BrightBow

Vincent already made a news post about this: https://serenesforest.net/2017/03/31/fire-emblem-battle-revolution-surprise-reveal/ So this has to be legit since it's not April 1st for him yet. At least judging by his location which he lists as "UK".

Technically Xyon was a regular Wyvern Knight. Wyvern Lord is a class that is exclusive to Julius. (That's probably what grants him these ridiculous speed and skill caps.) Seems still unlikely that the Wyvern Lord class itself would cause lag. All it does is to use a different sprite for it's dragon.

And you actually got the Canaan Lance. Holy crap. I figured killing him while he is still using that Lance would be pretty much impossible. At least without the Luna Sword. The generic units with skills I referred to were indeed those NPCs. Their Mug skill makes it essentially impossible to hit Julius while he is still tangling with them. I just wish those guys would actually attack Julius so he doesn't have to kill them one by one. The way it's handled here you just have to wait way too long until they are all dead. Theodora probably stopped by Narron because he was the one to kill Julius, so that's where the body would be. Nice attention to detail there. In terms of story, it's definitely kinda dumb how they handled Enteh here. I think I get why the topic of Reevian politics came up so suddenly, they wanted to subvert the glorious liberation scenario: Congrats, you just killed a bunch of soldiers who were already injured and their leader who was going to retreat anyway. All so that you could help the corrupt Reevian nobility back into power. But the thing is, Enteh so far had been solely defined by her relationship with Runan. She was never shown to be concerned with the situation in Reevee and what she can do about it, so this just ends up looking like there is a huge chunk of character development missing for her. I wonder what's up with the lag though. In my case didn't engage Julius until he broke the Canaan Lance, so I have no idea what was going on there.

But then this forum would die.

This looks to me like a good addition. Especially for Gaiden. This could be a bit tricky to articulate but I'll try... I mean the thing is that Gaiden is nonlinear, with plenty of random battles. Random battles are fine in other RPGs but in Fire Emblem they are a bit problematic. In Fire Emblem having random battles means that there is no real map design. It's just a bunch of enemies spread all over the map. Battles like this would be best to approach with a more relaxed attitude and should serve as a bit of a breather for the actual tough maps. But because of permadeath you have stakes that force you to stay hyper focused even though the kind of challenge presented doesn't warrant that kind of engagement. Basically it forces you to focus on something that's just not interesting and mostly busywork. But with this feature, you should be able to get through random battles in a more relaxed fashion. Another thing is that it actually makes the series more accessible. Now I don't think Casual Mode should be removed. Casual Mode allows more people to enjoy Fire Emblem and that's a good thing. But at least as far as I am concerned Casual Mode doesn't really make the game more accessible, as much as it's just IS simply giving up to make the traditional Fire Emblem gameplay more accessible and instead gave newcomers to the series a different game to play altogether. And since FE12 this has kinda resulted into something like the Online Multiplayer of Smash 4 where the game only offers two extremes. Like, you want to play 1 on 1 and no items? Well, then you're not gonna get any platforms either you fucking elitist. That kinda thing. Instead of providing an environment where everyone can have fun, they focus on two hypothetical extremist kind of players and everyone else has to kinda cope with what they've got. I mean, in Casual Mode there are basically no stakes at all because of how unlikely it is to have a total party kill on a single map. But by contrast in Classic Mode it becomes less and less feasible to play through the game without restarting after every single death because the speed at which enemies grow in strength makes it quickly impossible to get someone from the bench to get back into the game and because the games now almost completely stop giving you new units that can hold their own without further training after the halfway point. Which isn't helped by the fact that the map design has become more and more punishing, making it far harder to level up weaker units and leaving very little room for error without having someone die. Basically in Classic Mode you simply don't get the kind of breathing room that you used to have in the old games. The way it sounds to me this feature should help a great deal to give you more room for error while being limited enough to avoid encouraging the player not to bother with strategy altogether and to simply resort to trial & error.

Ernest, the man who can dodge rain vs. Vega, the guy who sucks blood out of tanks. Truly a matchup of epic proportions. This map may make the game look like Advance Wars, but the way Vega is cutting through tanks makes him come across as if he thinks that he is in Metal Gear Rising instead. But seriously Deltre, nice job with this map. And fast as usual too. Not that missing out on Hagar the Horrible would have been a big loss. And you did things right with Stephanie, btw. So no need to worry about that. For this next map, you may want to stay on the lookout for generic units with skills.

