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

[Saint Rubenio]

13 hours ago, ping said:

He's trying very hard. Always giving 110%.

It is a proven scientific fact that all you have to do is believe in Matthis and he'll do well.

13 hours ago, ping said:

Well, yeah, D as in "deka". I know how the metric system works.

Why, you...

1 minute ago, Emperor Hardin said:

I forgot to mention, @Saint Rubenio listen too, I hear its normal for older siblings to refer to their younger sibling, male or female, as kawaii in Japan. 

In english, it just comes off as creepy.

I knew it. I knew it wasn't Matthis's fault, but Japan's.

[Jotari]

2 hours ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Another odd thing about Lykke, whom I know is Ryuke, is not only does he not have a unique palette, he directly re-uses Merach's portrait with no changes whatsoever! 

Also he got an official artwork for some reason where he's pictured with an axe?

Said artwork appeared in the Legacy of Archanea artbook which had an English release

So unlike Rummel we can actually say he has an English name (though it's up in the air if they'll actually stay loyal to that should he get localizedin some other capacity, they have changed their mind before). Which honestly feels a bit weird. Like, I guess he is an important character, overthrowing Macedon like that and kidnapping Minerva, responsible for both Lena and Maria ending up in Medeus' mouth. But...the game really doesn't manage to convince me he's actually a major character. The dude is really lacking in charisma.

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I knew it. I knew it wasn't Matthis's fault, but Japan's.

I showed the original Japanese text to my girlfriend and she said he's being overprotective, but normal over protective and not "Yuri from Spy x Family" (whom if you haven't seen that show, plays this trope way passed 11 for the sake of comedy). We see Kawaii as a direct translation of cute but it can have a more broader meaning of nice or kind.

Edited January 8 by Jotari

[ping]

Meet the first Matthis-slayer of the playthrough! This brave Soldier, part of the reinforcements in the upcoming fight.

____

On 1/8/2024 at 11:47 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

It is a proven scientific fact that all you have to do is believe in Matthis and he'll do well.

I suppose I didn't believe hard enough. Or maybe somebody believed really hard in Generic Soldier Guy. Now, Ruben, I don't want to point any fingers, but believing really hard in Generic Soldier Guy sounds like a very ruben thing to do....

  

On 1/8/2024 at 11:45 AM, Emperor Hardin said:

No mention of the fact that he actually moves?
That caught me offguard the first time I played and I lost some units to him!

I guess I just immediately assumed he would, having played New Mystery first, so I forgot to make note

On 1/8/2024 at 11:45 AM, Emperor Hardin said:

Funny dialogue.

Also I'm very curious as to what translation patch this is?

 

On 1/8/2024 at 11:45 AM, Emperor Hardin said:

I forgot to mention, @Saint Rubenio listen too, I hear its normal for older siblings to refer to their younger sibling, male or female, as kawaii in Japan. 

In english, it just comes off as creepy.

On 1/8/2024 at 2:24 PM, Jotari said:

I showed the original Japanese text to my girlfriend and she said he's being overprotective, but normal over protective and not "Yuri from Spy x Family" (whom if you haven't seen that show, plays this trope way passed 11 for the sake of comedy). We see Kawaii as a direct translation of cute but it can have a more broader meaning of nice or kind.

Another point in my list for arguments against direct translation. Which, I'll say again, is not something I hold against the fan translation, but something I would hold against an official localisation.

Although maybe one could argue that "cute" is an incorrect translation when other English words would catch the meaning better. But you could still change Matthis's dialogue to make him look overprotective, but not weirdly so. Like (oh god, I'm writing fanfiction again...) having him hyperfixate on Julian's criminal past and that Lena, in Matthis's eyes, is too kind-hearted to see how dangerous he is. You could even do a pretty good equivalent of whatever the miscommunication during Matt's Book 2 recruitment is in Japanese:

: "Oh, push off. I'm not running around stealing innocent girls' hearts." (Message sent: "I'm not a skirt chaser, me and Lena are genuinely in love.")
: "Then that is cleared up. Glad you're seeing reason." (Message received: "I will stop chasing Lena's skirt.")

Boom, whacky miscommunication retained, without adding the Ugh (if not Eww) that the direct translation causes.

[Saint Rubenio]

On 1/8/2024 at 2:24 PM, Jotari said:

So unlike Rummel we can actually say he has an English name (though it's up in the air if they'll actually stay loyal to that should he get localizedin some other capacity, they have changed their mind before). Which honestly feels a bit weird. Like, I guess he is an important character, overthrowing Macedon like that and kidnapping Minerva, responsible for both Lena and Maria ending up in Medeus' mouth. But...the game really doesn't manage to convince me he's actually a major character. The dude is really lacking in charisma.

He's kinda like Jiol, when you really stop to think about it he's pretty damn relevant, but the game just treats him like Bossman Of The Week #17 so nobody cares.

On 1/8/2024 at 2:24 PM, Jotari said:

I showed the original Japanese text to my girlfriend and she said he's being overprotective, but normal over protective and not "Yuri from Spy x Family" (whom if you haven't seen that show, plays this trope way passed 11 for the sake of comedy). We see Kawaii as a direct translation of cute but it can have a more broader meaning of nice or kind.

I knew it. I knew it wasn't Matthis's fault, but the fans'

2 hours ago, ping said:

Meet the first Matthis-slayer of the playthrough! This brave Soldier, part of the reinforcements in the upcoming fight.

____

You fucking jerk, you posted this just out of spite to me! What did I ever do to you?

2 hours ago, ping said:

I suppose I didn't believe hard enough. Or maybe somebody believed really hard in Generic Soldier Guy. Now, Ruben, I don't want to point any fingers, but believing really hard in Generic Soldier Guy sounds like a very ruben thing to do....

Ach, you got me. It was me. I was the one championing for ArchaneaSoldi. It's not my fault! I didn't know he'd go after Matthis! He promised he'd kill Mallieschia, grumble grumble...

2 hours ago, ping said:

I guess I just immediately assumed he would, having played New Mystery first, so I forgot to make note

I will say, if anything it's more clear here that he moves. In NMotE he starts on the castle. Here he's just in the middle of nowhere.

2 hours ago, ping said:

Another point in my list for arguments against direct translation. Which, I'll say again, is not something I hold against the fan translation, but something I would hold against an official localisation.

Although maybe one could argue that "cute" is an incorrect translation when other English words would catch the meaning better. But you could still change Matthis's dialogue to make him look overprotective, but not weirdly so. Like (oh god, I'm writing fanfiction again...) having him hyperfixate on Julian's criminal past and that Lena, in Matthis's eyes, is too kind-hearted to see how dangerous he is. You could even do a pretty good equivalent of whatever the miscommunication during Matt's Book 2 recruitment is in Japanese:

: "Oh, push off. I'm not running around stealing innocent girls' hearts." (Message sent: "I'm not a skirt chaser, me and Lena are genuinely in love.")
: "Then that is cleared up. Glad you're seeing reason." (Message received: "I will stop chasing Lena's skirt.")

Boom, whacky miscommunication retained, without adding the Ugh (if not Eww) that the direct translation causes.

I do like how the FE12 fanslation handled this bit.

Quote

Julian:
You can relax... Lena and I would never work out. But even if it's just a little, I wanted to help her in any way I could.

