Use the Falchion

If we meet Alfred's father and he isn't voiced by Chris Hackney, I'm going to be very disappointed.

Personally the 00's probably, but that may be nostalgia speaking. Financially and as a company and franchise? '10's easily. FE went from being a pretty niche Nintendo property to one of their main franchises. (Not necessarily tentpole but as close as it may ever get.) In that single decade we saw the franchise almost die, revive itself, and bloom into what it is today. We got some innovative and enjoyable new games, a few solid remakes (YMMV), and a mobile game that made a billion dollars (over its 5 year and going lifespan). Sure the GBA games and the Tellius games are classic, but in terms of sheer prowess, it's the 3DS games and Three Houses that made FE as popular and successful as it is now. (Of course they couldn't have done that without standing on the shoulders of giants.)

The June leak mentioned that there would be "many new characters," so I'm not sure that the cast size will be that small. Then again, "many" is a subjective and nebulous statement. 12 can be a lot compared to 6, and 15 is "many" compared to 8, so who knows how many characters there will be. As an aside, I don't think that the cast being small automatically means that the characters will be more fleshed out. I found most of the Three Houses/Hopes cast pretty fleshed out despite the amount of characters in the game. Yes, a smaller cast has a more room to receive that focus and more spotlight opportunities for each character (depending on the size of the game of course), but I think Supports and Paralogues help flesh out characters a lot.

I had an idea the other day where the MC wasn't the lord, but the "vassal" to the Lord (more akin to how Itsuki acts as one who supports Tsubasa than he does as a lord does). The two games were Three Houses and Binding Blade, but each character would have two spirits (which is more akin to my original and core TMS 2 ideas than my TMS 3 one above). MC** - Ranger - Roy & Felix (Hero/Vanguard vs Mortal Savant/Dread Fighter) (Yes I know Rutger goes better, but I think Roy and Felix would make for a more interesting pair.) Gal** - Lord (later Holy Lord and then Saint) - Lilina & Flayn* Cool Archer Girl** - Archer (Sniper/Deadeye vs Bow Knight/Silver Knight) - Igrene & Shamir (Sue is also an option, if we're going to make a fun homage to FE 6 and have all of Roy's romantic options be available. But I feel that changes the game's focus in a way that resembles some of the less interesting aspects of TMS.) ??? - Knight (General/Baron vs Wyvern Rider/Wyvern Lord) - Seteth & Bartre ??? - Myrmidon (Swordmaster/Trueblade vs Falcon Knight/Seraph Knight***) - Ingrid & Thea/Shanna ??? - Cavalier - Lance & Lorenz (Paladin/Mage Knight vs Great Knight/Gold Knight) ??? - Dancer (promotes to Diva) - Larum & Dorothea ??? - Mage (Sage/Gremory vs Shaman/Druid) - Sophia & Lysithea (I was tempted to do Niime and Lysithea, but I think they'd make an oddly great match. Cecilia and Lysithea is also an option for the above reasons.) *I wanted Rhea to be here, but Flayn fits better I suppose. **In my head, I'm toying with the idea of each character being the opposite of the Mirages and growing to be more like them (in their own way of course) by the end of the game. For example, the Gal character is rough around the edges and doesn't really care about her fans or the people under her, but grows to be passionate about her songs and the healing they can provide as the game goes on. The cool archer girl is actually pretty dorky, but by embracing her dorkiness she becomes more confident in herself and thus becomes cool. ***YEAH, I WENT THERE. LET'S PROMOTE A MYRMIDON INTO A SWORD-MAIN PEGASUS KNIGHT.

I like it. It doesn't bother me now that I've seen more of the world and aesthetic the game is going for. I may have been happier overall with a more standardish design, but that's a nitpick at most. I'm also pretty easy to please. And yes, the design may be weird for Fire Emblem as a whole, but it's fine for Fire Emblem Engage, and that's far more important IMO.

Dark-skinned Staff (and probably Fist) girl and M!Alear. The dark-skinned guy on the deluxe edition is another potential favorite.

I have a 100+ page and growing outline (plus a few more scattered documents) on how I'd love to do a TMS sequel. Taking some of my ideas from my TMS 3 ideas (yes, I have ideas for TMS 2-4, although 3 may be split, so it may be 2-5 - the final one is more nebulous) and applying them to your rules, Genealogy and Three Houses work best, I think. Lord - Sigurd (Female protag) Healing/Light Mage to Saint - Deirdre (Female Protag's brother) Knight to Marshall - Lex (First ally?) Mage to Baron - Edelgard (because I can) (Female Lancer) - Offensive Magic/Armor/Axe Archer to Barbarossa - Claude (Male Aloof Ally) - Passive Magic/Flying/Bow/Sword Soldier to Blessed Knight - Dimitri (and/or Quan) (Male Best Friend) Healing Magic/Cavalry/Lance Myrmidon to Trueblade - Ayra (Rival-Turned-Ally) Pegasus Knight to Seraph Knight - Erinys (Free spirit who joins) Bonus Ally - Byleth

