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

[Anathaco]

1 hour ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Pretty sure you can play this as your first one. I mean, I did. You get the Lyn and Lucina Rings (and, by extension, their Paralogues) at the same time, after all.

Weirdly, Lyn’s doesn’t open up until after Chapter 12 despite getting them both in Chapter 11. No idea why they set it up like this considering later paralogues absolutely do come two at a time but ah well.

 

18 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Well I’m not falling for it, Jotari.

 

I am not gullibly walking into this challenge for your sick and twisted amusement.

 

I am deliberately walking into this challenge for your sick and twisted amusement.

 

Because I am a let’s player. And let’s players do not turn a blind eye to entertaining challenges.

as an audience member I salute you.

 

19 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Emblem Ike is honestly psychotically strong whenever anyone fights him in the arena, and I don’t see how anyone could defeat him with a physical attack.

It only ever happened once for me, when I fought him with General Jean. But yeah some of them are definitely easier opponents than others. 

[Acacia Sgt]

13 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

PFFFFFF

I doubt that's how their foreplay would go.

13 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Okay, “Lost and Found” is a pretty cute call-back skill idea. I hated the game and I can still acknowledge that it’s cute that Byleth can find items and build support points by chance when ending turns next to an ally.

Not unlike Corrin's own is meant to also be a call-back I suppose.

Hmm, I wonder how it's called in Japanese...

13 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

No talk of the conflict of having to fight your homeland!?

That is such a depressing missed opportunity!

Maybe it happens at A level? Can't say I've used Corrin with Ivy much to have it myself. Or that was part of their A convo?

13 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

I wonder how they’ll keep bosses interesting when we have all the Emblems. They’ve really been relying on a lot of Emblems being in the enemy’s possession to spice up boss fights, so I wonder what’ll happen when I get all twelve, which I imagine is gonna happen a good bit before the endgame.

Game certainly starts doing something else, that's for sure.

13 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Micaiah is another character where I can’t imagine this voice actress actually saying any of Micaiah’s lines from the original game. This Micaiah is insufferably saccharine. Meanwhile the Micaiah of Radiant Dawn had a lot of heavy shit to say, not to mention a lot of cold snark. She has a lot more in common with Soren than her depiction here would remotely suggest.

Mellowed out after so long being an Emblem? It's something of a foregone conclusion even if they were the actual characters.

13 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Is this what they renamed the Shrine of Seals to after they decided Sword of Seals wasn’t a good name?

Hell, I didn’t think that was a bad name even back in Melee when I thought it was referring to the animal! I mean hell, why not? Marth had a dolphin slash!

No, the location names on the world map aren't like meant to be the official ones. Otherwise you have some like Lief's being Bridges in a Row or something which is... doubtful.

13 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Honestly, I’m getting the feeling you were telling the truth when you were saying this map was easy, Jotari.

Not enough wyverns/10

13 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Goddamn it, Pepsiman’s exaggerated bend-over when asking whether Roy spared or killed Idunn is absolutely absurd. He seems honestly childish here. And also, Roy says he’ll tell him after the war is over. So is the good ending not necessarily canon then, and they’re weaseling their way out of confirming?

Confirming the game doesn't end with Zephiel was already enough for then?

[Jotari]

4 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Please let this be the FE7 version of the shrine approach. Lyn’s was from FE6, it’s only fair!

Oh, that actually would have made for a nice, if still a little weird, dichotomy. But no, Binding Blade is just so often it gets to have two maps in its game.

4 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

He has 30 speed, and until Yunaka debuffs him literally nobody in my army has the speed to double him.

…Now, Jotari, you said you would, and I quote, “rate this paralogue as the easiest of the bunch”…

…But you also said you were, and I quote, “an awful person who hopes all of [my] digital friends die”.

And given this is also based on one of the most infamously challenging maps in all of Fire Emblem…

…I have a feeling you might be trying to trick me into fucking myself up by committing to a challenge that has really powerful enemies and nasty reinforcements.

Well I’m not falling for it, Jotari.

I am not gullibly walking into this challenge for your sick and twisted amusement.

I am deliberately walking into this challenge for your sick and twisted amusement.

Oh you give me too much credit. I'm not nearly that devious XD But yeah, seriously, I found this one quite easy and people echoed by sentiments. And I'm pretty sure I did it at the same time you're doing it now since I finished up all of the paralogues after reaching Elysuia. On the other hand I had finished Sigurd, Leif and Corrin's before tackling Roy's, so that would have an impact on exp too.

4 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Oh cool! Alcryst gets a conversation with Roy!

…Alcryst predictably questions why Roy’s deigning to fight him due to his self-esteem issues, and Roy assures him he’s a worthy opponent… which would make this absolutely comical if this conversation happened on enemy phase and proceeded to result in a dead-for-real Alcryst.

Oh really, huh. Most of the Emblem conversations seem to be reserved for the "canon" wielders of the Emblem. Of which I thought Diamant was for Roy. Isn't he autoequipped to Diamant in the chapter where you first fight Ivy? Or maybe they just decided to give both brothers a conversation due to him being the Emblem of their country. Which makes me wonder if Hortensea has one with Lyn (as Ivy does). I also wonder if Leif and Byleth have any conversations as they're the two Emblems with no real default user (unless you want to count the villains, of which maybe you could with Hortensea as she comes at the same time as Byleth).

4 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Goddamn it, Pepsiman’s exaggerated bend-over when asking whether Roy spared or killed Idunn is absolutely absurd. He seems honestly childish here. And also, Roy says he’ll tell him after the war is over. So is the good ending not necessarily canon then, and they’re weaseling their way out of confirming?

And Roy never fulfills that promise. At least on screen.

3 hours ago, Anathaco said:

It only ever happened once for me, when I fought him with General Jean. But yeah some of them are definitely easier opponents than others. 

General  Jean sounds hilarious as a visual idea, but due to how his growths work, should be completely viable, furthering the obscenity of this tiny ass kid donning armour that must weigh more than he does. You can create your own little Marni!

[Acacia Sgt]

12 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Oh really, huh. Most of the Emblem conversations seem to be reserved for the "canon" wielders of the Emblem. Of which I thought Diamant was for Roy. Isn't he autoequipped to Diamant in the chapter where you first fight Ivy? Or maybe they just decided to give both brothers a conversation due to him being the Emblem of their country. Which makes me wonder if Hortensea has one with Lyn (as Ivy does). I also wonder if Leif and Byleth have any conversations as they're the two Emblems with no real default user (unless you want to count the villains, of which maybe you could with Hortensea as she comes at the same time as Byleth).

That is indeed the case. Can't speak about Hortensia having a battle quote with Lyn, but Ivy has one with Lief and I'm pretty sure Hortensia has one with Byleth.

Because they were the ones the sisters used when they were enemies. On that subject, I wouldn't be surprised if Hortensia also has one with Lucina. On that subject, they also have Bond conversations talking about that as well.

