X-Naut

So now that I've cleared 1-F after like ten attempts I can provide my basic feedback on the new and improved Staff of Ages: It's definitely new and improved, in no small part thanks to the skill system. The personal skills are especially interesting, strengthening characters' roles or giving them an additional niche. Fuck Tantivy though, it made the 1-F Wyvern squad a huge pain to deal with. The removal of a few siege tomes definitely makes those chapters less of a hassle, although that doesn't necessarily make them easier. (I'm looking at you, 1-9 east side reinforcements.) Do you think you could remove the x1.5 price modifier for the base armory? All the shopping opportunities come in quick succession (both in 1-8, magic in 1-9 and weapons in 1-10), and some of the gold doesn't come until after those opportunities have passed. It also looks like you're intended to pick up basic weaponry in the preparations screen after 1-8. Now for the final team: I'd replay this but unfortunately I'm stuck at a save state at the route split since I really don't want to go through 1-F again when I can progress so... good luck with development? Hopefully the FEE3 release goes smoother.

I'm not a fan of having branching paths as a means of replayability. I'd rather be able to play both paths side-by-side like Gaiden. Like Slumber said, it's the army that makes the game replayable. As long as the cast is diverse and viability gaps are kept within reason, you have a lot of flexibility just by varying who stays and who goes. Reclassing certainly adds another layer although at times it can get a bit too freeform.

I was hoping for fanart tbh

Beat them all first try with all quests. The first and fourth maps gave me the most trouble but the others were solved almost on sight. My first thought when I saw Trial 5 was Lukas's "They never learn." Sure enough, he and Michalis cleaned up.

Back to Tier 19 I go. Tried to pull Sanaki or Roy to complete my TA+Raven Cecilia but to no avail. I did get decent fodder (Selena and Laslow) and a bad 4* Merric though so I fed his Special to her. With QR2 she doesn't need Glacies in most situations and the QP seal lets her charge it quickly so why the heck not, it's good for offense scoring. I still expect to drop right back down due to 4* Gunter being my bonus unit. At least his buffs make the matches pretty easy.

1) Faye because she's a remake-exclusive bit character who just happens to have an incredibly rare weapon. 2) Luke for the same reasoning as Faye except he's not remake-exclusive. 3) Genny, same reasons as the previous two. 4) Rebecca should be in the 3-4 pool tbh, she's an earlygame archer who brought nothing new to the table. 5) Jaffar so we can have a Life or Death at 4 stars.

Fighter is recommended mainly because axes are the worst represented weapon type early on; you get plenty of lance, sword and bow users, tomes aren't that high-demand until later, and the base clerics do staffs best. Barst is the first "good" axe user you get and he's a little behind when he joins without statboosters and a Pirate reclass. And while they're never in high demand themselves, axes are a very good weapon type early on since the only common sword enemies are Cavaliers, Thieves, and Astram's Hero squad. It also transitions beautifully into a Dracoknight reclass on promotion.

Day 4: got the Res seal this morning and it's going straight on Julia. Lukas and his girls actually managed to clear the trials yesterday, albeit with B Speed. Still, it's a rare treat when they fall early 99% of the time. My current pair of teams succeed a scoring A Speed/B Survival roughly 85-90% of the time. With two rounds a day plus a little extra I'm making great progress. I'm also enjoying how much faster-paced the trials are this time, even if it results in some sticky situations. I pulled a 5* +Atk/-Def Alm off the Tempest banner but I'm iffy about swapping Lukas out for him. While he isn't instantly gimped by every mage under the sun and doesn't overlap with Azura, I kinda like how Lukas tanks. He would also need to be SI'd (he needs Hone Speed 3; a B skill and Assist would also be nice). More passive healing via Falchion sounds very tempting however. I should also look into sticking a Special and B passive on Azura; I'm considering Red Tomebreaker specifically to deal with Celica, who does nothing on a defense tile and loses most of her health back.

Full Horse Emblem in the arena is lethal at times. So is S!Camilla Flier Emblem if I cannot bait and remove her. In the current Tempest I run a core of Azura/Tharja/Julia with Lukas as my bonus unit and physical tank, and the main things that cause an early death are high-Res colorless units. Felicia, Niles and Faye are the main ones, and Kagero becomes a tossup when Tharja is not in Desperation range. Next in line are other bow users and red mages since Julia can't safely bait them. Maps play a big role in this: these threats are less troublesome when isolated but when they're clumped together on Alm 2 or Celica 2 you can end up being forced to lose a unit early. Celica 1 is this for the opposite reason: it drags on considerably, especially when I have to use my B team there early (said B team is budget full Horse Emblem).

My pessimistic prediction is that Shadow Dragon was only stated because Marth is in the game, and he'll be the only one. :(

Gordin/Felicia sprung to mind after repeatedly pulling them from colorless.

Both. I'll use units I like and will forgo stacking "god" classes and sometimes forgo dancers in favor of another unit; but if the unit gives me too much trouble I'll bench them and try again next time.

Jossed, FE16 is supposed to be a brand new game. It was stated in the same FE Direct that revealed Shadows of Valentia.

Protect is obnoxious in the hands of the AI, they'll spam it just to slow you down. That said, it can be effective on things with Toxic or Wish, or if you have a free moveslot and want to scout.

Walking jogged my memory on this one: Enemy phase reinforcements are not bad game design. Once you figure out the triggers (be it turn, proximity, or using a guide) you can alter your strategy to deal with them. Missing a high accuracy attack is more "bullshit" because 99% of the time you can predict reinforcements with prior knowledge but unless you hack the game* you cannot predict your attacks missing. If Mila's Turnwheel or an expy returns in a future game then I see no reason why they can't, since players now have a means to scout them without having to reset every time they claim a victim. *Yes I am aware of the cursor pathing exploit in the GBA games but this was not intended and does not tell you the exact values.

So who else is anticipating Mage Gray and Cavalier Kliff when they get added? I tried summoning from the banner but sadly it does not want to give me good things. Guess I'm taking Lukas out of retirement and settling for the 20% bonus.

Agreed on both fronts. I'd love to have weapon arts replace the activation skills and encounter female enemies once in awhile outside the designated girl classes.

The Calm / Ablaze BGM format is a welcome change to the original overworld / battle track formula that doesn't disturb the flow as much. Also obligatory marketing strategy mention. If there's one key improvement, it's that the series has better and more visible advertising than ever before.

Because Grima didn't want to burn his back off?

I DID NOT REALIZE ELF BABBY TIKI WOULD BE SO GREAT UNTIL NOW. THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN.

The plots of the Blade games are barely related to one another whereas Mystery and the Radiance games are direct sequels. It wouldn't have the same impact.

Wolt definitely deserves to be one for Binding Blade, but finding a second member is difficult. For FE8 Eirika, maybe Joshua could have his role expanded? He has story importance for Jehanna but could certainly start chiming in earlier.

Damian from Port Badon stands out for his battle quote and being able to live up to it (outside of HHM). Fargus from the same place for being Fargus.

Use Trick or Switcheroo

So who else is hyped for that glorious trailer with Awakening's Summer Scramble track playing in the background?