#Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

Fire Emblem Fates Conquest - A Review

As promised on the outset of this game, for every criticism I have, I’m going to make a positive comment too. However, as not expected on the outset of this game, there are a few more positive comments that perhaps I would have thought. Either way, this is a long post of me trying to get everything down before my brain starts its sieve like tendency of losing everything that isn’t immediately relevant to my interests.

I’m going to split this bulletpoint style review into two sections: Gameplay and Story. The first will cover everything mechanic, and the second includes my thoughts on the plot and characters! 

Just a note: I got very few supports on this playthrough but I will fix that on my second, which I will be calling SmoochQuest like the mature adult I am. Anyway, on with the review, spoilers ahead!

Gameplay

Positives

Level Design. Probably the game’s strongest feature and the reason the game was enjoyable to play. The variation in level design was great, from the appearance of the levels themselves (Special Mentions to the Opera House and Little Rooms and Stairs levels) to the variety of things you had to do to complete them. It wasn’t all sieze/defeat enemy, which I remember disliking in FE13. 

Dragon Veins. For a while they felt distinctly un-Fire Emblem, but I must admit warping the landscape is fun, especially as any of your royals can do it, not just special Corrin.

Different units, weapons and magic for different cultures. Liked that a lot, even if I forgot what some of the Hoshido weapons were occasionally.

Location pictures.  I liked the fact that we got pictures of the locations when they were introduced. I also liked some of the music, the boss battle rendition of Azura’s song probably being my favourite (but the battle music is nowhere near as iconic as the GBA games.)

The Castle. Useful to have everything in one place, and there were a few unexpected shopkeeper laughs. (Mostly from Odin.)

Negatives

Weird voice clips. I’d prefer if they narrated the whole line or didn’t. Having a character say a random word at me that’s only semi-relevant at most is confusing at best, annoying at worst.

Only the protagonist is allowed to have a same-sex relationship.  This has probably been said a thousand times, but here’s my go. If there are characters who feel attraction to the same gender, why is that attraction only allowed to be directed at the MU? Dragon Pheromones? Who knows.

Fliers wielding bows. That’s not how fliers work, please, how is a FE veteran with an awful memory supposed to keep remembering they have bows now. Also add not being able to attack at melee range with Tomahawks to my weapon quibbles I’m too used to Titania being able to and it cost Camilla a lot. A nitpick perhaps but important to me.

No post-game content. My last save is before I fought Garon, and I would have liked to wander round Corrin’s castle thing and see what everyone thought post-coronation. However FE doesn’t usually have post-content so that’s not too unexpected. I’m not that tempted by the DLC.

Promotion Issues. Put back Auto-Promote pretty please. Also I’m confused as to why Keaton promotes (Laguz didn’t) but maids don’t when it would sort of be fitting for the heroic maid to rise above her station.

Story

Positives

Corrin was ok. I didn’t particularly love them overall, but I didn’t dislike them either. Sometimes I felt sorry for them and there were some rather nice supports.

Nohr Siblings. I found all the Nohr Siblings very interesting and wished I got all their supports, I’ll try again in SmoochQuest but if not then, I’ll look them up online.

Royals and Retainers. I’m interested in the dynamics and stories behind all the siblings and their retainers. Though like Corrin I do wonder why everyone siblings and retainers, seem to be a fresh sort of peculiar. (If I see the comic about the discount retainer store again I will have to reblog it.)

I am genuinely curious about Revelations. How can this be resolved without one family getting its children slaughtered?

Leo.

I also like Niles. (I’m scraping the barrel of positive comments here) Also the potential of Niles and Lep being together. It’s hard for me to ship things these days but I like the potential for these two. 

I might think of more things I like later, I’m currently in a post-game head whir so I’ll see what’s left after my brain has calmed down.

Negatives

What the heck was possessing Garon and Takumi? Going to explain that to me ever? Could whatever it was become a wider issue? Well who knows, not me. 

What about the Dragon God. Why did only not!Garon worship it? Was it actually ever saying anything. No explanation there.

The Great Trouser Shortage of Fate(s). Enough people have complained about outfit designs so you know what I’m talking about.

