To Become an Elitist [Playlogs FE1-5] [currently playing: Thracia 776]

[Dayni]

On 10/30/2023 at 11:54 PM, Interdimensional Observer said:

On March 14th, 1992, Intelligent Systems released Fire Emblem Gaiden.

On December 29th, 1991, Super Robot Wars 2 was released. Its villain was this guy.:

Bian Zoldark. Seen here in his Original Generations portrayal.

Bian reminds me of Rudolf, and came into existence just a few months prior in an SRPG on the same console. Yet Bian's plot is much better thought through. That being...

• Bian realizes aliens threatening the Earth are coming, he warns the Earth government.
• Government doesn't believe Bian -until the aliens come covertly knocking. Then the corrupt selfish bureaucrats decide they will surrender humanity's freedom without a fight, and without everyone else on Earth knowing this.
• Bian is disgusted, refuses to let Earth be conquered without a fight. He spectacularly sabotages the confidential "peace talks", and announces the existence of aliens to all of humanity.
• In the same breath, Bian declares the formation of the Divine Crusaders. He welcomes all who would fight for Earth's independence from the alien menace to join him. Together, they shall overthrow the Earth government and establish a global military regime. For only united can humanity defeat the aliens.
  • Bian knows there will be a few bad apples who don't truly believe in his ideals and only seek personal power will join him. For the time being, he bears with them.
• While swift and aggressive in his maneuvers, Bian did include a caveat in his plans. If there emerged those with power possibly greater than his own, he would have the Divine Crusaders pull a few punches to see if the opposition could actually defeat him. If it came to it that they fought and he lost, Bian would entrust the protection of the Earth to those who slew him.

(Mind I'm familiar with the OGverse version of events, but they're fundamentally the same as in the SRW Classicverse.)

As for Rudolf, amending his plans to be the same as Bian's doesn't sound terrible. Rudolf wants to end the rule of the gods, and vanquish the Duma Cult. He feels the need to unify Valentia to do so. Rudolf sends his son away to keep him away from a man willing to become an outward villain for the sake of the greater good. When a force just so happening to be led by his son (it could've been anyone) contests him and his Dozer proxy, Rudolf holds back a bit and lets the Sofians compete with him for the role of godslayers.

Does it sound like a terrible revision?😅

  It doesn't seem like much of a deviation from what we got, though of course executing it better would allow it to actually look the part like Rudolf had a robust plan that wasn't assuming Alm would show up buffed. It does feel like the comparison differs with the setup in SRW (there technically being 4 different parties, but it's less difficult to shift things about than that statement implies) and with Rudolf determined to bring the world under a united banner it could be that he's all too willing to go ahead with the plan of conquering Zofia as it fits a might makes right mentality that they very much want to be the case with Duma getting monikers likw the War Father along with the other bits of Rigel lore we've seen in the remake.

Personally, I'd expand on the opportunism angle that SoV could have had with, say, Slayde (Seriously, have him show up with Berkut the first time then be blamed for the defeat and get shoved on guard duty, which he uses to snake his way further back to try and avoid getting involved) and show a degree of Zofian struggle internally, but that'd take a remake that altered more in the story.

18 minutes ago, gnip said:

Yeah, I can definitely accept "technical limitations" as an excuse, if that's it. It would fit my experience with the game if AI was tied to classes, not individual characters, which would explain why Rudolf the Gold Knight has the same AI as Generic#149 the Gold Knight. And we talked earlier how class data seems to be pretty compressed, what with many unpromoted classes sharing their bases with monsters or enemy-only classes, so "just add an Emperor class, lmao" probably wouldn't have been a valid option.

Yeah, though with some FEs it doesn't seem like the logic of tying AI to classes hasn't gone away.

18 minutes ago, gnip said:

...that is disturbingly fitting for the two.

Berkut would be a rising star in the Republican Party.

19 minutes ago, gnip said:

There is still plenty time to decide who I'm going to disappoint, of course. But to be honest, considering that I never played Awakening or Fates, I'm inclined to go full Crusader Kings here. Well, maybe not full CK. Dew not being part of my initial plans isn't just based on optimisation. And I vaguely remember that it's implied that Claude and Sylvia are more closely related than would be comfortable for a romantic relationship, so I'd rather... not.

So basically, I do want to plan pairings, for either mechanic or narrative pay-off. Erinys/Claude is one that I want to do because "magic-based Pegasus Knight" sounds cool, and I can certainly be talked into a Finn pairing if there's a nice follow-up to that in Gen 2. For now, I'll just keep the suggestions (and my initial plans) in my FE.txt document, add any further opinion offered, and play Mystery before thinking too hard on it. 

That is not to say that I don't welcome discussion on the topic, I just might not give my own 2ct on it.  

Considering nobody said anything about Aideen, I suppose sticking to Midir/Aideen might as well do then after all. People asked for Azelle and Claude elsewhere, Pursuit is frankly oppressive to the game's meta for this stuff and Midir has specific benefits on top of that, so might as well stick with the optimal pick. Although, if you want to use Finn for that thing mentioned earlier, I won't mind.

Definitely don't go full CK. I think we all know how that'd turn out in this game.

33 minutes ago, gnip said:

Into Mystery of the Emblem we go. I think I started playing this game twice, both times Book 1, and both times not getting very far into the game, as you can see. I think it's safe to assume that I was very distraught by the lack of Sheeda's #1 simp, so I couldn't stomach playing past this map.

RIP Roger.

You mention the aesthetics of this menu further down and how the transitions between maps are neat, but frankly just sitting on it and listening to the menu theme is great on it's own. I can imagine the game being told as a story in some tavern around the fire in the middle of the room or a map of Archanea with it, the teller regaling the larger than life Marth befitting how other talk of him in the future.

The closest FE has gotten to that since for me? SoV, though I'd say it more invokes a column marching with drums beating as the leave, likely to their doom. I'd wonder if whoever was on that took inspiration from this piece, but that's probably just me.

36 minutes ago, gnip said:

I'd be surprised if he came close to FE11!Marth's general terribleness, though.

I'd say no.

38 minutes ago, gnip said:

His bases and growths are unchanged, unless I missed something, and they are still bad. He does at least have a passable Spd growth, but there's just a bunch of issues, with the obvious starting point being his low movement. He also lost access to swords, and while he'd be unable to double with an Iron Sword anyway, thanks to the increased doubling threshold, but this makes it all the less likely that he'll be able to grow out of his awful Spd base in a timely fashion. His terrible Lck is also relevant now - FE3 finally gifts us with crit mitigation, so DOGA is more susceptible to crits than most.

It's a shame that this game leaves so few lance options because of how dismounting works, but I guess it's a case for armours. If only they made a stronger case, but at least Lorenz is still a thing here.

40 minutes ago, gnip said:

Holy hell, how could I forget to mention this? We can trade items now! Trade items! Back and forth!

We need What's this?, but for someone shocked that FE actually plays halfway decently.

41 minutes ago, gnip said:

Instead, I was feeding kills to Gordon and DOGA, although the latter disqualified himself by opening with a +Skl only level-up for his debut. And he'd be a fourth Knight Crest user, of course.

RIP Doga

41 minutes ago, gnip said:

Gordon, meanwhile, opened with a +Spd level, clearly showing that the stars are favouring him. He then got a second, worse level near the end of the fight, but I'm still going to try and commit to good ol' Gaggles.

Gordin, default archer guy gets a good stat.

42 minutes ago, gnip said:

: "Oh, you're the prince of Aritia! It#s like a dream to be able to see you... This... this Vulnerary is a small gift from me. Please accept it."

Ruben wept.

As do I.

42 minutes ago, gnip said:

Very disappointed that he didn't walk up to Gazzak and slap him.

Imagine if that happened in any game.

We'd be cheering so loud.

43 minutes ago, gnip said:

...but DOGA then manages to set up an Iron Bow kill for Gordon. There, the worse level-up.

Better than nothing.

2 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Genealogy has the strongest villagers. In other games, bandits disintegrate villages in a blink, the defiant and enduring wills of Jugdrali citizens allow them to hold out for a whole nine turns.

Jugdral Villages are also insane compared to castles, one wrong guy touches them and they collapse. 😛

2 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

So many stat ups -but none of them are Str/Def. The Caeda conundrum.😄

Isn't some of that because the level ups are kinda split so you really roll for one or the other at a time?

Or have I misunderstood that?

[Interdimensional Observer]

2 hours ago, gnip said:

We should both have a swing at Civ1.

The days when Wonders, instead of being IRL structures, were things like "Newton's Academy" and "Leonardo's Workshop", how quaint.😛

It'd be something alright. And I am aware it'd require some extra effort to get working, being so old a PC game that modern programming has trouble with it. Emulation of a PC game sounds odd, but I suppose that'd be kinda what happens.

Pre-Civ5, I have been considering playing the DS version of Civilization Revolution, which is how I first learned of the franchise a decade-and-a-half ago. Although Mao and Stalin are one reason I've been putting that idea off.

2 hours ago, gnip said:

A couple months ago, there was some Europa Universalis IV publicity stunt where a couple youtubers/streamers played the oldest available version of that game in multiplayer to celebrate its 10th anniversary. I'm just thinking of that because there was a lot of "what do you mean, I can't do this basic thing" moments in the one video I watched of it.

(the slightly infuriating part is that some of those "basic things" are still unavailable in the base game. EU4 had the really annoying habit of putting QoL stuff into DLC, or introduce a new mechanic in the free patch but put some additional actions related to it into the accompanying DLC)

Paradox reallllly knows how to extend the life of a game.😄 I'm sure a few players have lightly pondered the Theseus's Ship quandary with these.

 

1 hour ago, Punished Dayni said:

Isn't some of that because the level ups are kinda split so you really roll for one or the other at a time?

Or have I misunderstood that?

I'm not sure how FE3 level programming works.

All I was saying is soooo many +1s in a single level-up, that's amazing. -Except none of them are the two stats that cripples a Peg Knight's performance.😑

I'm not saying outright that a Str level > Skl/Spd/Lck/WpnLvl/HP level for Caeda, but I kinda am?😆

1 hour ago, Punished Dayni said:

Definitely don't go full CK. I think we all know how that'd turn out in this game.

This is not what you meant, but...

1. SeliphxJamke!Lana
2. LeifxNanna (Father irrelevant.)
3. ShannanxPatty (Father irrelevant.)
4. AresxClaud!Lynn
5. Lex!UlsterxJulia
6. Lewyn!CedxAzelle!Tine
7. Azelle!ArthurxLewyn!Phee
8. Claud!CaiprexLex!Larcei

Now, with the exception of Julia and Caipre, these are all pretty normal pairings, both in Gen 1 and Gen 2 (most of these getting final chapter conversations). I suppose we could swap Caipre for Oifey for Larcei's love (ignore the part where he helped raise her). Also, giving Nanna or Patty Finn as a father would add another wrinkle, as Finn regardless of his status growing up would definitely be enfeoffed with a grand title and estate by Leif, even if he remains holy-bloodless.

The King of Grannvale is married to Verdane's princess. The King of United Thracia is married to the 1.5 cousin of the King of Agustria and his sister is possibly married to her Nohr sibling. The King of Issach is married to the sister of Duke Jungby. The King of Agustria is married to the sister of Duke Edda. Duke Dozel, 1.5 cousin to the King of Issach is married to the princess of Grannvale. The King of Silesse and Duke Velthomer marry each other's sister (with Tine becoming Duchess Freege according to the FE4 ending generator?). And we have either Duke Edda or Duke Chalphy marry Duke Dozel's sister/King Issach's 1.5 cousin.

