Fire Emblem 4 Echoes Ideas

[Slumber]

I do agree that Gen 2 feels very underdeveloped compared to Gen 1. Probably due to the fact that it's literally 2 sets of characters, leading to only static characters like Leif and Aless feeling "developed". Even then, Seliph feels pretty damn bland compared to those two. 

The villains of Gen 2, also static characters, feel a bit more rounded by comparison. Mostly Ishtar and the older version of Arvis. 

[BBM]

yeah I definitely agree that Gen 2 needs more work than Gen 1 

[eclipse]

Given the subs, how would it work out?

[Interdimensional Observer]

23 hours ago, Armagon said:

I mean, weapon kill count can always be tied to the character instead of the weapon. Problem solved. Pursuit in general needs to go though. It's beyond stupid that you need a Skill in order to double in this game. 

Well Combat Arts have to be relearned for each character if they share the same weapon in SoV, and sans grinding, CAs require some thought as to whom you teach them to.

 

8 hours ago, Jedi said:

I'm not so sure they'll want to keep it secret because of how much Awakening was like "HEY LOOK YOU CAN HAVE KIDZ"

They put Seliph in the prime position on the boxart, and yet it is the dude you might not notice in the back who you start with. The 2nd Gen wasn't totally hidden from sight.

 

About stat rings, I say they can stay, but nerf the boost from +5 to +2. And on top of this add consumable permanent stat boosters- for either 2 or 4 points. For Boots specifically it should probably stay +2.

The issue with the rings are Paragon and Knight- do using these on parents pass them down (sorry Lex! you're no longer quite the stud)? Or do you get second copies in the 2nd Gen? 

Can we have an Arms Ring too? I'm okay with fixed weapon ranks, but an Arms Ring would help, particularly for using A rank magic.

 

20 minutes ago, eclipse said:

Given the subs, how would it work out?

Yeah, the subs don't always have the exact same backstory as the normal kids. FebailxLana would have to be different from AsaelloxMana, FebailxMana, and AsaelloxLana. Particularly since FebailxLana is 1st cousin incest when the other pairings aren't. The double, nay triple or quadruple with the variability of paternity, unfixed nature of the child cast makes supports really difficult for them.

Take this Febail/AsaelloxLana/Mana dialogue in the final game, it can activate for any of the four pairings above, unlike some other more specific cases where you need a particular sub or not sub.

Spoiler

Faval with Rana

Faval:
“Hey, you’re pretty tough for such a small thing. You’re not scared being out here?”

Rana:
“Well, I’d be lying to say I wasn’t. But when I think of those poor children…”

Faval:
“You like kids, huh?”

Rana:
“Yeah, I really do. You were taking care of orphans before, weren’t you? That’s so wonderful, Faval.”

Faval:
“Yeah, well that was Patty‘s idea, not mine. I’m really not all that big on kids, you see.”

Rana:
“Hah… I know better than that. I saw all those crying children clinging to you when we were leaving the Manster District. You’re like a father to them, you know.”

Faval:
“S, stop it, would you? I just… Look, I gotta get going. I’ll see you around.”

(Faval leaves)

Rana:
“Haha… You’re a good guy, Faval.”

As lovers, FebailxLana exclusively can trigger this:

Spoiler

Rana with Faval

Rana:
“Faval…”

Faval:
“What’s up?”

Rana:
“You make me proud, you know that?”

Faval:
“Hey… why’re you getting all sentimental on me?”

Rana:
“Faval, you promise me you won’t get killed out here, okay?”

Faval:
“Don’t you worry… I’d never leave you.”

Rana:
“Faval… …”

Faval:
“…yeah?”

Rana:
“…I love you.”

Which is somehow even worse and more generic, and looks like making it exclusive to FebailxLana was an afterthought.

 

10 hours ago, Jedi said:

Although i've always wanted to see some castle siege situations for foot units, but it'd probably make the game a tad clunky unless they did them as a seperate thing like Advanced Wars dual strike.

