Alef Zero

Right, I should have been more specific. I wanted to know why are there so few actual clones (or if there are, and I just didn't know). Unicorn Overlord is not such a game, because combat is different, map design is different, units move in real time etc. Persona 5 Tactica is not a clone, despite it having rpg elements, named characters and a grid, because it also focuses on small maps and deploys only 3 characters. FF Tactics also does not cut it, different camera perspective, emphasis on verticality etc (although this one is close). Aside from the last 2 and tactics, I've never heard of these games before. Also, they look like games made in rpg maker, my query is bigger games (this may be wrong in current age, but I consider a game big, if it got a physical release). Yes, and no. My idea was to ask, since this question has been with me for some time now.

FE clones, if you will (not pejoratively in the slightest), are they as rare as I think they are? Fire Emblem may not be a mainstream franchise, but one would think that with this many games, there would be at least a decent clone every now and then. By a clone, I mean turn based combat on a grid with many characters available, with focus on tactics specifically. I think it's easy to intuitively know the elements, especially for members of such a forum. Maybe I'm just unaware, but the only titles I can think of are: -Tears to tiara 2 - probably the closest game, even story follows a familiar pattern. It's a also a ps3 exclusive, that nobody cared about then, and that's completely forgotten now -Hyperdevotion noire - gameplay is very close, but narrative is closer to a traditional jrpg, it's also a low-budget spin-off to an already niche series. -Fairy fencer F refrain chord - a spin off of a niche jrpg from the same developer as above. If I didn't actively search for it, I wouldn't know it exists -Natural Doctrine - this one is a stretch, as the gameplay differs quite a bit, but I still recognize many similarities, especially during the last 3 missions, where characters can die, and consequences are very similar to fe. I'm aware original creator of fe went to make his own games, can they be considered fe clones as well? Anyway, am I missing something? And if not, why is this a case?

That is, not necessarily a sequel (I wouldn't mind in the slightest though), but just any new game in Fodlan specifically. Direct follow ups seem rare (to my knowledge that is), but there were many games set in Archanea (the first game, shadows of valentia, awakening, although distant, was fates in the same universe? I didn't play it but I think so). Obviously we got three hopes, and while it fixed many problems from the original and gave many a character more chances to shine, it was ultimately a different gameplay and game had it's own share of problems, including terrible endings. Given that three houses is one of the most popular games in the franchise, do you think we will see more of fodlan? Or is it a closed chapter?

I remember a game very similar to FE called tears to tiara 2 - one of the characters could ride an elephant, and it worked similar to mount/dismount of three houses. Unlike mounting, the elephant was a separate unit, that took a slot.

Is there any way to download this mod without gay endings? Version 1.3 appears to miss some features.

This may be harsh, but my experience with fate go and feh points to one conclusion - gacha stories are absolute trash and that cannot be remedied due to business model. Every new chapter/book/etc. is introducing new status que smashing enemies that are always more dangerous then the previous ones. Every chapter have heroes deal with world, or straight up universe altering events, that grow so large, it's impossible (for me) to take it seriously. We had invasion from another kingdom, then invasion from another kingdom led by unkillable king, then invasion by the queen of death AND THEN an assault by a time-controlling reality warping goddess. How the hell am I supposed to take seriously a story about a bunch of kids fighting reality-shaping goddess AND WINNING? The scale gets so out of hand. Unbelievable clusterfucks like these happen (too) often in jrpgs, but since these games have to introduce new OP units to sell, they also have to introduce them to the story, which destroys it.

Its mostly girls that are imprisoned, because, well, men tend to get killed when defeated. When you capture a woman, aside from ransom, you can have one as a trophy or a slave (sexual or regular). Women are physically weaker than men, and most of those we save are fragile (that is, all aside from Mathilda) and are less aggressive than men, so they're easier to subdue. If Mathilda was not to be used against Clive, she ought to be killed as well, since she would be a problem to keep. It's all biology, really. The fact that Jesse is not immediately killed makes no sense - he's a mercenary, so nobody's going to pay for him, and he can try to escape or fight his captors - he's too dangerous to keep as a slave, not worth any money to pay, and cannot be swayed to work for them. The only logical step is to kill him to get rid of dead weight.. The only reson none of this happen is because this is a PEGI 12 game. By the way, I didn't notice the fact that you mostly save girls at all. I also am not sure if a girl being saved by a handsome knight is an outdated trope? And if anything, Mathilda/Clive support was meant to be a commentary against sexism? At least that's how I understood it. I also don't think they meant to make Celica another damnsel in distress, that's just a result of subpart writing. In fact I have an idea - have Alm's route end with killing Rudolf, therefore uniting Valentia militarily, while Celica's route ends with killing Jedah, thus eliminating dark magic from the country - forget about fighting evil unded dragon, about magically unsealing falchion (btw. can someone explain why is this sword in valentia and not archanea? SoV is supposed to take place in the same continuity right?). You have Alm, who focuses on dealing with physical dangers, while Celica deals with the spiritual, unnatural aspects. This makes their union more balanced - Alm brings physical strength and charisma, while Celica brings enlightenment and spirituality. This is clearly how developers wanted them to be, but with how the story is currently, Celica should absolutely not be allowed to rule. Also, you seem to heavily dislike traditional gender roles, but you'd be fine with a woman being a symbol of purity to offset a ruthlessness of a man? How exactly a trope gets "outdated" and who decides that?

