BrightBow

I wonder if Kozaki was really serious with that answer. I never got the expression that "personality" was a huge factor for the art. I mean, the artwork for the males is awesome. No matter what you think of the style, they are all very expressive. None of them failed me to give an initial expression about the characters. The women on the other hand... I've must really have spend quite a bit of time looking at the faces of Tiki, Panne and Olivia, and I still can't figure out what they are supposed to express.

We know it's a natural ability and we know that she is branded. And we know that branded have unnatural abilities. So where else would it be coming from?

On this list, none of these things make her stand out in any way. What makes her stand out, is the fact that the affection of the people of Daein is merely the result of make believe. The very foundation of that relationship between Micaiah and the Daein people is based on the fact that the Daein people prefer fairy tale romanticism over reality. Their life kinda sucked under the occupation, so they built the next best person to be a their hero. They built her up to such messianic levels, that their affection grew into sheer fanaticism. They kept their blind faith into her, even when she reached the point where she merely bargained the exact circumstances of Daein's downfall. As the chapter 9 narration put it: "In their troubled hearts, they see in her nothing less than the promise of salvation." This fantasy image ultimately originated from her powers... which in reality are merely the result of her being a branded. And the Daein are the biggest racists on Telius, so they would probably be particularly unkind if they knew the truth.

Equal opportunity sexualization sounds nice and all. But clothing is really just the beginning. There are other factors, like body language. Like, do you really want to see Chrom doing the same pose as... let's say, Cordelia or Panne? Can't we just get rid of this kind of stuff entirely?

If I might add, it's not just the cover. Read the backside of the game's case: "Fight for a better tomorrow! "Command the members of the Dawn Brigade and use your strategy to free your homeland!" A business that as well all know, is finished at the end of Part 1 with three more parts to go. And they only added the opening scenes featuring Ike after reaching Part 3. I don't see much room to doubt that they wanted to keep Ike's role as the actual protagonist a secret, marketing be damned.

I was surprised to find out that even the final bosses barely have any stats that go even slightly above 30. So they seem pretty pointless to me. Sure, the DLC has units capped everything and all... But since you have to get all your stats to their caps before even thinking about challenging them, you would effectively get the same result if everyone was already capped at 30 as usual. The only difference would be, that you wouldn't need hours of repetitive grinding. And running through a hamster wheel for hours is not my idea of fun.

It provides useful strategical options as long as it is a highly limited resource. Skipping the whole map is of course a problem. But Fire Emblem is structured as a campaign, so you would want the resources that a map has to offer in order to be prepared for anything. Of course, once you've played the game already, you know exactly what you need and can cut corners. Maybe they should just make Lords explode when you warp them or something, in order to prevent skipping.

The reason I didn't write it that way is because I am not sure that publishers even acknowledge that they exist. Because I wanted to point out what their choice of designs says about their view on the people that they are deliberately targeting.

I'm still surprised how well Mirror of Fate works. I always thought that 2.5D platformers with such an realistic artstyle would look awful. But everything looks absolutely beautiful. I also thought that falling damage couldn't possibly work either but I was also proven wrong. It makes the progression in the castle so tense and exiting. I just wish that you could restart every act instead of having to restart the whole thing. Well, and the constant checkpoints were a letdown. I got so used that they were everywhere, that I eventually stopped paying attention to the lifebar. There needs to be at least some penalty for death.

But not what little they can provide. Porn for every possibly taste can be found easily available on the Internet while video games will be kicked up to the dreaded AO rating if they show as much as a woman's nipple. So they can't really compete with that. The only explanation for their persistent use of these tropes is simply a lack of respect towards their male customers.

I lost interest in the Wii version when I heard about unskipable cutscenes.

That's hardly the same, considering that Mist is the German word for "manure" or the equivalent of "crap" when used as an interjection. And Stahl is a good name. I am sure that there are plenty of Germans with it. Only as a family name but it doesn't sound bad at all. Calling the mysterious guy from the desert something common as "Stefan" while everyone else had fantasy names, was definitely a lot worse.

Wow, that's early. Btw, how many tries did the US demo allow? Granted, I do know that they tend to vary. Like, the US version of Kingdom hearts 3D demo had 30 tries while the European one had only 15.

But it's a strategy game. It's supposed to be about using your brains to beat it. You shouldn't instead have to think about avoiding an obvisious strategy simply because it might break the game. I mean, one would think that we have difficulty settings to avoid this sort of thing. It's like the people who have paid money to buy the software have to design half of the game themselves. That the developers effectively only provide a game engine.