Matthis:
Ooh, you finally realized where you stand. Attaboy, Julian!

He sounds like such a condescending asshole there, I love it lol

Of course, that one still doesn't do much to convey the "overprotective brother" vibe and just directly translates the "cute lil' sister" comments with no regard for how it makes the man come across in a different language and culture, but hey.

Still, I'd say even without taking the translation into account, the guy got flanderized somewhat. Leaving aside the funny sister-killer memes aside, in book 1 Matthis doesn't just turn because "haha I'm obsessed with my little sister", he turns because he knows he's a chump, and if he's going to die fighting a war, he wants to do so on the right side. And of course, he trusts his sister to correctly identify which side that is. This isn't just 8-4 being awesome, I also saw it in FE1 and I'm pretty sure it's there in book 1 as well.

That took real courage, but come book 2 they just... sort of discarded that facet of him in favor of being the Lena guy, and in FE12 they gave him a pretty messy support that completely failed to address it as well, which I think is a real shame.

Edited January 10 by Saint Rubenio

[BrightBow]

23 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Still, I'd say even without taking the translation into account, the guy got flanderized somewhat. Leaving aside the funny sister-killer memes aside, in book 1 Matthis doesn't just turn because "haha I'm obsessed with my little sister", he turns because he knows he's a chump, and if he's going to die fighting a war, he wants to do so on the right side. And of course, he trusts his sister to correctly identify which side that is. This isn't just 8-4 being awesome, I also saw it in FE1 and I'm pretty sure it's there in book 1 as well.

That took real courage, but come book 2 they just... sort of discarded that facet of him in favor of being the Lena guy, and in FE12 they gave him a pretty messy support that completely failed to address it as well, which I think is a real shame.

I suppose it's also because the only person he talks to in Book 2 is Julian. And the "Lena" angle is really the only thing that connects those two.

And that whole "Don't fall in love with a thief" thing was already in FE1. Which very much set the direction for his relationship with Julian.

[Jotari]

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

He's kinda like Jiol, when you really stop to think about it he's pretty damn relevant, but the game just treats him like Bossman Of The Week #17 so nobody cares.

At least Jiol has his own country and that pivotal betrayal in the backstory leading to Cornelius' death. That's pretty important. He later gets a daughter and Shadow Dragon prologue is kind enough to throw him a bone. Meanwhile Lykke is just Lykke.

1 hour ago, BrightBow said:

I suppose it's also because the only person he talks to in Book 2 is Julian. And the "Lena" angle is really the only thing that connects those two.

And that whole "Don't fall in love with a thief" thing was already in FE1. Which very much set the direction for his relationship with Julian.

Kind of begs the question why though? Why is Julian the only one he talks to? Well I guess it's because they wanted to give focus to missing Lena as a plot element, still, why is he fighting for Lykke? He fought alongside Minerva in the last war. Why would he join a coup against her instead of running away the loyalists like Palla and Catria? We can only summarize he learned nothing from Shadow Dragon and is really just that much of a coward. Well either that or he earnestly believes in Lykke's cause and harbors a secret hate for the Macedonian monarchy after how Michalis treated him. And idk maybe Minerva farted in front of him once or something so he has it out for her too.

Edited January 10 by Jotari

[RPGuy96]

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Still, I'd say even without taking the translation into account, the guy got flanderized somewhat. Leaving aside the funny sister-killer memes aside, in book 1 Matthis doesn't just turn because "haha I'm obsessed with my little sister", he turns because he knows he's a chump, and if he's going to die fighting a war, he wants to do so on the right side. And of course, he trusts his sister to correctly identify which side that is. This isn't just 8-4 being awesome, I also saw it in FE1 and I'm pretty sure it's there in book 1 as well.

Sort of.  In Book 1, he starts off by complaining about being conscripted, but then transitions into being at least a little creepy, at least in the Book 1 direct translation.  After a little introduction of what happened when Lena was kidnapped:

 After you fled from Prince Michalis, Macedon became more and more ruthless. The prince despised me, so he forced me to join the army and fight here. I detest fighting, but if I don't cooperate, they'll execute me. I don't really have a choice.

 No, brother. You should have been brave and walked on your own path! It was Macedon that was wrong, for allying with the Dolhr Empire and causing its people to suffer. What they're doing is deplorable. Brother, it's not too late. Come with us, and join the Altean Alliance. Everybody will welcome you, because they're all good people.

 ...Really? I understand. Since I'm going to die anyway, I might as well die a glorious death.  However I heard that you flatly denied the prince's proposal. My life is going to be hard with a sister like you. That said, you're still a woman. Are there any guys that take your fancy?

 Huh...? No, there's nobody...

 Huh? I was so sure there was. Nevermind, you've already reached the age to freely love. But, remember what I am about to say: Never fall in love with a thief.

[Jotari]

All this discourse is reminding me how I wish New Mystery had the courage to break from the SNES and open up who can rescue the Maidens beyond four specific characters. Why not have Matthis be able to rescue Lena? What's that? Michalis can't bare to face Maria, so much so that he'll literally let her be eaten by a dragon instead of trying to talk to her? Marth,, you love your sister, right? But I guess she can only be broken out of her hypnotism by someone who wants to give her the dick. Horace, you owe your life to Nyna, tell her how much she means to you and your country? No, only the tall handsome stranger with a mask can do it? How reductive.

Edited January 10 by Jotari

[ping]

FE3 Book 2 Chapter 6: Nest of Evil

Spoiler

All that remains is Olbern Castle, held guard by the commander of the occupation army, General Lang. Land used his position to steal possessions from the Grustian citizens, to steal young girls, and to steal lives. Historically has there been a man crueller than him? "He cannot be allowed to live. I will definitely defeat him!" Prince Marth raised his sword towards the skies and shouted out an order. Altean knights charge!!

: "Hahaha... They're here? Our reinforcements will be arriving soon. If we hold out long enough, we'll be able to attack them from both sides. Swordfighter Navarre! When they open the gate that will be your chance to attack. Don't hold back, just kill them all!!"
: "Uh... Okay. The Altean knights are, um, nothing to me. Yeah..."
: "Oh! I should have expected no less from you. As long as we have you, not even Talys's Ogma can defeat us."
: "What? Ogma!!? Uh... Um... Yeah... I can, er, take care of that dude."
: "Good, with your words I can relax now. Well, good luck, Navarre."

It's a silly little joke, but I can't help but like a terrible impostor that is still somehow successfully fooling a mark.

The map! After the first action of the fight, which was very slightly revised after Matthis's very unfortunate encounter with a very threatening enemy soldier.

I don't think New Mystery changed (or rather will change) a ton of this, which is fine by me, since the map doesn't have any egregious flaws that absolutely need to be addressed.

The initial configuration is not terribly overwhelming. A bunch of knights to the left, which are held in check by the three choke points, while there's only two enemies with a weapon in the eastern part of the castle:

__

A Mage that Warren can easily dispose of in the first enemy phase, and a Swarm-using Bishop that Warren can also one-round, although he needs to use Kashim's Killer bow since Iron is too weak and Steel too heavy. The second Bishop has a Physic staff, although he never uses it during the fight, and drops a Secret Book.

__

The Knights are all just Lv.1 (although the ones reinforcing, as well as Lang's bodyguards, are a bit stronger), which means that even Steel Swords deal decend damage against them.

