Zapp Branniglenn

Three Houses has you fighting a major battle exactly once a month, always at the end of the month (they just know, with their magic calendar), and only the siege of Enbarr is a consecutive map without being able to unwind at base and enjoy incredible food, a full marketplace, a Hot Spring in the DLC. Chapter 12+13 is another consecutive map until you remember there's a five year time jump inbetween where the greatest theoretical threat is our units becoming too rusty from being out of action. The war of this game is being fought at a more leisurely pace than any individual person's playthrough in real life. Then of course there's Byleth's time travel ability. I think the only game that may compete with all that is Corrin and his Pocket Dimension. The one that has infinite resources and time does not pass. I also have my doubts about the strength of Hoshido's army if Corrin sieged his whole way up there without taking a single life. Fire Emblem canon is just baiting a response from us at this point. Hard disagree on FE3, or at least on Book 2. Marth and his army is just a tiny fraction of the Altean force from the get go (Gordin is debatably the most Senior Officer) And while they do pick up powerful allies, they're on the run for nearly half the maps (promoted enemies showing up everywhere to hurry you along). And that threat doesn't end until they're in the unsettled badlands, fighting literal dragons and the barbarian tribes trying to tame them. Miles from civilization, no shops to restock on supplies (except for Anna's secret shops, if Marth has a Players Guide to locate them). It only gets easy when you reach Gotoh and he warps you home. And the gameplay reflects that. When it's back to seizing castles, Book 2 becomes very easy and straightforward until you reach Hardin FE7's a fair answer on some level, since it is the smallest scale conflict in the series. The Black Fang is an international league of assassins, but Legault shows us the smart ones are already on their way out. Nergal is threatening, but his sanity is waning, and Athos really comes through for us in the end.

Other than a Kirby game, whatever they want 🙂

There's a common phenomenon that I'm sure many of us notice. When making a dive into a new franchise, the first game we play tends to be our favorite many years later, or at least close to that number one spot. First impressions are everything, as they say. And if you're not enjoying your time, you're probably not going to take a chance on the next game. But I was thinking about contrary examples from my own experience, and thought it may make an interesting discussion topic. I'll be listing examples of games that I played first in a series, that I would not rank as high as top 3. Feel free to post your own list with your own criteria, because I'm trying to avoid a long, drawn out writeup full of examples I don't feel strongly about. Go ahead. Get whatever you need to off your chest.

oh I forgot about what I posted last year entirely. Yeah, um that's a No on all five lol. I played SEVEN Fire Emblem games this year (eight if we count FE3 as two separate games), but none of them were Round Houses. Here's a fun milestone to report: I beat my thousandth video game in 2023. What was the lucky game? Well I was hoping for a badass answer like Thracia 776, but it ended up being Robocop Rogue City which is more than okay with me I wouldn't exactly call them "Resolutions", but I track yearly backlog goals. Goals intended to keep my game selection varied and eclectic. It's a tall and random laundry list, but a reasonable task wouldn't be as exciting to pursue. This is last year's, and here's this year. I start on November 11th, not on New Years, so I'm already well on my way.

okay so then we're not talking about the Colorado decision at all but some mystery future thing you are uniquely privy to? Historically speaking, the office of presidency was a pretty insignificant one. Heck, they couldn't even choose their own gosh darned vice president until the 19th century. And the race for the presidency was also highly exclusive to participate in (only whites, landowners could vote etc). No, the bulk of decision making power lie with the Senators. Far cry from today's presidents with their executive orders, and twenty man cabinets. I am absolutely expecting the term "officer" to be a point of contention as I said. But if you're actually curious about the basis for Colorado's argument for why President is included in that language, they bring up one of the Amendment's authors. Representative McKee made public statements clarifying that the rebels shall hold no political power, which is why they rewrote with a wider net of language (ie 'Officer of the United States') rather than spelling out president, vice president, etc like they did in their first drafts. Then on page 77-78 we see debates on the new inclusive language back when it was being written, and how they determined it was clear enough. It's only us in the twenty first century second guessing their word choice. Imagine being so extremely online that someone responds to you once and you think you've nailed down their politics. As to your alleged polls, I can only offer this one as a counterargument since it's the most recent on my mind when I posted. 54% is a slim majority of Americans who support Colorado, at least as their first blush reaction. I'd like to think you know what I meant when I talked about "people on the fringe" just before I began rattling off examples of conspiracy theories. Not to bust out the grade school civics lesson but our country was built on a system of checks and balances. Can't just remove the head of one entire branch and expect things to sort themselves out. What many people don't seem to get about the presidency is that it isn't just "one guy". It's one guy and all the guys that he associates with, his picks for judges, cabinet positions, his endorsements of other politicians as the Face of an entire Party at that moment in time. We don't elect a king, we elect a delegator.