I was thinking that once you conquer the exterior of a castle, you can take the fight inside in a mini map. Dismounting is forced for this with stat losses, and the battles indoors rage while the battles outside are still going on. The idea is you seize with the horses, and then send them to fight at the next castle while your footies eradicate opposition inside the castle you just captured.

But what motivation would exist to take the castle interiors if the exterior is all that is needed to trigger the next set of plot events? 

 

1 hour ago, Slumber said:

Even then, Seliph feels pretty damn bland compared to those two. 

 

From what I've read, it seems to be that darned FE monologue approach at work, only the lord and another two people maybe matter in the plot (plus NPCs who may come and then go for a few chapters), in the case of FE4 Gen 2, that other person is Forwyn. This a problem that afflicted FEs 1-6 to varying degrees. FE7 had to make room for at least three distinctive characters with 3 lords, and then Tellius splendidly did some more ensemble-like work, particularly in RD. Of course, Fates some would say added too many by emphasizing, if more in thematic advertised focus than actual plot- Corrin, Azura, and 8 royal siblings.

 

I'll just reiterate that the Rescue command must make a comeback. Or a Sprint command all units have access to- consume maybe a few HP to move an extra 3 (or 1/2 Mov) spaces, but cannot perform any action other than moving after triggering Sprint. 

[Armagon]

3 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Yeah, the subs don't always have the exact same backstory as the normal kids.

Yeah, this is why Gen 2 felt a bit underdeveloped. Yeah, you could give a bunch of development to the Gen 2 kids. But then what if they aren't born? That same development ain't gonna work for the substitutes, except for Tinny, since she's the only substitute with Holy Blood and connections to the 1st Gen.

What they could do is double the roster of Gen 2 and have both the originals and the substitutes playable. Of course, what about the issue of the parents potentially not getting married? Well, what i thought was that, the Gen 2 kids are always born but if their parents weren't paired up, then a Chrom x NPC situation happens. So for example, Ayra doesn't get married. Larcei and Ulster are still born but they won't be as good because of the lack of a father. By having that backup plan, it allows both the originals and the substitutes to coexist.

Does seem like a lot of work though. It could work but even i'm not sure if i wanna see something like that.

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 minute ago, Armagon said:

Does seem like a lot of work though. It could work but even i'm not sure if i wanna see something like that.

Since this would be nearly doubling the roster, I'd expect unit bloat, which without an enemy numbers bump would mean an increased scarcity of EXP. And isn't there the issue of FE4 not having enough things to do on its big maps as is, so congratulations, you've greatly grown the number of units who aren't needed for anything. There would also be a scarcity of strong weapons.

And even if you expanded enemy numbers, weapons and added more objectives, well there are 14 variable children, and if you let all the chapters be a field everyone scenario as is the case, that means an extra 14 moves to make per turn (like you'll rely on autobattle in a world of permadeath?). 14 more moves over 200 turns (half of the A rank's cap of 400- you will likely expend more turns than that in the 2nd Gen), will add up as a game slowdown I think.

Not to mention if the subs and standards exist side by side, you don't want well bred 2nd Gens to outperform their sub counterparts by too extreme a gulf.

Then you have to find a place to write in the subs narratively. I can see Hannibal adopting both Caipre and Sharlot, but Hawk and Ced both looking for their fathers in the same place at the same time? Their personalities will need some distinctions, and they'll have to be separated and the sub given a new reason for existing and being recruitable.

So it could work, but it'd need serious finessing.

[eclipse]

I like the idea of substitute units. They work well with FE4's setting.

Actually making them work in the story would be rough.  The lazy way would be to kill off the kids if mom doesn't exist/isn't married.  The better way would be to give a unique excuse, fitting for the children who will be replaced (Larcei and Ulster have other things to take care of on the other end of the continent, and send their regards or something like that).

[BBM]

tinny isn't the substitute lol, linda is (but yeah she's story connected)

confused why turning paragon ring into a consumable would make lex a worse dad? makes him a better dad bc now only one other person can pass it along instead of whoever has the ring. making things consumable rather than tradable reduces flexibility and

eclipse, if the moms died or didnt marry, the kids would never exist...? that's the entire point of the sub. if anything the excuse should be for why the substitute isn't there, because radney/roddleban should theoretically be there even if you did pair ayra and she had kids.