Limited character interest. Whilst I liked the Nohr siblings very few other characters immediately gripped me as someone I would want to know more about. These uninteresting characters got shelved immediately so I saw very little of Peri, Laslow, Nyx, Mozu, Benny, Charlotte, Keaton (for a while but then I needed good units), Flora, Izana, Jakob and there might be more I’ve forgotten. Therefore I got few supports and no children from these people.

Lack of Tragedy. They clearly tried to make the deaths tragic but when you’ve only seen a character for one of two cutscenes their death isn’t that tragic, even if they are Corrin’s mother.

Flat plot. I’m not entirely sure this is an overall criticism, but there was nothing in plot that seemed like a shocking twist and turn, nothing made me go ‘oh’. There were surprises but I didn’t care enough about the people involved to be invested enough to be enthralled by it. I kept going for the characters and their interactions, not the plot itself. It was very ‘we must get invade and the throne to reveal the bad thing’ and then we did that for many chapters, there wasn’t much else to it.

Why is there no religion in this world? Bar Garon’s mysterious dragon god. I’m curious as it’s been a mainstay of all FE games.

Well my brain is now forgetting everything as I type. Maybe I will remember more when I replay on SmoochQuest. For now, I would love to chat about the game with anyone who feels like it! 

#Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

Conquest updates

I’ve now sold enough Magic the Gathering cards to afford to buy Revelation! I think this means I’m going to cut my SmoochQuest playthrough short. I’m very near the end and I’m not sure I can be bothered to do the last four levels all over again.  So call this my SmoochQuest sum up.

The purpose of SmoochQuest was to try and get as many children as possible. With four levels to go I don’t think I have the chance to get anymore, so here’s my wrap up.

Children obtained:

Kana - child of Corn and Odin. I didn’t particularly like their supports but I wanted a super magic child.

Orphelia - child of Corn and Odin. I got two magic children but I prefer Kana.

Nina - child of Niles and Camilla. I do not like this pairing, the S support just felt really tacked on and silly. I did however find the fact that Niles had to learn about the warring in the siblings past from Camilla and not, you know, the person he works for.

Midori - child of Kaze and Azura. I do like this pairing and their supports which is why I did it in both playthroughs.

Shigure - also child of Kaze and Azura. I learned the other day he’s voiced by Matt Mercer.

Percy - child of Effie and Arthur.  Naga save this child from turning out like his father.

Soleil - child of Laslow and Peri. It was easy to stick the retainers next to each other. I don’t think the blue hair works for Soleil.

On my Revelation playthrough I’m going to try and get Forrest for Leo support purposes. Also I imagine Xander has a child I’ve yet to see. For now I’m going to put Corn to one side and try and come up with another Corrin for another playthrough. This one will have some new levels to play with!

#Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

Dash reads the FE: Birthright Script [Spoilers]

And now loves Leo even more, which was probably not the intended effect.

Aside from that, if I have the patience, I might see if I can wait until December and maybe ask for the game for Christmas. I will be getting Revelations before then most likely, as that’s far cheaper. (I found the download code on Amazon.)

The Hoshido siblings don’t seem as interesting as their Nohr counterparts. I definitely prefer Elise to Sakura, who I imagine could get annoying. However Hinoka and Ryoma sound great, and now I know why Takumi was possessed. 

It also leaves the question as to why I prefer Leo over Takumi, as they both have clear inadequacy issues. I think it’s because Leo also has his clumsy moments  (he puts his formal collar thing on the wrong way round twice, and his boots on the wrong feet according to Xander) which undermines his need for perfection. Though he might do in his supports, we also don’t see Takumi getting flustered when he does get compliments. Also dark mages who love books always have the advantage. He is really interesting in Birthright, enough that I would play the game just for those moments. Leo also comes with a side of Niles and Odin, who are also great. (Also their brief appearances in Birthright were pretty good too.) If I played Birthright after Conquest, Elise’s death would be quite tragic, if I had only played Birthright, probably not. As it stands, it is sad. So was Xander’s death but maybe not as much.

Garon turns into a dragon rather than his gunky demon self, but we don’t really get an explanation about his dragon god. Is he his own dragon god?

Also to get the Ultimate Yato does Corrin have to buddy the sword with every special weapon, Xander’s, Leo’s, Ryoma’s and Takumi’s? There’s four crystals to light up so that makes sense. However I can’t help but wonder what the ultimate enemy is, gunky and draconic Garon? The dragon god? 

#Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

First Playthrough Finished!

