GuardianSing
-
Posts
77 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by GuardianSing
-
-
1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:
Incidentally,
It's officially over. TGA is all we have now, which means you can expect even worse PLEASE WRAP IT UP shenanigans going forward as TGA assumes E3's niche as the place to advertise upcoming productions.
I think I've only ever watched one E3 live way back in 2018. All othertimes since I just watched the trailers I cared about when stumbled upon.
Kind of a bizarre concept really, no other form of media does this. It's like theater at its most commercialized.
-
I did this yesterday but completely forgot to post about it.
I can't help but feel like I've made this joke already.
Gal pals.
Telliusian? Tellinese? Tellish?
That is adorable
And they were roommates.
Oh shit, I didn't expect he would actually move. Well, I guess I'll just have to reload the-
What the fuck
Except Oliver, the goddess clearly favors him.
Happy late Indigenous peoples month...
No please, I already sobbed my eyes out enough last game!
Honest to god, I would put this conversation between Ike and Rafiel as one of the greatest I've read in the series.
1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:Also, people and nation are not exactly the same thing, depending on one's definitions. The Nation can be an abstraction removed from the brutishness and idiocy of the masses. The Nation can also be more exclusionary, with *ahem* tragic results. Maybe I'd start with the Austrian Empire in Vic3 then, try to prove that Europe's big continental multi-ethnic state wasn't something in need of dissolution.Well aren't you a positivistYeah it's like...the spirit of the nation and the various different people within it even if you aren't literally playing as The People™
I realize by describing it that way it sounds more romanticized than it actually is but y'know. It's a game heavily focused on demographics, standards of living, material wealth, literacy, stuff like that and all the different peoples and interest groups within the empire is what shapes the politics.
Here are some screenshots of very interesting things I've seen happen in the game.
Spoiler
That time a majority of Europe just peaced the fuck out of Indonesia.
Shout to Feminist Chairman Christian Singleton who won the election 7 times in a row and lived to over 132 years of age
Prussia and Austria went to war against each other which caused a peasant revolt in Prussia and an Aristocratic revolt in Austria
Obviously I have a huge bias because Vicky 3 is my favorite and also like the only one I regularly play but still.2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:"Christian anarchism" I've heard is a thing. The famed writer Leo Tolstoy later in life became one.
Speaking of anarchism, this Italian town, called Carrara...
...the historic center I've learned of Italy's most famed marble quarries for the past 2000 years...
(Michelangelo personally befriended the workers here, to assure he'd get the best stone he could for his sculptures. The Roman Pantheon also uses Carrara marble.)
...happens coincidentally to be the center of modern Italian anarchism.
Reminds me of this event that I stumbled upon.
2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:Heard about this, of course.
My sympathies for the queer Russians out there. And also the queer Ukrainians for whom defeat in the ongoing war would be extra bad (and I recall reading Zelensky said amending the Ukrainian constitution to legalize s/s marriage or something, can't happen during wartime).
We should all try and spread the petition to anywhere possible, get everyone we know to learn about it and sign it. 50K is a lot and it has to get there within 9 days. It's the most we can do.
-
Recently the Russian supreme court has gone on another wave of criminalizing gay people within the country. The specifics of this ruling are...well unspecific and secretive which considering previous times this has happened, is very intentional. By declaring the LGBTQ community an "extremist organization" gay people, by virtue of existing, will face jailtime of up to 12 years.
A petition started by a queer non-profit organization in Germany is urging the German government to allow ease of asylum for gay people fleeing the country, particularly trans people as the Russian supreme court has put focus on them this time, some blaming them for the why they are losing the war in Ukraine.
https://epetitionen.bundestag.de/content/petitionen/_2023/_08/_22/Petition_156274.html
Here's the petition as well as English instructions on how to navigate it. I believe anyone regardless of nationality can sign it. It has 9K signatures and requires 50K within the next 9 days to be considered by the government.
14 minutes ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:It's one of the things i really love about FE, that they keep changing.
And i don't want every FE to be CQ or Engage either - I just want the gameplay to be in the same quality and to take priority, and not to sacrifice it for stories that always turn out to be mediocre at best.
Funny enough, i think RD came the closest to a balance, but so many big red signs bring it all down again. Still one of my fav. FE
Personally I think story and gameplay should kiss sloppy.
-
This goes hard.
-
5 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:
Difficulty options
But in that case it doesn't allow enjoyment for those who want a challenge while using everything. Why is that not a valid option to play as well?
I never said it wasn't. Believe me when I say I'm not trying to start some basic internet discourse with you where "I'm right and your wrong"
Your way is just as valid, but it is not the only way.
Difficultly options are a good way to go about it but only if the Devs can balance it correctly. I personally think Fates did an amazing job at separating the games, by having Conquest be the traditional hard one and Birthright and Rev being the sandbox fuck around and find out one.
5 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:I can say the same thing but replace easy with hard.
I did.
"And just in case it needs to be said, I don't think Conquest is a bad game at all but compared to other Fire Emblem games it's just not my thing. I don't disagree with it's gameplay philosophy, I just disagree that said philosophy is the end all be all of Fire Emblem."
I'm not here arguing that games like Conquest should never be made. In fact, they should always be around since many people love that kind of game philosophy. Even if I find it more tiring than difficult that doesn't mean it should be ignored going forward in the series and only my way should be the focus.
5 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:If the story focus comes at the expanse of gameplay, then it's hard to argue for favour of stories
No matter how good a story is, if the gameplay is boring the story can't save it. Many games with supposed good stories i dropped or put on hold thanks to *yawn* gameplay
If you have a view on gameplay as this singular isolated thing than sure, but for many it's not so simple. For thousands of Fire Emblem fans, using units you like or because you want to hear their story is the gameplay, that is why the game is fun. They aren't any more wrong for enjoying that in the games just as you aren't any more wrong for preferring gameplay at the purely technical level.
5 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:Hard disagree. If anything, the way FE stories are structured (not to mention how mediocre/bad all of them are), makes the gameplay pay for it 90% of the time. Map challenges are much better at creating atmosphere and narrative then whatever is written.
