to their motives by the question asked of whether or not they would accept the election results. Whole thing convinced me to put Gavin Newsom as a write-in candidate for the second half... As for NinjaMonkey's posts, I rather appreciate their existence, as it shows a glimpse of the mentality, and ideals that Trump supporters hold. These kind of people are a part of America, and understanding the way they reject facts they don't like, redirect critics of their policy into attacks on the opposition (not to mention the uncomfortably large amount of these ideas that come from foreign elements) is a useful to observe in small doses like this.

we;lotosian kadatgh ...You get used to it after a few letters.

One of the classics to give the wrath manual to is Nanna (thanks to her Earth Sword), or a mage that can use Nosferatu, that way they can become a more enemy phase unit by healing the damage the deal with the auto-crits. As for the Paragon scroll, whoever you like best is the best person you give it to.

Did you try to fight the invisible boss, or did you have the common sense to explore first (and hopefully find the item that lets you see the invisible...)?

Well done!

I kinda agree with you, but in a more extreme sense. I don't think AI information, like whether a unit will move, or who they will attack, should be available to the player, even if it was accurate. To be fair, whether you can, or can't block reinforcements is one of those frustratingly obscure, and inconsistent features in the franchise. Its not even always consistent within the same game mode, for one example that comes immediately to mind, Lunatic Fates chapter 5 has unblockable reinforcements, but Lunatic Conquest chapter 26 reinforcements are blockable. Don't get me wrong, Birthright used the concept in a way that was far better telegraphed, but Three Houses was still cheating off of Birthright's homework when they did the same sort of idea again. Plus the chapter immediately after that looks just as ludicrous with only Leo and his retainers starting on the map, with a completely different gimmick in mind... Side note, I think the big problem with most of @Alastor15243's list of complaints there is less what they are, and more that they are so poorly telegraphed that blind play ends up treacherous.

Creative is a charitable way to describe it, most of these are things that happen in earlier game (or something similar to it), but just dialed up to 11 in Three Houses, and made worse by moronic design decisions. Very similar to Birthright chapter 17, where visiting villages, one of the time honored side objectives of the series, instead spawns enemies in the middle of your turn. A lot like how the "stealth" mechanics of Path of Radiance chapter 10 work, but any combat (not simply killing) triggers the reinforcements on any phase. Again, reinforcements are nothing new, Three Houses just dialed things up to 11. The only major difference between this, and earlier games is they tell you when units have "0 move". Kind of like how the Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn Laguz getting their stats changed when they transform on enemy phase, it is better telegraphed that they can do this in the Tellius games , although Path of Radiance's inconsistent stat boosts for transformation makes it still kinda suspect (plus the gains to move are extra mean...). Also there were times when a Boss switches who they are mid-chapter (although in earlier games its common for this to occur at times where its unlikely to impact the player, like Binding Blade chapter 12). Shadow Dragon not revealing the stat bonuses attached to dragon stones in any way seems kinda similar as well. Kinda like Ephraim being killed being added to the defeat conditions of Sacred Stones chapter 8 after turn 2, or keeping partner Tibarn alive in Radiant Dawn chapter 3-11 after you trigger his appearance by crossing an invisible line (and some of the crossbow enemies can one-shot him on this map). Radiant Dawn 3-E does lie about its victory conditions. It doesn't ambush you like THAT paralogue, but if you don't know the victory condition is lying to you, you will play differently, and might push further than you should...

It is optional, but if you do face it good luck. With the Eternal Sanctum Key you can open a locked door right near the beginning of the Dragon Sanctum that eventually leads to it. Be warned, taking down the gank squad solo is a pain, when I did it, it was the longest boss fight in the franchise for me, as it was all about taking advantage of the terrain to isolate them for a few moments to hurt one (hopefully to stab the archer a few times before he switches to the estoc, or fire a few poison arrows into the Havel, etc.) before running away to try and isolate them again. If you want help against the Co-op section, we could try using the Name-Engraving ring to setup you summoning me for co-op support. Hitting him causes your weapons to reduce durability significantly more than hitting anything else, and it was bad enough that I had to menu mid fight to switch weapons to keep from breaking mine before he died...