#the last like three chapters of fe6

[silent-partner-412]

Realizing that the reason nobody talks about how shit Elibe is as a world is bc FE7 is FE7 and it seems like most FE fans who’ve played it have nostalgic bias for it

[nightmaresorceress]

149. Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade (Game Boy Advance)

fire emblem is a series that I don’t really talk about all that much, but actually quite like. at this point I’ve beaten over half of the games, and found myself having a lot of fun with pretty much all of them, even fates. the binding blade is a game I tried to play through before, but I got to a particularly annoying chapter and stopped my playthrough there, so I figured I’d give the game another shot.

i ended up having way more fun this time around, and made sure to scout out where new recruits were and how to get the gaiden chapters so I’d be sure to get the best ending. fe6 has a lot of janky things, but when you learn how to work around them, it’s not too bad at all. a lot of the time your units will probably dodge enemy attacks, since axe users are both frequent and have a low hit rate. there’s also a lot of really good units as well. lilina, fir, raigh, clarine, sue, and a bunch of others are quite helpful through either the entire game or a majority of it. some units will probably fall off towards the end like alan, lance and rutger, but they’re quite helpful to have around for a majority of the time.

the story was also pretty good too, it was pretty standard fare for fire emblem but it was written well enough that I didn’t really mind. the last few bosses were also really cool, it felt like this proper grand finale against the big bad and the few remaining antagonists associated with him. really I think the worst part of the game was roy himself. he starts off fine enough, but it doesn’t take that long for him to fall off, and you’re forced to just drag him around and in some cases use him as a meat shield while your better units do the fighting. he promotes rather late as well, and with the binding blade he becomes a more formidable unit, but that’s right at the end of the game. the final boss is still weak enough that he can beat her in two or three rounds, though.

overall I really liked binding blade, and it’s become one of my new favorite fire emblem games. i think it would be best to not play it first since a lot of the other games are more forgiving, but it’s definitely still worth checking out and playing through.

[unmeiokaemasu]

playing fe6 again

this is the 3rd or 4th time I've attempted this (so 2nd or 3rd time I've started over from scratch); I came back ready to pick up my last playthrough, and could only find what I think was probably my FIRST ever playthrough, because Thany was level 1 unpromoted and I think every time after the first I'd relied heavily on her. So since I already don't really like picking up old playthroughs, I just went ahead and started a new one.

anyway, I JUST. FINALLY. Beat the Binding Blade chapter. That might be the hardest map I've ever played on a normal difficulty setting. I'd count Three Houses hard mode as the most comparable to GBA normal settings...probably. It's hard to say. I think I had a Sacred Stones hard mode run going and it seemed like barely a jump in difficulty, whereas maddening in 3H is WAY harder than hard mode. BUT ANYWAY. Finally beat this stupid map, literally without a turn or movement to spare. Roy ONLY got to the throne on the last turn, I was only able to beat the boss by the last turn, I had to rely on bolting to kill an enemy long-range mage (I rarely use siege tomes bcs I tend to hoard things)...whew. Lugh and Thany are freaking carrying this thing for me; Dieck, Rutger, Saul and Ellen are my other mvps.

But now I get to reap the fruits of my labor. Last chapter I sold all the stat boost items I'd been collecting, went to the secret shop with my silver card, and bought 10 pairs of boots. idk how many people try to do this but this's gonna make things totally sick, I've already started the next chapter and let my top guys use the boots and they are nyooming around all over the map and it's very fun. I doubt I'll miss those other stat boosts bcs everyone is so dodge-tanky at high

I can't remember which chapter I got up to last time; maybe have actually been this one, since I think I've hit all the annoying or interesting parts that I remember. I really hope I finish it this time, this's getting ridiculous.

[bigklingy]

“Opinions that get your Fire Emblem card revoked.”

I saw a tweet about that and I’ve actually always wanted to share some of mine, so here we go: -Battle Before Dawn is my favourite chapter in FE7. Yes it’s a triple NPC protect mission with FoW, but I LOVE the storyline of this map, and first time playing Jaffar was the LAST character I expected to be redeemable and recruitable, so the moment always stands out in my mind.  -Conquest is my “favourite” of the three storylines of Fates. Don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s BAD. I just think Birthright and Revelation are even worse, and Conquest at least has elements like Garon that I find “so bad they’re hilarious”. Birthright is just boring and throws in cheap deaths for the sake of “boo hoo sad” while Revelation builds its entire premise on the kingdom that only exists to be a giant plot contrivance.  -Thracia 776 isn’t that hard. It only has a few really brutal chapters but most of it is actually pretty easy. I think FE6 is much more consistently difficult, even on Normal. -I see zero romantic chemistry between Robin and Chrom in FE Awakening in the main story, and don’t like their supports. Like, I get why people ship Byleth and Dimitri (even if I personally don’t), but I can only ever see Chrom and Robin as close friends, and I think Awakening’s story works better when Robin has a family outside of Chrom’s. (It gives the decision in Chapter 21 a lot more weight to me) -Aside from the Blood Pact, I actually really like Radiant Dawn’s story. Until Three Houses, I thought the first half of Part 3 was the only FE story to actually feel like a real war.  -I think Three Houses is a fantastic game. But I don’t think it’s a good FIRE EMBLEM game. The combat just isn’t very tactical, even on Maddening. 