The main danger comes from the reinforcements, even though it really doesn't look like it at first. But they spawn every turn, in random numbers. According to FEWoD, it's four potential spawns with a 50% chance each, although it seemed to me like the average was significantly above 2/turn. It also says that they spawn on turns 3-8, but that also seems wrong...

...as this is a screenshot from right before I seize on turn 11, so that Knight at the bottom must've spawned on turn 10.

Related to the reinforcements one FE12 change: There's a third chest in the southeast cell (where Rickard spawns). It not being there is somewhat helpful, since that way, Julian and/or Rickard don't have to move as close to the reinforcements when moving on to the other treasure.

Once you open either door (the left one, in my case), all the hidden parts of the map are revealed. Lang, brave soul that he is, has surrounded himself with a bunch of Knights, as well as two Bishops exclusively on Heal duty (i.e. without a tome).

To the left is "Navarre"...

...and to the right a lone Mage with Elfire. Unlike the Knights, he does immediately become aggressive and will run left if that's the door you've opened, but Warren simply interrupts his bishop-shooting duties to intercept him.

__

Marth is well-suited to absorb an attack from "Navarre" - he survives a crit without much issue and (the more likely case, thanks to Sheeda's moral support) wouldn't crit-kill "Navarre", either. Recruitment theme, play!

: "Huh!? Dude, who are you? I have no business with women or children... That said. (Hey, she's pretty cute) What do you want?"
: "..... You can't be Navarre!! Who are you?"

Gasp!

: "I'm Samuel, a, er, humble mercenary. Since I look like Navarre, lots of people mistake me for him. So I pretended to be him. But I really hate that General Lang. If you think I'm of any use, let me help you."
: "Uh... I guess you would be alright..."

It might detract from Sheeda's cunning that after her FE1 exploits, the only enemy she recruits is this little dummy. Still a funny recruitment, so I can live with that. But for the sake of completion, and with the help of a little save state magic, the other option:

: "Navarre... You disappoint me..."
: "Woah, I don't believe it... This Killing Edge is, like, so deadly..."
: "Do we have to fight? Alright. I guessed that we would have to duel eventually.
: "Ah... Oh, snap! Woah dude! I'm just faking it! ...Faking!"

Honestly, I think I might prefer this Samuel/Samto to the version from the FE12 fan translation.

: "It's me... Samuel. Have you totally forgotten, Mister Ogma?"
: "Samuel!? The pit-fighter from Knorda, Samuel?"
: "Yeah, that was me. Thanks for saving me back then. When everybody tried to escape, you got yourself caught, to hide our escape..."
: "....."
: "I heard from the others that you were taken to the arena to be whipped. Even then, you didn't say anything about our whereabouts. In the end, the young princess of Talys, who was passing by, protected you even when she was in tears, and rescued you. So that's why, for Talys... No... For the princess, you wielded your sword again..."
: "Enough... Don't say anymore! It's already in the past... In the past..."
: ".....Mister Ogma... Regardless, I hope to repay your favour! Let me follow you, okay?"

"Hey Ogma, remember when you were brutally tortured? For days, maybe? Must have been really rough. Do you remember that, Ogma? Ogma? Remember?"

[HP 70% | Str 20% | Skl 20% | Spd 60% | Lck 10% | WLv 40% | Def 10%]

As you might expect from a Mercenary who has to pose as somebody else to make a living, Samuel is pretty underwhelming. Worse bases and worse growths than both Ogma and (woah! Spoilers!) the real Navarre. If you want to be pedantic, his Spd growth is actually the highest between the three, but Ogma's (14) and Navarre's (16) bases are so high that this isn't much of a selling point for Samuel.

Overall... salvagable, but outclassed, I reckon. Merc->Hero is not a bad class to be in, what with the regular indoor maps, and Starshards are everybody's friends. If Samuel manages to consistently carry even just Gemini (+Str/Def, -WLv) during his level-ups, he honestly should do well enough.

Meanwhile, a small detachment battles the reinforcements. Since an even smaller detachment (Warren and Rickard) is hiding in the east, I have to keep at least some troops close-ish to the entrance, to make sure that reinforcements don't go the wrong direction. What makes this a bit dangerous is Matthis's low Lck the fact that you get this neverending stream of enemies where you can't attack one without walking into the next one's range.

But on the plus side, this all is a great learning experience for Jubelo.

__

Meanwhile, Marth and a few friends slowly chew through Lang's bodyguards. Since they're a bit stronger, Marth can't reliably one-round them with the Rapier, but he ends up critting everything he fights to death anyway. But even if he didn't, the Knights have no FE12-style linked AI, so they're more a roadblock than a threat.

Lang himself is quite strong and very physically bulky, and has a Javelin to make sure he can't just be cheesed by a Mage. This does, of course, mean that Linde doubles him even with Aura...

...so she does just that. Being as bulky as she is, she easily survives Lang's counterattack with one whole HP.

: "Please... Please wait. I'm sorry... Please forgive me. I was just following the Emperor's orders. I also hate what I have done, but I had no choice. So... So... Please... Help me... Please just let me explain. Yes... That's right... Like that... You let your guard down... Idiot... Die!!"

Come now. That's an old trick. #GuileDidItFirst ...no, wait, Guile only does it in the FE12 translation. Kaga, you old dog, you win again.

And Linde chips Lang down far enough for Sheeda to finish the job somewhat reliably - 91.6% chance to get the one hit necessary, and Marth would've been around for another swing if she hadn't succeeded.

: Urgh... How... Could I be defeated...?"

__

With the boss kill secure, the squad dealing with the reinforcements can kick some butt without caring about longevity. Unfortunately, Cecille can't get in on the fun...

...because Matthis, after actually distinguishing himself with his good HP/Def stats, manages to disappoint everybody a final time (...on this map).

: "Ah, bishop Wendell! It's great to see that you're safe. When I heard you were taken from the village in Macedon, I was really worried."
: "Lang wanted me to help him deal with the Grustian rebellion, so he took me here."
: "But, as the Pontifex of Khadein, and with your power, you shouldn't need to fear Lang."

I have to appreciate that Kaga doesn't even try to hide how good FE1/Book 1 Wendell is.

: "I don't like using magic in battle. And also, I already left the magic city, Khadein, in the care of the two youths, Merric and Arlen. I left because I must carry out an important mission given to me by Archsage Gotoh."
: "A mission from Gotoh? So, are you travelling the continent?"
: "That's right...You should know that there was once a sacred juwel, with markings of the 12 constellations, known as the Starsphere. In order to dispel Gharnef's dark magic, Gotoh created the holy Starlight magic from the Sphere. However, at that time it created a powerful shock and the Sphere broke into 12 fragments, which flew and scattered across the continent. Gotoh said that this world is protected by the mysterious power of the five Spheres. If any one of them was lost, the world will fall into ruin. And right now, the Starsphere has been broken. Therefore, even now the world is decaying. The 12 fragments must be brought back together, so that the Starsphere can be restored. Unfortunately, I was captured and the fragments that I laboriously collected were taken by the imperial soldiers. Prince Marth. I realise that I cannot complete my mission just by myself. Can you aid me in my quest?"
: "Huh... How could this be...? Suddenly hearing that the world is falling into ruin. I am finding it difficult to believe. But, are the Star fragments these? I already have a couple. Once I've reclaimed ALtea, I will help you look for the remaining fragments and Spheres. If possible, can you wait until then?"
: "Oh, that's right... Your highness's country was attacked by Archanea... I am deeply sorry. My request was a little selfish. You highness, I understand... I will also fight, to reclaim Altea."
: "Huh? Bishop, can you really help us fight? What about Gotoh's mission...?"
: "I bet meeting your highness was also planned by Gotoh. If that is the case, I must follow my fate. But, can we first go to the Fane of Raman? At that lost temple, perhaps we can recover some of the lost Spheres and Star fragments."
: "I understand. The Fane of Raman is along our road to reclaiming Altea. We'll head there immediately!!"

