egobarrier

Well now I'm just confused.

I'm not convinced we will get them, but if we did:Thieves do their own thing in general, so just being on Hoshido's path doesn't mean not!Gaius can't be a Thief unaffiliated with either nation. Otherwise Shinobi would be most appropriate, but 4 Shinobi would feel excessive; I'd guess mid- to late-game as one of Shinobi's promotions in that case. Not!Cordelia would of course be a Pegasus Warrior. I agree with Sunwoo that a third redheaded Pegasus Warrior would be slightly annoying if only when it comes to the map sprites, but I see no sufficient reason to change it. Not!Tharja is a little tricky. Being a dark magic user was pretty central to her character, second only to her Avatar obsession, so I'm not sure how well she'd work as a vanilla Spellcaster. Although...do we actually know that Dark magic even exists in this game? Even the Dark Mages we've seen have been using Anima tomes unless I missed something. In that case there may be no real difference and she could be a creepy Spellcaster with no issue. Though for that matter, if she's really a Tharja Expy she arguably needn't be limited to a Hoshido class to begin with; she's a defector in Awakening, why not here?

Wow. I'd assumed Pieri had blue and pink hair (I'd taken to calling her "Cotton Candy Cav") but I'm still stunned by how crazy it looks. Wonder if her violent persona will be more "BLOOD AND THUNDER!"-berserk or axe-crazy psychopath. Inigo and Owain doppelgangers are as expected, though I love how fitting their skills are. I'm happy to have them, but 3 kids is enough methinks. Zero is whatever. I'm not really an eyepatch guy, so I'll wait for his description. Need to hear more about capturing before I can really judge it, but so far I doubt I'll use it much.

So much potential with Kamui and his/her siblings, I really hope IS capitalizes on it. Though why let Kamui have all the fun? Gunther, Cyrus, Suzukaze, etc, I hope all the defectors get some choice dialog with their former friends and lords. And especially Aqua. Camilla: Move aside, Aqua. Aqua: You should know I cannot do that. Camilla: Aqua, why are you doing this? You're a part of our family too. Please, help me convince Kamui to give up on this foolish war before it's too late. Aqua: Is that so? Tell me, I awaited my family's rescue for 12 years. You came after Kamui within 3 months. Why should I count myself among this "family" you speak of? Camilla: I didn't...That's not... Aqua: ...Forgive me. It is all in the past. All that remains is that we now stand opposed. Come, Sister. Camilla: Aqua...

Robin's class is "戦術師", which is pronounced "senjutsushi" and means "strategist/tactician." The class in if is ”ストラテジスト", a transliteration of the English word "strategist" (basically "SUTORATEJISUTO"). The meaning is the same, but the words are different and easy to distinguish.

The sprite matches Takumi's; Archer/Bowman is probably a Hoshidan class in if (with Thief being Nohr's bow infantry). But between the hair and the white head covering, some think she may be the blue-haired maid after a class change. The speculation continues.

I'd guess they make Marth a Lodestar again, just because they felt it was necessary in Awakening.. And if Lodestar is in the game, no reason they couldn't give it to Lucina as well and play up their duality. As for Robin, I don't think we've seen any indication of Sword + Tome infantry in if, so I'd guess they'd bring back Tactician and/or Grandmaster (probably as a single special class rather than models for both of them) rather than make him lose one of his Smash weapons. Ike should be the easiest as he fits fine as a (Brave) Hero, but if the others do get special classes they may want him to follow suit (Vanguard maybe, even if it doesn't match his artwork). I imagine their growths will be in line with your conventional units, and I doubt any special classes will come with unique skills. I hope they get cool personal skills though.

And rounding it out, Aqua's lance bests Kamui's sword. Nohr genes are clearly superior. Though while Sakura with bows loses to Strategist Elise, she would win against Maid Elise if that is the other option. And at least one Pegasus promotion gains bows, giving the advantage to Hinoka (albeit not via Weapon Triangle). But eh, details.

"soon"

I think 錬 and 練 are interchangeable in "rensei" (I don't think I've seen 鍊 before), and FE has even switched between the first two over the years (see http://i.imgur.com/8WNuX77.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/FuBjBpA.jpg). Regardless, using 錬成/練成 like that is indeed nonstandard as it usually means training, but it's seen somewhat regularly in fantasy settings for forging/transmutation (eg Fullmetal Alchemist's "Human transmutation" is "人体錬成", and "錬成窯" is a furnace used for synthesis in Final Fantasy XI), or so I'm led to believe.

E: Hey you can't change the wording while I'm typing. Cheater. Regardless, I'm all for it if it's portrayed properly. I don't personally have a use for it, but I'm all for broadening the options to support those who do.

I too am in the "Play-Asia Limited Edition" crowd. Waiting the extra week for it to get here will be rough, but I like my special editions. I have no problem with the price. (Though I also bought a Japanese New 3DS LL rather than just using the small standard 3DS I used for Awakening, so I may not be the best reference on what is a worthwhile purchase.)

Ooh, looking forward to hearing it.

Both really. What works for me is largely determined by what "mode" I'm thinking in, so when I'm in "Japanese mode" Anya Oukoku and Byakuya Oukoku work just fine, and likewise for English mode.

Thanks as always Kirokan, though you misspelled Nishiki's name in his profile.

Lol at Gunther being stuck with the extras. E:Also you misspelled Belka.

?? I was saying that all royals/Dragon Vein users get crowns, but not all of them are death=Game Over units.

I doubt that; that would just be hard to manage. Kamui for sure, possibly Aqua, and maybe just maybe Marx/Ryouma. The crown would just signify royals/Dragon Vein users, kind of like how a bunch of units had Major Blood in FE4 but only Sigurd/Seliph mattered.

Heh, whoops. Guess I was too burnt out after transcribing the previous 20 characters that I forgot う becomes わ in some conjugations. My bad. Context-wise I agree 救う is probably it. Though incidentally, the original wasn't 教える --> 教えられた, it was 教わる --> 教わられた. I definitely wouldn't mix up え and わ. :)

Not sure any "laws of equality" exist here (for example, is there any indication of armored units in Hoshido?). Personally I think Kitsune and manaketes (or whatever you want to call Kamui) are plenty.

I want to know not only is she good in combat, but can she remain that way late-game? Which is to say, will Songstress get a promotion/extended level cap with combat-appropriate stat caps? I'm not expecting a singing Halberdier or something, but Awakening's Dancer had STR and DEF caps equal or below the pure magic classes.

That architecture in Nishiki's pic is interesting. Wonder where it is?

I think it's Aqua's death quote. Rather, I'm not sure where the "for now" came from.

Even if she really is available on the Hoshido path I doubt she's actually from Hoshido, just looking at her design.