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

[Shadow Mir]

On 4/10/2020 at 11:10 AM, Alastor15243 said:

Second off, I notice that Lyn calls Hanon, canonically female according to FE6, a “horseman”. Granted, maybe you could argue that she was using that as a gender-neutral term, but...

In fairness, I highly doubt the translators knew that, given Binding Blade not being localized and all.

On 3/22/2020 at 7:59 PM, Alastor15243 said:

While I'm not saying that Binding Blade is well-balanced, I do maintain that it accomplishes balancing feats that are almost unheard of in the series that make it edge out in the pile of balancing garbage and mediocrity that the early series has been so far in this marathon. For one thing, FE6 makes swordlocked foot units that are actually good, and it does it by making their points of strength (accuracy, speed and critting power) actually relevant and necessary to defeat a lot of foes, rather than this being yet another game where anyone can kill anyone with anything and thus it turns into a question of who can do it with the highest move and range coverage. For this reason, I have to disagree with the idea that FE6 is one of the most mount-dominated games. There are tons of functions in the army that basically no mounted unit can accomplish nearly as well as some of the footsoldier options. No mounted unit can kill bosses like Rutger can, and no mounted unit is nearly as good at using staves as basically any mage with a good staff rank, given that the magic stat of every playable troubadour is absolutely terrible. Plus, this game even gives you access to buyable boots, giving foot units even more of a chance to stay relevant.

Bold: For all of 5 or so chapters. Given the side chapters are mandatory for the true ending, that comes out to... not even 1/6 of the game (I counted, and the main game has 37 chapters, though due to route splits, you only ever visit 31).

The rest: The fact that there are some things mounted units can't do that well does jack shit to change the fact that Binding Blade is rather mount-dominated; after all, what's the best way to beat a game with big maps? You guessed it; use a lot of mounted units. Hell, you could say that there were some things that foot units could do better than mounted units in Genealogy, but that didn't make it any less mount-dominated. And honestly, outside of Rutger, most of the best units in Binding Blade are mounted. About the only foot mage that is going to have any notable proficiency with ranged staves is Niime, who doesn't come along until late in the game. Unless you're willing to grind forever and a day to get Lugh/Lilina/whatever other mage that needs to promote first to a respectable staff rank...

[Alastor15243]

Just now, Shadow Mir said:

Bold: For all of 5 or so chapters. Given the side chapters are mandatory for the true ending, that comes out to... not even 1/6 of the game (I counted, and the main game has 37 chapters, though due to route splits, you only ever visit 31).

The rest: The fact that there are some things mounted units can't do that well does jack shit to change the fact that Binding Blade is rather mount-dominated; after all, what's the best way to beat a game with big maps? You guessed it; use a lot of mounted units. Hell, you could say that there were some things that foot units could do better than mounted units in Genealogy, but that didn't make it any less mount-dominated. And honestly, outside of Rutger, most of the best units in Binding Blade are mounted. About the only foot mage that is going to have any notable proficiency with ranged staves is Niime, who doesn't come along until late in the game. Unless you're willing to grind forever and a day to get Lugh/Lilina/whatever other mage that needs to promote first to a respectable staff rank...

That's... a rather overdue reply.

[Shadow Mir]

4 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

That's... a rather overdue reply.

Admittedly, I didn't notice the post I quoted until now because most of the time I was here I was reading your logs.

Edited April 11, 2020 by Shadow Mir

[Alastor15243]

1 minute ago, Shadow Mir said:

Admittedly, I didn't notice it until now because most of the time I was here I was reading your logs.

I'm flattered.

Anyway, Milady was the only mounted unit I found to be anywhere near as dominating as you make it sound. Even Perceval had issues doubling and killing, and when your mounted units can't one-round, you can't exactly have them rush ahead of the rest of your army that they're gonna need the help of to get anything done, now can you? Also, the maps never really felt particularly long to me. I don't get why people say that.

[Shadow Mir]

4 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

I'm flattered.

Anyway, Milady was the only mounted unit I found to be anywhere near as dominating as you make it sound. Even Perceval had issues doubling and killing, and when your mounted units can't one-round, you can't exactly have them rush ahead of the rest of your army that they're gonna need the help of to get anything done, now can you? Also, the maps never really felt particularly long to me. I don't get why people say that.

Bold: Looking at the likes of this...

...would make me think that's a pretty big map, by GBA standards at least. And this isn't even an end-of-game map, nor is it close. It also exemplifies everything wrong with FE6 in terms of map design. And don't get me started on the gaidens; even frigging Revelation doesn't have gimmicks as awful as some of those.

The rest: Sure, but BESIDES Rutger and Niime, just how many foot units are consistently considered good in Binding Blade??? Because they're about the only foot units that I see people consistently consider good. Even Genealogy, which is THE most mount-friendly game in the franchise, has more foot units that I see get praised on a routine basis.

Anyway, have you given up on Bartre yet?

Edited April 12, 2020 by Shadow Mir

[Jotari]

9 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

It's a pity, because the rest of the game is pretty awesome for it, 

Genesis aside, right?

9 hours ago, Shadow Mir said:

In fairness, I highly doubt the translators knew that, given Binding Blade not being localized and all.

I'm not sure there'd even be a good alternative. Horsewoman is not a term...Hmm but my spell check didn't flag it when I typed it just now, so maybe it is a term, still it's awkward enough that I'd have no problem referring to a female mounted warrior as a horseman.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Jotari

[Shadow Mir]

19 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

...Binding Blade never had a chapters you could gameover without being able to in any way influence the outcome, and the desert map with Pent had that. Battle Before Dawn has that as well. I am in full agreement with Mangs and Mekkkah when they had their ironman discussion, that FE7 is one of the worst games in the series for hard ironmans.

