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I tend to consider recruitment costs, so it’s easily Raven. If we waive them, I might still take Raven. Harken only really does cool stuff on what, H29 and maybe Endgame (and Raven can probably do it too)? Lots of units can defend, and neither is mounted/flier/warper. Not a lot of units consistently one-round early on though, which is very relevant if accepting a fluid team composition. imo, like the only way I could personally maybe see Harken is if you waived recruitment costs and went full no-mount-is-bad-so-availability<nonexistance and also only considered the optimal case of Marcus+ Lyn Mode!Sain + Lyn Mode!Florina or something. Even then, does Harken contribute anything? I also see both Raven and Harken making HHM easier, if we want to go that route (and Raven moreso, because more chapters to do so)

It depends a lot on enemy skills, since obviously Frederick+Kellam is super-tanky if there’s little Luna+/Counter. If they have more of those offensive skills instead, then it’s more advisable to try and run through them quickly on player phase. Then, it might be useful to have Frederick+Sumia and others unpaired, so you have Chrom (Rapier)/Miriel/Avatar/etc all for chip (and maybe positioned adjacent Frederick so he can help with Silver Lance Dual Strikes, bypassing Counter/Pavise).

I thought the same as you, but iirc for a while, I was seeing topics where FE4 was often maligned as overrated. Though I guess my point is these are probably different people, so sampling/volunteer bias heavily dictates what is considered community “consensus” (regardless of the specific game in question). Yeah, to clarify, it’s indeed more accurate to refer to elitist disparaging remarks in general (I mentioned generalizing one way or another). Also in my experience, that’s more counter-reactionary react-ception. People love the new game, other (older) fans may not (hype-backlash), other people then dismiss/decry those opinions as such. and then you call them out on it. >_>

I was primarily referring to the optimization of micromanaging, timing, decision-making skills and game knowledge as opposed to AI knowledge and abuse. For the most part, these fundamentals carry over (just applied differently in SP and MP). I agree that if you only know how to abuse AI, you won’t get very far in multiplayer. And I don’t consider multiplayer to be very good either. Beyond numerous technical issues and strangers being generally sociopathic backstabbers, I find gameplay has substantial flaws depending on if you’re trying to actually win or have fun (the 2 are often orthogonal, in my experience). Generally, a good competitive game will combine the two factors. Plus, in Civ 5 a lot will depend on lag/RNG and other stuff that generally frustrates many players. To me, it’s again mostly enjoyable for the immersion/roleplay aspect, when playing with people you know. BNW AI has even less idea about how to play properly than before. The new culture/tourism system (which is actually quite deep and interactive) really messed it up (no surprise, really…). It’s probably fixable to some extent with just tweaking of the AI flavors, but it doesn’t seem Firaxis is that interested in another patch.

Title is pretty sensationalist, but I generally agree with the basic idea (in the video, not the title). One could say it's inevitable as the producer (more competitors in the industry does not mean quality competitors. By nature, it's probably more average/mediocre games.) and audience (want to appeal to more people for more profit) size increases. Still, there will also always be quality games out there, and certain industry innovations do make it a bit easier to find them. And it doesn't necessarily preclude larger companies from making good games, either. Re: Civ tangent. I agree with the premise that the massive bonuses feel really unfair, but you might be surprised at how well it emulates an optimized player. Back when I was starting to play Civ and played against some friends, it felt like they got secret bonuses somehow and always had more units, more beakers, more gold, more hammer/wonders, etc than me. Exactly how Diety AI feels. (ofc now with experience, it's easy to notice the difference and abuse AI. And Diety is a joke in BNW anyway...) If we consider the immersion experience to be the most critical part of Civ, then it's acceptable they spend time on that rather than AI (so much more resource/time intensive in nearly every way).

You may want to rely on Frederick a bit more (for the start of this chapter) since he can reach up to 21 Def with Kellem, and your Avatar's Def isn't that great. Then use the chokepoints to level some of your other units.