[eclipse]

34 minutes ago, BBM said:

eclipse, if the moms died or didnt marry, the kids would never exist...? that's the entire point of the sub. if anything the excuse should be for why the substitute isn't there, because radney/roddleban should theoretically be there even if you did pair ayra and she had kids.

Like, there's the situation where you kill off Sylvia because "oh crap I paired her with Lewyn", and then there's keeping someone single.  Nothing would stop them from marrying someone else, and I find it a bit hard to believe that someone in-universe wouldn't attempt to marry Ayra off.

Still, pain in the ass to write out everything.  The subs would have to be side characters, at best - a bit of screen time, then relegated to supports.

[BBM]

2 minutes ago, eclipse said:

Like, there's the situation where you kill off Sylvia because "oh crap I paired her with Lewyn", and then there's keeping someone single.  Nothing would stop them from marrying someone else, and I find it a bit hard to believe that someone in-universe wouldn't attempt to marry Ayra off.

Still, pain in the ass to write out everything.  The subs would have to be side characters, at best - a bit of screen time, then relegated to supports.

IIRC it's implied she dies in the Battle of Barhara but if she survives she'd presumably be in hiding with the resistance? Nothing would "stop" her from marrying someone else but that doesn't mean she has to either, so there's no reason you have to give an excuse for why her kids aren't there. Why would they care whether Ayra marries someone or not? Shanan is the rightful heir to the throne of Isaac. I guess you might want a line of succession in case he dies, but FE has never really been big on political marriages (off the top of my head, only Nyna).

[eclipse]

1 minute ago, BBM said:

IIRC it's implied she dies in the Battle of Barhara but if she survives she'd presumably be in hiding with the resistance? Nothing would "stop" her from marrying someone else but that doesn't mean she has to either, so there's no reason you have to give an excuse for why her kids aren't there. Why would they care whether Ayra marries someone or not? Shanan is the rightful heir to the throne of Isaac. I guess you might want a line of succession in case he dies, but FE has never really been big on political marriages (off the top of my head, only Nyna).

FE4 has a bunch of politics.  To suddenly ignore an unmarried princess or three seems weird.

[BBM]

but nobody's going to line up to marry a wanted fugitive, even if she is a princess... and the entire continent is under alvis's control except silesia, and they have no eligible men for her to marry either (unless she marries ced but lol)

[eclipse]

Force a marriage for a pardon or something.  Or have her be hitched between maps.  The other thing FE4 does well IMO is time scale.  Since a non-trivial amount of time passes between the maps, it's possible for someone to get married in one interim, then pop a kid during another.

I use this to justify Sigurd's marriage.  Otherwise, it goes from "hey you're cute" to wedding bells, to Seliph in a distressingly short amount of time.

[BBM]

fe4's politics are too black and white for the resistance to sell off ayra to an evil dictatorship for a pardon. plus i doubt she would agree, and I doubt shanan would order her to do so either. maybe in real life something like this would have happened but fire emblem has never dealt in stuff like this. 

i mean i wouldn't really care if they added what you're suggesting but i don't think there's a plot hole or anything due to them not saying why the kids aren't there

 

[Jotari]

I think a good way to spice up Gen 2 story and gameplaywise would be if you have to earn all the holy weapons back, instead of them being part of the magical inheritance system. Last time we seen these weapons they were being roasted alongside their wielders. It doesn't really make much sense that they fell back into the good guys ands without something like Shannon attacking Tied for the Balmung going down.

[Interdimensional Observer]

4 hours ago, Jotari said:

I think a good way to spice up Gen 2 story and gameplaywise would be if you have to earn all the holy weapons back, instead of them being part of the magical inheritance system. Last time we seen these weapons they were being roasted alongside their wielders. It doesn't really make much sense that they fell back into the good guys ands without something like Shannon attacking Tied for the Balmung going down.