It's a beautiful set of the-highest-brick-in-the-socio-political-pyramid intermarriages.😄 Realistic? Perhaps so actually? -Minus the love aspect.

Although even if this were realistic, I would love to write a drama, set... how about 50-55 years later? Gen 3 is in full adulthood, a hanger-on or three from Gen 2 is still alive, and Gen 4 has begun reaching maturity. The decades upon decades of unending prosperity in Jugdral that flowed since the fall of the Grannvale Empire, look as though they shall continue. But... the veneer of tranquility shall soon be broken, and blood shall flow more freely than water.🍷😈

[Jotari]

8 hours ago, gnip said:

  Hide contents

 

Darn, and this Mystery version uses the h-less spelling. We are doomed.

 

Well, I forced you to pick between Matthis and Roshe, cruel as I am.

 

Celica's first swampy map has three Canters actually. I don't remember if anything in this playthough confirmed or disproved your theory, though. It does sound realistic, and would also explain why Witches don't disappear if you kill the Queen Witch - the class wouldn't have a "summoned" tag.

In any case, it does work very well for the final map specifically.

My working theory is that Camüü might actually have been meant to be written as an idiot, not a tragic hero, what with Sheeda and Lorenz figuring out why blind loyalty is bad, actually - on the very same map. Nobody was more surprised by everybody loving the dumbass than Kaga himself. So I wouldn't completely rule out Rudolf being intentially written as a complete fool, either.

M E I ẞ E N

I was already considering him, actually - I used Marrich in FE1, so I might use Linde in Book 1 and Yubello in Book 2. The alternative is whatever Marrich's rival is called in this patch, but I might just use Yubello and see how he levels up, and swap to That Guy if the answer is "poorly".

Glad that I can now enjoy some of the QoL improvements from the SNES era that we, in our decadence, take for granted, nay, dismiss as obsolete.  

Do they inherently not double, like Corrin, or are their attacks just so heavy (or their Spd bases so low) that doubling is a foolish dream? Either way, good information to have.

I mean, Marth killing Medeus at least makes narrative sense, much more sense than FE11!Marth being awful at fighting the dragonman. Ike and Ashy don't really have any personal conflict. Hell, half of Ike's companions have more of a bone to pick with him, as demonstrated by Ashnard having dozens of boss convos that you only see if you fuck up, voluntarily or not.

"Badass warrior lady becomes domesticated" trope annoys me.

I said this about FE1, too: Fire Emblem's core gameplay is good. FE1 got points docked because it's needlessly annoying to actually move your pieces on the board; Gaiden gets points docked because the board ranks between "bland" and "a pile of poo" the majority of the time. But in both cases, the basic "move your characters into a working formation", "level-up procs make monkey brain happy", and eventually "your growth project starts stomping the enemy" concepts still apply, and keep the game from going into the shit tiers. A game with FE1's UI and without Fire Emblem's good basis would certainly not cling to C, or even D tier.

That is true, but Mycen appearing at the end of chapter 1 also makes it a bit frustrating that he doesn't join at that point (although considering that he isn't a hot girl with not enough clothing, most players probably didn't care too much). That wouldn't make him a proper Jeigan-y character, of course, but a crutch for chapter 3 wouldn't be a bad thing for Alm's team, either. With somewhat reduced stats, presumably, or maybe even as a mid-level Paladin that is close to promotion, even closer than Matilda.

And I would've suggested Enemy General McGee as a back-up in case Mycen didn't make it through chapters 3 and 4, not the intended exposition bot. Getting a less satisfying set-up seems an appropriate punishment for letting Alm's gramps die!

Thanks!

Yeah, I can definitely accept "technical limitations" as an excuse, if that's it. It would fit my experience with the game if AI was tied to classes, not individual characters, which would explain why Rudolf the Gold Knight has the same AI as Generic#149 the Gold Knight. And we talked earlier how class data seems to be pretty compressed, what with many unpromoted classes sharing their bases with monsters or enemy-only classes, so "just add an Emperor class, lmao" probably wouldn't have been a valid option.

...that is disturbingly fitting for the two.

That would've been a good explanation, yeah. And while the whole of it is a big ol' mess, I do like the idea that Mila instinctively tries to protect her family in isolation.

Wouldn't surprise me, it would be more than a decade old at this point. I know there's a few webcomics that have survived that long, but it seems very natural that someone would want to move on from a project at some point.

Looks good! And I will totally consider this the first piece of fanart related to a project of mine, even though it stems from a discussion I didn't really add anything to 

---

To bundle and condense the comments on Genealogy:

Ruben:
	Substitutes instead of Sylvia and Erinys's kids
	No Finn marriage, let him keep Brave Lance

Observer:
	Bridget/Holyn - sword rank for Patty, big Skl growth for Faval/Febail
	Ayra/Lex or Ayra/Naoise
	Eriys/Azelle and Sylvia/Claude as an option, although Erinys/Claude and Sylvia/--- is good, too

Shaky:
	Do marry Finn because he has sweet dialogue with his kid(s)

Jotari:
	No shipping - let pairings happen as the come.

1st Mate:
	Erinys/Claude

There is still plenty time to decide who I'm going to disappoint, of course. But to be honest, considering that I never played Awakening or Fates, I'm inclined to go full Crusader Kings here. Well, maybe not full CK. Dew not being part of my initial plans isn't just based on optimisation. And I vaguely remember that it's implied that Claude and Sylvia are more closely related than would be comfortable for a romantic relationship, so I'd rather... not.

So basically, I do want to plan pairings, for either mechanic or narrative pay-off. Erinys/Claude is one that I want to do because "magic-based Pegasus Knight" sounds cool, and I can certainly be talked into a Finn pairing if there's a nice follow-up to that in Gen 2. For now, I'll just keep the suggestions (and my initial plans) in my FE.txt document, add any further opinion offered, and play Mystery before thinking too hard on it. 

That is not to say that I don't welcome discussion on the topic, I just might not give my own 2ct on it.  

Answers!

 

What's funny about them not bothering to give Rudolf a unique class is that he can't mechanically use the Falchion. He only has lance access. I think I could do without someone like those pointless white dragons if it mean Rudolf could have been a sword cav just to resolve this story gameplay disconnect. And SoV failed to rectify it by insisting on one weapon per Non Alm class.

8 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Nothing particularly disagreeable, from my perspective.

That's fine, it'll add to the "first game in the series that ever had a UI" aesthetic.

I hate Abel's portrait in this game, for one very specific reason: Why are his shoulder pads two different colors? If it's shading, it's really poor shading, because his jacket under the pauldron is not similarly obscured. Not to mention it's an entirely different shade of green. It just looks off.

By contrast, Gordon's shades of green are a lot more subdued, so the contrast isn't as stark.

Nitpick, I know, but hey. We're playing FE1 again. I've gotta find something to talk about before we get to the interesting stuff.

No, it's hideous. But well, first game with a UI.

Of all the games that will be played in this playlog, this is the second worst.

I seem to recall mentioning this earlier in the thread, but I'll mention it again: In this game, the sad death music plays for bosses as well as playables. This is really funny when you kill Extremely Evil Man #4 and the game wants you to mourn him.

Roshe had a good run. Gotta keep things spicy.

There's evidence of Kaga not being particularly supportive of this mindset in a few places of his games. Most notably in Thracia (not going into detail), the character who is (pretty much) always right argues against praise being given towards the Camus and calls him out for still being in service of a country conducting childhunts, even if he's not entirely chipper about it.

Man, I'm gonna miss saying Meißen.

Yubello benefits from this game's systems, he did not like the transition to FE12. Here he's actually got pretty sweet growths, and 1 meme magic base is less horrid because caps are 20.

Elrean is also pretty cool, but I'll leave it to your discretion which to use. I like both. Though the little twin power duo is always a fun time. They're FE children that I don't hate - that should be indicative of how cool they are.

Aww. No Hawk, then. Too bad.

Get Brigid's substitutes in that case, that was the other one I entertained requesting

Genuinely, why was Wrys dropped in Book 1? His map is still here, and an early game healer is beneficial even if we don't have to wait that long for Lena. Was it seriously a case of "we can only fit in X units"? In which case, gee, drop one of the axe bros. Maybe it's just pure bald discrimination.

[Jotari]

7 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

I respect it.

Hey, that's where I stopped too!

I fucking love this opening though. The classic music I'm used to hearing in SD, the opening of the game with the Emblem and the scrolls. I can hear the calming and mystical music emanating from this screenshot. God, I love the startup menu for this game. Possibly my favorite in the series. Something about feels genuinely magical to me.

I also love how the map zooms in and out as you play the game which is even shown here and it zooms accordingly to the chapter of the book you're playing instead of just transitioning to a black screen, and I just love the SNES Archanea music so much. Too bad book 1 will actually show the worst of that through having the same problem of map themes being the fucking same for 97% of the game. 

Shit, I brought it up before thinking about when or whether you'd mention it. Man, it's just so cool...

I'm already gushing. Fuck, I really do love this game, but I have so many problems with it.

Where's the fun in playing old games if you're just going to use modern translations that make the script basicaly the same to the remake. Embrace Akeneia and Nabarl.

There is something unimaginably charming to seeing the map I've played at least 15 times by now in SNES coloring.

A lot worse. Unlucky. Sword units are always good on account of having little to weigh them down, but most of what made him great in FE1 is now gone. Le sad.

My Jeigan was sure going wild.

He looks amazing, and at the end of the day, isn't that all that FE fans ever care about?

She's still an unfaithful bi-

 

He mostly shines in the early game dependent on how the player paves his way to the seize point, as this game's biggest crime will soon prevent you from abusing healing.

Automatically 20 times better than FE1. This cannot be debated to the only person in the world that wants to say otherwise.

Just give me like 3 more runs and I'll have all of them to talk about.

I still fucking hate Ceada

 

On one hand, you could be grateful that FE4 begins telling you a lot more about stats, but it's FE4. Nobody looks at the stats. You just threw Sigurd and your other holy weapon users to the front lines. No one's doing the math for 12 different enemies attacking you. You'll probably be fine.

This will be the part of the thread where Nerdy Jones shows his loser side the most, as I simply must point out how much I love these portraits. They're not even stellar, but they feel so classic. Most of FE1's portraits are either laughably shit or just alright (although the sprites in battle were great), but I can't help but really like these. Like I mentioned before, I actually really love FE3 artwork, and I'm pretty sure Ruben doesn't while I also recently got into an argument over FE4 artwork being good vs bad (it's bad). Somehow, it even feels nostalgic and like something you would see in an early 90's CRPG or something and I like the shading introduced here, while FE4 is just the same people with equally large foreheads and the exact same faces. 

Narrative sense, schmaritive scents. It's boring. Lords are rarely the highlight of the game. There's too many other units I love that I want to see be in the spotlight through my actions. Don't hold my hand and tell me to follow the narrative path. Arran killing him is 500 times more meaningful in my eyes, and I'm glad this game at least lets me do that.

Even when it comes to people that seemingly aren't depraved, shipping discussion becomes a divided topic.

Sometimes I worry that I'm unwanted for complaining too much, but then I remember that Ruben is the pettiest person on the planet.