Let's take a look at 2 games on the opposite end of the spectrum:
Echoes - the game at the beginning keeps praising whatever Alm did, however gameplay wise he didn't do anything praiseworthy thanks to the gameplay being a snoozefest. If anything, the gameplay and narrative work against each other, weakening both of them.
Engage - early as ch. 4, the game makes you hurry up and tries to throw twists at you, creating an exciting early game challenge that actually makes you feel like you are fighting for something while learning the game at the same time. The challenge creates the atmosphere and narrative, and not whatever the story wanted to tell.
I can even point out a few other examples:
FE4 - A game whose gameplay suffers massively for the sake of narrative and gameplay story integration. And at the end the story is nothing to write home about after the midgame twist anyway.
Fates - lates take a look at the hoshido invasion chapters. The writing is trash, the reason for invading should make whoever wrote this get fired - yet, thanks to the difficulty and the challenge, the atmosphere created makes it really feel like the player controlled army is invading a country that's giving it's all to defend itself. Trash story, but the challenge itself creates something amazing.
Challenges, gamplay, fun, atmosphere and difficulty should make the "stories" in games, and not supbar writing at the cost of gameplay.
And the same applies outside FE as well and i could even point even out a few examples.
Mhm, that's example of story integration. Using atmosphere of the maps. Did you think by "story" I meant only the cutscenes that happen in between maps?
The story comes in many forms. The following of the plot, the atmosphere of the game, the music, the personal narratives you create, the crazy challenge runs that make you go through the five stages of grief. All of those are examples of little narratives.
And as I've said, gameplay only suffers if you have this specific view of what gameplay should be, and that view is fine. Conquest and Engage are great modern games that fit your preferred type of gameplay style so it's clear that kind of approach isn't being left behind. But it is again only one kind of preference, and in a series as massive as this I expect them to go back and fourth on the spectrum going forward, which is great.
-
36 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:
The problem therein is I appreciate all time periods, and sci-fi too. It'd depend on the way the wind is blowing on a given day which I'd go for first.😆
I'm not an expert on each game but generally I think a good way of deciding which game to play is by thinking what lens of historiography you'd be most interested in playing.
CK is about playing as a medieval dynasty, focusing on the family members or friends of the family members within that dynasty.
EU4 is about playing as a state, dynasties turning into federalized states and their rise as Empires.
Victoria 3 is about playing as a nation. Not just the state, government, or royal family but the people of the nation, the spirit of the nation so to speak, and how it's history is shaped not by individuals but by material conditions and demographics.
HOI4 is specifically about WWII and similarly also has you play as the nation but with much more focus on the state and warfare.
I don't anything about the others but this is the general gist of the ones I have played, though some far more than others.
49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:Lol these are Kaga's exact thoughts when he made the games. Verbatim, pretty much. Congratulations, you really are a Kaga fan at heart.
Ironic considering I've only played one of his games so far.
Well I supposed I played Gaiden's remake but that only half counts.
1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:Well... There's Advance Wars.
...yeaaaaah...
Well it did get a recent resurgence which is nice. Kind of funny that Advance Wars was what convinced IS to localize Fire Emblem which ended up surpassing Advance Wars in popularity and sales in the long run.
-
7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:
I getcha here. Civs 5 and 6 come to mind. No I don't want to have to take full Rationalism (though I usually do a two-policy dip). And for Civ6, nooooo I don't chop trees and resources like crazy, and I absolutely refuse to settle cities so close it feels like they're suffocating. Playing with some flavor in mind >>> what's optimal.
-But now you're making me want to do another Civ5 run, which I shouldn't b/c I emerge feeling like I wasted my video game time when I should've been playing RF5 or something else.😆
You'd enjoy Victoria 3 I feel. For how open ended it is there millions of of things you can do or witness depending on how you play.
5 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:Just something i saved that could give an insight
Nope. Never, not really.
CQ has close to 0 bullshit (sadly not 0 because Kitsune exists), and the game gives you alot of RNG mitigation tools - more than any other game.
I'm not talking about if the game is fair on a balance level, but on a fundamental level. Think about how in a game of tic tac toe, the majority of games will always end in a draw because once two players understand how the game works the only way you could lose is if you overlooked something, it's fair but not always fun. In Fire Emblem your strategies don't and in fact shouldn't be guaranteed 100% success because if they were that would be boring.
I don't think Fire Emblem is wrong for having RNG, I think that's why the games are fun, because that's how it keeps you on your toes. The reason why Conquest is stressful is because you can't predict everything by knowing enough about the game and that unpredictability in large part comes from RNG, and that's good, that's how all games work.
5 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:And why is it exhausting? Because it's difficult & challenging
I never said it wasn't. Just that some people only find exhaustion in that kind of challenge without much enjoyment even if they can manage it fine.
5 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:Can the player still act after it happens and avoid it with smart decisions?
Look no further then Conquest ch.10, it comes with the mid map twist that completely changes the map, but is never unfair.
Mhm, that's what I said earlier. The strategy is about planning effective fail saves and adapting to unexpected occurrences, how well you react to them is up to you but when and how they happen is RNG, which is the idea.
And while it's true that chapter 10 has it's twist, since it's not RNG you can learn or remember when exactly it happens, making it less of a twist and more of a schedule that you can plan with in mind, something that you mentioned as well. But even this schedule still has the uncertainty whether or not your planned strategy has the RNG on your side. Even one thing not going the way you hoped it would might require you to change strategies which is what makes it interesting.
And just in case it needs to be said, I don't think Conquest is a bad game at all but compared to other Fire Emblem games it's just not my thing. I don't disagree with it's gameplay philosophy, I just disagree that said philosophy is the end all be all of Fire Emblem.
5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:OK so like, in this topic you know I'm more inclined to be on your side, but I'm still hurting from that one time I had a perfect flawless strategy, and then Felicia missed a 99% and it irremediably led to Beruka's death...That's an example of RNG having significant effects no matter how sure you were that it wouldn't happen. And I'm stressing that I think that's okay, I'm not saying Conquest is unfair or bad as that is far from my point.
