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

[BrightBow]

1 hour ago, ping said:

And there's the obligatory "villain pervs on woman to underscore his villanousness" scene. How nice.

Well, in the old translation he only says “Of course, my lady. Hehehe…”
So in this case, that's probably on the translators.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

That's a lot of chests.

It's generally recommended to not put too much crap onto Lifis and Leaf. Since then you have to spend turns and lockpicks to get them back. Plus, if they need all the chest space for your stuff, the chest with the Rapier won't spawn.
There are up to 3 new items you can get from the chests: A Rapier, which is fantastic for Fergus right now. A Steel Sword, which is whatever. And a Javelin, which is useless right now. Nevermind that you can easily get some of them here anyway.

Still, it's best not to go completely empty-handed. As for what items would be good, the Fire Sword and the Brave Sword are good picks. Chances are no one can use them right now. But Fergus is actually rather close to a B sword rank. Also the Brave Axe for Dalsin. And the Light Sword, of course. As practically everyone is stuck with swords, some magic support is very appreciated.
Also the Baldo scroll to block crits.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Well, "guaranteed" is too strong a word, since he still needs to hit the enemy.

Unfortunately for him, while he supports Machua, Machua does not support him back. Would have been nice for his accuracy.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Typical Myrmidon, with excellent Skl and Spd. Given that hit rates in Thracia seem consistently inconsistent, that seems quite useful, although I think I remember Macha being called remarkably unremarkable. For now, her better accuracy (and extra point of movement, actually) should make her fairly useful, though.

Notably she changes into a Mercenary instead of a Swordmaster, giving her access to Axes.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

It's an interesting detail that Karin's better at using swords than lances, but it kinda makes sense since she's not an experienced Pegasus Rider yet. Other than that, she's a very typical Peg Knight - high Spd and Lck, but pretty bad Str and HP/Def. It's a bit of a shame that her Skl base is really bad, too.

Having her dismount to cause some havoc with swords is most certainly not a bad strategy. And the Flame Sword is most certainly not hard to get for her, considering that for now she is stuck with swords anyway.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Gasp! Manfroy! How very dramatic that you hold your Evil Inc. meeting in the same building that Leif was held prisoner! And I'm pretty sure that Veld is this game's final final boss, so clearly, this is where shit gets real.

I'm not actually sure this scene is supposed to literally take place in the same building. Maybe it's supposed to be elsewhere, but they simple didn't know a better way to convey that.
After all, so far there is no precedent for cutscenes that take place in a whole different location.
Nevermind maps that exist solely for cutscene purposes. That wouldn't be a thing until Tear Ring Saga. Good on FE7 for copying that, I suppose.

And while the wording in this translation implies that the scene takes place here in Manster, this was not the case in the old translation.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Since I used the earliest Pegasus of every game thus far (Sheeda x2, Claire, Catria, Erynis, Fee), I want to keep that consistent and use Karin as a combat unit, even though I believe that she's considered to be underwhelming in that role. And in that case, I might want to focus on Fergus a little, too, because of their support (or at least Karin supporting him; not sure if it's bidirectional).

Karin is good.
Besides, not like she really has any competition as a flier.

And yeah, their support is mutual. They make quite an effective duo.

Edited July 1 by BrightBow

[Saint Rubenio]

46 minutes ago, ping said:

Gee, I wonder if this guy with a colorful portrait that isn't 70 years old is going to be recruitable.

50 minutes ago, ping said:

The map! It's honestly pretty bad.

lmao

That's a rather interesting way to begin, considering many consider this act the high note of Thracia.

...Ehhhh honestly, I can't really argue? Running around the circle to obtain gear is tedious, the ambush reinforcements can easily screw over the civilians and the final room is nasty for how long the prior map takes.

1 hour ago, ping said:

[HP 70% | Str 30% | Mag 5% | Skl 25% | Spd 30% | Lck 15% | Def 35% | Con 20% | Mov 1%]
Weapon Levels: Swords (D), Axes (C+40)
Skill: Wrath

The Axe Knight that I'm not allowed to use, since his name doesn't sound like a hiccough. Otherwise, he would've seemed fine, with pretty good HP/Def and his Wrath skill guaranteeing crits when countering on enemy phase. Well, "guaranteed" is too strong a word, since he still needs to hit the enemy.

Brighton and Hicks are rather similar. Brighton is probably better thanks to Wrath, more availability where it matters and the ability to actually grow his sword rank to a non-awful level.

1 hour ago, ping said:

[HP 60& | Str 30% | Mag 10% | Skl 55% | Spd 60% | Lck 35% | Def 25% | Con 10% | Mov 2%]
Weapon Level: Swords (D+30)
Skill: Adept

Typical Myrmidon, with excellent Skl and Spd. Given that hit rates in Thracia seem consistently inconsistent, that seems quite useful, although I think I remember Macha being called remarkably unremarkable. For now, her better accuracy (and extra point of movement, actually) should make her fairly useful, though.

Macha is really weird. Her promotion doesn't give her any movement, which is horrible, but then it does give her axes, which is cool. A unit that I wish was easier to make work.

1 hour ago, ping said:

: "Hm? What about mutton?"

Dork ass?!

1 hour ago, ping said:

Maybe I'm just a bit cranky because I didn't like the chapter's gameplay, but the constant written-out accent is gettin' on me nerves a bit, ya hear? I think it's fine to quickly communicate that a character is a bit of a country bumpkin, but when everybody talks like that, it kinda loses its effect.

That's one of the much maligned decisions of the previous version of this localization, Project Exile. The person in charge, Cirosan, decided everyone here had to talk like that. Lil' Manster reverted the more egregious examples, Karin (she's a royal Silessian knight) and Asbel (he's a studied mage and son of a priest) but the rest of it was left to the grand script revision that's going to happen Soon™

1 hour ago, ping said:

Gasp! Manfroy! How very dramatic that you hold your Evil Inc. meeting in the same building that Leif was held prisoner! And I'm pretty sure that Veld is this game's final final boss, so clearly, this is where shit gets real.

I like how they're meeting around a giant fire pit.

[BrightBow]

I do love the fact that the only "ally" Leaf gets to keep for this segment is the one who he barely tolerates in the first place. It's just perfect.

Prison breaks are fun. Love that VS2 used that scenario too. Although in that case you don't get to keep anything and it's a completely new cast, featuring such champions of justice as a baker or a maid with a dirty broom.

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

...Ehhhh honestly, I can't really argue? Running around the circle to obtain gear is tedious, the ambush reinforcements can easily screw over the civilians and the final room is nasty for how long the prior map takes.

Save state time ahoy! And could you blame anyone?

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

That's a rather interesting way to begin, considering many consider this act the high note of Thracia.

I would say it is narrative-gameplay integration thrilling. Yet at the same time, it's like the trials described of the hunted children- what kills off many first-time Thracian players, leaving only the "chosen" few behind.

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I like how they're meeting around a giant fire pit.

Fires have been sacred in various religions. The Greeks did as the Olympic torch reminds us, the Romans had funeral pyres too, a practice shared with Hinduism and later Sikhism. Zoroastrianism's ~100k surviving followers (declining in India, though with potential for growth in North America) still worship at temples where a sacred flame defines the altar.

With regards to offerings to the gods and deceased you can throw the food into the flames. Or, if it was uncooked meat, IIRC, it might be cooked right there. The gods/dead would sometimes be considered as having had "their fill of the food" once it stopped emitting steam/smoke, the steam/smoke aka being the (rather immaterial, like spirit) part that ascends to the heavens, leaving the priests or whoever to eat the physical meat the venerated did not.

