Use the Falchion
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Posts posted by Use the Falchion
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Decided to pull on the CYL 5 banner with improved odds with the hopes of completing my B!Marianne project, or at least getting close. I didn't even pull a single Marianne. I pulled THREE B!MARTHS AND TWO B!EIRIKAS, BUT NOT A SINGLE STORMING MARIANNE. Words cannot express how frustrating this is to me. I've been hoping every week for the past however many weeks the Arena Ticket has been going to pull a B!Marianne there, and zilch! Nada! Sigh...sometimes it feels like this game hates me...
I did end up Sparking for Marianne, but I was hoping for maybe two random pulls alongside the Spark. I guess I'll wait until next year. Maybe this year's CYL banner will be nice to me...
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On 3/29/2024 at 3:09 AM, Jotari said:
I like Shin Megami Tensei. And I like Fire Emblem. And once upon a time they promised a crossover. What we got instead was TMS which was...not what people were expecting. It was kind of Shin Megami Tensei and kind of Fire Emblem without really being either. But it had good gameplay at it showed the potential for a TMS style game mixed with Fire Emblem elements. But I still kind of want to see a proper attempt at Fire Emblem in a Shin Megami Tensei frame work. One where, instead of fighting and fusing demons, you're fighting and fusing Fire Emblem characters. Enemies have weaknesses based on their weapon triangle disadvantages. Compared to regular TMS this would give it a lot more predictability in what attacks are super effective, but, consequently, if skill inheritance is based on class type or weapon rank then what skills you can give your characters is more limited compared to regular TMS, making varied team composition much more important. Like, say, Dew comes with the Wind Sword skill, and you can fuse him to make either Volke or Kaze, Volke is stronger, but since Volke doesn't have a sword rank, you can't take his Wind Sword skill with him when you fuse while you can if you opt for the statistically weaker Kaze. I just think there's genuine potential for a great game there. One that mixes the TMS gameplay with the collectaton elements of Heroes as you progress from the weaker less known characters into the stronger lords and legendary characters by the end game. Maybe with a plot using actual Fire Emblem characters (unlike in Heroes) where you have to choose which philosophy to follow from significant egos in the franchise like Alvis, Edelgard or Ashnard, reminiscent of the Reason plotline in SMT III, only bigger and more varied since Fire Emblem has so much lore and history to pull from. Honestly I like the potential so much, if there was a proper game maker out there with a SMT style fusion system built in, I probably would make it myself.
And because nobody asked for it, here's all the idea for Fire Emblem named SMT skills I came up with while playing SMT III a few months back
Elements are: Sword, Axe, Lance, Bow, Knife, Fire, Wind, Thunder, Light, Dark, Surge (Almighty)
Orders: Knight, Cultist, Noble, Commoner, Mercenary, Royal, Ruffian, Beast, Dragon - These influence fusion like the clans in SM
Skills ActiveFire,Elfire,Archfire
Wind, Elwind,ArchWind
Thunder,ElThunder, ArchThunder
Something for multi target elemental spells, maybe the Tellius Rex spells could be the max of that.
(Mages physical attack is with a knife ala PoR.)
Levin Sword - Bolt Axe - Shock Stick - Thunder Arrow
Flame Sword - Flame Axe - Flame Lance - Fire Arrow
Wind Sword - Wind Axe - Wind Lance - Wind Arrow
Lopt Sword - Devil Axe - Indra's Arrow - Night Arrow
Light Brand - Shining Axe - Lance of Light - Shining BowCharacters can only inherit skills from their weapon type category, so only mages can use spells, that's what all these elemental weapons are for, to give elemental attacking capabilities to non mages. Also physical characters will have elemental weaknesses that are a little less obvious than their weapon triangle weakness, possibly based off their affinities (for the characters who have affinities). Typical weapon triangle weaknesses might not be 1:1, say, a lance armoured knight like Draug who resists swords and lances but is neutral to his WTD axes and then weak to all the magic types.
Buffs all the buffs (barrier at least exists for resistance). Maybe this could be the sole purview of dancers.Hammerne = Mana Drain, or possibly mana walk
Heal/Mend/Recover - Single Heal
Bloom Festival/Fortify/Goddess Staff - Multi Heal
Aum/Bifrost/Valkyrie - (revival)Death Blow (doubles next attack)
Surge/Elsurge (almighty magic, ignores resistances)
Counter/Magic Counter (the reflect attacks)
Skills Passive
-Bright Might/Dark Might, have a moon system, maybe the Fire Emblem is blazing
-Lance/Axe/Sword/Bow breaker, these are the null resistance skills
-Attack All (nothing resemblances it in Fire Emblem but I like it as a skill)
-Crit +30
-Lightoma equivalent to Light Up Areas given by Micaiah
-Ilyana's Shade is reduce enemy encounters (with maybe Volke's stilness eliminating them altogether)
-Avoid Traps a flying skill in SMT but a general thief skill could work well here
-Armsthrift, chance to not consume MP/HP when using a special
-Miracle = Endure (survive with 1HP once per battle)
-The Apothecary skills to heal automatically after battleI came up with a SMT x FE game idea myself a few years ago! Most of my notes are from last year to early this year, but the original idea dates back to late-2022 IIRC. Maybe into 2021, but I don't think it's THAT far back. This is also NOT my idea for a TMS 2. That's a completely separate idea, with separate documents and sequels.