That's a lot of exposition. But Wendell joining clearly warrants a lot of dialogue.

I also have to commend Gotoh for asking the fastest man alive to rush across the continent to find all the Star Fragments. Very good choice.

The Team:

	Lv. 	   HP Str Skl Spd Lck WLv Def Res  +XP
Marth	8.59	   27   9  10  11  11   9   8   0  +166
Sirius	*/7.88	   27  13  11  15   2  14  11   6  +50
Matthis	8.78	   23   9   4   8   2  11   9   1  +146
Cecille	10.34	   21  10   8  15   9  12   8   1  +126

Caeda	5.67	   20   6   8  15  14  10   8   6  +117
Ogma	8.64	   26   8  14  15   5   9   9   0  +48
Samuel	5.00	   22   6  10  11   3   7   7   0  --	(base)
Julian	9.06	   22  10   9  16   9   8   7   0  +42

Rickard	3.09	   18   6   3   9   1   6   3   0  --	(base)
Warren	10.60	   28  10   9   8   2   8   5   1  +164
Linde	6.48	   21   3   7  10  10   9   2   4  +52
Jubelo	8.42	   21   7   5   8  10  11   3   3  +298

Yuliya	7.06	   17   4   6   7  14  10   2   5  +172

• Another point of Spd on Warren! And +3 Str in three levels for Jubelo, too.

 

21 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Ach, you got me. It was me. I was the one championing for ArchaneaSoldi. It's not my fault! I didn't know he'd go after Matthis! He promised he'd kill Mallieschia, grumble grumble...

I can't believe you assumed I would field Maliesissichen without anything to hammerne. Oh ye of little faith...

21 hours ago, BrightBow said:

And that whole "Don't fall in love with a thief" thing was already in FE1. Which very much set the direction for his relationship with Julian.

It's such a specific thing to warn for, too. I wonder (once again) if this is a common saying or concern or trope in Japan or if it's just the comedy of Matthis warning her not to do precisely what she did about 30-45 minutes of playtime prior.

18 hours ago, Jotari said:

All this discourse is reminding me how I wish New Mystery had the courage to break from the SNES and open up who can rescue the Maidens beyond four specific characters. Why not have Matthis be able to rescue Lena? What's that? Michalis can't bare to face Maria, so much so that he'll literally let her be eaten by a dragon instead of trying to talk to her? Marth,, you love your sister, right? But I guess she can only be broken out of her hypnotism by someone who wants to give her the dick. Horace, you owe your life to Nyna, tell her how much she means to you and your country? No, only the tall handsome stranger with a mask can do it? How reductive.

Honestly, yeah. From a gameplay perspective, too, since that would make it less frustrating for a player that isn't consulting a guidebook or the internet. Like, Merric and Elice's blossoming relationship isn't exactly broadcast on the main channel. However, Lena's reaction to Matthis should be, "Holy shit, let me make my own decision and stop messing with my life", and she can't be saved at all if you make the terrible mistake of letting Matthis anywhere near her

[Saint Rubenio]

11 minutes ago, ping said:

 

It's a silly little joke, but I can't help but like a terrible impostor that is still somehow successfully fooling a mark.

In FE12 he's a little more convincing, at least. He still freaks out at the mention of Ogma, but he keeps a decent front otherwise.

13 minutes ago, ping said:

: "Huh!? Dude, who are you? I have no business with women or children... That said. (Hey, she's pretty cute) What do you want?"
: "..... You can't be Navarre!! Who are you?"

As much as I get on this game's case for the art, I must say, they should've changed his color palette in FE12. They colored Navarre red, for... some reason, but they kept this guy the same, so he doesn't even look anything like Navarre anymore.

Not that the issue isn't here at all, mind. It's more subtle, but where'd he get the headband and shoulder pads?

14 minutes ago, ping said:

Honestly, I think I might prefer this Samuel/Samto to the version from the FE12 fan translation.

He's more overtly pathetic.

22 minutes ago, ping said:

: "Please... Please wait. I'm sorry... Please forgive me. I was just following the Emperor's orders. I also hate what I have done, but I had no choice. So... So... Please... Help me... Please just let me explain. Yes... That's right... Like that... You let your guard down... Idiot... Die!!"

Come now. That's an old trick. #GuileDidItFirst ...no, wait, Guile only does it in the FE12 translation. Kaga, you old dog, you win again.

Funniest battle quote.

22 minutes ago, ping said:

: Urgh... How... Could I be defeated...?"

...Followed by the most forgettable death quote in the history of history. C'mon, dude, do better! Be as witty as you were just then!

22 minutes ago, ping said:

...because Matthis, after actually distinguishing himself with his good HP/Def stats, manages to disappoint everybody a final time (...on this map).

Is that the sound of not believing in Matthis I hear? No wonder he's not rewarding you.

22 minutes ago, ping said:

Good save.

23 minutes ago, ping said:

: "I don't like using magic in battle. And also, I already left the magic city, Khadein, in the care of the two youths, Merric and Arlen. I left because I must carry out an important mission given to me by Archsage Gotoh."

You'd think this would've been a pretty good justification for using magic in battle. But I can understand wanting to spite Gotoh, that shitbag.

23 minutes ago, ping said:

 

I also have to commend Gotoh for asking the fastest man alive to rush across the continent to find all the Star Fragments. Very good choice.

As opposed to using his own teleportation powers to do that instead.

24 minutes ago, ping said:

I can't believe you assumed I would field Maliesissichen without anything to hammerne. Oh ye of little faith...

I didn't, I was hoping he'd go to the bench and kill her there.

[Interdimensional Observer]

On 1/7/2024 at 3:20 PM, ping said:

Feels like there should be a cave behind that big waterfall. Maybe the lair of a water dragon.

21 minutes ago, ping said:

The map!

It looks so... empty. Like was Lang in the process of moving out to his new bigger castle?

Not Gaiden design, but...? -Reinforcements from behind and asymmetry of the symmetrical-ish do save this simply-designed map.

 

1 minute ago, Saint Rubenio said:

...Followed by the most forgettable death quote in the history of history. C'mon, dude, do better! Be as witty as you were just then!

He can't, do you realize he spent a week practicing the above good line? -After he found it in a book. Man has no creativity at all.

[Jotari]

6 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

It looks so... empty. Like was Lang in the process of moving out to his new bigger castle?

Makes me wonder, where was this castle in Shadow Dragon? Did Marth take it off screen? Is it one of those little forts to the South West of the capital in the Camus chapter? Hell why didn't they just make this the capital of Grust (it's specifically not) since we never actually fight there?