That's mostly a joke, but come on my guy! It looks fine! I know you draw from time to time, but this feels like an artist saying something is horribly off while the crowd doesn't notice the .05% coloring mis-match in one spot. I like that the shading is there. He's slightly leaning and the shading is supposed to show that. Maybe it shouldn't've be so dark, but I'd certainly prefer it there than it not being there at all. I won't pretend I fully know what I'm talking about, but this is easily his coolest portrait. The FE11 one is generic and the FE1 one...I don't have to say anything. 

It's cool man! It's cool! These portraits are awesome! I love all of these so far.

Except Caeda. Her presence disgusts me.

 

Okay, reading back, I sound like I'm taking this super seriously. My bad. I just got shocked seeing something that made me instinctively react with "Bro is TRYING to be as nitpicky as possible". It isn't THAT bad, is it?

This is a nitpick I can complain about at least. I don't like getting a rise in my anxiety every time I kill a boss. I just can't get used to it. For a split second, my heart skips a beat and I immediately think "ohmygoddidimiscalculatedidhehavecounterohfuckohshit". Why Kaga why?

It is quite a feeling.

Blame Serenes edit glitch for the double post.

The pinnacle of SNES portrait has to be Archanea Saga.

Though in a game (4 games?) with literally less than 30 characters, and only 10 new characters to design...did they really have to give Frost and Brzark/Bulzark the same face?

7 hours ago, Punished Dayni said:

 

Jugdral Villages are also insane compared to castles, one wrong guy touches them and they collapse. 😛

 

I was going to say "Yeah but that one guy is freaking Sigurd!" But then I realized you were talking about enemies retaking your castle. And now because I'm on mobile I can't edit away your quote and thus have to explain why I'm saying anything at all.

 

[ping]

OK, I shall open all three spoiler tags before copying anything into the post. Hopefully, that will work without making half of the post unreadable...

FE3 Book 1 Chapter 2: Pirates of Garda

Spoiler

Across the shore from the Kingdom of Talis is Garda port. For a long time it has been a poor, but peaceful port town. One day it was suddenly attacked by a pirate gang and it has since become their base. From Garda port, Marth begins the first steps to liberating his homeland.

Swoosh!

Battle preparations! With the ability to trade items around, plus access to the supply! I can't believe all these wonderful tools we have at our disposal. 

No unit repositioning, though. Let's not get greedy.

: "Prince Marth, I am Oguma, a Talis mercenary. I have been ordered by my king to join your army, along with my three subordinates. This is Garda port, which is currently ruled by pirates. The Grunian army has also come to defeat your highness. No matter what happens, please be cautious."

 

The "Grunian Army" apparently consists of two Cavaliers, or Social Knights, I guess. Not the most fearsome enemy, it seems.

This map is, of course, completely ruined compared to FE1, by replacing Darros with a generic enemy Pirate. If that weren't the case, it would've been changed to a similar degree to the first one, i.e. hardly at all, and maybe even a bit less. There's some tiny differences, like the mountain range in the bottom left, but nothing that would impact gameplay very much. Enemies have exactly the same starting locations, while the blue units are swapped around a little bit, like Gordon, Jeigan, and Sheeda rotating their positions.

Now, our new recruits...

[HP 80% | Str 40% | Skl 20% | Spd 30% | Lck 40% | WLv 70% | Def 30%]

Oguma is mostly unchanged - same base stats and the only growth change is an extra +10% Def. Better than nothing, but only slightly. The ability to double stuff consistenly should still make him a good unit, although I don't really have a good reference point for how good exactly he is in FE1, having used Raddy as my only swordie.

I can still say that Oguma is more of a stand-out character now, as the three axe bros have all been nerfed significantly...:

[HP 60% | Str 50% | Skl 50% | Spd 50% | Lck 70% | WLv 30% | Def 50%]

And that includes Barts, even though his raw stats are entirely unchanged from FE1. However, even he really hates the increased doubling threshold, since he is now unable to double literally anything with his 2 AS. He needs only one proc off his 50% Spd growth for that to change, since enemies still tend to run around with a zero in that stat, but that's obviously still much worse than just, you know, doubling immediately and without hoping on a coinflip. Still, Barts easily seems like the most viable of the Axe trio.

[HP 90% | Str 50% | Skl 50% | Spd 10% | Lck 30% | WLv 20% | Def 50%]

Saji needs three Spd procs off a 10% growth in order to double anything. He already was the worst of the trio in FE1, needing the even more inaccurate Hammer to stay at 1 AS, but now that 1 AS is  worthless, but that doesn't matter because he doesn't even have a Hammer anyway. Poor guy.

No, I didn't make a mistake copying that HP growth from the main site. And no, the main site didn't mistakenly write 10 instead of 100, either - Maji leveled up once and is still at 22 HP. He just lost 90% HP growths, with the only compensation being the same +2 base HP increase that Saji got. Which I didn't even mention because it honestly hardly  matters.

At least Maji is closer to Barts when it comes to reaching the lowest doubling threshold, if slightly worse because his Spd growth is a bit lower. But Shaky's man still got shafted.

To get back to a more positive note: I forgot to mention these sweet little pictures for generic enemies. I really like these.

The boss of the map is still a bit of a scrub, hitting neither hard nor accurately with that Hand Axe. 

__

And the map isn't really much harder than the FE1 incarnation, either, despite the lower overall powerlevel of our team after the Axe Bro's tragic decline. I again split up the group, with the more mobile units charging ahead towards the throne.

Having Jeigan run ahead a little in the lower part of the map induces Kashim to run south, far away from his companion. I think he didn't start the fight aggressive in FE1, so that would be a bit of a change, but I might misremember that.

: "Ah... Sheeda, I'm sorry. My mother fell ill. I must find gold to buy medicine for her..."
: "So you joined the pirates, I see. Well, I have some gold here. Take it to buy medicine for your mother. 
: "...! You would help a traitor like me... Sheeda, please forgive me!! I...! Sheeda, I will lend my life to you!"

Now, technically Sheeda still is in the other Hunter's range talking to Kashim like that. But the only tile he'd be able to attack from is the one two tiles north of her, making it really easy to shield her from harm.

[HP 70% | Str 60% | Skl 40% | Spd 40% | Lck 20% | WLv 20% | Def 20%]

Kashim was also granted a small base stat increase - +2 Skl, and no longer a random Lck stat, to be precise. More importantly, though, he was also granted the ability to promote! Horseman doesn't grant any outstanding combat bonuses (only +2 Skl/Def; even the HP/WLv class bases are lower than Kashim's personal ones), but it's still +3 Move and additional levels to grow, with Kashim's Str/Spd growths being quite impressive. As they are unchanged, they are balanced (as far as one can use such a word to describe FE1) around a character that does not get to use a promotion item.

Kashim does have a slow start, though, with the same 2 AS that plagues Barts and Maji. It does help that bows have a higher base accuracy, though. It seems that somebody decided that "you can't have more than 100% accuracy, duh", but Kashim has 108 hit with his Iron Bow.

One difference from FE1 is that without any pirates to recruit, Marth is free to run west immediately, so he can easily dispatch one of the Social Knights with his Rapier.

...That's a good start!

__

So that's the situation. All under control in the west, and nothing immediately scary in the east, either. However, I put Barts left of the little bridge so that he can intercept the Thief if necessary...

...which becomes a mistake because I misclick and have Gordon attack some random Pirate instead of the Thief. Because of that, Barts can't be part of the defensive formation...

__

...which then leads to Saji and Maji getting kinda low on HP.

__

But while this still doesn't look solid, exactly, this still works as a formation: The Hand Axe Pirate to the north goes after Saji in the west, because he's the most injured, so he and the Hunter don't team up on anybody. Meanwhile, the other Pirate is low on HP and paralysed because both forts are currently blocked.

A good thing that nobody died, too, because I'm not sure if Saji is more valuable to the team than a Str proc on Sheeda.

: "Citizens of Aritia, please rescue Sister Rena. Miss Rena helped to cure the poor and sick. However, she didn't heed our warning and went to the dreaded Devil Mountain. We haven't seen her since. The way Miss Rena treated us was like that of an angel. 

"Please, you must rescue her. For this, we have gathered 3000 Gold. We will leave Miss Rena to you."

The group in the west really didn't face any serious opposition. I was caught slightly off guard because the Pirates flanking the boss do move, unlike in chapter 1, but nobody was in any danger because of that.

: "Don't underestimate the Garda pirates. Taste my Hand Axe!"

The boss kill ends up on Marth, with a crit on enemy phase, and a repeat of the first, excellent level (so add HP to what's on the screen).

: "To think, there could be such a foe..."

Maybe I'm crazy, but the translation has a bit of a "German English" vibe sometimes. Here, I think, there shouldn't be a comma between think and there, but in German grammar, there would be. 

Could be any other language with similar comma rules in this kind of syntax, of course. I vaguely remember a discussion in a completely different context if the author of a game mod was German, Dutch, or maybe Swedish, based on awkward grammar in their dialogues.

But that's the map. Not the most detailed description of the fight, because it really isn't too different from FE1. A bit more enjoyable because this game simply plays more smoothly than FE1 (although the biggest problem with that one - item management - hadn't been too bad just yet at this point), but also more soul-crushing because not only has Darros been kicked out of the game, the other axe guys probably wish they had been, too, with those nerfs they have been hit with.

"Your highness, thank you very much for chasing off the pirates. Now we can finally live in peace once again. To reach Orleans from here, you must cross Devil Mountain. Please be careful. Devil Mountain is ruled by the Samsian gang of bandits. They have raided villages and ambushed travellers. They're a fearful bunch. Especially that bodyguard, Navarre, who has a frightening sword arm. I sincerely hope that your journey is safe."

The Team:

	Lv. 	   HP Str Skl Spd Lck WLv Def Res  +XP
Marth	3.32	   20   7   6   9   7   8   7   0  +136
Jeigan	1.36	   22   7  10   8   1  10   9   6  +6	(base)
Kain	1.58	   20   7   5   6   3   5   7   0  +20  (base)
Abel	1.23	   20   6   7   7   2   6   7   0  +13  (base)

Sheeda	3.02	   18   6   8  14  10   8   7   6  +64
DOGA	2.84	   20   7   4   3   1   4  11   0  +40
Gordon	4.52	   20   5   6   5   6   6   6   0  +152
Oguma	3.01	   23   6  11  12   4   7   6   0  +101

Barts	5.10	   24  10   6   9   5   6   6   0  +10	(base)
Saji	3.10	   22   8   4   7   1   5   5   0  +10	(base)
Maji	4.58	   22   7   5   9   5   3   6   0  +158
Kashim	3.24	   21   7   4   6   3   6   4   0  +24	(base)

• Maji is the only man who can stop Gordon from being the top earner two maps in a row.

FE3 Book 1 Chapter 3: Devil Mountain

Spoiler

Travelling from the frontier regions to Akaneia, Marth's biggest challenge has appeared. The Samsufe Peak is a steep mountain that divides the peninsula into northern and southern regions.

Since some unknown time, bandits made it their base, and they started attacking neighboring villages and travellers. Raids, kidnaps, setting fires... Their crimes are known to many. In fear, the people called the mountain "Devil Mountain". And they called thse gathered at Samsufe the demonic "Samsians"...