5 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:Yet limits and challenges should still be set by the devs or the game will become total snoozefest - like many games out there.
5 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:That's what difficulty options are for. Those who want things open can play on easy or whatever, hardest challenge should ask of the best the player can offer without gimping themselves.
Any game that asks of the play to limit themselves to have fun is a badly designed game. And how to design something is not my job, but the dev's
On some level I agree with you. Any game should have it's own limits and challenges, but where to draw those lines is always going to be tricky since not everyone agrees on a singular concept of difficulty or fun.
But it's hard to say that it is objectively badly designed when they allow players to play as they wish, since millions of Fire Emblem players build entire communities around challenge runs or story-gameplay integration. People have fun with it, not in spite of the game but often in collaboration with it. It need not be your cup of tea.
All of this to say, if you think a game is too easy, there's a significant difference between believing that it is because of a fundamental flaw with the game and so the game is bad because of it, and accepting that it may simply be because it is not your thing.
4 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:I get what Guardian is going for, but there ain't much guarding here. Gameplay good. Read a fucking book for story.
There's a narrative Fire Emblem has that can't be achieved through traditional story-telling media like books or films. What I've always appreciated about Fire Emblem is that because each of your units are named soldiers with potential backstories and motivations many people end up connecting and forming little narratives around the characters that they like, even if they have no plot relevance. It's a dramatic change for war games that have often always given you nameless soldiers that are killed and replaced without a second thought.
And for that reason I would argue that gameplay and story aren't mutually exclusive, they have always been there to serve each other in games and especially Fire Emblem. If FE had gone purely the gameplay route from the beginning who knows if it would be as popular or even if would be still alive as it is now. I like the story and gameplay of Fire Emblem both on their own and in how they interact with each other, which is something I would never get from reading a book.
If you believe that they are entirely separate and prefer gameplay over story that's okay, but to believe that and go onto say that it doesn't make sense to focus on story and people shouldn't play Fire Emblem for the story even though half the fanbase does just that... well, it's a bit gatekeepy don't you think?
-
2 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:
No, not really.
There're games that are still hard even if you learn everything - Look no further than Fates.
I played Thracia relatively early in my FE days, and i came out thinking that it was easy aside from surprise bs
And why is Conquest difficult? From experience and in watching playthroughs on the game what gets you to lose is the bullshit, the RNG. Conquest is difficult because it balances its bullshit with it's complexity, you need both to make these games "difficult". The strategy isn't so much avoiding RNG as much as it is planning effective fail saves and adapting to it, and that can be very fun. But my point remains that knowing enough is what determines the difficulty and the only thing the game can do to stop that is by introducing luck mechanics, and that brings up the question, is it your skill that's determining if you win or is it just unpredictable RNG screwing over what otherwise was a fine plan? These games aren't 100% fair and that's the point, good map design and unit composition is only half of a "challenging" Fire Emblem game.
But I struggle to believe that it is the only way to go about with gameplay because while Conquest is good at catering to it's specific branch of playstyle, it just isn't for everyone.
Now this may come as a shock, but a good chunk of Fire Emblem players do not like Conquest, not because they are bad at it or because they aren't seeking a challenge but because it caters to a specific type of playstyle that while fun for some, is exhausting for others.
Many players, myself included, find Conquest a repetitive snooze fest in the early game and a stressful slog in the late game. I've come to realize that when people say that gameplay does or does not matter, they're talking about a very specific type of gameplay catering to a specific type of player and completely forget that gameplay can be literally anything and that Fire Emblem consists of a huge fanbase who all have different preferences for how they play.
More complex gameplay does not equal inherent difficulty or less focus on story. Three Houses' systems could be describe as more complex and open ended than Fates but that sure as hell doesn't mean it's more difficult or interesting.
3 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:Only if it's badly designed
The game should provide the challenge for me to not find finding a strategy "too easy". Finding a strategy itself is the challenge, and trying to improve upon it on subsequent runs. If i take a look at a map and figure it out from a glance - then something is wrong with the game. The game should've twists that makes me rethink everything - even on subsequent runs.
What does it mean to be badly designed? How do you know when finding the strategy is easy or hard when you're only one person? How do you balance a "twist" from being either too predictable or too bullshit?
It's subjective because every player has their own metric for how they handle things. I could say that SoV is badly designed because the maps are all open fields with basically random enemy placement but how can I say that as objective fact when there are thousands of people who adore that game and proudly call it their favorite? Conversely I could say that chapter 10 of Conquest is badly designed because the strategy is the same each time and only differs if you purposely try and make it more challenging for yourself, something that many folks would disagree with given that it is hailed as being one of the best maps in the entire series. Does that make it any less valid?
3 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:I shouldn't have to gimp myself to get a challenge
Video games are meant to be interactive media where in the player's actions dictate their experience. If I wanted a purely binary challenge that I engaged out of obligation for it's rules rather than my own creativity I'd just get a job.
What is and isn't challenging will always be subjective and so I prefer it when games keep it's options open so that, should a player want something more challenging, they can get that by defining their own rules on what they personally find to be difficult but doable.
-
22 hours ago, ping said:
Incidentally... https://arzamas.academy/materials/1269 - Who are you in 1917 Russia?
(I was assigned a Menshevik Internationalist, although there's plenty of questions that I answered quite differently. I guess it averaged itself out. Also, having the Bolsheviki in the "democratic" half of the map is funny)
Got just left of Anarchist which is unsurprising.
Honestly I'm not sure how a truly democratic communist start for Russia would've worked out without immediately collapsing due to outside pressure from almost every other major power in the world. It's ironic how World War 1 was essentially the final nail in the coffin of Tsardom Russia while also being the worst possible time for a democratic revolution.
But man, wouldn't it have been kinda nice if it did work out in the end? Imagine, a much smaller Russia next to Finland and the Balkans topping the charts in the 2023 census for highest quality of living and happiness because folks are collectivized in loving communities and don't have to break their backs and mental health just to pay rent this month. It's probably naively utopian to think about it but a girl can dream.
