Alastor plays and ranks the whole series! Mission Complete! ...For now.

[Interdimensional Observer]

42 minutes ago, AnonymousSpeed said:

"Do you not have faith in me?" has a much more cult of personality type feel as well, so it makes more sense something would look back on saying that and find it a little odd. Honestly, it's Zephiel's best moment in the whole game.

Although asking if their judgement is being questioned is in-character for an arrogant evil monarch. It depends I guess on whether you prefer uncoated bluntness, or something with a veneer of sensitivity/indirectness over the same core character. The difference between "You failed to kill X as I ordered you to" and "I was hoping you would have killed X by now" to use another instance I can imagine. Neither is wrong, just different.

 

49 minutes ago, AnonymousSpeed said:

FE6 is pretty notorious for its ambush spawns, but the more I think back on it, the more I struggle to remember if they were actually that common. That said, I know more about when enemies spawn in, so I'm not qualified to say.

I recall ~2-3 instances when the talking baddies announced reinforcements in advance. I forget exactly.

 

38 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

More insight on any issues I might have missed would be helpful for the writing rank.

I can dig up my list of Nergal's Every Missed Opportunity if you'd like it.😄

[Alastor15243]

2 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I can dig up my list of Nergal's Every Missed Opportunity if you'd like it.😄

Feel free to say and number them as they happen. That would be quite amusing if they're as bad as that sounds.

Funny enough, one part of the game's story that I did scrutinize more thoroughly in hindsight only became more awesome with said scrutiny, and I can't wait to gush about how much of a badass Elbert is for it.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Alastor15243

[Boomhauer007]

4 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Feel free to say and number them as they happen. That would be quite amusing if they're as bad as that sounds.

 

Oh man it's like once a chapter as you approach the last section of the game. 

The gaidens in 6 have pretty lax requirements in terms of turn counts, you certainly don't need to blitz any of them or anything. 

[Jotari]

15 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Although asking if their judgement is being questioned is in-character for an arrogant evil monarch. It depends I guess on whether you prefer uncoated bluntness, or something with a veneer of sensitivity/indirectness over the same core character. The difference between "You failed to kill X as I ordered you to" and "I was hoping you would have killed X by now" to use another instance I can imagine. Neither is wrong, just different.

 

I recall ~2-3 instances when the talking baddies announced reinforcements in advance. I forget exactly.

 

I can dig up my list of Nergal's Every Missed Opportunity if you'd like it.😄

I think the point here is that Zephiel himself reflects on how out of character that line is for him.

[Alastor15243]

Binding Blade Day 4: Chapter 4

Oh sweet! I loved this chapter when I first played FE6, mostly due to nostalgia for FE7, because FE7's Chapter 14 is set on the exact same map! Honestly, if they were willing to do that once, why wasn't FE7 Chapter 6's map identical to last map?

Ah yes. And yet again (it's so weird remembering FE7 is the one that copied, since I played it first and it takes place first), it's about rescuing a cute troubadour from a creepy noble while fighting Erik. Clarine is apparently ludicrously naive and trusts random strangers who say they have info about her brother's whereabouts.

Klain? That... I could've sworn one of the purposes of this translation was to bring it up to speed with stuff like official names and the like. Isn't he Klein? Klain just makes it blatantly obvious that Pent and Louise are those insufferable parents who think it's cute to give their children theme names.

Wow, Clarine is savage though. I love it. It's mostly due to her naive and sheltered stupidity, but to throw that much sass at a guy who could smash her to pieces if he didn't want to just smash her, and completely tear apart how much he's compensating for things due to some kind of complex, and say it while saying it would be rude to peasants compare him to a peasant... holy shit. I love it. She's hilarious.

...Okay, I had to re-read the opening dialogue because I think I missed something in the hilarity. But no. Narcian never explains why he's leaving or where he's leaving to. Unless there's some other, more obvious potential path Roy might take leaving Araphen that Narcian's heading towards, and he didn't notice Roy arriving literally spaces offscreen from his vantag point in the air.

...Or he's just being a coward and the game isn't explicitly pointing it out. That's always an option. But I can't say conclusively here.

I just did Wade and Lot's support, and I find it amusing that it feels like Dorcas was made largely to retroactively make Bartre fit into the “blue-wearing hothead and red-headed responsible one” mold that wasn't even a thing until FE7 made it one, and then was never a thing again.

