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

[Alastor15243]

18 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Well Delthea did get kidnapped and brainwashed and then fought in a war as a prepubescent all because of her magical ability.

True, but if it gave her that much angst, it's a pretty jarring thing to bring up without said angst actually showing up.

[Jotari]

7 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

True, but if it gave her that much angst, it's a pretty jarring thing to bring up without said angst actually showing up.

He states as if any non lord character in Gaiden had anything resembling characterization.

[Alastor15243]

2 minutes ago, Jotari said:

He states as if any non lord character in Gaiden had anything resembling characterization.

Touche. My point is more it's weird to bring it up assuming we've heard enough to make sense of it.

[Jotari]

7 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Touche. My point is more it's weird to bring it up assuming we've heard enough to make sense of it.

Barst defects from the military to become a pirate.  Cliff disappears for absolutely no reason. We don't even know Sonia is Jedah's daughter until her ending! And in Tiki's ending she is described as becoming more feminine...what does that even mean (all the others were kept in the remakes except that one)? Unless someone had an inuniverse position of authority wherein there ending could be "X served as Y throughout his/her years", a lot of endings are downright random. Because these were less characters and more gameplay units. 

By the by. I love how every human in the final chapter has a name. We know absolutely nothing about these people except that they're part of the Duma faithful, but giving them all names makes the world feel more realized. Presumably they're pretty important people we just know nothing about.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Jotari

[Alastor15243]

6 hours ago, Jotari said:

By the by. I love how every human in the final chapter has a name. We know absolutely nothing about these people except that they're part of the Duma faithful, but giving them all names makes the world feel more realized. Presumably they're pretty important people we just know nothing about.

Are you sure those aren't just weird ultimate class names? I KNOW I saw that both of the bow knights were named "Gold", and like I said, they didn't have a listed class, which every named character had listed below their name unless their name IS their class.

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

Are you sure those aren't just weird ultimate class names? I KNOW I saw that both of the bow knights were named "Gold", and like I said, they didn't have a listed class, which every named character had listed below their name unless their name IS their class.

The names are retained in Shadows of Valentia (and listing the classes you'd expect). Though unfortunately they rename Badass to Hades. I'm not sure what UI issue you're referring to, but I was never under the impression that these, basically generic, enemies were getting completely unique classes identical to classes that already exist in the game. Maybe something messed up because they were using generic templates (ie no portrait) for characters with names, but the intention was to suggest that this was the character's name.

[Alastor15243]

5 minutes ago, Jotari said:

The names are retained in Shadows of Valentia (and listing the classes you'd expect). Though unfortunately they rename Badass to Hades. I'm not sure what UI issue you're referring to, but I was never under the impression that these, basically generic, enemies were getting completely unique classes identical to classes that already exist in the game. Maybe something messed up because they were using generic templates (ie no portrait) for characters with names, but the intention was to suggest that this was the character's name.

When a unit is named, their screen in Gaiden says:

Duma

Dark God

 

When a unit isn't named, their screen says

Paladin

-------

 

When I looked at those bow knights, they said

Gold

---------

 

Also, I just checked to confirm, if you look on the class list for base stats on Serenes forest, Gold, Badess, they're all there.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Alastor15243

[Jotari]

26 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

When a unit is named, their screen in Gaiden says:

Duma

Dark God

 

When a unit isn't named, their screen says

Paladin

-------

 

When I looked at those bow knights, they said

Gold

---------

 

Also, I just checked to confirm, if you look on the class list for base stats on Serenes forest, Gold, Badess, they're all there.

So yeah, I'd say it's like I supposed. They're using the generic template for the characters, but renamed their classes to fill the role of their names because it was easier than messing about with the portrait feature (and possibly other things that make generics and character units different). The intention was always that the names listed where the character names, hence why Shadows of Valentia retained their names and didn't put them in the class field (they also do have their own portraits in the remake, albeit they are rather generic looking, still, different from the standard generic class portraits).

Edited September 21, 2019 by Jotari

[Alastor15243]

4 minutes ago, Jotari said:

So yeah, I'd say it's like I supposed. They're using the generic template for the characters, but renamed their classes to fill the role of their names because it was easier than messing about with the portrait feature (and possibly other things that make generics and character units different). The intention was always that the names listed where the character names, hence why Shadows of Valentia retained their names and didn't put them in the class field because 

But it's the same name for every member of each class. Both of the bow knights were named Gold. And I know that the dread fighters you fought before in the dungeon had the "Kelbeth" class.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Alastor15243

[Jotari]

2 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

But it's the same name for every member of each class. Both of the bow knights were named Gold.