[Shaky Jones]

20 minutes ago, ping said:

It's a silly little joke, but I can't help but like a terrible impostor that is still somehow successfully fooling a mark

What I wanna know is why having Navarre would calm him in the first place. Bro is mid.

21 minutes ago, ping said:

As you might expect from a Mercenary who has to pose as somebody else to make a living, Samuel is pretty underwhelming. Worse bases and worse growths than both Ogma and (woah! Spoilers!) the real Navarre. If you want to be pedantic, his Spd growth is actually the highest between the three, but Ogma's (14) and Navarre's (16) bases are so high that this isn't much of a selling point for Samuel.

He will always be Samto to me.

I'm still benching him, but with the name I wanna ignore.

22 minutes ago, ping said:

The map! After the first action of the fight, which was very slightly revised after Matthis's very unfortunate encounter with a very threatening enemy soldier.

I don't think New Mystery changed (or rather will change) a ton of this, which is fine by me, since the map doesn't have any egregious flaws that absolutely need to be addressed.

At least fe12 had mages too. A couple on the left and one more to the guy on the right. This is just far too empty, and having no mounts makes all this space just a slog to walk through. I don't dislike this chapter in FE3, but it feels very dull in comparison.

25 minutes ago, ping said:

The main danger comes from the reinforcements, even though it really doesn't look like it at first. But they spawn every turn, in random numbers. According to FEWoD, it's four potential spawns with a 50% chance each, although it seemed to me like the average was significantly above 2/turn. It also says that they spawn on turns 3-8, but that also seems wrong...

...as this is a screenshot from right before I seize on turn 11, so that Knight at the bottom must've spawned on turn 10.

Classic FE3 reinforcements, because the one from FE12 didn't already drag on.

26 minutes ago, ping said:

But on the plus side, this all is a great learning experience for Jubelo.

No fighter reclass. What's the point?

27 minutes ago, ping said:

Lang himself is quite strong and very physically bulky, and has a Javelin to make sure he can't just be cheesed by a Mage. This does, of course, mean that Linde doubles him even with Aura...

Why does he have more defense here than in the remake where stats are significantly higher?

28 minutes ago, ping said:

: "Please... Please wait. I'm sorry... Please forgive me. I was just following the Emperor's orders. I also hate what I have done, but I had no choice. So... So... Please... Help me... Please just let me explain. Yes... That's right... Like that... You let your guard down... Idiot... Die!!"

Come now. That's an old trick

How about you really trick us? Just end the map, have some words words words, and then randomly resume the map where he ambushes the player.

Would it be fair? This is Kaga we're talking about.

30 minutes ago, ping said:

That's a lot of exposition. But Wendell joining clearly warrants a lot of dialogue.

Kaga knows the game is basically over now.

30 minutes ago, ping said:

Another point of Spd on Warren

Yay.

31 minutes ago, ping said:

It's such a specific thing to warn for, too. I wonder (once again) if this is a common saying or concern or trope in Japan or if it's just the comedy of Matthis warning her not to do precisely what she did about 30-45 minutes of playtime prior.

Hey, at least she does it 30 minutes before he says it and not after. Imagine a joke like that.

 

What do you mean Sigurd and Celica are supposed to be taken seriously?

33 minutes ago, ping said:

19 hours ago, Jotari said:

All this discourse is reminding me how I wish New Mystery had the courage to break from the SNES and open up who can rescue the Maidens beyond four specific characters. Why not have Matthis be able to rescue Lena? What's that? Michalis can't bare to face Maria, so much so that he'll literally let her be eaten by a dragon instead of trying to talk to her? Marth,, you love your sister, right? But I guess she can only be broken out of her hypnotism by someone who wants to give her the dick. Horace, you owe your life to Nyna, tell her how much she means to you and your country? No, only the tall handsome stranger with a mask can do it? How reductive.

Honestly, yeah. From a gameplay perspective, too, since that would make it less frustrating for a player that isn't consulting a guidebook or the internet. Like, Merric and Elice's blossoming relationship isn't exactly broadcast on the main channel. However, Lena's reaction to Matthis should be, "Holy shit, let me make my own decision and stop messing with my life", and she can't be saved at all if you make the terrible mistake of letting Matthis anywhere near her

That's what I've been saying for years! Let other people recruit the 4 Kaga'd! I'm so sick of Matthis just standing there while I'm forced to field Julian on endgame every single time! Do they WANT to force specific units on repeat playthroughs of a game with such a large cast but a small deployment limit? It's so dumb!

How dare you imply Matthis would make things worse. She'd clearly get so fed up that she'd one shot Medeus out of pent up frustration, causing both Matthis and Julian to run away in fear and get a paired ending.

12 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Is that the sound of not believing in Matthis I hear? No wonder he's not rewarding you.

I'm still surprised how good my first Matthis was even when I didn't really believe. I was just happy to use the funny pink hair man and bam, capped everything.

And then he capped again.

And then he capped again.

And then he-

13 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

As opposed to using his own teleportation powers to do that instead.

[Interdimensional Observer]

18 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Makes me wonder, where was this castle in Shadow Dragon? Did Marth take it off screen? Is it one of those little forts to the South West of the capital in the Camus chapter? Hell why didn't they just make this the capital of Grust (it's specifically not) since we never actually fight there?

I always presumed the Camus chapter in Shadow Dragon was the Grust capital. Since it'd be logical Grust would make its last stand there. -But I suppose it's never stated anywhere? It doesn't particularly look like a capital the way Macedon's citadel does.

...Archanean lore is okay -in some regards, not so much the building of the present-day world.

...Speaking of Grust, there is one little issue with the addition of the children. Namely- Gharnef locked them in Khadein, which Marth liberated before attacking Grust. With a simple tweak, swapping "Khadein" for "Thabes", the issue is resolved. But by having the children at Khadein, Marth could've found them before he fights Camus. He could've said "Yo, I got the future of Grust right here, you up to join nao?". -Of course Camus could've still said no, perhaps he could've pull a Douglas and say "His Majesty the current king is a hostage/will die of shock if I lose, I wish the Elffin Prince and Princess well". -But then we can't have anything that would interfere with sending Cammy over to Valentia, I guess.

Edited January 11 by Interdimensional Observer

[ping]

17 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

...Followed by the most forgettable death quote in the history of history. C'mon, dude, do better! Be as witty as you were just then!

At least he couldn't not be defeated and had to retreat.

17 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

As opposed to using his own teleportation powers to do that instead.

I'm sure Gotoh had more important business to attend to. Like, decide what wine to drink. Or decide if he should call the next father-murderer a "moron" or if he should give "fool" another go.

13 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

It looks so... empty. Like was Lang in the process of moving out to his new bigger castle?

Not Gaiden design, but...? -Reinforcements from behind and asymmetry of the symmetrical-ish do save this simply-designed map.

It fits with the story, imo. Lang is a craven cur, so he's keeping half of his troops (or half of the half of the troops that didn't keep guard outside) very close to himself. With that, and with the reinforcements arriving a little too late, it's appropriate that there isn't much left to harrass Marth with immediately.

If I was to change just one thing about the map, I'd probably add more troops to the hidden area; make Lang even more holed in than he already is (like, the guy is surrounded by Knights and has two healers on stand-by). Maybe add a big group of enemies that always spawns in the wrong room, i.e. on the side that you don't open the door on: They were trying to jump you, but read your movement wrong, so now they have to haul ass to the other side of the map. And maybe add a thief to the throne room, so that the second door will open, too... but only after a few turns of warning, since the thief will have to move there first.