I probably did it completely wrong in many places, but I’ve finished FE: Conquest for the first time!

Once the post-game stats have finished scrolling, and I’ve gone upstairs, I’ll write up a sort of review post. However for now I will own up to a few things and stick to talking about the Endgame. [Sidenote: FE theme just started playing in the summary bit, nice.]

What Dash did wrong

My army ended up fetching one child out of the Baby Void Deep Realms, but in total, there were only three in there in the first place. I could not be bothered with romantic supports so no children were spawned.

I betrayed my own principles and switched to Casual mode. However I feel that made for a less frustrating experience overall so I’m not entirely sad.

I had an army with too many prepromotes because I wanted all the supports with the Nohr Siblings. In the end I didn’t manage to get all of Camilla’s despite that.

I forgot Corrin could turn into a dragon. Pretty fundamental to his character, but the Yato just worked so much better.

I also forgot about Lilin several times, if they wanted her death to be more tragic she should have been in it more.

As for the endgame, not the hardest FE endgame, but the constant reinforcements did provide some challenge. Not!Takumi was the only one to take Leo and Niles out of battle for the entire game, which proves he was a challenging enemy.

#Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

Here's my slightly pissed off looking Revelation Corrin. I would be slightly miffed too if someone called me Cactus but hey, you take what you get when you were almost called Beep.

#Dash plays FE:Conquest #Dash plays FE:Revelation

[adashofstarshine]

How do you get FE: Revelations?

It’s not an option in the Dragons Gate DLC area and I can’t find it on the Nintendo Eshop. So how are you supposed to get the Revelations storyline?

#Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

First Playthrough Top 5

Units with the most Victories!

5th Camilla - 54

4th Xander - 62

3rd Leo - 64

2nd Niles - 92

1st Corrin - 125

This...isn’t that surprising. Though I’m glad a non-prepromote got the spot behind Corrin. I’ll probably compare this with my other playthroughs later.

#Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

I’ve been fairly ambivalent about Azura’s song so far, but it makes for great endgame music.

Maplestory gave me high standards for boss battle music, but I really like this.

#Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

I think I’m on the last chapter of Conquest!

The layout of this level is reminding me heavily of the penultimate fight in FE7 against Nergal. It’s probably because of all the little rooms.

#Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

The day has come. Thanks to eBay for allowing me to get it cheaper. Recommendations for which supports/relationships are good are always welcome. I will be live blogging a little with the tag below so blacklist if you don't want to see.

#Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

Ok, now we’re in Nohr. Why the heck is it so grim?

We got a pretty concise sibling summary. Or at least I predict this is how it’s going to go:

Xander seems to be the tough, probably not very good at showing feelings but does have them, sort. 

Camelia I’m not 100% sure on yet, I know from FE:Heroes a lot of her speech has a provocative edge to it. She’s also got a violent edge to her caring. If she’s intentionally doing all that in character, she’s going to be interesting.If the writers did that to make her fanservice, not so much.

Leo is a huffy perfectionist who really wants compliments too. He may think he’s being subtle about this, he isn’t.

Elise is cute bubbly younger sister. Is there more to her? I don’t know yet.

Why does Corrin have a stereotypically British-accented butler? Also a maid with ice powers, which is good on her, may she use them for good effect later.

I like the fact they all have dragon blood and Corrin isn’t just the special snowflake, though I’m sure he’ll get more special later. 

I’ve decided my Corrin has that bandage permanently attached to his face because he has a weird looking birthmark there. He’s genre-savvy enough to hide that.

#Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

Questions Leftover

Here’s the first of my FE14 musing posts in the wake of finishing Revelation I’m aware I don’t have the whole picture, not having played Birthright. (I read the script.) However I have a lot of questions left over that I don’t think the game answered. If you know the answers to any of these, feel free to educate me.

(Possibly part one of two when I remember other questions.)

SPOILERS BELOW

1) How old is anyone? I’m mostly asking for the Nohr siblings because they’re the ones I care about most, but I imagine their ages mirror the Hoshido siblings. I didn’t find a single age. I’m going to say they’re all in their twenties for now.

2) What exactly is Corrin ruling over at the end? If Valla is at the bottom of the canyon and is sealed away, what exactly are they ruling?

3) What happened to Queen Arete in Nohr? I assumed she was murdered because people didn’t like her as much as the previous Queen.