[pangtasias-atelier]

This is not ask about kinks (No offence btw i don't which word to replace kink with). in previous ask, you said you didn't like the canon of Tormod and Muarim origins right? so i would to ask what type of canon would you give them if you could? I also like ask, if the Tellius saga ever get a revamp/remake, what would be biggest wish fullfill? for me its Tormod reclassing into a melee class / Laguz Army to availability more...

Oh, it's okay! No worries lol, this is a kink blog after all.

As for Muarim & Tormod, I would honestly just prefer it for Muarim to have literally found Tormod out of nowhere and took him in. Like that's just so much better than the wierd little dynamic of Tormod basically being the son of Muarim's ex master and Muarim taking him Tormod in when the noble house falls.

Honestly, my biggest wish fulfilment would just be getting supports in RD. Like, that alone would be so beautiful. Hell, they could even keep the mini supports and make it so that those are a super small in battle bonuses.

And although a remake with both games would be phenomenal, let's face it, Nintendo is a company and they are as greedy as all hell just as every other company so they'll be their own remakes

Though there's a lot more to help RD. Even though it's already really damn great imo. But if the legitimate fixes, I'd say this:

Fix availability. Tormod, Muarim, and Vika really have no business joining for like 3 chapters before leaving until the last 6 chapters with their stats from part 1 lmao

Also, BALANCE. When people say RD is the second most unbalanced game, they mean it. The difference in usefulness in characters is astounding. Also, Dawn Brigade still in tier 2 classes while Greil Mercenaries are already hitting tier 3 is ridiculous and pretty dumb

Laguz gauge. It's not terrible but I still feel that PoR gauge would work much better, especially with olivi gras and such. Also , Laguz being locked to single range hurts them so much since RD is pretty enemy phase heavy.

Weapon balance. Magic is pretty bad and also had terrible caps. Laura has amazing speed growths but can't take advantage of it since her caps are awful.

Difficulty balance: Part 1 shouldn't be the most difficult part of the game when there's three more parts after it.

Writing: part 3 aside, (I don't know how to fix it without making Pelleas look ever worse than he already did by signing that blood pact lmao) part 4's writing kinda comes across as a generic "series crossover game" it's not bad and it also serves in showing tensions between characters. But it also highlights favoritism, Skrimir praising Micaiah while ready to murder Naesala. And also Pelleas getting off the hook easy from Tibarn.

And as for personal wishes:

I wanna save Zelgius. He's by no means this innocent character people love to paint him as, but it bothers me that you can save Lehran but not Zelgius

Change Pelleas's "death" scene in part 2. The fact that the only difference is suddenly getting the option to have Micaiah jump in the way just feels so cheap. I will say Pelleas' death is kinda just a punch on the first playthrough since the option kinda does give some false hope to sparing him. And it ultimately becomes a complete waste. (though Pelleas does get forgotten afterwards sadly)

Give more screentime to Skrimir and Sanaki. The two are great characters as is, but it would've been fun getting a chapter or 2 with them to help solidify their arcs.

Also, give Pelleas and Elincia some more screentime

Ike. He's great and I love him, but godamn is he just this absolutely perfect child that can do no real wrong and everyone praises him so much. Granted, his growth was already in PoR but still. (Praise Micaiah's lines dissing Ike, it's just such a great fresh view in seeing how the losing country sees the game's hero after that other FE games don't do)

Speaking of Ike, it honestly would've been cool seeing him get a more supporting role instead of just blindsiding everything and taking over. But that never goes well in games. Look at the fandom with Micaiah lmao. (And also Tales of with the Symphonia sequel)

Stop the whole Astrid x Makalov thing. I just hate the ship lmao

And that's just for RD sjdhsjnsksb it's really obvious how much I love Tellius. But admittedly, they're all nitpicks than any actual true flaws.

As for PoR, it's been so long since I played it, but it honestly has like no real narrative flaws that I can find? I just vastly prefer RDs ambitious scale of writing vs PoR's take on the whole basic FE plot.

As for gameplay stuff

Balance magic a bit, lightning is too good. And that not, bring back tier 1 light mages and also bring back dark magic.

Give us Maniac Mode!!

RD's improved UI and models alongside the skills

Make knives way better and let Sothe promote. Unpromotable tier 1 classes is the worst idea ever. Unless you're a dancer, you should be able to promote.

Let Laguz weapons rank up

FIX THE AWFUL WEAPON RATE GAIN

OMG SERIOUSLY THAT WAS SO AWFUL

I DON'T EVER WANT SUCH A SLOW WEAPON RATE EVER AGAIN

Give Elincia more screentime. I love her and like yeah, not every women needs to be this badass warrior, but the Nyna archetype is just so done at that point. (But hey, she still turns it on it's head by the end. And so does Pelleas)

And that's all I can think of really.

Again, I'm such a huge Tellius nerd lmao. Though I currently believe FE6 will get remade first. Tellius is still too recent, and intys probably doesn't wanna touche the incest plot shit in FE4 and FE5 also has to get passed up for a remake due to being in Jugdral.