Again though, just my luck that the first two supports I get are just “hothead and responsible guy be the hothead and responsible guy”.

I sent Marcus ahead to soften these guys up with a javelin, with everyone else poised to charge afterwards. Then I had Shanna go fly towards the lower village that I just know is gonna get attacked by pirates eventually.

Allen leveled up. I begged for speed, and... he got speed. But nothing else. Well, he's still ahead of Lance.

The randomized stats of the enemies can be absolutely nuts at points. I've got an enemy cavalier with nine defense.

Holy shit this map is hard. The hit rates are so scarily unreliable that at times there seems to be no reliable strategy at all. You just have to fight and hope for the best. I got so desperate I had Lot dive right into the midst of the enemy with a halberd in the hopes of thinning the enemy forces by the end of the turn, only to miss but thankfully dodge. He may very well die, but I at least managed to take out the first wave by the time the second one arrived.

Shit. Lot didn't manage to kill a single one of them on enemy phase. And now I have to keep everyone safe from these enemies that just refuse to die.

I managed to kill the nomad who could have hurt Clarine, then formed a human four-wide wall against the cavalry, using the cliff as a bottleneck.

For a second I thought this game was going to have “tripwire” reinforcements (apparently that's the term for when enemies show up in the middle of the turn when you move to a certain area), but no, it was just a coincidence that Shanna moved last, the turn auto-ended, and the pirates' dialogue showed up before the “enemy phase” text. That would have been exceptionally weird, if getting close to the furthest village you need to save triggered the pirates way, way too late.

Clarine doesn't seem to be possible to talk to, so I have to assume she's self-recruiting by talking to Roy herself. That is... really annoying, because why the hell would a self-recruiting character not let you talk to them first? It just leaves me guessing and scared I'm making a terrible mistake.

Alright. My plan worked. Only issue is that I accidentally left Shanna in range of one of the cavalry, which may aggro... a ton of them. She'll survive, but I may have another fight on my hands when I've barely had time to heal.

And Clarine's recruitment conversation tells me literally all I need to know about why Mangs likes her so much. Also, I love these GBA cutscenes. They just feel so lively for the tech level, especially with the moves and the little bounces the portraits make. They're such tiny things, but they're used so well to give just that little splash of character to these cutscenes. It really helps your imagination fill in the blanks, and it makes these cutscenes feel more alive than the tech level here should really allow.

Contrast this with Three Houses, where the cutscenes feel less alive than the tech level should really allow. They're so much less abstract, so there's much less room to leave things to the imagination, and yet there's still so much they expect you to leave to the imagination because they animate some things but refuse to animate anything interesting.

Rescue-dropping is an amazingly useful tactic for letting my glass cannons and healers do their job beyond my front lines and then retreat back in the same turn. It really saved my ass when I forgot to heal Marcus before sending him to take out an archer.

Rutger was a bit of a scare. I thought he'd show up closer to the gates, and I put Marcus mere inches away from his range. I'm gonna have to retreat a bit and then hope that I can safely recruit him.

OH MY GOD.

Clarine recruiting Rutger is absolutely priceless. I love how she calls Roy “Floyd or whatever his name is”. I love this “hilariously clueless but ultimately harmless spoiled rich girl” thing she's got going on here. Very entertaining.

AAAAAAAAND Rutger is an absolutely terrifying death machine. Level four, and his speed and skill bases are already halfway to the fucking cap, far, far beyond anything the rest of my army can hope for by this point in the game. And they're only going to get better. Hard mode bonuses are no joke. And his strength base is as high as Allen and Marcus, and higher than my fighters. Even without the killing edge, he still does way more damage than anyone else in my army. I was wondering how a swordlocked fragile speedster class could have what is considered one of the highest-tier units in a notoriously hard game, and now I have my answer: his hard mode bonuses are just that absurd.

Still, no sense in using that killing edge when some chip damage from Wolt will let him kill without it. And like that, the problem is solved! All that remains is to clear up the pirates and any remaining reinforcements, and get that last village on the cliff!

I'm gonna try to get Rutger and Clarine's supports as soon as I practically can, because that crit bonus is probably gonna be useful against bosses.

