What type of DLC do you think this game will have?

[Fabulously Olivier]

1 hour ago, Seazas said:

Not shot this game doesn't get DLC lol. They purposefully cut off Ashe's support, that is the most "we'll finish it later!" bullshit ever.

That or they don't care about the goodest boy.

[Glocksta]

8 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

So, here's the thing. Koei doesn't exactly have a reputation for fixing even their most successful games. Age of Calamity sold 4 million copies, and it still runs at sub-30 fps, regularly dipping into the low 20s.

Though they never addressed the framerate issue, I do remember AOC getting some patches on other things like nerfing Great Fairies' busted ZR, though iirc they were also released at the same time the DLC waves were released, so...yeah.

8 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Also, if there was a huge disparity between shipped and sold copies, they wouldn't have bragged about it. They'd have buried that flop fast. They'd likely have even prematurely announced and/or released a new Warriors title to save face, just like they did with Warriors Orochi 4 when it turned out that Dynasty Warriors 9 was the actual, factual worst game ever.

True, though it's still baffling that all we got from it is a "here's a wallpaper with a bunch of in-game portraits, yay!" and then complete silence for about 2 months since then.

[Fabulously Olivier]

I don't think the whole Shez's mom thing is as big of a loose thread as people make it out to be, nor do I even think that hook would sell expansion passes. As one small part of a larger whole, sure. But unless it's coming with a big hook like a Church/Wolves/Agarthan route, or a new country to fight in, it sounds like a dull dlc pitch. I mean, imagine if they tried to justify a whole story arc out of Soren's parentage in Radiant Dawn. 

 

I am still leaning towards a yes on dlc. Though I used to be 90/10 on it and now I'm 60/40.

[DefyingFates]

9 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

As one small part of a larger whole, sure.

That's what I was thinking too, don't worry.

You know, now that I think about it, there'd be a weird bit of symmetry in a DLC that explains Shez's mom. After all, Cindered Shadows did the same for Sitri: another parallel between our two mercs!

[Etrurian emperor]

My main hope would be a prequel story about Rhea and the Four Saints. Rhea got greatly shafted in Three Hopes so giving her the lead role would make up for that. It would also give us two new characters in the form of Indec and Macuil, as well as more screentime for Emenethis, and maybe even some unique designs for the 10 Elites, Wilhelm and Lycaon.

They could even introduce new Gameplay mechanics through their beast forms.

 

Edited October 12, 2022 by Etrurian emperor

[DefyingFates]

13 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Emenethis

You mean Epimenides? Though the fact that you got it wrong does say a lot about how well they were explained...

13 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

They could even introduce new Gameplay mechanics through their beast forms.

Spoiler

Considering Rhea only got her dragon form as her class skill and special action I don't have much hope pun unintended for shapeshifting gameplay (after all, this could be set before Indec and Macuil got "locked into" their dragon forms), but it would be cool to see!

 

[Etrurian emperor]

1 hour ago, DefyingFates said:

Spoiler

Considering Rhea only got her dragon form as her class skill and special action I don't have much hope pun unintended for shapeshifting gameplay (after all, this could be set before Indec and Macuil got "locked into" their dragon forms), but it would be cool to see!

 

On the other hand Warrior games have had transformation mechanics for a while now. Tiki in Warriors of course, but also the likes of Big Mom and Kaido in Pirate Warriors. Just a case if just adding a transformation gauge to Rhea and the gang, and otherwise just giving them regular movesets when they aren't transformed. 

 

1 hour ago, DefyingFates said:

You mean Epimenides? Though the fact that you got it wrong does say a lot about how well they were explained...

Yeah they're name's a pain. 

[Use the Falchion]

Just another random DLC idea I came up with the other day.

I call it the "Winter Expanse" for now, but I'm trying to come up with a better name. Basically, it's like the Ashen Wolves DLC in that it's semi-canon and takes place during a specific time in the game (that doesn't really matter too much). The "Winter Expanse," quite aptly, takes place during winter and varies which route players are on. (Beating each route's story allows players to pick up all characters though.) Basically, during the winter of the war where battles are put on pause (or at least that's how it happens during Azure Gleam), Shez and specific allies from the chose route are sent out to investigate what's happening in other regions of the world/battlefield, and reach out for allies. Like the Ashen Wolves DLC, this would be available from the main screen. However, once the hiatus is reached on any particular route, there would be a prompt asking if the player wants to start/continue/replay the Winter Expanse campaign. 