 

18 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

True, very true. That's definitely a massive mark against the game's ironmannability, from what I've seen. It's a pity, because the rest of the game is pretty awesome for it, but depending on how things go at Battle Before Dawn, I may very well see firsthand how much of a dealbreaker that problem can be.

Actually, that could arguably be even worse than Three Houses' compulsive lying. While I consider the first playthrough to be sacred, and I've yet to see a single mechanic that simultaneously makes a blind ironman unfairly unrealistic and isn't a worthless mechanic with no right to exist, the fact remains that a luck-based mission like that violates the first playthrough basically just as much... and yet also proceeds to ruin every subsequent ironman attempt too.

I would frankly say it's still better for ironmans than Binding Blade with its ambush spawns and having a good deal of units that, to be blunt, are pretty lousy. Seriously, Binding Blade is as bad as the likes of Thracia, Radiant Dawn and Three Houses for ironmans at least. Possibly even worse.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Shadow Mir

[Alastor15243]

Blazing Blade Day 23: Chapter 25

“The Bern royal family is a pageant of power, love and hate. Eliwood finds himself embroiled in their troubles.”

The game says. While showing Hector's face. Using text copy-pasted without any alteration whatsoever from Eliwood's version of Unfulfilled Heart.

Okay. So, this game confirms that the Fire Emblem is in the palace vault, and not kept outside of the palace somewhere. I know that information was important to addressing the absurdity of... something I noticed in FE6...

Oh right. That psychotic lock on the throne room door.

...Actually, my questions about where the Fire Emblem is located wound up being deleted from the final post. So I suppose it doesn't really matter at this point. It won't change the fact that that throne room lock is complete and utter nonsense.

Okay, so this boss, Pascal, the titular “Beast”... is an interesting concept. A rather chill-and-refined-looking guy who is apparently a dangerous, bloodlusting psychopath worthy of a feral title like “the Beast”. Unfortunately, having his entire character summed up by Sonia feels... like a tremendous waste.

What I have to wonder is how the hell this guy ever became one of the original, Brendan-Reed-appointed Four Fangs before losing the title. He joined the Black Fang after losing his title in Bern for basically slaughtering his own citizens after inviting them inside the castle. How was that not already a red flag for Brendan Reed?

Okay, “Earn 3 points” is the dumbest mission objective I've ever heard. “Seize all 3 castles” would have been more descriptive. Good thing Hector outlined the actual objective in the pre-battle dialogue.

Anyway, this map seems... I mean it's kinda scary, but my starting position is a lot more ideal than it first looks. The place below my starting position is full of nothing but pirates who are absurdly weighed down by their axes, leaving them sitting ducks for basically all of my army, even the weakest ones. I just need to have Lowen and Marcus fend off the enemies coming at us from the northern areas and the sea, and my weaker units should be able to handle those starting pirates with ease.

...Buuuuuuut I'm gonna be doing something I wish I didn't have to do. I'm gonna use that earth seal to promote Canas at level 16 instead of level 20. I simply have to split up my army here, and I can't function without each side of this having a healer. I don't want a repeat of last time's shitshow where the tent defenders had to go without healing for several turns while Priscilla was occupied trying in vain to keep Wallace alive.

His attack speed increased by a whopping 4 between the 3 speed and 1 con boost, which is encouraging, given that he now has the same speed as Marcus, which is still... passable, at 13. He's still a bit slower than he should be, though.

...Speaking of slow...

…I'm gonna use this opportunity with these pirates as one, last-ditch effort to train Bartre. He has 3 levels to go before promotion, and then 5 more before he can recruit Karla. I'm gonna try. I can afford the deployment slots, if just barely, and if only because this game hasn't let me train up more than like 8 mainstays and there's a looooot of filler here.

Another thing I wanna do is train up Lyn, since it's almost Heaven Seal time, and while a fragile speedster is... really not that useful right now... I mean at least it'll mean one less person who can be one-rounded by the endgame morphs.

And it's immediately at the end of the first turn that I remember that pirates can attack villages, and I need to get over to that village on the other end of the mountain lightning fast. Especially since a pirate that isn't stuck on water is coming 'round the bend at the southeast. Unfortunately, only Hawkeye and Heath can get over there, so I have to be really careful. I may wind up using a sleep staff use on turn three just to buy some time.

Thankfully, Heath's reached the point where he isn't so fragile anymore, and can handle these pirates pretty well.

The pirates on the sea have halberds. That's...

I mean that's a pretty hilarious mental image, all told. Trying to swim while carrying a fucking halberd. No, two fucking halberds!

...Hell, how the hell do these guys swim while dual-wielding any kind of axe? What, do they swim doing the breast stroke, using the axes like twin one-handed boat oars!?

...That's actually pretty badass, nevermind.

The boss moves. Holy shit, the boss moves. That...

...This is why I love Fates making it so that with stationary units, it's not just that they won't move, which the player can't see, it's that they can't move, which the player can see.

But Pascal is pretty much a pushover for my paladin duo, so that lack of information isn't making me suffer nearly as much as I could have.

The pirates have been successfully distracted by Heath, and are attacking him instead of going for the village. Thank goodness for Heath's impressive bulk for an unpromoted unit.

And finally, Farina shows up, and announces her plans to gun for Hector. Let's see her stats...

...Honestly, they're... pretty damned good! Especially her strength and defense, for a pegasus knight.

Oh shit, wait, it's only 20,000 gold? I thought it was 30,000! I mean, that's still a ridiculous amount of gold, but, like... I have it. In spades. And now I have an extra 10,000 left over to buy some more weapons in the upcoming chapters before the massive weapon drought.

I wish I knew that this frankly ludicrous swarm of cavalry would be equipping nothing but steel lances before I deployed, or I would've brought more iron axes to fight them with. Thankfully, that's easily remedied.

Alright, counting Pascal, two of the bosses are now dead (I managed to kill the warrior with a hand axe shot from Bartre!), so now it's time to start seizing.