That could have been a mistake from the method they were using. For what it's worth, the two characters are named Gold and Silver in the remake.

https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Argentum

https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Aurum

Maybe it's not the intention on the original developers and instead they wanted to give unique classes to generic enemies for absolutely no reason, but the people who remade the game certainly thought they were meant to be seen as character names.

[Alastor15243]

Just now, Jotari said:

That could have been a mistake from the method they were using. For what it's worth, the two characters are named Gold and Silver in the remake.

https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Argentum

https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Aurum

Maybe it's not the intention on the original developers and instead they wanted to give unique classes to generic enemies for absolutely no reason, but the people who remade the game certainly thought they were meant to be seen as character names.

Who knows? It's weird either way you look at it. But it certainly seems odd to me given none of them are unique. I don't see any reason why they couldn't give them names if they wanted to give them names.

[Shadow Mir]

Are you going to dive right into book 2, or not?

[Alastor15243]

Just now, Shadow Mir said:

Are you going to dive right into book 2, or not?

What do you guys think? I figured I'd start with book 1 to see what kind of a difference a SNES interface makes to the experience of playing it. But if you'd rather I just go straight to book 2 to avoid rehashing my playlog, I'd be willing to do that.

[Shadow Mir]

1 minute ago, Alastor15243 said:

What do you guys think? I figured I'd start with book 1 to see what kind of a difference a SNES interface makes to the experience of playing it. But if you'd rather I just go straight to book 2 to avoid rehashing my playlog, I'd be willing to do that.

I'm okay with starting with book 1.

[Alastor15243]

Just now, Shadow Mir said:

I'm okay with starting with book 1.

I'll make it a poll, just for the heck of it, and I'll start on monday with whichever wins.

[Jotari]

Knowing what they cut and keep for Book 1 would be interesting in itself I'd say. But you might find it boring as it is a very similar experience to FE1. The maps all pretty much play the same way (though Gharnef's one is different, for no real reason) and even the methods of abuse you exploited are similar. 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Jotari

[Alastor15243]

23 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Knowing what they cut and keep for Book 1 would be interesting in itself I'd say. But you might find it boring as it is a very similar experience to FE1. The maps all pretty much play the same way (though Gharnef's one is different, for no real reason) and even the methods of abuse you exploited are similar. 

True. The biggest incentive I have to play Book 1 is story honestly. Both for the sake of seeing how the new presentation expanded the narrative and also in case it adds or changes plot points important to Book 2.

[Interdimensional Observer]

I'd say start with Book 1 until you get utterly bored of it, then skip the rest. It is five chapters shorter than SD at least, and it'll offer a chance to adjust to how things have changed.

I do recall Book 1 does have a tiny bit of rewriting to tie it better into Book 2, but that doesn't come until Chapter 19.

 

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

The maps all pretty much play the same way (though Gharnef's one is different, for no real reason)

And though Michalis's map is the same, without cheese, assuming FE11 copied FE1, then you do get a significantly different experience there.  Since...

Spoiler

Michalis moves starting on turn 1 with most of his forces. Which combined with the Thief gunning to smash Gotoh's hamlet, makes this fight rather hard.

-Unless, you Warp a high Def unit to solo Michalis's army. Ideally armed with Gradivus, ideally with both the Star and Light Orbs. The newly recruited Lorenz will suffice. Or, you just skip Gotoh entirely, Warp Marth in after Michalis has left the castle area, and go without Falchion for Medeus.

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer

[Robert Stewart]

Play Book 1. Only cowards skip Book 1.

I don't think I've ever played FE3 without playing both books.

[Alastor15243]

5 minutes ago, Robert of Normandy said:

Play Book 1. Only cowards skip Book 1.

I don't think I've ever played FE3 without playing both books.

You seem to be in the majority so far. I just want to make sure I'm not boring my audience to tears for the next month or so of content.

[Interdimensional Observer]

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

You seem to be in the majority so far. I just want to make sure I'm not boring my audience to tears for the next month or so of content.

Then just don't provide so much detail. You can take it easy for Book 1, you don't need to repeat everything you've said again. You're the master here.

[Alastor15243]

Alright, looks like most people want me to do book 1 first. Unless that changes, and drastically, in the next few hours, that's what I intend to do since that's what I was already leaning towards. Glad to know others are interested. For those of you who wanted me to skip to book 2, however, I'll try to do my best to keep my entries and observations as fresh as I can.

[Emperor Hardin]

10 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Alright, looks like most people want me to do book 1 first. Unless that changes, and drastically, in the next few hours, that's what I intend to do since that's what I was already leaning towards. Glad to know others are interested. For those of you who wanted me to skip to book 2, however, I'll try to do my best to keep my entries and observations as fresh as I can.