Nice work so far. Maniac FE9 is one of my favorite modes of the series, so it's cool to see others experiencing it. My small bit of advice is to buy Pure Water when it becomes available. I'm getting back to my efficiency run of Maniac (might even record), but I'm distracted by replaying other games. >_>

Hmm…I can comfortably say that my enjoyment didn’t noticeably diminish the more I played it (if anything, the opposite as the flaws were immediately obvious), and sometimes find myself wanting to play it as I’ve been replaying older games in the series. I enjoy the simplicity of FE mechanics compared to other srpgs like FFT or TO, so the trimming and streamlining of unnecessary gameplay stuff is a plus for me. However, I do see a lot of complaints regarding flavor/nostalgia (which are fine, even great to have), yet with traditionally little tactical/strategic value (defense maps, magic triangle, light magic, third tiers, etc), so it’s clear some players may prefer certain types of fluff, compared to others (in which, FE has been notoriously inconsistent about.). Not really a surprise. However, just throwing in stuff is non-trivial to balance properly, a consequence perhaps we're aware of. Arguably every FE deals with it, despite relatively simpler mechanics. I’m also still amused by the occasional fan art skits and Support/DLC convo snippets that I happen across scattered around the interwebs. (Maybe I haven’t reached the breaking point yet? I definitely haven’t reached even close to the time invested of some fans, but I did thoroughly play Lunatic with a variety of conditions) I am, however, reminded of something else I dislike about the fanbase. The passing implication that “true fans” or “veterans” inevitably prefer older games, or newcomers will adopt that opinion once they play a “real FE”. While it’s true there are many players who probably haven’t experienced all the games, no need to blindly speculate or generalize them one way, individual people will always have their own preferences. This can already be observed from a subset of our niche community (which ebbs and flows, like I’m again seeing a cycle of FE4 hype), so just imagine the general larger one.

Firstly, the DS system is different in that you don’t make permanent decisions (and potentially reclassing mistakes). It makes sense the stat differences are larger, for various tactical reasons (cherrypicking is unnecessary to show this). Some people may prefer this style of reclassing (some days, I might even be one of them), but it doesn't give quite that feeling of customization if your choices are easily reversible. Regardless, this doesn’t preclude class distinctions from mattering in FE13. The difference in performance between the more flimsy classes (Mages, SMs, Pegasus, etc) and the tanky classes (General, Wyvern, Manakete, etc), is significant in Lunatic(+). Or fast/slow classes or whatever. Teams composed of primarily one type or another will play differently. Certain skills (Veteran, Galeforce, Sol, Rally Spectrum, Rally Speed) have obvious substantial effects, while numerous other skills will matter (starting from around 10% per battle and up, which very quickly stacks given the enemy density), and particularly when considering different skill synergies. Avatar can nearly solo/duo in any class (still more/less effectively or reliably in some classes than others, which again depends on bases/weapons/skills), but primarily because Veteran (a class skill, to note) essentially gives him/her the previously mentioned overwhelming stats. Play Lunatic(+) without grinding and tell me again classes don’t matter. If you want to grind, then feel free to argue with the postgame/min-max crowd (though your references to growths imply to me that’s not what you’re going for). Also, I don’t fully understand your points about luck/randomness. Do you know how probability works? If anything, your argument mitigates your (fairly good) point about the DS growth differences, as they might “disappear in a blink of an eye”, while bases/skills do not. I also don’t understand your tonic point, as it’s a systematic increase in stats for everyone. EDIT: can't words

I’m assuming you don’t play on higher difficulties or just grind your way through. >_> EDIT: To clarify, this is only relevant due to how FE mechanics work; class distinctions don't really matter if you have sufficiently overwhelming stats, but that's not enough to say they don't matter much otherwise. Base stat differences, skills, and class paths matter a lot in-game, and deciding what to reclass into changes your team composition and overarching strategy. Given by how much people nitpick “optimal” pairings and such, I’m assuming it matters to some (or many?) people for Apotheosis as well. Plus, growth differences spread out across more levels is a greater raw stat gap, even if the proportion of stats/level gained is the same and smaller. Third tier is primarily just flavor. (fun, though) Would people play that? You kinda said it, can just grind to simulate it, no? I’d rather they add a mode with that halves Def values or something (and then adjust earlygame a bit). Makes player phase matter more, so more actual play compared to (skipping) watching enemies suicide. Oh, if LightLelouch comes back I have a detailed post for him. I dunno, I kinda find strategic design discussion interesting.

You can always take a Frederick based approach to earlier chapters and snowball Avatar later (less reliable in a purely tactical sense, but also don't need Avatar's levels to cooperate. If exp is more split, Frederick gets some levels instead and enough Spd, that substantially simplifies matters). I don't recall the exact stat benchmarks, but I distinctly remember a case with +Spd Avatar doubling in C3, and I think the reset-o-meter between a Frederick-centric or Avatar-centric earlygame are similar, even in L+, though one clearly sets you up much better for later if you're not using DLC. Better be good at babying units then. >_> (Obviously I recommend +Def also)