The cavalry reinforcements just arrived. Lot and Marcus are holding them off with a halberd and silver lance respectively, but I'm thinking this is my cue to get the hell out of here. I have Roy, Rutger, Clarine, Allen and Lance head off to take out Erik while Shanna does some last-minute shopping to get Lugh a few more tomes than I initially bought.

Lot gets the dreaded unholy trinity of mediocrity for a level up: HP, Skill and Luck. And it's kind of crazy that I'm actually appreciating that +3% to his accuracy.

Allen just got the big strength, skill, speed and defense for a level up, so I think it's fair to say at this point that unless there's gonna be a big reversal of fortunes here, Allen's gonna be the one winding up better. So I think I'm still gonna promote Lance early, knowing it probably isn't going to prove anything in my favor, because if anyone's gonna need a boost to stay relevant in the midgame, it's gonna be Lance, and Allen can definitely survive getting to level 20. That said, their growths are nigh identical, and the dice have no memory. This could turn around at any time.

Does anyone know if there are any fixed growth mods for any of the GBA games? That might help a lot if I were to do this for real.

...I just reflexively did the “press A to see the unit somebody's carrying” from Thracia, and... holy shit. It actually still works in this game! I never knew that! I've played the GBA games for years and I never noticed that was part of the controls!

Erik was pretty scary initially, but once I brought Lugh over, he went down pretty easily due to him being able to attack and get healed with impunity.

Honestly, it's kind of hilarious Erik is still in power after the events of FE7. Didn't he conspire with his father to overthrow the entire damned Lycian alliance and become some kind of emperor of the world? I realize he wasn't the one in charge, but he still tried to murder Eliwood and Hector over petty grudges. What exactly does it take for the other territories to intervene and put someone else in charge?

…

...And right as I say this, Roy says “I never thought that Lord Erik would turn on Lycia.”

…

(Inhales)

Really. Really, Roy. You “never thought that”? You sound as if you know enough about him for this to surprise you. How could you know enough about him for this to surprise you? How could you know fucking anything about this sack of shit and not see this coming a mile away? Is there even a single fucking post-it note's worth of true information you could have selectively been told about Lord Erik that would make you confident enough to believe that!?

…

Deep breaths. I have to remind myself, repeatedly: This is not FE6's fault. It's only hilariously stupid and ignorant of Roy in hindsight because FE7 made it hilariously stupid and ignorant of Roy in hindsight.

...Okay. Okay, in fairness, I should have kept reading. Judging by the fact that he says “I thought the bond between the members of the alliance was stronger than this” (or something to that effect; I moved past it to see if he said anything else so I couldn't copy it verbatim), it could mean he was just being naive about the unity of the Lycian Alliance, and not necessarily that he knew anything specific about Lord Erik and was a horrible judge of character about it. Still though, surely, surely there were stories. Roy's father teamed up with the now-leader of the Lycian Alliance to save the fucking world from dragons. They fought their way across the whole damned continent! They sailed with pirates! The tale is inexorably tied into how Eliwood met Roy's dead mother! Little Roy must have heard tons about every detail! It must've been the proudest bedtime story any father on the continent has ever told their child! How, in the process of all that, did it not come up that Lord Erik is a spoiled sack of shit who conspired with his father to subvert the alliance and take over the continent!? HOW COULD THAT NOT BE USEFUL INFORMATION FOR A CHILD WHO WILL ONE DAY BECOME BALLS-DEEP IN DANGEROUS POLITICS TO KNOW!?

...Ugh. This is infuriating. I want so badly to blame FE6 for this. I'd be so happy if I could call this the irresponsible sequel that played fast and loose with the canon that was so much of my childhood. But I can't, because it simply isn't true. This story seems internally consistent with itself, at least so far. It's FE7 that's to blame for this. I mean this on its own doesn't even remotely ruin FE7 for me, but... holy shit is it annoying to think about.

...Well, at any rate, I'm done for the day.

Take care guys.

Edited January 31, 2020 by Alastor15243

[Jingle Jangle]

Didn't had trouble with the Rutger spawn? Usually that's the most difficult map part of the map for me.

[Alastor15243]

Just now, Jingle Jangle said:

Didn't had trouble with the Rutger spawn? Usually that's the most difficult map part of the map for me.

I lucked out and didn't put anyone fragile near him or his posse.