2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:I mean, 776 is pretty difficult if you don't follow a guide. It constantly kicks you in the nuts when you least expect it. It's when you know your way around the game and how easily it can be broken that it becomes easy.
I see this all the time in strategy game communities where people who have taken the time to learn the ins and outs of every mechanic complain it's "too easy"
But like...that's the point isn't it? This isn't a fighting game where the only thing keeping you alive is your base instincts and developed skill. If you take the time to learn everything about a strategy game and how each little number functions with each other than no shit it's going to be too easy because literally the only thing the game can do at this point is throw in a luck factor that forces bullshit. The whole point of strategy games is learning how things bounce off each other so that you can make it easier. If we make things like growth rates and proc changes more random than that would be just annoying as hell for everyone. You can have the most well made map with the greatest enemy placement of any game and people will still complain it's too easy because if you know enough, any fair map will be a cake walk.
That's why I don't get the idea of all gameplay over story. If you go down the path of pure efficiency than I can't help but feel like it's damming yourself to eternal computer AI boredom. If you go into these games with the only goal being to win, and you create the most optimal strategy to achieve that goal, yet afterwords complain about that victory for being "too easy" than perhaps you should try and find enjoyment in the values a game brings other than it's material win conditions.
I don't mean that in the sense of treating Fire Emblem like a visual novel, but in that being creative about your strategies rather than purely optimal can be a lot more fun. Purposefully using a bad unit, using a unit because you think they look cool or because you want to hear their backstory and motivations, doing the most stupid wild plays with highly specific builds, using only captured units, purposefully not having a unit kill enemies because they said in a support conversation that they don't like killing. None of these things are optimal and provide little to no gameplay benefits but are a hell of a lot more fun and memorable.
-
5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:
Okay I won't lie, I was fully engrossed in your metaphor but when these two images popped up together I just sort of started dying of laughter.
I mean I was aiming to do that since the first line so I'm glad.
5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:That does explain why she gets majorly screwed over by the game in two of three routes. The developers hated her. Filthy capitalists...
Perhaps, but it is interesting how the only route where she succeeds is with the Hoshidans in Birthright, which could be read as Japan beating Russia in the Russo-Japanese war being inadvertently the cause of the Russian Revolution. Maybe her death followed by possession in rev represents how the progressive Communist ideas of the Soviet Union quickly turned to the same autocracy they tried to overthrow.
Who knows, maybe the writers are voters in the JCP (Japanese Communist Party)
Then again, even capitalists will sell communism if they think it'll be profitable.
Which side tangent, apparently the JCP is the oldest political party in Japan. It's funny looking at the other major parties and seeing how they were formed or changed in the 70s and 80s meanwhile the JCP has been the same party for over 100 years, surviving both World War 2 and the Cold War somehow.
And I know reading about a particular political party's ideology on wikipedia is probably not the best way to get an accurate idea of what a party stands for but for what it does say there, the modern JCP is like...one of the few communist parties I've read about that isn't weird about it.
I'd vote for them.
5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:She looks so much better in that.
Sexual aspect aside. That outfit is just way more unique and thus interesting than her game design. You have what, 3 out of 4 royals in Nohr who have the exact same dragon like black and purple armor when the Hoshidan royals all get unique outfits? Slavic Camilla is way better than what we got.
3 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:I got reminded how when Fates was first announced, there were actually a lot of Communist Nohr jokes. Because Xander's name in Japan is Marx. And Leo being Leon, as in, Trotsky.
Beautiful.
3 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:So many of them feel so begrudging with their singular gay character.
You have the two token gay characters in Fates, one of which can only be obtained by getting a child soldier of yours married. And Three Houses being pretty casual with it's lesbian representation (At least for Dorothea and Edelgard) but would rather die than have two men kiss.
1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:
Oh my God I had forgotten Kaga went there. He straight up dropped "the 1%" in there. Or the localizers did, anyway.
This game.
Of course, there's still a good one-percenter that we need to save who happens to be Zade's brother-in-law. Can't be too transgressive here.So does this imply that the other countries aren't oligarchies ruled by the rich aristocrats?
-
Also Camilla is given this very Russian inspired outfit in some official art, I forgot to mention that.
-
8 hours ago, ping said:
I imagine that at the end of your FE journey, you will have headcanoned every female lord into 1910-20 St. Petersburg. Eirika is the naive liberal who supports the revolution in general, but is then completely swept aside (and most likely disappeared) by the Bolsheviki.
Just aggressively try and explain how the plot of every Fire Emblem game is actually an allegory for the Russian Revolution.
Now allow me to go into detail how the plot of Fates Birthright is totally a retelling of the Russo-Japanese war from a completely unbiased Japanese perspective.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Emperor_Meiji_Takahashi_Yuichi-5a0c972fec2f64003685cc36.jpg)
Obviously Hoshido is Japan and Nohr is some variant of fantasy Europe which I'll get to. Firstly I'll make the definitely not absurd claim that Mikoto is Emperor Meji. Japan in this period was going through what we call now as the Meji Restoration as the old military government of the Shogunate was overthrown by the royal dynasty, placing them back in power after generations of Shogun rule. Mikoto similarly was of royal status but not actually the head of state until after her very militaristic husband Sumaragi was killed. Now in making this comparison am I saying that Mikoto played a role in her husband's death just so she could get in power? Wellll we see Garon kill Sumaragi which I choose to read as Britain supporting Meji in the Boshin War (The War that overthrew the Shogunate) This is all from a Japanese perspective after all so Europe blends together a bunch in this allegory. There's no evidence to suggest that Mikoto actively encouraged this to happen but in her 3 seconds of screen time she doesn't display much affinity for her dead husband and is in fact killed by his ghost, so...
Also there's the design. Mikoto has black hair, like Meji. Now you may think that an odd claim to make when of course Meji has black hair, most Japanese people have black hair, but isn't it curious that out of all the characters in Fates only three have black hair? And how she's the only Hoshidan to have black hair?