Wait, maybe I’m missing something but… B/W 2 Challenge Mode: More and higher level/stats pokemon with more varied or better moves/items. More total exp. FE13/FE14 FE12/FE13 Lunatic Mode: More and higher level/stats enemies with more varied or better weapons/classes. More total exp (at least in 13, higher enemy density matters way more than the other leveling nerfs) ??? Regardless, I would argue the design philosophy behind Lunatic-style modes (with massive stat boosts, etc) is more fair, as the challenge organically arises from the pressure the buffed enemy stats and specific aggro pattern puts on your tactics. The information you have access to is completely there in-game, no cheap surprises (for the most part), you just have to think up a way to position your team to deal with it. If anything, a legit complaint about FE13 Lunatic would be the initial barrier to entry is too high for many (particularly newcomers and those coming from Hard), yet it’s too easy for players who know what they’re doing indepth (whether using complex tactics or just realizing Veteran is broken). However, grinding options and self-imposed restrictions do exist for those respective populations, to play however they want to play. Of course, it’s understandable some players prefer the tension (and perhaps frustration) of games with partially incomplete/obscured information, such as FE5. By nature, however, it’s also understandable why other players might not like such design, especially against an AI opponent (as it's an one-sided information issue).

I personally find grinding boring (and quite unnecessary in this case), so really no point for me. I still consider the option to grind and tune the difficulty to be nice though. My most fun Lunatic runs were my first (+Spd and early-promoted Avatar, no Nosferatu, no idea what I was doing) and a later run with No Second Seals. My least fun were my second Lunatic run (+Def Avatar, didn’t finish) and first Lunatic+ (partially brute forced it, which I regret). And a bunch of various fun stuff in the middle.

+1, though I probably don’t mind the fanbase quite as much (unfortunately occasionally it does feel toxic). Also, I suppose I’m pretty casual wrt to plot, characters, etc (for FE, at least). tbh, I feel like I now defend Awakening more than I actually like it. (And I do certainly still like it). Mostly pertaining to certain totally objectively false considerations regarding balance/design that are widely propagated. It’s probably just the extreme/strong opinions (on both sides) being inherently louder and more memorable. Most people are almost certainly somewhere in the middle.

moderators plz BibleThump To me, it depends on if you read Anacybele’s original statement as a joke (still in bad taste, insensitive, etc), or reflective of her actual opinion of women (i.e. the traits that characterize Sumia are inherently undesirable. The implications here are subtlety different than insulting Sumia herself). I dunno, in general I find statements that show notable lack of empathy to be mildly disturbing, and I’m completely fine with calling people out on it (particularly if they have a history of not recognizing it as such, as some previous posts seem to suggest). Re: Miriel/Tharja. Along with the reasonable answers itt why Chrom might not be interested in them, otoh neither of the two seem to be the type interested in Chrom. Sure maybe that applies for other pairings, but Chrom has like, lordly duties, responsibilities, and stuff. Avatar still gonna Avatar tho EDIT: oops, legitimately can't spell

I've reclassed Lon'qu with the C8 and C12 SS (and Renown/Anna exists) and found it very workable. Enemies are relatively tame while mostly unpromoted so until mid Valm or so, and there's tons of Paralogues in there. Compared to Panne, I find he usually has a level lead since he can, you know, fight stuff competently in early-mid Plegia. More consistent avoid, plus Vantage sometimes helping against mages, plus no Beastkiller weakness are small things that help. (Panne is better though, most probably?)

Note I even specifically called it “irrational hype.” And I said I would take FE13 Pegasus too, though maybe for different reasons than others. I could go into tons more detail, however…consider that in extremely fast-paced clears, the decision only really matters for what to reclass Avatar into and it’s perhaps surprisingly not that obvious a choice in Lunatic (if you care about reliability. I'll writeup a thorough analysis someday >_>). Among other similar, but no-Avatar clears, you're probably not using a Pegasus as a primary fighter, but perhaps will a Wyvern/Griffon. Among other playstyles, given the nature of the weapon triangle, Wyvern has something ridiculous like a 5 Hp/9 Def 50 Avoid lead against Lances, and Swordbreaker (or even Lances. But nice thing about Swordbreaker is you can mono-Axe and grab Deliverer or something) against Swords (which are weak until +8 forged, anyways). And doesn’t get rekted by Lances (plus forged Beastkiller is seen early, if somewhat rare) and especially Axes. And Lon’qu is one of the very few units who’s nearly competent at base in Lunatic (quite rare) and, if used as a main combat unit, I think he would prefer a flying class with substantially better durability, weapon triangle control, 1-2 range and 8-10 move over sword-lock and 6 move.