God this is so fucking long sjdbjsvavsvs

[gascon-en-exil]

Hm, if you could, how would you rank the final maps across the series?

I can’t really rank them, but I can give my opinions on most of them. I don’t know how much value it’ll have though since I freely admit to not playing on the higher difficulties where gameplay conversations are seen as having genuine merit. Anyway:

FE1/11 and 3/12 - only reached the end of the DS remakes, and as is the case with most of Archanea I don’t remember them very well except that Medeus is a pain in both. Shadow Dragon’s last map is also incredibly long as I recall...assuming you don’t just warpskip to the boss of course.

FE2/15 - never got to the end of Gaiden, but Echoes’s last map is an interesting mix of entertaining and frustrating. The layout is certainly distinctive, as is the novelty of using Alm and Celica’s armies together for the first time. Jedah’s gimmick is a nuisance though and I don’t care for Duma and his AoE attack and invulnerability to most attacks.

FE4 - the longest map in a game infamous for long maps, but unlike Chapters 2 and 7 Endgame offers a decent challenge to help cover up the tedious distances and backtracking. There’s also a good increasing scale of difficulty from one castle to the next, with the only real letdown being Manfroy whom is technically optional although I’ve never skipped him. Hate fighting Ishtar and the falcon knight sisters and most of the Deadlords, and it does suck a bit that the sudden rush of enemies with skills and holy weapons makes a fair number of your units dangerous to field on the front lines.

FE5 - also don’t remember it too well. The map itself is a nightmare like most of Thracia’s maps tend to be, but Veld is a joke in more ways than one. Also more Deadlords...whee. 

FE6 - all of the GBA games follow a pattern of a two-part final map with the first being a gauntlet ending in a major story villain and the second being your army rushing the final boss. Binding Blade’s is the worst in both regards. First you’re trudging your units from altar to altar fighting dragons and getting an awkward backstory dump after each one, then you finally kill Jahn at the end, and then you get to Idunn who’s a joke and isn’t even that hard to kill with Roy for the secret best ending. Three Houses gets flak for clumsy lore dumps in its lategame, but I think I honestly prefer them to what we get here. At least Rhea manages to be sympathetic.

FE7 - the best of this trilogy, mostly on account of it kicking off with a boss rush of Blazing Sword’s greatest hits reincarnated as OP morphs. Nergal is pretty standard, but the second part deserves comedy points for pitting you against a generic and calling it a final boss. 

FE8 - the monsters of Sacred Stones aren’t the most engaging of enemies, especially if you play the postgame Creature Campaign at all since there it’s nothing but monsters. This drags down the last map in my opinion, since it’s just a monster map with some mildly creative architecture and Lyon waiting for you at the end. Fomortiis is nothing special either apart from the originality of his not being a dragon.

FE9 - may be my favorite final map aesthetically, in large part due to the ironic contrast between the still tidy and peaceful Crimean palace gardens and the massive Daien army awaiting you. Similarly it may be the most mundane final map in the series with nothing much supernatural going on unless you’re playing on Hard (or Japanese Maniac) mode where Ashnard goes berserk and you have to kill him twice. I never do though, and Ashnard moving with his colossal range in higher difficulties means you don’t get to experience a good half or so of the map. I’d rather not deal with that, especially since he’s got the same nigh-invulnerability issue as Duma going on.

FE10 - depends on if we’re talking only 4-E-5 or the entirety of the Goddess Tower. The true last map is kind of bland and is more about having a good setup and positioning than dynamic tactics, because Ashera and her auras and AoEs are nothing if not predictable. The maps ascending the tower on the other hand offer a nice mixture of quick challenges that let this game’s massive cast come together for the first time (so like Gaiden/Echoes only with a roster over twice the size) and show off what they can do at their best...on Easy anyway. In Normal and Hard it’s Ike and the laguz royals and maybe about a dozen other viable units all the way up.

FE13 and 14 - I barely remember any of these to be quite honest. Awakening’s is as mediocre as every other map in that game and ends with the horrible non-choice for Robin that underscores how FE13 is terrified to have any genuine stakes. Fates’s three final maps each approximate the general tone of their respective routes: Birthright’s is the most series-typical, Conquest’s is the most creative, and Revelation’s is the most gimmicky and tedious.

FE16 - probably what most people reading this came for, so I’ll go ahead and break it down further by route.

SS - horrible by every parameter but the music, which is nothing special since all three final map tracks are excellent. There’s no setup worth mentioning to explain why Rhea is suddenly attacking you, and you’re stuck fighting enemies on all sides including a ton of flying monsters that hit extremely hard and also have to be taken out to do any serious damage to the Immaculate One. The map architecture is more of a hindrance than a help, and Rhea’s long-range attacks are if I recall the most deadly of any of the final bosses. The NG Maddening LTC crowd can have this one.

AM - feels more dangerous than it is, until you realize that you can skip large chunks of the map including Myson trolling you with his HP-to-1 spell on the right. Funneling your units through the smaller chambers on the left skips the worst of it and lets you right off into the throne room, where the Hegemon is overall less threatening than the horde of magic users surrounding her. I dislike the non-final version of this map in VW/SS more, if only because you have to move faster there if you want to stop Dedue from committing suicide by gremory/mortal savant. 