You could focus on the differences between the NES version and Book 1.

[Alastor15243]

Mystery of the Emblem Day 1: Book 1, Chapter 1

And the people have spoken! I will be doing Book 1 in its entirety before moving on to Book 2. I must say I am a little nervous. Book 1 is, after all, a full remake of the only game in the entire series I consider to be an objective garbage fire, and one of only three that I genuinely dread the thought of ever playing again. However, a lot of that, not all, but a lot of it, had to do with its atrociously primitive interface, and now we’re on the big, shiny, sexy SNES. The very next game I know for a fact is gonna have shit like combat windows and unit names when you put the cursor over them and the ability to see how far enemies can move, and all the other outrageously basic shit I took for granted before I started this project. Hopefully that all started here, and not there.

Plus, I am kinda curious how much of Shadow Dragon’s writing was new and how much was already expanded upon in Book 1 here. So, without further ado, let’s get started!

Unfortunately this translation patch, while being the most recommended, glitches the fuck out on the intro cinematic, so I’m gonna have to skip that and just go straight into book 1.

I like the file select screen. The mysterious music as you look over a massive world map kinda reminds me of the Mana series for some reason.

Alright then, let’s do this.

Book 1.

War of Darkness.

YES! WE ACTUALLY GET THE FUCKING BACKSTORY IN A FUCKING INTRO NARRATION!

No last-minute “Oh by the way he dun killed yer pa” bullshit!

I saw a typo in the translation, but it’s not like I’m gonna hold that against the game.

Speaking of which, I’m told this translation is very faithful to the original Japanese, which is probably going to be insightful in some way and might make me notice things that got changed in the Shadow Dragon localization.

I have to say, I’m liking the music so far, even though as I said before, that abomination they replaced the player phase theme with is just a hollow and pointless imitation that should NEVER HAVE BEEN GIVEN SO MUCH FAVORITISM!

So, according to the intro narration, Talis is a small kingdom that doesn’t even have knights. What does that mean? They’re independent, aren’t they? Are pirates not a thing that happens to this place? As indeed it does in the first damned chapter? They’re not under the protection of any bigger kingdom, right? And even if they were, they’re so isolated that surely it would have to have occurred to them that maybe they’d be better off training some soldiers? This seems wholly unnecessary and dumb. But whatever.

The “trouble!” remix is weak as hell. You can barely hear the baseline that gives that frantic repetition of notes purpose.

Now, let’s take a look at what we’re YES THANK YOU GOD!

I press X, and a menu fucking appears. And it’s BEAUTIFUL. Everything, ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING, displayed in a compact and readable way on a single fucking page. IN A CONSOLE FIRE EMBLEM GAME! I can’t press X again to highlight what anything means or read weapon stats (for weapon stats I have to go to equip) but fuck that, that’s a small price to pay! I CAN SEE HOW MUCH DAMAGE ENEMIES WILL DO AT A GLANCE NOW!

I did some fucking around, and it turns out my initial fears were unfounded. Yes, you CAN check enemy ranges! You press X and then you press A for some reason, but it’s there all the same!

Seems like Kain and Abel are stuck using lances on horseback and swords on foot, but given that hit rates apply double skill (and evasion applies the total of your speed and luck), it should be far more realistic to get reliable hit rates with lances anyway.

Gotta get Cain some javelins though. Matter of fact, I ain’t making the same mistake as last time. I’m not going to assume they fixed the fact that javelins stop being sold halfway through the game.

Alright, so, apparently, at least when getting gold from villagers, this game doesn’t have a “got X gold!” pop-up.

Lances are still freakishly heavy apparently. Apparently a lot of weapons are, actually. The only units I have who have more than 0 attack speed are Jeigan (who has one) Marth (who has 6) and Caeda (who has 10). Unfortunately as far as I can tell this game still doesn’t outright tell you what weapons’ stats are, but it does let you see on the equip screen what your calculated stats are with each weapon equipped. That should be enough that I don’t have to make a weapon stats list again. I’ll just look them up online in the rare cases I need to.

Since the AS difference between lances and swords is so astronomical in this game, I decide to try out the dismounting feature right away to make Cain and Abel fast enough to double these pirates. It seems that AS doesn’t go into the negatives, so they need a non-zero AS to double these guys here, unlike in FE1.

Caeda’s bases are still as psychotic as ever. As much defense as a cavalier. I ask you!