"Wait but isn't Mikoto not even from Hoshid-"It's also interesting how some parts of her robes look like an abstraction of the coat Meji is typically seen wearing in photos. The floral pattern on the shoulders look very similar and they both have a flower pin on the right side of their chest.Shame they didn't go full military coat for her design, I love a woman in uniform.Meji, like Mikoto, died just before their western neighbor tried to invade.
In this comparison that also implies that Garon is Tsar Nicholas Romanov, the last of his dynasty.
Now in terms of similarities, they're both oppressive monarchs and they both have rad facial hair, they both wear a sash around their chest in the same way as well.
Personality wise however, I almost want to point to Xander as a more accurate comparison. Xander is stubborn and delusional, much like Nicholas, so much so that even when faced with incredible opposition he refuses to stand down, to his detriment. Truly a period of autocracy, orthadoxy and nationality for Russia like we see in Fates for Nohr. Nicholas often prayed to God for guidance, especially during tough times much like how Garon prays to his God Anankos. And Garon is very interested in crushing rebellions, something that Nicholas is all too familiar with. Rebellions are like seeds after all.
The context of the Russo-Japanese war is essentially that Nicholas was being a dumbass and didn't take Japan as seriously as he probably should've, but the details on what the real war was about isn't as important to this allegory as it's lasting impact. You see it was this war that made western powers be like "Woah..." to Japan, many not seeing it as anything other than some poor Asian country that could never stand up to a western power. And it's that legacy I believe Fates is trying to retell.
Japan obviously won that war pretty easily and Hoshido in both Birthright and Conquest is a force to be reckoned with. You get the sense that while the Nohrian army, like the Russian army at this time, is demoralized and disorganized because of growing revolutionary sentiment back home which is shown in how easy it is to defeat Nohr in the Birthright route, in Conquest the Hoshidan army is strong and challenging, befitting that of Japan's recent Industrialization.
And who couldn't be happier that that Russia/Nohr is losing the war?
The revolutionaries! Scarlet is trying to resist and rebel much like the Communists in Russia at the time. Her color scheme is red and gold like the Soviet Flag and she talks about having a flower pin that's very important to her creed, almost like the flower of SOCIALISM?!?
It's one in the morning as I write this, I need to go to bed.I don't know what Corrin or Azura represent and I choose to completely ignore Valla so feel free to add your own interpretations.
-
Talk about social hierarchy
Me too, sister
You know, I'm starting to think this guy looking like Hitler wasn't entirely a coincidence
Pffft!
I genuinely laughed out loud. I was beyond the point of taking him seriously in the previous game and now it's almost like he's not even of this world or story.
-
19 hours ago, Armagon said:
I think they flat out just do not have time to grieve.
It's not just grief, it's everything a death could give to a story, both to the story and to the plot.
It's like... you know how after Gandalf dies in LOTR they barely have much time to mourn because they need to get the hell out of there and figure out what to do with the ring, and it's exactly for that reason among others that Frodo falls into a mad state of mind as the plot progresses? A typical problem I have with many FE protagonists is just that they remain quite stagnant, for all the shortfalls they may experience it doesn't have much of a mental effect on them and they end up less interesting to me as a result. I WANT to see characters suffer, I WANT to see them struggle and cry and be hopeless but still manage to pull through.
18 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:To be precise:
The 432-478 Begnion vs. Crimea & Daein War being the most prolonged conflict. Though I imagine there was a brief window in 425 when Crimea was fighting Daein and Daein got declared on by Begnion, which would've meant four countries at war at once, prior to Daein presumably rushing a white peace with Crimea.
A 46-year war would perhaps suggest that Begnion could readily match Crimea + Daein in might, otherwise you'd think a clear win would've happened sooner. And if Begnion was able to besiege Nevassa (perhaps because its army was off in Crimea), then they could've reoccupied easily half of Daein for those decades of war, losing them probably only gradually and holding onto at least a rump until the peace treaty.
Kilvas's surrender earlier might've made things worse for Daein, but perhaps that helped old king Dheg sleep easier. Since a BvCD war was purely Beorc, Phoenicis and Gallia could've told themselves "let those stupid humans kill each other" as to why they should stay out of the nonsense. If Kilvas had accepted Phoenicis's aid, maybe the situation in Daein wouldn't have gotten as bad, and Crimea wouldn't have gotten involved, but then it's also possible they would've ended up with a five-country conflict.
Notable in this timeline I find to be two things. The first being the matter of Laguz-Beorc relations shaping conflict and geopolitical separation. And the other is Begnion the great power trying to cling on to control of the entire continent outside of Goldoa. Nice if simple for IS to have done this.
This is the kind of thing I want to see in Fire Emblem. It's a game about nations, politics, history, and most importantly war. It should be dynamic and nuanced in how it represents those things, I love it when in a fantasy setting I can connect things that are true about the real world into it.
Folks often say they dislike politics in stories because they like the escapism, but me personally the escapism in here is witnessing a world like ours with problems like ours have people rise, try and succeed in solving those problems. It's a power fantasy of being able to help everyone.
18 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:To be fair, Begnion used to control everything sans Goldoa. Crimea and Daein broke off and declared independence, the Laguz left the main population centers in the eastern half of the continent and then took over the sparsely and seldom populated woods and islands far from the core Begnion region. So yeah, it's not surprising some in Begnion would want to return to those good old days...
... man, how... relatable to modern day issues...
OMG, Begnion is Russia!I've already headcanon Elincia as having a Russian accent and made several Russian Revolution references earlier so this is perfect.
16 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:Honestly I like having a grand theme stretching over hundreds of years like this. Begnion's repeated efforts to retain hegemony are... something.😄 Not sure exactly how historical such a thing actually is, but it sounds like it.😆
The idea of the British Empire is definitely sometimes romanticized as this proud nostalgic time in history even if y'know... was pretty evil in real history.
In terms of retaining hegemony I still like the Russia connection.
12 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:Anyway, congratulations on joining the proud ranks of Sorike shippers. You will find great opposition. Prepare a counterargument for Priam's existence, it WILL be brought up.
2 hours ago, ping said:If you ever tire of starting flame wars by edelposting, this is a very effective approach for getting a reaction out of some people, too.