Although for all this, I'd probably need a second change and make the hallways between those rooms a bit wider, to make these troops more threatening.

1 minute ago, Shaky Jones said:

What I wanna know is why having Navarre would calm him in the first place. Bro is mid.

Samto is coasting on Navarre's reputation, not on Navarre's abilities. And I guess we have to take Lang's word for how Akaneia at large views him.

2 minutes ago, Shaky Jones said:

At least fe12 had mages too. A couple on the left and one more to the guy on the right. This is just far too empty, and having no mounts makes all this space just a slog to walk through. I don't dislike this chapter in FE3, but it feels very dull in comparison.

Eh, it's not that bad, I think. As I said, a few (or even a lot) more hidden enemies wouldn't have hurt, but the map isn't that large, nor is the path particularly winding. You can engage with the enemies on turn 1 enemy phase, and I think I opened the door to Samto on turn 3 or 4. It's definitely no Ch.3, or even Ch.8 in BinBla.

5 minutes ago, Shaky Jones said:

No fighter reclass. What's the point?

Hey, I never used Mage!Yubello before, so this is novelty for me.

6 minutes ago, Shaky Jones said:

How dare you imply Matthis would make things worse. She'd clearly get so fed up that she'd one shot Medeus out of pent up frustration, causing both Matthis and Julian to run away in fear and get a paired ending.

"Men become gay because women with their own agenda are scaring them" sounds like a plausible Fox News talking point. I was going to say "in 2026", but then I looked at the sentence again and it's probably been a talking point for decades already. No surprise that the game where the main character has blue hair and pronouns also features strong female characters #MuhImmersion

16 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Makes me wonder, where was this castle in Shadow Dragon? Did Marth take it off screen? Is it one of those little forts to the South West of the capital in the Camus chapter? Hell why didn't they just make this the capital of Grust (it's specifically not) since we never actually fight there?

I guess Marth is coming from the opposite direction in Book 2. In FE1, he liberates Altea, then crosses the big bridges (offscreen, in Book 1) into Grust/nia. In Book 2, he presumably moves from Macedon to Grust/nia per boat, so maybe this castle is between the southern/eastern coast and the capital, not between the capital and the bridges in the north.

[Interdimensional Observer]

18 minutes ago, ping said:

I'm sure Gotoh had more important business to attend to. Like, decide what wine to drink. Or decide if he should call the next father-murderer a "moron" or if he should give "fool" another go.

I'm inclined to think he's hiding in that old ice castle, not only because it's away from people, which he doesn't like. But also because it allows him to benefit from his ectothermic heritage even in endothermic form, and reduce his energy consumption. Reducing his dietary needs and allowing him to survive on melted snow and unfrozen wild food.

...Ice Dragons have natural antifreeze in their bodies and avoid ectothermically-induced hibernation, by actually generating more internal heat than Fire Dragons. The only crazy-heat Fire Dragons produce is in their respiratory tract for the exhalation of fire, when it comes to internal organs and surface body temperature, Ice Dragons are hotter, which is also due to better insulation. They live where it's cold because warmer climates make them too hot, ice breath was not adapted for hunting or self-defense, but as a way of venting the cold evolved before their other features took form. (Spur-of-the-moment unserious fanficting.🙃)

Edited January 11 by Interdimensional Observer

[BrightBow]

When I first did this map, I deployed both Julian and Ricardo. I noticed they had a Talk command with each other. Said Talk turned out to be their recruitment convo again.
Okay, fair enough. Ricardo can also be gotten on this map, so a bug like that makes sense.
But then once the convo was done, it also triggered a Game Over for some reason.
I don't know if that always happens or if this  is the result of a specific rom / patch combination, but it was very funny.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

: "Please... Please wait. I'm sorry... Please forgive me. I was just following the Emperor's orders. I also hate what I have done, but I had no choice. So... So... Please... Help me... Please just let me explain. Yes... That's right... Like that... You let your guard down... Idiot... Die!!"

Man, now I wish a cool and beautiful Sniper would suddenly appear to shoot him in the leg.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

: "I don't like using magic in battle. And also, I already left the magic city, Khadein, in the care of the two youths, Merric and Arlen. I left because I must carry out an important mission given to me by Archsage Gotoh."

Oh yeah, let's send the only remaining authority in Khadein away on a mission. Great idea Gotoh. Can't imagine why Khadein turned to shit under your watch.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

In order to dispel Gharnef's dark magic, Gotoh created the holy Starlight magic from the Sphere. However, at that time it created a powerful shock and the Sphere broke into 12 fragments, which flew and scattered across the continent. 

Greatest Sage, everyone.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

: "Huh? Bishop, can you really help us fight? What about Gotoh's mission...?"

Fuck 'em.

Edited January 11 by BrightBow

[Saint Rubenio]

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

He can't, do you realize he spent a week practicing the above good line? -After he found it in a book. Man has no creativity at all.

He does seem like the kind to have no creativity. Creativity is for lazy bums, real men work a real job and earn money to provide for their family. He'll get a wife one of these days - he's such a nice guy, after all.

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

Makes me wonder, where was this castle in Shadow Dragon? Did Marth take it off screen? Is it one of those little forts to the South West of the capital in the Camus chapter? Hell why didn't they just make this the capital of Grust (it's specifically not) since we never actually fight there?

Lang had it built over the past 10 months. That's why it's so empty and why there's only ceiling on half the map. It's not quite finished yet.

1 hour ago, Shaky Jones said:

I'm still surprised how good my first Matthis was even when I didn't really believe. I was just happy to use the funny pink hair man and bam, capped everything.

And then he capped again.

And then he capped again.

And then he-

The result of believing in Matthis.

59 minutes ago, ping said:

I'm sure Gotoh had more important business to attend to. Like, decide what wine to drink. Or decide if he should call the next father-murderer a "moron" or if he should give "fool" another go.

Perhaps figure out if he should do anything about the thieves that keep breaking into his house and stealing his shit.

Then he remembers it's actually Tiki's shit (gifts from Mar-Mar and Ban-Ban), so he decides he doesn't care enough.

1 hour ago, ping said:

"Men become gay because women with their own agenda are scaring them" sounds like a plausible Fox News talking point. I was going to say "in 2026", but then I looked at the sentence again and it's probably been a talking point for decades already. No surprise that the game where the main character has blue hair and pronouns also features strong female characters #MuhImmersion

Sooo what you're telling me is, Juliatthis ship go?

I dig.

8 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Man, now I wish a cool and beautiful Sniper would suddenly appear to shoot him in the leg.

I wish she'd come and shoot me in the leg.

...So, anyway.

8 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Oh yeah, let's send the only remaining authority in Khadein away on a mission. Great idea Gotoh. Can't imagine why Khadein turned to shit under your watch.

To be fair, Wendell did also choose to leave Khadein in the care of his two pupils despite the very obvious fact that Arlen hates Merric with a burning passion. But yes, it's all Gotoh's fault.

9 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Greatest Sage, everyone.

Fuck that asshole. I wish he was playable so I could kill him.