I would really like to have it confirmed if we are really not going to see Mr. Satan's students from the anime filler again. I truly hope they are gone and the episode most certainly suggests as much. But of course in the original footage they are always right next to Mr. Satan. I'm sure that editing them out is no small feat.

Sierra would be in a different house actually. She would have been in that small house right next to the road. On another note, I still had a save on this chapter, so I just replayed it and can confirm that Zieg does actually move once you reach turn 8. Of course as usual Deltre finished things so fast that the enemy didn't even have time to send in their reinforcements.

This next map is going to feature infinite reinforcements. Take that into account. You still have the Luna Sword. It's back in your storage, along with the rest of Kate's gear. Speaking of the storage, I noticed you left the Goddess Shield in there. There is no reason to let this thing collect dust like that. And it protects against both effective damage and critical hits. Btw, since we seem to have some more indoor maps now, it's probably worth pointing out that male Dragon Knights while dismounted get to keep their Lances, just like Bronze Paladins. Unfortunately female Dragon Knights can't do that. I guess the game simply doesn't have sprites for female foot soldiers with lances. Oh, and Bronze Paladins actually have the same stats dismounted as they have mounted. Well, besides Movement of course. Not that this is actually important at this point. Just a random piece of trivia.

Laguz are different from Manakete though. As for the Laguz, Volug's line can't be taken seriously because all of his support lines have him goofing around and taking advantage of the fact that no one understands anything he says. But there are at least some Laguz who genuinely like to eat Beorc. Like Pain and Agony for example: ???: “Grrruah! What is this?! Looks like a tasty snack turned up while we were out!” Pain: Mwah-ha-ha! Beorc are good eats! Micaiah: Listen up! We did not intentionally intrude on your territory. Pain: Mwah-ha-ha! I’ll listen…while I’m gnawing on your bones! But they are most certainly not representative of the Laguz in general because it's very unlikely that their group is in any way influenced by the culture and customs of the actual Laguz nations. Jill did mention in PoR that there are refugees from Begnion hiding in the mountains and forests of Daein, so they are probably just a bunch of escaped slaves or the descendants of escaped slaves. And as slaves they probably weren't taught anything but obedience to their masters and the skills required to serve them. Nothing that would guide them after they escaped their masters' control.

The reason you couldn't ask Morse's apprentice for anything is because none of your units were dead. If one was, you could have used the charges of the Dakruon to revive them there. As bad as Krishnea is, she does have a decent magic base. So if you would actually use her, you could get some good use out of her using Thunder Swords. The reason I bring this up is because this can actually screw you over if she leaves the party wielding one. If she has a Thunder Sword when she reappears in the Tower of Morse, she will actually move and attack the monsters over the walls, probably killing herself before you get a chance to get to her. If you had left anyone in charge of the shops north of Blaad, they would have rejoined you on the map with the Gargoyles. Also, man this Nevkha fellow is a complete chump. Poor guy only got 3 Movement with no Warp to make up for it. Something I find interesting about Deltre's Zieg on this map: Edit: This "Black Rain" of that Gerxel fellow is probably a reference to the radioactive black rain that followed the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings. At least I think that because the whole situation with each of the four nations having their own unstoppable holy dragon capable of destroying an entire country gives me rather strong cold war vibes.

The treasure in the Tower is random, just like the enemies are. You could in theory get some really rare items like Dragon Flutes here but you can probably see why this just isn't worth it: You need to be lucky for the right chests to be closed, you need to be lucky for them to contain the item you want and you need to hope that the game won't just spawn a thief right next to it. Nevermind all the other bullshit enemy formations that you may have to deal with just for the chance of getting the right item. For that third floor in particular it's next to hopeless to get to the chests in time without using Warp. And of course Renee's staffs are an irreplaceable resource that one wouldn't want to spend on a random battle. Still, you got some good items so far. I usually only get Herbs and stuff like that.

I... guess I've just beaten the game now. Nintendo wasn't kidding when they said that you could just head straight for the final boss. Not sure how to feel about this. I just wanted to collect the memory in the castle but so close to the boss I just couldn't turn back without at least trying to fight. As someone who still gets the crap kicked out of him by Yiga Officers and various black kritters, I did absolutely not expect to actually win.