Although I think "Priam is fucking dumb, so I don't even consider his existence" is still my favourite way to go about it. Canon is a bourgeois concept, etc.pp.
Personally I think it's just a lack of imagination because in a world with blood pacts I have no trouble believing that Ike and Soren could have a beautiful love child together.
8 hours ago, Armagon said:Tbh if we want to look at it:
Marth's parents died a few years ago before he actually set out. The grieving time has passed.
Alm didn't know his parents. Celica hates her dad.
Erikia and Ephraim.....you can actually make the criticism here. Erikia didn't have time to mourn but Ephraim straight up doesn't know until like later and he just shrugs it off. But also their dad existed for like 1 second lmao. Even Lumera had more screen time.
Ike got a whole chapter about not knowing if he could live up to his dad after he got turned into a statistic by the Black Knight.
It's probably been a few decades since Micaiah's parents died.
Chrom hates his dad, Robin doesn't even know who his dad is until he does then he hates him. Lucina still clearly struggles with her dad's original death.
Corrin.....depends on the route. Not by much but it depends.
Byleth.
Alear goes the angry grief route but has to keep moving.
So really, the only ones who you can really make the argument for are like the Renais twins I guess, Corrin, Byleth and Alear. For everyone else, the time has passed.
That's just the thing isn't it, the deaths are so meaningless to the plot and it's characters that it can happen off screen and give the same effect. So when they do happen on screen it feels very disingenuous when they aren't followed up by much other than quick motivation for the protagonist.
For Alm even if he didn't meet his parents he did see his dad die by his own hand later on, and like Mikoto with Corrin, Alm is unusually yet very strongly upset about the death of a guy he just met because again, it felt as though the writers just defaulted to the usual shonen reaction to the death of mentor figure. Alm's reaction to the father he just met die is the same as the reaction Eirika has to seeing the dad she knew her entire life die.
Ike gets one chapter which is also the thing, he gets ONE chapter, the chapter right after it happens, and it never comes again, Titania was more upset about Greil's death than Ike. And maybe it's just my personal bias but the Black Knight subplot feels so worthless to the development of Ike as a character that I can't see that as counting.
With Chrom I was talking about Emmeryn who fills the same role as the parents in other games do. Awakening I think does it at least a little better. Emmeryn's death does effect the plot in that it was the reason that Gangrel lost the war. Her speech before her sacrifice is what caused the Plegian army to defect en mass. And after her death Chrom does have a teeny bit of struggle in that he feels as though he isn't living up to her peaceful leadership. But ultimately it's not a conflict the game is focusing on and doesn't have a resolution.
I'm not sure what you mean by Corrin since in both routes Mikoto appears as a ghost near the end to reassure him that he's doing alright. You could say this is closure for his moral struggles but it definitely isn't closure for his mom dying because it was not something he ever needed closure for. Rev has Mikoto die...twice, the response is the same both times from all family members. Sad in the moment, quickly forgotten about after.
Mikoto's death effects the plot but only because they basically cheated by having it so she was apparently the only one who could create this massive force field around Hoshido and by killing her that allows Nohr to invade. Some real "You can't say Valla outside of Valla" shit.
52 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:Implying that'd be a bad thingHaving an older protagonist with a child sounds just as interesting has having a young prince who doesn't know anything.
52 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:I mean, FE6 solves that pretty handily. Eliwood is sick, so Roy takes up arms in his stead. Boom, it's that easy.
Not that I'm saying you can't have the dad death, in the grand scheme of things it's a minor nitpick, but when 10-something deaths are exactly as impactful as Eliwood's nondescript illness, it feels kinda lazy.
Personally I think one of the best ways to make a death impactful is to plant the idea in the player's head what the story could've been like had that character survived. Not in the sense that the narrative would've been better but in that the character's lives would've been better. I've said it before I'll say it again, if Jeralt's suspicions of Rhea actually had him do some private investigations and he dies right before giving crucial information that would've felt like a huge loss when he died.
-
The bisexual army more like.
Man that was a long prologue
Nailah likes him submissive and breedable clearly
He's gay, ma'am
I make my jokes but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if some of the writers and artists of this game were experienced in "yaoi" related media. The influence there feels prominent and I swear it's not just me.
Both Telius games are gayer than the games that actually allow gay relationships and I stand by that.
She has returned to her former glory...
Wait, brother?! I knew about Almedha but who is the-
Ohhhhh...
Oh it all makes sense now
Also shout out to Ashnard doing the Garon face.
Ack, who am I kidding, they're all the bisexual army
Early to bed, early to rise...
Enough order and stability makes it easy to forget the troubles of the world. As long as the average person is comfortable with their position they might be terrified of any kind of chaos, even if it means letting those less fortunate suffer under a mountain of apathy.
...At least that's my interpretation of this scene.
Okay I didn't plan this out properly because only four of these units can reliably fight.
*three
Perhaps it was half my fault but god I hated how long that map was.
Another reason this death feels more emotional than the parental deaths of other games is just from the fact that Almedha isn't taking it very well.
In the Fire Emblem games I've played to completion thus far, those being FE3, FE8, FE9, FE11, FE13, FE14, FE15, and FE16 each had some form of the protagonist witnessing the death of their mentor figure, yet often failed to make it hit an emotional core for similar reasons.
For one, the initial shocked, angry, and sad reaction from the protagonist during the death gets very quickly booted out as the protagonist goes throughout the next few chapters as if nothing happened. It's hard to care about a character's death if they meant so little to the main character that they seem to get over it in like a day. They aren't mentioned much at all throughout the rest of the game and they don't have an effect on the psyche of the protagonist.
Two, the deaths don't make any risks and are too obvious because of that. I feel like a death in any media needs to weigh out the potential benefits and setbacks of said death, and to make the death impactful they need to make it so the death truly feels like a loss of something, but you also don't want to lose too much if the loss from that death doesn't outweigh the narrative potential of them staying alive. In Fire Emblem most deaths have neither loss nor gain. These mentor figures are engineered to not have any relevance to the plot so the story doesn't actually lose anything but by doing so makes the deaths feel pointless because...well they didn't lose anything. The plot of Three Houses remains the same regardless if Jeralt stays alive or not which is a problem. It's pretty easy to tell if these characters are going to die because of how little plot relevance they have while alive.
