Zapp Branniglenn

Oh! And how could I forget Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle? Forget the Capital F Fine games I mentioned earlier, this is a winner. So much of what's possible in its battle system hinges on how creative you get with your Movement action. Dashing into enemies, team jumping into vantage points, getting a flanking angle on enemies, but also remaining near enough to your other teammates so that they can build their own combo off what you're doing. Don't let XCOM's cover system fool you, this battle system wants you to aggressively trample enemies, not turtle up. It's honestly a little daunting planning out your turn, because it feels like you need to plan out all nine of your party's actions before you can begin moving anyone. But a perfectly executed turn feels so rewarding. My biggest issue with the game is the party restrictions. You only have three characters at a time, and that first slot is always Mario. They also demand you have at least on Rabbid filling the remaining two slots, so it stunts the team building potential a fair bit. It's sequel, Sparks of Hope shakes things up a lot, maybe even overcorrects. Sparks of Hope allows freedom of movement until that character attacks, which makes leap frogging your team around in one turn even easier so as not to demand so much planning. Building combos is definitely more accessible this way. Being able to make a party of any three characters from the get go is great, but everyone is down to having one weapon now. To ensure that everyone has no overlap in weapons, but it takes a fair bit of fiddling in the skill trees and equipping Sparks until you've landed on some really effective party compositions. As far as I'm concerned it's another home run. These are two of my favorite Switch games, and if you're into this genre you owe it to yourself to try them out. Especially since they're Ubisoft games and are going on sale for dirt cheap constantly on the eshop.

Speaking from a viewpoint of "Fire Emblem doesn't strictly need game balance to be great, since it is single player after all", I think you're just thrown off by the semantics of calling it the "meta". It's not unusual at all for people to discover things that Work Best in a single player game, and share those experiences online. Some of the earliest things people were writing about games thirty years ago were amateur strategy guides and FAQs about game mechanics. Especially with RPGs that run on predictable systems of numbers, resources, and progression. There isn't much advice to give on jumping over bottomless pits and skillfully dodging attacks in an action game. But intel on enemy weaknesses or knowing that a new equipment upgrade can be gotten for free in an upcoming treasure chest is entirely scientific and flatly useful. "Meta" is the dissemination and application of hard data in a video game to the player's benefit. For instance, someone asks the age old question: Who is the best Starter Pokemon in Pokemon Red? Knowing lots of details about the game probably leads you to the answer Bulbasaur due to easily handling the early gym leaders (when your available pool of pokemon options are at their lowest) and not being thoroughly outclassed by other, similar pokemon down the line. That's Meta. There's no council involved. Just questions and attempts to answer them.

When they show up, easily. Because I think it'd be a big waste to leave ranks on the table at the end of a run, and the sooner I do it the more battles I get to benefit from it. Just like it's a waste leaving stat boosters unused in the convoy or hoarding them all for the final map. If I know the units in question are likely to be part of my long term crew, then supporting is a no brainer no matter what letter rank it is. And even if the units aren't part of my long term design, some of them make sense anyway. Like Roy and Marcus C rank. Alan and Lance even if I'm just going to bench the weaker of the two, all to make early maps easier.

Honestly, I played quite a few, and none of them do it quite like Fire Emblem. There are Fire Emblems I'm not crazy for, but even they seem more appetizing than a game that stresses grinding over strategy which is what I see out of the big names like Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea. Stella Deus: Gate of Eternity has really awesome mechanics regarding flanking and positional team attacks, but every interaction is scaled primarily on level and you're expected to grind to keep up. Stella Glow sort of works as an incredibly basic Stella Deus (no relation), but it has a pacing problem where the game has to cycle through each enemy's turn and show them ending their turn when they have no targets in range. Takes forever to play the biggest maps. As far as games that are capital F Fine. Banner Saga I remember mostly liking for its Oregon Trail narrative choices. I don't remember having an opinion on its grid combat. Possibly because I only played the first one. There was this year's Dream Tactics which completely opened my mind on the concept of a deck builder SRPG. You're given a lot of information to work with and an outrageous level of freedom to experiment with its mechanics. But the game's presentation elements (graphics, music, story) are all thoroughly underwhelming so it's just the raw gameplay that carries the game. I heap a lot of praise on XCOM Enemy Unknown/Within, but honestly it's exhausting that every map is Fog of War. You're going to have a lot of frustrating turns where you unveil multiple enemy squads at once, and the first shot they get off destroys your full body cover. I never feel like my strategy is key to my success or defeat; only my patience and use of explosives. Shining Force is also Fine. Not being able to see the turn order is one thing, but said order being re-randomized each turn is downright obnoxious and kills the potential for strategy. And like Stella Glow it has to show you every enemy ending their turn when they have nothing to do. Banner of the Maid nails a lot of Fire Emblem mechanics really well, but also a lot of Fire Emblem pitfalls. Including the worst Protect the Green Unit chapter I've ever seen. Makes Zephiel's room look like a fortress because at least the enemies don't spawn inside of it. Valkyria Chronicles works some of the time. But like XCOM it's all Fog of War and you don't know what's out there until you've committed that unit's turn and spent their non-refundable AP. This may be a bizarre theory, but if those games were comprised entirely of Rout and Defend maps I think they would be a lot more fun and show off the strengths of the game mechanics and classes way more.