Oh shit. Is that... Karla!? Damn it! She's at the village. I know she doesn't join here, but now I have to wonder if she has any dialogue with Bartre if you visit the village with him!

...Apparently she does not. Huh. Okay then.

Anyway, she hands us an elysian whip, which basically just means 5,000 gold, because there's no way I'm promoting three fliers this playthrough. But I'll keep it around until I actually need money, just in case.

And an opportunity to train Farina has practically dropped into my lap. A bunch of monks who aren't strong enough to even scratch Farina have started pouring out of the third castle en masse, and I intend to feed every last damned one of them to Farina.

She gained 3 levels by the time they even stopped spawning.

So, Farina's just finished off the Mages of the Third Fortress (which sounds like an anime name), and her speed, defense, luck and resistance are all superior to Marcus's. This should make it acceptable to throw her at enemy hordes on enemy-phase, in theory... except she can't use axes, and even if she could, her constitution is terrible, crippling her ability to use javelins. I could give her a body ring, but that would reduce her aid, and that's a big part of what makes fliers great.

She's still gonna become amazing eventually though. Glad I'm finally getting an opportunity to play around with a badass falcon knight.

Anyway, I stuck around to get Hector/Lyn and Heath/Priscilla some support points, and got supports for both pairs. Lyn and Hector I don't have much to say about, but I like her attitude to losing. She focuses on what she needs to improve on. It was pretty funny, though, when it initially sounded like she was ever-so-calmly plotting her violent revenge on Hector.

Oh wow, Heath and Priscilla's support is pretty funny. Makes me sad that it's doomed to end in tragedy.

Anyway, the chapter's over now. Honestly, I liked it! Again, I wish this game had more things to offer than frankly ludicrous amounts of enemy spam, but it's still an improvement on the previous chapters!

I kinda regret promoting Canas early though. His healing didn't wind up very useful at all, mostly because Lyn could 100% dodgetank the pirates.

But anyway, next chapter, we get Pent and Louise! But mostly Pent! So that'll be fun.

Stay safe, everyone!

Edited April 12, 2020 by Alastor15243

[Interdimensional Observer]

With it only two chapters away, who ya choosin' in Pale Flower of Darkness? Or have you forgotten and aren't going to look up the 100% invisible recruitment conditions?

Because Harken is from Pherae, and Karla is exclusive to Hector Mode, I like to thematically say Harken for Eliwood and Karel for Hector. Harken is superior in gameplay, but considering what you've thought of the difficulty so far, Karel won't make things tremendously worse.

[Alastor15243]

7 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

With it only two chapters away, who ya choosin' in Pale Flower of Darkness? Or have you forgotten and aren't going to look up the 100% invisible recruitment conditions?

Because Harken is from Pherae, and Karla is exclusive to Hector Mode, I like to thematically say Harken for Eliwood and Karel for Hector. Harken is superior in gameplay, but considering what you've thought of the difficulty so far, Karel won't make things tremendously worse.

I'm going for Harken, since it's been ages since I've gotten him and I'm interested in his story. I'm pretty sure I'm getting Kenneth's version, so I just have to avoid killing promoted enemies, right? I don't remember what I need to do for Jerme.

[Interdimensional Observer]

17 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

I'm going for Harken, since it's been ages since I've gotten him and I'm interested in his story. I'm pretty sure I'm getting Kenneth's version, so I just have to avoid killing promoted enemies, right? I don't remember what I need to do for Jerme.

Yeah, for Kenneth it's kill 1 or 0 of the promoted units (it varies based on difficulty or mode) in the northwest room, southwest room, and the Bishop-not-Kenneth for Harken to show up. Kill 2 or all 3 for Karel. For Jerme, opening less than 4 doors gets Harken, 4 or more doors gets Karel.

[Jotari]

RE Throne Room lock, there's two sets of stairs beyond the lock that presumably lead to somewhere. Probably some secret entrance or somewhere easier to reinforce. That's also assuming the Fire Emblem even is the only method of locking the door and not like a skeleton key.

Also obviously the pirates walk on the water, duh, just look at them. They don't even get their feet wet.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Jotari

[Alastor15243]

On 4/12/2020 at 1:58 PM, Jotari said:

Also obviously the pirates walk on the water, duh, just look at them. They don't even get their feet wet.

Ah yes, Saint Shanty Pete, founder of orphanages, imbuer of war prowess to parrots, and teacher of men to walk on water.

 

Blazing Blade Day 24: Chapter 26

Man, these comments about Bern's defenses... They're pretty damned ominous now that I know how terrifyingly powerful the country is.

Oh my god, little Guinivere is so precious!

Wooooow. Desmond seems absolutely convinced that Zephiel is as rotten and power-hungry as his mother, and sees ill intent in just about every twitch of his fucking finger. This is a pretty great waaaaaiiiiiit a minute.

Wait... so... the lords just snuck into a garden were THE FUCKING PRINCESS WAS PLAYING?

HOW IS SECURITY THAT LAX AROUND DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL!?

WHEN DADDY IS THE KING OF THE MOST POWERFUL COUNTRY ON THE PLANET!?

And also,... the fuck? They're only hiding the Fire Emblem until the dusk of the tenth day? Right after he becomes a man?

Is that seriously enough?

If the Fire Emblem isn't present for Zephiel's “manhood celebration”, or whatever, he's suddenly magically ineligible for the throne forever? What kind of fucking rule is that!?

...This has to be intentional. This has to be a loophole in the rules of succession specifically designed so that the king can, in emergencies, reject an unworthy firstborn heir without killing him or outright admitting they don't want him to be king. Because if not, this is... outrageously fucking stupid.

Also... so... “one of the Four Fangs” will be tending to guarding the Fire Emblem...