Whittled my orbs down from 260 to 50 due to sniping on Reamred Lif's banner and the Weekly Revival banner. The Rearmed banner was pretty bad. I was sniping Red and Green orbs for Lif, Shez, and Hilda, but I ended up being pity-broken by Monica on a summoning circle with only blue and colorless. I should have gone colorless... I ended up pulling Shez three summons before the Spark, so I was at least able to Spark for Rearmed Lif. On the Weekly Revival banner, I was hunting for Phina since she's a character I want. I did get her, but it took a bit. Overall, this is bad shape, but not anything I can't recover from before the end of October.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII "Somnus" intensifies Sorry, couldn't help it. It's been on my mind since we found out the name was Somniel.

Just a stupid thought from the last night/this morning, but we know that Ike and Lucina are seemingly based on their Heroes alts according to the mural (which we know that isn't 100% indicative of the characters in-game, as Sigurd is shown with a lance but we see him with a sword later on), and it got me to thinking that if Camilla shows up with her Brave alt as a focus (aka as a Stave unit), it'd be fun to see her and other characters with alts to see how they got their alts and what their world is like if they're using those as their main weapons. Which in turn led to a stupid and impossible idea of Engage having DLC where Alear and Co. travel to those characters' worlds so we can actually see the worlds and Alear interact with them.

I think it really depends on how they use the characters. Are they just like equipable weapons and skills rolled into one? Is there a synergy thing going on? What will separate Micaiah from Celica in this game, particularly if they're both magic users, or Lucina from Eirika or Lyn? (Outside of just one spell/skill?) Regardless, I'd like to see: Seth or Finn, Chrom, Claude/Dimitri/Edelgard, and at least Azura. I think several of the members of Warriors have a good shot of making it into the game. (And if one of the siblings like Camilla makes it into the game, I think all eight siblings will be in.) EDIT: Alfonse, Sharena, and Veronica, because if this game is taking inspiration and designs from Heroes, the cast of Heroes deserves some love!

That's not untrue, but you'd think that Pokemon's success would mean that they would never release more than one game a year, let alone bigger games like PLA and S/V. But here we are. That's probably because the major deciding factor (IMO) isn't necessarily the size of the company, but the fiscal year. So long as the games are in different fiscal years, then they can be in the same calendar year. The timeline between Three Hopes and Engage is seven months, and other FE games have had even shorter times between their games. It'd be perfectly reasonable for FE to release Engage in January (and release DLC in May), announce FE 4 in June, and then release it in October/November. They'd be different fiscal years also, so it's not like they'd be counted at the same time. Besides, as hinted, this wouldn't be the first or even second time that IntSys has done that with Fire Emblem. (See 2005 with Sacred Stones and Path or Radiance for America, or 2017 with Echoes and Warriors. Granted, the latter two were smaller games overall.) Now, do I really think that an FE 4 remake is going to come out in 2023? Not really. We have Engage, and we still have some potential (hopeful) Three Hopes DLC to worry about. But I also don't think the "two games from the same franchise in one year" club is as exclusive or unreasonable as you sort of imply.

Copy-pasting my thoughts from the other thread last night. I'd love to add more thoughts, but I won't have time until the weekend. I certainly need to see the trailer again, but I'm pretty happy with Engage. One of my texts to my friends was "this looks so stupid and I love it!" and that's sort of how I feel, but not exclusively. (One of my friends who wasn't into Three Houses but has been playing FE since Blazing Sword said he's really excited for this game. The other one in that category isn't excited for this game at all, but is excited about a potential FE4 remake.) Awakening is one of my favorite games, and how this game harkens back to Awakening is both heartwarming to me as we know how far the series has come since Awakening, and it's also intriguing - is this game the future of Ylisse? (I doubt it, but it's fun to imagine for now.) The designs definitely work in-world as compared to the relative vacuum that the leaks had, and the characters look unique and fun. The "Engage" part of the gameplay looks interesting, as it seems like the previous FE characters are a mix of Persona, Carnage Spirits from TMS, or Stands, and then Digimon when the two combine. They seem to offer unique gameplay abilities, and I'm curious to see where this goes. The story seems lighter in tone than Three Houses and Three Hopes but just as detailed in terms of lore and myth, and I'm here for that. I can't say for how that will all play out in-game, but I'm fine with the change of tone. It might be a nice change of pace if FE 4 remakes are around the corner. Speaking of remakes, it looks like Emily Rogers and Nate the Hate were right on the money with this Direct, which means there's a solid chance that they're right about FE4 Remake being the next thing. Sadly, it doesn't look like that game will be a 2023 release...although, if Pokemon can release two major games in one year, so can Fire Emblem! Never lose hope! Still, I do hope we get some nice Three Hopes DLC before the end of the year and all eyes turn towards Engage. Overall, I'm very happy with this announcement, and 2023 is shaping up to be one of the best years for entertainment for me ever! (January is stacked with two Brandon Sanderson projects followed by FE Engage, and then Forspoken the next week.)