[joeygreedy]

Of all the Paralogues ( Including DLC ), the ones I struggled with were

Leif ( No spoilers, but I think I understand why players love/hate Thracia maps now, and eagerly await you playing/logging it )

Tiki ( You thought Roy's had dragons? Yeah, those weren't real dragons, THESE are real dragons )

Camilla ( To be fair, I had 0 fliers on that map, so it was more a massive slog than a challenge )

Eirika ( I kinda cheesed her by placing a high res unit on the other size of the bridge since she has 2-range, and relying on 2 warriors with 3 range to both chip her down, and Hortensia to repeatedly heal my 2 range unit while the rest blocked off the side halls, RIP Merrin )

Fucking SOREN, you asshat, why did you stick a massive pile of fliers in the center ready to swarm me you dickwad, and not letting me approach you without taking multiple boltings and meteors from the volcano to the face, risking a Rexcalibur to my fliers. You absolute DICK. ( Doing this pre-Corrin might have been a mistake )

I'll be honest Roy's map barely registered among them, I like the aesthetics but I kinda... steamrolled everything with bow units. There's no massive "Oh shit" moments or "You asshole, I'd throw you into the stable if you weren't so useful" moment in it, unless I just obliterated Roy so quickly he didn't trigger it. 

 

 

[Acacia Sgt]

On the subject of paralogues, I look back fondly at my run through Leif's the most...

... mostly due to the way I cheesed it. lol

[Alastor15243]

1 minute ago, Acacia Sgt said:

On the subject of paralogues, I look back fondly at my run through Leif's the most...

... mostly due to the way I cheesed it. lol

If something seems outrageous I should probably keep in mind that I have Sigurd, Byleth and Micaiah now. Cross-warping, 10+ mov, and quad-dancing. I might be able to do some crazy warp skips.

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, Acacia Sgt said:

That is indeed the case. Can't speak about Hortensia having a battle quote with Lyn, but Ivy has one with Lief and I'm pretty sure Hortensia has one with Byleth.

Because they were the ones the sisters used when they were enemies. On that subject, I wouldn't be surprised if Hortensia also has one with Lucina. On that subject, they also have Bond conversations talking about that as well.

It would have been nice if they also came with some minor bond points with those Emblems. Like they started at Bond level 2 instead of 1, showing that, even though the Emblems were corrupted they gained points with them. I wonder if they bothered to give Mauvier any points with Micaiah (and whomever he used on the Myre, since I think the emblems are different when you fight them there, Marnie had Sigurd at least there while Zephia uses Sigurd later). Since by the time you get Mauvier you've probably expected to have finished Micaiah's paralogue already, they might not have bothered.

13 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

On the subject of paralogues, I look back fondly at my run through Leif's the most...

... mostly due to the way I cheesed it. lol

I cheesed Leif's too XD Which makes it a perfect Thracia map.

[Acacia Sgt]

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

If something seems outrageous I should probably keep in mind that I have Sigurd, Byleth and Micaiah now. Cross-warping, 10+ mov, and quad-dancing. I might be able to do some crazy warp skips.

Well, didn't had Micaiah since I did it when it first unlocked. But there was certainly some use of warp and Sigurd involved... at first.

2 hours ago, Jotari said:

It would have been nice if they also came with some minor bond points with those Emblems. Like they started at Bond level 2 instead of 1, showing that, even though the Emblems were corrupted they gained points with them. I wonder if they bothered to give Mauvier any points with Micaiah (and whomever he used on the Myre, since I think the emblems are different when you fight them there, Marnie had Sigurd at least there while Zephia uses Sigurd later). Since by the time you get Mauvier you've probably expected to have finished Micaiah's paralogue already, they might not have bothered.

I cheesed Leif's too XD Which makes it a perfect Thracia map.

I'd find it weird if he didn't had a battle convo with her. But yeah, it's unlikely someone would hold it off for too long.

Also, went to check. He also has Micaiah in Chapter 11.

Edited February 21, 2023 by Acacia Sgt

[AnonymousSpeed]

4 hours ago, Jotari said:

You can create your own little Marni!

oh hey i kinda like that idea now

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

9 hours ago, Anathaco said:

Weirdly, Lyn’s doesn’t open up until after Chapter 12 despite getting them both in Chapter 11. No idea why they set it up like this considering later paralogues absolutely do come two at a time but ah well.

Interesting. I had thought each Paralogue became available immediately after getting the associated ring. I must be mis-remembering, then.

4 hours ago, joeygreedy said:

Leif ( No spoilers, but I think I understand why players love/hate Thracia maps now, and eagerly await you playing/logging it )

Thracia's ballistae are basically the same as these ones, except with 10 charges instead of 3. Oh, and they can double the units misfortunate enough to have been born with the Accost skill.

5 hours ago, Jotari said:

Oh really, huh. Most of the Emblem conversations seem to be reserved for the "canon" wielders of the Emblem. Of which I thought Diamant was for Roy. Isn't he autoequipped to Diamant in the chapter where you first fight Ivy? Or maybe they just decided to give both brothers a conversation due to him being the Emblem of their country. Which makes me wonder if Hortensea has one with Lyn (as Ivy does). I also wonder if Leif and Byleth have any conversations as they're the two Emblems with no real default user (unless you want to count the villains, of which maybe you could with Hortensea as she comes at the same time as Byleth).

I can confirm that Celine gets a conversation with Celica (spoiler alert, you get Celica back at some point). Now I'm wondering if Alfred gets one as well...

9 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Mellowed out after so long being an Emblem? It's something of a foregone conclusion even if they were the actual characters.

Honestly, I think Veronica Taylor could do a good grief-stricken Micaiah, or a sassy one. She also voiced Manuela, a role that was, if nothing else, expressive. Emblem Micaiah just doesn't have very diverse dialogue to work with.

5 hours ago, Jotari said:

And Roy never fulfills that promise. At least on screen.

Idunn is simultaneously in a state of being dead, and being alive. She is... Schrodinger's Dragon.

[Jotari]

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

I can confirm that Celine gets a conversation with Celica (spoiler alert, you get Celica back at some point). Now I'm wondering if Alfred gets one as well...

Well according to this video, not Alfrid and Celica or Mavuier with Micaiah, though they missed the apparent Alcryst and Roy convo, so, *shrug*, maybe.

I'm surprised it's Vander who gets one with Sigurd, even though pretty much everyone honed on him and Alfred. But I suppose the game itself never pushes that. Still weird as that makes him the only crown royal without an associated Emblem.

[Alastor15243]

19 minutes ago, Jotari said:

I'm surprised it's Vander who gets one with Sigurd, even though pretty much everyone honed on him and Alfred. But I suppose the game itself never pushes that. Still weird as that makes him the only crown royal without an associated Emblem.

The intro cinematic of the prologue gives him Lucina for some reason.

[Alastor15243]

Engage Day 29: Micaiah’s Paralogue

Now that I know it’s not just attacking that activates Canter, but also staves and the like, I’m gonna slap it on Seadall in the hopes that it works for dancing too. Why not? It’s not like he has much of anything else to spend SP on.

And now I’m enduring a battle between Seadall doing 0 damage quadrice while Sigurd does 13 at a 52% hit rate. It took aaaaages.