...So they've just silently replaced Lloyd with either Jerme or Kenneth already? Jesus, man, ice cold. Curious though, wasn't Jerme replaced by Jaffar earlier? I mean, it makes sense that he'd therefore be one of the first in the running for re-induction once someone dies, but...

And... the...

...So they're still planning on murdering Zephiel anyway? Then what the fuck is the point of stealing the Fire Emblem!? Are they just being extra-special-double-dog-sure Zephiel never becomes king!?

Awww... Guinivere, I get that your dad is a shitbag and playing with him probably isn't fun, but outright going “No, I want to play with him, not you!” is... pretty bratty of you.

Of course, nothing to deserve having your pet brutally killed without you ever even learning what happened to the poor baby.

Alright, here's... wow.

Yeah, Vaida with the infamous Uber Spear. Oh holy shit the amount of fun I had with that thing when I learned about the mine glitch and trained up an Oswin for the express purpose of being an unkillable one-man army in the link arena. But since using a glitch here would... probably be grotsequely dishonorable, and I'm on shaky ground with this ironman as it stands...

...I'm gonna have to deal with the fact that Vaida's got it.

Yeah, holy shit. Those shops are... pretty damned thoroughly under guard. I probably don't need to do any more shopping, given the ludicrous amount of shopping I did two chapters ago, but I don't wanna take any chances, so if I have the opportunity to get to that shop, I'll take it.

And I should have such an opportunity, if I promote either Farina or Heath by the end of this chapter. You see, I've done the math, and with Ninis's Grace boosting them, either one of them should survive Vaida and her wyvern posse with ease if I send them flying from the south straight to the armory. But they need exactly 8 move to get there from the closest safe location they can be Ninis-danced from, hence the need for promotion.

Heath is level 15, Farina level 17. Honestly, if I get either of them even close to the cap, I'm probably gonna consider access to the shop to be worth missing, like, one, maybe two levels for. I still have 17 total hand axes and javelins just in the convoy, not counting the ones still on my troops, so I'm not in serious danger of running out, but I would like to be able to use them with less worry over the veritable endurance test to follow.

Farina will focus on taking out the mages, while Heath will use the axereaver to take out the bandits on the mountains.

Lowen, of course, will focus on the ridiculous army of incoming nomads.

Yeah, just, uh... just out of curiosity, I thought I'd compare the stats of the Chapter 18B nomads to the stats of the nomads here.

The Chapter 18B nomads from Binding Blade had EIGHTEEN FUCKING ATTACK SPEED.

These guys... have ten. Putting them squarely in the category of “shit that my allegedly slow paladin can double with ease” that comprises 95+% of the enemies in this game.

Honestly though, Lowen's pretty shockingly fast for only having a 30% growth rate. Checking averages for a level 14 Lowen...

Okay, so...

...Fun fact...

...my Lowen is... outrageously blessed. His stats at level 14 promoted are supposed to be:

53 HP, 17 strength, 15 skill, 17 speed, 18 luck, 21 defense, 10 resistance.

My Lowen's stats are:

51 HP, 20 strength, 16 skill, 21 speed, 19 luck, 21 defense, 12 resistance.

Holy fucking shit. I mean honestly, I don't think those blessed stats are making much of a difference, given how easy these enemies are to kill, but that is an absurdly ahead-of-the-curve Lowen.

Honestly, I'm thinking it'll be a better idea to put Priscilla in charge of taking out those nomads. She can do it with ease, especially if she's standing on a fort, and since she's 10 whole levels below Lowen, she has a lot more to gain from doing this. It might even leave Lowen free to go shopping on the last few turns. He'd certainly be able to handle Vaida, especially since she can't double him even with the uber spear because he's apparently somehow the fastest son of a bitch in my army.

Alright, preparations finished. Let's go.

Wait a second... where the hell did Pent and Louise come from? They weren't even in the story scenes before this, were they?

Anyway, I just had a flash of fear that there might be important shit to steal that I missed, but no, there isn't. I chose not to bring Legault in case things get out of hand with the wyvern riders. Not sure how they'll behave in this version of the map.

Oooh! So I remembered one time playing through that there's a woman in a house who, if you kept everyone alive, has absolutely awesome things to say about this badass tactician she helped out at one point. I checked the house, and she still had pretty glowing things to say about me. I wonder what she says if you suck royally...?

...Alas, it only has the “perfect” version available. Here she still called me caring and compassionate, but didn't add in the “won battle after battle with no casualties” thing. She still seems to have a borderline crush on the tactician, honestly, resulting in the well-documented phenomenon of not changing women's behavior towards a female avatar because the male script was written first, resulting in this weird phenomenon where sometimes as much as half of the girls in a game might act like they're bi.

But holy shit, how could I forget, we've got Pent! He's a badass, though a little too fragile to send dogetanking on an ironman without a solid plan. But he's got a crazy amount of utility, and that staff rank! I've gotta actually make sure I use him for combat, or he may very well S rank staves first!

Anyway, let's end the first turn and JESUS FUCKING CHRIST THE WYVERNS ARE MOVING.

Either this is suddenly Dark Dragon again and these enemies weren't in position yet and they're planning on guarding the castle until anyone gets close...

...Or they're all about to swarm my fucking lords.

If it's the latter... thank goodness I trained Hector. I'm gonna have to play it safe and head the wyverns off immediately, using Hector's ludicrous 18 defense at level 18 to fend them off. He'll be taking chip damage, but I'm giving him Louise's elixir just to be sure.

Alright, that worked. I managed to get everyone to safety, and I can't be sure if Hector's insane gambit was necessary, but his defense is so high that he'll survive with ease. Now it's just a question of keeping my strongest units stationed in places where they can absorb any surprise reinforcements that might arrive, and to get everyone else out of the most vulnerable areas.

I recovered the hammerne staff with Heath, so there's that job done. But really... what the hell is there to even use that thing for besides the lords' personal weapons? This game really hasn't given me that many fancy, rare weapons. I mean I guess the brave ones... yeah, I suppose I'll use it on those. Especially since I'll be getting the brave sword pretty soon too.