[Jotari]

Part of Castle Ostia is reused for the FE7 Denning map too. I havr a mock up on my computer at home of it, because I actually love when games pull stuff like that.

Regarding Roy and Erik, as far as I can recall, Eliwood's father is never proven to be innocent of collaborating with Erik to overthrow the alliance. It's just a dropped plot point in Blazing Blade as the Nergal stuff comes to the forefront. So I could see Eliwood just glossing over the whole attempted coup his father was wrapped up in. Provided I am remembering things correctly. Or alternatively Eliwood and Erik were ostensibly friends, so maybe they rekindled things post Blazing Blade and that's the Erik Roy knows (and when I say rekindled things I mean Eliwood naievely trusted Erik while Erik secretly resented Eliwood and spent years waiting for a chance to strike again).

Another weird discrepancy between the two games is Hector's curiously missing half brother in FE7. It seemed they were going out of there way to make as many playable characters as possible be characters mentioned in FE6 yet somehow they forgot to add a single mention of Hector's half brother, while simultaneously creating a new different brother for Hector (whom FE6 never mentions).

Edited January 31, 2020 by Jotari

[AnonymousSpeed]

6 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

HOW COULD THAT NOT BE USEFUL INFORMATION FOR A CHILD WHO WILL ONE DAY BECOME BALLS-DEEP IN DANGEROUS POLITICS TO KNOW!?

Because FE7 is bad.

Enemies will never actually attack Clarine.

EDIT: For Chapter 4 specifically

Edited January 31, 2020 by AnonymousSpeed

[Eltosian Kadath]

7 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

Does anyone know if there are any fixed growth mods for any of the GBA games? That might help a lot if I were to do this for real.

They go under the name of the Tony mode patches, and there is one for FE6 and another for FE7, but finding copies of these patches is proving a bit tricky, the links in the project page here on Serenes Forest, and on the Serenes Forest Rom Hack and Fan Game Directory have died, but I found a copy Mekkkah linked to on Reddit that still works for the FE7 patch

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bik8v7wbryb7yb6/FE7 Tony Mode Patch.ups?dl=0

 

Took a while, but I think I finally found a copy of the FE6 version, but it took a bit of digging.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zymc1h221nnxpm9/AADcATy8Ai8ucqhOnauHglg0a/Hextator's Doc/Media/Games/Console/NGBA/Fire Emblem/Game Doc/6 - Sword of Seals/Stats/Tony Mode?dl=0&subfolder_nav_tracking=1

 

[Thundermodus]

17 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Oh sweet! I loved this chapter when I first played FE6, mostly due to nostalgia for FE7, because FE7's Chapter 14 is set on the exact same map! 

 

14 hours ago, Jotari said:

Part of Castle Ostia is reused for the FE7 Denning map too. I havr a mock up on my computer at home of it, because I actually love when games pull stuff like that.

It's cool how FE7 partially uses maps from FE6 sometimes, this one is my personal favorite. Chapter 2 of FE6, and the chapter where you get Wallace the second time from FE7. 

[Jotari]

39 minutes ago, Thundermodus said:

 

It's cool how FE7 partially uses maps from FE6 sometimes, this one is my personal favorite. Chapter 2 of FE6, and the chapter where you get Wallace the second time from FE7. 

Some of it is no doubt down to laziness though. I remember the desert maps use a lot of the same map even though in story it makes no sense for it to look similar given the relative directions. Both those chapters you've pointed out do take place on the  border of Bern however, so it's possible that one is intentional.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

17 hours ago, Jotari said:

Another weird discrepancy between the two games is Hector's curiously missing half brother in FE7. It seemed they were going out of there way to make as many playable characters as possible be characters mentioned in FE6 yet somehow they forgot to add a single mention of Hector's half brother, while simultaneously creating a new different brother for Hector (whom FE6 never mentions).

RIP Orun, 2002-2002. I will grant, Uther never being mentioned in FE6 makes sense, based on Hector's Story. Still, FE7 should have mentioned Orun. The only explainer I can think of is, he was Hector's "long-lost" half-brother, and they only discover their relationship between FE7 and FE6.

20 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Honestly, it's kind of hilarious Erik is still in power after the events of FE7. Didn't he conspire with his father to overthrow the entire damned Lycian alliance and become some kind of emperor of the world? I realize he wasn't the one in charge, but he still tried to murder Eliwood and Hector over petty grudges. What exactly does it take for the other territories to intervene and put someone else in charge?