Basically, it's an Isekai story, where a character from our world gets summoned to a world with demons where historical figures from our world are still alive. (This is important for world-building, lore, plot arcs, and personal story arcs.)
The gameplay would be a mix of FE, Persona and TMS, in which you have allies who have set classes, but you can also capture demons and use them in place of your allies if you desire.* The main character can change classes too, but to do so you have to "sacrifice" a specific number of monsters of a certain type on your "altar" or to your "Emblem," I haven't decided yet, to gain the class. So, for example, if you wanted the Pegasus Knight class, you'd need to sacrifice a certain number of "flying" type monsters or whatnot. (I.e. 10-20 Pixies, or 1 Pegasus and 1 Pixie.) The lower the level and more common the monster, the lower the percentage each monster will fill.
I don't think I got far with the morality aspect, as I was torn on even including it. My thinking of it would be that the "chaos" would be aligned with the "holy" side of things, as an embodiment of Free Will, while the "Order" would be aligned with the "Fell" side of things, as a sort of "Repressive But Efficient" style of government. There are alternative routes I could take as well, depending on the story, potentially. Overall, I like the idea of it, but I'm not sure I want to follow that path. I'm not sure it fits with the story I'm trying to tell.
*My notes from January say there would be five humans who have made pacts with demons, with all other characters being recruited later on or simply allowing demons to be used. My notes for the humans are sparce at best, with only the MC and the Jagen archetype having any notes or background at all, but I do know that the five humans would be coworkers who start out as the antithesis of their FE counterpart and grow into it as the game progresses. I do have some idea for mid-to-late-game human characters, but nothing concrete.
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For returning characters who are from previous games, Lucina is the top of my list. I can see other characters possibly showing up, like Alear or Yunaka, but they feel less likely to me.
What I'd love to see return are the Incarnations, like Tharja and Rhajat, Gaius and Asugi, and Caeldori and Cordelia. I'd love to see genderswapped incarnations in games with children in the future, espeically for the House Leaders and the Fates royalty.
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2 hours ago, ciphertul said:
Well so, who is everyone thinking on which character is getting the ring of the maiden? I'm heavily leaning Miriam, she is just so sweet.
Rosalinde and Yanha were my pre-release picks, and they've stood the test of time. I've seen pretty much all of the confessions from characters I like, and theirs are still the best to me. Victoria's is both funny and sweet and also really weird at times, but I love the second-coming of Queen Illenia in a way. Berengaria's is nice, but unless there are epilogues, I'm not going to go for it. Celeste's is cute though!
Fortunately, I missed a recruitable character or two, so I need to replay the game for those sweet, sweet romances. I'll probably romance Scarlett eventually, but for now, she's on the sideline, as I'm not the biggest fan of the whole "childhood friend" romance. ...I've also heard that Josef's confession scene isn't romantic, and I've played with the head-canon that Alear simply gives the ring to him and has...well, saying a harem may not be the most polite term, it feels appropriate. A multitude of Queen Consorts.
Other unrelated thoughts about Unicorn Overlord and Fire Emblem:
I fully consider UO a Fire Emblem game in my head. If I was introducing a new person to Fire Emblem, I'd go: Awakening, Fates, Engage as the first arc, Unicorn Overlord as a the palette cleanser, and then Echoes, Three Houses/Hopes, and hopefully the unreleased FE 4 remake. After that, another palette cleanser and then FE 7, 8, and Tellius.
If UO was going to cross over with any FE game and have them both take place on the same continent at the same time, I think Fates is the best bet...well, the Hoshido/Nohr part of Fates, that is. I used to think Engage was better, as the two are ring-themed games, but I think Fates could use the worldbuilding and actually accentuate Ferverth's own.* The Kitsune and Wolfkin have a place to call home, where they're not the only beastkin, as they'd hail from the northernmost continent. Cornia would function as a several city-states, each with their own royal family, and the Cornian family would rule over them all. Garon would have been the king of the citystate of Nohr and loyal to Illenia, until one day he changes. (Since the change happens in Fates proper, it feels like it fits here.) Alain and Azura would be twins, separated after Cornia's fall, only to be reunited later in life. (For kicks and giggles, the island that Alain is taking refuge in would now be Hoshido, who have taken a very isolationist standing towards the war due to the failed peace talks 10 years prior. The reason the two never met was because Mikoto forbade it. Mikoto cares for Azura like a daughter, and wanted her to be at peace in Hoshido. Alain and Josef are gunning to take the throne back, and Mikoto wouldn't want to be involved. It would only be after Mikoto's demise that Alain would get his start on his journey, not knowing that his sister has been on the same island as him for the past however-many years. Alain lived near one of the smaller port towns, while Azura lived in the central city in the castle, so the two never had a chance to meet.)
I have more, but I want to finish the game first before I worldbuild any more than what's above.
EDIT: Speaking of Fates, I'm finding that I'd love for Fates: Revelation to have a squad-based TBS system in the future. For literally years I've thought of the characters in Revelations as attacking in "squads" and I've incorporated recruitable enemies into that too. (I.e. Caimlla leading a flying squadron that flies behind enemy lines and drops off Ninjas and Dread Fighters behind enemy lines to target mages and healers before circling back to the main force.) To see it be an actual gameplay mechanic would be AWESOME! This is also partially driven by the fact that it takes FOREVER to train everyone due to the unit limits. If you could do 5-6 units per squad just like in UO, and have 4-5 squads per map, then you're already training more characters per map than nearly any other FE game. (IIRC, FE 4 and specific levels in other games, such as Priam's map in Awakening, get higher.)