Alright. I've got a four-pronged defense going here. Priscilla's by the forts to the south, Marcus is guarding the northwestern forts, Hector's by the castle distracting as many wyvern riders as he can, and Lowen is to the northeast, taking care of these shamans before they become a problem for Hector, and also getting ready to run for the shop during the last few turns.

And it seems to be working! I added in Pent to deal with the southwestern wyverns when those started showing up, but it looks like I'll be able to buy some shit today! I just need to have Heath help finish off these northern wyvern riders so that Hector can actually run away when Vaida gets aggo'd.

Success! I've completely filled up the tent, and I even bought some of those killing weapons. I ran out of space before I ran out of money. We should be goooooood to go.

Okay, so, on the last few turns, I got Hector and Lyn's A support thanks to the excess supporting I did last chapter. Exposure to Heroes memes has made Hector's awkward distraction attempt from almost saying something excessively mushy to Lyn impossible to see the same way anymore:

“Ah! Th-the enemy!”

Anyway... I spent the last few turns getting as much experience as I could, and now Heath and Farina are pretty close to promoting. I'll be very surprised if neither one promotes by the end of next chapter.

Everything went flawlessly.

However, as for the story... I have to ask... they overheard the assassination plot, didn't they? Or at least they heard of Desmond's plans to lure Murdock away from Zephiel, which... I mean they have to be able to put two and two together, right?

But I do like how Lyn plays a pivotal role in the plot, letting them track down the Black Fang fortress directly.

I do find it weird though that the next chapters says they follow the Black Fang “due south”, when most of the traveling we saw at the end of this chapter was going north.

Actually, I'm gonna keep reading, because I wanna see what chapter I wound up with. I thought it would be Kenneth's, but with Erk's death, I'm not sure if that changes things...

So the game kinda hints that Vaida isn't a bad person by having Sonia insult her good treatment of her soldiers. I mean, that is nice, hinting that she's recruitable later. And they didn't really need to do that beforehand, because anyone who took one look at her stats wouldn't dare try to kill her.

Oh my god, it's Nino again. Poor girl. My heart breaks every time I see her interacting with Sonia.

But I like how Jaffar's already showing signs of having a soft spot for Nino after she saved his life. It's... frankly adorable.

And it looks like I got Kenneth's version, as expected and hoped.

Hey wait, hold on... The Black Fang said they don't know where Lloyd and Linus are. So they can't have replaced Lloyd already, can they? So then what did Sonia mean last chapter when she said “one of the Four Fangs” will be guarding the Fire Emblem?

You know, when I was a kid, either I didn't understand or I just entirely forgot what was going on here, and that this was actually the Black Fang's fortress, and not just some random hiding spot they found for the Fire Emblem. That... actually makes this chapter way more awesome than I remember, storywise. We're actually storming the Black Fang fortress itself!

And yes, it seems that the heroes didn't put two and two together from what they heard earlier, and yes, they're just now realizing that the prince is gonna be assassinated, when it's too late to warn the castle. Though I don't know how well they'd be able to warn the castle anyway, given they're supposed to be undercover and everything.

But it seems like they planned to just leave without getting the Fire Emblem in order to save the prince, and Kenneth stopped them. Alright, that... makes enough sense I suppose. If you ignore their stupidity beforehand.

Ooh! And right before we go, let's see Kenneth's story, so we can get some more information on how utterly non-holy light magic seems to be.

Oh, so he's... technically an atheist, but, like... the kind of atheist you'd find in Soviet Russia or North Korea. He's gone straight from worshipping gods to joining a cult of personality around Nergal.

This... honestly this suggests that the entire premise that light magic is holy is... complete bullshit. It honestly feels like light magic is no different from the other magic types in terms of how it's learned, it's just that the church has some kind of stranglehold on its teachings, meaning everyone who's ever learned how to use it was affiliated with the church at some point.

I think it's slightly different in Magvel though, if only because the branching promotion system means it's possible to promote people who have never been affiliated with the church into classes that can use light magic. But right now it just seems like the church, for whatever reason, tries to make sure that only followers of the church can learn light magic. I don't know how they manage that, but that appears to be the case.

Alright, so we've got the story set up. There's a barrier keeping us from leaving, so we have to get the Fire Emblem anyway before we can save the prince. It feels... more excuse-plot-y than I'd like, but... I mean I guess it works.

But we'll do the actual battle tomorrow.

Stay safe, everyone!

Edited April 13, 2020 by Alastor15243

[Interdimensional Observer]

Perhaps the Guinevere and Zephiel scene would've been better shown to the player, but not to HEL? We don't need them to see everything we do.

 

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

This... honestly this suggests that the entire premise that light magic is holy is... complete bullshit. It honestly feels like light magic is no different from the other magic types in terms of how it's learned, it's just that the church has some kind of stranglehold on its teachings, meaning everyone who's ever learned how to use it was affiliated with the church at some point.

I think it's slightly different in Magvel though, if only because the branching promotion system means it's possible to promote people who have never been affiliated with the church into classes that can use light magic. But right now it just seems like the church, for whatever reason, tries to make sure that only followers of the church can learn light magic. I don't know how they manage that, but that appears to be the case.

I'd say when it comes to GBA magic, it's as follows:

Anima- Philosophy (apparently, Anima has always been called "Reason" in Japanese, not just 3H, explains Forblaze as the "Infernal Truth")

Dark- Pseudo-scientific (not a bad idea, medieval European alchemy and astrology were predecessors towards real science)

Light- Faith

As Knoll puts it in his C Natasha support:

Knoll: Hm… Well, I suppose you are right about that. Your magic stems from faith in the unknowable, the divine presence. In contrast, dark magic stems from knowledge, from understanding. We distrust what we do not understand, and we strive to know the unknowable. Perhaps our disciplines truly are incompatible.