VW - deserves a nod as the only wholly unique final map in Three Houses, even if conceptually it’s just Deadlords in a swamp (that you can get rid of, a nice touch). Nemesis is without question the weakest final boss as the only one without multiple health bars, and it’s not like you wouldn’t have taken out all of the zombie Elites on the way to him anyway. At least he puts up a pretty good fight when he’s by himself, although it’s still not hard to swarm him.

CF - comparable to AM’s in that you can skip large chunks of the map to make it easier, in this case by concentrating all your forces right up the middle to kill the Immaculate One before the enemies on the side can get to you. The faster you do it the fewer enemies you have to fight and the less fire you have to wade through, which is all a plus in my book. It helps that the Immaculate One here is weaker than she is in SS, and instead of being surrounded by monsters and constructs the other enemies in her immediate vicinity are ones like Cyril and Catherine who are still a pain to deal with but nowhere near as durable. 

So for FE16 specifically I’d probably go AM > VW > CF > SS.

[siraranispleased]

Fire Emblem Elibe - Character Updates

Just as a reminder, this was for a personal project I thought about doing, did some planning for, but, in the end, it looks like I might never actually get around to it or do it in a way that does it justice, certainly not before any theoretical, official remake of FE6 and/or 7 were to come out.

So, in addition to the 7 characters who would’ve risen to Playable status, there were a bunch of smaller changes planned for the playable characters already in the game. And I’m not talking statistical changes (although there was plenty of that. For example, Hawkeye would’ve gotten a Buff by being set to Level 1 instead of Level 4, but with the same stats, allowing him more room to grow).

These were changes to their personal stories, either during the main game itself, or during their supports.

Kent and Sain would’ve gotten the Shadows of Valentia treatment, and risen to reoccurring characters throughout Eliwood’s story once the Lyndis Legion joined the team, alongside Marcus and Oswin. Kent would continue to provide exposition and colour commentary along with Sain, who would also be doing his usual schtick and help provide comic relief. Kent would get supports with Pent and Dorcas, continuing with his pleasant and professional, if rigid, demeanour by bonding with like minded individuals. Sain, meanwhile, would get supports with Florina and Ursula, but unlike with his other female supports, these would be of a much more friendly, tame, and innocent nature. Sain’s not actually looking to woo them, but be friends with them in his special way, bonding with Florina over theater, and, in a similar vein to his Serra support, giving Ursula a chance to regain her confidence and composure after splitting from the Fang has her shook, by letting her act like he’s her trusted lackey.

Florina and Wil would have also gotten a bit more presence in Eliwood’s story past their introduction, Florina more-so, and have also gotten a Support together, also strictly platonic. Despite Wil being an archer and a guy, both of which would normally make Florina very nervous, like she was when they first met, after a year Florina doesn’t see Wil as either of those things: she just sees him as Wil. As such, they get to just chat and bond over Wil’s plan to bring more travelers and business to Ryerde (as a reminder, instead of freshly-made-up Caelin, Lyn was the long lost scion of name-dropped-but-never-utilized-Ryerde)

Lyn would have gotten a massive update to her character, with a focus on her failures. Her failure to adapt to her new life as a noblewoman, but, more chiefly, her failure to let go of her grief and her anger. Between an update to her Wallace support and a new Lucius support, Lyn would either be forced to realize, or come to her own realization, that the anger and drive for revenge that once kept her alive out on the plains has started to poison her, and those thoughts don’t bring her strength anymore, but pain, and she has to find a way to let it go. Also, her Florina support would be changed to include Lyn’s realization of another failure: to change, realizing that Florina, her childhood friend, is actually all grown up and a fine young woman, while she herself has remained stagnant and unable to grow. Finally, of course, there was the plan for her to gain the Mulgries as her signature weapon before the final battle, and the Mani Katti to become her father’s sword rather than a sacred relic of the Sacaeans, with an additional Rebecca support showing Lyn practicing archery with her.

Rebecca would have also gotten an additional support with Eliwood, establishing a relationship close enough and friendly enough that Rebecca would become Roy’s milk mother, and perhaps Eliwood’s confidant after the passing of his wife before the start of the FE6 portion of the game.

Serra’s new supports with Priscilla, Farina, and especially Leila, would’ve played with the “reveal” in Lucius’s support that Serra doesn’t get along with girls prettier than her: she actually gets along spectacularly with those three. She even thinks they’re all cute, just not as cute as her. Lucius is just that amazing. Her Matthew support would’ve also been dropped; Serra would instead support with Lyn, which I scripted out for @darkflierliesel / @scarlet-riot‘s birthday, yesterday. Matthew, in turn, would have gotten a new support with Raven, as well as Leila and Heath.