Forseti: Reach level 20, promote, be at Chapter 9 or later. Having Lewyn's son/Patty talk with Seliph (who doubles as Lewyn) will then result in the tome being passed on. The conversation will go along the lines of:

"Son/Patty, you are strong enough now to handle Forseti. Unlike all the other Holy Weapons save Naga, Forseti once you invoke its power, will slowly overtake your body, it has a spirit of its own, you and Forseti will become one being."  

"Wait Father, are you also-?"

"Yes. Very much so. I am no longer the man I once was. But I accept this, for the sake of the world I did. Now you may not be as consumed as I, but will you accept the risk?"

"Yes Father, I will!"

"My Son/Patty, the battles ahead will be even more difficult than ever before, embrace the Forseti and become a true Crusader!"

-Modify this if the child isn't Coirpre or Arthur. For children who can't inherit use Forseti, make this a little saddening, but not too much (or change Diarmuid into a Mage Knight and Patty/Ulster a Mage Fighter in this instance- nothing you can do about Lester I think).

-If Ced is Lewyn's son, it will be stated somewhere that Ced already proved himself before Lewyn left Silesse and thus gave over the tome then (Ced does start as a Sage).

 

Yewfelle- Add Eyvel cameo in Chapter 9 in a village or castle. The Gesh is starting to wear off and compelled her to find the Yewfelle, but she doesn't know why. She knows however the heir to it is in Seliph's army and thus goes off to give it to them. Eyvel and Febail speak, she likes him a little, and a vague passing memory might return, but not until the war's end will she be Brigid once more. Conversation with Patty will also give her a little bonus.

 

Valkyrie- Can we just pass this down? It isn't that incredible with only 1 50000 Gold use. But if we must, either throw in a living Silvia explaining Claud has died in C9 or 10. Or let us kill her (my preference) and just have Sleuf somehow pop in and pass it down. Come up with a good reason as to how he got it. Give him a nice conversation with the Son/Patty of Claud, and maybe the Daughter/Febail if it isn't too much. And maybe even Coirpre and Leen without Claud fatherhood.

 

Mystletainn- Not sure. Eldigan died in Agustria- who could have gotten it? How did Ares get it again? Just given it after Eldigan's death? Freege borders Agustria and happens to be in Manster where Gen 2 spends most of its time. Either you can obtain it post-Blume, or something like Ares being able to converse with a Freege servant post-Blume and demand "You, where is Mystletainn? Freege I know has it!". And then at the start of Chapter 10, a servant shows up explaining:

"The Freege estate is presently in some chaos with Lord Ishtore and Duke Blume's deaths although Duchess Hilda and Lady Ishtar yet live. The resistance in Agustria to Grannvalian rule upon finding out about this and that you their future king is yet alive and fighting the Empire, attacked Freege managed to obtain the Mystletainn, which was passed to me to give to you. It came at a loss of many lives just to obtain this one sword, bear this Ares, heir to Hodr the bloodiest of the Crusaders (my interpretation), and do your people well. They trust you so, yet have not seen you in over a decade. May their faith not be misplaced."

But I don't love this option, it sounds so-so. Plus Ares and Shannan are supposed to be clutches just in case you screwed up on the variable kids, like Oifaye. I'd rather the Mystletainn with the rest of the Holy Weapons be balanced a bit more.

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Forseti: Reach level 20, promote, be at Chapter 9 or later. Having Lewyn's son/Patty talk with Seliph (who doubles as Lewyn) will then result in the tome being passed on. The conversation will go along the lines of:

"Son/Patty, you are strong enough now to handle Forseti. Unlike all the other Holy Weapons save Naga, Forseti once you invoke its power, will slowly overtake your body, it has a spirit of its own, you and Forseti will become one being."  

"Wait Father, are you also-?"

"Yes. Very much so. I am no longer the man I once was. But I accept this, for the sake of the world I did. Now you may not be as consumed as I, but will you accept the risk?"

"Yes Father, I will!"

"My Son/Patty, the battles ahead will be even more difficult than ever before, embrace the Forseti and become a true Crusader!"