…I just realized you actually can see the little rings, with unique models, floating over the pedestals in the ring rooms amidst the sparkling lights. That’s cool!

Alright, let’s check out Micaiah’s paralogue and see if we’re up for it.

Pepsiman: Hey look. It’s started snowing…

…Was it… not snowing at all… in the entirety of the icy wastes of the entire country you had to walk through to get to this?

Micaiah: Ike was trying to save us, but I could not let him. We needed help, but not his.

…Curious way to phrase it…

Funny enough, Micaiah’s usual voice is so outrageously unfitting for Radiant Dawn that when she starts recounting the events of the game her voice actively changes to something more suiting for it. It almost feels Yunaka-esque, but not really that far.

Pepsiman: I think I know now why we were brought here. Teach me how you never broke in the face of despair and fear, Micaiah.

…That makes it sound like we’re going to be playing the role of Ike in this map.

Are we playing the role of Ike in this map!?

…No, we are not. In hindsight, I don’t know why I would have been excited for that. Defense maps are awesome.

But alas, the aesthetics of this map recreation have been completely butchered. The ledges have been replaced with regular walls, and while there does seem to be some elevation change with the stairs, you really have to squint to notice that it isn’t a flat plane. It’s honestly disappointing. When Fates recreated a map from this game, it at least did its best to replicate the effects of the ledge system it didn’t have, by making the visuals of the map the same and giving the tops of the ledges terrain bonuses at least.

Also, it seems like Micaiah gets a multi-HP-bar thief with her to represent Sothe. I was hoping maybe the rest of the Dawn Brigade would be mirrored in the allies around her, but nope, not quite. There’s a sniper and a swordmaster amongst the three other allies closest to her, granted… but the third is a hero. With a sword. With an unused weapon rank in lances. No dice for Nolan.

Like the original, this is covered in ballistae, but they all demand bow users to use, and we no longer have a massive retinue of yellow archers to man them. None of them are magic-using ones, and there’s only one anyone-can-use-them flame cannon at the center of the map. So basically it’s damned near physically impossible to have a party equipped to make much use of these things on the map. And since ballistae in this game aren’t direction-dependent, they’re really more of a liability than an asset, because if we lose any ground whatsoever in the fort, enemy bow users will be able to use them to attack us.

Amazingly enough, Micaiah doesn’t have any staves with her. None. No rescue, no warp, no physic, not even a damned heal staff. Honestly, of all the places to encounter warp staff bullshit, I was expecting this battle to be the biggest offender.

…Okay, I’m heading back to the Somniel for some stuff.

First off, gotta use my three arena training sessions. Honestly, I don’t think Goldmary has managed to contribute much of anything so far. Not even Brave Assist. She just hasn’t gotten to any of the bosses by the time I actually fight them. Which is weird, because she’s not even that slow.

…Well she has a huge stockpile of SP, and I have a huge stockpile of bond fragments. Let’s see if I can give her any skills that would give her an edge…

First, let’s max out her relationship with Leif. Get her that master lance, for one.

Goldmary: You know, Leif, I wouldn’t blame you if you began to develop feelings for me.

Leif: I already have feelings about you, Goldmary. I think you and I will make good friends!

SHOTS FIRED! WOMAN DOWN!

Goldmary: I’m sorry if my dazzling grace distracts you in battle. I’m afraid it’s out of my control.

Leif: No need to apologize. If by some chance I were distracted, it would be my fault, not yours.

Leif is oblivious as shit and I love it. That seems to be another thing this game is good at, it’s like with Alfred: endearingly oblivious characters shrugging off hostile subtext and getting to the heart of things. Honestly I kinda wish I managed to make Alfred good before benching him, he would have been fun to keep seeing supports with.

So now Goldmary has a build of 13, and the Master Lance. If I reclass her to a sword-and-axe-using hero instead of a sword-and-lance-using hero, I can give her a tomahawk (she won’t be nearly as weighed down as she should be) and she’ll be able to have 1-2 range with all three weapons of the triangle once she gets Leif’s Light Brand after we do Leif’s paralogue.

…Fuck, she’s not good enough with axes to use the tomahawk. Well, I can still give her a good solid hand axe.

Alright, when I get back from my mid-morning errands, I’m going to try and see if I can forge a good hand axe for Goldmary. Or maybe she’ll get the Celica-engraved one I currently have on Rosado, since it’s more defensive, and give the new one to Rosado instead. We’ll see how it turns out.

I took Leif’s engrave off of Liberation and put it on my new second hand axe +4. It’s as strong as her silver sword, and just barely light enough that she suffers no penalties. Alright, that sounds good.

…I just realized that Rosado’s comment when he likes food (that he wants to draw a picture of it first) is the medieval fantasy equivalent of Instagramming your food. I don’t know how to feel about that.

But anyway, Vander made an A rank meal, and all older units get doubled bonuses to strength, magic, speed and defense, plus one res. So that’s Louis, Yunaka, Ivy, Kagetsu and Seadall. Awesome, that’s all three of my major tanks on that list!

Okay then, now for skills. I think I’m gonna give Goldmary Speedtaker and Resolve. She doesn’t quite have enough for both, so I’ll get Speedtaker first and then worry about resolve later.

Goldmary: I envy how cool and intimidating you are in battle, Lyn. I’m much too charming for all that.

Jesus Christ these levels of passive-aggressive backhandery are off the fucking charts.

Lyn is completely unphased and positive though:

Lyn: No shortage of confidence in you, is there? It’s well earned, though. You work hard at it.

…Shit, right, Speedtaker is 2,000, not 1,000.

Then let’s give her Resolve and Speed+3. She can afford that. Plus, I wanna see how she interacts with Ike. I really, really, really wanna see how this unhinged, toxic narcissist interacts with Ike.

Goldmary: Hello, Ike. I’m sorry if you find my charisma totally overwhelming.

Ike: Please tell me this isn’t how everyone in your kingdom talks.

MY FUCKING SIDES.

Okay, I need to see more of this conversation.

But not now. Not until I know for sure there isn’t some crazy bullshit with Marth and Celica I’ll want to spend bond fragments on.

…Right, now to boost her bond with Lyn some more to get Speed+3…

…Which made me realize that unlike Warriors, Engage faithfully recreated Lyn’s “is she even wearing underwear” look. Now, I get why Warriors did that, since with the camera going all over the place and playable characters jumping around, that was just asking for trouble. But it’s nice to see the original look faithfully recreated here.

…Also, curious thing about the interface: when the game tells you an Emblem is boosting your avoid, it’s not just counting speed boosts, but also build boosts resulting in a lack of weapon weight. Interesting. Especially since that doesn’t happen for speed. It doesn’t say the Emblem is boosting Goldmary’s speed at all.

Okay, now let’s do the handful of supports I unlocked.

Pepsiman and Seadall’s B.

Seadall: I beg you to tell me… will this food offer the perfect fuel for my dance?

Either he’s consulting the tarot cards for a food’s nutrition facts, or he needs food to get in the dancing mood. Honestly, the former would be hilarious.

…But it seems to be the latter.