Sure, if you knew that the only other healer save for Silque is available for the last 2 chapters. Or that reclassing does not really exist in this game (reclassing naturally happens so late it's pointless and I've never found the villager fork thats been mentioned a few times.) Yup I have 480 hours in that game, played every route except crimson flower, because I will not support Edel, especially since it means going against Dimitri. I've played azure moon 3 times, currently thinking about SS to romance Rhea Hanneman though, I'm not sure about. I've already tried a full faculty memebers run, but I had more fun using students. Oh well. Got the joke from "this is basically fire emblem". Still, you find this old dude, that you last met half the valentia apart, in the most random place and he asks to join us. I was completely sure that he was going to turn on us at some point and reveal he's a villain, there was no way he swam all that way alone on a tiny boat. Already used Hanneman, a good mage, but I really dislike his supports. No idea why does Seteth even talks with him. Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to write all this. I'll keep it in mind. My take? Just have her try to combat Jedah and fail. Have her overpowered then whisper something like "I tried Alm. I'm sorry, but now it's in your hands". Communities I frequent says otherwise - it's hard to find a thread about pairing that does not involve shipping all of them save those with Alois and Rodrigue. Same goes the for girls, apparently, likes of Ingrid, Annette and Marianne are all closet lesbian. And it keeps getting worse - in engage everyone is bi, in baldurs gate 3 everyone is bi. But I'd like to not continue this topic - the longer it goes on, the higher the chance I'll write something that certain people will consider homo/transphobic and a certain person would love to rise the pitchfork, I'm certain. I've heard complaints about misogyny before, but I'm not sure If I see any. Like, the only one I can find is in Mathilda/Clive supports, but thees are quickly destroyed by Clive himself. Unless girls acting like girls is already considered misogyny, in which case I disagree. Some people dislike traditional gender roles, but I see no merit in going against them just because. Men and women are different.

I mean, I get the memes, but when I got there, I was invested in the plot. I expected it to be serious. Magic golems and stones shooting lightning still fit medieval fantasy. A futuristic base that looks like a space station, does not. It may be a preference, but I DESPISE when these get mixed, it's impossible to be taken seriously. Is it? Last evening, Halsin told me he believes I care about him like I care about a lover and wants to cross the sticks, because I asked if he feels good in our camp. Once. I'm kinda traumatized. You know, I miss the times when a man could admire another man AND not be accused of being gay. Like Sam and Frodo who I consider a great example of loyalty and friendship we should all aspire to. Yet today, netflix would make them gay, no doubt about it. You are a hero of light, who will traverse many places helping locals with their local troubles, giving valuable life lessons, like not punishing villains (no Vince, I will never let it go, you should be hanged), never getting angry and helping idiots obviously using you, because they asked. At the end of your journey, you will find the sword of light and kill the demon lord. Hmm. Wait a minute... Well, it does not fit azure moon. I feel like I should just replay three houses (again). I, uhh... You know what, how about you just tell which titles are different, so that I may skip the other. I understand wanting to keep the tradition, but I'm simply not interested in hearing the same story every time, just told by someone else. No matter how good the gameplay is, if I don't give a damn about the world and characters, my enjoyment will be shallow.