[ping]

25 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

When I first did this map, I deployed both Julian and Ricardo. I noticed they had a Talk command with each other. Said Talk turned out to be their recruitment convo again.
Okay, fair enough. Ricardo can also be gotten on this map, so a bug like that makes sense.
But then once the convo was done, it also triggered a Game Over for some reason.
I don't know if that always happens or if this  is the result of a specific rom / patch combination, but it was very funny.

I still had the save state from doing both recruitment talks for Samuel, so I could test this and... yeah, recruitment convo into game over, just as advertised. That is funny.

25 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Oh yeah, let's send the only remaining authority in Khadein away on a mission. Great idea Gotoh. Can't imagine why Khadein turned to shit under your watch.

You could maybe argue that Wendell is one of the very few humans that Gotoh trusts, considering his attitude towards them as a whole. But Pope Sonic-the-hedgehog memes aside, picking the elderly, pacifist bishop to find all the small orbs scattered across the countryside sure is a choice that Gotoh made.

15 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Sooo what you're telling me is, Juliatthis ship go?

I dig.

I mean, it's far from the most morally bankrupt implication stemming from a fan ship, but I think leaving your love interest in favour of their sibling is generally accepted to be a dick move, bro.

On 1/4/2024 at 7:57 PM, ping said:

So, to collect some of the Awful FE People lore thus far...

• In the Gaiden timeline, Berkut and Rinea aren't involved because they're currently playing out cottagecore tradwife fantasies. Rising stars in the Republican party.
• The Wolfguard is getting into the Alpha Male grifting business
• Anna (and Gotoh, apparently) are really big in NFTs, although I think Anna would have cashed out and entirely disappeared from the scene. If anybody managed to find her, she'd just pretend she's one of her many sisters (who all have no idea what this is all about, of course)

• Gotoh is acting like Gotoh.
• Julian dumps Lena (while, or shortly after, she is in imminent danger of being devoured by a big-ass dragon) in favour of her older brother.

Which means that Gotoh's the first character to be mentioned twice, but I think that's agreeable with the general sentiment in the thread.

Edited January 11 by ping

[Interdimensional Observer]

31 minutes ago, ping said:

But Pope Sonic-the-hedgehog memes aside, picking the elderly, pacifist bishop to find all the small orbs scattered across the countryside sure is a choice that Gotoh made.

Never question the decisions of old wise men on the side of good in old video games. For they are just wise men and by definition their decisions are just and wise.

...Unrelated Legend of Zelda thought, why did Rauru have Link sleep through the seven years of Ocarina of Time? Wouldn't it have been better having the hero of destiny undergo nonstop shounen-training?

31 minutes ago, ping said:

I mean, it's far from the most morally bankrupt implication stemming from a fan ship, but I think leaving your love interest in favour of their sibling is generally accepted to be a dick move, bro.

"It's not like that baby! I just see death flags looming over your head and opted to book that levirate marriage [in a loose sense] I'll be craving in the depths of my sorrows for you in advance. -Why not stop the flags? Uh, sorry honey, can't change your tragic fate. Love ya dearest!"

Edited January 11 by Interdimensional Observer

[ping]

10 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

"It's not like that baby! I just see death flags looming over your head and opted to book that levirate marriage [in a loose sense] I'll be craving in the depths of my sorrows for you in advance. -Why not stop the flags? Uh, sorry honey, can't change your tragic fate. Love ya dearest!"

Till Death Flags Do Us Part

[Jotari]

8 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I always presumed the Camus chapter in Shadow Dragon was the Grust capital. Since it'd be logical Grust would make its last stand there. -But I suppose it's never stated anywhere? It doesn't particularly look like a capital the way Macedon's citadel does.

Oh I assume the Camus chapter is the capital too. I mean we never actually fight inside the castle itself like we to for Aurelis, Archanea and Altea (I guess indoor chapters are a privileged only reserved for nations that begin with an A). I was suggesting that this be the castle Lorenz and Camus were guarding, just like how we end up fighting in Khadein later in this game when we only fought around it in Shadow Dragon. But if you look at the map this castle of Lang's is in a different place (and has its own name, though it escapes me now, something starting with an 'O' I think.

8 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

...Archanean lore is okay -in some regards, not so much the building of the present-day world.

One really weird gap in Archanean lore, or well, Kaga's notes on the lore, is Nyna's father. Kaga's notes lists all the different Dukes ruling Duchys of Archanea, Lang is actually among them (look at me staying on topic with stuff I've secretly wanted to rant about for years). Another is Jeorge's father, Midia's father, some guy who shares a name with the guy who cucked Anri. They all have names and regions that they rule over. Yet Nyna's father doesn't have a name. He's only ever referred to as King Archanea. And yes, we actually do have specific information on him. Shadow Dragon just refers to Nyna's family being massacred, but BS Archanea Saga specifically made it clear that Nyna's father was the king and that he was a weak king, kind of OG Lima IV (Kaga did it again...unless Lima IV was originally mentioned in Gaiden in which case Kaga still does it again and just rips off himself). So it's kind of weird that we have a genuine Hierarchy of the government but no name for the actual dude who was at the top. Of course the same is true for Hardin's unnamed brother who actually shows up in the game itself.

8 hours ago, ping said:

I guess Marth is coming from the opposite direction in Book 2. In FE1, he liberates Altea, then crosses the big bridges (offscreen, in Book 1) into Grust/nia. In Book 2, he presumably moves from Macedon to Grust/nia per boat, so maybe this castle is between the southern/eastern coast and the capital, not between the capital and the bridges in the north.

Looking at the maps, I think the original intention actually was for it to be the castle Camus and Lorenz were guarding. As it actually is in the exact same place on the map on the SNES. It's the DS remake that moved it to a slightly different position and called the Shadow Dragon castle the Grusthold while this castle was always Olbern Keep. So it's the remaker's fault 😠 (also yes, I did go and look it up, and yes, I was right that it was something starting with an 'O'). Still, not as big a fuck up as their accidental movement of Port Warren in Shadow Dragon, which makes Marth's invasion of Pyrathi even worse.

7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

...Unrelated Legend of Zelda thought, why did Rauru have Link sleep through the seven years of Ocarina of Time? Wouldn't it have been better having the hero of destiny undergo nonstop shounen-training?

I got the impression it was automatic and not Rauru's actual doing. The Master Sword/Spirit Realm/Triforce itself pulled that schtick.

[Emperor Hardin]

On 1/8/2024 at 5:24 AM, Jotari said:

Said artwork appeared in the Legacy of Archanea artbook which had an English release

So unlike Rummel we can actually say he has an English name (though it's up in the air if they'll actually stay loyal to that should he get localizedin some other capacity, they have changed their mind before). Which honestly feels a bit weird. Like, I guess he is an important character, overthrowing Macedon like that and kidnapping Minerva, responsible for both Lena and Maria ending up in Medeus' mouth. But...the game really doesn't manage to convince me he's actually a major character. The dude is really lacking in charisma.

Oh that badly translated book.

9 hours ago, ping said:

Meet the first Matthis-slayer of the playthrough! This brave Soldier, part of the reinforcements in the upcoming fight.

____

I suppose I didn't believe hard enough. Or maybe somebody believed really hard in Generic Soldier Guy. Now, Ruben, I don't want to point any fingers, but believing really hard in Generic Soldier Guy sounds like a very ruben thing to do....

 

FE3 soldiers can actually be fairly tough, I feel.

