Othin

I'm talking about Berwick Saga, which is of course a lot like FE. I see that you are drawn to certain assumptions about it, but having played and researched it extensively, I assure you that they are not the case, and that these and other mechanics all fit together to emphasize each weapon type's strengths extremely well, such that, say, a sword specialist and a spear specialist will have inherently different situations in which they will be effective while a character with access to both spears and swords will value that access. Also, swords, spears, axes, and bows really all are quite balanced with regard to each other; the real god weapon types are Ballistae and Dark magic. Shields are mostly relevant as another way of differentiating classes, both in whether or not they have access to the equipment and in the type(s) of shields they can equip. As for your other concerns, I haven't been talking about laziness. I don't have enough experience with Reclass to say whether or not it makes those small differences become more significant at times, but I know it nearly removes base class as a method of differentiating between characters, which leaves most characters with little more than those small differences to differentiate themselves. In fact, it's the other way around: the equipment and skill systems, alongside a couple of changes to the core mechanics, are precisely why I prefer Berwick Saga so much. As I noted above, there is a lot to consider. FE12 was certainly a step in the right direction in nerfing throwing weapons and giving different weapon effects to different weapon types, but based on my (admittedly brief) experiences with the game, the changes are much more substantial in Berwick Saga. A particularly important aspect to highlight is the pair of weapon types that could appear to have stayed the same: swords and axes. Rather than the usual slight differences of power and accuracy, axes have much more power, while the 10-20 accuracy in favor of swords becomes much more valuable with the typically lower accuracy in Berwick Saga compared to other games, as well as the two big mechanics changes (counter canceling and integrated turns) making reliable attacks that much more important.

And this is why I keep linking to Berwick Saga pages: it solves all of those things brilliantly. In particular, every core weapon type has substantial advantages and disadvantages over the others. Knives pierce defenses for low damage with added chance of inflicting injuries Swords do reliable, accurate damage Spears have less accuracy and base power but increase power based on movement when attacking Axes do much more damage in exchange for much less accuracy Bows have more range than other indirect attacks and can use different arrows for varied effects Crossbows have shorter range than bows but can be used in melee and have fixed base power, but also use arrows to modify damage Ballistae have extremely far range and high power in exchange for a lack of short-range use and certain other limitations Fire magic does powerful, accurate magic damage Wind magic gives up power in exchange for multiple hits Thunder magic gives up accuracy in exchange for greater range Holy magic heals and has defensive combat magic Dark magic does just about anything, but is mostly enemy-only Shields increase defenses at the expense of Speed Characters being distinct but unbalanced is great too. But I can't agree with taking a few stat points or a near-identical additional weapon type and calling it enough distinctness to define a character's gameplay role.

Yeah, FFVI is certainly an example of a game where the character distinctions wind up such a minor part of the practical gameplay. The thing is, from what I've seen, FE tends to be like this as well. It's a distinction more easily made with useful tactical skills to differentiate characters beyond their stats and sometimes even classes. However, classes can be more distinct when differences between equipment types are more pronounced, even at the cost of overall balance. *cough* *cough*

I don't even know what you think I was saying to come up with something like this.

The main difference in favor of my run is that I completed 8x in 2 turns with Warp and 18 in 10 turns with some incredibly lucky Move growths. (Particularly Mareeta, who gained 16 levels with the Dain scroll in 14, but that still doesn't leave much of a chance of increasing Move four times.) One big difference I noticed is that I took 5-6 turns each in 9 and 13, but only 2 turns in 21x. I'm guessing you allowed a lot of characters to be captured in those earlier chapters? Seems like it was worth it overall.

Giving most characters their own class isn't that difficult. It just requires more classes.

High bases + Charge? You may be right.

So much conclusion jumping. I saw a couple of statements that didn't line up with the views I've seen on other sites, differences which would fit perfectly with assuming LTC, so I inquired to make sure that was not the case. Dark Sage has said that it is not, and I will take his word for it. I have nothing more to say on this matter.

Please tell me you're smart enough to not assume LTC in an attempt to discredit a point made without assuming LTC.

Humor, my good sir. On a more relevant note, Geitz is certainly the best in FE7, and Garcia, as noted, is probably the best in FE8. Don't know about FE6.

*cough* Unless we still care about the whole promoting to Warrior thing.

The Warriors before them consisted of Jehova, Marty, and Dagda. I don't think using "nerf" to describe this difference is fully in line with the direction time flows.

18 between the Tower and the Ruins, but there's also Melkaen Coast, which is skirmish-only. Altogether, FE8 has 49 unique combat maps. For comparison, FE6 has 44, FE7 has 48, and FE9 has 39, all using similarly broad definitions. To look at games less directly relevant, FE5 has 35, FE10 has 43, FE11 has 34, and FE12 has 38, ignoring multiplayer and the BS maps.

Interesting. Normal Mode, even? I got 170 turns on my run with Elite Mode and the gate route, but Normal Mode would understandably extend the run by well more than 3 turns. I was aiming for 169 turns, but I couldn't pull off a 3-turn 24x. Although I think I still have the file in case I feel like trying again from there.

Not in the slightest. FE2, FE13, and TRS all have plenty of monsters, FE10 has (non-humanoid) Spirit enemies at the end of the game, and Berwick Saga has a few dragon enemies that are never given any indication of having a human form. Of course, this is assuming all Manakete and Laguz are counted as humanoid, even the enemies that never leave their transformed states, which might be debatable. Counting the permanently transformed dragons and Feral Ones as non-humanoid (the Feral Ones in particular make as much sense as a human that gets cursed into a monster form, which sounds reasonable to count as non-human), FE1, FE3, FE9, FE11, and FE12 get added to the list for a majority of the series - every game except FE4-7.

I've been meaning to see if an SSS run is actually possible with the B route... it seems much more difficult, but perhaps doable.

In terms of items, it's pretty much Pugi on the back route vs. extra Warp and Rescue staves on the front route.

Hell yes, try. I haven't played Harvest Moon, but I feel similarly about tedious mechanics and I love Rune Factory. I've only actually played Tides (but seen much of Frontier), but yes, excellent, excellent games.

I am well aware that Banzai briefly mentioned Matthew, in a context that would not at all suggest that Shanam is as good as Matthew. In other words, Matthis is usable if you want to use him as a collection of stats that can be tossed around to whatever role you want him to suit, but not if you want to use him as Matthis the knight, the character he really is.

What the fuck? Of course Shanam isn't as good as Matthew. I'm not sure how you can think I was saying otherwise when I just said I wasn't talking about overall quality in the first place, and haven't said a word about Matthew this whole time. Matthis is different only in terms of stats, and stats are boring. Amelia is more interesting, since she has a unique starting class giving her more class options, and potentially a unique final class.

Most if not all of you appear to miss the part where overall quality and ideal strategies for any type of run are not the point here.

Irrelevant. It's fun and can add a unique flavor to a playthrough you couldn't get without him, and that's all a character needs to do to add something substantial to a game. And if you actually want him to fight, scrolls exist.

Worth noting that non-staff users really just have to worry about combat, which gives 1 fatigue point. It's just the staffs that give up to 5 with the higher-level staffs. But yes, whoever you use, make sure you use a lot of them.

Indeed they are. Doesn't make it have half that amount.

Edit: Never mind; misread FE2's promotion system.