Hector would get a revamped support with Florina; instead of having all three focused on Florina’s anxiety around approaching him to thank him for catching her when she fell when they first met, she only spends their C support being a nervous wreck, thanking him in their B, and the two genuinely connecting during their A. Hector also would’ve gotten a new support with Hawkeye, impressed with and wishing to challenge (wrassle) the Guardian, before learning of Arcadia and other wisdoms Hawkeye can teach. Finally, he’d get two new supports with Leila, getting the chance to thank her for her service and friendship one last time, and Bauker, learning more about Laus and the other noble houses of Lycia before accepting his responsibilities as a leader.

On top of his new support with Rebecca, and his obvious support with his mother, Eleanora, Eliwood would get one more new support with Louise, as would Eleanora. Louise would be revealed as a family friend, particularly to Eleanora, and Louies would remark on how much Eliwood reminds her of both Elbert and Eleanora.

Finally, as far as major character/support plans I had, Renault and Karla would’ve joined the party a little earlier, in Chapter 29. After Ninian’s death, as everyone’s in shock and mourning, Renault would arrive as a wandering bishop to put her to rest, Karla traveling with him as a guard. Seeing the Morphs suddenly attacking and speaking of “Lord Nergal,” Renault wishes to come along, Karla continuing to come with. They’d also get a new support with each other, where Karla also realizes Renault’s past as a mercenary and a scoundrel. Out of respect she doesn’t pry, but she does relate it to her own life and to Karel’s.

[fe8meta]

FE8 Prototype Commentary (Chapters 6-8)

A continuation of my previous post on the FE8 prototype.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 is virtually unrecognizable from its final counterpart. It uses the map that later became Chapter 11A’s, and even then, unit starting position is also different from the final version of 11A. Saleh appears in the beginning of this chapter as well, having the same dialogue that was moved to Chapter 5 in the final game. He runs out the stairway below to continue his search, I suppose, and then Novala and his cronies appear in front of the door. Eirika actually unlocks the door upon seeing the hostages, and after bargaining with her, Novala goes up to her to retrieve the bracelet.

He also has the Villagers killed, leading to the same conversation Eirika has with him in the final version. Eirika’s really pissed. I should give her the almost-kill.

The challenging part about that, though, is that this chapter is actually a Defend map and only lasts for six turns. At least there’s no Fog of War!

We start up there. Novala’s all the way down there. At the very best, we’ll only scrape by with getting Colm to the two chests. Not helping is the fact that there is a Thief that starts at the bottom right of the map, and one of the reinforcements that appear also has another Thief that will beeline for the chest above Novala.

Speaking of reinforcements, Novala will give a warning right before the reinforcements come. They come in groups of three, but my team is actually somewhat weak and may be struggling to get by. I’ve kicked Ross off the team because he doesn’t have the Journeyman’s level 10 split and so his stats are really sucky for a level 10 Fighter.

The chest on the right gives an Iron Sword. The chest on the left gives yet another Iron Sword... and nabbing it terraforms the chapter, apparently.

Well, whatever it takes to keep Colm alive, I guess.

If you defeat Novala (which I managed to do with Vanessa), he gets some dialogue that seems to imply he’s trying to run away. Then the following cutscene plays.

I don’t know why Saleh and Eirika are standing next to each other in the beginning, they’re clearly on opposite sides of each other. After Saleh leaves, Eirika and Seth have the same conversation about the bracelet as they do in the final version. Some time after they leave...

Cavalier Kyle (left), Ephraim, and Ranger Forde (right) appear. Oddly enough, Ephraim doesn’t actually say anything in this cutscene, but I’m going to assume that they’re trying to chase after Eirika. It makes more sense that they would know about Eirika’s circumstances in this case, at least.

There’s also a distinct lack of Orson, either having already betrayed them or not existing at all. If I could read Japanese or get the ripped script, I could probably figure out the dialogue, but alas.

Chapter 7

The map is almost identical to its final incarnation, save for the changed tileset, the lack of ballistae, and Fog of War that was removed from the final version.  (As you can also see, the enemies won’t appear until after you begin the chapter.)

They enter in, uh, spectacular fashion. The Fog of War in this map will also alternate on-and-off every couple turns.

For some reason, TCRF stated that there aren’t any ballistae present on this prototype map. The one directly above your starting location indeed is not present, but there is a ballista at the top of the map. Though I’m out of his range for a good long while, since he’s all the way up there (in the final version, he’s in that clearing between the forest tiles, right above that objective window).

The enemy Mage that’s in the middle of the map is replaced by an archer here. I kinda neglected to pay attention to that and nearly got Vanessa killed, since she got hit by the brigand. Luckily, she dodged the arrow. Thanks, RNG! (Colm got hit by a 12% brigand hit in return, though.)

The boss is also a Mercenary with a Steel Sword, so he can be cheesed with mages. However, since I have no Shop or Armory available, and I’ve only been getting swords from the chests, I’m a bit worried about my tome and stave stock...

After seizing, there’s no animation of Eirika and Seth entering Renvall, but this still happens. So Orson is alive!

Chapter 8

Most of the intro plays out the same. Tirado is replaced by another General named Jude Rupert, who introduces himself as the Obsidian of Grado’s seven Imperial Generals. That title eventually goes to Duessel, while Jude gets a demotion and a name change.