I'm sure he was talking out of his ass. In the extended script they even discuss why he didn't simply assassinate her and it's because of the unrest it would cause and the lack of satisfaction he would get from killing her that way, no word of him simply trying to test her.: “If I wanted you killed, it would be maddeningly simple to do so. Your Majesty is not cautious, in the slightest, of anyone and easy to get close to. I could just hide a blade or perhaps prepare some poisoned wine, while saying some pleasing words to you, slowly befriending you. Yet if that were the case… I fear even at death you wouldn’t have suspected a thing and would just smile happily at me. Moreso, Crimea would enter another time of turbulence. The nearby nations would declare me a traitor and use it as an excuse to invade Crimea. To prevent this scenario from happening, I had to have Your Majesty abdicate out of your own free will and then appoint me as the new king.” Not to mention when Elincia informs him of her decision to let Lucia die, he tries to convince her otherwise and paints her as selfish. It's also the only time we see him loose his composure. Even after Elincia left and he was talking only to himself, he still says that he hopes that she will crawl back to him and imagines that scenario with glee. So yeah, Elincia actually prevailing was clearly not an acceptable outcome for him. I wouldn't call Ludveck a coward or weak. The heroes get the better of him several times during the arc, yet he always keeps his composure and simply adjusts his plans accordingly. It's actually quite impressive how he keeps this up even in captivity. It's too bad we didn't get to see his reaction when he learned that he was thoroughly beaten. Edit: And I suppose I also wouldn't call him a hypocrite either because he sincerely believes that the lives of ordinary people simply don't matter. This is another thing that fell victim to the abridged script we got, so here is the part where he spells this out: Elincia: “Didn’t you say before that you caused a rebellion in order to protect the country? Then let me ask you, what is country? Isn’t it civilians who make a country? Think about it. Throughout this conflict, do you realise how many lives you’ve simply thrown away?!” Ludveck: “Ha, such naive reasoning. What is wrong about using civilians!? Without even lifting a finger, civilian numbers will rise by themselves. Human live are as cheap as grass, isn’t that the truth? These small insignificant bundles of life don’t have any impact on the country’s well-being. However, a king is different. Without a king, a country cannot stand. A country needs its king. It needs a powerful king!”

Although if Horses can die, I would expect that one of the stats affects their health in some way. And if apples would be as effective on horses then they are on Link, then they wouldn't be very helpful. Did anyone actually have their horse die? Were their any signs of their declining health?

If horses can actually die, then how do you monitor their health and heal them? And does anyone know what a horse's stats mean? Speed seems selfexplanatory but I'm not sure about Power and Endurance. I've got the feeling attacks are stronger from horseback, so maybe that's what Power does. For Endurance it could be their carrots and/or their health.

On the next map there will be a bunch of houses with guys who will teach you skills for free but just like Blaad you can revisit this place after the battle. So you don't need to decide who gets those skills immediately and can focus on making sure that the houses don't get destroyed. That second ship battle actually had a Dragon Knight mini boss showing up. But of course you finished things so early that you didn't give the poor guy a chance to join the fun. Renee would have also had a small conversation with Pike after you recruited her. Nothing spectacular by any means. And there would have also been another scene if you finished the Granada chapter without killing the boss. Theodora would have shown up and she and Shion would have left together. Though I'm pretty sure Shion is never mentioned after this chapter either way. And yeah, you need Attrom to recruit Renee. Since my Attrom died on my first run, I missed out on her too. Sucks that the guy who is just a worse version of Xeno is needed to get no less then two priests. The stuff users in this game are all really easy to miss, so I was really lacking in healers at that point. With Katri leaving, I only had Enteh, Lee and Mel to support two armies. Flurry is simply Charge as a Command skill, so enemies can counter since it simply triggers additional rounds of combat. Btw, Flurry is actually a class skill for Black Knights, so Sun would get it no matter when she promotes. On another note, I really love how Runan and Holmes can reach lv 30 by default. That way they can still get a late promotion without frustrating the player by hitting their cap early. It's simple but brilliant. I don't get why Fire Emblem kept clinging to the whole "cap at lv 20 and reset to lv 1" thing. I don't see this system accomplishing anything other then tricking new players into thinking that the Jagen is actually a low-level unit. Btw, why is your Plum not carrying any staffs?

