BrightBow

Favorite: Trickster Personally I am a sucker for classes which can heal allies and stop those trying to hurt them by force. It also helps that E-Staff is actually useful right off the bat. Least Favorite: Griphon Rider Now WarCraft II might be one of my first games ever but these particular Griphon Riders here seem kinda redundant to me.

Day 13 JillxLethe I think. Lots of worldbuilding and character development for and referencing stuff that happens during the main story so it feels like we are truly moving forward in time. And most importantly: The beginning of a wonderful friendship that even the worst war can't rip apart. IkexSoren is nice too. Day 14 I love the support system from FE3/5. Though more accurately, I would prefer if it was handled like TRS where supports bonuses could be raised by certain events. The thing is, I would prefer if a units doesn't have to stick around for half the game to develop a feature that makes her worth being deployed in the first place. Character convos are a great feature but I wish these would be handled more through base conversations like in PoR/RD or TRS (sort of). That way it would also be easier to reference current events.

Hmmm, maybe on a personal level, beating Dullahan in Golden Sun TLA is a better example. When I was a kid, I always avoided fighting this guy properly. He seemed impossible so I just resorted to summon spamming. But when Dark Dawn was about to be released, I replayed the games and after so many years I finally defeated this guy properly. Not hard but it felt really good for me personal. Because of his regeneration and me often spending several turns licking wounds, I didn't even know if I was doing damage. It was quite something to see him finally fall.

If it's because the entire board, it's because Fire Emblem is my favorite video game series. About this sub forum, that's where most of the talking is happening since it is the most actual game. I tried starting a few threads about Tear Ring Saga but nothing is going on there. Also, I would like to claim that when a person experiences a piece of media that left a strong impression on him/her, there is the desire to talk about it. Whether the impression is good or bad. And in my case it happens to be extremely bad. Though I wish this topic was staying on rails. Maybe I am too tired to notice but I could bet that until my above post I was merely talking about characterization matching that of the usual 8/15 Dating Sim cast. Personality has nothing to do with wardrobe.

I think beating the original Castlevania. Though sine it was the GBA port and later the virtual console version, I could save between levels. Still, that's effectively just like keeping the NES running over night. People seem to act like the original Castlevania is outstandingly hard. But to me it's actually the only NES game I played which didn't kick my ass until I gave up. Well, Kirby's adventure didn't but that game is deliberately easy.

You were just cherry picking a single class design of a very specific game in a series consisting of 12 games. The closest other designs would probably be the FE8 dancer and the TRS dancer if we count those. Though, personally I usually don't get upset over a single sexualized design. In cases like that I can justify it as being in.character. Not to mention that dancers aren't fighters. If it comes to wearing nothing but underwear and a few accessories, Awakening by itself already got the Dark Mage, Sorceress (What is this thing even supposed to be?), Manakete and Tanguel class. And in addition Awakening features tons of designs which run around with their panties very wide in the open and where even the shortest mini skirt would be an improvement. On the drop of my head, I can recall the Dancer, Cavalier, Great Knight, Paladin, Falcon Knight and Dark Knight. Then of course, we got several examples of classes on the level of FE7 Sonia. (Of course, in her case it shows only up in the artwork.) The Assassin, the Archer, the Thief, Wyvern Knight, Tiki's custom model and Aversa's (totally worse but whatever). Mind you, I have always been irritated by the obsession of the art direction with bare female legs in the art of Fire Emblem. But this isn't a binary issue. These things have gotten worse. A lot. It also ignores that the old games used to have cool shit like female characters using the very same armor as their male comrades. Even without the obligatory addition of breast plates.

Is there even anyone claiming that? Personally I actually like the supports of FE6 for the most part and think the game did a very good job fleshing out the characters and the various nations.

My apologies. I thought IMO means something along the lines of btw. Also, it's not like Awakening doesn't have other qualities beyond the female class designs. So saying it's success is because of that is quite daring. Nobody buys video games because of skimpy clothes. Everyone says "Sex sells" but nobody actually does that. Because like you said, there is porn everywhere in reach of everyone who can unlock Spotpass content. And for free too. It's absurd to think people would bother with video games for that purpose.

Because it is insulting that IS thinks that their male customers have a dick for a brain and prefer shallow lust objects over actual characters. And you don't get to decide what are valid reasons to dislike the game. I can ignore it? How? Playing the game blindfolded?

That makes no sense since Largo was in Ike's party while the Black Knight was busy killing Ena.