Edited July 1 by Interdimensional Observer

[ping]

2 hours ago, BrightBow said:

That's a lot of chests.

It's generally recommended to not put too much crap onto Lifis and Leaf. Since then you have to spend turns and lockpicks to get them back. Plus, if they need all the chest space for your stuff, the chest with the Rapier won't spawn.
There are up to 3 new items you can get from the chests: A Rapier, which is fantastic for Fergus right now. A Steel Sword, which is whatever. And a Javelin, which is useless right now. Nevermind that you can easily get some of them here anyway.

Still, it's best not to go completely empty-handed. As for what items would be good, the Fire Sword and the Brave Sword are good picks. Chances are no one can use them right now. But Fergus is actually rather close to a B sword rank. Also the Brave Axe for Dalsin. And the Light Sword, of course. As practically everyone is stuck with swords, some magic support is very appreciated.
Also the Baldo scroll to block crits.

Yeah, if I had remembered/realised that the prison arc was coming up already, there definitely would've been more item management during chapter 3. If three of the items from the chests, it's even possible that I lost an item - inventory space is 7, so if Leif and Lifis both had full inventory, 16 chests wouldn't have been enough. Can't check if that's the case, since I'm still playing without emulator saves, and I do not remember that detail from almost two months ago.

2 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Notably she changes into a Mercenary instead of a Swordmaster, giving her access to Axes.

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Macha is really weird. Her promotion doesn't give her any movement, which is horrible, but then it does give her axes, which is cool. A unit that I wish was easier to make work.

Axes, you say... 👀 Female axe users are rare enough that this is a compelling feature. I might try to give her some more XP, then. I didn't in Ch.4, unfortunately, with only Lara and Dalsin earning less.

2 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Having her dismount to cause some havoc with swords is most certainly not a bad strategy. And the Flame Sword is most certainly not hard to get for her, considering that for now she is stuck with swords anyway.

That does sound really good. Now, I hope I can get it from Eyvel into the convoy somehow... I remember the basic structure of the arena map, but not the details of who comes and goes at what point of the fight.

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

lmao

That's a rather interesting way to begin, considering many consider this act the high note of Thracia.

...Ehhhh honestly, I can't really argue? Running around the circle to obtain gear is tedious, the ambush reinforcements can easily screw over the civilians and the final room is nasty for how long the prior map takes.

Apparently, many consider Ch.2 to be the low point of Genealogy. Point is, Fire Emblem fans have bad opinions. I mean, a lot of them like anime. Anime!

But seriously, that map isn't good. It's boring - until you open Dalsin's room, enemy variety is simply "Soldier with lance" + "Soldier with Javelin", your own characters are all swordies and the lack of any 2-range other than Leif is kinda annoying, it's really slow - but during all this, there's still the constant danger that you screwed up by not properly protecting a villager, or miscounted, or didn't account for a Javelin solder... And as you say, the final room can easily destroy like an hour worth of progress because of how slow the chapter is until then. Worse time waster than your average Genealogy map because you don't even have mid-chapter saves.

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I like how they're meeting around a giant fire pit.

Going by the average level of exaggerated evilness that the Loptyr cult displays, they're probably roasting some toddlers over it for dinner.

1 hour ago, BrightBow said:

Prison breaks are fun. Love that VS2 used that scenario too. Although in that case you don't get to keep anything and it's a completely new cast, featuring such champions of justice as a baker or a maid with a dirty broom.

You know, I would be on board with a full perspective shift for a few chapters. Let Leaf rot in prison for couple chapters, have the Magi as your player characters. I know, this is Leaf's game, but he'll survive being off-screen for, like, three maps or so. ...I'll say that we'd maybe have to make Brighton a bit more interesting, if he was to be the hero of these interim chapters, unless there's a ton of dialogue with him already that I just haven't seen already.

32 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Fires have been sacred in various religions. The Greeks did as the Olympic torch reminds us, the Romans had funeral pyres too, a practice shared with Hinduism and later Sikhism. Zoroastrianism's ~100k surviving followers (declining in India, though with potential for growth in North America) still worship at temples where a sacred flame defines the altar.

With regards to offerings to the gods and deceased you can throw the food into the flames. Or, if it was uncooked meat, IIRC, it might be cooked right there. The gods/dead would sometimes be considered as having had "their fill of the food" once it stopped emitting steam/smoke, the steam/smoke aka being the (rather immaterial, like spirit) part that ascends to the heavens, leaving the priests or whoever to eat the physical meat the venerated did not.

...I still think they're just eating toddlers.

[Saint Rubenio]

36 minutes ago, ping said:

..I'll say that we'd maybe have to make Brighton a bit more interesting, if he was to be the hero of these interim chapters, unless there's a ton of dialogue with him already that I just haven't seen already.

No, you've seen everything he ever says in the game. How'd you like him?

[BrightBow]

59 minutes ago, ping said:

You know, I would be on board with a full perspective shift for a few chapters. Let Leaf rot in prison for couple chapters, have the Magi as your player characters. I know, this is Leaf's game, but he'll survive being off-screen for, like, three maps or so. ...I'll say that we'd maybe have to make Brighton a bit more interesting, if he was to be the hero of these interim chapters, unless there's a ton of dialogue with him already that I just haven't seen already.

Well, the prison break chapter in Vestaria Saga 2 is far from the only chapter where Zade is not around. He is maybe around for like half the chapters in the game or so.

I suppose Reese in Berwick Saga is similar. But in his case he is always around for main missions. It's only the side missions where he is unavailable. So maybe that doesn't count, even though side missions do make up for most of the game's maps.

Edit: Wait, nevermind. It's 9 out of 26 maps that Zade sits out.
He is around for the entirety of the first 5 chapters until he gets arrested. But after that it's mostly 50/50.
Even gets left out of the showdown against Lagniel in favor of Drake.

Edited July 1 by BrightBow

[Jotari]

6 hours ago, ping said:

According to the portrait list on the wiki, this prison guard's portrait belongs to a character named "Eichmann". Fucking Kaga...

That blue cloak guy with a black collar does indeed belong to Eichmann (whom I rather like as a boss despite having no dialogue and never being referred to by any other character), but it also just shows up a bunch all over the game. He's basically the generic soldier of Thracia. He shows up two or three times more in the Munster arc alone. What kind of sucks though is that you do end up fighting a minor Munster boss at the end of the game who's hunting civilians and otherwise gets no characterization (but manages to win the rare gamble of having a unique face). They really should have used his portrait for these sections just to make the guy more stand out and for Raydrik to have a proper deputy.

6 hours ago, ping said:

: "Does it matter? Save those questions fer when we're far, far away from here. Look, there's a stairway to the north that leads outta here

As opposed to the stairways east and west which lead to the crocodile and lion pits. Hope no innocent civilians or probably less innocent bandits flee in that direction.

6 hours ago, ping said:

It's an interesting detail that Karin's better at using swords than lances, but it kinda makes sense since she's not an experienced Pegasus Rider yet. Other than that, she's a very typical Peg Knight - high Spd and Lck, but pretty bad Str and HP/Def. It's a bit of a shame that her Skl base is really bad, too.

Here magic stat also make her better with magic swords than most lances, though it takes some concentrated effort to get her sword rank high enough to use magic swords. If your lucky she'll also get a movement level up meaning you can fly though ballista range, dismount here and then attack it with a magic sword. Real shame she doesn't get swords on promotion. Pegasus knights went from sword/lance+ staff upon promotion to completely lance locked. Even so, I like Karin a lot as a unit.