Erik basically went along with what his father was doing. He was pro-coup and pro-Laus, but I don't think his aspirations rose to the level of "God-Emperor" Darin's. Likely, he would've been satisfied with Darin taking Uther's place as head of the Alliance. In fact, he has nothing but contempt for Ephidel, whom he blames for inflating his father's ego in order to use him as a puppet.

Hot take: playable Erik would've worked so well in FE7. He hates Eliwood and Hector, but is willing to work with them to track down, and try to redeem, his father. It could've made the first showdown on Dread Isle super emotional, as Erik realizes his father is lost to the darkness. Once that's done, he could continue fighting alongside Eliwood and Hector (and Lyn I guess) against Nergal, who is now a shared enemy. Of course it kinda ruins his presence in FE6, but that hardly existed in the first place.

[Seafarer]

23 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Klain? That... I could've sworn one of the purposes of this translation was to bring it up to speed with stuff like official names and the like. Isn't he Klein? Klain just makes it blatantly obvious that Pent and Louise are those insufferable parents who think it's cute to give their children theme names.

You must still be using gringe's patch from... what, 2013? "Klein" wasn't canonised until Heroes in 2017.

EDIT: Someone updated the patch with CYL names here.

Edited January 31, 2020 by Seafarer

[Alastor15243]

16 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

They go under the name of the Tony mode patches, and there is one for FE6 and another for FE7, but finding copies of these patches is proving a bit tricky, the links in the project page here on Serenes Forest, and on the Serenes Forest Rom Hack and Fan Game Directory have died, but I found a copy Mekkkah linked to on Reddit that still works for the FE7 patch

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bik8v7wbryb7yb6/FE7 Tony Mode Patch.ups?dl=0

 

Took a while, but I think I finally found a copy of the FE6 version, but it took a bit of digging.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zymc1h221nnxpm9/AADcATy8Ai8ucqhOnauHglg0a/Hextator's Doc/Media/Games/Console/NGBA/Fire Emblem/Game Doc/6 - Sword of Seals/Stats/Tony Mode?dl=0&subfolder_nav_tracking=1

 

Thanks a ton! I really appreciate you going out of your way to do that for me!

 

2 hours ago, Seafarer said:

You must still be using gringe's patch from... what, 2013? "Klein" wasn't canonised until Heroes in 2017.

EDIT: Someone updated the patch with CYL names here.

Thanks for the info! Given we're already a week into the game though, I'm not gonna risk losing my data by trying to update the patch on my end.

 

Binding Blade Day 5: Chapter 5

It's funny how we're 5 chapters into the game and still don't have the battle preparations screen. The party's starting to get large enough that it's a little inconvenient for first-move gambit planning, but it's not a huge deal. Certainly nothing worse than what the other games that didn't have placement at all did. But I seem to remember most games after this giving us a preparation screen before our armies get this large.

I'm a little disappointed to learn that Marcus and Merlinus don't have supports in this game despite having them in FE7. It would have been cool to see them talk about their past together in the previous war and maybe see stuff fleshed out in FE7 that initially started out as off-handed anecdotes from these two. Shame. Again though, not FE6's fault, which makes me feel really weird about mentioning it here, but I'm worried if I don't do it now I'll forget and it won't get mentioned at all.

And here we meet Saul, the very, very first in the long and “proud” tradition of obsessive flirts that have become a staple of this series, ranging from the adorably hopeless romantics like Sain and Gatrie, who are in love with love itself, to the manipulative scumbags and rapey filth embodied by Sylvain and Soleil, the latter of whom somehow manages to compete for the worst character award in a game with an unapologetic serial killer with bad hair and the voice of Tommy Pickles. I have very, very little memory from my first playthrough of where Saul fell on this, but judging by first impressions, he seems to be closer to the Inigo/Laslow variety in the middle. We'll have to see though. I do remember an absolutely hysterical support he has with Dorothy though!

Unfortunately for some reason they run off... in my direction... stating their intention to join me... but don't.

My initial attempt to fight through the level (the long way around, because I did not want to have to guess when the door would open or at what prompting, and then deal with half of their army at once) is going pretty great so far, due to two very lucky crits from Marcus killing two enemies singlehandedly, when my player-phase attack power is being spread amazingly thin by these enemies. These are easily the strongest basic enemies I've fought in the entire marathon so far.