"In a typical dating sim, the player controls a male avatar surrounded by female characters. The gameplay involves conversing with a selection of girls, attempting to increase their internal "love meter" through correct choices of dialogue. The game lasts for a fixed period of game time, such as one month or three years. When the game ends, the player either loses the game if he failed to properly win over any of the girls, or "finishes" one of the girls, often by having sex with her, marrying her (as in Magical Date), and/or achieving eternal love. This gives the games more replay value, since the player can focus on a different girl each time, trying to get a different ending." Most of this applies to Awakening. And this is merely describing a "typical game". It's not a check list you have to fulfill to be a dating sim. And a "single optional mechanic"? A single mechanic that just so happens to hide a huge chunk of the cast, tons of levels on top of having tons of effects on a units performance. There is even a fortune teller in the freaking main menu to ask about people's love with no purpose but to go with the theme. The mechanic is a massive part of the game. And the point was that Awakening features the very same cast of sexual fantasies as your average dating sim. That's a huge deal, given that characters are a vital element of Fire Emblem. If Awakening acts like a dating sim and has the same shallow fetishized cast like the average dating sim, then maybe it's accurate to call it a dating sim. If there is anything else you find "unrelated" maybe you could give me more of a hint then merely a dozen "whuts".

But none of these relationships were implied in PoR. The supports in question are completely devoid of any romance. Just because people grow close, they don't have to automatically fall in love. Awakening's situation is completely different from that.

The units with their shallow stereotypical and wacky personalities definitely invoke the feeling of a dating sim in me. Especially because of how the female characters are designed, who seem to be modeled to fulfill the obligatory fetishes in these games. The annoying little sister, the reserved moeblob, the academic, the tomboy, the tsundere, the seductress, the loli, etc. And it's not like the mechanic isn't embarrassingly shoehorned in. This game has no vision like FE4 had about the history of families through a war lasting several generations. The mechanic is there for it's own sake and adds nothing but problems with the setting and plot. So yeah, I say calling it a Dating sim is fairly accurate.

He is simply the Black Knight when he can afford to get away with it. Ashnard doesn't seem to keep him at a short leash. So his orders can wait a while as long as they are done eventually. Getting away from his duties as a Begnion General shouldn't be too hard. For one thing, he is a noble. That means that only other members of the nobility can make accusations against him in the first place. And in his position he should be able to get away with delegating orders to subordinates while he is off to do stuff like managing his lands or being summoned by Duke Persis, one of the few people he has to take orders from and who just so happens to be his partner in crime. And it's not like the Black Knight doesn't have troubles keeping up with his responsibilities as a Daein General. For example, Ashnard noticed that he took his sweet time kidnapping Leanne and he himself admitted to Petrine that he was late in chapter 20.

I got to play. Tales of the Abyss 3D Tales of Symphonia Tales of Symphonia: DotnW I found Tales of Symphonia and DotnW to be both rather average. They were just kinda boring and dungeons seemed to go on forever. But I thought that Tales of the Abyss had a rather strong plot. Sure, the execution of certain plot points was rather lackluster. But you can usually still see what they were going for. I particularly liked the thematic of the value of ones life and the responsibility one has for taking them. Even the lives of supposedly faceless grunts. The scene of Luke fighting an actual person for the first time was great. You think the fight is nothing special... and then you see Luke so disturbed upon the realization that the just killed a person. And you think Luke is just supposed to be whiny and needs to man up when he complains about the inevitable killing that their escape would cause And then his hesitation to kill causes Tear to get injured... ...and then she apologizes shortly afterwards, admitting that it was too much to ask from a civilian to just suddenly start killing people. Scenes like that went under my skin because games tend to take such killings for granted. But the best part was the build up to Luke's sacrifice. Sure, I knew the main character wasn't going to die at this point in the story. But that didn't matter. What mattered was his character development. From someone who seemed all to willing to give up his life because he didn't see a place for him to someone who realizes the value of his existence and the meaning it has to others and to himself. A borderline suicide turns into a true heroic sacrifice as Luke realizes that he does want to live but still goes through with it because it's the rational thing to do.