For Kenneth, perhaps faith, not in the unknowable, but in Nergal, which suffices on a magical-emotional wavelength level, is what lets him use Light magic. True gods are, besides Tellius, doubtful to exist in FE, though lesser spirits should, so I wouldn't think any god gives power to anyone for any magic. It's just different mindsets facilitate use of a certain magic type more than others.

 

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

Also... so... “one of the Four Fangs” will be tending to guarding the Fire Emblem...

Maybe, just maybe, they mean Jerme?

Sonia:
“…… I wonder what he’s about… …I’ll deal with it later. Listen, Jerme. You’re in charge of the guard while I’m gone. Do not let anything happen to the item.”

Jerme:
“In charge of the guard… Bah! I was top dog until that cretin Jaffar showed up.”

Yet, Jerme seems very sadistic, and Jaffar came off to me as having been with Nergal since he was an infant. So I would think Jaffar became a Four Fang as soon as Nergal corrupted the Black Fang, and Jerme is a pre-Nergal/Sonia original? But why would Brendan allow Jerme in? At best, Sonia brought Jerme into the Fang, and Nergal kept Jaffar as a bodyguard for a time before deciding to have him join the Fang proper.

 

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

Oh my god, it's Ninian again. Poor girl. My heart breaks every time I see her interacting with Sonia.

But I like how Jaffar's already showing signs of having a soft spot for Ninian after she saved his life. It's... frankly adorable.

Loli Ninian when? Get to it Heroes! 😜 

Edited April 13, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

[Alastor15243]

8 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Loli Ninian when? Get to it Heroes! 😜 

Shoot, thanks for catching that typo. Don't know how that happened. As for Jerme, that's what I thought was going on, but then they confirmed Lloyd hasn't officially died yet as far as most of the Black Fang knows, so neither Jerme nor Kenneth can have been promoted to replace them yet, surely?

[Eltosian Kadath]

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

Anyway, let's end the first turn and JESUS FUCKING CHRIST THE WYVERNS ARE MOVING.

Either this is suddenly Dark Dragon again and these enemies weren't in position yet and they're planning on guarding the castle until anyone gets close...

From what I remember they have a weird AI where they sorta meander about around the castle. They will attack people in range, but if nobody does they just sorta stick close to the castle and move very slightly in a random looking fashion.

 

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

The Chapter 18B nomads from Binding Blade had EIGHTEEN FUCKING ATTACK SPEED.

These guys... have ten. Putting them squarely in the category of “shit that my allegedly slow paladin can double with ease” that comprises 95+% of the enemies in this game.

The only really fast generics are Valkyrie, and they show up in two chapter at most. The speed of most enemies in this game are down right embarrassing.

 

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

And yes, it seems that the heroes didn't put two and two together from what they heard earlier, and yes, they're just now realizing that the prince is gonna be assassinated, when it's too late to warn the castle. Though I don't know how well they'd be able to warn the castle anyway, given they're supposed to be undercover and everything.

They would probably just send Pent and Louise instead of going themselves.

 

4 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Yet, Jerme seems very sadistic, and Jaffar came off to me as having been with Nergal since he was an infant. So I would think Jaffar became a Four Fang as soon as Nergal corrupted the Black Fang, and Jerme is a pre-Nergal/Sonia original? But why would Brendan allow Jerme in? At best, Nergal brought Jerme into the Fang, and kept Jaffar as a bodyguard for a time before deciding to have him join the Fang proper.

Some obscure Legault battle quotes against the bosses of Cog of Destiny hints that there was a time when the four fangs were Uhai, Legault, Llyod, and Linus, which is probably the original Four Fangs

[Jotari]

9 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Anima- Philosophy (apparently, Anima has always been called "Reason" in Japanese, not just 3H, explains Forblaze as the "Infernal Truth")

Huh, really. That's a bit of an odd change to make. Though I have become quite attached to the term Anima and it does make visual sense, still, needlessly unfaithful localising there. Guess with Three Houses it'll probably always be known as Reason henceforth.

[Interdimensional Observer]

10 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Huh, really. That's a bit of an odd change to make. Though I have become quite attached to the term Anima and it does make visual sense, still, needlessly unfaithful localising there. Guess with Three Houses it'll probably always be known as Reason henceforth.

Looking the .org FE Wiki to double check, it appears yes and no.

The magic type in Japanese supposedly translates as "elemental magic", and consists of three Kanji (judging from what I know Kanji to look like).

But the support Affinity's name looks like it is only the first of the three Kanji used in the name of the magic type, and nothing else. The Wiki notes:

"Inner Essence. The meaning is difficult to translate into a single concise word and, among other things can be described as, reason, logic, or "the natural order of things".[2] Possibly invoking the Chinese li[3] it is a philosophical concept relating to the "rational principle" of nature."

Bolded on my part for emphasis.

Edited April 14, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

[Jotari]

2 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Looking the .org FE Wiki to double check, it appears yes and no.

The magic type in Japanese supposedly translates as "elemental magic", and consists of three Kanji (judging from what I know Kanji to look like).

But the support Affinity's name looks like it is only the first of the three Kanji used in the name of the magic type, and nothing else. The Wiki notes:

"Inner Essence. The meaning is difficult to translate into a single concise word and, among other things can be described as, reason, logic, or "the natural order of things".[2] Possibly invoking the Chinese li[3] it is a philosophical concept relating to the "rational principle" of nature."

Bolded on my part for emphasis.

Oh, in that case it seems to be an exceptionally good translation of the idea they were trying to convey. Now my disappointment has shifted slightly to Three Houses for not maintaining Anima (assuming the magic is called the exact same thing in Three Houses).

[Interdimensional Observer]

14 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Oh, in that case it seems to be an exceptionally good translation of the idea they were trying to convey. Now my disappointment has shifted slightly to Three Houses for not maintaining Anima (assuming the magic is called the exact same thing in Three Houses).