Oh god, when Pepsiman talks to Seadall about how he’s not acting like his usual self with his food cravings, Pepsiman looks genuinely fearful for Seadall’s sanity, like he’s staging an intervention. I can’t stop giggling.

…The inflection of Pepsiman’s line here, though… is questionable.

Seadall: Are you telling me that eating this will provide me the perfect fuel for my dance? It’s dough fried in butter and then bathed in an oil sauce… and it’s incredibly delicious.

Pepsiman’s response:

Pepsiman: Oh, I had one of those. It was delicious, alright. I’d think it’d be extra fuel for your dance.

Now, given that Seadall has already introduced the concept of “fuel for a dance” into the conversation, you’d think that Pepsiman’s voice actor would read this line with emphasis on the “extra”, as in “oh, definitely!”. But no, he reads “I think it’d be extra fuel for your dance” as if he is the one introducing that concept into the conversation for the first time. Very awkward read. But in fairness, it’s an awkward line.

“I mean, I think I do know”.

And here’s the opposite problem. The context does suggest that he’s only guessing, hence emphasis on the “think”, which the voice actor does. But the fact that “do” is even in the line all but demands that the emphasis be on that “do”, which wouldn’t fit the context of the line at all.

But anyway, Seadall takes his food inspiration seriously, and it’s simultaneously comical over-seriousness and also sensible. His dancing is an actual, vital skill on the front lines, and he’s worried if his dancing isn’t perfect because he didn’t eat the right food to inspire it, someone will die due to his inadequacy.

Kagetsu and Seadall’s B.

So Kagetsu seems annoyed by the uselessness of his predictions to Seadall. He predicts his next performance will be packed, but they always are. He predicts rain, but the clouds are already visible.

Kagetsu: You see? Useful as cooling fans in winter.

…Oh shit, Seadall’s teacher, the one who taught him to dance, was murdered by thieves. And he has survivor’s guilt over the fact that his fortune-telling didn’t predict it to save him.

…And he proceeds to predict something horrible happening to Kagetsu, through a death card in the upright position.

I have to say, that’s a nice way to end a B support on a cliffhanger that doesn’t in any way call into question how they’d still fight better together.

Rosado and Seadall’s B.

…And Seadall.. is watching Rosado sleep. He’s apparently been spying on Rosado for ages and still can’t figure out his “secret”.

…I am going to laugh out loud if this entire support “conversation” happens without Rosado even knowing it took place.

Apparently not only does Rosado not use moisturizer… he doesn’t even use shampoo.

He also apparently washes his face and hair by dunking them in the lake, fully clothed.

HOLY SHIT!

THIS ENTIRE SUPPORT HAPPENED WITHOUT ROSADO’S KNOWLEDGE!

ROSADO NOW FIGHTS BETTER AROUND SEADALL AND HAS NO EARTHLY CLUE WHY!

Saphir and Diamant’s C.

…This conversation apparently takes place back at Brodia Castle.

Saphir apparently considers herself emotionally unworthy to fight Diamant because she can’t get past the hatred in hear heart brought about by the war with Elusia. I’m assuming she means towards Elusia, but she doesn’t explicitly say.

Alright, let’s take another look at this map.

So, if Micaiah doesn’t have any staff-related tricks up her… opera gloves… then it seems like I can just rush the bulk of these fuckers with Kagetsu and Yunaka and make quick work of this map. I’m guessing there’ll be some post-deploy complication I’ll be told about, because otherwise this just looks so painfully easy to cheese.

Alright, let’s try this.

…Yet again I’m not a fan of the interpretation of Radiant Dawn’s music, though I do like how it starts with that recurring leitmotif heard all over the soundtrack.

Yep, Canter does indeed work on dancing. Good to confirm!

Alright, so, Yunaka and Kagetsu can indeed handle the initial side cavalry just fine, and the enemies rushing up front will be easy to manage.

…Okay, yeah, there are reinforcements. A good deal on them right before the beginning of turn 3.

But after dancing around some backup units, Yunaka is now in a position to start baiting in Micaiah on turn 4, who stands absolutely no chance against the Hiya Papaya Messiah, and even without engaging, none of the reinforcements can hurt Kagetsu. Not even the backups, because they literally can’t survive a round of combat with Kagetsu in order to line up for chain attacks.

Yunaka: I’ve never been great at fighting magic users, so… maybe go easy on me?

Is that a reference to how mages are supposedly the hard counter to thieves? Well lucky her, her evasion is off the charts even without the fog.

But anyway Micaiah responds saying no, of course she can’t, and talks about how it’s her job to “guide [her] to somewhere new”…

Yeah, again, I’m sorry, the way these people talk about this makes the fact that death is for real in these kind of obscenely creepy.

Oh hey, some wolf knights finally arrive! I was expecting more of those, y’know, because this map was crawling with laguz last time. But I guess this is a role reversal where now Daein is the one sieging the place.

Right, time to have Kagetsu lure the Sothe stand-in over to my main army so we can fuck him up and take his lunch money.

Success! Kagetsu even dodged the poison and critted Sothe’s first HP bar away!

Yunaka has Micaiah dead to rights with her last HP bar right on time, so I’ll just blitz Sothe for the money, forget the others, and kill Micaiah to end the fight.

Alcryst got a really weird level up. HP, Mag, Res and Build. Well, build is always nice!

…So, a small nitpick I have about the game, now that I’ve beaten Micaiah:

The transition from boss music to victory music always feels jarring. Frankly, how I would have done it would be to give every boss theme both the intro they already have… and an outro. A triumphant finale to the song. A way to transition from the intense boss music into the victory screen, which generally feels rather abrupt and incongruous as the game stands.

Micaiah: Well done. You passed the trial safely.

She says. And would still say if someone died.

…Oh right, Micaiah can predict the future. They bring it up just now for the first time in this game as if it’s something well-established by previous conversations, so it was a bit jarring.

Now then, let’s see what Clanne can do now, do some cleanup, and finish for the day.

God damn it, the line read for Micaiah’s “You did it!” when you talk to her on the post-battle map makes her sound like a kindergarten teacher. Given that this is a character who canonically marries a man she met as a prepubescent boy, that’s more than a little creepy.

Okay, so Rosado and Eirika got to rank B during this, so can’t forget to check on that bond convo.

So now Rosado gets the wind sword, a magic weapon. And his magic isn’t atrocious, so maybe he’ll actually have some use for that against fliers.

I got Clanne to level 15 with Micaiah, and honestly, that staff mastery skill is pretty damned tempting for him. It could make him a menace with status staves.

…When Clanne uses obstruct… does he make five obstacles?

…Something to test, something to test.

…I have to wonder what the point is of having staves with ranks below C though. There’s no weapon rank growth, and I haven’t seen a single class with a weapon rank below C, so what’s the point in making a distinction? For the purposes of Lindon’s skill for weapons, it still kinda makes sense… but what purpose does it serve for staves?

Goldmary just unlocked a support with Lapis in the arena. I wonder how that’ll go?

…And with Saphir. Oh I’m really curious how that one will turn out.

Apparently Goldmary’s “bad level up line” is apologizing if the speed of her growth intimidates me. Gaslighting, much?