Three, they fail to be interesting characters for the player and for the protagonist. The main character may like their parents but they like them in the same way that someone likes a good looking vase, and the response to that parent's death is much the same how'd they react to a good looking vase of theirs breaking, they seem to forget about it completely as the story continues which definitely makes it look like they never really cared that much about them. You don't get much of anything on how much or what their parental figure means to them, you just assume that they care about them because they're their parents, and family typically care about each other. Corrin meets Mikoto as their mother for pretty much the first time in their conscious life and only knows her for half a day before she dies, and despite Corrin explicitly saying that they don't feel any connection towards Mikoto, they respond very strongly to her death, as if the writers forgot what they were doing and decided to just default to the usual.
Pelleas's death hits none of these, his mother reacts to it in a way you'd expect her to considering her only child just fucking died. She's distraught, depressed, and unreasonable. Even if Pelleas wasn't the most fleshed out character it remains an emotional death because I can tell how much Almedha cared about him.
-
I'm assuming by Gods they mean women. Guys doing their best to help the ladies in their life handle being affiliated with the gods or god-like groups without knowing what the hell is going on seems to be pretty common in this universe.
Wait even my benched units?
What the flock
See I like this. Who needs boring thousand year old dragons who don't do anything when I can have the literal concept of anarchy in physical form on our side.
If I had a nickel for every time a god hurt humanity in supposed good faith-
We got freedom, order, now we just need lady autocracy and we can complete the civ 5 trifecta of government organization.
So we're just the beta testers essentially.
Far as I'm aware the only thing that happened was a plot contrived blood pact that forced a conflict to happen and could be resolved in 5 minutes if you talk to each other.
If you couldn't tell I'm trying really fecking hard not to make any political metaphors
Oh thank god Ike can finally level up again.
Also what a coincidence he's called a "Vanguard" fighting for the Goddess of freedom and anarchy and-
I was afraid they were going to mix the armies in this part but I imagine they're saving that for the later chapters. I've honestly grown to this multi-party system.
PleasebealoveconfessionPleasebealoveconfessionPleasebealoveconfess-
I think at this point I'm convinced the BK does things just to fuck with people.
Pelleas is fucking dead.
Let the favoritism flow
This is what waking up to go work is like
Sexy as it is, I feel really bad for Sothe's midriff in this snow.
-
Blood pact is so much better.
I mean of course the peasants are siding with the land lords lord, she actually has the power to repeal land tax.
"Write a more dynamic and interesting reason for the conflict!"
For the character that was more or less a prop in part one I'm only thinking now how interesting of a life this guy probably led before he became King. I wonder what Pelleas was doing during the Mad King War or where he was taken to by his mother and why. She was obviously from the dragon tribe I knew that from the beginning and I'm sure we'll hear more about it then but he didn't seem to know that, nor did he know he was mixed race like Micaiah.
And in the lead up to this war he was clearly growing, enough to give insights like this. He's really someone who lived his life not knowing he would become king and when he did he was far from ready.
Part of me wonders if a character was robbed here because of the Death Pact and him exiting the story before we got to learn much about him while he was still alive, but on the other hand his death and his willingness to die almost is what makes him interesting to me. Now that he's dead and can't share his secrets I can't help but wonder what exactly was going through his head before and after becoming King. He knew he wasn't ready, we know that much.
As a side note, I can't fucking believe there was a Fire Emblem game in which a mother and son were present and it was the son who died and not the mother.
-The Soviet Union during WW1 probably
Ohhhh, that's depressing to see after a conservation literally about dreaming for the day the war will be over.
Oh hey she's here to bring neutrality continental!
There is an alternate timeline in where this franchise is called "Flame Medallion"
So it's like a Fire Emblem awakening?
7 years ago an IS developer was trying to think of ways to revive this dying franchise, hopeless that it would ever be possible after the poor financial success of the previous games, and when replaying Radiant Dawn had a third eye opening moment when he got to this chapter.
You'd be surprised at how may wars have been started because of pieces of parchment.
Wait didn't we already know this.
Or I guess they didn't know.
I mean I know it was your son, but hey! 1/2 ain't bad!
Unlike many parental deaths in this series, I find this one more emotional than all of them just because it was the other way around and I didn't expect it. Pelleas was not a forced to be likable mentor figure that was practically mechanized in the narrative to die at a specific point early on to be specifically motivate the main character who would forget about them 2 seconds later, he was a kid who didn't know what he was doing and was just trying to help his people. His death is late into the game at this point he was a well established character. I feel more for this side character in losing her son than I do for pretty much all avatars in Fire Emblem whose parents were axed early on, especially since he didn't need to die, at least not this early.
I just love how the literal last surviving member of the Daein royal bloodline just died, the entire crux of the Independence war to justify the country's legitimacy just died less than a year after it happened and yet they're just going about as usual, fully allowing Micaiah to take control.
I can't wait for this guy to become the savior of the entire plot
Oh, nope. Micaiah is gone now as well. It's a rogue army at this point.
Well considering the end of this chapter it was more the other way around
Oh and um, red axe guy died. Sad.
"Lethe my love, how tragic it is that we should find ourselves on the opposite sides of the battlefield. But it was you who made me see the error of my ways, you who taught me what true love was, so even though we face off against each other now, know that I appreciate everything you have done for me."
"...Babe, you sided with the Nazi's"
Wait so why does Mist feel the medallion but Ike doesn't, I don't remember if they explained that.
You'd think for that reason this room alone would have like 1000 guards.
That this Dark God's reason for being the antagonist is because they've given up in humanity is not uncommon but still far more interesting than how most FE games do it.
Huh, a white haired protagonist being the vassal of a dark god...
Is...is the plot of Tellius basically Awakening but significantly better?
And here I thought Three Houses was the one with Javelins of Light
Welp, we're in it for the long haul
-
29 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:
He was given the kiss of death.