Too much Marth? Oh come on. Those DS games were remakes. I can't be the only person who wanted to play those awesome games that didn't make it over here. And while I would be the first to say that Shadow Dragon was a complete mess when compared to the original game, I also have to admit that they were a pain to play because of the outdated interface. So it was still well worth playing. Awakening on the other hand... so what if he has a DLC and a Spotpass version? Doesn't that apply to any DLC character? And if someone should get those privileges, then him. Mind you, I do not appreciate Marth's masked presence in the main story. But not because I mind seeing Marth himself. The pre-release infos claiming that the setting is totally the future Akaneia and Marth promoted to Timelord or whatever, felt like an extremely cheap advertisement stunt to me. Like in "Star Trek: Generations". A movie that advertised itself to be about an epic team-up of two of the greatest television icons. The ads failed to mention that said epic team-up merely served the purpose of beating up an old man. It's simply the sort of thing that I expect people to do when they have nothing worth showing. But I would be totally in for a proper new Akaneia game starring Marth. And I do not wish to see him replaced by anyone else in Smash Brothers. I just don't want Fire Emblem games to include him for the sheer hell of it.

I wouldn't say that there are no hints at all. First off all, when Rolf first joins, the brothers vocally point out that someone had to have taught him to use a bow. A question that is revisited later during one of the Triangle Attack conversations. Oscar figured it out but is shut down by Rolf before he can spill the beans. Also, the game's unit screen shows you which units can talk to an NPC. And if one possibly unit can't get anything done by talking, you would naturally try the remaining ones listed. Also, if you have Mist talk to him, the dialogue heavily suggests that you should try Rolf. And since Shinon is always quite vocal about his dislike for Ike, it's an easy conclusion to draw that Ike has to prove himself to Shinon before he accepts him as a leader. Personally, I see the problem merely in the fact that the two requirements have nothing that ties them together. So you can't figure out that you have to do both things in order for it to work. That, and you are usually used to the fact that a killed unit is... well, death. During my first try, I actually meet all the requirements. But I pressed reset two lines after beating the boss since I didn't interpret the "death" conversation the way it was intended and didn't expect having to wait until everything else is said and done before getting a confirmation. The consequence was, that I spend hours futile trying less likely methods before finding out online that I got it right already. Anyway: Best: Optionally saving a main character through actions over the course of the whole campaign (Eyvel/FE5). Worst: Don't kill the potential recruitment (Jill/PoR) First of all: As difficult as recruiting Eyvel is, it is mostly straightforward and intuitive. Of course, if that was all to it, it would be way to much work. But the thing is that you are not just saving a nobody. You are saving Eyvel. Eyvel is a very awesome person who did so much for everyone. And all while being brave, compassionate and unbelievably badass. With the proper writing, the difficulty only makes it more rewarding when you finally get such characters back. It's even helped by the fact that it's entirely optional. It's so much more rewarding when you can make a difference and the world reacts to those actions rather then being railroaded into everything. Jill on the other hand, is un-recruitable when she appears on the map for the first time. And since that isn't spelled out, I spent a lot of time trying to recruit her like with Shinon. Just how are you supposed to know, that you can't recruit somebody? Not to mention that I consider her a very important character in the story. And the developers clearly thought so as well, since they gave her so many info conversations, battle conversations and scripts. She is effectively a main character. That's why I think it's such a shame that you can so easily skip her by failing to recruit her and leaving her dead. If you don't get her, you miss out on so much more then a mere Wyvern Knight with a portrait. They really shouldn't have put her on the map.

1. Tales of the Abyss - 258:41 2. Kid Icarus: Uprising - 189:10 3. Kingdom Hearts 3D - 188:36 4. Dragon Quest IX - 106:08 - (This game really proves that playtimes says nothing about a games quality. I didn't exactly feel much satisfaction when I wasted hours on that sidequest that requires you to kill 3 Metal Slimes with a Mage after having him cast a pointless Mag Res spell on himself. The game is filled to the top with crap like that. That is such a cheap way to artificial increase playtime.) 5. Dead or Alive Dimensions - 97:52

Well, let's see... -I would really like to bring back the Fatigue system. But it would work significantly different. For one thing, fatigue would only drop by a limited amount of points per chapter. Deployed units would recover slower then does in the reserve but it wouldn't just instantly reset like in Thracia. But more importantly, I would have exhaustion cause an continually increasing attribute drop. That way, you are encouraged to keep a larger team instead of dominating the whole game with like two units, through the sheer power of levels and stats. And in order to avoid the obligatory Jagen to curbstomb the whole first half of the game, I would give him a "skill" that makes him exhaust particularly fast. -Speaking of skills, I would like to overhaul the skill system even further then Awakening. So that there are effectively barely any more random chance skills. So skills like Adept can be used when you want, BUT it comes at the cost of a resource, like MP or something. Kinda like in Dragon Quest IX. That way it becomes a deliberate tactical judgment call instead of mere luck. It would also allow to further individualize characters by introducing characters who may have low states but have a high MP to use for double attacking, backstabbing, paralyzing or whatever... MP would also be used as an opportunity for more creative spells and as a transformation gauge for Manaketes. -PCC would definitely be back. It's essentially favorite mechanic in the series. It allows critical hits to be manipulated to the point of being reliable and serves as a further distinguishing feature between characters. -Critical hits would also be like in Thracia, so they can serve as a way to overcome high defense units with brute force. -Forced dismounting during indoor chapters would also be back. I liked that those chapters gave foot units some time to shine. No need to force them to use swords, though. But their weapon rank would temporarily drop. And foot units would also gain increased terrain advantage. In fact, mounted units might even be disadvantaged on difficult terrain. Kinda like in "Battle for Wesnoth". -I MIGHT bring back the Monshu/Thracia support system. Because you wouldn't deploy a unit for half the game just because it provides meaningful supports for the second half. But if a character provides those support from the get go, then it might be a different story. But this system has of course it's own downsides. Maybe I would use it like in Telius. It technically had both systems. It was just that those "Bond" supports were so rare and had only 1-range. So they weren't of much use. -I also would like to bring back replacement units in exchange for Casual mode. But their level would be adjusted based on campaign progression and not on the level average. -I think that resource management is an important factor during Fire Emblem. And infinite resources undermine that. So there would be no access to every shop through a world map. And no side chapters for infinite gold and infinite EXP.