Now then, supports.

Wow, got a lot of them.

Pepsiman and Kagetsu’s B.

…Kagetsu’s asking Pepsiman about his hair.

And Pepsiman fairly considers that he doesn’t actually know if his hair is common among dragons.

…Kagetsu says that in his homeland, “it is the Dragons of the East who are worshipped, not the Divine or Fell”.

…Okay, the east. So that pretty solidly takes out Firene unless, like, he means the east of Firene or something. Solm is looking more likely, but could he perhaps mean east of Elyos entirely?

Pepsiman talks about the “Dragons of the East” as if he knows what they are. And then asks about Kagetsu’s homeland. Oh boy. Here it comes!

Kagetsu: It is part of the Queendom of Solm, but remote.

Well, guess that answers that question! Mystery finally solved!

So Kagetsu’s actually royal, and ventured away from home because he hated how insular his culture was and wanted to explore the world. Iiiiiinteresting…

Pepsiman and Rosado’s B.

…Rosado refers to positive attention from others as “likes”.

…That’s the second time today Rosado has acted like a modern-day social media influencer.

I’m… a bit alarmed.

Pepsiman and Goldmary’s C.

Oh, this should be good.

She apparently threw a picnic for Pepsiman, as she’s asking at the campsite if the meal was to his satisfaction.

…She asks him to look her in the eyes like a goddamned succubus with hypno powers, and she’s clearly hitting on him.

Goldmary: You have such an intense gaze… Tell me what you’re feeling in this moment.

Pepsiman: Hmm… nothing much, really…

PFFFFFF

…Okay now she’s whispering in his ear and this genuinely is starting to feel like sexual harassment.

Pepsiman is completely, adorably oblivious, however, and just asks for the recipe for the meal.

Honestly, I kind of want Charlotte to be a DLC Emblem, as utterly implausible as that is, just to see her interactions with Goldmary and Pepsiman.

Alcryst and Seadall’s A.

Yeah, figures this would be among the first A supports I’d get. Dancers and archers interact a lot.

Yeah, this is about what I’d expect. Alcryst getting disillusioned about Seadall’s lifestyle and feeling guilty about assuming it was so carefree.

It’s funny how Alcryst is really over-the-top and unnecessary in his apologies when he hasn’t really done anything wrong… but his apologies for when he does start resembling being in the wrong, like this, are far more normal and sober.

Goldmary and Saphir’s B.

…Goldmary has egg on her face because she completely fucked up in catching the fish for the contest. Lucky for her, Saphir caught great fish for both of them, and Goldmary’s narcissistic train of thot can’t process the concept of this act of decency. …At least for a moment, before she returns the gesture by sharing some rare herbs she planned to keep to herself.

It’s nice enough.

Goldmary and Lapis’s C.

…Ooh, apparently Goldmary’s parents run a hot spring inn!

…The inn… is having trouble with bears…

…I uh…

…I seem to remember hot springs and bears being a thing that came up in Awakening, but I can’t pinpoint exactly where. If so, is this a reference to that, or are bears just a common problem with hot springs in Japan?

PFFFFFFFFF

Lapis is apparently a comically ballsy tomboy who regularly shouts at bears to scare them away. Her delivery of these lines is pretty great.

…I wonder how this is going to end. Something tells me that something will go wrong with the advice to just shout at them to leave.

But I’ll have to find out later, and probably put in some effort to see it happen outside the arena.

Regardless, that’s it for now.

Today’s map was honestly pretty disappointing. It should’ve been a genuine “survive” map where I had to hunker down and outlast them against terrifying forces, but no real care was put into making the map even remotely resemble the original in terms of how it played. The map felt like a farcical mockery of the original map, which was one of the most intense moments of Radiant Dawn. The music being covered in a style that didn’t remotely fit the original tone certainly didn’t help.

Actually, I think so far I’d consider the Emblem paralogues the weakest part of the game. Ironically I think the best one was Byleth’s so far.

…Maybe I’ll do another mainline map next time. Probably not, I’ve still got so many paralogues.

Alastor, signing off.

[Acacia Sgt]

28 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

And now I’m enduring a battle between Seadall doing 0 damage quadrice while Sigurd does 13 at a 52% hit rate. It took aaaaages.

Fortunately, arena battles do have a time limit in case it's starting to drag out or it's an impossible match to end.

28 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Was it… not snowing at all… in the entirety of the icy wastes of the entire country you had to walk through to get to this?

I don't think it implies it's the first time Alear is seeing snowfall while in Elusia.

28 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

But alas, the aesthetics of this map recreation have been completely butchered. The ledges have been replaced with regular walls, and while there does seem to be some elevation change with the stairs, you really have to squint to notice that it isn’t a flat plane. It’s honestly disappointing. When Fates recreated a map from this game, it at least did its best to replicate the effects of the ledge system it didn’t have, by making the visuals of the map the same and giving the tops of the ledges terrain bonuses at least.

It definitely got the shortest stick among the Paralogues. It also walled off the other entry points where enemy reinforcements would pour into.

No stand-in for 3-13 Archer is the biggest tragedy, however.

28 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Also, it seems like Micaiah gets a multi-HP-bar thief with her to represent Sothe. I was hoping maybe the rest of the Dawn Brigade would be mirrored in the allies around her, but nope, not quite. There’s a sniper and a swordmaster amongst the three other allies closest to her, granted… but the third is a hero. With a sword. With an unused weapon rank in lances. No dice for Nolan.

I remember reading there might indeed be stand-ins, but they come in a late enemy wave... but I can't confirm personally since I finished the Paralogue too quickly to see.

28 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

SHOTS FIRED! WOMAN DOWN!

Lief: *somehow sensing glares from every Nanna Bond Ring you may have* Sorry, I'm taken.

28 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…I just realized that Rosado’s comment when he likes food (that he wants to draw a picture of it first) is the medieval fantasy equivalent of Instagramming your food. I don’t know how to feel about that.

It's actually historical, from what I gather. Maybe not about drawing your food and share it... or maybe it has, but our behavioral habits haven't really changed all that much across the centuries. Just the means we use to express it. Memes predate the Internet, for instance.

Heck, even cat pictures are!

This is a 19th century photo... complete with a caption!

28 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…I have to wonder what the point is of having staves with ranks below C though. There’s no weapon rank growth, and I haven’t seen a single class with a weapon rank below C, so what’s the point in making a distinction? For the purposes of Lindon’s skill for weapons, it still kinda makes sense… but what purpose does it serve for staves?

You made me check. Indeed, no class has below C rank in Staves.

28 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Well, guess that answers that question! Mystery finally solved!

With a name like Pale Sands, heh...

28 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…I seem to remember hot springs and bears being a thing that came up in Awakening, but I can’t pinpoint exactly where. If so, is this a reference to that, or are bears just a common problem with hot springs in Japan?

Some kind of primate is, from what I recall. Not bears, though.

Stuff like bear meat was common in Awakening, and hot springs were the setting of one of the DLC maps.

Edited February 21, 2023 by Acacia Sgt

[Alastor15243]

14 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

I don't think it implies it's the first time Alear is seeing snowfall while in Elusia.