Wyverns are usually the better class (since speed is overkill, Res is mostly useless, plus have you compared their GBA/Tellius bases lately? >_>) but the Pegasus characters are generally better since they are typically recruited earlier. Basically flight is the most defining characteristic they have, so availability is usually what matters. I think Milady is the main exception, as her stat lead is hugely significant. FE10 somewhat, but I think if they all switched mounts Haar/Jill would still be toptier. Debatable, as they would certainly require substantially more investment, but it'd be better than having no fliers. I have little idea what the general perception would be in that case, besides assuredly less hype. Also, Ill irrationally hype Tantivy/Quick Burn/Swordbreaker Avoid stacking + high Hp/Def, which gives the Wyverns existent durability in Lunatic, unlike the Pegasus units who, in my experience, are mostly reduced to Speed/Flight Pair Ups and Rally Speedbots. It helps that legit combat units can reclass to Wyvern (Panne, Lon'qu), while not so much for Pegasus.(less levels to grow unpromoted). Amusingly, as far as I can tell atm (from FE6 on, ignoring hybrids), pretty much all Pegasus characters would rather ride Wyverns, except those in FE13 (and its not really all because of Galeforce). EDIT: base Wyvern!Thany with 22 hp/10 def tho?

Most final bosses are jokes to fight, but might be interesting in atmosphere (Idoun, etc). Among the others, Ashnard moves and has very high stats, but has to face Resolve/Wrath, which is a slaughter, or you’re otherwise just slowly chipping at each other. A bit more interesting if he has some super Red Dragons as backup in Maniac. Ashera’s pretty good between all the positioning shenanigans with the Tide skills, though not quite threatening enough for my tastes. I find FE11 Medeus silly, since he just waits there and it’s arguably easiest if you warp, sac and Aum Tiki/Nagi. Either that or fight solo, slowly. FE12 Medeus is excellent; I’d probably say that’s the best way. However, it is a bit unfortunate for those who don’t know you should be training Marth throughout the game, if jumping to Lunatic. But how the whole team supports Marth by killing dragons or chipping or staff use, how you need a plan to save the clerics, all nice stuff. Grima’s great (especially the atmosphere/buildup/music), but it’s essentially the same design as FE12 Medeus, but more restrictive and only the single target while mostly ignoring everything else the enemy’s gate is down. In harder difficulties, he’s a bit too absurd to do efficiently with 53 Def/53 Res/110 avoid +Dragonskin + almost infinite healing + 80-100% Pavise + a million minions. There’s essentially only a single strat, the 1-2 turn beeline kill with Falchion user Dual Strikes. The stat benchmarks necessary to reliably beat it are silly, particularly given the nature of the mid/lategame. I do like how you end up using your whole team for the best chances between Rallies, Rescue, Hex/Anathema, Charm, Dance, and a Lord playing a crucial role with Pair Up+high % Dual Strikes (thematic in certain ways). So I’d say for good design, repeating what some others have said - I’d want both the boss and minions to be distinctly threatening, and the whole team to be involved. It's probably a Kill Boss goal by nature, so some minor side goals are a plus so you can't ignore everything else (but don't let the side goals be the central point of the chapter, like successive rooms with the boss just waiting alone at the end). An appropriate atmosphere is nice to have too. IS has gotten better at it in recent games.

Well almost everyone can steamroll Lunatic after getting out of the early rut and if allowed to grow properly. I’ve done Gaius, Donnel, Ricken, etc. Avatar just gets there (by far) the fastest. The exp floor + Veteran + high enemy density does make it easier to maintain momentum later on. However, when I first started playing Lunatic, I had Avatar fall somewhat behind the team, despite Veteran, since I did an early promotion and lots of reclassing. The base/growth difference does matter when comparing to units like Panne or units with always accelerated leveling like Nowi/Tiki. Exp gain, even with Veteran, generally tanks after a promoted reclass (so it’s typically better to get as many levels as possible before then). If you allocate exp and reclass wisely, you should find that the early chapters are by far the most challenging ones, particularly Chapter 2. It gets a lot easier once more and more members of your team become competent fighters. If you can beat the earlygame on your own (i.e. get to DLC access), you should be fine as long as you don't overuse units with low growth potential like Frederick.