I certainly need to see the trailer again, but I'm pretty happy with Engage. One of my texts to my friends was "this looks so stupid and I love it!" and that's sort of how I feel, but not exclusively. (One of my friends who wasn't into Three Houses but has been playing FE since Blazing Sword said he's really excited for this game. The other one in that category isn't excited for this game at all, but is excited about a potential FE4 remake.) Awakening is one of my favorite games, and how this game harkins back to Awakening is both heartwarming to me as we know how far the series has come since Awakening, and it's also intriguing - is this game the future of Ylisse? (I doubt it, but it's fun to imagine for now.) The designs definitely work in-world as compared to the relative vacuum that the leaks had, and the characters look unique and fun. The "Engage" part of the gameplay looks interesting, as it seems like the previous FE characters are a mix of Persona, Carnage Spirits from TMS, or Stands, and then Digimon when the two combine. They seem to offer unique gameplay abilities, and I'm curious to see where this goes. The story seems lighter in tone than Three Houses and Three Hopes but just as detailed in terms of lore and myth, and I'm here for that. I can't say for how that will all play out in-game, but I'm fine with the change of tone. It might be a nice change of pace if FE 4 remakes are around the corner. Speaking of remakes, it looks like Emily Rogers and Nate the Hate were right on the money with this Direct, which means there's a solid chance that they're right about FE4 Remake being the next thing. Sadly, it doesn't look like that game will be a 2023 release...although, if Pokemon can release two major games in one year, so can Fire Emblem! Never lose hope! Still, I do hope we get some nice Three Hopes DLC before the end of the year and all eyes turn towards Engage. Overall, I'm very happy with this announcement, and 2023 is shaping up to be one of the best years for entertainment for me ever!

Hopes: Two of the three potential FE things that have been rumored and/or expected (Genealogy remake, Three Hopes DLC, new mainline game Gust or no) Another game that I may look at and say "yeah, I'll pick that up." Pie-In-The-Sky Dream: Kirby Air Ride and/or Custom Robo remake or sequel. That's it really. Anything else, like GameCube or GBA on NSO would probably put me over the edge and I'd subscribe (assuming that they have the games from those systems I like on them), but that's not a guarantee or even a hope I'm willing to entertain. Everything else is for everyone else.

Not at all, to answer the original question. What DOES grind my gears is when games have path-exclusive characters. It's why I play Revelation and Blue Lions over most routes when I play Fates and Three Houses - I want to recruit/gain as many characters as possible.

I've had similar problems in the past. I have a friend who ADORES Harry Potter and other popular fantasy stuff (and has a Switch), but wouldn't really think about Three Houses. I tried to sell her on the magical school setting aspect of the game, as I would any other fan of HP. Sell her on that and the three houses and the mysteries/missions, and then let your friends discover the rest on their own. At least that's my approach. (I also didn't share anything about Three Hopes because I wanted her to enjoy Three Houses and desire more before giving her the good news. YMMV on whether or not that works for you.)

With September officially here, we're entering Direct "Leak" season, aka the season in which people all around the internet (mainly 4Chan) make up fake Directs and tell them as "leaks." If you're a fan of those, 'tis the season.

I like the art, but I don't love it. (It's the neck. It's just...weird to me.) Either way, this banner is a pass for me. I'm saving up for Askr and Otr's rerun banner in October I believe.

Fates-style is the best way so far IMO. It limits the units and what they can turn into, but it also provides a lot of flexibility as well. It's a good balance between the freedom of Three Houses and Awakening, and the rigid path of most pre-Awakening games.

If I don't have any strong negative feelings on the characters, then I just use who I want and/or who is turning out well. I also try to keep everyone similarly leveled, if possible, as well. If it's a new game, then I may try out the new unit, but it may take a few playthroughs to warm up to them if I already have characters from earlier in the game that I've been using to at least some degree of success - Seteth and Ferdinand (von Aegir) were like that for Three Houses. During games I've played through a few times, I may try out the unused character every now and then, but more often than not I'll default back to old habits.

Except Ascended versions don't have a distinct pattern at the moment (at least one that I can decipher), so it's far from a guarantee or truth. Legendary maybe, but given that Y!Tiki has had one, I'm not entirely sure this will happen. But at the end of the day, while I feel disappointed, I'm really not that upset. I honestly forget about it - there are far too many other things in real life and in the game to think about than some artwork from a unit I'm collecting for the sake of collecting. I'm just explaining what I've seen others seen.