Yes but it does imply he walked all the way through Elusia to the very back of it and it only started snowing when they arrived.

 

16 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

No stand-in for 3-13 Archer is the biggest tragedy, however.

For shame.

[Jotari]

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Engage Day 29: Micaiah’s Paralogue

 

Now that I know it’s not just attacking that activates Canter, but also staves and the like, I’m gonna slap it on Seadall in the hopes that it works for dancing too. Why not? It’s not like he has much of anything else to spend SP on.

Another good skill for him is Corrin's quality time for restoring a bit of HP every now and then. Of course Dual Assist is also not wasted on him, but I give him Lucina anyway for that.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

And now I’m enduring a battle between Seadall doing 0 damage quadrice while Sigurd does 13 at a 52% hit rate. It took aaaaages.

You can skip Arena Battles.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

But alas, the aesthetics of this map recreation have been completely butchered. The ledges have been replaced with regular walls, and while there does seem to be some elevation change with the stairs, you really have to squint to notice that it isn’t a flat plane. It’s honestly disappointing. When Fates recreated a map from this game, it at least did its best to replicate the effects of the ledge system it didn’t have, by making the visuals of the map the same and giving the tops of the ledges terrain bonuses at least.

Why have ledges been such a one and done mechanic? It's not like they actually worked badly in Radiant Dawn.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Also, it seems like Micaiah gets a multi-HP-bar thief with her to represent Sothe. I was hoping maybe the rest of the Dawn Brigade would be mirrored in the allies around her, but nope, not quite. There’s a sniper and a swordmaster amongst the three other allies closest to her, granted… but the third is a hero. With a sword. With an unused weapon rank in lances. No dice for Nolan.

They actually do show up later (like the Greil Mercenaries in the original map), but I have a feeling you'll probably kill Micaiah before they do. I personally really struggled with this map, because you really can't play it like an actual defensive map.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Like the original, this is covered in ballistae, but they all demand bow users to use, and we no longer have a massive retinue of yellow archers to man them. None of them are magic-using ones, and there’s only one anyone-can-use-them flame cannon at the center of the map. So basically it’s damned near physically impossible to have a party equipped to make much use of these things on the map. And since ballistae in this game aren’t direction-dependent, they’re really more of a liability than an asset, because if we lose any ground whatsoever in the fort, enemy bow users will be able to use them to attack us.

And to give you some idea of Maddening stats, by Fogado was dealing 0 damage on most of the enemies using those Ballista.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Now, given that Seadall has already introduced the concept of “fuel for a dance” into the conversation, you’d think that Pepsiman’s voice actor would read this line with emphasis on the “extra”, as in “oh, definitely!”. But no, he reads “I think it’d be extra fuel for your dance” as if he is the one introducing that concept into the conversation for the first time. Very awkward read. But in fairness, it’s an awkward line.

It's entirely possible the two voice actors never actually spoke to each other and the lines were done separately.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Oh right, Micaiah can predict the future. They bring it up just now for the first time in this game as if it’s something well-established by previous conversations, so it was a bit jarring.

Seadall probably has some bond conversations with her about that...hmm, Micaiah on Seadall. Feels nice and right to have a dancer that can use staves, but probably wouldn't be great in practices as dancing is so useful and you can't do both at once. You'd also have a bit of trouble recharging the engage meter with Seadall and Micaiah is one of the units who gets the best boosts from actually being engaged.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

God damn it, the line read for Micaiah’s “You did it!” when you talk to her on the post-battle map makes her sound like a kindergarten teacher. Given that this is a character who canonically marries a man she met as a prepubescent boy, that’s more than a little creepy.

Pedophile grooming Micaiah? How has that not become a meme before now? Because it's kind of hilarious and true. Keep her away from Jean!

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

So now Rosado gets the wind sword, a magic weapon. And his magic isn’t atrocious, so maybe he’ll actually have some use for that against fliers.

I don't really get the Wind Sword. Like, yes, it's nice to get a magic weapon so mages can make use of more Emblems, but Eirika's main ability only works for physical attacks (it's also kind of a post game weapon you get from Ismarie, though having a quick look at the wiki I can see you actually can get them as a skirmish drop. Still, a lot of the other weapons feel like sensible references to something in their game while the Wind Sword feels a bit unrelated to Eirika)).

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Okay, the east. So that pretty solidly takes out Firene unless, like, he means the east of Firene or something. Solm is looking more likely, but could he perhaps mean east of Elyos entirely?

East of Elyos entirely is the impression I'm getting. Sounds like he's referring to those Chinese style dragons.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Pepsiman is completely, adorably oblivious, however, and just asks for the recipe for the meal.

Is there anyone in the game who actually does fall for Goldmary's charms? All I've seen are supports of her being shot down by oblivious men, and women who are low key jealous of her (apparent) attention.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Honestly, I kind of want Charlotte to be a DLC Emblem, as utterly implausible as that is, just to see her interactions with Goldmary and Pepsiman.

They'll surely pair the two characters together for Forging Bonds when Goldmary gets into Heroes.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

…I seem to remember hot springs and bears being a thing that came up in Awakening, but I can’t pinpoint exactly where. If so, is this a reference to that, or are bears just a common problem with hot springs in Japan?

Well, they must be, right? Japan does have bears, and if you're hanging around a natural outdoor hot spring bears will inevitably show up at some point and cause a stir. But now adays indoor artificial hotsprings are much more popular.

[Acacia Sgt]

10 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Why have ledges been such a one and done mechanic? It's not like they actually worked badly in Radiant Dawn.

It'd be interesting to see them back, I suppose.

10 minutes ago, Jotari said:

They actually do show up later (like the Greil Mercenaries in the original map), but I have a feeling you'll probably kill Micaiah before they do. I personally really struggled with this map, because you really can't play it like an actual defensive map.

Okay, so they actually do? Nice to know at least.

10 minutes ago, Jotari said:

It's entirely possible the two voice actors never actually spoke to each other and the lines were done separately.

Considering the game was partly developed during COVID... yes, I wouldn't be surprised if so.

10 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Seadall probably has some bond conversations with her about that...hmm, Micaiah on Seadall. Feels nice and right to have a dancer that can use staves, but probably wouldn't be great in practices as dancing is so useful and you can't do both at once. You'd also have a bit of trouble recharging the engage meter with Seadall and Micaiah is one of the units who gets the best boosts from actually being engaged.

Could still have its uses. Then again, I might be biased since for an RP my character was a Healer/Refresher unit.

10 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Pedophile grooming Micaiah? How has that not become a meme before now? Because it's kind of hilarious and true. Keep her away from Jean!

Not much of a tasteful meme? Perhaps it's for the best...

10 minutes ago, Jotari said:

East of Elyos entirely is the impression I'm getting. Sounds like he's referring to those Chinese style dragons.

Makes me wonder. Are they originally from whatever continent lies to the east of Elyos and moved to Solm, or it's a Furia Harbor situation where they are isolated from the rest of the continent... but do have semi-regular contact with the neighboring continent instead.