Hmm, when exactly does he show "savage desire for battle"? The entire reason he leaves the village is to help his country and possibly find Celica. In fact, I don't remember one moment when he was bloodthirsty or even angry. He sounded pissed a little when first fighting Berkut, but... what else? Yes, I understand that this is PG12 game, so I may expect too much, but I guess I'm just reaaally tired of child protagonists. When you say battle thirst, first thing I see in my mind is Dimitri riding into battle with a sadistic smirk in three hopes, and remember his awesome battle lines from boar phase. THAT is PG12 bloodthirst. Well, she's a beautiful woman with long hair and a sexy outfit. Yes yes, very shallow, but when the other choice is a guy with black armor, I'll still go with sexy. Deen is not even "edgy cool" guy, he's so boring. You want to play almost entire route with ONE healer who doesn't even learn physic? No thanks, healers who don't have physic have no place in my party. In fact, only after I finished the game did I learn Silque can learn Invoke. She was basically relegated to being a warp bot, and casting seraphim when needed. The fact that you may be right terrifies me. Sorry, that was never my desire. Awakening WAS a fun game. I simply prefer three houses with it's (mostly, whoever shoved those who rave n the dark into the game should be fired) grey morality, and more flawed heroes. TH also had more supports, so even if some were boring/stale, you still have more good ones, due to sheer quantity. I'm still mad they had to shove a map that looks like a space station into a surprisingly grounded fantasy, but japanease gotta japanease. Alas. I also happen to align very closely with Dimitri who is my favourite lord, one of my favourite characters in jrpgs in genreal, and my one and only lord I'd follow (just no homo, please). So, I'm biased. I consider it good by the standard of jrpgs. Comparing it to disco elysium or planescape torment is an unfunny joke, but hey, it's better than dragon quest. 🙂 I wouldn't dream of not seeing full story, obviously I'll play RD. -_- This is... problematic. I despise them. It's the easiest thing possible, to just make a despicable antagonist. No effort, no gain. That's why Edelgard I consider a good villain, while slithers are terrible.

I've only played Azure Moon (twice, won't play other routes), so aside from Byleth and Jeralt (these are obvious, like you saide). The only character that was done better was Rodrigue, and only by virtue of not dying. I don't feel like anyone is particularly different, save for Sylvain, who's more boring here, he really lacks anything to do in this story, he no longer changes as the story progresses. There is the case with his brother, but despite being alive and even part of an army for a long while, I feel his presence has less impact on Sylvain than in three houses, where he dies the moment he's introduced. Crazy. Dimitri's path is somewhat different, but that's not for better or worse, he's story is just different. It's nice he puts greater emphasis on finding the truth, instead of just giving up like in houses, but I miss his edgy phase. In general, I miss most designs from houses - only some girls like Mercedes and Marianne look better (love girl's long, loose hair. Marianne looks stunning as holy knight). Sylvain looks silly, Ingrid straight up ugly, Felix's outfit looks more regal, but fits terribly on him during combat. I also preferred his previous hair. Dimitri looks more charming, but much less mature, and I really liked that in houses.