We’re all just speculating here, but probably also because Awakening is well-polished aesthetically (looks/sounds nice, plays smoothly, numerous little amusing bits), giving rise to universal critical acclaim from professional reviewers (for what that’s worth) as well as giving a strong initial impression to most players. I’ve seen several cases of later detractors who started enamoured. And I think replayability is often cited as a strong point, so I assume gameplay is indeed a reason why many bought and liked it.(perhaps?) Re: ambush spawns: The way I see it is: reinforcements that are not same turn are basically not threatening at all. The issue is twofold, the enemy gets their whole movement range to threaten, and you don’t know exactly when/where they come, adding a bit of tension/excitement as well as forcing the player to adapt. Certainly, the best way to do it is give some advance warning and obvious spots. When it’s completely blind and you have no information, it can feel frustrating. If done properly with partial information, it can test the player’s tactical ability positively (encouraging cautious play around suspicious spots, rushing to finish maps before reinforcements come, the precise timing of the enemy threat as part of map/difficulty design, etc).

Which happens far more egregiously in other FE games. FE13 is often mentioned as one of the best at addressing it. A recent topic in this forum discusses it in more detail. It's a bit silly when people complain about the RNG factor or circumstances outside one's control, yet favor FE7 as perfect. Plus, are we also going to pretend Marcus or others don't steamroll that game? That it's actually that hard, given how incredibly low enemy stats are, compared to later Maniac/Lunatic modes? That (hold out for X turns) defense maps aren't for the most part trivial? That swords and their main users are systematically underpowered? That magic triangle matters? etcetc. Tactics/other ranks are potentially something, but I'd say a good subset of players who care about that sort of thing can meet the (fairly) lenient cutoffs easily, while most other players don't care about meeting these (seemingly) arbitrary values. For some reason FE7 gets special treatment as being super strategic/tactical/well designed/balanced, which I admit I'm a little puzzled with. (some of this is clearly quite subjective, but there's also some inconsistency in how it has traditionally been assessed when compared to other games. Some small, but relevant, considerations are often glossed over or ignored)

It’s perhaps worth noting that Lunatic gets exponentially harder as you 1 turn (relatively) easy chapters like C13/C14. Such that the other enemy stat bumps around Chapter 17 and Chapter 23 might require more grinding or restrictive play. The exp curve is far more reasonable (particularly for larger teams of non-Veteran/children units) if you near-rout every chapter and go to as many Paralogues as possible for the exp. (Yeah, I realize you mentioned your own preference to beating it, but this is more of a general commentary. I know others have complained about the exp curve in no grind runs, especially when they get to the Valm arc) Hmmm, I wouldn’t really say I agree with some of that (Lucina is indeed probably best or second best though). All the children have such good bases/skills (if parents were actually trained) and level so relatively fast that they’re all easily usable if you want. Stuff like Rally Spectrum does help a lot in training them, and you can use their parents as Pair Up. Anecdotally, iirc I recruited Sevara soon after Morgan/Kjelle’s Paralogue when they opened (in a No Second Seals run). I could have recruited Gerome, who has arguably the hardest paralogue, just as his chapter opened around C16 when Cherche/Gregor finally married. Though I would have had to let Lucina do most of it. But that’s kinda my point. In just a few chapters, Sully!Lucina went from base to way stronger than my whole team, including Avatar (gimped by no reclass, but still he was nearly 20/20). Sevara and Gerome, who you could say were delayed in recruitment, ended up being my 2 strongest fighters by Chapter 18 or so (for Gerome, that was like a chapter or two of training) and carried the team lategame. Also, I don’t think Nah has one of the easier Paralogues (admittedly I haven’t tried a Mire strat since I typically don’t use Spotpass stuff). Statwise, it’s mostly promoted enemies with forges and Hit+10, so near C17 or later in difficulty, plus there’s the random door factor. My general rule is still to go by the Mother’s recruitment order, where earlier is easier.

In my experience, smart/well-informed people notoriously find it difficult to think from the perspective of others who may be lesser informed. (not too sure on present literature, but the cognitive bias “curse of knowledge” might be a thing). I think you discredit the insight needed, despite how simple it may seem.

Yeah. What could be considered the equivalent in FE7 (safe arena abuse with Ninis Grace), is a bit more obscure. I also wonder if the release order had a bit to do with it. Not everyone goes back to replay them. For many, FE7 HHM was probably the first hard mode they’d had to deal with (unexpected reinforcements, fog of war, status staves, other gimmicks like disappearing bridges and Kishuna etc). They’re a bit more prepared or are better players when it does show up in the next game (it feels less common in FE8 too, but I dunno). And perhaps S ranking is a reason for a few players. Other trivial things may also play a surface-level role, like the player getting lots of legendaries (omg the 3x effective damage) and a few of the final chapters being monster based. So it feels easier in that context. Also for the record, I also didn't observe any noticeable difference in difficulty when I replayed the two recently (somewhat casually). It was perhaps a bit easier than I expected, though.