Edited February 22, 2023 by Acacia Sgt

[Eltosian Kadath]

I had a fair bit of catchup to do after the long weekend.

 

On 2/18/2023 at 2:39 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

…Mauvier has… a single-use rescue staff.

…That is concerning. Mostly because it means he’s probably going to use it.

When he then warps the small army he brought in with that thing is the scarier maneuver.

 

On 2/18/2023 at 2:39 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

…She apparently… came on ahead of us after hearing from Diamant that they were headed to Elusia. Wha…? Whaii… Whe….

…How long has she been here?

How did she get here?

How long has she been in this town overrun with Corrupted?

…EUUUUUUUUGHHHH… I… God damn this just feels like an excuse to throw a new ally in this chapter to keep the replacements coming.

Yeah they barely tried to explain why you get the old woman recruit. A bit disrespectful, but at least there is arguably a second old woman character in Fire Emblem.

 

On 2/18/2023 at 2:39 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

JESUS FUCK HE HAS WARP TOO AND I DIDN’T NOTICE!

IVY VERY NEARLY DIED BECAUSE I WASN’T PAYING ATTENTION TO HIS MASS WARPING!

If he warped more than two allies, or if I forgot to unequip Thoron from her…

I am kinda glad they point out how dangerous his movement staff are by giving a tiny taste of them where he warps in only two...

 

On 2/18/2023 at 2:39 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

…Or if I hadn’t thought to give her the speedwing because even with a lighter tome the Corrupted hero LITERALLY JUST BARELY WOULD HAVE DOUBLED HER IF I HADN’T WHAT THE FUCK

Okay!

EYES!

THE FUCK!

OPEN!

Whew, that was a close call...at least the game is still handing out fresh recruits.

 

On 2/18/2023 at 2:39 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

…There are Corrupted in the houses.

…Who come out and attack you.

As a tripwire reinforcement.

Half of me feels this was a fairly predictable outcome, but for the most part the game has been better than this, so I’m disappointed.

On the one hand it is a cruel trap on the other, you were warned that nobody was left alive, what else were you expecting to find.

 

On 2/18/2023 at 2:39 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

Probably Byleth’s. It would fit the pattern.

Naw, Byleth's isn't dangerous at all thanks to the enemy's obsession with attacking the crystals.

 

On 2/18/2023 at 2:39 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

…And now Mauvier’s mobile. Well, time to start taking him out then, because fuck the entire concept of him starting to use his staves against me when he gets closer. Gotta hope I keep him occupied attacking Yunaka, prioritizing that over staff use like the enemy AI so often does. Cuz if not, we might be fucked.

Yep, thank goodness.

That was a clever maneuver baiting him in to keep him from doing more damage with his staves.

 

On 2/18/2023 at 2:39 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

…It occurs to me that Marni could completely fuck Yunaka up depending on how Blazing Lion works. If it clears fog just like fire clears miasma…

…Best stay away from her while staying close to Mauvier.

As long as you can deal with her hanger-ons, Yunaka can engage and immobilize her at range for a few turns, as she only has 1 range attacks.

 

On 2/18/2023 at 2:39 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

Mauvier also just lost a health bar and is therefore more powerful, and the fact that he now has silence ward is worrying, as it makes me think his AI might get even more dangerous regarding magic.

Fun fact, if you silence him before breaking that health bar, the immunity to silence will not heal him of his silence.

 

On 2/18/2023 at 2:39 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

…Shit, wait, that’s right! I have another card to play! Corrin turns Yunaka into a super-thief in more ways than one! Time to immobilize and debuff her while I stall and kill this damned wyrm!

The Corrin Emblem is just too good with, Torrential Roar letting you spread the immobility and debuff onto a bit over a 3x3 square is just icing on the cake, although on thieves it just hits another level with the summonable +60 avoid, and the skill to prevent chain attacks to make it even more disgusting.

 

On 2/18/2023 at 2:39 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

I wound up grabbing the village anyway, because the first one had an elixir, and this one was deeper in and probably had something better. I was right, one of the spawns has a dracoshield. Now to finish up this map before things get too complicated.

…Yep, I can finish this now, thanks to Ivy and Seadall’s convenient retreat. Let’s grab that dracoshield and end this.

Glad you didn't ignore the other village after how the first one bit you with its ambush, as that Dracoshield is a nice reward.

 

On 2/18/2023 at 2:39 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

…I was just reminded of Anna’s “Make a Killing” skill. I think it might actually be wise of me to attempt to make her good next time I play the game. Goodness knows money’s been tight.

Yeah, the rare massive lump sums, with some pocket money added to the optional maps makes for an odd feeling economy to this game.

 

On 2/18/2023 at 4:10 PM, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Roy is just hard to place in general. He doesn't provide that much unique while not Engaged, and while he offers strong skills to inherit, they're all so damned expensive. I tend to just slap him onto "physical attacker who doesn't have a Ring already".

I like it a bit as the "catch-up" emblem, put it on whoever I want to use that is a bit behind the level curve, as holdout makes it harder for them to get slaughtered, and the +5 levels on engage lets them pretend they are on par while engaged.

 

On 2/18/2023 at 4:10 PM, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

This was a huge "oh fuck" moment for me, until I realized that Marni still didn't have the movement to reach my forces. Thankfully Mauvier never Warped Marni, that could've been a real nightmare. 

Good job on that baiting Mauvier strat.

 

On 2/19/2023 at 10:06 AM, Alastor15243 said:

 

3: Just generally using a map from Binding Blade instead of Blazing Blade feels so weird to me. This is supposed to be FE7’s time for representation, not a second go of 6.

I really hate this, not only did FE7 get shafted, but they continued the retcon of the Mulagir being one of Lyn's personal weapons by giving her the Mulagir Gaiden chapter as her trial map. At least they remembered about the signature weapon she most uses, the Mani Kati, in this game, unlike FEH...

 

On 2/19/2023 at 10:06 AM, Alastor15243 said:

 

I barely even feel like discussing strategy. I really should have done this sooner, and I’m probably better served spending my time today breezing through this rather than taking the time to write and edit anything about what I’m doing. If anything interesting happens, I promise I’ll let you know. And honestly this is making me think that I should do the rest of the paralogues now rather than later, so they don’t all eventually get this boring by the time I have the nerve to do them. Losing Merrin sucked, but it was probably more interesting to read about than this.

You really waited way too long for this one.

 

On 2/19/2023 at 10:06 AM, Alastor15243 said:

 

OH MY FUCKING GOD, GOLDMARY’S FIGHTING CLANNE IN THE ARENA AND I JUST NOTICED THAT CLANNE’S HORSE IS WEARING A FUCKING WIZARD HAT THAT IS ADORABLE!

The best part of the mage knight class, as the hat on a horse is too cute to be contained.

 

On 2/19/2023 at 10:06 AM, Alastor15243 said:

 

…And they just… outright spoil the big tragic ending of the first half of Genealogy. Woooooooooow. I guess they figured Heroes already spoiled enough? I’d figure they’d try to be a little more vague about it in the hopes of planning ahead to the next remake.

Well in fairness, all they say is what happened to Deirdre, but Sigurd says he’ll say more about the plot of his game after the trial.