Finally, a list of FE Lords and Main Characters Alain would get along with, from most to least:
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SpoilerMarth (the dude is basically Modern Day Marth from my uncultured point of view)
Alm - The two have the same first letter of their names and their gameplay love interests' names start with the /s/ sound. They were raised away from most of the world and became leaders and rulers in their own right. There's a little more, but y'all have seen the similarities. I say Alear is basically Marth above, but he's really an amalgam of Marth and Alm. Alear and Alm would be the two people who would get drinks at the bar or pub and commiserate, because they know exactly what the other is dealing with on any given day.
Celica - Alain would feel fond of her due to some of her similarities with Scarlett, but that's probably it.
Seliph - Another lord who has a liberation army and was raised by a retainer after his parents' passing and his homeland fell to an evil empire...yeah, they'd become great friends.
Lief - Same as Seliph
Roy - The burdens of young leadership would be their bonding experience.
Eliwood - Alain has the character of Marth and Alm and the class promotions of Eliwood. They'd get along just fine.
Eirika - I think Alain would see himself in Eirika, and the two would bond over how others see them as naive, but they'd rather learn to trust in a brutal world than give into cynicism.
Chrom - Chrom's just too friendly.
Corrin (Birthright/Revelation) - Fighting to rid a land of an evil empire is something that Alain gets.
Dimitri - AM!Dimitri gets losing his home and having to fight to reclaim it. I'd like to think that Alain could find someone to look up to in a "big brother" sort of way with the Tempest King. (Marth is someone who has a big legend and seems to live up to it, so it's hard to relate on a personal level, and Alm is more of a "man, I'm in the same boat as you" sort of situation)
Average
SpoilerHector - Hector would treat Alain like he treats Eliwood, and Alain would be grateful for it.
Lyn - Lyn would probably treat Alain more akin to a kindred spirit, but she'd be amazed at how he hasn't let his mother's demise burden his soul. (And he'd probably refute that.)
The above two run in the problem of probably treating Alain like he's Eliwood, and while Alain may not complain, I think it'd create some distance, as he's not that person.
Ike - "Idealistic mercenary and his blunt mercenary ally" relationship. Ike would probably like Alain as much as he can like any noble, but no more and no less.
Robin - Robin is dedicated to Alain. They'd respect and admire the leadership of the liberation and the bonds Alain likes to foster, but that's probably where it ends.
Claude - Alain would keep his distance and trust Claude to do what Claude is going to do. Alternatively, Alain could be the friend Claude needs if Byleth isn't around.
Shez - Same as Ike, although probably a lot warmer on both sides.
Dislike
SpoilerEphraim - He'd probably view what Ephraim did as reckless and irresponsible. He may also be secretly jealous of Ephraim, as I suspect many other lords in the series would be. But he'd like Ephraim once he grew out of it.
Corrin (Conquest) - Alain would not be for the whole "reform from the inside" thing, or at least he's not where I am in the story.
Edelgard - Alain is fighting the empire, so I can't imagine he'd agree with any of what Edelgard is doing. He'd try to understand her point of view and do a better job of doing so than Dimitri for example, but I still don't think they'd get along. Edelgard would also dislike Alain because she'd think he's being too naive.
Unsure
SpoilerByleth
Lucina
Alear
*I did consider Tellius and Fodlan, but both have solid worldbuilding IMO, and adding anything too that would have hurt both games. Meanwhile, Fates can really only go up and UO can carry that burden.
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Booted up an old demo save on Monday and sped-ran everything I could this time around. I skipped some of the smaller battles, but with my current team comp, slightly better gear, and the advice of those who have done FAR more than me, I was able to unlock I think every recruitable character but one and level up most of my units to between levels 13-15ish.
SpoilerMonica is the one I think I missed. It's the non-storyline Radiant Knight whose name begins with "M."
Due to all of these upgrades, this is the file I'll be playing going into the main game. I'm using slightly different characters in my new Units, and they're all able to handle four characters, but I do need to switch a few things around come Friday. (I.e. Yanha moving to Josef's Unit to support Hodrick, as there may be some romance between the two.)
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I think Awakening is still my favorite in terms of character design, but Path of Radiance probably has the best IMO. It's grounded but still clearly high-fantasy, gives a sense of characterization while still being functional, and is overall awesome.
Least favorite would either be Radiant Dawn simply because I didn't like how several of the characters looked or Fates, because while some designs were incredibly awesome, others were terribly over-designed and just annoying. (ODIN I'M LOOKING AT YOU.)
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Just beat the demo last night/late this morning! I really had a lot of fun with it! Unicorn Overlord has been on my list since its Direct announcement, and I had lost pretty much all hope for a demo in the Partner due to the gameplay trailers Atlus had been releasing...right up until it happened! Needless to say, I started playing as soon as I could on Wednesday. It was tough waiting until Friday to play again, but I did, and it was WORTH IT. Overall, this demo has convinced me to preorder the Deluxe edition instead of just buying the base game. (Something I regret not doing with Fates and Three Houses.)