They added a new village to this game to explain the dismounting feature. A bit. Which is kinda cool! Anyway, that reminds me that apparently this is the game that makes horsemen the promoted versions of hunters. Which means there might actually be a reason to train Castor in this game. Assuming I bother to use anyone who isn’t one of the four “M”s of Dark Dragon: mounted, magical, manaketic or Marth. Even if Castor will get a mount later, he’s still an archer. But hey, maybe I could give it a shot? I probably won’t be quite as bored here that I’ll need to rush through it with cavalry.

AND THIS GAME LETS YOU SEND ITEMS TO STORAGE FROM THE SHOP! YES! THANK YOU! And speaking of which, I don’t see a storage building. Which makes me think that either Marth has it at all times here, or it’s accessible from the pre-battle menu. Ooooor… there just isn’t a storage building on map one and I totally forgot. Lemme check… yep, that’s the answer. Guess I’ll find out next map.

The battle animations are… okay? Nowhere near as good as the ones in Genealogy or the GBA games, but… actually I’ll have to reserve judgment on whether or not they’re an improvement over the NES ones. The backgrounds certainly are, but some of the NES ones were pretty badass.

…So. Since this was way before they could afford to change the heads of sprites depending on what unit they are, apparently they decided to split the difference and make all cavaliers Abel on the map and Cain in battle, as all dismounted cavalry units have green hair on the map and red hair (or a red helmet) when fighting. Which is super weird. But not as weird as their decision to make the pre-combat window PSYCHOTICALLY POINTLESS.

THEY DON’T SHOW YOU YOUR ATTACK STATS AND THE ENEMY’S ATTACK STATS AT THE SAME TIME. They both take up tiny windows on the screen but they refuse to show both of them at once! You see yours when selecting a weapon, and the enemy’s when selecting a target! WHYYYYYYYYY!?

On the plus side, this game does something no other game in the series does: it actually tells you how much attack power a unit has against enemies its currently equipped weapon is effective against! I now know that the hunter on this map does 24 damage to fliers, which is super nifty for planning enemy phase.

Actually now that I think about it, the map sprites for unmounted archers look like Alm, with the green hair, sword, and full-body blue armor.

Oh god. Speaking of map sprites… this game lets you clearly see Marth’s lack of pants. The flesh-colored pixels that make up his actual honest-to-goodness zettai ryouiki just light up like a fucking Christmas tree and it’s so jarring and uncomfortable. At least when everything was in blue and white I could pretend those were leggings. No longer.

Okay yeah, the battle sprites in this game are laaaaame. DD and Gaiden did them way better. Cavalry run like fucking dorks when dismounted. They don’t run like warriors so much as a dorky clumsy anime schoolgirl going “Marth-Senpai! You forgot your swoooooooord!” Marth’s pretty cool though, at least in terms of animation. The short skirt and knee high boots? Not so much. But he fights like an actual fencer with an actual fencing pose.

And we get to the second village, and…

…Oh. Right. Yeah, I heard people mentioning that.

Wrys isn’t in this game. Your only healing resources for the first two maps are vulneraries and forts. Which thankfully are decent enough for this point, but… still man. WHY? He’s even in a chapter they didn’t cut, so-

…

…They wanted to make the healer sprites more girly, didn’t they? They wanted to make them more detailed than the vague gender-neutral ones of the original? And they didn’t want to bother making an extra set of sprites just so they could put in one bald guy?

Calling it now, that’s gonna be why.

The “victory is near” theme is more tolerable overall than the NES version, mostly because instruments aren’t cutting out, but it’s also really really meh and mediocre, like the band isn’t even bothering to sound encouraging or excited.

Oh sweet, Marth has an entirely separate animation for his rapier than for his other swords, so he stabs with the rapier but swings with everything else!

…Did… did the “ally died” music just play when I killed the boss? The fuck?

Okay, so “Trouble!” and “A Knight’s Oath” were both completely ruined by the baseline being neutered from their repetitive melody. It was the baseline that kept the melody from being repetitive! It re-contextualized each repetition with a new chord behind it! And now… it’s just the same 16 notes repeated over and over again with no background change! Here’s hoping Book 2’s music is better.

The “save game” victory jingle is pretty alright, but I preferred the cutesy 8 bit version more.

Alright, that’s chapter 1, and since I have a busy week this week, that’s all I’m going to do today. Hopefully I’ll keep all the short maps to this week so I can keep my schedule.

So far it’s not too painful, but remember, at the beginning of Dark Dragon, I said I was actually having fun, so I think it’s safe to say my opinions now will mean very little towards how the rest of the game turns out.

[Jotari]

I reckon Talys was under protection from Archanea, but the whole getting ravaged by Doluna thing has caused them to forcibly renege on protectorate promises.

Also yeah, sad music is played whenever any boss with a name dies. I bet that screwed over a lot of people trying to recruit the likes of Jiol and Tiki.