-Modify this if the child isn't Coirpre or Arthur. For children who can't inherit use Forseti, make this a little saddening, but not too much (or change Diarmuid into a Mage Knight and Patty/Ulster a Mage Fighter in this instance- nothing you can do about Lester I think).

-If Ced is Lewyn's son, it will be stated somewhere that Ced already proved himself before Lewyn left Silesse and thus gave over the tome then (Ced does start as a Sage).

 

Yewfelle- Add Eyvel cameo in Chapter 9 in a village or castle. The Gesh is starting to wear off and compelled her to find the Yewfelle, but she doesn't know why. She knows however the heir to it is in Seliph's army and thus goes off to give it to them. Eyvel and Febail speak, she likes him a little, and a vague passing memory might return, but not until the war's end will she be Brigid once more. Conversation with Patty will also give her a little bonus.

 

Valkyrie- Can we just pass this down? It isn't that incredible with only 1 50000 Gold use. But if we must, either throw in a living Silvia explaining Claud has died in C9 or 10. Or let us kill her (my preference) and just have Sleuf somehow pop in and pass it down. Come up with a good reason as to how he got it. Give him a nice conversation with the Son/Patty of Claud, and maybe the Daughter/Febail if it isn't too much. And maybe even Coirpre and Leen without Claud fatherhood.

 

Mystletainn- Not sure. Eldigan died in Agustria- who could have gotten it? How did Ares get it again? Just given it after Eldigan's death? Freege borders Agustria and happens to be in Manster where Gen 2 spends most of its time. Either you can obtain it post-Blume, or something like Ares being able to converse with a Freege servant post-Blume and demand "You, where is Mystletainn? Freege I know has it!". And then at the start of Chapter 10, a servant shows up explaining:

"The Freege estate is presently in some chaos with Lord Ishtore and Duke Blume's deaths although Duchess Hilda and Lady Ishtar yet live. The resistance in Agustria to Grannvalian rule upon finding out about this and that you their future king is yet alive and fighting the Empire, attacked Freege managed to obtain the Mystletainn, which was passed to me to give to you. It came at a loss of many lives just to obtain this one sword, bear this Ares, heir to Hodr the bloodiest of the Crusaders (my interpretation), and do your people well. They trust you so, yet have not seen you in over a decade. May their faith not be misplaced."

But I don't love this option, it sounds so-so. Plus Ares and Shannan are supposed to be clutches just in case you screwed up on the variable kids, like Oifaye. I'd rather the Mystletainn with the rest of the Holy Weapons be balanced a bit more.

I don't like the idea of revealing Lewyn has been possessed by Forseti being revealed before the ending. I like the way it's casually dropped by Seliph at the end with a sort of innate understanding that the player has also subconsciously realised it. Him giving it to his child directly definitely should happen though and, in fact, there's already a perfect conversation for it in chapter 10 when one of his children pass through the valley in the middle of the chapter. 

Regarding Mystletainn, I have an idea I like. You can only get it if you killed Eldigan in Chapter 3. In which case Ethlyn picked up Mystletainn and passed it down to Nanna, who gives it to Aless in their first conversation. This results in a short term choice Vs a long term choice. If you talk to Eldigan, you get the Earth Sword immediately but lose a much more useful weapon later on.

Faval is the one where it might possibly make sense for him to having it as he was sort of used as a weapon by Bloom. Valkyrie I could see being in Corple and Hannibal's possession, even if Corple isn't Claud's son. According to Thracia he was on a holy quest. Making it a quest to retrieve the Valkyrie would be a nice retcon. I do like the idea of a Sleuf cameo though.

Edited April 8, 2018 by Jotari

[Lewyn]

2nd gen definitely needs a lot more fleshing out.  A lot of the characters are somewhat forgettable other than what they may bring to the story gameplay wise.  Oifeye and Shannon were developed in the 1st gen so don't need as much, though it would be nice to get more (especially Shannon) development in 1st gen of them.  Altena has one of the most screwed up tragic upbringings, so with that and her various conversations with Arione and Trabant she is developed fairly well.  Julia also.  However many of the others need more work.  

