Othin

FE2 has 32 characters. I've never played it, but it seems like that should be enough, especially since they're more distinct than characters in most FE games with the magic system and class skills. Worth noting (but should be less than surprising) that I feel that Berwick Saga perfected the distribution of characteristics with its 35 characters; honestly its best aspect, and I'd be surprised if anyone who's played it felt otherwise.

Strangely enough, 300 is precisely Weaville's maximum possible HP at LV87 with maximum HP IVs and EVs.

Use whoever you want; with scrolls, anyone can be great for at least some of the game. Marty is a perfect example, having terrible stats on his own, but with just the Odo and Sety scrolls, he gets fantastic all-around growths and becomes a complete monster after promotion.

Hiya. You say you keep your opinions to yourself? We'll see how long that lasts.

To us, yes, FE12 is better in many important ways. To your average player, the differences would not be so readily apparent. I wasn't able to find actual information on how much it sold, but I found this, which may explain some things.

However many the game can give significantly different classes, skill sets, and other unique characteristics, and no more.

The PS3 was specifically advertised as not having region locks, I believe. Goes to show that Sony at least thinks angering people is the main impact of region locks, as opposed to the intended impacts.

Muddle and guess? For a map or two, perhaps.

I own FE3, FE4, FE5, and FE6, and have been playing them in Japanese with no issues for years until beginning to learn Japanese just a couple of months ago. I had similar experiences with the brief bits of TRS and FE12 I played on emulator. (I now own TRS as well, but I haven't yet been able to get it to work on console.) The only game I've had trouble playing as a result of the language barrier is Berwick Saga because of the lack of English explanations for the mechanics, to which I eventually used online translators to sort through Japanese guides and learn every bit of information they had to offer, and eventually started translating the content of those same guides myself to ensure that no one else would ever have to go through that hassle. The results of those translations compose the Berwick Saga section of this very site. For me, and for anyone I know of who's tried playing the games this way, once you play through a map or two to get the feel of things and as long as you have access to all the information you need, the language barrier is not an obstacle. For this reason, I would go so far to say that it is not an obstacle for most if not all players, even though most people appear to think otherwise.

This is nothing personal; you and your intentions are of absolutely no concern here to me. I wish only to point out a matter and to clear up likely misunderstandings about it resulting from your post.

http://serenesforest.net/wiki/index.php/Berwick_Saga_Ch10_Enemy_Data Oh yeah, those ideas. I'll have to find that spreadsheet sometime and look over some of that stuff.

There is no Shooting Star/Meteor Sword/Astra/Starstrike scroll in FE5. You can get similar results with the Ambush and Wrath scrolls, although not on the same character.

That's my favorite example, as well. Although I still haven't played far enough for Faye to actually learn it; I should get around to that.

We aren't discussing opinions, so the opinion card is irrelevant. But if you say you're done here, I won't argue with that.

Not being able to read Japanese is no obstacle as long as the information is out there. If it's not localized, I'll wait and see if the region lock is broken somehow; if so, I'll import it. I've never enjoyed playing games on emulators; I always find it to be much less immersive, and nothing can make up for that.

The only interesting skills are skills that are either always in effect or activate by command. http://serenesforest.net/wiki/index.php/Berwick_Saga_Skills I don't have much hope for a skill system like this, but it would be ideal.

dondon, you appear to be missing the crucial fact that we're not saying V-Raven is right. I don't know about Fox, but my point from the start has been that both you and him are wrong. So there's no point in hiding behind his words.

Being able to use poor choices effectively is certainly a mark of skill. But it doesn't make those choices not poor choices.

Out of curiosity, how many FE games have you played? FE8's differences compared to other recent games look quite tame in comparison to just about any game before FE6, particularly FE2, and those differences are just as often in the form of added features as removed ones. On that note, to a lesser extent, the differences even look small compared to the differences from the rest of the non-GBA games... Are you even comparing it to anything other than FE6 and FE7? Also, to answer your question, FE5's final chapter requires defeating the six Dark Warlords and seizing their spaces in order to reach Beldo, and FE6 has a similar requirement with two spaces in Ch22 before fighting Zephiel. So while they weren't strict objectives, they were part of reaching the goal.

You may be right. I recall a no-resets run I started some time ago, where a Fighter with a Halberd jumped out of the fog and killed Franz. Without checking even inventory, that sort of thing could happen in many more locations.

You'd have to add a lobotomy to the requirements to change much of anything for anyone who's played the game before.

There's a difference between a cameo and an actual character that plays a role in the game. Statistical differences does not equate to "important" statistical differences. In a conventional game where Marth, Sigurd, Celice, Leaf, Roy, Lyn, Eliwood, Eirika, and Ike are all playable, they're not going to be able to each stand out in their own way either in terms of gameplay or in terms of personality. Looking at the relevant characters on your list, you noted two characters as balanced, three as overpowered, two as just bad, one as fast, and ignored the last one. When considering that Sigurd is simply better than Celice, the only characters who could possible stand out, according to your own words, are Sigurd, Ike, Lyn, and Eirika, and I don't think there's any dispute that when placed next to Sigurd and Ike, Lyn and Eirika are not going to stand out. Now, a conventional game is already basically unfeasible for this purpose, and we can't assume the characters will keep their exact distinctions. But let's be serious here. Sigurd and Celice. Marth, Roy, Eliwood, and Eirika. What would could possibly give each character in those groups something important that the others don't have? And by important I mean something out of: skills, classes, useful personal weapons, events, availability, massive differences in relevant stats. In a way that provides a unique advantage for each of them - Eliwood's Knight Lord class provides a unique advantage for him compared to Eirika's Great Lord class (eventually), but not for Eirika. There's another consideration to take into account, now that I think about it: the timing of when the game is set relative to each of the characters' stories. Are they getting magically transported out of their story before their quest even begins? Or are they returning as confident heroes at the end of their stories (which of course is bad news for Sigurd). It wouldn't matter much for a more fighting-based game with less story and character development, which would be easier to fit outside of canon anyway and perhaps have more opportunities for the characters to have distinct skills, but again, it limits options, and to the sorts of games not all FE fans might like. While they seem to counteract what HM is supposed to be, it's certainly not as if they're so ridiculous as to cancel it out entirely.

Not familiar with the reference. That sounds like it could work, but it depends completely on how it's done.