: "Hurry, Miss Rena! If you aren't quick, we'll both be finished. I heard the Aritian knights have arrived towards the south. Now's our chance to escape. Please hang on, you can do it!"

"I'm sorry... But, I still haven't found my precious Relive staff... Julian! Forget about me and flee yourself! If it's just you, I can teleport you away to safety with my Warp staff."

"How is that going to help? Don't you understand why I betrayed them in the first place? ...Anyway. I will find that staff later. For now, let's just make our escape! Hurry! Go!!"

Once again, some very minor changes to the map. The areas that actually matter, i.e. where there's enemies, seem to be unchanged, with the terrain around the path west having some alterations. Your characters' starting locations are once again swapped around a bit, and also crunched together - in FE1, Castor started the map all the way west on the tile north of the lower central fort.

[HP 80% | Str 70% | Skl 50% | Spd 50% | Lck 80% | WLv 40% | Def 30%]

The one change to Julian isn't insignificant: He has a WLv growth now. And if you level him up, chances are that it's even going to matter - the Armourslayer requires 3 WLv, although the next tier (Killing Edge, Wyrmslayer) will require 7. Still realistic to reach, though not guaranteed.

Other than that, I don't see why he would be significantly different from his FE1 incarnation. No promotion, but excellent growths - at Lv.20, if you get him there, Julian averages 16 Str / 20 Spd and 31 HP / 9 Def, which seems kinda frail, but quite strong offensively in a game with stat caps of 20 across the board. I assume that Oguma and Navarra are stronger (and don't have to spend their turns going after treasure chests), but Julian seems decent enough if you want to use him as a fighter (and maybe have RIckard be your primary thief).

[HP 10% | Str 20% | Skl 40% | Spd 20% | Lck 70% | WLv 40% | Def 10%]

Apart from her Spd growth, which is unchanged, Rena's growths have all been improved. Yes, that includes HP/Def.

Also, staves do scale with Mag now, so there is a point in leveling up Rena, even if you're not planning to promote her. If you do, it's probably going to be a disappointing endeavour, what with promo gains working "normally" now. With Rena's growth frankly being awful, she's not going to suddenly become strong as a pope, but of course, staff/10 is always going to be a very high rating for a unit.

I don't think this map plays too differently from its FE1 version, either. Two groups of enemies, both weak enough that it's not a big deal to split up the team. 

On difference, I believe, is that Navarre moves after the enemies around him. In theory usable to have those other red units block him from attacking you, but in practice, there's not much reason not to just retreat out of his range.

: "Hoho! You're looking very lively, young lad! It isn't an easy task to reach a place like this. I will reward you with this axe. What do think? [sic] It looks impressive, no? However... This Devil Axe is a cursed axe that draws blood from its user. It would be best not to use it at all!!"

And there isn't even a Dread Pirate class to use it freely.

I think I used this exact tactic for FE1, too - position Sheeda in a way that will lure some of Navarre's companions back into the cul-de-sac. Works quite well, with only one of the Pirates still coming our way.

: "Why would a persona like you become a bodyguard for these bandits? 

: "...!? Huh, who are you? I have no business with women or children! Get out of here!!"

: "Please, stop this unnecessary fighting... and lend your strength to us. If you're unwilling, you can cut me down with your sword right now."

: "...I won't point my sword at women. Since you risked your own life to request for me, I don't have a choice... I will lend my strength to you."

And Oguma will lend his less expensive sword to you ecause I forgot to pack one extra. I might be using Navarre long-term this run since I'm curious how the early-joining Mercenaries perform. The rather underleveled Raddy wasn't that impressive, unfortunately.

[HP 90% | Str 50% | Skl 40% | Spd 50% | Lck 60% | Wlv 30% | Def 20%]

Navarre's one change is a +20 increase to his Lck growth, and of course he didn't have a fixed base in that stat before. Not the most impactful buff to receive, but it's not like he needed one. His role as the Merc with slightly lower bases, but better growths compared to Oguma is staying the same, and looks like a good one to have. 

At the same time, the western group is starting to engage the enemy, too. One of the Hunters already went down to Abel (Javelin on EP) and Kashim.

...dang it, I had this joke worked out where I show a picture of Saji and ponder if I could get away with mixing up him and Maji, just to realise, after looking at this picture, that because you can see stats now! With numbers!, no, you would be able to spot the difference if you paid attention. But apparently, I didn't load the Saji screenshot on the USB stick.

I'll just run through the rest of the fight real quick. I didn't really send any big XP target other than Marth to the west, so everybody in that group grabs a little piece of the pie...

...including Jeigan with a nice crit, and a nice empty level-up as a reward.

: "So you guys want to die? I'll grant your wish!"

Kashim starts the boss fight with a bit of enemy phase chip...

...but Marth does the rest of the work, laughing at the reduced accuracy from the Steel Sword and critting Haiman after getting two hits in a row before that, too.

He also gets the same HP/Str/Spd/Wlv level-up for a third time in a row, which supports what the Observer said about a selection of fixed level-up combinations.

: "Urgh... I'll remember you..."

On the other side of the map, I do want to point out that that Maji got both the Thief kills.

He says "Thank you" in his own special way.

Oh hey, what's-his-face appears out of nowhere in this version of the story, too.

: "We found 10000 Gold inside the castle, which the bandits left behind. With these we can make further preparations. Excellent! Tomorrow we will reach Orleans. Until then, please rest well."

The Team:

	Lv. 	   HP Str Skl Spd Lck WLv Def Res  +XP
Marth	4.36	   21   8   6  10   7   9   7   0  +104
Jeigan	2.00	   22   7  10   8   1  10   9   6  +64
Kain	2.00	   21   7   6   7   3   6   7   0  +42
Abel	1.53	   20   6   7   7   2   6   7   0  +30  (base)

Sheeda	3.76	   18   6   8  14  10   8   7   6  +74
DOGA	3.14	   20   7   4   4   1   5  11   0  +30
Gordon	4.94	   20   5   6   5   6   6   6   0  +42
Oguma	3.01	   23   6  11  12   4   7   6   0  --

Barts	5.10	   24  10   6   9   5   6   6   0  --	(base)
Saji	3.72	   22   8   4   7   1   5   5   0  +62	(base)
Maji	5.38	   22   7   5   9   6   4   6   0  +80
Kashim	3.94	   21   7   4   6   3   6   4   0  +70	(base)

Rena	3.00	   16   1   7   8   8   7   3   5  --	(base)
Julian	3.16	   17   4   6  12   7   2   4   0  +16	(base)
Navarre	3.32	   19   5   9  11   8   9   6   0  +32	(base)

 

Answers:

Spoiler

  

On 11/2/2023 at 6:50 PM, Shaky Jones said:

Where's the fun in playing old games if you're just going to use modern translations that make the script basicaly the same to the remake. Embrace Akeneia and Nabarl.

I always embrace Akaneia. Much more beautiful spelling than Archanea, without a question.

On 11/2/2023 at 6:50 PM, Shaky Jones said:

He mostly shines in the early game dependent on how the player paves his way to the seize point, as this game's biggest crime will soon prevent you from abusing healing.

Yeah, he plays a bit like Jeigan's understudy. Good at chipping down enemies, with the bonus of not really caring about their counterattacks, but not really a character that I see becoming better as the game progresses.

On 11/2/2023 at 6:50 PM, Shaky Jones said:

Automatically 20 times better than FE1. This cannot be debated to the only person in the world that wants to say otherwise.

With the way Serenes shows quotes, I'm only seeing Sheeda's portrait as what you are responding to. So what makes her 20 times better than in FE1?

23 hours ago, Punished Dayni said:

Berkut would be a rising star in the Republican Party.

He would have a great time telling everybody how he's an entirely self-made man who earned every privilege he has. Oh, what am I saying, royal privilege is an invention of the radical left, Berkut has it much harder than anybody else.

23 hours ago, Punished Dayni said:

Considering nobody said anything about Aideen, I suppose sticking to Midir/Aideen might as well do then after all. People asked for Azelle and Claude elsewhere, Pursuit is frankly oppressive to the game's meta for this stuff and Midir has specific benefits on top of that, so might as well stick with the optimal pick. Although, if you want to use Finn for that thing mentioned earlier, I won't mind.

Definitely don't go full CK. I think we all know how that'd turn out in this game.

I also had Finn/Lachesis in the back of my mind, although I didn't look up the statistic advantages and disadvantages of that pairing. I just vaguely remember that T776 implies that Lachesis had her two kids with Finn and Beowulf, so it would seem appropriate to pick between those two pairing for her. Not easy.

But we'll see. I'll keep both options in mind.

23 hours ago, Punished Dayni said:

Imagine if that happened in any game.

We'd be cheering so loud.

I know that 3H is... not universally liked among people in this thread, but surely we can all agree that the introduction of a "punch enemy in the face" weapon type to the series can only be applauded.

21 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Pre-Civ5, I have been considering playing the DS version of Civilization Revolution, which is how I first learned of the franchise a decade-and-a-half ago. Although Mao and Stalin are one reason I've been putting that idea off.

Sid Meier absolutely would've put Hitler into Civ1 if people had let him. He says in his autobiography that his priority for picking leaders wasn't so much about picking the greatest leaders, and more about who people would associate with a country. Which of course still was (and is) Hitler for Germany. But it's also why Gandhi, and not an actual political leader of India, made it into the series, or why it's the second Monty and not the first that was leading the Aztecs, at least in the earlier games of the series.

In fact, Germany almost didn't make it into Civ1 because Sid was unsure how to go about with them. Some of the early manuals even present Turkey (or the Ottomans, I'm not sure what they would've been named) in Germany's place, so that clarifying notes had to be shipped with these early copies of the game.

21 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

This is not what you meant, but...

1. SeliphxJamke!Lana
2. LeifxNanna (Father irrelevant.)
3. ShannanxPatty (Father irrelevant.)
4. AresxClaud!Lynn
5. Lex!UlsterxJulia
6. Lewyn!CedxAzelle!Tine
7. Azelle!ArthurxLewyn!Phee
8. Claud!CaiprexLex!Larcei

 

I can't quite follow all the intricacies, but this reads like an application letter for the Bene Gesserit. How many generations until the Kwiatz Haderach arrives? (it'll be one less than you think) (I did not look up those spellings. I'm sure they are very wrong)

16 hours ago, Jotari said:

What's funny about them not bothering to give Rudolf a unique class is that he can't mechanically use the Falchion. He only has lance access. I think I could do without someone like those pointless white dragons if it mean Rudolf could have been a sword cav just to resolve this story gameplay disconnect. And SoV failed to rectify it by insisting on one weapon per Non Alm class.

Head canon: Rudolf made the Dreadfighter loop into Cav. He just lost some stats because he took an arrow to the knee.

16 hours ago, Jotari said:

Genuinely, why was Wrys dropped in Book 1? His map is still here, and an early game healer is beneficial even if we don't have to wait that long for Lena. Was it seriously a case of "we can only fit in X units"? In which case, gee, drop one of the axe bros. Maybe it's just pure bald discrimination.

Pretty People Privilege. It's quite apparent, with generic anime boy Kashim surviving the transition into Mystery, while Darros, who would've joined on the same map, did not.

 

[Saint Rubenio]

16 hours ago, Jotari said:

The pinnacle of SNES portrait has to be Archanea Saga.