If one were to trust the Wikis, it look like it's Rigaku for Reason in 3H, which is given the no-debate definition of "science". Anima Magic in GBA FE is Kotowarimaho. Not the same term, yet both have the "Ri" Kanji. 

Forblaze's epithet- the "Infernal Truth" is Goka no kotowari. "Ri" is present again, but I don't know anything else other than the absence of "ma" means there is no "magic" in the title.

Edited April 14, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

[Alastor15243]

Blazing Blade Day 25: Chapter 27

First off: Apparently, without noticing, my half-hearted efforts to get Bartre to fight some enemies wound up getting him to level 10! PROMOTION TIME!

Holy shit does he look badass. Pity he still sucks. Especially since promoting didn't gain him any attack speed at all.

But he can use bows now, which should allow him to do more accurate ranged chip damage. He's gonna suck, and those 4 levels are gonna be harder to get than the previous levels were, but hopefully I'll be able to manage it. This is another map where I can just barely afford to deploy him.

Anyway, I've got a lot of units I wanna get promoted, and this would be a fantastic opportunity to take it slow and feed as much exp into them as I possibly can, except that I have no idea when the thieves will be coming in to raid those chests.

...Fuck it. Okay, given the unknown time constraints, the fact that this is an ironman, and the fact that the chapter right after this one is infamously, insanely difficult and may end what's left of the ironman run entirely, and the fact that exp gain in Hector Hard Mode appears to be so absurdly slow that not only will anyone who hasn't promoted yet not stand a snowball's chance in hell of hitting level 20 promoted, but the actual exp difference between what they gain now and what they gain promoted will be basically negligible...

...I'm promoting Heath and Farina now, 3 and 2 levels early respectively. By the looks of things, I think promoted fliers can move four spaces in the snow, which is gonna be absurdly valuable when I don't know what's coming with that time limit there.

Yep! Looks to be the case! And they look totally badass. I'm so glad I managed to get a powerful promoted pegasus knight in at least one of the GBA games.

Hilariously, Farina now has better defense than Heath, because she got a promotion bonus and he didn't. He's still a good deal stronger though, and equally as fast. But she has him soundly beat in the resistance department. Honestly, if I had to pick one, hands down it would be Farina. And I should hope so, since she took the bigger sacrifice to get.

Actually, Heath is still slightly faster in practice, due to his higher con.

So I'm gonna have Farina and Heath, with Priscilla's help, rush the treasure chests up north, and I'll send one of the many, many people who can recruit Harken that way in case I've forgotten where he shows up, or it's different in Hector Mode (or just Hector Hard Mode)

I'm running really low on lockpicks, so I'm gonna have to take the opportunity to steal some from the thieves.

Alright, with rescue-dropping shenanigans, I'm making really good time getting near the chests. And the archer brigade to the northwest is staying put, like I hoped. If all else failed, Priscilla could have taken care of them, and I could have used Bartre with a bow to hold off the general to keep from killing him. I want Harken.

The thief has shown up from the west, apparently outside of the fort. And he's a member of the Black Fang. Has the Black Fang really ordered their own treasury to be raided in case they lose? That seems... way more pessimistic of them than seems appropriate for their current attitude.

Anyway, that thief is awash in a sea of wyvern riders that, of my current fighters in the area, only Priscilla can reliably one-round, so getting an opening to safely steal his lockpick will be tricky. I have to wait them out and hope the snow stops at a convenient time.

...A knight just “tink”ed a falcoknight.

...I am giggling like a fucking child right now.

Curious. Canas and Bartre apparently have supports together. I mean, I have it, so I might as well do it.

Wooooooooow, Bartre is, like... a Sonic Boom Knuckles tier “big words confuse me” dumbass.

What the fuck is a bandit doing... in an indoor map? An indoor map with chests? I don't think I've ever seen a bandit on an indoor map outside of Lyn Mode, and even then that map was mostly outdoors.

And at long last, the game finally graces me with a pair of speedwings. Those are obviously going to go on Hector asap, because given how low the doubling thresholds are in this game, nobody else but him needs the boost, and he really needs the boost.

...Honestly, I'm surprised that Hector's story promotion is only in a couple of chapters. The gap between getting the first heaven seal and getting the “third” heaven seal felt a lot longer when I was a kid.

Kenneth has purge. I hate not having range highlighting, I always miss shit like that when I'm only paying attention to the enemies immediately around me. Thankfully Heath wasn't in any danger of dying.

The wyvern riders have been routed, and thief AI has been exploited to steal lockpicks at my leisure. Now it's just a matter of waiting to see which group Harken's team winds up closer to. I've got Ninian, Pent, Canas, Bartre, Marcus and Lowen on one end with Merlinus, and up north I have Legault, Hector, Lyn, Priscilla, Farina and Heath.

Harken finally showed up just as the snow began to fall again. He showed up to the north, and I was able to use my fliers to get Lyn out of the way. Legault was thankfully two spaces away from him and thus could run away on his own power, but he couldn't steal the last lockpick. Not that we needed any more, mind. He already stole three.

Now I just have to hope Harken moves to a space where Hector can talk to him. If not, we'll have to do some more complicated maneuvering.

Reinforcments are swelling up in the lower rooms, and they've got nowhere to go. Meaning this is going to be an amazing opportunity to train some of my weaker units, particularly Lyn.

YES! Harken went straight for Hector. Now I can recruit him! And hooooooooolllyyyyyyyyy shit.

How did I never notice as a kid how busted this guy's bases are? Lowen, who is blessed mind you, has comparable totals despite being six levels higher. I need to get this son of a bitch some hand axes immediately and put him to work. He's gonna be invaluable next chapter.

…

…

…

…

Well.

This is embarrassing.

Like... outrageously embarrassing.