The 1st gen, I think we could get more from Noish, we hardly get anything.  With Alec we get he is the smooth talking flirtatious type and likes to tease Arden, but with Noish he looks cool but we get pretty much nothing.  Sylvia's damaged past, and connection to Claude could be expanded on as well as it seems interesting from what is given.  

[Tetragrammaton]

25 minutes ago, Lewyn said:

2nd gen definitely needs a lot more fleshing out.  A lot of the characters are somewhat forgettable other than what they may bring to the story gameplay wise.  Oifeye and Shannon were developed in the 1st gen so don't need as much, though it would be nice to get more (especially Shannon) development in 1st gen of them.  Altena has one of the most screwed up tragic upbringings, so with that and her various conversations with Arione and Trabant she is developed fairly well.  Julia also.  However many of the others need more work.  

The 1st gen, I think we could get more from Noish, we hardly get anything.  With Alec we get he is the smooth talking flirtatious type and likes to tease Arden, but with Noish he looks cool but we get pretty much nothing.  Sylvia's damaged past, and connection to Claude could be expanded on as well as it seems interesting from what is given.  

There are some conversation between Noish and Alec, Noish and Ethlin that were cut, the script can be seen in the rom via hacking, but there is no event available to trigger them.

Even a small dialogue when Sigurd talks to Cuan about his sister was hidden too.

I think they will add them back to the remake.

Edited April 10, 2018 by hanhnn

[Lewyn]

20 hours ago, hanhnn said:

There are some conversation between Noish and Alec, Noish and Ethlin that were cut, the script can be seen in the rom via hacking, but there is no event available to trigger them.

Even a small dialogue when Sigurd talks to Cuan about his sister was hidden too.

I think they will add them back to the remake.

Was it the reason stated why those conversations were cut?  

[Spatha]

Based on Faye's addition in SoV. What do you think of the idea of adding a Catria/Cordelia expy at the beginning of the game?

She would be a female cavalier, a comrade in arms alongside the three knights of Chalpy, a best friend to Ethlyn and one who develops an unrequited love towards Sigurd?

Unlike Faye though, she would be much more likable in her internal struggles as she bonds with Deirdre and finds a new love to move on although her relationship with her children would be similar to Severa and Cordelia's rocky relationship.

[Shadow Mir]

On 4/7/2018 at 4:58 PM, Lewyn said:

I'm not the one that started this, and I wasn't addressing you in particular.  It is fine if people don't like big maps, but acting like it is objectively garbage because of it and there is no way big maps could work and thus should be scrapped is far more offensive than anything I have said about fates.  I mean how many times have I called Fates an unplayable piece of crap and stated it as fact?  Cause that has been said repeatedly by others in this thread and similar threads about FE4.  Also I fail to understand why people are interested in remaking a game they dislike so much.

 

I can't speak for anyone else here, but I feel that FE4's big maps just don't work because of the kind of series FE is - large, time-intensive maps don't exactly go together like peanut butter and jelly with a series with permadeath. (That said, I know this game has a revival staff; it's just that the main castle restriction renders it practically useless. It doesn't help that only two pairings allow you to be able to use it in the second generation. Nor does it that healers are basically dependent on thieves to get money.) There is also the aforementioned matter of foot units not being able to contribute in any meaningful fashion unless I have my mounts slow down or even stop advancing altogether regularly. As for why I would want a remake, the only other likely options for one are Thracia and Binding Blade, both of which are also problem children in their own ways (I'd also say they have rather glaring balance problems). Second, it's one of the most hyped FE games, if not outright the most hyped... but with all the gameplay problems it has, I am left to scratch my head and wonder "Why all the hype?". Sure, there's the story, but most praise I see for Genealogy's story is directed specifically at that of the first generation - most of the stuff I see here says the second generation's story falls short. The game balance also has a lot of room for improvement. I did some digging and found some old threads asking which games people thought were the most and least balanced, and which ones had the best and worst gameplay. A good deal of people thought Genealogy was pretty lacking in both, or at least one aspect. And I found another thread asking people how they felt about remakes of games they didn't like; most people were in favor of it. Long story short, despite my dislike for the game, I think Genealogy has a lot of potential to be a good game; it's just held back by some of its design choices and mechanics.