Halberds don't work against nomads in this game, same as FE7. I mean it would be weird to change it for FE7, but it would also be weird to do it, so...

...Lance has officially lost basically any advantage over Allen. He may be turning out to be a complete lost cause at this point. Which is a shame, but what can you do? I initially thought I might use this as an excuse to use Noah instead of him, but... it's pretty clear from his stats and growths that I only liked him because he was blue and had some cute supports with Fir. I obviously took advantage of level up rigging a lot to make him as badass as I remember him being.

What a shame. Well... maybe Trek? Treck's blue too, and seems pretty okay. Generally better growthwise than Noah.

...I'll figure it out when the time comes.

Well, after a terrifying player-phase gambit that could have gone horribly wrong at basically every step of the way, I just barely managed to kill all of the nearby enemies with enough wiggle room that I didn't have to use Rutger's killing edge to guarantee a kill (I was obviously prepared to do so if I had to, but it's always nice when it isn't necessary).

Honestly, while I find this game terrifying and hard... I don't really like how much of it in the early stages depends on sheer dumb luck to not miss attacks, Especially when it seems enemy stats are so high that every weapon either isn't accurate or isn't strong enough.

So, I got to the village, and received “Gant's Lance”. I think I remember this! There was a manga gaiden-ish tie-in or something, and there are a couple of weapons in this game named after the main characters! It doesn't look amazing, but hey, free lance! I'm not complaining!

Ugh. This mercenary isn't moving. And he has a crit rate and very high speed. My least favorite type of enemy: a dangerous one who doesn't move and I have no idea why.

I find it kind of hilarious that in hindsight, Raven is kind of mercenary Rutger. Edgy, vengeful swordfighter who starts as an enemy and gets recruited by the cute troubadour.

I'm keeping Merlinus and Bors on those forts because I do not want to risk them having ambush spawns that will still be active the second they step off.

I wound up having to use the killing edge against that mercenary because that crit rate was scary, another mercenary was coming in, Marcus missed with his silver lance, and for all I knew that mercenary could come alive at any moment and ruin my whole run.

Given that the houses I finally visit say it's a good idea to occupy forts... something tells me I made a good call blocking them up with Merlinus and Bors.

Those. Crit. Rates. TERRIFY ME. Whenever someone with low luck attacks one of those mercenaries, I dread that mocking waggle of that heap of raw iron before oblivion descends upon me.

Lance and Allen got their B support thanks to my commitment to keeping them together. It's not nearly as slow as I was dreading! It might actually be pretty manageable. I just wish the game, y'know, ever said how to do it. The conversation was okay, but didn't feel much like a B support. Not sure if I'll be seeing the A, since Lance hasn't been turning out so great.

Lugh's been getting some pretty great level ups. No defense, but plenty of magic and speed.

And now for the boss, and...

...Holy shit. What the hell. That strength stat is gargantuan.

Alright, so, anyone capable of competent melee combat might be obliterated by his killer axe, and anyone capable of accurate ranged attacks will be obliterated by his hand axe. The only solution is to make it so we only ever attack him at range when he's using his killer axe, or in melee when he's using the hand axe, and use rescue-dropping tactics to ensure they're not still there when he can switch weapons. Looks like we'll be having Lugh take care of this. Slowly.

“No one's ever survived a blow from my axe!”, quoth Dory.

I don't doubt it.

And Lugh levels up from this, gaining a speed stat of twelve. Lugh's really shaping up to be one of my best units, which is really encouraging. I really want to use him as much as possible, especially for supports with his brother to see if I can learn anything more about the story of Nino, who's one of my favorite characters in FE7.

And yes, I fully intend to do my best to use Nino when I play Hector Hard Mode. There's common sense, and then there's doing your damnedest to piece back together the shattered dignity and self-esteem of an adorable little girl. I will not fail that child, and I will not fail her children.

So we get to the castle, and... wait... Saul's here...? But he didn't go... in the direction... of the castle...

Okay, so... wait... the Fire Emblem is kept in the Shrine of Seals when it isn't used for the coronation ceremony? That seems like a... needlessly remote place to put it if they keep using it for the coronation ceremony. Especially since that means the shrine has to be guarded 24/7. Though I guess that would be the case anyway.

