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Post by Optimal Megatron on Aug 29, 2019 19:06:35 GMT -5
So, finished one route, and it says something I took all of one day off (to let Uni get some playtime on her Blue Lions run) before starting a New Game + with another House.
This game is really, REALLY good, and pretty firmly has my spot as my favorite Fire Emblem at this point.
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Post by Greatshot on Aug 29, 2019 20:57:20 GMT -5
Once I get a few things paid down I plan on picking it up. Sounds like it's much closer to the FE I've missed than the last few disappointing games.
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Post by Optimal Megatron on Aug 30, 2019 8:27:55 GMT -5
I feel like speaking up in defense of Awakening, at least, if not Fates. It was fairly solid, even if Fates doubled down on its perceived strengths for fanservice to its detriment (kid units for the sake of kid units, universal support marriage regardless of character logic) Personally, I don't think Fates was terrible, so much as just disappointing writing and some mechanical choices that weren't the best. It says something I still think fondly of the characters if not really the plot. Effectively, its plot was just not as good as past entries, which is bad for a Fire Emblem game, but it says something that I liked the characters enough to complete all three paths because I cared what happened to them. The fact Three Houses seems to have writers focusing on their own specific game rather than re-bottling the lightning of a previous release is just what makes it better.
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Post by Greatshot on Aug 31, 2019 20:45:00 GMT -5
Awakening was pretty good, but flawed. The problem is they took the wrong things to focus on from that game, when they should have doubled down on the fact it was a pseudo-sequel to original FE/Mystery of the Emblem, they said "hey, lets make the next game a daiting simulator though it makes no sense in the context of that game because that's the selling point of this one!" I did not like Fates at all. The entire Nohr version of the game is just fundamentally BAD, between the obnoxiously bad map design (all the bullshit traps, etc), broken unit pairings (just a BAD idea), to awful characters (the main character being an intolerably whiny little baby instead of actually letting you be a "bad guy"). I put up with the Hoshido one because I liked the idea of a multiple storyline FE, despite disliking most of that cast too. Hinoka is an annoying less funny version of Sully, I wanted to throw Takumi down a flight of stairs, and the older brother is so boring I can't remember his name. I quit after the like, fourth fight in a row with Nohr that the map itself kept screwing me over because I was too stubborn to give up on "pure" FE (permdeath), and never did the combined path. I could have put up with the weaker gameplay with a stronger cast, and visa versa, but the story wasn't compelling and I wanted to punch Corrin in the face, so I just couldn't be bothered to keep playing. To see the series actually evolve again makes me much more interested, and to hear they're refocusing on why I fell in love with it in the first place makes me much more interested in giving it a chance. Just gotta not be broke first.
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Post by Optimal Megatron on Aug 31, 2019 21:55:40 GMT -5
Yeah, Conquest's version of Corrin is.... the writing there was really not that great. "Let's make the main character regretful about the actions they're forced into, but basically give them zero agency to make things better while simultaneously preventing you from doubling down on actually being a "bad guy" either."
It also helps that Three Houses very much is presenting each side of the conflict as having legitimate points and failings, whereas Nohr was pretty much universally the villains except you happened to be there, and Hoshido was the magical place where everything is perfect. I remember when Ryoma found out Nohr was literally having a resource crisis (to the point that Camilla's wyvern is actually reanimated with necromancy and Leo's tome having power over vegetation is kind of increasingly important for them having any sort of farming inside Nohr's poor soil) and yet Ryoma acts as if he'd never known and would absolutely start humanitarian efforts once the war was over....despite both sides having infiltrators sending them intelligence for years. By contrast, Three Houses makes sure you see the good and bad points presented by all the factions involved, so that they can easily serve as antagonist or ally depending on how the story bends (there are some completely villainous factions, but the ones you'd ally with are lots of shades of grey).
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Post by Greatshot on Sept 2, 2019 9:02:21 GMT -5
Ryoma. That's his name. Yeah, that dude was trash. Across the board the writing in that game just wasn't anywhere near up to what I expected of a modern FE game. My absolute favorite part of the Tellius games was their ability to make you see the different sides of a conflict -- turning Begnion into the antangonist and making you see that the Daeins weren't just Ashnard's cronies really added depth to that story. I'm glad to hear 3h is going back to what made the series work for me in the first place. Just tell me there's no time traveling horny waifu dating simulation and I'm sold.
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Post by Optimal Megatron on Sept 2, 2019 21:13:08 GMT -5
Basically, supports go C-A and A-ranks can get paired endings, though multiples are possible ala Blazing Blade/FE7, and the game picks which one you get based off the support point count after you A-rank in case of a tie. Also, different endings are possible between different routes (Sylvain and Felix have a paired ending in any route possible, but the ending changes if you recruited them out of their house or if you're playing the Blue Lions route where they're your students from the start).
Once you A-rank any potential romance option, that's basically it for the protagonist/Byleth (I just use the generic because there's zero customization beyond gender pick), and after you beat the final mission, you're allowed to pick who you're going to S-rank with from your available options. It has zero gameplay impact and is purely a character choice (removing the "but if they S-rank, their stats are AMAZING" from Awakening and Fates).
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Post by Greatshot on Sept 2, 2019 22:31:44 GMT -5
I still wish they'd go back to classic supports - that they're war bonds - friendships formed in battle. Sure, some of them were romantic, but some of the best ones were the friendship stuff (like Nephenee and Brom), or the stuff that lead to hidden world building (Ike and Titania's S-rank leading to Ike realizing she loved his father), which lead to logical "they fight better together, but not LOLBROKEN" like the 3DS ones, but I can settle with story perk/romance if it doesn't result in magic super babies.
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Post by triumshockwave on Sept 3, 2019 0:01:25 GMT -5
I've compared the forced breeding my girlfriend does in the FE games to a type of eugenics program.
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Post by Matrix Dragon on Sept 3, 2019 1:32:53 GMT -5
I still wish they'd go back to classic supports - that they're war bonds - friendships formed in battle. Sure, some of them were romantic, but some of the best ones were the friendship stuff (like Nephenee and Brom), or the stuff that lead to hidden world building (Ike and Titania's S-rank leading to Ike realizing she loved his father), which lead to logical "they fight better together, but not LOLBROKEN" like the 3DS ones, but I can settle with story perk/romance if it doesn't result in magic super babies. A lot of the supports don't get S-Rank, since they're friendships, with anything else being a short note of what happened to them after the war. The normal supports lead to a bit of a combat stat boost when working together, but not too horrible. And there's no eugenics this time. Just Professor Byleth training her students to be the ultimate killing machines!
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