Unicorn Overlord, from the trailers, felt very much like "Atlus takes on classic Fire Emblem story with similar battle and character recruitment philosophies" until I watched some in-depth analyses on YouTube and played the demo myself. In fact, it's a squad-based RTS rather than a TBS. (Although the ability to control who goes into the squad is VERY useful and greats a nice layer of depth.) Still, the Fire Emblem vibes are strong with this one, especially since the latest FE game we got had a big focus on rings as well. (My Headcanon right now is actually that Unicorn Overlord takes place on Elyos, but eons after Engage takes place. Most of the rings have been lost to time, and Alear's time has long-since passed. This will most assuredly change as the game goes forward, but it's a fun connection for now.)
My school district's Spring Break begins the Friday this game comes out, so I know what I'll be doing for most of it! I do have two books I've been waiting for coming out during that time as well, so I'll have stuff to do when my Switch's battery gets low, but I'm excited! Hopefully this isn't like Triangle Strategy, where I adored the demo and found the base-game to not live up to the hype due to choices that you could make. If it does live up to the hype, this will most assuredly be one of my top games of the year.
My main squads by the end of the demo:
SpoilerAlain's Unit: Alain, Nina, Chloe, Yahna - Great mix of physical damage, magical damage, and healing. My main infantry vanguard team, and they ROCK! I did plan on pairing Alain with Yanha, but I may change my mind about that. We'll see. Selvie seems interesting to get to know for Alain, as does the future Dark Elf ally. (I actually tried Selvie out for this group, but she was a little too fragile and her debuffs weren't reaching their max potential.) I just can't wait for the game!
Travis's Unit: Travis, Berenice, Bruno, Clive - A great physical unit that doesn't take too much damage but deals out a MASSIVE amount to Infantry units. Berenice is too new for this group and I'm not sure she meshes well. I'll probably but her and Selvie on a group together at a later time.
Rolf's Unit: Hodrick, Rolf, Sharon - Rolf is solid as a leader, but his group is slow and doesn't do as much damage as I'd like. I think later on, I may try reconfigure his group alongside Travis's Unit. I really want to use Sharon better. She's not her best here...
Josef's Unit: Josef, Mordon, Aubin - Alain's group is probably my favorite group, but this group is my best group. This is a pure physical offense group. They hit hard, fast, and repeatedly. It's great. I worried about Josef being an EXP sponge, but he's a great shield.
Adel's Unit: Adel, Lex, Selvie - This is basically a spare unit that I put together with some spare Renown I had. I knew more or less what I wanted to do with Adel, but I wanted to use Selvie and Lex, so I put the group together. They worked well on the final stage for holding down the main base, but that's about it. Full disclosure on Lex - I did NOT like using him early on. I couldn't figure out what to do with him, and he wasn't contributing how I wanted him to. So I benched him for a majority of the Demo. After meeting Fran earlier though, I realized that he would probably be GREAT for blocking archers for her, so I want him on the team. Ideally, I want a Fran-led team that has Fran, Miriam, Adel, and Lex. They'll cover infantry and cavalry, have amazing movement, and be able to cover all terrain. I'll probably switch Fran to my Unit space with four slots to do this.
Fran's Unit (gained as the demo ends): Fran, Miriam, Kitra - Mostly mentioned above. Kitra isn't as engaging as a unit to me since I already have Nina and plan on using her.
Future Potential Units & Where They're Placed:
Scarlett - I'll feel guilty if she's not with Alain, since she's more or less fulfills the whole "Childhood Love Interest" trope. The Celica to Alain's Alm. But I'm not the biggest fan of that trope in terms of my Fire Emblem romances - or any videogame romance that I can think of off the top of my head for that matter - nor do I know/remember what her skills and priorities are outside of healing. I really like Chloe on Alain's team, and I don't need two healers there. We'll see.
Dark Elf Unit - Alain's team.
Berengaria - Alain's team probably. But I do like her, Travis, and Bruno mending their relationships also.
Potential Unit Combos:
Berenice, Hodrick, Sylvie - This would probably be my aggro team. So debuff, delay, destroy. If I dismantle Josef's team and add Aubin here, then they'll REALLY do some damage! Aubin's ability to attack after Sylvie is probably what the team will need. I'd like to keep Sharon or maybe add Scarlett since this would be a mainline team, but we'll see.
Fran, Miriam, Adel, Lex - Lex covers Fran's weakness to bows while Miriam and Adel take out the archers and infantry.
Rolf, Josef, Mordon - This way Rolf can have at least a tad more speed and hit more unit types. I really need him to get to the towers before I don't even need them anymore, and this arrangement may allow it.
This game tickles me in a way that has been evident in my Fire Emblem experience since Awakening that I didn't really address until these past few years - unit crafting and build-crafting. I LOVE buildcrafting units in Fire Emblem.* I've got a build I'm working on in Three Hopes for Dimitri (BOB SAGET HE WILL LEARN BOLTING EVENTUALLY) and am actively resisting starting Engage again to test out a few builds since I just finished a unit-crafting playthrough a few weeks ago. I'm doing some unit-crafting for Fates, since I haven't done that in a while.** Unicorn Overlord is looking to be RIPE with unit-crafting, and I AM HERE FOR IT. I just really hope we can get Renown easier, as we're going to need a LOT of it to experiment with different Unit builds.
*Ironically the one FE game that has a ton of buildcrafting that I don't care for is Heroes. I just like using the units I like and the teams that feel good. (And for the dailies, the ones that get me victory with little investment.) And that's the long-and-short of it.