Looks like the human trafficker is blasting off again... But yeah, this one was far easier to digest since it was consistently lighthearted. The Yuni version on the other hand... not so much. I mean it already starts with her being drugged and by the time Xeno found her she was still unconscious, yet already dressed in that dancer outfit. The implication that this guy stripped her while she was out seem to be deliberate too, seeing how Xeno realized that guy would have to know where Yuni was because he noticed her clothes laying around. And of course unnamed slaver guy still gets to walk away yet again for some reason. Since I would prefer if this doesn't end up the only thing I talk about for this part, I'd say Bismark was a very appropriate name for this boss, seeing how he is the Captain of a ship that is completely outmatched by Holmes. Well, assuming he was named after the German Battleship and not the Prussian of course. Edit: And apparently you need to have Plum and Lionheart Holmes' route in order for them to meet. That's a bit of a bummer. Lionheart is a strong Bow Knight and Plum is a freaking dancer, so I'd say they are definitely more useful on Runan's route. And Aura Rain + Dance is particularly hilarious. And I kinda preferred San's name as Sun. It just seemed like an hilarious name to have for a Black Knight. Either way, Sunny has to be the most adorable representative of this trope ever. And a little tip: Lyra's WLV may be painfully low but a single WLV potion would be just enough for her to get it high enough to use a Physic staff. She is unlikely to get the 3 points she needs otherwise.

I'm not sure if that 10% growth is actually correct. In another run I've seen, she got strength all the time. I mean, look at this: That player gave her the Salia Codex but even with that she should still only have 20%. Either way, I don't think she is any good with magic swords since she doesn't start out with any magic.

Congrats on getting through this mess. And getting the Movement Potion while you were at it, so you got at least something out of this. Well, that and seeing Eugen diss Arkis. I don't remember getting a Thief Sword drop on this map though. I guess that guy must have been killed by one of my summons. Fortunately I didn't have Arkis with me when I did this map, so I could just use a bunch of summons as a distraction. Btw, Star weapons like the Rukuud cannot be stolen. And Raquel would have had a far easier time dodging if she didn't have that heavy Crossbow equipped. There would also have been another event if you had opened the cell with the NPCs. I don't remember what you would actually have gotten out of it, though. Probably just a few money bags. And your Vega is doing really well. He is getting pretty close towards capping his Speed and Skill stats. Unfortunately just like FE4, the game won't tell you when you actually hit a stat cap but no class ever goes beyond 25, except for luck which caps for everyone at 30. Swordmasters have a cap of 25 in both Speed and Skill.

This was strange. I remember the Condor Squad moving the moment you set foot into the desert. I guess that's the game taking pity on you for doing the Leteena event. When I went for the Leteena event, I had an absolutely godly Kress. He did get defense on basically every level until he rammed the cap and his other stats were pretty high too. Unfortunately I missed one of the steps of the event, so his godly power ended up being wasted. Anyway, if you hadn't done the Leteena event, you would have gotten a different priest named Rebecca. She wouldn't have the Silence staff or Elite but she would have started out with Summon. Leteena will learn Summon after a few levels too, though. And holy shit, I did not know you could copy the enemy. Also, every unit that has Mug will lower the accuracy and evade of nearby units just like Marchen does. As for the second map, is it just me or did you get attacked several times by a Thief Sword without losing an item? I thought a Thief Sword always succeeds at stealing an item as long as the user gets to attack and survives. Guess I got that wrong, even though I exploited the hell out of that weapon on my first run. The chest to the north contains a really good reward. I'm my case I failed to get it though. I'm surprised you had Vege in range for a killing blow on the Thief. To me it seemed impossible to get anyone up there in time. Also, Rina is another unit with no less then 2 base movement. And last but not least, Aura Rain will not work against these guys. The only way you can hurt them is through counter attacks. And it's hard to kill enemies that way when they have more then 2 range. Aura Rain might still be useful to deal with the Thief and the reinforcements, though.

Easily Ephraim. His struggle with his responsibility as a prince and his conflict with Lyon is very engaging. Honorable mention to Elincia. She was great in Part 2 of Radiant Dawn.

I find it hard to imagine that you actually read my post. Or did you get the impression that just because I used it as an example of games with artistic integrity that I think is worth defending, that I actually care about Senran Kagura of all things? Fates is just utterly mesmerizing in how it doesn't care about anything except making as much money as possible. I can't think of any other games to even compare it to which aren't microtransaction infested smartphone games.

There is nothing "adult" about the way Fates deals with the issues of sexuality and incest. Or god help, warfare and family for that matter. "Juvenile" would be a more fitting term. And being treated like a horny twelve year old is usually rather offputting for an adult audience.