Also, the fact that it's still called the “Shrine of Seals” while it no longer contains the “Sword of Seals”, but the “Binding Blade” is... a bit awkward. I honestly never really agreed with the change from “Sword of Seals” to “Binding Blade”. I also think Exaccus is way cooler than “Eckesachs”. Apparently “Eckesachs” is a real mythological thing, but some of the sources I read say it's named after a character from the story, like “Ecke's sword” or something, which makes it weird to use it in a universe where no Ecke exists. I mean, if they renamed Hartmut to Ecke, maybe. But I just think Exaccus is a way cooler name.

Oh yeah, I remember this part of the original translation. They accidentally gave one of Saul's lines to Guinivere, as if she were asking and answering her own question. Good to see that's fixed. At any rate... I'm still liking the story so far. It borrows a ton from FE1 in general structure, but it's much, much more engaging than that, or FE3 book 2 for that matter. Also, Zephiel is just a way better villain than Hardin, especially with the context of FE7. A veritable paragon of a prince turned into a jaded boomerang bigot due to the inhuman cruelty of his own father, determined to give the world back to the dragons it was stolen from no matter the cost in human life, is way more interesting than some guy possessed by a piece of glass.

But, unless I change my mind and decide to do some stuff on the weekend, that's all I have to say on the matter this week. Take care, you guys!

[Espurrhoodie]

4 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

So, I got to the village, and received “Gant's Lance”. I think I remember this! There was a manga gaiden-ish tie-in or something, and there are a couple of weapons in this game named after the main characters! It doesn't look amazing, but hey, free lance! I'm not complaining!

I believe the manga was called "Fire Emblem: Champion's Sword". iirc, the art was done by Yamada Kotaro.

I've never read it, so I don't know much about it. The only FE mangas I've read are the Oosawa manga and the FEH manga. Although I've heard the manga for Fates was pretty good.

[Shadow Mir]

7 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

So, I got to the village, and received “Gant's Lance”. I think I remember this! There was a manga gaiden-ish tie-in or something, and there are a couple of weapons in this game named after the main characters! It doesn't look amazing, but hey, free lance! I'm not complaining!

There are two other such weapons. A sword and a staff.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Also, the fact that it's still called the “Shrine of Seals” while it no longer contains the “Sword of Seals”, but the “Binding Blade” is... a bit awkward. I honestly never really agreed with the change from “Sword of Seals” to “Binding Blade”. I also think Exaccus is way cooler than “Eckesachs”. Apparently “Eckesachs” is a real mythological thing, but some of the sources I read say it's named after a character from the story, like “Ecke's sword” or something, which makes it weird to use it in a universe where no Ecke exists. I mean, if they renamed Hartmut to Ecke, maybe. But I just think Exaccus is a way cooler name.

Honestly I hate the game being named "Binding Blade", it sounds way too close to "Blazing Blade". Not to mention it can launch fire (unlike Durandal), making it literally... a blazing blade. That's why I'll always call them FE6 and FE7, or "Roy's Emblem" and "Eliwood's Emblem". Agreed on Exaccus too, something about it reads better than "Eckesachs". As for the shrine itself, maybe "Bound Shrine" or "Bound Altar" would be more fitting?

[Shadow Mir]

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Also, Zephiel is just a way better villain than Hardin, especially with the context of FE7. A veritable paragon of a prince turned into a jaded boomerang bigot due to the inhuman cruelty of his own father, determined to give the world back to the dragons it was stolen from no matter the cost in human life, is way more interesting than some guy possessed by a piece of glass.

I disagree - honestly, Zephiel comes off more like some petty drama queen than a villain I can take seriously. I mean, sure, his father was a huge sack of shit, but still... That does not speak to me the way a former ally of the protagonist getting corrupted does.

Edited February 1, 2020 by Shadow Mir

[Jotari]

8 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

RIP Orun, 2002-2002. I will grant, Uther never being mentioned in FE6 makes sense, based on Hector's Story. Still, FE7 should have mentioned Orun. The only explainer I can think of is, he was Hector's "long-lost" half-brother, and they only discover their relationship between FE7 and FE6.