From what I'm seeing (and partially how I feel, but not remotely to the degree of others), sort of. Those who voted for Awakening Tiki specifically wanted nothing to do with her child form, hence why this version was voted for and not her child form. IntSys then putting her in her childhood clothes feels like they're either doing so out of spite, stupidity, or sloth. (Sorry, I just really wanted the alliteration. "Ignorance or laziness" would be a better term.) Tiki has other characters she can be associated to, like Naga who is her mother (and seemingly has a closer or more overt mother-daughter connection (but not necessarily relationship) with her in Awakening), or Bantu who was her guardian for years/centuries/longer. Or in Awakening, she also has a close bond with both Lucina and Say'ri. Any of the four would work for a nice reference and fun character art. But IntSys choosing not to honor any of these bonds or relationships and going back to a look that fans specifically voted to get away from feels insulting. The same is true to a lesser degree for Byleth from what I've seen. The art looks great, but fans wanted a specific Byleth - one with blue hair - and IntSys outright ignored that in order to do an homage to Sothis. Personally, I'm a fan of the artwork and costume (although I do wear it after the hair color switch in-game) so I'm not bothered by it, but I understand why it would bother some fans. Why vote for your favorite version of a character when IntSys is going to do what they want with the art and make them more akin to the version of the character it seems like they like? It'd be like having a Spider-Man voting contest, and you vote for Miles Morales because you like his costume the best, only for the artist to stick him in Peter Parker's contest - what was the point of voting if they were always going to use the design they wanted? Again, that's how I've interpreted what I've seen. I can't speak for the skills or the quality of the art itself in most cases.

Today has been a PHENOMENAL pull day for me. Probably my best, if not in the top three ever. (I probably and weirdly still count Say'ri's banner as #1, as I was able to naturally pull three of the four featured units and then Spark for the fourth.) To be fair, my luck started yesterday. On Pent's rerun banner, my free pull - and only green orb in the circle - net me Pent, which was awesome! I had one of those "this is going to be Pent" feelings, and it came true. During CYL proper, I was musing to myself about how much trouble Ascendant Idunn was giving me and how I'd probably need to actually use mine, and lo-and-behold, my first pull and my free pull net me another Ascendant Idunn. This really set the tone for the rest of the banner. Not counting the four free Sparks, I got: Ascendant Idunn (see above) Vanilla Shinon (Old and BLEGH. Shinon is one of my least favorite characters in the franchise, so I'll probably fodder him off for a skill.) B!Byleth B!Chrom Annette (new) F!Dimitri (old) 4*+1 Vanilla Laegjarn (old) 4*+1 Vanilla Lyn (old) B!Byleth B!Byleth (in the same spark as the one above no less!) Galzus (new I think) Valentia Est (new) B!Seliph Constance (new) B!Byleth (again) B!Byleth (again in the same circle) B!Byleth (IN THE NEXT BATCH OF ORBS) B!Dimitri (in the same circle as the above B!Byleth!) 4*+1 Dream Male Corrin (or whatever he's called) (old) 4*+1 Vanilla Ike (new) B!Seliph 4*+1 Forsyth (old) F!Gustave (old) Wolf (new) ...yeah, I got a LOT. That's probably all of my luck for the year in FEH right there. In total, that's seven Brave Byleths, three Bravel Seliphs, three Brave Chroms, and about 15-16 other 5* in total. That's probably all of my luck for FEH this year. In addition, I spent an extra 40 or so orbs on the Ninja banner just to kill some time between my main first summoning batch and my main one (and so that the preferred character during Forging Bonds would change), and I got N!Nina! I don't think I'll go back for N!Leila this year, as I have about 100 orbs left over from the summoning that I want to go to October's Legendary/Mythic banner so I can snipe for Askr and Otr. (I'm hoping to build up to about 300 orbs, assuming Marianne on a Dancer banner doesn't throw all my plans out the window.) Those three, a Vanilla Loki, and Nifl are all I need to have a full set of Vanilla FEH OCs. I'm so close! The 3* and 4* pulls were mostly fodder, with a scant few being useful for future 5* merge projects and potential projects. The rest were scrapped for feathers, which gave me an extra 25k or so feathers. (Which was good because I messed up on one of my merge projects and accidentally turned an extra unit into a 5* one.) I was able to complete 4 projects that way, but none of the 160 units I pulled today were a Kaze, Seteth, or Knoll, all of which I only need about one more for. Still, I can't be too upset about the results today. Overall, I'm VERY pleased about today's results, and I'm excited to see how next year turns out!

Congrats Three Hopes! Here's to hoping we get a FE Genealogy of the Holy War(riors) game next! (After a remake, of course!)