There is a startlingly small 6-person deployment for this chapter, which was increased to 9 in the final version. Looks like some people will be hitting the bench. Franz has gotten really bad level ups, so he’s out. Cormag is staying because all these chests only have placeholder Iron Swords and, if there’s anything beyond this chapter, I need to keep units who can actually make use of these swords. At least one of the enemies drops their Iron Lance. There’s also four chumps who have Steel Lances but only E-rank in Lances, so they can’t even use their own weapons. Top-tier strats, General Jude.

Now I have to cut Shadows of Valentia some slack. Looks like they weren’t the first ones to come up with “people can hear each other across a building perfectly fine.” Eirika and Ephraim have a perfectly normal conversation across the castle here.

Forde’s bases suck so bad, his level 1 boss has better bases. He puts final Rennac’s bases to shame. Selecting Ephraim for the first time will trigger a conversation between him, Forde, and Kyle. Selecting Kyle for the first time will trigger a tutorial on how to promote, although the promotion isn’t forced like in Lyn mode of FE7.

The biggest difference on this map from the original version is that the chest in this room doesn’t exist, and instead there are two pillars. Furthermore, the breakable wall to the left of the map has 100 HP like in FE6 instead of the 50 HP of the final game. There was also no thief reinforcement (or reinforcements in general).

After defeating Jude, Myrrh shows up in the ending cutscene, portrait complete and all. After Ephraim says that they should get the hell outta dodge, a notification window pops up, presumably saying that it’s the end of the first part. Anna reappears, asking if you want to move on to the next chapter, and then you’re thrown straight into the prep screen of Eirika route chapter 9.

[gascon-en-exil]

From my personal experience, Wyverns are OP in All games, with their very worst appearance being FE4 and that was only due to Altenna & Gaebolg coming in late & not being quite as awesome as the other Holy Blood units. Whenever a game has reclassing, I find almost everyone ends up being a wyvern eventually. That was definitely how it was in my New Mystery run and Wyverns had terrible speed/Resistance there.

Fliers are generally OP and their weaknesses aren’t common enough or can be played around most of the time. It’s hard to compare Archanea dracoknights when they’re the only promoted fliers (I think there’s only one Elysian Whip in FE12, and they’re not legitimately obtainable at all anymore in FE11?) and in the remakes their bad stats can be built up when the units are pegasus knights. As for the rest:

FE4: Yeah, Altena comes late and her low RES hurts, but she’s got a holy weapon and you’ve only got one other flier so she can definitely put in work.

FE5: It’s embarrassing for Eda that you get her the same chapter as her vastly superior brother. Deen’s great, but for whatever reason wyvern riders take the biggest dismounting penalties in the game and of course that’s a problem when the last 2-3 maps are indoors. I’d say he’s screwed by the game mechanics more than anything else.

FE6: I think both Melady and Zeiss get Hard Mode bonuses, but again there’s the problem of the younger sibling being redundant because of an objectively worse start. This game also has a route option that’s filled with mounted archers, but I suppose if you’re going to Sacae Melady’s definitely getting that Delphi Shield.

FE7: Heath comes in underleveled right before a fairly tough part of the game, although conversely that makes him good for the EXP rank and getting the gaiden in the desert map if you care about those. Vaida is lategame filler, albeit pretty good filler if I recall. Not a standout game for them as the pegasus sisters have a lot more collective availability and therefore more flying utility overall.

FE8: Same bit about the pegasi having more availability, but now they have a promotion option that patches up their CON and DEF better. Cormag’s still great though, even if he joins a bit late on Eirika’s route. 

FE9: Marcia and Jill split that invaluable midgame utility, but if you’ve got a mount you’re amazing in this game so Jill’s slightly rocky start and Haar’s filler status don’t really stand out too much. 

FE10: Probably their most overwhelming win prior to Three Houses, and might even be bigger. Haar destroys everything until the very end when his mediocre SPD catches up to him, while Jill is one of the few 1st tier units worth raising even on Hard and is invaluable to propping up her weak team - and unlike Haar’s she’s great in Endgame if properly leveled. The pegasi have worse availability for once and are slaughtered by crossbows, and paladins have likely never had it worse with all the hazards they have to maneuver around.

FE13: No idea about the main game on Lunatic(+) or whatever, but Apotheosis meta favors wyvern lords as strong and mobile physical leads slightly in preference to paladins. Snipers seem to be the closest thing to a truly OP class for that challenge, but wyverns are still up there. As a breeding/leveling class set they fare worse, with no really notable skills and griffon riders being utterly unremarkable. The default ones aren’t so great either; Cherche has some bizarre alternative class options, and Gerome is arguably the worst 2nd gen male.

FE14: Conquest Camilla is FE10 Haar with two eyes and [insert sex joke here], and all in all they’re probably better than they were in Awakening if not overwhelmingly dominant. Beruka never impressed me much, but Percy can be good.

I wouldn’t say wyverns have always been OP, but they have always been one of the better classes. It all depends on how each individual game balances them out with enough weaknesses.

[gascon-en-exil]

Have you ever noticed how female bosses tend to be more tragic/likable then the males in FE. An early interview with Kaga after the release of FE4 says he personally doesn't enjoy writing female villains, but he knows evil women exist in real life history, so he felt he had to have more female bosses in FE4, noting Hilda as a character who can stood with the despicable villains in the past three games.