6 hours ago, ping said:

Maybe I'm just a bit cranky because I didn't like the chapter's gameplay, but the constant written-out accent is gettin' on me nerves a bit, ya hear? I think it's fine to quickly communicate that a character is a bit of a country bumpkin, but when everybody talks like that, it kinda loses its effect.

If I recall correctly, that was one of the liberties taken by the translator that was a bit controversial. Japan certainly does have regional dialects, but they tend to use them only for individual characters, not every NPC in the game.

6 hours ago, ping said:

A very Barth-esque Knight, for sure. Decent Str, very good Def (+1 compared to Dagdar), but his Skl/Spd/Lck/Res are all awful. I don't know how much Spd growth one can stack with scrolls, so maybe his combat is salvagable, in which case he might not be terrible in indoor maps in general. Outdoors, his lower Move is most likely a problem

Have fun promoting him if you want to use lances in doors. The only other option is Xavier, if you want to put up with that nonsense (who am I kidding, of course you're going to recruit Xavier, we won't give you any other choice).

6 hours ago, ping said:

Gasp! Manfroy! How very dramatic that you hold your Evil Inc. meeting in the same building that Leif was held prisoner! And I'm pretty sure that Veld is this game's final final boss, so clearly, this is where shit gets real.

Instead of drama, I feel like this could be a holdover of Genealogy's insistence that we never show any event happening anywhere else aside from the exact confines of the map that is currently being played.

 

 

[Jotari]

5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

That's a rather interesting way to begin, considering many consider this act the high note of Thracia.

...Ehhhh honestly, I can't really argue? Running around the circle to obtain gear is tedious, the ambush reinforcements can easily screw over the civilians and the final room is nasty for how long the prior map takes.

Precisely. This map is awful. I love it. Peak Thracia.

5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Macha is really weird. Her promotion doesn't give her any movement, which is horrible, but then it does give her axes, which is cool. A unit that I wish was easier to make work.

She's a very serviceable unit worth using right up until you get Mareeta. After that it's benchwarmer time.

5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

That's one of the much maligned decisions of the previous version of this localization, Project Exile. The person in charge, Cirosan, decided everyone here had to talk like that. Lil' Manster reverted the more egregious examples, Karin (she's a royal Silessian knight) and Asbel (he's a studied mage and son of a priest) but the rest of it was left to the grand script revision that's going to happen Soon™

Ah so I was not incorrect in my memories. Still, you know so much about the various Thracia translations. Could you make a 40 minute video detailing every change in minute detail? Because that is the kind of YouTube content I live for.

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Save state time ahoy! And could you blame anyone?

I know they'll probably just throw a time rewind mechanic at us when we get that Thracia remake in 2055, but DS style save squares would really fit in at home in Thracia.

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

With regards to offerings to the gods and deceased you can throw the food into the flames. Or, if it was uncooked meat, IIRC, it might be cooked right there. The gods/dead would sometimes be considered as having had "their fill of the food" once it stopped emitting steam/smoke, the steam/smoke aka being the (rather immaterial, like spirit) part that ascends to the heavens, leaving the priests or whoever to eat the physical meat the venerated did not

Reminds me of Discworld's sausage god. Wherein sausages are sacrificed in his honour. Naturally by frying them. The priests who set up this religion are also, of course, duty bound to consume the remnants of the offering after the god has received his smokey fill.

2 hours ago, ping said:

That does sound really good. Now, I hope I can get it from Eyvel into the convoy somehow... I remember the basic structure of the arena map, but not the details of who comes and goes at what point of the fight.

I think it goes to the convoy automatically. Since Eyvel is forced to fight with a broken sword in the next non Gaiden chapter (again, it's pretty awesome).

2 hours ago, ping said:

You know, I would be on board with a full perspective shift for a few chapters. Let Leaf rot in prison for couple chapters, have the Magi as your player characters. I know, this is Leaf's game, but he'll survive being off-screen for, like, three maps or so. ...I'll say that we'd maybe have to make Brighton a bit more interesting, if he was to be the hero of these interim chapters, unless there's a ton of dialogue with him already that I just haven't seen already.

Screw Broghton. Make Hawk the main character for several chapters.

Edited July 1 by Jotari

[Revier]

18 hours ago, ping said:

It's overall quite reminiscent of Ch.6 in BinBla (the one with Wagner the Shaman boss), which also has you running in circles for far too long. This one is better (well, less bad) in some ways, like giving you two thieves and, to make up that you have to find Lifis's lockpick, a free 20-use Chest Key - but it's also worse in others: It's even more boring, since all you're fighting are soldiers, while your own units are all some type of sword fighter, at least at the moment. I honestly prefer the larger groups of reinforcements in BinBla over the constant trickle that this map offers.

Trust Kaga to screw up a mildly cool idea with tedious gameplay.

18 hours ago, ping said:

Gasp! Manfroy! How very dramatic that you hold your Evil Inc. meeting in the same building that Leif was held prisoner!

And next to an open furnace, no less!

So far this game hasn't been impressing me, outside of Fergus' dialogue. There's still time for it to grow, but I can kinda see why it has a pretty mixed reception and isn't very popular overall.

[Dayni]

2 hours ago, ping said:

: "Ah, how old-fashioned, leading the way for such a fine lady. Heh, heh, heh..."
: "....."

And there's the obligatory "villain pervs on woman to underscore his villanousness" scene. How nice.

At the minimum you can read it as some mocking chivalry, which considering how that's seen fair to say pervy. Tone is harder in non-narrated dialogue.

I could still see him only saying it mockingly from this man who is a treacherous snake.

Off that topic, I'm trying to figure out if there's an allusion to Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (referred to as Last High King of Ireland, King of Connacht and leading figure against the Norman invasion) with Raydrik's name. I would say considering the romanisation was Leidrik likely not.

On 7/1/2024 at 5:10 PM, ping said:

The initial resistance against us is pretty minimal, with only the four Soldiers moving after you. However, there's random ambush reinforcements coming from the three stairways, which is just a constant headache. Sometimes, they also use Javelins instead of regular lances...

It's the random part and how they spawn in that get to me about this.

On 7/1/2024 at 5:10 PM, ping said:

Genuinely worse than Genealogy in that regard.

How do we rank this, MotE BII 3 and others like it?

On 7/1/2024 at 5:10 PM, ping said:

: "L-Lady Luck really is fickle... Somebody actually did come...! Well, let it never be said that lyin' through your teeth doesn't work!"

A good lesson for the kids to learn.

Honestly, I do like this. It's nice that Lifis is given a chance to be a scumbag in a way that doesn't involve lying to get into a woman's pants. And more importantly, it's funny.

Cements his dickishness that's for sure. Yes it's good characterisation, but Lifis is still... yeah.

Imagine if the lying hadn't worked

On 7/1/2024 at 5:10 PM, ping said:

I remember this dialogue about [Escape]ing being badly translated in the old patch, and often cited as an example of a translation communicating the opposite of what it's supposed to.

Classic error.

Like FFIVDS's FuSoYa mistranslation telling you to attack the wrong core, likely leading to your death on the boss at the end of the second last dungeon.

On 7/1/2024 at 5:10 PM, ping said:

Just in general, he seems pretty good. Low Mov right now because he's a dismounted horse unit, but it's nice that he uses swords both indoors and outdoors, so he doesn't have bad secondary weapon rank to work with. His stats are quite good, too - here's to hoping that they get even better when he gets his horse back.