9 hours ago, ping said:

Another point in my list for arguments against direct translation. Which, I'll say again, is not something I hold against the fan translation, but something I would hold against an official localisation.

Although maybe one could argue that "cute" is an incorrect translation when other English words would catch the meaning better. But you could still change Matthis's dialogue to make him look overprotective, but not weirdly so. Like (oh god, I'm writing fanfiction again...) having him hyperfixate on Julian's criminal past and that Lena, in Matthis's eyes, is too kind-hearted to see how dangerous he is. You could even do a pretty good equivalent of whatever the miscommunication during Matt's Book 2 recruitment is in Japanese:

Alot of Matthis dialogue seems to refer from direct translation, like the infamous "never fall in love with a thief" comment said out of the blue.

On 1/10/2024 at 1:38 PM, Jotari said:

At least Jiol has his own country and that pivotal betrayal in the backstory leading to Cornelius' death. That's pretty important. He later gets a daughter and Shadow Dragon prologue is kind enough to throw him a bone. Meanwhile Lykke is just Lykke.

Jiol's portrait is also more unique in FE3, as it is a little different from Lang's, whilst Lykke even has the exact same palette in his portrait with Merach.

Sidenote, I'd make Lykke a Warrior if I ever get the chance to hack the game. He takes such ludicrous defense nerfs in the DS remake, that he might as well not be a general at all.

4 hours ago, ping said:

The main danger comes from the reinforcements, even though it really doesn't look like it at first. But they spawn every turn, in random numbers. According to FEWoD, it's four potential spawns with a 50% chance each, although it seemed to me like the average was significantly above 2/turn. It also says that they spawn on turns 3-8, but that also seems wrong...

A friend of mine had tons of trouble with this chapter and its reinforcements.

4 hours ago, ping said:

Once you open either door (the left one, in my case), all the hidden parts of the map are revealed. Lang, brave soul that he is, has surrounded himself with a bunch of Knights, as well as two Bishops exclusively on Heal duty (i.e. without a tome).

There's a reason why Bishops just heal or just attack.

Enemy AI in FE1 and FE3 can only use the top item in their inventory, so a enemy unit would not use two items in their inventory like a healing staff and an attack tome. 

FE1 just used plain priests/curates for enemy healers, but FE3 opts to use healing only bishops with curates removed, probably because they don't want to use female enemy soldiers until FE4.

Oddly these healing Bishops stay even on Lunatic of FE12!

4 hours ago, ping said:

: "I'm Samuel, a, er, humble mercenary. Since I look like Navarre, lots of people mistake me for him. So I pretended to be him. But I really hate that General Lang. If you think I'm of any use, let me help you."
: "Uh... I guess you would be alright..."

It might detract from Sheeda's cunning that after her FE1 exploits, the only enemy she recruits is this little dummy. Still a funny recruitment, so I can live with that. But for the sake of completion, and with the help of a little save state magic, the other option:

Would it be fair to describe Samto/Samuel as FE's first joke character?

4 hours ago, ping said:

...so she does just that. Being as bulky as she is, she easily survives Lang's counterattack with one whole HP.

Maybe the speed penalty is why more bosses don't care javelins in FE3, whom knows really?

Also Lang has an unused palette, pictured here.

4 hours ago, ping said:

: "Please... Please wait. I'm sorry... Please forgive me. I was just following the Emperor's orders. I also hate what I have done, but I had no choice. So... So... Please... Help me... Please just let me explain. Yes... That's right... Like that... You let your guard down... Idiot... Die!!"

Come now. That's an old trick. #GuileDidItFirst ...no, wait, Guile only does it in the FE12 translation. Kaga, you old dog, you win again.

Its funny he can do that as an attack quote.

[ping]

4 hours ago, Jotari said:

Looking at the maps, I think the original intention actually was for it to be the castle Camus and Lorenz were guarding. As it actually is in the exact same place on the map on the SNES. It's the DS remake that moved it to a slightly different position and called the Shadow Dragon castle the Grusthold while this castle was always Olbern Keep. So it's the remaker's fault 😠 (also yes, I did go and look it up, and yes, I was right that it was something starting with an 'O'). Still, not as big a fuck up as their accidental movement of Port Warren in Shadow Dragon, which makes Marth's invasion of Pyrathi even worse.

Hmm, I don't know. The terrain of B.1/Ch.16 is completely different than that of B.2/Ch.5 - the castle's position is defensible because it's surrounded by mountains on three sides, not on a peninsula like in B.2.

18 minutes ago, Emperor Hardin said:

A friend of mine had tons of trouble with this chapter and its reinforcements.

Well, so did Matthis

Not surprising, honestly. With reinforcements spawning turn after turn after turn, there's always the issue that you can't fight one wave without allowing the next one to attack a (probably weakened) character on enemy phase, and chances are that your healer can't heal without also getting in range (or spend a precious Physic charge, if you even got it on the previous map). It's easy to get worn down in this situation. Heck, I seized quickly just to avoid the headache of rotating the frontliners against the reinforcements properly with only a single healer (who, btw, did eat one Javelin, so she had to be really careful, too) around to restore them.

23 minutes ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Would it be fair to describe Samto/Samuel as FE's first joke character?

I think you could make a point for some of the FE1 characters, too:

• Matthis - his recruitment has him basically say, "eh, I suck, so I'm going to die anyway", and the "fall in love with a thief" may or may not be intended to make him look clueless.
• Rickard - good ol' "them funny gays" trope. I didn't mention it, but Book 2 even plays goofy music when he's recruited, so it's not a wild assumption to make that Rickard hitting on Julian is supposed to be a funni.
• Roger - changes sides because Sheeda's non-commital (and entirely disingenuous) flirting.
• Dolph and Mishelan - I mean, look at their portraits, and their stats considering their joining time.

32 minutes ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Maybe the speed penalty is why more bosses don't care javelins in FE3, whom knows really?

Damned if they don't, damned if they do, really. With a Silver Lance, Linde could just chip him down at her leasure. Lang at least has the attack power to one-shot base Linde (20 HP | 2 Def), so it's possible that you don't even have that option.

[Jotari]

57 minutes ago, ping said:

Hmm, I don't know. The terrain of B.1/Ch.16 is completely different than that of B.2/Ch.5 - the castle's position is defensible because it's surrounded by mountains on three sides, not on a peninsula like in B.2.

D'oh. It was totally slipping my mind that we actually saw the exterior in the previous chapter. My mind had that other chapter categorized as happening in Macedon even though I brought up Lena's grandfather being in a completely different village terrain wise.

57 minutes ago, ping said:

Well, so did Matthis

Not surprising, honestly. With reinforcements spawning turn after turn after turn, there's always the issue that you can't fight one wave without allowing the next one to attack a (probably weakened) character on enemy phase, and chances are that your healer can't heal without also getting in range (or spend a precious Physic charge, if you even got it on the previous map). It's easy to get worn down in this situation. Heck, I seized quickly just to avoid the headache of rotating the frontliners against the reinforcements properly with only a single healer (who, btw, did eat one Javelin, so she had to be really careful, too) around to restore them.

I bet it was a nice surprise for those Old Mystery lovers to play New Mystery where the game gives you big warning about those reinforcements only for the first wave to be Norne and Frey, characters the first wave of players probably didn't expect to be in the game at all.