**I'm more or less waiting until a mod comes out where the Awakening kids are fully playable and romanceable in Fates in a mod called Awakened Truth. I have the Silent Waves mod, which is fine, but the only playable charactersI wanted from that were Layla and Lilith. If the Awakened Truth mod can add them as well, or work with another mod that adds them, then I'll be in heaven. Fates is also one of those games where buildcrafting is far more fun in theory than actuality. I HATE the early-game of Fates with a burning passion, so much so that it's stopped multiple playthroughs.
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On 12/29/2023 at 9:23 PM, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:
Claude: "Hey, I'm the Prince of Almyra."
Edelgard: "Hey, I know the secret dark history of the Church and it's rulers."
Dimitri: "Hey... I'm telling!"
Both Claude and Edelgard have serious reasons to distrust Rhea, so it would be phenomenally stupid of them to reveal their secrets to each other - and much less to the goody-two-shoes, pre-skip Dimitri. Unless their plan is to get put under surveillance, thrown out of the Academy, or perhaps even imprisoned.
Claude probably has the better reasoning IMO, although I don't think either hold up depending on the point of view. The Church, while not the friendliest to outsiders, doesn't seem to oppose them at the highest level. Rhea hired Shamir and has Cyril as her personal assistant/servant. Petra and to a smaller extent Dedue are allowed to attend with little-to-no consequence. If Claude, as the prince of Almyra came to Rhea and said "I want to improve relationships by going undercover and ultimately working to stop the cycle of violence between our two nations," I honestly don't think she'd oppose it. ...so long as Claude doesn't mention tearing down walls just yet.
Edelgard ironically has a lot of similarities with Rhea, from both having their siblings murdered by the same people, to having the same enemies, to subtly and forcefully changing the geopolitical landscape of Fodlan to fit their ideologies. To me, Edelgard is where Rhea was. While they have no reason to be honest with each other, if they could both be a little more honest, I think they'd actually work great together. Although maybe that's the point.
Scarlet Blaze also had a really good set-up for that. Edelgad comes to Rhea for help in outing TWSITD, and from there we could have seen the two team up to take them out. Remember that the Church, while allowing Crests to be prominent in society, doesn't condone it. (IIRC, one of the lore drops mention the Goddess "turning her back" on the people of Fodlan once they started to abuse the power of the Crests.) If Edelgard said "I can get rid of our mutual enemies if you step down and allow for a meritocracy system," I don't think Rhea would actually oppose that much. (Rhea's mindset would be like "sure, try out your little changes and I'll revert the system back in a couple of centuries," but maybe could come to appreciate and even agree with the changes over the course of the route.)
As for Dimitri, I honestly don't think he'd tell. Well, not for Claude anyways. He'd ruminate over it, and he would fundamentally disagree with Edelgard, but he'd prefer to talk it out and come up with a solution that fits all of their needs rather than fight at first. Dimitri's first instinct isn't to tell, but to research, verify, and then act.
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Emblem Oliver with Goldmary, two utterly narcissistic beings with different ideals of beauty would be hilarious.
L'Archel with Citrinne
Felix with Kagetsu - (Random side-bit I just wanted to share; I'm toying with a scenario in which the characters of Engage are the second generation to the Three Houses characters, and it's hilarious. Goldmary is now Manuela's daughter, Kagetsu is Felix's son, and Yunaka and Diamant are Sylvain's children. (Yunaka is Sylvain's daughter out of wedlock before he married and Diamant is his child with his wife.))
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They personally don't bother me, and I like them for the head-canon/roleplaying aspect.
I liked Byleth being called "Professor" or "Teach" far more than Persona 5's "this guy" thing. It was more personal and affectionate.
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Story - A story told where each chapter has a different cast of characters, but they all meet up and join forces. Kind of like Radiant Dawn but only for a part of the game.
Gameplay - More like Genealogy and Vesperia Saga (and the FEW games), where we'd have larger maps with things like side objectives and mini-missions to do on them per level.
Magic - More like Disgaea in a way. where you can level up specific skills and have the shape of said skills change. For example, after getting a Fire/Thunder/Wind spell to Level 5, you can choose two spots for it to attack on a 2x2 grid for that character. For the next spell tier (Elfire/Wind/Thunder), get it to level 10 and it's 3 spots on a 3x3 grid. Final tier is 4x4 for the Arc-level of the spell.
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On 7/27/2023 at 11:07 AM, Imuabicus der Fertige said:
Godzilla Loptyr
I know that's sort of just Grima, but I'd love a game about trying to figure out how to stop a Godzilla Loptyr (aka a Fell Dragon or whatnot) the first time it appeared. No "we sealed it away for a thousand eyars before so we'll do it again" nonsense. This is the first time, and everything you throw at it, it'll throw back at you with more force.
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From the 80 Pulls of CYL and a few random pulls:
4*+1 Nephenee
B!Seliph
Julia
2 B!Sorens (UGH)
Fallen!Lyon
B!Corrin
Fem!Alear
Fallen!Lilith
I used my free summons on Robin (the giveaway one), Corrin (first 40), and Gullveig (next 40)
Now I'm just trying to clear out my storage so I can get to 800k feathers and finish some 2-year-old merge projects.
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I'm not the best person to talk about the game since I never completed a playthrough, but I like the characters!
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I personally really don't like it. I grew up with the Weapon Triangle and the Magic Triangle (Light/Dark/Anima), and I've wanted a return to that ever since. Granted, the different types of magic are really just macro versions of the anima triangle, but I like them for lore reasons and in games where monsters are introduced like in Sacred Stones.