Fergus really feels like a dev favourite with not having to switch weapons indoors, the FCM, Beo Sword access......

Is it Catria Dev?

On 7/1/2024 at 5:10 PM, ping said:

[HP 60% | Str 50% | Mag 5% | Skl 40% | Spd 25% | Lck 25% | Def 20% | Con 25% | Mov 2%]
Weapon Level: Axes (B)
Skills: --

A very Barth-esque Knight, for sure. Decent Str, very good Def (+1 compared to Dagdar), but his Skl/Spd/Lck/Res are all awful. I don't know how much Spd growth one can stack with scrolls, so maybe his combat is salvagable, in which case he might not be terrible in indoor maps in general. Outdoors, his lower Move is most likely a problem.

You can get up to 65% and the big one is soon enough, so salvagable? The promotion doubles his base Spd though pfft.

On 7/1/2024 at 5:10 PM, ping said:

: "Splendid! Then Tahra is the only city not under our influence. If they remain disagreeable, make an example of them: burn the city and its people. Show Munster that the Empire does not tolerate resistance."

....But why burn the Hill of Tara to make us fear? Tara is in Meath.

On 7/1/2024 at 5:10 PM, ping said:

: "My father has been placed in a difficult position. Many of our own, as well as the clergy, are vehemently opposed to the practice of... child hunts. My own brother is among the dissidents - and I stand with him. Archbishop Manfroy, on behalf of my family, I must ask that you stop this savagery! Abducting children too young to lift a sword? Separating them from their families? It's simply unconscionable! But you don't stop there, do you? No... You take these innocent souls and sacrifice them to your dark god! Have you no shame?!"

On 7/1/2024 at 5:10 PM, ping said:

Ishtar: Not the world's most political mind. Denouncing child murder is done better when you're not the only person in the audience that isn't a child murderer. I would hazard a guess that Ishtar's dialogue is a direct response to Genealogy struggling to portrait her (or her brother) as particularly sympathetic.

I mean, effort?

I know there may have been constraints on how much they could expand on this technically, the result being the child hunts never get shown to be as horrifying as they sound. It's surprising Manfroy doesn't express his likely vehement objection to her saying this though.

[ping]

23 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

No, you've seen everything he ever says in the game. How'd you like him?

He certainly exists. I shouldn't complain how little dialogue he has, since it's about as much as Darros, Akaneia's greatest character, but I feel like Brighton doesn't manage to get as much across in his two lines.

21 hours ago, Jotari said:

As opposed to the stairways east and west which lead to the crocodile and lion pits. Hope no innocent civilians or probably less innocent bandits flee in that direction.

I'm fine throwing logic out of the window for a hot second here, since the alternative would be green units running head first into that final group of enemies. Same in 4x, really.

21 hours ago, Jotari said:

Reminds me of Discworld's sausage god. Wherein sausages are sacrificed in his honour. Naturally by frying them. The priests who set up this religion are also, of course, duty bound to consume the remnants of the offering after the god has received his smokey fill.

Ah, but the sausages become mere ash once in the mouth of... I think it was the crocodile god Offler's priests. All the sausageness rises up to Offler through the smoke. Even the mustard loses all of its taste.

24 minutes ago, Dayni said:

At the minimum you can read it as some mocking chivalry, which considering how that's seen fair to say pervy. Tone is harder in non-narrated dialogue.

I could still see him only saying it mockingly from this man who is a treacherous snake.

Since Reydrik already perved on Nanna and Mareeta in his very first scene (with a similar level of minimal deniability), I'm honestly not too willing to give him the benefit of the doubt here...

27 minutes ago, Dayni said:

Off that topic, I'm trying to figure out if there's an allusion to Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (referred to as Last High King of Ireland, King of Connacht and leading figure against the Norman invasion) with Raydrik's name. I would say considering the romanisation was Leidrik likely not.

Fun Fact: "Raidri Conchobair" is a very prominent character in the lore of the German DnD clone The Dark Eye. Terrible Gary Stu, if I recall - greatest swordfighter in history, gets all the women, that sort of stuff. No idea if there's any reason for his name beyond "his creator thinks gaelic names are cool". I don't remember there being a fantasy-Ireland in the setting.

33 minutes ago, Dayni said:

I mean, effort?

I know there may have been constraints on how much they could expand on this technically, the result being the child hunts never get shown to be as horrifying as they sound. It's surprising Manfroy doesn't express his likely vehement objection to her saying this though.

It's definitely good if Ishtar gets a bit of humanisation in this game. But her dramatic denunciation is very obviously ineffectual in-universe, what with the audience she delivers it to, so to me, it comes across as a message just to the player and not really to Manfroy or Julius, to remind us that child hunts are bad and Ishtar isn't evil. I think it would've been more effective to introduce Ishtar as less vocal, seemingly going along with everything that Julius says, and then later have her appear actively rescuing children from being abduted. Show her being a good person, instead of having her just talk good-person-talk.

[Saint Rubenio]

8 minutes ago, ping said:

He certainly exists. I shouldn't complain how little dialogue he has, since it's about as much as Darros, Akaneia's greatest character, but I feel like Brighton doesn't manage to get as much across in his two lines.

One of these characters becomes sail. The other doesn't.

...On the other hand, Brighton has a canon romance. Yeah, Brighton's in a relationship with someone. No, they never interact.

[Dayni]

1 minute ago, ping said:

Since Reydrik already perved on Nanna and Mareeta in his very first scene (with a similar level of minimal deniability), I'm honestly not too willing to give him the benefit of the doubt here...

>Checks Chapter 1 again

It really do be like that.

5 minutes ago, ping said:

Fun Fact: "Raidri Conchobair" is a very prominent character in the lore of the German DnD clone The Dark Eye. Terrible Gary Stu, if I recall - greatest swordfighter in history, gets all the women, that sort of stuff. No idea if there's any reason for his name beyond "his creator thinks gaelic names are cool". I don't remember there being a fantasy-Ireland in the setting.

Can't comment on The Dark Eye, not a familiar system.

5 minutes ago, ping said:

It's definitely good if Ishtar gets a bit of humanisation in this game. But her dramatic denunciation is very obviously ineffectual in-universe, what with the audience she delivers it to, so to me, it comes across as a message just to the player and not really to Manfroy or Julius, to remind us that child hunts are bad and Ishtar isn't evil. I think it would've been more effective to introduce Ishtar as less vocal, seemingly going along with everything that Julius says, and then later have her appear actively rescuing children from being abduted. Show her being a good person, instead of having her just talk good-person-talk.

Wouldn't it be nice.

Hell, you could play up the decision paralysis in Thracia only to add to this being something actually shown later on in Gen 2. Just a thought if someone who happens to be writing for certain things if they're ongoing were to find this corner of the internet, hint hint.

2 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

...On the other hand, Brighton has a canon romance. Yeah, Brighton's in a relationship with someone. No, they never interact.

How many characters do? Ignoring Leif.

I can think of the Dandelion crew, Fiana early on, feel like there's fewer and fewer as the game goes on. Don't want to say more as the game's ongoing.

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, Dayni said:

....But why burn the Hill of Tara to make us fear? Tara is in Meath.

That little 'h' bothers me. Seriously why not just Tara? They've gone way overboard with the authentic translation for every other Irish name in these games, even changing characters to barely pronounceable stuff like Iucarbra, but then they just throw a random 'h' into a rather famous and significant place name.