Though in a game (4 games?) with literally less than 30 characters, and only 10 new characters to design...did they really have to give Frost and Brzark/Bulzark the same face?

Yeah, Archanea Saga portraits are beautiful. I really wish they kept that artist on for FE4 and 5. I like FE5's art well enough but it's nothing compared to this, and FE4... Yeah no, FE4 is just ugly.

Though the Frost thing is pretty funny, admittedly.

3 minutes ago, gnip said:

Ogma is one of the few characters whose appearance I like best in this game. The blue coat is really nice, shame they did away with it in DSFE.

4 minutes ago, gnip said:

No, I didn't make a mistake copying that HP growth from the main site. And no, the main site didn't mistakenly write 10 instead of 100, either - Maji leveled up once and is still at 22 HP. He just lost 90% HP growths, with the only compensation being the same +2 base HP increase that Saji got. Which I didn't even mention because it honestly hardly  matters.

Honestly, this has to have been a mistake. There's other explanation. It makes absolutely no sense.

5 minutes ago, gnip said:

"

This guy has the same palette as SMB1 Mario.

6 minutes ago, gnip said:

Oh hey, what's-his-face appears out of nowhere in this version of the story, too.

His introduction was always the manual lol

6 minutes ago, gnip said:

Pretty People Privilege. It's quite apparent, with generic anime boy Kashim surviving the transition into Mystery, while Darros, who would've joined on the same map, did not.

Pretty much. Book 2 even did away with like, half the older people that were playable in book 1. Only generic teens allowed!

[Jotari]

4 hours ago, gnip said:

OK, I shall open all three spoiler tags before copying anything into the post. Hopefully, that will work without making half of the post unreadable...

FE3 Book 1 Chapter 2: Pirates of Garda

  Hide contents

 

[HP 80% | Str 40% | Skl 20% | Spd 30% | Lck 40% | WLv 70% | Def 30%]

Oguma is mostly unchanged - same base stats and the only growth change is an extra +10% Def. Better than nothing, but only slightly. The ability to double stuff consistenly should still make him a good unit, although I don't really have a good reference point for how good exactly he is in FE1, having used Raddy as my only swordie.

You used Radd in your FE1 playground! I'm so happy.

4 hours ago, gnip said:

 

 

4 hours ago, gnip said:

 

No, I didn't make a mistake copying that HP growth from the main site. And no, the main site didn't mistakenly write 10 instead of 100, either - Maji leveled up once and is still at 22 HP. He just lost 90% HP growths, with the only compensation being the same +2 base HP increase that Saji got. Which I didn't even mention because it honestly hardly  matters.

I think you might actually have made a mistake since there are Eno growths there at all XD

4 hours ago, gnip said:

 

The boss of the map is still a bit of a scrub, hitting neither hard nor accurately with that Hand Axe. 

The strongest boss in the series is very much humbled in this game.

4 hours ago, gnip said:

 

: "Ah... Sheeda, I'm sorry. My mother fell ill. I must find gold to buy medicine for her..."
: "So you joined the pirates, I see. Well, I have some gold here. Take it to buy medicine for your mother. 
: "...! You would help a traitor like me... Sheeda, please forgive me!! I...! Sheeda, I will lend my life to you!"

Remember this dude is a conman. He probably doesn't even have a mother at all.

4 hours ago, gnip said:

 

: "Citizens of Aritia, please rescue Sister Rena. Miss Rena helped to cure the poor and sick. However, she didn't heed our warning and went to the dreaded Devil Mountain. We haven't seen her since. The way Miss Rena treated us was like that of an angel. 

"Please, you must rescue her. For this, we have gathered 3000 Gold. We will leave Miss Rena to you."

 

Have to wonder why Macedonian Lena ended up in Galder, all the way on the other side of the continent, in the middle of a war. I mean, I guess she's traveling doing good and all and we see that in one of the Arch Saga episodes too, but what a distance to travel for a young woman by herself. How many times was she kidapped by bandits before this point!

4 hours ago, gnip said:

 

 

4 hours ago, gnip said:

 Book 1 Chapter 3: Devil Mountain

  Reveal hidden contents

Travelling from the frontier regions to Akaneia, Marth's biggest challenge has appeared. The Samsufe Peak is a steep mountain that divides the peninsula into northern and southern regions.

Since some unknown time, bandits made it their base, and they started attacking neighboring villages and travellers. Raids, kidnaps, setting fires... Their crimes are known to many. In fear, the people called the mountain "Devil Mountain". And they called thse gathered at Samsufe the demonic "Samsians"...

: "Hurry, Miss Rena! If you aren't quick, we'll both be finished. I heard the Aritian knights have arrived towards the south. Now's our chance to escape. Please hang on, you can do it!"

"I'm sorry... But, I still haven't found my precious Relive staff... Julian! Forget about me and flee yourself! If it's just you, I can teleport you away to safety with my Warp staff."

"How is that going to help? Don't you understand why I betrayed them in the first place? ...Anyway. I will find that staff later. For now, let's just make our escape! Hurry! Go!!"

Once again, some very minor changes to the map. The areas that actually matter, i.e. where there's enemies, seem to be unchanged, with the terrain around the path west having some alterations. Your characters' starting locations are once again swapped around a bit, and also crunched together - in FE1, Castor started the map all the way west on the tile north of the lower central fort.

[HP 80% | Str 70% | Skl 50% | Spd 50% | Lck 80% | WLv 40% | Def 30%]

The one change to Julian isn't insignificant: He has a WLv growth now. And if you level him up, chances are that it's even going to matter - the Armourslayer requires 3 WLv, although the next tier (Killing Edge, Wyrmslayer) will require 7. Still realistic to reach, though not guaranteed.

Other than that, I don't see why he would be significantly different from his FE1 incarnation. No promotion, but excellent growths - at Lv.20, if you get him there, Julian averages 16 Str / 20 Spd and 31 HP / 9 Def, which seems kinda frail, but quite strong offensively in a game with stat caps of 20 across the board. I assume that Oguma and Navarra are stronger (and don't have to spend their turns going after treasure chests), but Julian seems decent enough if you want to use him as a fighter (and maybe have RIckard be your primary thief).

[HP 10% | Str 20% | Skl 40% | Spd 20% | Lck 70% | WLv 40% | Def 10%]

Apart from her Spd growth, which is unchanged, Rena's growths have all been improved. Yes, that includes HP/Def.

Also, staves do scale with Mag now, so there is a point in leveling up Rena, even if you're not planning to promote her. If you do, it's probably going to be a disappointing endeavour, what with promo gains working "normally" now. With Rena's growth frankly being awful, she's not going to suddenly become strong as a pope, but of course, staff/10 is always going to be a very high rating for a unit.

I don't think this map plays too differently from its FE1 version, either. Two groups of enemies, both weak enough that it's not a big deal to split up the team. 

On difference, I believe, is that Navarre moves after the enemies around him. In theory usable to have those other red units block him from attacking you, but in practice, there's not much reason not to just retreat out of his range.

: "Hoho! You're looking very lively, young lad! It isn't an easy task to reach a place like this. I will reward you with this axe. What do think? [sic] It looks impressive, no? However... This Devil Axe is a cursed axe that draws blood from its user. It would be best not to use it at all!!"

And there isn't even a Dread Pirate class to use it freely.

I think I used this exact tactic for FE1, too - position Sheeda in a way that will lure some of Navarre's companions back into the cul-de-sac. Works quite well, with only one of the Pirates still coming our way.

: "Why would a persona like you become a bodyguard for these bandits? 

: "...!? Huh, who are you? I have no business with women or children! Get out of here!!"

: "Please, stop this unnecessary fighting... and lend your strength to us. If you're unwilling, you can cut me down with your sword right now."

: "...I won't point my sword at women. Since you risked your own life to request for me, I don't have a choice... I will lend my strength to you."

And Oguma will lend his less expensive sword to you ecause I forgot to pack one extra. I might be using Navarre long-term this run since I'm curious how the early-joining Mercenaries perform. The rather underleveled Raddy wasn't that impressive, unfortunately.

[HP 90% | Str 50% | Skl 40% | Spd 50% | Lck 60% | Wlv 30% | Def 20%]

Navarre's one change is a +20 increase to his Lck growth, and of course he didn't have a fixed base in that stat before. Not the most impactful buff to receive, but it's not like he needed one. His role as the Merc with slightly lower bases, but better growths compared to Oguma is staying the same, and looks like a good one to have. 

At the same time, the western group is starting to engage the enemy, too. One of the Hunters already went down to Abel (Javelin on EP) and Kashim.

...dang it, I had this joke worked out where I show a picture of Saji and ponder if I could get away with mixing up him and Maji, just to realise, after looking at this picture, that because you can see stats now! With numbers!, no, you would be able to spot the difference if you paid attention. But apparently, I didn't load the Saji screenshot on the USB stick.

I'll just run through the rest of the fight real quick. I didn't really send any big XP target other than Marth to the west, so everybody in that group grabs a little piece of the pie...

...including Jeigan with a nice crit, and a nice empty level-up as a reward.

: "So you guys want to die? I'll grant your wish!"

Kashim starts the boss fight with a bit of enemy phase chip...

...but Marth does the rest of the work, laughing at the reduced accuracy from the Steel Sword and critting Haiman after getting two hits in a row before that, too.

He also gets the same HP/Str/Spd/Wlv level-up for a third time in a row, which supports what the Observer said about a selection of fixed level-up combinations.

: "Urgh... I'll remember you..."

On the other side of the map, I do want to point out that that Maji got both the Thief kills.

He says "Thank you" in his own special way.

Oh hey, what's-his-face appears out of nowhere in this version of the story, too.

: "We found 10000 Gold inside the castle, which the bandits left behind. With these we can make further preparations. Excellent! Tomorrow we will reach Orleans. Until then, please rest well."

The Team:

	Lv. 	   HP Str Skl Spd Lck WLv Def Res  +XP
Marth	4.36	   21   8   6  10   7   9   7   0  +104
Jeigan	2.00	   22   7  10   8   1  10   9   6  +64
Kain	2.00	   21   7   6   7   3   6   7   0  +42
Abel	1.53	   20   6   7   7   2   6   7   0  +30  (base)

Sheeda	3.76	   18   6   8  14  10   8   7   6  +74
DOGA	3.14	   20   7   4   4   1   5  11   0  +30
Gordon	4.94	   20   5   6   5   6   6   6   0  +42
Oguma	3.01	   23   6  11  12   4   7   6   0  --

Barts	5.10	   24  10   6   9   5   6   6   0  --	(base)
Saji	3.72	   22   8   4   7   1   5   5   0  +62	(base)
Maji	5.38	   22   7   5   9   6   4   6   0  +80
Kashim	3.94	   21   7   4   6   3   6   4   0  +70	(base)

Rena	3.00	   16   1   7   8   8   7   3   5  --	(base)
Julian	3.16	   17   4   6  12   7   2   4   0  +16	(base)
Navarre	3.32	   19   5   9  11   8   9   6   0  +32	(base)

 

Answers:

  Reveal hidden contents

  

I always embrace Akaneia. Much more beautiful spelling than Archanea, without a question.

Yeah, he plays a bit like Jeigan's understudy. Good at chipping down enemies, with the bonus of not really caring about their counterattacks, but not really a character that I see becoming better as the game progresses.