"The Tellius arc was complete after it was done"? The game left so many plot hooks lying around that I can't even list them all on the drop of my head. For example, the game just casually mentioned, that not only is the god of Telius very real but also just so happens to be sitting in a tower in Begnion. Sephiran even said at the end that there would be further war. The game was clearly intended to have a sequel.

An import shouldn't be necessary anymore anyway. The game will be released here very soon. Besides, the European versions of Fire Emblem are generally slightly superior to the US versions anyway. They usually lack a few bugs and have mistakes in the script fixed.

I am also currently playing Mirror of Fate and so far I am having a very fun time. I had some issues at the beginning. Enemies seemed to take forever to kill. But once I got the hang of the sub weapons and the combos, I can dish out some decent damage, so I no longer get hit only because the tedium makes me lower my guard. I also love the atmosphere. The castle really feels actually big, mysterious and dangerous for once. The music helps too. It actually enhances the atmosphere rather then feeling like a completely disconnected entity. Once I got the hang of combat, the fights got very exiting. And MoF platforming works surprisingly well. And I just love using the whip as a tool to get through the castle. Only downside so far are all those quick action commands. And I am confused about the arrangement of the game's Acts as well but I am not entirely through yet, so maybe it will make sense at the end. Well, and the game crashed on me once when trying to feed bats to a certain boss. Hopefully I just got unlucky. However, I think Legacy of Darkness will still be my favorite. I still find it's atmosphere to be unmatched. Besides, exploring big, scary castle's in 3D makes you appreciate a lot more that it's a big scary castle. I just wish you didn't have to play Cornell's story before unlocking Reinhardt and Carrie. I think Cornell is horribly designed.

Then you probably shouldn't read the Vanessa x Lute A-conversation. But then again, Lute was also willing to kill a teammate in order to ensure her superiority. Turning one thousand Pegasus into an aphrodisiac doesn't sound to far off for her. Vanessa: "But, Lute, I never thought you would try to steal the wings right off her back! Guess the battlefield is a lonely place! Ha ha ha ha!"

I don't think you need to say "sort of". Deidre's words that you quoted sound like that #2 is spot on. As for the palace gossip, reading the context of the designer notes talking about it, (namely the question of whether or not Alvis knew about Deidre being his half sister) I would say that the gossip was about Alvis' mother cheating on Victor with prince Kurt. Well, and of course all the other stuff in Velthomer: Victor cheating on her, impregnating a maid, killing himself, etc... And given that the discrimination against the descendants, Alvis would have never become the head of Veltomer if that was common knowledge. So Alvis probably only knew once Manfroy told him.

I would vote for Lundgren from FE7. Lundgren somehow managed to loose a whole country to a small group of people that Lyn picked up on her way. This isn't a case of Lyn having off-screen allies. It was specified that Lyn had no support from any of the Marquis and that Calin's population wasn't rebelling. Lyn had to win with nothing but the few people she traveled with.

Yes, you are probably right with all of that. I am really bad with people, though mostly in the sense of never actually about anything. So when I actually do talk, I am not really surprised to turn out to be one of those kind of shitheads that are so dreaded on the Internet. There is probably all kinds of passive aggressiveness, condensation and whatever else, in my posts. I don't really have much of a sense on how my actions or words are perceived by others. I hope to get better by practice. Feedback like this is very helpful in that regard. Thank you for all of this. For now I don't, to be honest. These days, I actually like Nowi myself. I mean, her writing and her design are two entirely different things. And as far as her design is concerned, your interpretation of my words is pretty much spot on. And as long as I didn't mixed those two things up, I am behind what I wrote above there. The thing is, that I merely wanted to say why I personally didn't like it and tried to illustrate why. That wasn't intended as a criticism of the show or an insult of anyones tastes. I still don't get how that post could even have been interpreted as "the show sucks because of a continuity error". I might be a lot wiser if I did understand why. But for now, it just irritates me. Here is the post btw, in case of my perception being rather selective about that issue: http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=36463&view=findpost&p=2212642 If the second reason would justify that sort of language, then nobody would ever have to excuse themselves for any insult. I mean, who isn't at least annoyed when they insult someone? Yes, it does. That is some very valuable feedback. I appreciate your massive effort as well. Thank you a lot.