...Sorry.
Don't apologize for being the funniest person in the roomI'm not one for celebrating a bad person's death since the damage has already been long done and that death does nothing to solve anything but given that the man lived to 100 and was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people before they could reach 20 and never regretted it, I don't feel particularly bad about laughing about it.
-
14 hours ago, Armagon said:
Died on my brother's birthday. God manifested one hell of a gift.
-
5 minutes ago, Armagon said:
So Argentina's President has officially decided to close the central bank and just rely exclusively on USD.
.....I feel like I shouldn't have to point out that tying your currency to another country is a bad idea but maybe the situation in Argentina is that fucked anyways.
It's Latin America, we're used to it -
I finally got around to playing Radiant Dawn again after far too long. I'm too tired for a write up but damn, a Fire Emblem game with this many defense maps is something I couldn't even imagine them doing today.
Also I missed Thanksgiving here so uhh, something something NativeAmericansdon'treallycelebrateit something something.
-
10 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:
I don't think anything can help in the current system. Considering my problems are:
- Routine. I fucking despise Routine. Every day being the same successfully killed me inside. Most of the time i don't feel anything or taste anything - complete Apathy
- No reward for efficiency. If anything, you get punished for being efficient/fast. I have to artificially slow myself down
- Everything being basically centered around that thing called work.
- Lack of flexibility.
And i am in one of the countries with stronger labor laws around the world and higher number of vacation days.
It's terrible that even if the amount of work hours in a day is dwarfed by how many hours off, the day still feels as though it revolves around those few little hours spent working. It's not just spending time at the workplace, it's dreading having to go there when you wake up in the morning and recovering from the exhaustion thereafter.
I worked 4 hours a day 5 days a week and recently that's been cut down to just 2 hours a day because of winter, and yet it all still feels very exhausting. First ever weekly job I've had and I already fear for my future.
10 hours ago, Armagon said:Well technically the Daleks were kidnapping humans, genetically rearranging them and then using them as slaves to build the Empire State Building.
Oh was that them turning humans into pig-things that would die in 24 hours? I was going to mention that but I couldn't remember if that was a different episode or not.
Again, one hell of a metaphor for the Pre OSHA days of the Great Depression.
7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:Certainly not your usual remake. I know Luigi breaks some of the original challenges, but I definitely preferred 64DS over the original. Not to mention the completely optional mini games. -If only the DS had the slide pad of the 3DS, would've fixed the awkward controls issue.
I can't believe Wario became a playable character in a mainline Mario game before Peach...
Well- I guess there's Mario 2 USA but that barely counts.
29 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:All four of us, yes. Maybe six or seven now, I'm pretty sure I've converted a couple people over at the discord with my barrage of Izana text.
I was into him since the beginning so count me as eighth.
30 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:It wasn't even my best trap.
I can't wait to see him.
-
Me: Oh I can't wait for the weekend when I don't have to work and I can spend the day doing whatever I want.
My brain who didn't allow me to sleep last night: Yeah you're going to feel too exhausted to do anything for the rest of the weekend.
46 minutes ago, Armagon said:Davros is one of the few characters that has struck The Doctor with genuine fear
Davros isn't evil because he's in a chair, he's evil because he created a mutant race of genocidal maniacs genetically engineered to hate anything that isn't Dalek. The ultimate racists. Daleks may have plungers for hands but a single Dalek can kill a city of one million people, they are the most dangerous race in the universe.
I suddenly recall this one episode where they go back to when the empire state building was under construction during the Great Depression and it was revealed that the Daleks were the ones building it.
What a metaphor.
32 minutes ago, Armagon said:Should also mention how the response has been mixed even among the disabled community. Half of them are like "yes I agree the reason for the change" and the other half feels slighted that RTD even saw Davros as a character who embodied that negative trope in the first place.
Wouldn't you know it, disabled people aren't a monolith.
It is a tricky situation because bigotry is usually not intended and in a situation like this it's impossible to say if the original designers were subconsciously putting in some of those negative stereotypes but all and all, it's best to listen to what different disabled people say on the matter.
-
9 hours ago, Sidereal Wraith said:
Perhaps a full naked body pillow of Sigurd would be more refined to your tastes.
15 hours ago, Armagon said:RTD: "we made the decision to have Davros appear before he became disabled because having such a twisted villain be disabled would be offensive for the disabled community."
Russell. My guy. I promise you nobody was offended that Davros the bad guy was disabled.
For those who don't know, this is how Davros has generally looked like
A design that dates back to the 70s. Nobody looked at this guy and thought "this is pretty offensive for disabled people" especially when one of the most iconic villains of all time is a guy with four prosthetic limbs and life support.
There's nothing wrong with "pre-chair, actually looking human" Davros as shown in the minisode I posted but if the reason was "muh inclusion", then RTD just created a controversy where there was none.
This obviously didn't affect the writing quality itself (for now) but I really hope there's someone to reign in RTD here and there. There is such thing as being too kind.
Here's the thing right, is he a badass? Darth Vader is disabled but is also badass as hell and can hold his own. What's usually offensive about disabled portrayals is that they're either infantilized as people who can't think or do for themselves, or they're portrayed as pathetic evil cowards that stand no match against the
whiteable bodied heroes which uh...definitely has some uncomfortable ties to the idea of Social Darwinism.
Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread
in Forum Games
Posted
Speedrun PoR.
But...can she reach out her hand?
Losing your son is hard, but at least you have the most fuckable twink in all of tellius singing you lullabies each night.
Well isn't that incredibly racist of the Goddesses. Seriously they give curses to Laguz for fucking with Beorc and they expect not the two races to be distrustful of each other and go to war?
Hey, it's spend 5000 gold to tell you crucial backstory guy.
Sure, I like bird watching.
Dammit, they thought of this.
The hero returns.
Welcome to the XP farm map because we realized "Oh shit we're getting close to the end now and Elincia's team is hardly leveled up enough."
Haah... that was beautiful. Nothing else to say really.
I mean this whole quick backstory kinda comes out of nowhere, but hey I'll always accept a green haired dilf.