1 hour ago, ping said:

It's definitely good if Ishtar gets a bit of humanisation in this game. But her dramatic denunciation is very obviously ineffectual in-universe, what with the audience she delivers it to, so to me, it comes across as a message just to the player and not really to Manfroy or Julius, to remind us that child hunts are bad and Ishtar isn't evil. I think it would've been more effective to introduce Ishtar as less vocal, seemingly going along with everything that Julius says, and then later have her appear actively rescuing children from being abduted. Show her being a good person, instead of having her just talk good-person-talk.

Unfortunately this little speech is the most Ishtar ends up doing in the game. She pops up a few more times but basically only to exist and not do or say anything of note. Still, better than what Ishtore got from Thracia.

53 minutes ago, Dayni said:

How many characters do? Ignoring Leif.

I can think of the Dandelion crew, Fiana early on, feel like there's fewer and fewer as the game goes on. Don't want to say more as the game's ongoing.

Are you asking how many other characters have canon romances? Because I can't think of anyone in the Dandelions who has a love interest. As far as offical couples go, I counted them up when I made this thread

And my conclusion is that supports ruined offical couples because it's so hard to write supports for someone with a significant other who may or may not have just died on the battlefield. That being said, yeah, Thracia does seem to be lacking a bit as well, somewhat surprisingly. Only Leif and Nanna were the ones I counted before. Although, now thinking about it some more, Glade and Selphina exist too (I think I'll go and add those two in).

Edited July 2 by Jotari

[Dayni]

2 hours ago, Jotari said:

Are you asking how many other characters have canon romances? Because I can't think of anyone in the Dandelions who has a love interest. As far as offical couples go, I counted them up when I made this thread

And my conclusion is that supports ruined offical couples because it's so hard to write supports for someone with a significant other who may or may not have just died on the battlefield. That being said, yeah, Thracia does seem to be lacking a bit as well, somewhat surprisingly. Only Leif and Nanna were the ones I counted before. Although, now thinking about it some more, Glade and Selphina exist too (I think I'll go and add those two in).

No, I was on about interactions between characters not named Leif but not going into detail as the run is still early on.

Could have been clearer there.

2 hours ago, Jotari said:

That little 'h' bothers me. Seriously why not just Tara? They've gone way overboard with the authentic translation for every other Irish name in these games, even changing characters to barely pronounceable stuff like Iucarbra, but then they just throw a random 'h' into a rather famous and significant place name.

Leonster is also there. For some reason. The only province name they have officially changed for some reason.

[Jotari]

53 minutes ago, Dayni said:

Leonster is also there. For some reason. The only province name they have officially changed for some reason.

Yeah, that one certainly bothers me too. You'll see me still using Leinster pretty freely on occasion.

[ping]

FE5 Chapter 4x: Hero on the Wind

Spoiler

: "Or would you wait until you have plenty to show for yourself? There's still time, Asbel."
: "Then we can send them all back home! Their parents must be so worried."
: "Focus, Asbel. There's too many guards about to celebrate just yet."
: "Yessir."
: "Listen closely: after you've rescued the children, I want you to rejoin Brighton and seek out Prince Leif of House Leonster."
: "C-Come again? Prince Leif?!"
: "Indeed. He fell prey to some trap of Raydrik's and was imprisoned in this very castle. ...Asbel, what's wrong? You're white as a sheet!"
: "Lord Leif was a dear friend of mine, you see. We got separated in Tahra, years ago, and I've been looking for him ever since. For three whole years, I've been searching..."
: "Then look alive - today is the day you've been waiting for. Find the prince, and escape Munster with him. I've ordered all Magi outside the castle to flee Munster as well. We'll be sitting ducks if we stay here much longer..."
: "Are you coming with us?"
: "I... considered it, but I can't. There's many villagers and townsfolk left in Munster, and they need my aid just as much."
: "You've spent this whole time teaching me, and I can't even help you in return? Some apprentice I turned out to be..."
: "No, this is my choice, Asbel. It's no fault of yours. Besides, all I really taught you was that Grafcalibur spell. Do me proud, and use it to protect Prince Leif."
: "Sir Ced, will... Will we see each other again?"
: "If Prince Leif is the hero we've been waiting for, then the long night is finally over, and Thracia will breathe free again. ...We will see each other again, Asbel. Right here in Munster."
: "Munster...? R-Right! Munster it is! Don't you forget it, Sir Ced!"

I'm not sure if I'm missing some implications from Asbel's dialogue? He seems to be confused, but I don't know why Munster as a location would seem weird to him.

: "C'mon, knock off the waterworks..."
: "B-B-But...!" *Sniffle*
: "Don't make them soldiers mad at us again. They'll just tell us to 'Quit yer bellyachin'!' like last time..."
: "I don't care if they get mad! If I get caught cryin', an' they get angry... Maybe they'll jus' send me home... I jus' wanna go home..."

And I just want out of Thracia fog! Well, actually, this is a map in which it works - because unlike 2x, this is a very small map (I didn't cut off any non-illuminated parts) and it doesn't have any annoying terrain to slow you down.

And if you made sure to recruit Dalsin last chapter, you also have a torch available to get a better look (with the note that I used it a few turns into the fight in the actual run):

Well, that's a veritable death trap.

Still, this map is infinitely better than the previous one. It's a death trap right at the start, so you can experiment a bit with your formations and/or rely on somebody dodge an attack or two, and not be punished by having to replay, what, twenty turns of boredom.

And I say this despite having to beat that initial group of enemies three times - both through my own fault, though. First run, I thought, "Huh, odd - neither Leif nor Asbel can talk to Ced. I guess he has some more dialogue at the end of the map. Maybe he'll give us the Seti scroll there" - directly followed by "KARIN IS LITERALLY HERE LOOKING FOR CED YOU FUCKING IMBECILE" when the game went right to the next chapter after Leif escaped. And second run, I left Ced a space from where to attack the enemy bishop that I really wanted to capture.

And obviously, that bishop did not survive the experience. Ced OP. Somewhat frail physically considering his level, but 7 Def is notably still higher than anybody except Dalsin on our team, and his high Avoid means that he won't get damaged very often, anyway.

[HP 55% | Str 10% | Mag 35% | Skl 55% | Spd 75% | Lck 35% | Def 10% | Con 10% | Mov 2%]
Weapon Levels: Fire (E), Thunder (E), Wind (C+20)
Skill: Adept

Since it's already established that Asbel is about to join the team, I'll just put his stats right here. They're very specialised, with great Skl and amazing Spd (even though 7 base isn't particularly outstanding), but bad physical durability. Although I'll say that 22 HP + 0 Def is actually higher than Karin's 18 HP + 3 Def - but Asbel still seems like the obvious choice for a Life Ring, should we happen to find one in the not-too-distant future. His Mag base and growth seems just OK, although I don't know what the typical numbers for that stat are.

What really makes him stand out, of course, is his personal Grafcalibur tome, with stats that make Osian's Bhuj blush with embarrassment. The only aspect in which it's a little better than Fire is its weight (and this does matter, as tome weight isn't alleviated by Con) - everywhere else, it's better by an obscene degree. As a cherry on top, 40 Crit and a FCM of 3 means that if Asbel doubles, he has a 120% base chance to crit on his follow-up attack.

So yeah. I don't think Kaga could've made it any clearer that Asbel is our designated boss killer.

__

Now, to start the actual map... With the high number of enemies, Lara's ability to be captured seems to be highly valuable. And getting the Armorslayer to the one guy who can use it seems like a good idea, too.