...for the tax stuff? Yeah, you will find many liberals cheerleading a doped up rich kid having to pay his fair share. But okay Let's say, for the sake of argument, that every Hunter Biden laptop conspiracy theory is correct. That there was some quid pro quo situation in Ukraine that made it into Joe Biden's pocket. It would affect our opinion of that man, but Is that insurrection? The first Trump Impeachment was about some extremely similar and more damning subject matter, and I haven't heard anybody tie that in to the 14th amendment's exclusion clause. We're focused on the second impeachment: Jan 6th. The GOP isn't chasing the Hunter Biden stuff or the impeachment inquiry because they expect to actually impeach Biden. They just need something constantly in the news to support Both Sides-isms and demoralize people from voting. Their path to victory in 2024 depends on people not showing up. They'll stonewall the fake scandals as long as they can This bleak outlook depends heavily on us whittling away at the definition of "Insurrection" (a not at all common word before 2021), until it's lost all meaning. But the average American agrees that Jan 6th was an attempted insurrection to overturn an election and unlawfully install Trump as the winner. There's only a fringe collection of people that still debate the particular details (Exactly to what degree did Trump's rhetoric that day 'cause' it, was it somehow an 'inside job', was the election being protested actually fair and free, etc). If there are more Jan 6ths in the future - If this becomes an every four years thing, then yeah Insurrection is going to be a mundane, common noun. In which case, maybe maybe a state supreme court will take seriously the notion that a democratic congressman that marched in a BLM rally (after taking office) was "engaging in insurrection" and disqualify them. But this perfect storm of events doesn't sound very likely to me. Or at least not as likely as one of those coup attempts actually succeeding and making Insurrection a not-mundane word again. They're not going to hit the D and R candidates in 2028-2040 with the 14th amendment if there's no Insurrection to speak of.

This Colorado ruling is fascinating on so many levels. Frankly I'm not a big Constitutional Textualist myself when it comes to what we can and cannot do. But I'd support an exclusion clause for Insurrectionists who vowed to defend the Constitution about three times more quickly than I'd support excluding a candidate that has exhausted their term limit (and I do support term limits, I think we should consider having some more for judges and lawmakers!). And the other stuff like needing to be a natural born citizen, 35 years of age, does anyone actually care to exclude based on that? Feels like that's the realm of personal preference. Compared to, say, Convicted Felons. You can theoretically be a lawmaker in Congress that can't legally vote in his own state, what a bizarre paradox. Anyway I fully expect the Supreme Court to appeal and strike it down for some lazy reason ("What's an 'officer'? And how can we prove that the 14th amendment framers didn't want the under-federal-investigation / not yet pardoned Jefferson Davis to run for president? And also please don't read Section 3's final sentence about the intended appeals process Trump is supposed to use to petition for eligibility - a legal recourse not offered for a 28 year old presidential hopeful). But I feel like that puts them in an awkward position for a few different reasons. They wouldn't just be ruling against the Constitution, they'd be a hyper-conservative Court ruling against States Rights to run their own elections with their own rules. That's some outrageous irony. The Court whose legacy is ruling states should have total control over Abortion, but not over their own ballots. Or heck, think of the precedence it will set when we're trying to rework/abolish the electoral college a few years down the line. One theoretical defense is the notion that Congress/Federal Govt shouldn't tell the states how electoral votes ought to be awarded, and that angle's about to dry up. If I was a GOP megadonor attempting to metagame this disaster, I'd say "Let Them Have Colorado". I don't see the potential for a Domino Effect of other states ruling the same way, because they've tried already or expect the SC will deliver the final say anyway. Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, have all ruled in Trump's favor on this issue. Colorado's the odd one out, and by letting this state that was never in play keep their ruling, it helps create a bullshit narrative about election interference at no real cost.