Erik basically went along with what his father was doing. He was pro-coup and pro-Laus, but I don't think his aspirations rose to the level of "God-Emperor" Darin's. Likely, he would've been satisfied with Darin taking Uther's place as head of the Alliance. In fact, he has nothing but contempt for Ephidel, whom he blames for inflating his father's ego in order to use him as a puppet.

Hot take: playable Erik would've worked so well in FE7. He hates Eliwood and Hector, but is willing to work with them to track down, and try to redeem, his father. It could've made the first showdown on Dread Isle super emotional, as Erik realizes his father is lost to the darkness. Once that's done, he could continue fighting alongside Eliwood and Hector (and Lyn I guess) against Nergal, who is now a shared enemy. Of course it kinda ruins his presence in FE6, but that hardly existed in the first place.

I doubt that Orun was an unknown half brother. He was a marques so him being some secret bastard seems highly unlikely. Though I guess not impossible if Hector's father impregnated Orun's mother without Orun's father knowing and then Orun inherited the title and by the time it got out there were no other heirs to contest his claim despite his bastard status. But that's creating a whole mess of drama the game never hints at. The easiest explanation is that Orun is just significantly older than Hector, exists the entire time in FE7 and just no one ever cares to think of him. It's not a plot hole that characters never mention a family member. It is bloody odd though.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

6 minutes ago, Jotari said:

I doubt that Orun was an unknown half brother. He was a marques so him being some secret bastard seems highly unlikely. Though I guess not impossible if Hector's father impregnated Orun's mother without Orun's father knowing and then Orun inherited the title and by the time it got out there were no other heirs to contest his claim despite his bastard status. But that's creating a whole mess of drama the game never hints at. The easiest explanation is that Orun is just significantly older than Hector, exists the entire time in FE7 and just no one ever cares to think of him. It's not a plot hole that characters never mention a family member. It is bloody odd though.

Or, it's possible that they all share not the same father, but the same mother. Maybe the prior Marquess Thria was an asshole, so HectorMom divorced him after having Orun. Then she married to HectorDad, and gave birth to Uther and Hector, before the couple died. A marquess marrying a divorcee may sound unlikely, but maybe she came from her own noble line, and was thus still seen as desirable?

Sometimes it feels like the links between the games aren't as strong as they should be. Like, I don't believe Thria is even mentioned in FE7. A game that, meanwhile, decides to make up the territory of Caelin, and explain its later non-existence by just having Lyn pawn it off to her husb- er, Hector. On the flip side, though, reaching to reference everything ("member Nabata?") can present its own perils.

[Jotari]

2 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Or, it's possible that they all share not the same father, but the same mother. Maybe the prior Marquess Thria was an asshole, so HectorMom divorced him after having Orun. Then she married to HectorDad, and gave birth to Uther and Hector, before the couple died. A marquess marrying a divorcee may sound unlikely, but maybe she came from her own noble line, and was thus still seen as desirable?

That wouldn't make the relationship unknown though. Unless there was some reason to keep her identity hidden in one of the marriages.

[AnonymousSpeed]

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

What a shame. Well... maybe Trek? Treck's blue too, and seems pretty okay. Generally better growthwise than Noah.

Trec isn't the best cavalier in the game, but I honestly really like him and he is, as you said, quite blue.

Saul is great, you should have him support Igrene and A support Jodel.

Personally, I prefer "Binding Blade" to "Sword of Seals." The former has a loot more oomph.

[Jotari]

2 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Honestly I hate the game being named "Binding Blade", it sounds way too close to "Blazing Blade". Not to mention it can launch fire (unlike Durandal), making it literally... a blazing blade. That's why I'll always call them FE6 and FE7, or "Roy's Emblem" and "Eliwood's Emblem". Agreed on Exaccus too, something about it reads better than "Eckesachs". As for the shrine itself, maybe "Bound Shrine" or "Bound Altar" would be more fitting?

I don't like FE6 and FE7 because Archanea Saga exists and I feel deserves its due. I'm actually thankful the numbering convention has started to vanish with the muddling of sequence all the spin offs and split routes have caused.

[Boomhauer007]

I've always wondered while I've read this, but do you play other games while you've been doing this? Playing Fire Emblem takes awhile and I couldn't imagine writing up a long post for every single chapter, also couldn't imagine playing the whole series for that long without a break. 

Also spent like 200 hours playing just 3 houses last year so....