__

As I alluded to, the first turn I made was quite risky, with Fergus having to dodge two out of four attacks with 50-ish hit.

I don't think it's necessary to play this agressively, as it seems possible to just bait the mages separately by retreating a few tiles while the Knights just stand there, but hey - first turn.

____

Very satisfying to steal enemy weapons, I gotta say.

And after surviving the first turn while doing decent damage during its enemy phase and the second player phase, the situation is already decently in control, even though Lifis might beg to differ.

Meanwhile, Ced and Asbel clean house in the hallway they start in...

...but RNG still decided to give me a little jump. Asbel didn't even get below half HP in either of my first two runs, so this was quite the surprise. He does get into healing AI by this, and both he and Ced have a Vulnerary each in their inventories.

Which looks a bit funny, actually.

Unfortunately, I indiscrimorily deleted the screenshots from those first runs, which also included (1) Ced killing an enemy in the fog of war (which he seems to do no matter what, but I didn't press the button in time), (2) Ced running into an enemy in the FoW and losing his turn from it, and (3) the enemy bishop we're about to spot missing a Physic. Bummer, especially that last one.

Next turn, we join up with the two Mages, while Lara falls back to free the children. I know from the first run that there are reinforcements spawning somewhere in the south, but those only appear on turn 10-ish, while this is only the end of turn 4.

Conveniently, Asbel recruits himself during his phase:

: "Asbel?! What in the world are you doing here? Why aren't you still in Tahra?"
: "I set off after you just as soon as we got separated! Lotta good that did... I couldn't figure out where you'd gone. For the last half-year now, I've been sticking around Munster."
: "You left Tahra that quickly? Then... you've spent the last three years looking for me..."
: "Of course I did! I promised you as much, remember? With your blade and my magic, we were gonna take Thracia back - together! But you just up an' left me behind! That... That was quite heartless of you, Leif. Er, Lord Leif."
: "I'm sorry... At the time, I didn't have a choice. Tahra had been surrounded by the Empire. I had... I had prepared myself for the very real possibility of dying. When I fled, I never imagined I would make it out alive. I didn't want to drag you down with me, so I left you out of it."
: "What a load of pegasus dung...! We swore to live and die together, didn't we? Or was that whole oath just part of some kids' game? I've spent all these years with those words etched into my mind - and I chose to believe in them."
: "A-Asbel..."
: "Lord Leif, if only for my sake, you have to liberate Thracia! Make it so that my years of searching meant something!"

And then Asbel gets a movement star during the green phase, but as a blue unit, so he can't use it.

Anyway, this whole exchange is very gay, isn't it? Like, there were some dialogues in previous games that had certain homoromantic vibes, like Xane maybe hitting on Marth, Lex being willing to do anything for Azelle, or even the "Lady and her knight" dynamic between Queen Rahna and Mahnya. But this goes way past "vibes" into "I'm surprised Asbel didn't kiss Leif on the mouth right then and there". I only wonder if it's as overt in the Japanese original or if it's some creative liberty in the translation.

And while we're on the subject of romantically charged dialogue, here's Karin's chat with Prince Ced:

: "To... To find you, my prince!"
: "To find me...? Oh, for heaven's sake... Did Fee put you up to this? Or was it my mother?"
: "..... Lord Ced, I have some... important news for you."
: "Is that so? Well, let's hear it."
: "W-Well, to tell the truth... Oh, gods... ....."
: "Karin, if you have something to tell me, speak quickly and to the point. This is no time for weakness."
: "Y-You're right... I... I regret to inform you that Her Majesty the Queen has... She, um..."
: "Mother?! No, she can't have...!"
: "I'm... afraid so, milord. Two months ago..."
: "Mother is... My mother has... passed away...?"
: "Lord Ced... I'm sorry. You shouldn't have found out like this. Here, of all places..."
: "Does it matter? I was too late... Father... I wanted them to see each other one last time..."
: "Lord Ced, return to Silesse with me - please. Lady Fee is waiting for you."
: "Fee... How is she? Is she all right?"
: "Silesse faces dire times, milord. Lady Fee can put up a tough front for the others, but when it's just me and her, she... She cries till her eyes dry up. Lord Ced, with respect, you've done her a great cruelty, running away like you did. Lady Fee isn't much more than a kid, and you've gone and forced the burden of ruling Silesse onto her. That holy blood in your veins has gone to your head! You're the heir to Forseti's legacy, good for you, but you up and walked out on your mother and sister! Does that sound like what a hero would do? Does that even sound like what a real prince would do?!"
: "Karin, I... You're right, of course, but... But Father was the only one who could cure Mother's illness! I couldn't do her any good just waiting at her side! Was I supposed to just sit there and watch her waste away?! So I... I went to find Father, by whatever means I could."
: "Then why are you leading some rebel group in Munster?!"
: "I heard tell that my father had been here in Munster until half a year ago. I came here to pick up the trail, but it had gone cold. As I investigated, I discovered just how deeply the people of Munster suffered. I couldn't abandon them as my father had abandoned Silesse."
: "Is that right...? I apologize, Lord Ced... I should've heard your side of the story before judging your..."
: "I'm sorry, Karin, but I need more time. If I can drive that menace Raydrik from Munster, I'll gladly return to Silesse. By my estimation, that should only take a half-year at most."
: "...You're fixin' to overthrow that creep, huh? Now that's a plan I can get behind! Count me in - I'll stay here with you!"
: "Heh. I'm flattered, Karin, but as your prince, I insist that you head back to Silesse. I couldn't fight knowing you were endangering yourself."
: "...That's a diplomatic way of saying I would be a burden. But you're right: I would just slow you down. All right, I'll make my way back to Silesse - but only if you promise to come home yourself, Lord Ced."
: "You have my word - and as proof of my vow, I bestow this upon you."
: "Er, what is it? A used handkerchief?"
: "Hah! Would you believe this is an heirloom of the Silessian royal family? It's an ancient scroll, penned by my namesake - the crusader Ced himself. He imbued it with potent magic thta strengthens whoever so much as holds it. I was... supposed to give it to my betrothed, actually. Instead, I entrust it to you, Karin."
: "Are you really trusting me with something so valuable? I... This is most unexpected!"
: "Karin... I did wrong by my mother, and I'm sorry. I owe you much for helping Fee in my absence, and this is a token of my gratitude. I want you to have it."
: "...OK, but I'm only keeping it safe for you. You'll get it back the second you return to Silesse!"
: "Then the snowy banks of Silesse shall be witness to our next meeting. Be well, Karin."
: "You said it! Gods be with you, Lord Ced!"

Good dialogue. Karin seems cool.

I'll say that this whole conversation has less romantic cinder than the previous one, but, in addition to the significance of Ced's Scroll, Karin noticeably plays a similar role in Ced's story as Erinys in Lewyn's. And those two storys seem to parallel each other very deliberately (something something poetry): Ced leaves Silesse and his mum, a Pegasus Rider is sent after him to retrieve him, but Ced insists that he has to finish his current task first. Although since Ced is clearly a better person than his father, I hope that there won't be any Sylvia equivalent.

The only complaint I have is that this story feels a bit at odds with Fee's introduction in Genealogy, although I guess that's a problem Lewyn!Fee already had in that game. She tells Arthur (or Amid, I suppose) that she "just ran right out of home to try and find [Seliph]" - not even Ced! - after Erinys died, which becomes a much less commendable action if she's the last representative of the royal family still present in Silesse.