 

Azure Gleam:

Sreng - Shez and Sylvain set out to broker a peace deal with the Sreng after Sylvain's "foster" brother offers one. While there, Sylvain and his father discover that his first wife is alive, with his daughter no less! However, earning her trust, and working out a deal with the Sreng are two completely different and supremely complicated things. 

Albenia - ??? I just want to see the place. Maybe Ingrid and Shez are sent because Dimitri wants to increase trade with another frozen land and he wants to use their ports as docks to launch a sea invasion of the Empire?

[EDIT - Duscur was originally supposed to be here, but I sort of feel like Albenia's a more interesting choice.]

 

Scarlet Blaze 

Brigid - It is time for Petra to step up as queen in order to increase the amount of support the Empire will gain from its current vassal state. However, a Queen's subjects must first accept their new ruler, and her allies must stand as strong as she does. 

??? - Abyss? - There's some interesting stuff going on in Abyss, both for and against the church. I can see Edelgard showing a little interest in that and using that as proof for how the Church has failed Fodlan. Maybe we can use Ferdinand here and have a younger illegitimate sister of his be a recruit. NO I WILL NOT LET GO OF THIS IDEA.

 

Golden Wildfire

Almyra - It's time and long-overdue. Shez and we'll say Lorenz are sent to Almyra to help stop some of the Almyran King's other children from staging a coup. 

Morfis - It's closer to the Alliance/Federation after all. I guess the story could involve Lysithea looking for a cure to her twin Crests, which leads her to the City of Illusion in Morfis. 

 

All Routes - TWSITD Defectors - A group of Agarthans who want nothing to do but live peacefully on the surface, but the manipulation of their leaders and the war on the continent has made that nearly impossible. (...maybe this is too on-the-nose for current global politics, but I could see it working...) Kronya may or may not be in this group, originally as a spy but later as a true defector once things go sideways and her bosses leave her to die. 

 

Each of these places can introduce a new character or two alongside a new class, but I'd also like some of the other ideas that I've mentioned to happen as well, such as Dimitri having a cousin to recruit so we can follow up on the succession crisis, more named and individual Duscur allies, and seeing more of Claude's family. 

Finally, I think it would be good for this idea to have at least one of the DLC expansions to actually be available on another path, since the characters involved can be recruited on other paths. 

 

Also available in this dream expansion because I just worked in how it could work just this moment - Transforming Units! Each group is given their own set of transforming beasts. (The transforming characters/beasts isn't the new part, but who and for which route is.)

Azure Gleam - "Saints Reborn" - Flayn is tired of her uncles deciding to sit the war out, so Shez, Seteth, and Flayn go to convince them to join. 

Scarlet Blaze - "Weapons Repurposed" - Monica and Hanneman find out about a group of Crest Stone Experiment survivors from TWSITD's experiments and decides to recruit them, with Shez's help. After some careful magic surgery, the survivors are able to change almost at will, and decide to get a nice cold glass of revenge on their captors. 

Golden Wildfire - Marianne hears about a group of beast-people. Fearing that they may share her crest and she may become one of them, she runs away. Holst and Shez go after her, having heard another rumor about a tribe of wolf-people from an old tale and deciding to investigate. (Or something. And yes, Hilda makes more sense, but she was in the Ashen Wolves DLC, so I want Holst here.) It turns out that these were a type of people who lived here but were shunned/exiled/erased by the Church but would love to be of use in taking it down. 

 

 

EDIT 2: I'm now thinking of a third "expansion" that's late-game and depends on recruiting the Ashen Wolves and Byleth. Basically, when the Ashen Wolves were students, there was a time when they considered splitting the class into two groups for some friendly competition in the Abyss, the Ashen Wolves and the Argent Wyverns/Dragons. This idea was cut short when Garrag Mach shut down. Now, Yuri and co want to reconcile with their old classmates...but that might be easier said than done, depending on the route. (This would also be a fun place to put in any crossover characters, although that may steal the thunder of Engage at this point. Then again, we could put the latter half of the Cipher OCs here.) I'm calling this "The Wolf and the Dragon" as inspired from "The Dog and the Dragon" from Stormlight Archive 4, Rhythm of War, but we'll see if that changes. And yes, the initials are similar on purpose.