Some of us have! Hoping that a time traveling Vivica shows up in Drums of War 2

But is that a Big Issue really? The kind you couldn't solve by just moving them close but not too close with the rest of your units? If they're really in trouble, Rescue can disappear them. And it's not an FE6 environment where an untrained/un-Seraph Robed Roy will get OHKOd by an 80-90 accuracy Bolting from the Fog of War.

My general answer for friendliest iron man is FE7. Real nail biter set of opening chapters on Hector Mode, but it you can push through, the game is constantly throwing great units at you. You can really freestyle and not stress your unit selection since they're mostly kind of bad. I can't imagine any early game death would seriously impact your chance of clearing the game. Marcus + Oswin both dying is the only thing close to an emergency, yet incredibly unlikely. I personally hate blind ironmans (because it's more satisfying to succeed when you do know the game and make smart long term plans) but I think FE7 is relatively straightforward without a guide. And if you want one, Mekkah made a chapter by chapter video guide detailing the few things you need to look out for.

Do you think the Falchion was Naga's baby tooth? And it's one of those families where the mum keeps the baby teeth in a bagged collection? I'd be trying to pawn them off too. That would have been a really compelling bit of transfer data for a theoretical Wii/Wii U Tellius game.

Holding out some optimism for the Sega announcements. "Can we please reinvent something that's not Sonic" is a 10+ year old request. We'd be well within our rights to say too little too late. But Sega's back catalog didn't become any less impressive as the years went on. You're never too late for some budget revisits. Or at least, I'm hoping for some less than premium price points. I wasn't expecting them to slap a sixty dollar price tag on the latest Sonic game. And the only one whose visuals stood out to me was Shinobi. 3D Streets of Rage on top of 3D Golden Axe is a bold turn.

I have been dreading thinking about this possibility since I first read about the Michalis business in FE12. 100% certain those same developers would say "Actually, everyone survives the Battle of Belhalla" in FE4. Heck FE4 had its own trouble pulling the trigger with how many characters survived. And as for FE5, the Olwen/Reinhardt relationship is the same brother/sister dynamic as Minerva/Michalis. And the game immediately following FE12 was of course Awakening with its No One Dies in Fire Emblem Spotpass maps. But then again, Echoes is the counter-example. They didn't make Rudolf playable even though he's that game's Camus (well I mean, the archetype. I know Literal Camus is playable in the game). Berkut and Rinea could easily have been written to survive (since they are not adaptations of existing characters) but they followed through on their fate. Echoes had, let's be honest, way too much awful DLC. But none of said DLC is a villains package.

I'm more interested in if the real origin of these images was Yuji Naka violating a non-compete clause to redesign Peach for a game that never saw the light of day. The last thing he was doing before he went to prison was giving us The Dish on various companies. Who's keeping him quiet? 🤔🤔🤔

That getup belongs in Nights before Mario

There's no time limit. You're free to feel any way about today's Actors just like Yesterday's Actors. The reason why historians moved on from Biographies of Great Men was because they gradually discovered conflicting accounts from primary sources. Turns out the Great Men of any era are always controversial figures. Even if for as mundane a reason as People reject Change. History is written by the Victor, as they say. So it engenders us to believe that the Great Men of our past were always in the right. When History moved on to Just the Facts (and just to be clear, we're talking a 19th century shift, not something that happened in our lifetimes) it was focused on a scientific / causational framework. And sometimes when you search for those individual answers (X happened because of Y), the context gets buried. Which brings us to Modern History. By now, most of the timeline of world events has been constructed, so now it's time for us to interpret and contextualize the past in ways that they feel brings nuance to the conversation. So in Kissinger's case, an early historian would tout his accomplishments as an American hero, a 19th century historian wouldn't glamorize, but would be remiss not to mention he was awarded a Nobel Prize for Peace, and a modern historian would dive into Vietnam, Cambodian, etc histories to argue how much of a monster he was. And those hot takes were published while he was still living, mind you. Be prepared for some more now that his death reminds us of his existence.

Two of my favorite bros from Fire Emblem wrapped into one. FE1 Marth and Kelik 'The Fairy King' Zenair. Impressive work!