Anyway, here's Ced's Scroll's growth boosts: Very much taylor-made for Asbel, although he obviously isn't the only character that appreciates a big Spd boost. But Asbel obviously appreciates the Mag boost more than anybody else (although it would help Karin's prowess with magic swords) and because he actually just has 4 AS at base with Graphcalibur, the guaranteed Spd growth for every level-up should be quite significant, too.

Meanwhile, Lara frees the children (and gets a nice movement star proc here):

: "I jus' wanna go home... *Sniffle, sniffle* H-How do I get home? Uh-huh... The way to the right...? Then I'll run that way and won't stop till I'm back home...! Th-Thank you..."

: "Huh? Can I go home to my papa now? ...Oh, I can escape if I go down that passage to the right? Thank you! B-Bless you!"

(the boy she had freed the previous turn)

Unlike the previous map, the kids are basically at no danger, unless you take a really long time fighting the initial group of enemies. They can really just leave the map directly next to their cells, so they're disappear within two turns, easily before the first reinforcements arrive.

Now, there's only two groups of enemies left, both contained in closed rooms. A bunch of them have 1-2 range weapons, but they don't move until you open either door - like, the enemies in the right room will attack through the wall once Lifis opens the left room, but right now, Dalsin and Leaf are safe.

I forgot to make screenshots, but most notable are the Knight in the left room, who carries a Devil Axe, and the Bishop to the right, who has an Elfire tome and Physic staff. He's the one that Ced killed in the second run before I could capture him.

__

But unfortunately, I can't show you how hard the Devil Axe guy hits.

__

It's a bit cheesy, but Leif (and later Asbel) can whittle the enemies in the right room down safely with their 1-2 range through the wall, while Lara and Lifis grab the three chest, which contain an Iron Blade, a Life Ring (which seems like an appropriate engagement ring from Leif to Asbel), and...

...nice.

__

To make things even better, Fergus has already swung his sword often enough to reach the B rank necessary to wield it, so he can immediately use it to capture the bishop with pretty good reliability.

____

Rest of the clean-up isn't much to talk about.

At this point, the reinforcements start rolling in. Ced sees them through the fog, of course, and runs towards them, so there's no chance at all that they ever catch up with us, though.

So, with the new crew member's escape quote (which this translation patch seems to have missed when scrubbin' Asbel's fr'm all th' unnec'ss'ry inverted commers), that was this gaiden map. Pretty short, pretty good.

The Team:

	  Lv.	    HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Con  XP
Leif	  9.42	    35   6   0   4   7  11   4   8  +132
Fergus	  7.24	    30   6   0   9   9   7   5   8  +168
Karin	  5.32	    20   4   8   7  15  16   3   4  +136
Brighton  8.64	    31   5   0   6   5   3   6  12  +33

Macha	  4.79	    24   4   1  11  12   8   5   6  +144
Dalsin	  6.62	    30   9   0   3   2   0  11  15  +50
Lifis	  6.95	    21   4   1   4  11   1   2   6  +58
Lara	  2.82	    14   0   0   1  10   6   0   3  +10

Asbel	  2.35	    22   0   4   4   8   5   0   4  +135

 

 

Edited July 3 by ping

[Dayni]

16 minutes ago, ping said:

: "Munster...? R-Right! Munster it is! Don't you forget it, Sir Ced!"

I'm not sure if I'm missing some implications from Asbel's dialogue? He seems to be confused, but I don't know why Munster as a location would seem weird to him.

It seems like he's repeating it to himself to remember?

Look, I don't know. I've already retracted one interpretation of text in the last day or so, I'm not up for it again.

(Will you be dealing with alternate dialogue in 5? Fair enough if not, there's a good amount of it)

18 minutes ago, ping said:

And obviously, that bishop did not survive the experience. Ced OP. Somewhat frail physically considering his level, but 7 Def is notably still higher than anybody except Dalsin on our team, and his high Avoid means that he won't get damaged very often, anyway.

Nice avoid.

19 minutes ago, ping said:

[HP 55% | Str 10% | Mag 35% | Skl 55% | Spd 75% | Lck 35% | Def 10% | Con 10% | Mov 2%]
Weapon Levels: Fire (E), Thunder (E), Wind (C+20)
Skill: Adept

Since it's already established that Asbel is about to join the team, I'll just put his stats right here. They're very specialised, with great Skl and amazing Spd (even though 7 base isn't particularly outstanding), but bad physical durability. Although I'll say that 22 HP + 0 Def is actually higher than Karin's 18 HP + 3 Def - but Asbel still seems like the obvious choice for a Life Ring, should we happen to find one in the not-too-distant future. His Mag base and growth seems just OK, although I don't know what the typical numbers for that stat are.

It's on the lower end of most of the outright mages, 35% being the second lowest and 4 base still seeming decent enough in context of the early game but if he doesn't get much in the way of procs before others show up it's worth interrogating keeping him around if you were too profligate with Grafcaliber.

In his defence, his promotion is also busted. Sisters and Bards get one extra magic, but +5 Mag and +4 Def is far from nothing to sneeze at, while +6 Spd and his growth mean.... he wishes Spd could cap higher.

27 minutes ago, ping said:

(2) Ced running into an enemy in the FoW and losing his turn from it,

Pfft, I thought the AI did know about FoW in this game?

27 minutes ago, ping said:

And then Asbel gets a movement star during the green phase, but as a blue unit, so he can't use it.

Thanks S. Kaga.

30 minutes ago, ping said:

The only complaint I have is that this story feels a bit at odds with Fee's introduction in Genealogy, although I guess that's a problem Lewyn!Fee already had in that game. She tells Arthur (or Amid, I suppose) that she "just ran right out of home to try and find [Seliph]" - not even Ced! - after Erinys died, which becomes a much less commendable action if she's the last representative of the royal family still present in Silesse.

At the very least the only one who hasn't been imprisoned, executed or ran out (Musar!)

[Interdimensional Observer]

40 minutes ago, ping said:

Well, that's a veritable death trap.

Still, this map is infinitely better than the previous one. It's a death trap right at the start, so you can experiment a bit with your formations and/or rely on somebody dodge an attack or two, and not be punished by having to replay, what, twenty turns of boredom.

I did read a prior comment before about this being an inverse of the last map, you aren't the first to see that. And indeed, with permadeath + resetting, upfront challenges just generally work better in FE if the map difficulty is going to be unevenly distributed across the turns.

44 minutes ago, ping said:

Anyway, this whole exchange is very gay, isn't it? Like, there were some dialogues in previous games that had certain homoromantic vibes, like Xane maybe hitting on Marth, Lex being willing to do anything for Azelle, or even the "Lady and her knight" dynamic between Queen Rahna and Mahnya. But this goes way past "vibes" into "I'm surprised Asbel didn't kiss Leif on the mouth right then and there". I only wonder if it's as overt in the Japanese original or if it's some creative liberty in the translation.

Eh, this scene could've been more implicit.:

-Nothing like two little boys making a forever promise to each other, exchanging cherished gifts, and then saying "I'm okay giving up this precious item to you, because you're practically me". And need I comment on what's in the store window?😛

Two Asbels I've seen in video games, and both have chemistry💞 with their literal princes.

*Cough* ...Being serious instead of joking with non-FE games now, the predecessor to SorenxIke?😜

I do ponder if Asbel being a shota mage ends up contributing to your interpretation? He has a soft youthfulness that you could say "feminizes" him in a way.

SF does have the old Shaya-Firelizard translation, but it's probably on the rough side, and not the most helpful for determining the Japanese tone.