After a long pause, and loosing save files, I started the game anew, this time finished it. I know this topic has been discussed to death, but Celica's portrayal and decisions in chapter 5 made me rage. After she decided to give up her life for a dubious offer of an even more dubious man (Jedah is literally purple, and serves a god you know is evil), I just stopped caring about the story completely. The scene when she realized she's been tricked made me utter phrases, many of which could be considered sexist, and since Integrity is probably onto me, I'll refrain from recalling them. Add to that the fact, that, in hindsight, Celica's entire journey was largely pointless (aside from saving many lifes and killing bandits of course) and I ended the game largely disliking Celica. Also, I still have no idea why did the falchion un-stoned. If Milla could still communicate, why didn't she speak to Celica? That would spare a lot of troubles. Alm will not be one of my liked protagonist - guy is way too soft and apologetic. I have no idea why did killling Rudolf affect him in any way - at that point, he was a stranger to him, AND a man who invaded his country. I get why would he be shocked, but sad? Same goes for Fernand and Berkut - first was a traitor who would let his friend be executed, while the other was a pathetic looser who would sacrifice his lover's soul just out of spite. Neither of them deserve more than a cold stare at best or a swift dagger to the chest at worse (Hell, if you don't save Mathilda, Clive still calls him a friend, despite the fact that he spoke to her and left her to death. This is just ridiculous). Maybe I'm too biased having started with more modern games, but aside from a couple of characters, most of the cast was incredible bland. Lack of supports AND any story relevance really hurts them. And also: Deen. This guy is bland, he may as well not exists. He acts like he's in the game as a punishment. Sonya is more interesting visually, mechanically AND has a relevance to the story. Recruting this guy is a trap, like many things in the game. Also Nomah, is he supposed to be a joke character? The "Eleventh hour old (gay) man character"? He's so useless I don't know why he's even in the game. Mechanically, game does not hold well - too few classes, that feel largely the same, too little mechanics to work with. Many decisions made me rage: All archers having close counter and absurd range, meant that there was no strategic way to deal with them - normally you'd try to close the distance to prevent them from attacking, now it's impossible. Witches having unlimited teleportation range is straight terrible design. They can teleport anywhere they like and you can never protect every single unit, you are always at risk of random instakill. Why are enemies so tanky? Even dumb mages can easily take doubling from physical unit to the face, and survive Class progression is terrible. Mages take so long to promote, I ended up benching Boey, Mae and even Delthea. In fact, pristesses ended up being superior mages, since they always learn seraphim, powerful spell effective against half of the game's enemies. Also physic, warp, invoke. What's even the point of mages? Dread fighters and gold knights are absolutely superior to everything. Barons are ok, but with most maps, they'll not see much actions. Same for mages There are so many traps for newbies - making Faye anything other than cleric is going to make your run needlessly hard. Saving Mathilda is so much more stressful and luck-based without physic, it's insane. Making any of the villagers a cavalier is also such a trap, because you get so many other, better cavaliers. Not recruiting Sonya rips you from an interesting, story-related unit (getting Deen made me regret ever wanting to not prioritize women over men). I also most of chapter 3 without Palla and Catria, because nothing in the game suggests they would return to the harbor - I expected to run into them some time after saving Est. When they joined, they were vastly under-leveled. Ugh. Music was very good. I knew to expect that, but it still surprised me how good many of the tracks were. Track when fighting Rudolf was even better than final fight theme. In general, the final fight was a little underwhelming, but oh well. Honestly, every part of the story regarding dragons was weaker than liberation of the country. One thing that bothers me more and more - does every FE game ends up being about killing an evil dragon? I first played three houses. After engage, I assumed they wanted to copy the story of awakening (which wasn't good anyway), since it was an anniversary title, but shadows ends up with very similar premise. I don't have to tell, that I find TH vastly superior that any of these stories. I though "This is basically a fire emblem" was supposed to be parody, yet it described these games mostly unironically. Next one on my list is Path of Radiance. Should I be worried?

I'm planning to play these games for the first time. Given that these would be my first FE games without casual mode and without some form of time reverse mechanic, I'd like some opinions on what difficulty would be best. I've read that they're easy, but so I've heard about Echoes hard mode, which was a disaster for me. Note that any death means game over for me, and I'd like to minimize the amount of restarts I'll have to make. Especially to 1% crits, these tend to make me shut the game down.

Maybe I didn't catch something, but bld seems to me, like a strictly inferior speed stat. It has the exact effect, increasing AS, but only matter if unit's current weapon is too heavy, while speed matters always. What I mean is, imagine unit has 10 speed and 10 build and uses 15 weight weapon, so 5 AS. Increasing bld gives the same result as increasing spd, up to fifth point, by which, further increasing bld gives no benefit, while increasing spd, does. So why would anyone choose to build bld+ passives instead of spd+ passives, aside from availability of course. I'm aware, that in some older games constitution existed, but it also had other functions. Build does not seem to have them.

Continuing my fetish need to try make that one character regarded as useless, as strong as possible, I kept using Vander from the start to the very end with varying successs. At the beginning of the game, he's decent, but mostly for setting up kills. Unfortunately, paladin class is not well suited for him - he would be much better if he started as great knight, like Frederick. Paladin offers above average growths and bonuses in most stats, but that's completely countered by Vander's terrible innate growths. Him gaining more than two stats was a rare sign. As a great knight, he was decent (but that's more on great knight being actually great in this game, which is awesome after terrible three houses incarnation), that +7 to defence is no laughing matter. Still not as good as say, Jade, but he was able to take some punishment, and deal some dmg. with axes, even with his average strength. By the endgame I got bored of having half my team great knights, and tried halberdier for pincer attack. Unfortunately, I could rarely position him in such a way to activate it, my army was focusing on mobility (mostly mounted classes with canto). Imagine my disappointment, when I learned that pincer attack activates only if both units are adjacent to enemy, I though just having an ally on the other side of that enemy be enough. Unfortunately, even with heavy favourism with stat boosters, his stats were low, very low. I gave him two energy drops, and his str. was only 30 by the endgame. With terrible personal skill, low growths and very high internal level, he seems unsalvageable. A real pity. You could probably try making him royal knight or griffin knight and have him focus on healing and chip dmg. but I hate his outfits in these classes. Thank you Vander, for defending us. Always Rating: 3/10 (decent, not good, decent in the beginning, weak to worthless lategame. )