Welcome to the world of FE4 then! Hope you cleared your schedule, this game is a month long commitment lol. I recommend using all your save slots on each playthrough. Cause FE4 is one beefy big boy game that I can't imagine running more than one playthrough of at a time. Though since it's an emulator I can just copy the .srm file to a new folder and cycle saves if I had to swap between them. Saving to a new slot in-game after each "Act" of a chapter is a good way to have checkpoints in case your home base is suddenly in danger. Blind players don't know when an unaffiliated army may start moving for instance

I'd happily dive into farming sims for the first time for Harvest Meg. Count me in too

You have a Windows computer? If it's the modern Windows 11 then you must have Windows Security on there. I remember it was called Windows Defender on older versions. Search those terms up on your taskbar and thumb through it. That's your antivirus software, and it's exactly as good as the most heavily advertised antivirus softwares out there. Anyone that says otherwise is trying to sell you something. Internet Browsers also have their own layer of security, like forcibly stopping you from downloading stuff that it thinks is suspect. Windows antivirus software works without your input. But you can still open the app and see what's up whenever it mentions an action was taken. Also, if you're reading this post from Google Chrome click on that symbol to the immediate left of your URL to see your browser's assessment of the website. If it says your Connection is Secure and Certificate is Valid, those are good signs nothing bad is about to happen. If it doesn't, well the most common reason is that the website is very old and hasn't been updated in many years. Every Emulator you'll see recommended on Google searches tend to have their own website. I recommend getting stuff from trustworthy sources like that, both for safety and making sure you've got the most up to date version. For instance, last year a major security issue was discovered in the version 1.6 release of Project 64 where a malicious author's rom hack could theoretically run and manipulate files on your computer. That's spooky, but a lot of people moved on from that older version of the emulator (and really from P64 in general). That's the only scenario I can think of where using an emulator runs a risk to your PC. Just practice basic safety in internet activity and you'll be fine. Don't give out credit card or other sensitive info. There is no emulator or ROM that is being sold on the internet, it's all free, usually open source.

I don't think I've encountered a retrospective essay on the subject, video or written. If someone were to do something like that, it would probably only make sense if you focused on one game's meta. Or perhaps one trope at a time, like Don't Use Jagen. A lot of the oldest meta junkies still exist and are still studying these games. Mekkah is probably the most well known with his Fire Emblem Pitfalls series that encourages players not to misconstrue or misappropriate good-sounding FE advice. So in a sense I always thought FE Meta discussion was very fluid and self-reflective. I love his video doing a sort of dramatic reading of the 2006 Ike v Kieran debate in FE9. That's a good snapshot into primordial FE9 discussions, fixations on Level 20/20 stat comparisons (no one early promoted back then). But even twenty years later you can imagine someone casually playing Path of Radiance and thinking Ike is the best unit - because of his performance in those final chapters and the plot importance afforded to him as the Lord character liked and respected by the rest of the cast. A Casual player doesn't know what a tier list is comprised of or what sort of player it's for. The notion that you should penalize Ike for the first 90% of his available chapters would sound weird and unusual.

I want a Path of Radiance Prequel that follows the Greil Mercenaries. Seems like they average about half a dozen members outside of war time so a proper Fire Emblem game with this premise wouldn't have the roster size we'd grown accustomed too. And the ocean of new characters they'd have to introduce would get us asking "Where was THIS person in FE9/10? Yune didn't think THEY should be Chosen???" I'm envisioning a modern hacking, slashing, dodge rolling, parrying action rpg where each character has their own moveset. Our cast is of course Greil, Volke, Crimean knight with something to prove Titania, some new Tiger Laguz we've never seen before that can sacrifice themselves in a climactic moment. And uh whoever makes sense to answer the question of where Boyd, Oscar, and Rolf came from in this weird surrogate family. Greil is working hard to adapt his fighting style to the Axe - hence why he hasn't unlocked all these awesome battle skills yet and is Level 1. Occasional PTSD flashbacks show us the day he lost control and is forever doubtful that his battle prowess can actually make the world a better place. There can be a mission where Baby Ike gets kidnapped. There can be Zelgius rival stuff. And inbetween missions there's Mercenary Management mode where you select which mission to do next. Maybe even hire characters that are never playable but you assemble into teams to tackle passive missions offscreen or shore up the defenses of towns who need protecting. Divying up who does what so that you can clear several missions at a time, but also managing the risk against a Success Rate meter.