...And let not be forgotten, as an aside, had you not be so helpful to those civvies last chapter, insistent on saving your own skin alone or unwilling to reset if the RNG killed a green peasant, that you would've missed out on your first Thracia 776 mage.😝

1 hour ago, ping said:

Anyway, here's Ced's Scroll's growth boosts: Very much taylor-made for Asbel, although he obviously isn't the only character that appreciates a big Spd boost. But Asbel obviously appreciates the Mag boost more than anybody else (although it would help Karin's prowess with magic swords) and because he actually just has 4 AS at base with Graphcalibur, the guaranteed Spd growth for every level-up should be quite significant, too.

And this is why Spd ends up being kinda trivial as a unit's bad stat in Thracia. A poor base is still bad, but, +30% Spd growth so soon means that as long as you're willing to give it to Marty/other person, it can be readily patched up if they join soon enough.

[ping]

1 hour ago, Dayni said:

It seems like he's repeating it to himself to remember?

Look, I don't know. I've already retracted one interpretation of text in the last day or so, I'm not up for it again.

(Will you be dealing with alternate dialogue in 5? Fair enough if not, there's a good amount of it)

Munster is where literally all of Ced and Asbel's cooperation has taken place, so I would hope that Asbel is able to remember the place.

(I'm going to say no, since I'm playing blind-ish: Not looking anything up on the internet, but I did watch dondon's playthough and have some vague memories as a result.)

1 hour ago, Dayni said:

Nice avoid.

It's even in his hit rate, too. Truly, Kaga did the funni sex number first.

1 hour ago, Dayni said:

Pfft, I thought the AI did know about FoW in this game?

My guess is that there was a frailer target further into the fog, and Ced pathed through a closer one trying to hit him. I wonder if that's something one could set up with blue units, too - position Lara two tiles or so behind somebody else, and see if an enemy coming out of the fog runs into that somebody.

35 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

*Cough* ...Being serious instead of joking with non-FE games now, the predecessor to SorenxIke?😜

Well, it has to be, right? Otherwise, Kaga might not have done SorenxIke first, which would be unthinkable.

35 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I do ponder if Asbel being a shota mage ends up contributing to your interpretation? He has a soft youthfulness that you could say "feminizes" him in a way.

It probably played into my "you could read something into this" interpretation of Lex and Azelle, since their bear/twink dynamic (sorry, "loli" and "shota" are terms that are inherently icky to me) is more pronounced. Leif isn't as much of a "manly man" in comparison.

But Asbel immediately rushing to find Leif when he made like a tree, travelling the war-torn peninsula for three years; their vow to "live and die together", with those words "etched into [Asbel's] mind"... That all goes a bit beyond "best buddy", or even "brother in arms" vibes, I find.

 

Edited July 3 by ping

[Interdimensional Observer]

11 minutes ago, ping said:

Well, it has to be, right? Otherwise, Kaga might not have done SorenxIke first, which would be unthinkable.

Kaga has had an unintentional homoerotic streak (along with intentional royalism, damselism, and his other stuff) in his post-FE productions. -Though Ruben knows better than I.

[BrightBow]

1 hour ago, ping said:

What really makes him stand out, of course, is his personal Grafcalibur tome, with stats that make Osian's Bhuj blush with embarrassment. The only aspect in which it's a little better than Fire is its weight (and this does matter, as tome weight isn't alleviated by Con) - everywhere else, it's better by an obscene degree. As a cherry on top, 40 Crit and a FCM of 3 means that if Asbel doubles, he has a 120% base chance to crit on his follow-up attack.

Has basically the same stats as the FE1 version of Excalibur too, fittingly enough. Except it has 40 crit instead of 33.
I'm just surprised Asvel doesn't have green hair.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Anyway, this whole exchange is very gay, isn't it? Like, there were some dialogues in previous games that had certain homoromantic vibes, like Xane maybe hitting on Marth, Lex being willing to do anything for Azelle, or even the "Lady and her knight" dynamic between Queen Rahna and Mahnya. But this goes way past "vibes" into "I'm surprised Asbel didn't kiss Leif on the mouth right then and there". I only wonder if it's as overt in the Japanese original or if it's some creative liberty in the translation.

We also have Marty, the "man that Dagdar loved".

Anyway, unsurprisingly Asvel gets a support bonus from Leaf.
 

2 hours ago, ping said:

Anyway, here's Ced's Scroll's growth boosts: Very much taylor-made for Asbel, although he obviously isn't the only character that appreciates a big Spd boost. But Asbel obviously appreciates the Mag boost more than anybody else (although it would help Karin's prowess with magic swords) and because he actually just has 4 AS at base with Graphcalibur, the guaranteed Spd growth for every level-up should be quite significant, too.

It could also protect Dalsin from crits, what with his literally 0 luck.

Although as long as he stays near Leaf, he should be fine on that front. As I said, Leaf likes to give out those pity supports.

[Jotari]

5 hours ago, ping said:

And obviously, that bishop did not survive the experience. Ced OP. Somewhat frail physically considering his level, but 7 Def is notably still higher than anybody except Dalsin on our team, and his high Avoid means that he won't get damaged very often, anyway.

Ced is also immortal here, meaning if every enemy did somehow managed to hit him, any killing blows would automatically be rigged to miss.

5 hours ago, ping said:

Good dialogue. Karin seems cool.

I agree. Karin is cool. But let's not have that distract us from the fact that she is now the third ostensibly separate character whose entire backstory is "Pegasus Knight from Silesse sent to find Ced". Also while I'm complaining about sub disrespect,

5 hours ago, ping said:

I'll say that this whole conversation has less romantic cinder than the previous one, but, in addition to the significance of Ced's Scroll, Karin noticeably plays a similar role in Ced's story as Erinys in Lewyn's. And those two storys seem to parallel each other very deliberately (something something poetry): Ced leaves Silesse and his mum, a Pegasus Rider is sent after him to retrieve him, but Ced insists that he has to finish his current task first. Although since Ced is clearly a better person than his father, I hope that there won't be any Sylvia equivalent

Oh gods your right 0.o we have four different Pegasus knights who exist to chase after green haired mage boys...there are...4, 8, 10, 12, I think, 12 pegasus Knight characters in Jugdral and they all unilateral fall into two categories, either a "looking for mage boy" or "edgy mercenary type".

6 hours ago, ping said:

...nice

I could be wrong, but I believe that's the only brave sword available in the game. Yeah, no enemies actually use it against you to steal. Though they do use master swords which have the same effect.

5 hours ago, Dayni said:

At the very least the only one who hasn't been imprisoned, executed or ran out (Musar!)

In addition to Musar there's also the end game Pegasus knights. Who might even have it for plot reasons sice, unlike Musar, they don't have the holy blood for weapon rank reasons (though they might have it for speed base rank reasons). Since none of these boss characters acknowledge being from Silesse, I think the best head canon is that there's a cadet branch of the royal family in Granvale's nobility, though if that were the case then you'd think the empire would sit one of them on the throne considering Erinys doesn't even have any hold blood. Hmm, maybe my first head canon that all those characters are Lewyn's bastard siblings holds more ground.

4 hours ago, ping said:

Munster is where literally all of Ced and Asbel's cooperation has taken place, so I would hope that Asbel is able to remember the place.

It's because Asbel thought he was at a place called Manster. Meanwhile Sety thought he was talking to a guy named Asvel.

 

[Revier]

18 hours ago, ping said:

that was this gaiden map.

This was the most surprising bit to me. Nothing about this map "felt" like it was side content. Kaga sure do be smokin'.