(Splitting these last two apart since I can see them possibly getting reblogs)

As much as more sympathetic female villains are also a broader trope of JRPGs and really gaming in general, it’s an issue in FE that’s never been explored even long after the Kaga era. Other than Hilda and her spiritual successor Sonia (who still comes with last second not-human angst), the closest thing to an irredeemably evil female antagonist* I can think of is Petrine. Like Soren she’s a self-loathing Branded who channels that hatred into racism, but she doesn’t have anyone like Ike to encourage her to work that out in a healthier way. Her motivations are understandable without being sympathetic, and she’s also notably not into Ashnard which is another common way of characterizing female villains in this series.

*Who exists for more than one chapter, otherwise that one falcon knight boss from the Ilia route of FE6 and I guess remake!Nuibaba might also count.

[siraranispleased]

Fire Emblem Elibe - New Hidden Characters

Continuing on from the New Characters who joined automatically (or, in Bauker’s case, somewhat telegraphed recruitment requirements), there were also plans for three other characters to be promoted to playable (in the main game), albeit with more challenging or arcane requirements to recruit them. Two of these were for the FE7 side of the story, one of these was for the FE6 side, all of them are late-game units, and ones I wanted to keep the most held back for a surprise, but, since the projects probably not going to actually ever be a thing, anyway, might as well share those plans I had.

Careful, folks, under the cut, this gets pretty long.

Ursula

Recap/Summary: One of the Four Fangs, and technically the first one whose presence is felt. While perhaps the least “sympathetic” of the Fangs, Ursula still had a tragic quality both in the text and the subtext, between a manipulative, no doubt unrequited and exploitative relationship with Sonia, and the understanding that, Jaffar aside, the Fang used to be a noble if anti-heroic organization before Nergal and Sonia corrupted it, and Ursula was already one of the Four Fangs before they joined. Frankly, I just wanted to give her a chance.

Recruitment: Which is ironic to say given what you have to do to recruit her. First, talk to her in Chapter 26...with Nino. If you can somehow get Nino through the fog of war and Bolting, Nino will ask Ursula why they even had to kill Prince Zephiel in the first place...and keep asking her when each answer doesn’t satisfy her, until Ursula’s cool facade cracks and she admits that she doesn’t know, either, and has her own concerns. She doesn’t technically join the party, yet, but this does unlock 26x as well, and Ursula joins Nino and Jaffar in confronting Sonia, to which Sonia shows disappointment and casts Ursula aside. With lingering affection for Sonia holding her back, Ursula still only joins the fight as an allied NPC who otherwise doesn’t move. If she survives the Chapter, she finally joins as a playable character.

Gameplay: If you never recruited or used Priscilla that much, Ursula proves an alternative for your Mounted Magic User needs, especially given her very high Weapon Ranks compared to freshly promoted Priscilla. Her stats might pale a little bit in comparison, but Ursula would prove a very solid end game unit.

Supports: Ursula could support with the following characters: Vaida, Nino, Legault, Priscilla, Sain, Jaffar, Rath, Leila, and Karla. A lot of these supports would touch on a lot of tragic feelings: Ursula would’ve been resentful of Legault for being able to walk away from the Black Fangs despite being a founding member; Ursula would join Nino in mourning Lloyd, Linus, and Brendan; and talks with Rath and Karla would let her know more about Sacae, and of Uhai, another former member of the Fang. Priscilla and Sain would be somewhat of a bright spot, taking Priscilla on as an apprentice of her own without the manipulative relationship Sonia had with her, and Sain would continue to do his thing of helping his female partner forget her worries (she quickly makes it clear that no amount of flirting will actually woo her to him, but she appreciates his jovial company). With Vaida, Ursula is at first bitter to swallow her pride and apologize to her former “rival,” and though Ursula at first mocks her, she takes pity on her in their A Support, and offers for Ursula to ride with her in support of Zephiel, if it’d give her new purpose. In most of her endings, Ursula goes into hiding, living out her days in obscurity, continuing to pursue her knowledge of magic and history. In a paired ending with Nino, she even offers the girl a place to lie low until she can go back for her family after the events of FE6. However, if Ursula pairs with Vaida, she instead joins her as Zephiel’s “shadow,” and shows up with Vaida as an unnamed bonus boss during the fight in Chapter 22 of FE6.

Leila

Recap/Summary: This one was tricky. I mean, I always intended to have Leila become a playable character; she was too cool and had just the perfect potential Serra support not to promote to playable. The quandary was: what about her death in Chapter 18? I was really inclined to just dump it, since you didn’t need more of a reason to despise Ephidel, and the man-pain it brought Matthew and Hector was rote, less-so with Matthew, but, still, could’ve easily been dropped... But there was what it brought to Jaffar. The emotionally void Angel of Death, when he finally starts to become human, is confronted by the lover of one of his victims, repercussions of his deeds come back seeking revenge, and confronting him with the weight of his past. Entirely for what it does with Jaffar, that support works, and thus, Leila’s death works...but it can still work with her recruitment.