4) Why didn’t Nohr or Hoshido invade the other whilst their super powerful royals were busy in in Valla?

5) Why didn’t Garon stop Xander and Leo leaving? Was he just too mad in the end to stop them doing anything? Iago and Hans could have just ambushed them on the way to joining Corrin.

6) What did Zola do to Leo to make him the one who kills/tries to kill him in every route? He doesn’t get to in Birthright but he tries. I’ve decided to headcanon that Zola was friends with his mother and causes too many bad memories.

7) Are there anymore details about the concubine war anywhere? I know there was a difference in translation when it came to mentioning children killing each other. However there seems to be a lot more detail around in the fandom than I’ve seen in game. (Would like to talk about this because I...may have a fanfiction in the works.)

8) When do parents actually visit their children in the Baby Void? Do only the units you don’t use get to visit? How do they even get into the baby void? How does it work, how do they choose a section to put baby in? Are there people you can employ as nannies in there?

9) How did Inigo, Owain, and the lady I’ve forgotten the name of again get there? Did they fall out the wrong portal and decide welp, we live here now, time to change name and class? Also (I’ve only seen pictures so this may not be right) did Saizo give birth to Gaius? How does he end up in Ylisse? That portal from the free Awakening DLC?

10) If Garon was ever a better father why did he let the concubine war happen? When did he stop being a good father? When he got possessed? What order did anything happen? (I’m still miffed we never the Nohr sibling mothers.)

11) Has Nohr always been evil or is Garon the cause? The capital city looks like a hellscape, it looks deliberately set up as ‘evil country’. We know there’s extreme suffering amongst its people but how long as this been happening? Was the invasion of Hoshido once to get some more land to grow more food on or was it always for destruction purposes?

12) Who are the Gods exactly? We know there are dragons about, including the Dusk and Dawn Dragons, plus Anankos. However very few people actually seem religious enough to believe in them. (I can only think of Forrest off the top of my head.) Which is why Anankos angry? Did the dragon gods do their typical act of giving the humans some shiny things, some bloodlines and then vanishing off? Because I guess that means FE14 has some contingency with other FEs if so. However who were they protecting the humans against by blessing them this time? Other dragons I guess.

13)  What makes Dragon Veins? Did the dragons make the world and leave them there? Are they places dragons have walked? Considering they are a gimmick for this game in particular, they weren’t explained much.

14) How did Garon know Corrin could turn into a dragon? I assume that’s why they’re in their own little fort. If it was to stop them being found by Hoshido, it would be better to hide them in the capital.

15) Where does Azura go? Is she going to crop up in another game, is that why her ending quote is always mystery. She’s not dead she doesn’t have to vanish.

16) How does the army travel and camp? Do they warp to and from Fort Corrin, if not when do they go to Fort Corrin, is it where they go when they make camp and then return to the same place? If so how do they get the stock for their shops? Is there a troop assigned to collecting groceries wherever they go? Or does dragon magic make that?

#Dash plays FE:Revelation #Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

Well I guess Corn has fulfilled part of her SmoochQuest as she has acquired one of these. That adorable face better be the magical power house I created them for.

#Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

Now accepting f!Corrin marriage suggestions 

#some levels are nice to replay but others are incredibly boring #Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

Ok, that wasn’t the last level, this next one is actually called “Endgame”.

As bosses go, Garon was disappointingly easy.

#Dash plays FE:Conquest

[adashofstarshine]

Support Woes

The main problem I’m facing with the game at the moment is the fact I don’t really want Corrin to marry anyone in particular. He’s not marrying his siblings, blood related or not. They are the female characters I like most though, so if he has to marry, he’s going to marry someone I don’t like that much, which is a bit disappointing.

The same goes for pretty much all the characters, there aren’t any pairings that leap out and say ‘it looks like these two people would get on well and have a healthy relationship.’ Apart from Kaze and Azura maybe, they’re up to A support and should be S support soon, but they’re an exception.

In other news, my quest for Leo emotions is almost complete, He’s up to B support with Xander and A support with Elise and it turns out that’s where the emotions are. (Though there was a bit in his A support with Niles.) Unfortunately he doesn’t seem to have anything with Camilla right now, which needs fixing, also I think he’s only on C support with Corrin.

#Dash plays FE:Conquest