11. 1. Oliver The guy was supposed to be the embodiment of everything that was wrong with the Begnion senate. Enslaving and objectifying Laguz. A massive ego that allows him to see lifes other them himself as disposable. Feared by his subordinates and corrupt like you wouldn't believe. And this guy becomes resurrected.... just so he can play comic relief in Radiant Dawn? I would have rather not seen him again. 2. Robin Given my above post, this guy can't miss on this list. What I wrote above all obviously applies here too. It says something that he dares to claim that he changed the world for the better, right after he learned that because of his actions the Grimleal were free to kill the Plegian population as sacrifice for their dumbass dragon. Of course that statement might be totally true. Technically. Just like I might "technically" turn the world into a better place if I throw a grenade into a crowd in shopping center. You can never know what dangerous bad guys I might end up killing that way. And I don't even want to think about the consequences his actions will have for Valm in the power vacuum. And this in a series that has always stressed the responsibility of authorities. And what consequences their loss has on a country's infrastructure. His actions don't even get justified like in RD with Micaiah. They are just completely ignored. 3. Michalis I seriously wonder what the developers of the DS games want with his guy. Let's see: Arran dies from his sickness, Abel and Est's relationship breaks apart... Why does this guy stay alive in FE12? This man who who killed his father, had his sister to be kidnapped and used to force his other sister into submission. This guy not not only survives and becomes recruitable but also gets a happy ending where said sisters forgive him and he gets his country back or rules another continent? Maybe he doesn't count since I still want him to exist and all. Just not recruitable and alive and ruling anything and stuff. 4. Nowi An impregnable little kid looking like a 10 year old with the personality of a 7 year old wearing skimpy lingery. But it's okay because she is totally 1000 years old. Sure, she isn't actually written like that. But who cares about such details. 5. Devdan I guess he is supposed to be ...comic relief. I definitely don't get what they were going for with this guy. He gets possessed by his puppet or something? The Tellius games would be less irritating if he wasn't there. 12. 1. Titania She has the wisdom, strength and experience to be a great party leader. 2. Soren His intelligence and knowledge are a great asset. Also magic hax. 3. Holmes He is a jerkass and an idiot. But he combines great skill with sword and bow with thieving utility. Plus, we already got brains covered anyway. 4. Nanna (Paladin) Someone who is both a powerful fighter and a Cleric. Plus, a passive support aura for everyone around. And she wields the powerful Earth Sword. 5. Katri For those days when you just need an invincible dragon with 30 points of defense negating 3x3 area damage. She can also use staffs and summon monster. Downside: She might be the dumbest person among all Fire Emblem and Tear Ring Saga characters.

Broken? How? From my experience they have very limited availability. I usually had a lot more Master Seals then these.

Oh yeah, now that I look at it again. I guess I missed it because the book and the horse get in the way when viewing in the model viewer (or whatever it's called). I've never seen the model outside of it.

I would hope they are good. When facing them, they felt quite unbalanced. With them being able to resist both physical and magical damage while their own magic assured that their counters would be painful, there never seemed to be a good way to approach them. But I guess that doesn't necessary mean they are good as a final class. Funnily enough as far as female class designs go, it was actually one of the few I considered bearable enough to use for MU. (Among Trickster, Bow Knight, Sage and D.Pegasus, I think) Though it could be that I missed or misinterpreted parts of the design.

9. No. I am really done with this guy. All the praise and attention MU got was just embarrassing. Which was especially stupid because most of the time it's done for stuff the player didn't even do. And she gave the impression that s/he was the central figure in everyones life for no reason. And quite frankly: Her lack of empathy disturbs me and makes me feel insulted that the game dares to treat her as my Avatar. I am not saying that it can't be done better but FE13 really killed my enthusiasm for those possibilities. 10. I guess mounted should be nerfed. Mages do fine as they are. It's nice that they are back to being proper glass cannons rather then just being staff users with some combat. Though, I wish the mounted classes would simply receive a general overhaul rather then a downright nerf. For example playing Tear Ring Saga, where Re-Move is a skill not shared by any mount made me think that they should add a light cavalier class specialized in flanking the enemy and Re-Move into safety. A class that actually plays differently rather then classes having merely slightly different states.