Recruitment: At the end of Chapter 27, after defeating Linus or Lloyd, and the last remnants of the Black Fang, Eliwood and co meet with Bramimond, the Enigma, the Legendary Hero who lost their soul and their identity to the Dark. To unlock Leila as a character, you’ll need to have deployed Matthew, Canas, and Pent during Chapter 27, and all three of them must have gotten at least one kill, each. So long as you’ve been using all three of them, there’s more than enough enemies to meet that bar, but the key word is using. Once you meet that requirement, during the meeting with Bramimond, a bonus scene plays out, where Canas and Pent seek to find out just why Apocalypse stole Bramimond’s soul while the other Legendary Weapons didn’t, to which Bramimond reveals that Apocalypse wasn’t the ultimate power of Dark Magic, but Oum. The magic of resurrection, which Bramimond was able to achieve. Hearing this, Hector immediately suggests using it to revive Elbert, but Bramimond explains that those whose Quintessence were drained and stolen could not be brought back. But Leila wasn’t; Matthew steps forward and pleads with Bramimond to bring her back. Bramimond tries, but, without her body present, and without using all their power for fear of their body deteriorating to nothing, Leila is brought back to life on borrowed time, doomed to pass on within a year’s time. Deciding to make the most of it, Leila joins the team to defeat Nergal. This also sets up just how Bramimond was able to completely resurrect Ninian, why that seemed to kill Bramimond, and why Ninian’s human life span was cut so short afterwards.

Gameplay: Like Jaffar, if you’ve been using Matthew and Legault strictly for their utility and not actually putting them in battle, Leila can function as a more combat oriented Assassin, and is, along with Jaffar, the most statistically capable of that class with the Strength, Skill and Speed to back it up. Using the absolutely bonkers stat growths hidden in the FE7 data, Leila would’ve just been insane, “held back” only by her “low” for an Assassin speed of “just” 26. She was, next to Athos, the “treat” character. You jumped those hoops, you have fun.

Supports: Leila would’ve supported with the following characters: Matthew, Hector, Serra, Jaffar, Raven, Guy, Karla, Ursula, and Bauker. Like with Ursula, Leila’s supports would have been on the more sad side of things, albeit presented with a stiff upper lip and attempt to be chipper. Her supports with Matthew, Hector, and especially Serra are her last chance to connect with and bond with her friends and loved ones before she dies for good, although Serra insists that, just because Leila’s on borrowed time, she not actually throw her new life away without fear, otherwise she’d never forgive you and “won’t eulogize your funeral.” With her past as a spy, Leila is able to confront Raven and help bring clarity and understanding as to what happened with his noble house, and impress on and convince Bauker to turn his talents to field intelligence rather than be strictly a soldier. She also gets a chance to forgive Jaffar, or, rather, allow him to make amends and wish him well on his journey of humanity. In her ending, Leila eventually settles down and just enjoys a quiet life before passing away peacefully. In a paired ending with Matthew, they have just enough time to sire a daughter, to carry on Leila’s memory after she’s gone.

Gale

Recap/Summary: The true Third Dragon General of Bern, made official after the death of Narcian, Gale is a noble, if grim, knight, ever true to Bern, whose only crime was committing to Zephiel and Murdock as much as his lover, Melady, committed to Guinevere. Though bearing no true ill will to Roy, Melady, or Zeiss, and indeed encouraging them to remain true to their convictions just as he does to his own. But does he really have to throw his life away for “honour?”

Recruitment: First, talk to him in Chapter 21 with Melady, the one time he shows any sort of hesitation in his conviction. Then, talk to him with Roy, which will prompt Guinevere to take the field and speak with Gale, herself, impressing on Gale just why Melady chose her instead of all of Bern. Realizing that, even though they’ve treated him personally well, Murdock and Zephiel aren’t best for Bern anymore, and wouldn’t have been exclusive in giving a lowly foreign-born like him a chance, Gale leads his squadron off the field, giving you room to breathe. So long as you quickly defeat Murdock afterwards, Gale will join the party at the end of the chapter.

Gameplay: Already a famed Dragon General and master knight, Gale serves as a sort of Physical version of Niime, the Hermit of the Mountain. He’s already got serviceable, boss-worthy stats, and has pretty much hit his ceiling, he doesn’t have much more room to grow after that, maybe a point in Luck or Defense, some complimentary HP bumps on his last two levels.

Supports: Gale would’ve supported with the following characters: Melady, Guinevere, Zeiss, Perceval, and Fae. Able to repair the rift between him and the other two wyvern riders, Gale would’ve been able to atone for his stubbornness and pride, and continue to act as support and guidance for the two promising knights. But the real meat of his supports would’ve been his chance to meet Fae, the divine dragon, and the youth of dragonkind, to see who Zephiel would’ve turned the world over to, and espousing some truth in Zephiel’s ideals, stripped away of all the bitterness and betrayal Zephiel himself went through that muddled and soured his outlook. In his ending, Gale would have voluntarily stepped down from his rank of Dragon General, serving as a humble rank-and-file captain in the standing army under Guinevere, out of respect for his new queen, and his initial opposing affiliation.