Edited October 16, 2022 by Use the Falchion

[DefyingFates]

@Use the Falchion This is SO well thought out, Falchion! All of it! I can definitely see the midquel stories in particular happening and the transforming units could be really fun in Hopes' gameplay loop too! I see you're a fan of the unused girl with Ferdinand's Crest from Three Houses 😛

[Use the Falchion]

41 minutes ago, DefyingFates said:

This is SO well thought out, Falchion! All of it! I can definitely see the midquel stories in particular happening and the transforming units could be really fun in Hopes' gameplay loop too!

Lol thanks! It's always fun to think of gameplay scenarios and ideas and characters, even if they won't ever exist or be expanded upon. It's difficult to balance speculation and expectation at times though.

 

42 minutes ago, DefyingFates said:

I see you're a fan of the unused girl with Ferdinand's Crest from Three Houses 😛

Yup! 😁 She'll always be the prime example of a great "what if" character for FE IMO, so any chance I can to bring her in as a potential DLC character, I will!

[DefyingFates]

3 minutes ago, Use the Falchion said:

She'll always be the prime example of a great "what if" character for FE IMO, so any chance I can to bring her in as a potential DLC character, I will!

Clever, thanks! I guess there's a non-zero chance of her getting the Linkle treatment, depending on how much development was put into her before she was scrapped~

That said, and I hate to bring the mood down, a Ferdinand-focused DLC would be... painful for obvious reasons.

[Use the Falchion]

2 minutes ago, DefyingFates said:

That said, and I hate to bring the mood down, a Ferdinand-focused DLC would be... painful for obvious reasons.

It would, and part of me is wondering if that's a potential reason that any Three Hopes DLC is taking a while, assuming some was planned. 

That being said, I'm personally on the side of recasting the role. Billy Kametz was phenomenal as Ferdinand and brought the character to life in a way that very few could, will, or should. But that doesn't mean he has to have been the only one to do so, nor would it be disrespectful to do so IMO. Voice actors (and regular actors) have been replaced for less. Shows have replaced actor after the titular character's actor passed away - see STARZ's Spartacus. 

Still, it's not a decision that can be made lightly...

[DefyingFates]

1 minute ago, Use the Falchion said:

Still, it's not a decision that can be made lightly...

Agreed, and I never thought that that could have been a reason to delay any potential DLC, but it makes sense! Especially since NoA would have to decide if they should have two separate VAs or redo vanilla Hopes with his new voice too. I doubt they'd go that far since Billy didn't get replaced for being a creep or anything, but Nintendo makes bizarre decisions most of the time, so who knows?

And yeah, if IS still has stories to tell with Ferdinand, I think they should recast him... but again, that's not an easy or comfortable thing to do.

[Fabulously Olivier]

I love Ferdie, but I doubt he'd be too central to any planned dlc. He's a fairly mid-importance character within the context of a huge cast, and they've done a great job of closing his story. They don't have to feature him beyond just making him playable.

[Use the Falchion]

3 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

I love Ferdie, but I doubt he'd be too central to any planned dlc. He's a fairly mid-importance character within the context of a huge cast, and they've done a great job of closing his story. They don't have to feature him beyond just making him playable.

I mean, I never thought I'd see Linhardt, Hilda, and Ashe all be in a DLC story together with any importance, but then we got the Ashen Wolves DLC. It's not impossible, just unlikely. Outside of that, new characters and stories mean potentially new voiced supports and dialogue. Depending on how involved Ferdinand is/was supposed to be, I can see that causing a delay. Not a long one, mind you, but a delay nevertheless. 

[Fabulously Olivier]

14 minutes ago, Use the Falchion said:

I mean, I never thought I'd see Linhardt, Hilda, and Ashe all be in a DLC story together with any importance, but then we got the Ashen Wolves DLC. It's not impossible, just unlikely. Outside of that, new characters and stories mean potentially new voiced supports and dialogue. Depending on how involved Ferdinand is/was supposed to be, I can see that causing a delay. Not a long one, mind you, but a delay nevertheless. 

I guess it depends on how early they would have planned any dlc. We knew about Billy months before the game released. He had fully retired at that point and they probably knew sometime earlier.

[Etrurian emperor]

I don't think Billy Kametz unfortunate passing will change much about whether Ferdinant will won't get any attention. Billy's peers and his fans obviously have strong feelings about his passing and perhaps Nintendo of America might as well. But the Japanese side of things might not even be all that much be aware of it.