Lyn got one-shot by Kenneth because I forgot yet again that Kenneth has Purge.

Jesus Christ, I just do not pay attention to that shit anymore!

Lyn sucks, this interface sucks, but most importantly, I suck.

Well, ironman's officially dead.

Looks like I'll be retrying this map tomorrow. I'm... yeah, I'm not remotely in the mood to be retrying this today. Not when I have to mourn the ironman run too.

Ugh.

And it wasn't even the game's fault.

...I mean except for the shit Mangs talked about recently. I never really thought about it like this, but yeah, FE7 doesn't just have ironman-hostile luck-based game over risks, it also has three lords who net you an instant game over if you lose them, it randomly force-deploys them in a couple of endgame chapters, and only one of them doesn't suck.

Honestly, Lyn is... almost atrociously terrible. I can't think of a game in the marathon so far that gives swords the shaft more than FE7. It's not just the usual thing that they don't have 1-2 range for some inexplicable and arbitrary reason, it's that nearly every swordlocked class is a fragile speedster who needs to dodgetank, and more than half of the enemies in the game use steel lances. Lyn has the bulk of wet tissue paper, and despite being level 16, she still got one-shot. By bolting.

Man, I really should've put that angelic robe on her, not Matthew.

Oh well.

Guess there's nothing left but to reflect on this and see you guys tomorrow.

Stay safe, guys.

For the love of god, please stay safer than Lyn.

[Shadow Mir]

On 4/13/2020 at 1:34 PM, Interdimensional Observer said:

I'd say when it comes to GBA magic, it's as follows:

Anima- Philosophy (apparently, Anima has always been called "Reason" in Japanese, not just 3H, explains Forblaze as the "Infernal Truth")

Dark- Pseudo-scientific (not a bad idea, medieval European alchemy and astrology were predecessors towards real science)

Light- Faith

As Knoll puts it in his C Natasha support:

Knoll: Hm… Well, I suppose you are right about that. Your magic stems from faith in the unknowable, the divine presence. In contrast, dark magic stems from knowledge, from understanding. We distrust what we do not understand, and we strive to know the unknowable. Perhaps our disciplines truly are incompatible.

For Kenneth, perhaps faith, not in the unknowable, but in Nergal, which suffices on a magical-emotional wavelength level, is what lets him use Light magic. True gods are, besides Tellius, doubtful to exist in FE, though lesser spirits should, so I wouldn't think any god gives power to anyone for any magic. It's just different mindsets facilitate use of a certain magic type more than others.

Sounds about right. I have a feeling that we're going to be revisiting this topic come Sacred Stones, though...

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Well.

This is embarrassing.

Like... outrageously embarrassing.

Lyn got one-shot by Kenneth because I forgot yet again that Kenneth has Purge.

Jesus Christ, I just do not pay attention to that shit anymore!

Ouch. I thought this was going so well too... Anyway, it's stuff like this that makes me remember (and be grateful that) pure water exists. And then there's the fact that Aura has a high crit chance, which means you'd have to contend with potential crits while trying to off Kenneth. While we're talking about it, though, Ursula has a Bolting, and iirc, she eventually moves, so you'd best make her waste her Bolting or just kill her before that happens. Also of note, Maxime gets crazy stat boosts in HHM, so that's something else to be wary of.

Edited April 14, 2020 by Shadow Mir

[Eltosian Kadath]

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

Well.

This is embarrassing.

Like... outrageously embarrassing.

Lyn got one-shot by Kenneth because I forgot yet again that Kenneth has Purge.

Jesus Christ, I just do not pay attention to that shit anymore!

Lyn sucks, this interface sucks, but most importantly, I suck.

Well, ironman's officially dead.

Lyn, one of the greatest killers of Ironmans, strikes again.

 

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

...I mean except for the shit Mangs talked about recently. I never really thought about it like this, but yeah, FE7 doesn't just have ironman-hostile luck-based game over risks, it also has three lords who net you an instant game over if you lose them, it randomly force-deploys them in a couple of endgame chapters, and only one of them doesn't suck.

More like one and a half, as Eliwood can be really good if you can get him off the ground and promoted (plus his incredibly fast and useful support with Hector helps them both), but if he is unlucky with his growths he can be just as useless as Lyn.

[Interdimensional Observer]

Sorry for your ironman being ruined by Purge. Lyn averages 29 HP and 6 Res at 20 unpromoted, Kenneth is 31 Atk with Purge, so I can definitely see a less trained one with RNG variability being OKHO'ed.

 

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Wooooooooow, Bartre is, like... a Sonic Boom Knuckles tier “big words confuse me” dumbass.

Only for FE7, he's a typical embarrassing, loving dad with muscles in FE6. The difference is night and day, Bartre grew brains when he got older.

 

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

YES! Harken went straight for Hector. Now I can recruit him! And hooooooooolllyyyyyyyyy shit.

How did I never notice as a kid how busted this guy's bases are? Lowen, who is blessed mind you, has comparable totals despite being six levels higher. I need to get this son of a bitch some hand axes immediately and put him to work. He's gonna be invaluable next chapter.

Harken's bases are slightly better on HHM. He, Heath, Vaida, Guy, Raven, Geitz, and Legault all get, presumably intentional this time, Hector Hard bonuses of about 4 HP and 1-2 points in everything else growable except Lck.

 

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

it's that nearly every swordlocked class is a fragile speedster who needs to dodgetank, and more than half of the enemies in the game use steel lances.

You could buy some Lancereavers in the chapters that sell them, but a mere 15 uses each is annoyingly low.

Edited April 14, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

[Boomhauer007]

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Only for FE7, he's a typical embarrassing, loving dad with muscles in FE6. The difference is night and day, Bartre grew brains when he got older.

I like to think it came with the mustache. 

Also not only is Harken that good, he comes with unquestionably the best sword in the game