Best: FE4 Worst: FE13 FE4's first chapter is pretty sweet. There is a lot of stuff going on, making it actually require quite a bit of planning. Ayra in particular requires some thought on how to deal with her. Maybe a bit too much for a first chapter, Also, there is quite some cool stuff happening. You already get to use a Silencer staff and you get to witness a surprise ambush getting thwarted by an NPC army which can actually kick some ass. Music is also typical FE4, meaning it's awesome. On the other hand, spending several turns doing nothing but walking can be a pain. As for FE13's chapter 1. Now, the chapter definitly offers an impressive display: The death walk the earth, mountains are shifted and it rains fire. Also a massive eye in the sky. However, the protagonists show an irritating non-reaction to the ongoing Armageddon. They don't even ask the person who should know what's going on for some info beyond her name and just let her walk away. Also, enter Virion. A guy who stalks women in the woods during the night and who joins the shepherds for no reason. The chapter also features more wacky antics from Lissa. Thankfully this is the last time this happens. On the bright side, it's hilarious to imagine Chrom chasing after a bear with the Falchion. Btw, what's the deal with the FE8 reinforcements?

Quite frankly, the only thing I miss from Awakening is the ability to merge items and the unlimited storage space. Everything else is just annoying or worse. -The characters comments? They are annoying because they are universally used to further shove the personality substitute of the units down the players throat. Though in a way, I am impressed that they managed to reference something like "I like sweets" in so many different contexts. I guess Kellam would even complain that nobody is watching him while he is taking a shit. Even if this wasn't the case, it's still irritating because they are acting so damn upbeat, further detaching them from the story which just so happens to feature a worldwide war at the time. With people dying and stuff. -Characters grunting? They are the reason I turned of voices halfway through the game. They are acting so cheerfully while killing other humans that it appears that THEY are the ones playing a video game. It definitely doesn't sound like they are involved in a fight that could potentially cost their lives. It also ruins the atmosphere that the music tries so hard to build up. -The Pair up system? It never gets intuitive. Suddenly Archers can counter at melee. Or melee attackers can attack at range. But if the main unit can't counter, they are just standing their watching their comrade die. It looks kinda awkward. And it controls awkwardly too. I can't accept that you somehow can't heal the second unit. And that the paired up units can't heal each other. The two units should stay right next to each other. They should both be able to be healed without wasting a turn switching. And it's annoying to have to switch units to access the second units inventory and then switch back. Something so basic now feels like performing weapon trading shenanigans. And of course, there is the matter of separating paired units. You can use pair-up and then immediately Move and attack. You can use pair-up to transport a unit to the other side of the map. But if you wanna split, both use their turn. But if I merely drop them into another unit, they can keep moving. My brain can't get used to these logic defying rules. And that comes up a lot with clerics. Because Clerics don't help fighters and fighters are useless while a cleric is healing. But of course, even when there are bad guys left to kill, the Cleric will demand that the fighter watches him because he feels lonely otherwise. Not to mention that instead of giving the impression that two units are fighting together, it gives me the impression that one units is fighting and the other is just watching. And only gets involved when it feels like it. But what just kills the system for me fundamentally is that it effectively halves the numbers of units on the map. One of the things I like about Fire Emblem, is that you control more characters then there are in your average D&D party. But of course you still have to handle the inventories of both units in a pair up. So it's the worst of both worlds. I am massively relived that I don't have to bother with this system in any other game. Not to mention that the dialogue is harder to read because of the completely unrelated voice clips. The animations are awkwardly to watch because of all the model clipping and because the screen keeps freezing all the time. And the issues with pair up I mentioned earlier. Even shopping feels more annoying because everything is available at any time. So every time I have to run all over the map to buy new heal staffs, I can't help but wonder why there isn't just ONE shop that sells everything. It makes sense in a linear game because it forces you toplan ahead. Or in a sandbox game where different shops help to give you the impression of an actual world. But Awakening only has a world map in a narrative that does not allow to move all over the place all the time. So yeah, every game feels more pleasant like this one. I don't miss anything noteworthy. The only advantage it has for me, is that it is more available then most games because of the mere fact that is is a handheld game.

If nothing else, it's probably the Archers who need to get the boot. I mean, unlike Archers, Hunters are very frail but have stronger offense. But durability is for the most part wasted on a class that exclusively uses indirect attacks. Modern LV.1 Archers would probably be more useful had they be modeled after Castor instead of Gordon.

To think that Nintendo was such a big part of my entire live, and yet I never had the courtesy to know this man's name before this week. Rest in Piece Mister Yamauchi. My best wishes to you, your family and your former colleagues.

You mean because the class was original Mercenary? The old Mercenary class had extremely low strength and high speed. The Myrmdione has more in common with them then their modern bulkier incarnation. So that's why I treated the modern Mymidone as the true successor to the old Mercenary class. Stuff like that is why I said classes can't really be compared throughout the series and specified I would specifically address the Awakening version.