With the way Serenes shows quotes, I'm only seeing Sheeda's portrait as what you are responding to. So what makes her 20 times better than in FE1?

He would have a great time telling everybody how he's an entirely self-made man who earned every privilege he has. Oh, what am I saying, royal privilege is an invention of the radical left, Berkut has it much harder than anybody else.

I also had Finn/Lachesis in the back of my mind, although I didn't look up the statistic advantages and disadvantages of that pairing. I just vaguely remember that T776 implies that Lachesis had her two kids with Finn and Beowulf, so it would seem appropriate to pick between those two pairing for her. Not easy.

But we'll see. I'll keep both options in mind.

I know that 3H is... not universally liked among people in this thread, but surely we can all agree that the introduction of a "punch enemy in the face" weapon type to the series can only be applauded.

Sid Meier absolutely would've put Hitler into Civ1 if people had let him. He says in his autobiography that his priority for picking leaders wasn't so much about picking the greatest leaders, and more about who people would associate with a country. Which of course still was (and is) Hitler for Germany. But it's also why Gandhi, and not an actual political leader of India, made it into the series, or why it's the second Monty and not the first that was leading the Aztecs, at least in the earlier games of the series.

In fact, Germany almost didn't make it into Civ1 because Sid was unsure how to go about with them. Some of the early manuals even present Turkey (or the Ottomans, I'm not sure what they would've been named) in Germany's place, so that clarifying notes had to be shipped with these early copies of the game.

I can't quite follow all the intricacies, but this reads like an application letter for the Bene Gesserit. How many generations until the Kwiatz Haderach arrives? (it'll be one less than you think) (I did not look up those spellings. I'm sure they are very wrong)

Head canon: Rudolf made the Dreadfighter loop into Cav. He just lost some stats because he took an arrow to the knee.

Pretty People Privilege. It's quite apparent, with generic anime boy Kashim surviving the transition into Mystery, while Darros, who would've joined on the same map, did not.

 

And quoting the second set of spoilers is just being very difficult to do on mobile. So I guess I have nothing to say about Devil Mountain other than you joke about a Dread Pirate class, but that's a class I genuinely made for my Archanea fan game sequel.

Also, instead of the Dread Fighter Loop, maybe Rudolf killed Mila when he was still a villager!

4 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Yeah, Archanea Saga portraits are beautiful. I really wish they kept that artist on for FE4 and 5. I like FE5's art well enough but it's nothing compared to this, and FE4... Yeah no, FE4 is just ugly.

I don't know about the individual artists, but Arch Saga was released between Genealogy and Thracia. So whomever the artist was, Genealogy had already been finished.

[Interdimensional Observer]

4 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Yeah, Archanea Saga portraits are beautiful. I really wish they kept that artist on for FE4 and 5. I like FE5's art well enough but it's nothing compared to this, and FE4... Yeah no, FE4 is just ugly.

Correction- BS FE released in '97. Genealogy was released in '96, Thracia was way too late '99.

Genealogy feels, IMO, like it has the same issue as Binding and Path of Radiance. That being, a legitimate yet unrefined art direction, which their mid/pre/sequel game would bring to maturity.

 

5 hours ago, gnip said:

I can still say that Oguma is more of a stand-out character now, as the three axe bros have all been nerfed significantly...:

Considering Javelins got mega-heavy but Hand Axes didn't, it these guys a tiiiiiiiiiiiiiny niche of having doubling physical 1-2 range.

5 hours ago, gnip said:

However, even he really hates the increased doubling threshold, since he is now unable to double literally anything with his 2 AS. He needs only one proc off his 50% Spd growth for that to change, since enemies still tend to run around with a zero in that stat, but that's obviously still much worse than just, you know, doubling immediately and without hoping on a coinflip.

Blazing Bartre is manifesting in my mind. The guy who, for he starts with 3 Spd, needs his 40% growth to proc to even consider the possibility of doubling 0AS foes.

5 hours ago, gnip said:

Saji needs three Spd procs off a 10% growth in order to double anything. He already was the worst of the trio in FE1, needing the even more inaccurate Hammer to stay at 1 AS, but now that 1 AS is  worthless, but that doesn't matter because he doesn't even have a Hammer anyway. Poor guy.

*Notices the second Iron Axe.*

Really? That was their idea of a replacement? Could they've thrown him a Steel at least?

5 hours ago, gnip said:

No, I didn't make a mistake copying that HP growth from the main site. And no, the main site didn't mistakenly write 10 instead of 100, either - Maji leveled up once and is still at 22 HP. He just lost 90% HP growths, with the only compensation being the same +2 base HP increase that Saji got. Which I didn't even mention because it honestly hardly  matters.

You forgot to post the growths.

But, this is something one of those modern-day things called "patches" would've fixed right away, if it had somehow escaped playtesting.

5 hours ago, gnip said:

 

To get back to a more positive note: I forgot to mention these sweet little pictures for generic enemies. I really like these.

True, they're good enough to be used for playing cards or something. Better than the GBA generic class portraits, and perhaps the generic face portraits of 3DS FE.

5 hours ago, gnip said:

Sid Meier absolutely would've put --- into Civ1 if people had let him. He says in his autobiography that his priority for picking leaders wasn't so much about picking the greatest leaders, and more about who people would associate with a country. Which of course still was (and is) --- for Germany. But it's also why Gandhi, and not an actual political leader of India, made it into the series, or why it's the second Monty and not the first that was leading the Aztecs, at least in the earlier games of the series.

In fact, Germany almost didn't make it into Civ1 because Sid was unsure how to go about with them. Some of the early manuals even present Turkey (or the Ottomans, I'm not sure what they would've been named) in Germany's place, so that clarifying notes had to be shipped with these early copies of the game.

Interesting!🤓

 

2 minutes ago, Jotari said:

He probably doesn't even have a mother at all.

Castor is a homunculus created in that SoV Thabes lab, got it!😛

...According to some notes, he only started conning people after the War of the Shadows. When he returned home, only to discover that a younger sister of his (with the same name as Sylvia's daughter curiously) had sold herself into slavery and he discovered her dead body in a bar.

[Emperor Hardin]

Funfact, Pirates have one less movement in Mystery of the Emblem!

Also I like the spiky bangs sticking through the bandana in the Gazzak/Criminal portrait in this game, I wish a boss had inherited that detail in the DS remakes.

Edited November 4, 2023 by Emperor Hardin

[Jotari]

46 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

 

😛According to some notes, he only started conning people after the War of the Shadows. When he returned home, only to discover that a younger sister of his (with the same name as Sylvia's daughter curiously) had sold herself into slavery and he discovered her dead body in a bar.

I would like to see those notes, though it might contradict the games where he is actively taking written notes on how to manipulate people in his Arch Saga appearance, which takes place before Shadow Dragon (and is actively robbing the palace).

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Jotari

[Interdimensional Observer]

5 minutes ago, Jotari said:

I would like to see those notes, though it might contradict the games where he is actively taking written notes on how to manipulate people in his Arch Saga appearance, which takes place before Shadow Dragon (and is actively robbing the palace).

 

Saw them on SF's Old Mystery page. The raw Japanese is available through the Wayback Machine.:

Designer's Note #3 (archive.org)

The summary translation SF has goes as follows.:

Q8: How did Castor end up becoming a swindler?

Comments: Castor is about three years older than Shiida. He has seven younger brothers and sisters. After his mother gave birth to her ninth child, she fell dangerously ill. Their father had left for Gallder and they hadn’t heard from him for a long time. So Castor had to leave to support his ill mother and his younger siblings. After the War of Shadows, Castor quickly rushed to buy the clothes he promised as a present to his younger sister, Leen. However he was too late. While he was away, Leen sold herself to a slave merchant to earn gold for the family. Eventually he found her at a sleazy bar at Warren, where her cold and dying body lay. Around the time of War of Heroes, Castor made himself known as a swindler, but he only did it to earn gold for his family, so as to prevent Leen’s tragedy from repeating.

[Shaky Jones]

On 11/2/2023 at 11:16 AM, Punished Dayni said:

You mention the aesthetics of this menu further down and how the transitions between maps are neat, but frankly just sitting on it and listening to the menu theme is great on it's own. I can imagine the game being told as a story in some tavern around the fire in the middle of the room or a map of Archanea with it, the teller regaling the larger than life Marth befitting how other talk of him in the future.

This guy gets it.

On 11/2/2023 at 11:16 AM, Punished Dayni said:

Jugdral Villages are also insane compared to castles, one wrong guy touches them and they collapse. 😛

The castles represent the United Kingdom. They tried to shank the enemies. That failed.

The villages is the average American city. We shootin your ass. 

On 11/2/2023 at 6:16 PM, Jotari said:

Genuinely, why was Wrys dropped in Book 1? His map is still here, and an early game healer is beneficial even if we don't have to wait that long for Lena. Was it seriously a case of "we can only fit in X units"? In which case, gee, drop one of the axe bros. Maybe it's just pure bald discrimination.

Kaga isn't too fond of hypnotizing old men.

On 11/2/2023 at 6:38 PM, Jotari said:

The pinnacle of SNES portrait has to be Archanea Saga.

Everyday, I imagine a future where I play FE12 (on my switch).

11 hours ago, gnip said:

Battle preparations! With the ability to trade items around, plus access to the supply! I can't believe all these wonderful tools we have at our disposal. 

This is the first proper menu in the series, and it genuinely looks better than the 3H preparations screen.

11 hours ago, gnip said:

 

The "Grunian Army" apparently consists of two Cavaliers, or Social Knights, I guess. Not the most fearsome enemy, it seems.

This map is, of course, completely ruined compared to FE1, by replacing Darros with a generic enemy Pirate. If that weren't the case, it would've been changed to a similar degree to the first one, i.e. hardly at all, and maybe even a bit less. There's some tiny differences, like the mountain range in the bottom left, but nothing that would impact gameplay very much. Enemies have exactly the same starting locations, while the blue units are swapped around a little bit, like Gordon, Jeigan, and Sheeda rotating their positions.

Visually, I love it.

Gameplay, what the FUCK did you do to my boy!? Kaga why!? WWHHHHYY!?!?!?

The main thing that arguably makes this more challenging is the lack of a healer, so I suppose you can't just have one or two units destroy all the enemies like my strength growth Jeigan in FE1.

11 hours ago, gnip said:

[HP 60% | Str 50% | Skl 50% | Spd 50% | Lck 70% | WLv 30% | Def 50%]

And that includes Barts, even though his raw stats are entirely unchanged from FE1. However, even he really hates the increased doubling threshold, since he is now unable to double literally anything with his 2 AS. He needs only one proc off his 50% Spd growth for that to change, since enemies still tend to run around with a zero in that stat, but that's obviously still much worse than just, you know, doubling immediately and without hoping on a coinflip. Still, Barts easily seems like the most viable of the Axe trio.

I'm starting to think Kaga hates axes. 

Fuck you Kaga.

 

Axes are quite heavy, so even speed blessed axe units will have trouble doubling, especially in the lategame, and FE3 B2 straight up doesn't have playable axe units, which single handedly proves that FE12 is a superior game, yet I still see too many people call FE12 FE3 but bad. Dude, FE12 has BordCordBarst Triangle Attack. It's peak.