On 4/9/2018 at 7:24 PM, Lewyn said:

2nd gen definitely needs a lot more fleshing out.  A lot of the characters are somewhat forgettable other than what they may bring to the story gameplay wise.  Oifeye and Shannon were developed in the 1st gen so don't need as much, though it would be nice to get more (especially Shannon) development in 1st gen of them.  Altena has one of the most screwed up tragic upbringings, so with that and her various conversations with Arione and Trabant she is developed fairly well.  Julia also.  However many of the others need more work.  

The 1st gen, I think we could get more from Noish, we hardly get anything.  With Alec we get he is the smooth talking flirtatious type and likes to tease Arden, but with Noish he looks cool but we get pretty much nothing.  Sylvia's damaged past, and connection to Claude could be expanded on as well as it seems interesting from what is given.  

On the subject of Altena, one thing that really bothers me is that apparently Ethlyn had her in tow during the event where she and Quan are killed... that sounds just plain moronic. I mean, hello?! Why the hell would you have your child with you on the battlefield?! That's just asking for them to either get abducted, used as leverage against you, or even killed... and this is ignoring the potential traumatization that could result.

[Jotari]

9 minutes ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

I can't speak for anyone else here, but I feel that FE4's big maps just don't work because of the kind of series FE is - large, time-intensive maps don't exactly go together like peanut butter and jelly with a series with permadeath. 

You know you can save mid map in Genealogy of the Holy War, right? A lot of people seem to miss that fact (probably because the option outright disappears if you move a unit, when it should probably go grey and unselectable). You're not expected to sit down and put two hours into each map, you can stop half way through and come back later and even reset to that point if someone dies. That's why each chapter is divided into several distinct parts. I see people complain about how long it takes to finish Holy War's chapters, but it seems like such a illogical complaint to me. The game only has 12 of em, it takes roughly the same amount of time to finish as every other title in the series. Yeah, there's some slog with dead turns moving units around, but minute for minute, the game's no more of an investment than any other.

Edited April 12, 2018 by Jotari

[Acacia Sgt]

17 minutes ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

On the subject of Altena, one thing that really bothers me is that apparently Ethlyn had her in tow during the event where she and Quan are killed... that sounds just plain moronic. I mean, hello?! Why the hell would you have your child with you on the battlefield?! That's just asking for them to either get abducted, used as leverage against you, or even killed... and this is ignoring the potential traumatization that could result.

Dialogue states Ehtlyn was not meant to go with them all the way. Even Quan tells her to turn back. Of course, it was still foolish to bring Altenna to begin with, no matter if Ethlyn had turned back way earlier. Since, you know, Travant was on his way to ambush them. Just the fact it could happen, really.

If you ask me, it would've fit better if Altenna had been kidnapped when Leonster fell. But well, I suppose they just wanted to fill a drama quota for Chapter 5 or something, heh.

Edited April 12, 2018 by Acacia Sgt

[Jotari]

29 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Dialogue states Ehtlyn was not meant to go with them all the way. Even Quan tells her to turn back. Of course, it was still foolish to bring Altenna to begin with, no matter if Ethlyn had turned back way earlier. Since, you know, Travant was on his way to ambush them. Just the fact it could happen, really.

If you ask me, it would've fit better if Altenna had been kidnapped when Leonster fell. But well, I suppose they just wanted to fill a drama quota for Chapter 5 or something, heh.

It is kind of contrived and makes Ethlyn a really bad mother, but it still would work better than having her kidnapped when Leinster fell. We get to see it happening in Chapter 5, which is much more powerful than getting some opening text at the start of a chapter saying BTW, Leif's sister got kidnapped. If it were any other game, they could probably do a cut away scene and show us it happening at a different location, but that just isn't Holy War's mandated style. Things happen on the map, the scope is too big to leave a cut away to somewhere else. You stay ingrained in the world, where the action is happening at all times.