My issue is precisely with people 'claiming what they want' in lieu of a source. Because I know from experience the chief reasons why people are out there making this particular claim is A) That's what one of the leaks from June 2022 said (note also the mention of Gust, which we can now definitively say is False) and B) it just feels like an Anniversary title you know? But really every Fire Emblem game from Awakening to now is a game that feels like it has a retrospective rather than innovative design. Also Ghost Marth appears in it. But not Three Houses, that's an original title. It really doesn't make a difference to me if Engage really was intended to be an anniversary title. I don't like misinformation. That's my stake in this; not being Right or Wrong on the Internet. If a Source does exist, and I mean not a dude on Twitter speculating (in English or Japanese! Being Japanese does not make you a degree closer to the project!), then I'm satisfied.

As @Jotari helpfully reiterated for me. Three Houses was a game that was in development as late as 2020 - because of its post-release DLC. So it's not hard to imagine that its development overlapped with Engage - especially from the developers' perspective. Would it surprise you to hear that Fire Emblem Echoes and Three Houses probably also overlapped? I can't prove it, since I don't have that insider info, but it's easy to believe since both were announced on the same day. If you ignored the post-launch updates of Echoes, the only bet I'm making with that statement is that Three Houses began development at some point before its teaser, or at least within three months following it. In any case I don't think you need a translation of anything from the Japanese language. I asked you for a Source on it initially being intended as an Anniversary title. Can't just throw up a random link. Or throw up your hands and say "well you can't PROVE it doesn't say what I want it to say We need the authentic document to be sure". Whether or not Engage was in development in this or that year does not confirm the company's intent to release it as some anniversary celebration. It's immaterial to the claim. Only the people working on and marketing the game could know something like that, and that quote has not surfaced.

That's Part one. Part 2 is in the May issue, linked on that website as the continuation. And like I said, neither mention the word "Anniversary" or imply a 2020 release was the goal. Not like, for instance, the developers of Echoes admitting that they were hoping to finish that game before the release of Nintendo Switch seeing as they were forced to stick to 3DS at the time. See that's something we can at least trust he's not lying about and say as fact. Calling Engage an Attempted 30th Anniversary game based on a comment confirming that it was, at some point, in development at the same time as Three Houses is not confirmation of that. As to the other stuff, you could say Pandemic Pandemic, but it's not the full reality of game development A) Taking a long time no matter what's going on in the world and B) being extremely receptive to developers switching to Remote Working. Many AAA games announced for release in 2020 managed to come out in that year, with no notably large spike in delays. Some released against their better judgement like Cyberpunk 2077. And then you have Intelligent Systems managing to announce, market, and release two games entirely from Lockdown. They're not an indie studio, they're owned an operated from the top down by Nintendo and all of Their Resources, and so of course they can work on multiple projects at once.

I skimmed the google translated version of both halves of the interview and the subject of anniversaries and timing of the release never comes up. Except for a comment by producer Masahiro Higuchi acknowledging that the series is over 30 years old now and hopes it sticks around for another 35 or 40 years. Glossing over the fact that the tweet author says "by the way, draw your own conclusions, folks". If you subscribe to the notion that video games ONLY get reviewed by ratings boards when they're content complete, then this would only prove the game was at a late stage of development somewhere between August of 2021 and September of 2022. Which does not corroborate your claim that it was meant to be an Anniversary (2020) title The content schedule for Fire Emblem you're proposing here is Three Houses in 2019-2020, Engage in 2020-202X, Hopes in 2022. It's a weird release schedule to return to Fodlan so late, and very well may have been a motivation to delay Engage rather than release both games together in 2022. But it still doesn't prove Engage was ever internally slated for release in 2020. I also feel like people are always forgetting that IS doesn't just make Fire Emblem. And if you want to know what they were focusing on immediately after Three Houses, google the games they factually developed and released in 2020 and 2021 respectively. Pandemic be damned.

You know people keep calling Engage an attempted Anniversary title, and I have to ask for a source. I cannot find a single development interview that corroborates what I'm 95% sure was part of a rumor that got randomly attached to the credible leaks regarding Engage. Another false bit of info from that era claiming that Engage was primarily developed by studio Gust, not IS, which also ended up being false. Also, what anniversary? Was Engage supposed to come out in 2020, or 2025? Because I think a lot of us would have doubted that such a game could have been announced and released within a year of Three Houses finishing its DLC development, and also directly inbetween Three Houses and its Warriors Spinoff game.

Creating your own annotated Master Document of copy/pasted material for a script as lengthy as FE12 can't take more than an hour right? A very monotonous hour, sure, but you can always share it when you're done. And suddenly it's a community resource! Like when you made a list of every named character. I've done stuff like this for games, except it took much longer because I was typing the script out from scratch alongside game footage (not every game series has full scripts posted online). The work was further slowed down by other standards I had for the project. Every character was sectioned off into their own document. Every line was annotated with the exact datamined game file it was associated with. And I omitted a lot of punctuation. Because contraction words and commas notoriously mess with Ctrl+F searches.