There's a lot of indication that Japanese devs in general just don't have all that much affinity with the western voice actors. As long as Ferdie's Japanese VA is still around they most likely won't have the status of his western Va change anything regarding their decisions. 

[DefyingFates]

16 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

But the Japanese side of things might not even be all that much be aware of it.

There's a lot of indication that Japanese devs in general just don't have all that much affinity with the western voice actors. As long as Ferdie's Japanese VA is still around they most likely won't have the status of his western Va change anything regarding their decisions.

This is absolutely the case, but IS has been trying to release all their titles simultaneously worldwide in recent years (as have some other Japanese companies), so recasting Ferdinand over here would still be a bottleneck even if the JPN dubbing is done on schedule.

Edited October 18, 2022 by DefyingFates

[B.Leu]

I'd love a lot of things.

-Being able to have the Personal Skills of the NG+ characters.
-New characters, mostly Argathan, Nemesis, the Saints too, maybe even the Ten Elites.
-New classes, seriously, why did they cut off Hero? Maybe granting access to Personal Classes to other units.
-What I'd really like would be new Relics and Dark Relics, so that we can have more fun with units and crests. After much thought, I'm miffled that they decided to make the Sublime Creator Sword, when they could just have made it the Sword of the Creator so that Edelgard could play with it too, while deciding to make the Dark Creator Sword, which can be used by everyone. Just why? If you wanted to make a bonus best weapon useable by everyone, you could just have made it so it was Shez's unnamed sword, which would have came with a name on it.
-Tying up loose ends, like Shez's mom, Arval, this sort of things.
-New missions (duh)
-Bigger level cap maybe?
-Please, patch the buggy skills.
-No seriously. patch them. Please.

[Fabulously Olivier]

So in a dev interview yesterday, they said that they had at one point considered but scrapped an Outrealm Gate system for recruiting other characters. But really, they should reconsider for dlc, because that's a perfect way to add in both side content and high-demand characters without having to change the existing story.

[Seazas]

2 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

So in a dev interview yesterday, they said that they had at one point considered but scrapped an Outrealm Gate system for recruiting other characters. But really, they should reconsider for dlc, because that's a perfect way to add in both side content and high-demand characters without having to change the existing story.

Sounds kinda dumb. They lose the biggest selling point of an inevitable Warriors 2 by doing that. Especially when I think they'd look awful trying to force them in the Fodlan style, model type, and lighting.

Edited November 6, 2022 by Seazas

[Fabulously Olivier]

9 minutes ago, Seazas said:

Sounds kinda dumb. They lose the biggest selling point of an inevitable Warriors 2 by doing that. Especially when I think they'd look awful trying to force them in the Fodlan style, model type, and lighting.

Let's be real -Warriors 2 is at least half a decade and a console generation away. No one interested is going to be like "I would have gotten this game, but I got to play a handful of these characters years ago on weaker hardware, so nah."

 

As for the other point, I'd argue that the risk was substantially larger in Engage's style/lighting, and they pulled that off.

[Use the Falchion]

23 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

So in a dev interview yesterday, they said that they had at one point considered but scrapped an Outrealm Gate system for recruiting other characters. But really, they should reconsider for dlc, because that's a perfect way to add in both side content and high-demand characters without having to change the existing story.

I'd be down for that!

 

20 hours ago, Seazas said:

force them in the Fodlan style

Maybe, maybe not. I personally think it's worth trying out. Awakening, Cipher, and Heroes see/saw characters in all sorts of styles and artwork. Some work better than others, yes, but that doesn't mean it's NOT worth trying out either. 

[Fabulously Olivier]

On 11/6/2022 at 2:16 AM, B.Leu said:

 

-Please, patch the buggy skills.
-No seriously. patch them. Please.

Well, v1.02 apparently just came out, and we don't know what it does. Anyone care to test these skills again?

[Metal Flash]

On 11/6/2022 at 2:57 PM, Fabulously Olivier said:

So in a dev interview yesterday, they said that they had at one point considered but scrapped an Outrealm Gate system for recruiting other characters. But really, they should reconsider for dlc, because that's a perfect way to add in both side content and high-demand characters without having to change the existing story.

That could actually work, though I would worry about them being another 

Spoiler

Rhea/Seiros and Sothis