To be fair, I like when the different types of anima magic have different advantages and drawbacks, particularly like in Engage, but I'd rather have those things specific to Anima magic while also keeping Light Magic for monsters and Dark Magic for...being cool.
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Voted Robin for best. Robin and Shez have actual personalities, which makes them both the best and worst Avatars. (Robin and Shez are also in a sweet spot when it comes to the story. They're relevant due to their powers/history, but they aren't the main force pushing the story onward. They're close enough to be important, but they don't rob the actual main characters of importance or screentime; they also don't randomly fade into the background either, which is nice.) Robin, Corrin, and Kiran are
designed by Yosuke Kozaki making them instant-winscustomizable, making them better than those that aren't IMO.* (Kiran has less of a personality and is more of a comedic Avatar in the Heroes comics, which at least gives them something.)I voted on Kris for worst, because I felt like I needed to vote for someone so I went with the one I didn't know but haven't heard good things about. (Not a good thing to do, but alas...)
I personally don't think Byleth is that bad. Byleth's problem IMO is that Three Houses leaned too hard on the "silent-but-still-talkative" protagonist thing with the Ashen Demon, which prevented them from being a fleshed-out character.** That being said, in the truest sense of an Avatar, Byleth is both a success and a failure (story-wise at least). We can see that in Three Hopes, Byleth's personality does shine through a bit and it's interesting.
Mark could be seen as the best or the worst, given one's criteria, but I think they do their role well. Mark is an aspiring tactician (like players) and would rather watch the story unfold than play too heavy of a role in things (also like the players). I personally have a problem with Mark's fade into the background towards the later parts of the game, but I understand it too.
*I think Corrin may fail as a character (due to being the game's Lord, Avatar, and Manakete, and the game's writing not balancing that out well) but not as an Avatar.
**I have a theory that this was done in a wayward attempt to recapture the popularity of Joker from Persona 5, given everything else they borrowed from that game/franchise. Had they given Byleth voice-over in supports, I think it would have gone a very long way for the character.
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3 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:
Wouldn't Jade rather have Corrin for this purpose? That way, she can negate Chain Attacks entirely. It's not like she's taking less damage from them, even with Ike attached...
3 hours ago, Shadow Mir said:Bold: Unfortunately, Chain attacks do fixed damage anyway; only Pair Up from Corrin can negate them. I know this because I saw someone learn this lesson the hard way... by getting Louis killed by the enemy using chain attacks. Oh, and his attackers did zero damage otherwise.
I'm aware. My point was rather that Jade doesn't have to worry about damage outside of the Chain Attacks because her Def is too high, particularly with the +5 boost on top of the other boost. You can endure the chip damage (so long as your HP is high enough, you have Tiki's Divine Blessing, or there are a reasonable amount of enemies) and then heal with Great Aether and it's easier to do when you have a bulky Knight of a unit.
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My gut reactions are Sacred Stones due to Gilliam and Amelia (who while bad is still pretty usable IMO), Awakening (obscene stat caps, access to multiple skills if needed, and Javelins & Hand Axes are OP), and Engage (Louis is considered one of the best units in the game to quite a few from what I've seen, and Jade with Ike* is a BEAST in my experience.)
*Granted, Ike makes nearly everyone a beast, but the +5 Def for Great Aether goes a long way when it comes to tanking through Chain Attacks and regular attacks.
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19 hours ago, Jotari said:
Gimmicky characters have existed before and since but Awakening was certainly the most gimmicky of gimmicky casts.
Fates and Engage would like to speak to you. Although yes, I see your point. Up until that point, it was an incredibly colorful cast. Still, I'd prefer what Awakening did with its cast and supports over Radiant Dawn's "let's introduce you for a chapter and then make you unusable for half the game, and then let you languish because you're no longer optimal or even useful" approach towards their characters.
19 hours ago, Jotari said:Are there deeper depths to the characters? Yeah, sure, when you sift through enough of their huge support pool there will be something you can latch on to.
It's not actually like it's hard to do. The game encourages supports, and they aren't cut-and-paste supports like most of Radiant Dawn or repeating the same information nearly every support like in Fates. Vaike talks about growing up poor in different contexts, but it's always used to relate to the person in question in a unique way. For some, it's an inspiration. For others, it's a comparison. For still more, it's motivation to get to a further goal. But this isn't hard information to find. Just, you know, actually build a support with like one of three characters (Chrom, Lissa, and Lon'qu, so you don't even have to go far) and it's there.
19 hours ago, Jotari said:that Yandere Stalker who curses people
I can only think of two times where she curses someone, and both times it was harmless. (Virion, who wasn't even affected, and Frederick where it's played for laughs and Tharja ultimately quits.)
19 hours ago, Jotari said:abuses her daughter first and foremost.
Technicality - a version of her who is never seen abuses her daughter. The Tharja we see in the game uses Noire as a test dummy for minor curses, yes, but those aren't treated much differently than a parent/spouse trying out a new recipe and using their children/significant other as a test dummy for said recipe. (Noire herself seems somewhere resigned to this fate (her supports with her father) and enjoying it as a form of bonding (her supports with her mother and her Future Past dialogue with her mother).) The point of the hexes aren't to harm Noire, as both future and present versions of Tharja actively try not to. (It's the reason Future Tharja never had Noire assist in any actually dangers Dark Magic, and why Present Tharja doesn't teach Noire any hexes.)
QuoteTharja: I don't want you dealing in hexes. The dark arts carry with them tremendous risks. My future self knew as much...