Fe2 doesn't really do anything with axes, and FE4 gives you like 2 axe users or so (I don't remember if Hannibal can use them). That and they're SUPER heavy in that game. At least FE5 makes up for all of this with some really damn good axe units and Dagdar being one of the coolest jeigans who is a warrior. Also Ruben insists that Berwick has a crazy good axe guy. On the bright side, hand axes in FE3 B1 get the benefit of NOT weighing you down all the way to zero, unlike javelins, so they are better than javs in that regard. Belemce.

11 hours ago, gnip said:

[HP 90% | Str 50% | Skl 50% | Spd 10% | Lck 30% | WLv 20% | Def 50%]

Saji needs three Spd procs off a 10% growth in order to double anything. He already was the worst of the trio in FE1, needing the even more inaccurate Hammer to stay at 1 AS, but now that 1 AS is  worthless, but that doesn't matter because he doesn't even have a Hammer anyway. Poor guy.

 

JimmyFE weeps

11 hours ago, gnip said:

No, I didn't make a mistake copying that HP growth from the main site. And no, the main site didn't mistakenly write 10 instead of 100, either - Maji leveled up once and is still at 22 HP. He just lost 90% HP growths, with the only compensation being the same +2 base HP increase that Saji got. Which I didn't even mention because it honestly hardly  matters

There he is!

I'll shill FE3 art a lot, but I do prefer the DS art a lot more with Cord/Maji.

His HP growth is so small, Gnip made the font .000001 to represent how low it is! Bravo!

So yeah, Maji is absolutely a meme unit in FE3. I will defend Cord as an S tier unit to the moon and back in FE11, a solid FE12 unit, and a decent-ish unit in FE1, but holy shit. 10% HP unpromotable fighter is like, the most Shaky Jones thing ever. I hate it. I love it. It's such disrespect, just like my presence. 

I haven't got far in my FE3 run, but my Maji is easily my best unit so far, doubling everyone and one rounding all the cavs with his iron axe. He has jack shit HP though, so tanking is still....a challenge, but Maji can overcome all.

11 hours ago, gnip said:

Maji is the only man who can stop Gordon from being the top earner two maps in a row.

11 hours ago, gnip said:

[HP 80% | Str 70% | Skl 50% | Spd 50% | Lck 80% | WLv 40% | Def 30%]

The one change to Julian isn't insignificant: He has a WLv growth now. And if you level him up, chances are that it's even going to matter - the Armourslayer requires 3 WLv, although the next tier (Killing Edge, Wyrmslayer) will require 7. Still realistic to reach, though not guaranteed.

Other than that, I don't see why he would be significantly different from his FE1 incarnation. No promotion, but excellent growths - at Lv.20, if you get him there, Julian averages 16 Str / 20 Spd and 31 HP / 9 Def, which seems kinda frail, but quite strong offensively in a game with stat caps of 20 across the board. I assume that Oguma and Navarra are stronger (and don't have to spend their turns going after treasure chests), but Julian seems decent enough if you want to use him as a fighter (and maybe have RIckard be your primary thief).

Yes, but FE1 thieves look so much cooler in battle.

11 hours ago, gnip said:

: "Hoho! You're looking very lively, young lad! It isn't an easy task to reach a place like this. I will reward you with this axe. What do think? [sic] It looks impressive, no? However... This Devil Axe is a cursed axe that draws blood from its user. It would be best not to use it at all!!"

11 hours ago, gnip said:

: "...I won't point my sword at women.

Allow me.

11 hours ago, gnip said:

...dang it, I had this joke worked out where I show a picture of Saji and ponder if I could get away with mixing up him and Maji, just to realise, after looking at this picture, that because you can see stats now! With numbers!, no, you would be able to spot the difference if you paid attention. But apparently, I didn't load the Saji screenshot on the USB stick.

Unlucky!

11 hours ago, gnip said:

Yeah, he plays a bit like Jeigan's understudy. Good at chipping down enemies, with the bonus of not really caring about their counterattacks, but not really a character that I see becoming better as the game progresses.

They definitely tried to balance armors through them being the only people who can use javs indoors, although there isn't too much desire for that when hand axes, magic, and bows exists. I suppose you could argue the nerf on javs does balance out wanting to use the unpromotable axe boys and the bow units that elitists despise, which does balance out a comparison between someone like Palla and Barst, but it really isn't helping Doga. You basically just see armors as "My only way of using Gradivus on endgame", but B1 gives you a couple of armors as your options, as opposed to B2 which only gives you 2.

12 hours ago, gnip said:

With the way Serenes shows quotes, I'm only seeing Sheeda's portrait as what you are responding to. So what makes her 20 times better than in FE1?

Serenes loves to censor the truth. 1984.

I'm just talking about the existence of a proper convoy/battle prep screen making this game better than FE1 by default.

11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Honestly, this has to have been a mistake. There's other explanation. It makes absolutely no sense.

Someone might've double dog dared Kaga.

11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Pretty much. Book 2 even did away with like, half the older people that were playable in book 1. Only generic teens allowed!

Do you think IntSys fires employees the moment they turn 30? They're practically Sahpir levels of old! Get in that retirement home fella!

6 hours ago, Jotari said:

You used Radd in your FE1 playground! I'm so happy.

I'm more of a Ceasar fan, but good for you.

6 hours ago, Jotari said:

I think you might actually have made a mistake since there are Eno growths there at all XD

You just gotta squint your eyes and be really drunk.

6 hours ago, Jotari said:

The strongest boss in the series is very much humbled in this game.

Clealry, the chapter 5 boss in Engage is a reference to this man

 

6 hours ago, Jotari said:

Remember this dude is a conman. He probably doesn't even have a mother at all.

I heard he conned the doctor from him even showing up at his own birth.

6 hours ago, Jotari said:

And quoting the second set of spoilers is just being very difficult to do on mobile. So I guess I have nothing to say about Devil Mountain other than you joke about a Dread Pirate class, but that's a class I genuinely made for my Archanea fan game sequel.

I almost respect the consistent repeated fan game shilling.

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Considering Javelins got mega-heavy but Hand Axes didn't, it these guys a tiiiiiiiiiiiiiny niche of having doubling physical 1-2 range.

I guarantee you, the elitists would consider this a world changing lifesaver, and in this case, I'll take anything I can get to justify using these boys.

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

12 hours ago, gnip said:

To get back to a more positive note: I forgot to mention these sweet little pictures for generic enemies. I really like these.

True, they're good enough to be used for playing cards or something. Better than the GBA generic class portraits, and perhaps the generic face portraits of 3DS FE.

Love these cards. 

5 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Q8: How did Castor end up becoming a swindler?

Comments: Castor is about three years older than Shiida. He has seven younger brothers and sisters. After his mother gave birth to her ninth child, she fell dangerously ill. Their father had left for Gallder and they hadn’t heard from him for a long time. So Castor had to leave to support his ill mother and his younger siblings. After the War of Shadows, Castor quickly rushed to buy the clothes he promised as a present to his younger sister, Leen. However he was too late. While he was away, Leen sold herself to a slave merchant to earn gold for the family. Eventually he found her at a sleazy bar at Warren, where her cold and dying body lay. Around the time of War of Heroes, Castor made himself known as a swindler, but he only did it to earn gold for his family, so as to prevent Leen’s tragedy from repeating.

Leen lol

[Jotari]

2 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

 

 

I almost respect the consistent repeated fan game shilling.

 

I've mentioned it like twice. If you think that's bad, wait until we reach Perathi where the disrespect really happens! Speaking of which, next chapter is the first one dropped.

[Saint Rubenio]

10 hours ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Funfact, Pirates have one less movement in Mystery of the Emblem!

Also I like the spiky bangs sticking through the bandana in the Gazzak/Criminal portrait in this game, I wish a boss had inherited that detail in the DS remakes.

It is rather odd that not one of the brigands in DSFE actually kept their old design. In Shadow Dragon they made a point to have one bossman keep their old designs, and then their recolors would get brand new faces. But the pirates all got redesigned. Gazzak's the closest to this, but his beard is completely different and he doesn't have the bangs.

4 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

I'm starting to think Kaga hates axes. 

Fuck you Kaga.

Kaga had an arc with axes. In FE1/Book 1 they were an afterthought. In FE2/book 2 they didn't exist. In FE4 there were a number of axe users, none of them were amazing or if they were good it was in spite of using axes, but they weren't terrible. In FE5 the axe users are generally usable, and Big Badass Dagdar and Pugi/Bhuj/Vouge-man are of course amazing. And from there he was consistent throughout all of KagaSaga, having at least one axe user that's utterly broken and a few that are generally good.

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

It is rather odd that not one of the brigands in DSFE actually kept their old design. In Shadow Dragon they made a point to have one bossman keep their old designs, and then their recolors would get brand new faces. But the pirates all got redesigned. Gazzak's the closest to this, but his beard is completely different and he doesn't have the bangs.

I think Gomer actually uses the SNES pirate portrait. Though we don't see the knot, he's obviously still wearing a bandana, and while he doesn't have the tuft of hair, his beard maintains the same design.

Gomer, Gazzak and Hyman also all maintain their colouring of green, red and...another green.

And at least Gazzak and Gomer have portraits on the SNES, because they just straight up didn't on the NES. They didn't have any dialogue either, though their name was still there.

A portrait that I think the remake did drop entirely is Nuibaba's original so-ugly-we-cant-be-sure-she-was-even-male portrait, which she shared with a few other enemies in Gaiden.

Also, on the subject of portrait progression, Jiol (and Emmerus the retconned boss of the next chapter) original had a modification of this portrait

Who eventually became Volzhin in the remakes. The modification Jiol has was to give him a mohawk.

This was somewhat retained but toned down on Jiol's SNES appearance.

It's less a mohawk and mor just naturally balding in the shape of a mohawk if viewed from the front.

On DS the process is complete, he's still balding a bit, but there is enough hair for all traces of the mohawk to be gone entirely. It's obvious why this had to happen, because a serious character like Jiol sporting a mohawk is absolutely ridiculous, yet I still can't help but feel like there's an alternate reality out there blessed with a more tubular Jiol design.

Last funny thing to note on portrait evolution, this guy was the original Xane, appearing damn near everywhere in NES Shadow Dragon.

And unlike Jiol and Volzhin above, they didn't even bother to give him alternate palettes or slight redesign. It was the same mustachioed man in red armour in all ten of his appearances. Did they retain him in later games? Why yes, of course.

Harmein, the guy giving Minerva grief at Lefcandith was the lucky ducky to get the design along with Hollstadt, the forgettable Altea boss and the Book 2 Ballistician boss. Of those three only Hollstadt retained the design on the DS

..only... Harmein looked like this on the NES

He was actually one of the four human generic bosses to not use the mustachio design and instead use full beard bald design. They had an option of ten different characters to retain the design of and they chose the one unimportant guy without the design.

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Jotari

[Emperor Hardin]

14 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

Kaga isn't too fond of hypnotizing old men.

Wrys was dropped as there are no curate/priest in Book 1.

The remakes of Gaiden and Mystery of the Emblem certainly love their hypnotizing old men, though.

14 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

Also Ruben insists that Berwick has a crazy good axe guy. On the bright side, hand axes in FE3 B1 get the benefit of NOT weighing you down all the way to zero, unlike javelins, so they are better than javs in that regard. Belemce.

TearRing Saga has some really great Axe Fighters, they're basically axe-using swordmasters. Also Barsts(Barst) is the name of one of the Axe Fighters, though he is overshadowed by another Axe Fighter named Samson that is one of the best combat units in the game.