Nothing substantial. Some events give better rewards based on decisions you make or how well you perform, but the difference is just money, flower points, frog coins, all of which are farmable. The Remake spells out a lot of the hidden mechanics from the original so you're pretty well covered. But here's some juicy bullet points Mario's basic Jump spell gets 1 point more damage every 2 uses. It's not crucial that you power this up - Mario's a powerhouse without it, but it gives you something to work on in the early hours. Mario's Super Jump can be done up to 100 bounces, and the game secretly tracks your highest score. It's difficulty, but try to get at least 30. There's an NPC later that will award you one of the best accessories. He grants the best armor too (that anyone can equip) if you can get 100 but I've never gotten close myself. In The Mushroom Kingdom, there's a new accessory in the remake that notifies you that you're in a room with one of the game's 39 Hidden Treasures. These are all hidden block treasures you reveal by jumping underneath them. It does not track any other type of secret. So I thought I'd clarify what the game is trying to tell you in those rooms.

I studied history in college and this was the first question they hit you with. What is the "duty" of history, how have generations of historians approached it differently. The gradual shift from Biographies of Great Men to "Just the facts" to editorializing and Thesis Statements. Is it the job of the historian to moralize the historic actors? There's no consensus, you just do whatever history you think is appropriate for the subject matter. The truth is that facts don't "speak for themselves". Everything has its own framing regardless of the presence of any bias. Let me add another bullet point: The Industrial Revolution. Just an awful, depressing time in human history. But the result is the cities we live in today. Advancements in technology that would never have been dreamed of. Was their sacrifice worth it? Building societies that are now destroying the planet. In fifty years when a lot of us are underwater and throwing blame around, will they also be villains? Also, let me be the first to wish Henry Kissinger a happy stay in Hell, if we're going to be talking about atrocities.

Fire Emblem: Drums of War Robocop: Rogue City Shining Force 2 Yakuza Kiwami 2 With The Game Awards next week, I'm reminded there's a handful of Big 2023 games I've played but didn't write about, and I should probably do something with the notes I jotted down on them at the time Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon Starfield Street Fighter 6

The best way to repay Sakurai is another year of silence as he plugs away at his cute youtube channel. Wait, he doesn't monetize that shit? Smash will probably hit the NSO. I know Sakurai himself has always been weird on the prospect of re-releasing games he's worked on, but the reality is that he doesn't own Smash. Nintendo can throw those games onto whatever platform they want without his sign off. Especially the first two. Those have the lowest amount of companies that need to be contacted for copyright renewals.

This is the finale. Infantry lance classes have stuck out in the minds of Fire Emblem fans. Makes them a fan-favorite in a weird way when so many of us are asking what happened to them. There's infantry sword specialists, infantry axe specialists, why not lances? Their in-absence is going to lead to some short rankings, but I figured their popularity warranted a discussion anyway Myrmidons / Swordmasters Mercenaries / Heroes Thieves / Assassins Fighter / Warrior Brigand / Pirate / Berserkers Archers / Snipers Nomads / Bow Knights Armor Knights / Generals Cavaliers / Paladins Dancers / Refresh Units Pegasus / Falcoknights Wyverns Lords Troubadours / Valkyries Dark Mages / Druids Clerics / Bishops / infantry healers Mages / Sages Manaketes / Beast Units Here are my rankings, based on games I've played / replayed since 2017. I'm personally choosing to exclude the Soldier class of Gaiden, because it's clearly a precursor to armor knights, and you won't have Soldiers for long, mostly just Act 1.

Gonna be listening hard to audience reactions when we get Shadow's flashback scene of watching Maria getting shot in the face by "The Olive Garden Guy". I want it on the record that I mumbled to myself "No." when I saw the post credits tease.

Hey um where's Peter Weller's Robocop for Best Performance? Yeah I realize it's not the first time he reprised this role (Hello Mortal Kombat 11 DLC), but he is the definitive Robocop performance. It elevates the game that he's here, 35 years later

Keighley always comes down the chimney with some World Premieres. I know he said that would be less of a focus for this year, but that's just to throw us off! But also be prepared for things that were technically "announced" years ago in a financial report and we're finally seeing a trailer for. Like that Fallout show. Or the third Sonic movie. Actually with the strikes ending a couple weeks ago, there's a big backlog of film stuff that's been waiting to be announced and re-advertised, not just the video game-related film stuff. I guess I'm just hoping to see The Outer Worlds 2. Starfield's alright, but I couldn't get out of my mind how much neater it would be if the RPG stuff was championed harder than the Simulation aspects.