Noire: You think that she was worried for my safety? That...she loved me?
Tharja: Can't say. Not about her, at least. ...But I love you, if that helps.
19 hours ago, Jotari said:I guess what I'm trying to say is that spin off stuff simplifies characters down to their most basic traits, but Awakening already did that in its base game.
I still heavily disagree on two points with Tharja. First is that spinoffs simplify a character down to their most basic traits. The trait you've chosen to identify isn't the main trait the spinoffs have chosen to identify. Tharja isn't a fanservice girl, but that's what Heroes and even TMS would lead you to believe. In the base game, she has one single person compliment her on her looks. Out of all of the DLC, it shows up in one specific scenario and support. But IntSys has latched onto that like no other.
The second point I disagree with is that Awakening simplifies its characters down to a basic trait. No, what Awakening did was show you a quirk and allow players to discover more about the characters at their own pace. They say "Hey, if you like this character's design and quirk, use them and learn more about them pretty quickly!" That's different than saying "this is all there is to this character."
If characters were simplified to their most basic traits in Awakening, then every support Cordelia had would mention Chrom every single time. Instead, Cordelia has several supports that don't even mention her crush on Chrom, or when they do it's only in the optional S-Support. (Thinking back, I'm pretty sure most of her supports work like that. Gregor is the one major exception I can think of off the top of my head.)
The only exception to that rule is Kellam, who is forgotten in 90% of his supports and in pretty much every paired ending.
Awakening works a lot like Three Houses in that regard. It introduces you to characters, tells you their gameplay purpose and main gimmick (in 3H remember you have the option to talk to the House Leaders to learn about your potential students first), and then lets you discover more about them at your own pace. The only major differences are that Three Houses has paralogues for the characters, and the characters are given more screentime.
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Tharja - She's usally seen as either Ms. Fanservice or THE Yandere Stalker of modern FE games, but people forget that she actually is a very kind person most of the time. She's manipulative, but usually manipulates others to the betterment of the innocent, as seen in her supports with Donnel and Virion, and her ending with Libra. (Which also shows that she loves kids.) Tharja is occasionally shown to take "younger/weaker" people under her wing, like Nowi and Olivia in Awakening (IIRC DLC for Olivia), Azura in Warriors, and Kiria in TMS#FE. But sure, let's focus on the one aspect that only really comes out in a few supports and has very little impact on her character ending, unlike future versions of the tropes.
Honestly, most characters in Awakening are simplified to their core quirk, it feels like. It's not as if they don't have depth, but I guess the game's mechanics and the lack of overt nuance (what an oxymoron lol!) makes them seem simpler than they actually are.
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2 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:
Genealogy's gameplay is very much different from Engage. Enemy quality is very low, but there are just a lot of them to deal with. It's a very ememy-phase oriented game. There are also very few enemy skills (aside from a few class-linked ones), and very little ability to control your own units' skill catalog. Not to mention, no forging, and no reclassing.
So I've seen and heard. I think that between the map size, the bulk of units, and the builds, fans of gameplay will have more to do than expected, which was my overall point. I don't think it'll be as simple as Awakening and Three Houses, but it won't be super crazy either. Just enough to provide a challenge to those looking for one if need be.
I'm also of the opinion that a remake will completely revamp the skill and art system. Forging and Reclassing will also probably come into play (although I hope more akin to Fates than Awakening, Three Houses, or Engage.)
2 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:I mean, I find Genealogy's gameplay quite enjoyable, but then again, I tend to favor "chill and relaxing" FE experiences.
I'm definitely in the "chill and relax" camp! I enjoy being able to play an FE game, put on a YouTube video, and go into a Zen mode. But for some reason, Genealogy never felt like that for me when I imagined playing as I watched or even the few moments I did play.
2 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:It is, I've replayed it that way.
Good to know! Thanks for the fact check!
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9 hours ago, Jotari said:
The solution there is simple, L'Archel and Innes campaigns! And give Ephraim new chapters in the early game detailing his guerilla war with Grado so that the route split can be decided from the start like Hector and Eliwood mode.
I'm 100% down for this! Add a few new characters, and the game feels incredibly large. Love it!
4 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:Personally, I think next console will be backward-compatible with the Switch, so there'll be no need to port or remaster anything for it during the 2020s decade.
I'd take that.
4 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:I do, however, think there's at least 30% chance the next proper installment will be set in Fodlan.
I'm not 100% convinced the next installment will be set in Fodlan, but I do think the Fodlan story has at least one more adventure in it, be it a Definitive Edition with new story content or a new game.
5 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:There was a 5-year (or 4 1/2 year) gap between FE Warriors 1 and 2.
And the gap can't get shorter due to a better working relationship and foresight because...? Even besides that, I personally see the Warriors games and the Musou Spin-off games as slightly different. One is (supposed to be) a celebration of the franchise, while the other is a stylistic spin-off of a specific game. I think it's possible and even likely we'll see the occasional Musou/Warriors spin-off of a specific game and then later down the line we'll see the return of FEW proper.
5 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:we won't see anything before 2026 or 2027
I still think we'll see Genealogy Warriors around 2025. But I also think we'll see a proper FE Warriors 2 in 2027 as a ten-year anniversary thing.