They kinda spoiled that around Lumera's death with Sigurd saying he left a child behind in death...A bitter memory.

 

On 2/19/2023 at 10:06 AM, Alastor15243 said:

 

…But they didn’t attack Hortensia despite having a clean shot at her? Either one of them could have one-rounded her!

…Lucky me. Wow, I thought for sure I was going to lose her. Right, time to finish this before he can pull any more tricks like that.

Yeah, the enemies on the Byleth paralogue will ignore kills to strike at the crystals, making it a rather easy chapter overall.

 

On 2/20/2023 at 10:40 AM, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

I love me some Clanne, but this line makes me uncomfortable every time. "Lingering" is just an inherently unappetizing word.

Aftertastes are often nasty...

 

On 2/20/2023 at 12:19 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

“Binding Grounds”…

…Is this what they renamed the Shrine of Seals to after they decided Sword of Seals wasn’t a good name?

It was still called Shrine of Seals in FE7, and I doubt they would retcon it now.

 

On 2/20/2023 at 12:19 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

Goddammit, and they say “advance with caution”. They’re proximity-based again probably. Hopefully not full-out same-turn tripwire, but the game has done that on at least one occasion, so my faith is a bit shaken.

More like 2-3 occasions at this point...

 

On 2/20/2023 at 12:19 PM, Alastor15243 said:

 

Incidentally, so, I finally worked out through experimentation (and actually using it) what the hell the deal with Call Doubles is. Basically, they stay put there until your engage ends… but they chain attack with you for all of the rest of your attacks in that engage, wherever they happen to be. That’s pretty badass, and really turns Alcryst into a DPS menace.

Thay also acts a bit like FE8 summons, as enemies will go for the kill on them in kinda stupid situations. Baiting a boss into wasting one of their special attacks on one of the Doubles is always funny to see for instance.

 

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

Now that I know it’s not just attacking that activates Canter, but also staves and the like, I’m gonna slap it on Seadall in the hopes that it works for dancing too. Why not? It’s not like he has much of anything else to spend SP on.

Canter works on most actions really, although one notable exceptions is that you can't Canter after using reposition.

 

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

Amazingly enough, Micaiah doesn’t have any staves with her. None. No rescue, no warp, no physic, not even a damned heal staff. Honestly, of all the places to encounter warp staff bullshit, I was expecting this battle to be the biggest offender.

Honestly, this chapter is a bit of a disappointment, I kinda wish they spiced it up by giving her a nasty staff or two.

 

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

Leif is oblivious as shit and I love it. That seems to be another thing this game is good at, it’s like with Alfred: endearingly oblivious characters shrugging off hostile subtext and getting to the heart of things. Honestly I kinda wish I managed to make Alfred good before benching him, he would have been fun to keep seeing supports with.

I feel like Alfred is almost as benched as Boucheron for most people, so good luck with that run.

 

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

So now Goldmary has a build of 13, and the Master Lance. If I reclass her to a sword-and-axe-using hero instead of a sword-and-lance-using hero, I can give her a tomahawk (she won’t be nearly as weighed down as she should be) and she’ll be able to have 1-2 range with all three weapons of the triangle once she gets Leif’s Light Brand after we do Leif’s paralogue.

I am glad you are putting the effort in to make Leif shine as much as he can, despite people finding him to be one of the weakest Emblems.

 

[Alastor15243]

1 minute ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

On the one hand it is a cruel trap on the other, you were warned that nobody was left alive, what else were you expecting to find.

Personally? A sad moment where you just find a valuable in a dead and empty house.

3 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

The Corrin Emblem is just too good with, Torrential Roar letting you spread the immobility and debuff onto a bit over a 3x3 square is just icing on the cake, although on thieves it just hits another level with the summonable +60 avoid, and the skill to prevent chain attacks to make it even more disgusting.

...What.

 

...Okay I know whose paralogue I'm doing next.

6 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

I really hate this, not only did FE7 get shafted, but they continued the retcon of the Mulagir being one of Lyn's personal weapons by giving her the Mulagir Gaiden chapter as her trial map. At least they remembered about the signature weapon she most uses, the Mani Kati, in this game, unlike FEH...

Personally I like Lyn with the Mulagir. It's a cool and fun weapon, and the Sol Katti just isn't nearly as fun. But maybe they should've tried harder to redeem it than abandon it entirely once they made the decision? I'm not too bothered. And since Lyn is "the archer Emblem" I appreciate that her ultimate weapon is a bow.

8 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

The best part of the mage knight class, as the hat on a horse is too cute to be contained.

It's so stupid and yet so precious at the same time, I adore it.

10 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

I am glad you are putting the effort in to make Leif shine as much as he can, despite people finding him to be one of the weakest Emblems.

Yeah I'm gonna give it the ol' college try. It's gonna be interesting once Leif unlocks the Light Brand, but I'll have to do some controlled tests to make sure the AI makes the right decisions about auto-equipping.

[Acacia Sgt]

I still stand they should've just given her Mulagir from the start.

It would've also been the opportunity to see Mulagir's actual resting place, because its Binding Blade Paralogue is not it. We intercept the Djute remnants as they're moving it elsewhere.

[Jotari]

21 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Yeah they barely tried to explain why you get the old woman recruit. A bit disrespectful, but at least there is arguably a second old woman character in Fire Emblem.

Old! She's only 35 XD

9 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Yeah I'm gonna give it the ol' college try. It's gonna be interesting once Leif unlocks the Light Brand, but I'll have to do some controlled tests to make sure the AI makes the right decisions about auto-equipping.

Just so you're fully aware for your planning, the Light Brand deals magic damage (which I guess should be obvious as it did so in Leif's own games and even the GBA games despite no hybridization, but it feels like something that could slip one's mind).

1 minute ago, Acacia Sgt said:

I still stand they should've just given her Mulagir from the start.

It would've also been the opportunity to see Mulagir's actual resting place, because its Binding Blade Paralogue is not it. We intercept the Djute remnants as they're moving it elsewhere.

I very much agree, and made that thread about it years ago (coincidentally right before IS started giving her Mulagir in Heroes). Eliwood also should have been a lance lord on account of his weapon ranks in Binding Blade.

[Alastor15243]

2 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

It would've also been the opportunity to see Mulagir's actual resting place, because its Binding Blade Paralogue is not it. We intercept the Djute remnants as they're moving it elsewhere.

Shit, I totally forgot that! That would've been cool to see.

[Acacia Sgt]

2 minutes ago, Jotari said:

I very much agree, and made that thread about it years ago (coincidentally right before IS started giving her Mulagir in Heroes). Eliwood also should have been a lance lord on account of his weapon ranks in Binding Blade.

Well, if the idea was to give him Durandal, it was inevitable he'd have swords as his main. Hector at least had the same rank in lances and axes, so him having axes at base in Blazing Blade was less odd.

At the very least, you can say he switched to preffering lances in the interim period between both games. Thanks to Ninis' Ice Lance.

[Eltosian Kadath]

4 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Old! She's only 35 XD

Anime video-games do not understand how age work.