14 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

Yes, but FE1 thieves look so much cooler in battle.

Julian has a unique battle unique to FE3!

Everyday, I imagine a future where I play FE12 (on my switch).

14 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

They definitely tried to balance armors through them being the only people who can use javs indoors, although there isn't too much desire for that when hand axes, magic, and bows exists. I suppose you could argue the nerf on javs does balance out wanting to use the unpromotable axe boys and the bow units that elitists despise, which does balance out a comparison between someone like Palla and Barst, but it really isn't helping Doga. You basically just see armors as "My only way of using Gradivus on endgame", but B1 gives you a couple of armors as your options, as opposed to B2 which only gives you 2.

There is one armored unit this change to lances really does help, but maybe I should wait to explain that.

8 hours ago, Jotari said:

I think Gomer actually uses the SNES pirate portrait. Though we don't see the knot, he's obviously still wearing a bandana, and while he doesn't have the tuft of hair, his beard maintains the same design.

Gomer, Gazzak and Hyman also all maintain their colouring of green, red and...another green.

One of them should've retained the bangs is what I feel. Like there's also Bathys and Guile, but none of them got it.

14 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

He was actually one of the four human generic bosses to not use the mustachio design and instead use full beard bald design. They had an option of ten different characters to retain the design of and they chose the one unimportant guy without the design.

This is speculation, but many fans in Japan started with FE3 rather than FE1 and Harmein is more prominent than the other guy with that portrait in FE3 book 1, so maybe modern IS thought fans would associate with more Harmein even though he didn't use it in FE1?

Then again, they probably don't care,  I mean Gazzak and to a lesser extent, Hyman changed, despite their look appearing in the anime!

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Emperor Hardin

[Jotari]

2 hours ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Wrys was dropped as there are no curate/priest in Book 1.

The remakes of Gaiden and Mystery of the Emblem certainly love their hypnotizing old men, though.

TearRing Saga has some really great Axe Fighters, they're basically axe-using swordmasters. Also Barsts(Barst) is the name of one of the Axe Fighters, though he is overshadowed by another Axe Fighter named Samson that is one of the best combat units in the game.

Julian has a unique battle unique to FE3!

Everyday, I imagine a future where I play FE12 (on my switch).

There is one armored unit this change to lances really does help, but maybe I should wait to explain that.

One of them should've retained the bangs is what I feel. Like there's also Bathys and Guile, but none of them got it.

This is speculation, but many fans in Japan started with FE3 rather than FE1 and Harmein is more prominent than the other guy with that portrait in FE3 book 1, so maybe modern IS thought fans would associate with more Harmein even though he didn't use it in FE1?

Then again, they probably don't care,  I mean Gazzak and to a lesser extent, Hyman changed, despite their look appearing in the anime!

 

Cornelius also changed from his anime design despite barely even appearing in Shadow Dragon.

And to be fear, Hyman's Shadow Dragon design is pretty cool.

[Emperor Hardin]

17 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

Fe2 doesn't really do anything with axes, and FE4 gives you like 2 axe users or so (I don't remember if Hannibal can use them). That and they're SUPER heavy in that game.

Oh Forgot to answer this, Hannibal can use B Rank Axes in FE4, though he usually will stick with Swords and bows, the same goes for promoted Arden.

Promoted Lachesis and Leif can also use A rank axes, though they probably won't use them most of the time. You really only need one axe user for each gen.

50 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Cornelius also changed from his anime design despite barely even appearing in Shadow Dragon.

And to be fear, Hyman's Shadow Dragon design is pretty cool.

Oh yeah that too.

Hyman's DS design looks like the Beast from Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, though saying the Beast looks like him probably fits better.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

1 minute ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Promoted Lachesis and Leif can also use A rank axes, though they probably won't use them most of the time. You really only need one axe user for each gen.

I tend to give either one the Silver Axe, because... it's an A-rank Axe, who else is going to use it? The only other candidates are Lex (rocking the Brave Axe) in Gen I, and Johan or Johalva (again, rocking the Brave Axe) in Gen II. At least on your Master Knight, it provides an occasionally good answer to Lance-wielding enemies.

11 hours ago, Jotari said:

Who eventually became Volzhin in the remakes. The modification Jiol has was to give him a mohawk.

The barber, I trust, was executed shortly after this crime against style?

Would explain how it grew back over the next 20 years.

[Jotari]

26 minutes ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Oh Forgot to answer this, Hannibal can use B Rank Axes in FE4, though he usually will stick with Swords and bows, the same goes for promoted Arden.

Promoted Lachesis and Leif can also use A rank axes, though they probably won't use them most of the time. You really only need one axe user for each gen.

Oh yeah that too.

Hyman's DS design looks like the Beast from Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, though saying the Beast looks like him probably fits better.

Hannibal and Promoted Arden's true weapon is bows, so they can clear the easier arena enemies... because let's face it, aside from a brief moment in Chapter 9, that's all you're going to be doing with either of them.

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

I tend to give either one the Silver Axe, because... it's an A-rank Axe, who else is going to use it? The only other candidates are Lex (rocking the Brave Axe) in Gen I, and Johan or Johalva (again, rocking the Brave Axe) in Gen II. At least on your Master Knight, it provides an occasionally good answer to Lance-wielding enemies.

The barber, I trust, was executed shortly after this crime against style?

Would explain how it grew back over the next 20 years.

Crime against style? Absolutely not. I can only hope I can look that good when I hit retirement! The man is exuding pure unadulterated confidence with a look like that.

Edited November 5, 2023 by Jotari

[Saint Rubenio]

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

The barber, I trust, was executed shortly after this crime against style?

Would explain how it grew back over the next 20 years.

7 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Crime against style? Absolutely not. I can only hope I can look that good when I hit retirement! The man is exuding pure unadulterated confidence with a look like that.

Alas, poor Jiol. In becoming an evil king man, he missed his true calling: Becoming an old biker stereotype.

Edited November 5, 2023 by Saint Rubenio

[Jotari]

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Alas, poor Jiol. In becoming an evil king man, he missed his true calling: Becoming an old biker stereotype.

Oh goodness no. That would involve leather. No, he's quite fine in armour.

[Shaky Jones]

20 hours ago, Jotari said:

mentioned it like twice. If you think that's bad, wait until we reach Perathi where the disrespect really happens! Speaking of which, next chapter is the first one dropped.

I was mainly referring to how often I see you mention it in general. Funny stuff.

Well, as long as the units themselves don't get deleted, I'm fine without chapter 4. It was a rather boring chapter anyways. Kinda fun depending on your immediate reclass choices and decision to not use wingspear in the DS, but definitely not anything worth crying about in old FE by not being there. Not that ai recall at least. 

18 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Kaga had an arc with axes. In FE1/Book 1 they were an afterthought. In FE2/book 2 they didn't exist. In FE4 there were a number of axe users, none of them were amazing or if they were good it was in spite of using axes, but they weren't terrible. In FE5 the axe users are generally usable, and Big Badass Dagdar and Pugi/Bhuj/Vouge-man are of course amazing. And from there he was consistent throughout all of KagaSaga, having at least one axe user that's utterly broken and a few that are generally good.

Did a part of that arc include turning his game designing philosophy into that of a retro point and click puzzle game thar requires a guide to get all the content for? Like is that just synonymous with axe units?

9 hours ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Wrys was dropped as there are no curate/priest in Book 1.

The remakes of Gaiden and Mystery of the Emblem certainly love their hypnotizing old men, though.

Kaga forgave SoV for hypnotizing Celica pointlessly, clearly in honor of him. 

FE12 fixed his biggest mistake by having Wrys play a major role in the prologue and serve as the first recruitable of the gaiden chapter arc in which his map is one of the only ones that are actually good. 

9 hours ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Julian has a unique battle unique to FE3!

It's a nice detail I noticed during B2, but man I cant get enough of the way they looked when they fought in FE1 animations.

9 hours ago, Emperor Hardin said:

TearRing Saga has some really great Axe Fighters, they're basically axe-using swordmasters. Also Barsts(Barst) is the name of one of the Axe Fighters, though he is overshadowed by another Axe Fighter named Samson that is one of the best combat units in the game.

Did he just run out of names?

6 hours ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Oh Forgot to answer this, Hannibal can use B Rank Axes in FE4, though he usually will stick with Swords and bows, the same goes for promoted Arden.

Promoted Lachesis and Leif can also use A rank axes, though they probably won't use them most of the time. You really only need one axe user for each gen

Agh, I focused too much on the pure axe boys. Well, guess it dont matter, because there's no way you'd actively choose to use axes with the weight on this game.

9 hours ago, Emperor Hardin said:

23 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

He was actually one of the four human generic bosses to not use the mustachio design and instead use full beard bald design. They had an option of ten different characters to retain the design of and they chose the one unimportant guy without the design.

This is speculation, but many fans in Japan started with FE3 rather than FE1 and Harmein is more prominent than the other guy with that portrait in FE3 book 1, so maybe modern IS thought fans would associate with more Harmein even though he didn't use it in FE1?

 

I don't remember saying this.

[Jotari]

17 minutes ago, Shaky Jones said:

I was mainly referring to how often I see you mention it in general. Funny stuff.

Well, as long as the units themselves don't get deleted, I'm fine without chapter 4. It was a rather boring chapter anyways. Kinda fun depending on your immediate reclass choices and decision to not use wingspear in the DS, but definitely not anything worth crying about in old FE by not being there. Not that ai recall at least. 

With the exception of Pyrathi (those fiends!) the removed chapters all seem rather sensible, if chapters need to be cut. We didn't really need two chapters for Aurelis. The Wooden Cavalry was always a transitory chapter and not nearly as exciting with short ranged ballista that were also axed. Sable Order was the "not Camus" chapter to set up Camus and, while it's nice to give Macedon two chapters, the first Macedon chapter really accomplishes nothing beyond pacing (and that's kind of where all versions of Shadow Dragon start to drag), it doesn't even give you a new character or fight anyone important. I think most people would cut these five if told they had to remove five chapters from Shadow Dragon. I think the only other one that feels like it could potentially get the cut would be Galder.

17 minutes ago, Shaky Jones said:

 

I don't remember saying this.

Emperor Hardin trying to 1984 me T.T

Edited November 5, 2023 by Jotari

[Saint Rubenio]

5 hours ago, Jotari said:

With the exception of Pyrathi (those fiends!) the removed chapters all seem rather sensible, if chapters need to be cut. We didn't really need two chapters for Aurelis. The Wooden Cavalry was always a transitory chapter and not nearly as exciting with short ranged ballista that were also axed. Sable Order was the "not Camus" chapter to set up Camus and, while it's nice to give Macedon two chapters, the first Macedon chapter really accomplishes nothing beyond pacing (and that's kind of where all versions of Shadow Dragon start to drag), it doesn't even give you a new character or fight anyone important. I think most people would cut these five if told they had to remove five chapters from Shadow Dragon. I think the only other one that feels like it could potentially get the cut would be Galder.

Personally, I would've retained the Sable Order chapter. It feels weird to just teleport to the shrine from Altea, and even more weird to have a single text crawl state that we encountered this incredibly strong force with a badass name on our way and just... sort of instantly defeated them offscreen. Why bring them up at all if didn't serve a purpose of consequence? It's a complete failure to set up the Order. That chapter really needed to exist.