5 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:what people are forgetting in all the FE4 remake hype is that the original sold "only" 498K units, which was far less than Mystery. When Mystery was remade for the DS it sold only 250K; granted, it was a Japan-only release, but if it had an international sales pattern which resembled Blazing Blade, this still would've been 1 million units or less. Even combining this with the sales of Shadow Dragon we're only talking about 1.6 million, or a return slightly above 2x the original game. I can't see New Genealogy clearing 2 million.
I can see it for two major reasons - exposure and a growth in the franchise. Genealogy has been rereleased on the Wii (one of, if not the most sold console of all time), the WiiU, and the 3DS. I don't know if it's on NSO for Japan, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was. That's nearly 3 new generations of potential fans at best, and new exposure at worst. As far as growth goes, Fire Emblem isn't remotely in the same place it was when New Mystery was released. Between Awakening, Fates, Heroes, Three Houses, and two Smash Bros games, Fire Emblem is more popular than ever.
Two other factors are popularity and word of mouth. In the Japanese polls I could find, Genealogy ranks in the top three of the most popular FE games. (Three Houses and Awakening being the other two in the 2020 poll, and Three Houses and Engage in the 2023 poll.*) As for word of mouth, Genealogy is almost always given positive praise and recommendations in my experience. That can mean a lot for newer fans or more hesitant buyers. "If the old game is recommended, how much better will the remake play?"
Finally, Genealogy has something for everyone, more than nearly any other game before it. For fans of Three Houses' complex story, Genealogy is seen as the best in the franchise by some. For fans of shipping and romance like in Awakening and Fates (and Three Houses...and pretty much every game post-Binding Blade), Genealogy has that. For fans of interesting and engaging (pun intended) gameplay like in Engage, Genealogy has that.** If done right, I think a Genealogy remake can unite several sides of the FE fandom, which in turn would create a positive word-of-mouth, which would lead to more exposure and therefore more growth, which then leads to popularity.
*While I assume there's some recency bias for Engage, we really can't claim that for Awakening nowadays.
**So I've heard. I didn't get far in my playthrough of Genealogy. Honestly, not even past the first few turns. I blame my setup.
**
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Genealogy is a given due to its popularity in Japan and how the West can be seen as a "new market" for the game IMO.
For Thracia, I tend to fall on the side of "expansion/DLC for Genealogy remake" not unlike Torna: The Golden Country was for Xenoblade 2.
Binding Blade and Blazing Sword will be fine until they're remade IMO, as they still hold up relatively well graphically and gameplay-wise. (I'm a fan of the "remake them together and have new and old child units pass between them, but that's me.)
Sacred Stones is a weird one. I think it'll be remade, and I think if IntSys wanted to do a smaller, SoV-style remake with Hidari's artwork, this game is by far the best option. But only for that. As it stands, I honestly don't think that SS is strong enough to be remade without additional content. It's too small in a series that has been drifting away from "too small" IMO.
The Tellius games will 100% be remade, but I think they just need a remaster until then.*
Awakening and Fates are 100% being remade eventually.** Awakening is too well-loved to not get one, and Fates has content that's no longer available. (t also really, REALLY needs some story rewrites.)
Three Houses is too close to judge, but I'd be surprised if they didn't remake it down the line. For now, I think a Definitive Edition that combines both Fodlan games (with or without a third game to wrap up some of the lingering mysteries) could do.*
*Since I like doing these from time-to-time, I'd my overly-optimistic guess of a timeline would be something like:
Q1 2024 - Genealogy Remake
Q3/4 2024 - Fodlan Games on Switch 2
Q1/2 2025 - Genealogy Warriors
Q3/4 2025 - Tellius Remasters
Q2 2026 - FE 19
**I'd personally like to see Awakening and Fates combined in a remake. I think playing with time travel and the wonky nature of time in Fates would be really fun and increase replay value.
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I have high hopes that it'll happen. Three Hopes was pretty successful financially IIRC (especially considering it's a crossover between two pretty niche genres) and reviewed well initially. IntSys has a good working relationship with KT as well, so them collaborating in the future makes sense.
As for the game itself, I think it'd play a lot like Three Hopes did honestly, for better and worse. I think we'll have an abridged version of Part 1, then do an arc for Thracia 776 (assuming it's not DLC), and then head into a slightly modified Part 2.
For reference, I think they'd (FE 4 Spoilers)
Spoilerhave Sigurd and Co live through Part 1, which would create a different geopolitical landscape for Part 2, with Sigurd and his allies either existing in a Cold War until Seliph comes of age, or Sigurd and Co on the run as fugitives until the rebellion officially starts.
My experience with Warriors games is extremely limited (literally only a bit of FEW, one roue and a little of the others in Three Hopes, and a little P5S), but I believe the gameplay will improve, as it seemingly has done over the past two FE crossovers.
In terms of other content, once again I can't speak on that. I do think that a robust NG+ (characters, content, and carryover bonuses) and/or Post-Game would go a long way in helping the replay value. Add in some shipping stuff (and keep the pairing stuff already from the base game), and maybe some enemy campaigns, and you've got a phenomenal gameplay experience and a great sequel to a great game.
Loose uncoordinated ideas about the potential for an actual Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem title
in General Fire Emblem
Posted
Fair enough, but I think you may be assuming that I'd be using FE characters in the game. I wouldn't be. I'd be taking the classes, archetypes, maybe a few story beats, and some gameplay mechanics from Fire Emblem, but all of the characters would be 100% original to this game (outside of some historical public-domain figures), hence my lack of worry about fitting the archetypes to these characters. I'm more worried about whether it'd fit the story than FE characters as a whole.