#and Arvis is one of my favorite characters in Genealogy

[rosecelebi]

Now that Fire Emblem Heroes has opened it's yearly Choose Your Legends voting period.... I am kindly asking you to consider sparing a vote (or two!) to two of my favorites in the series: F!Robin and Sigurd!

Why?

Well let's start with Robin,

Robin fans won out last year when their Male counterpart won the male division of CYL 7 alongside Soren and I'm sure many F!Robin fans (myself included) helped him reach that victory by voting, just as we did in previous years with Chrom and A!Tiki. F!Robin has waited for her time to shine and has supported her competition for several years now. It's time for her to receive the Awakening vote love!

If that wasn't enough to sway you, let's look at F!Robin's legacy in FEH.

1. Her base version was a year 1 grail unit with a mediocre (affectionate) refine that takes max investment to work around

2. Her summer alt is a year one seasonal with a bad weapon and book 1 era stats (but she sure is cute!)

3. Her legendary alt isn't even her- it's Grima. Grima took away her chance at being a legendary unit

4. Her Halloween alt is another Grima alt. She didn't even get to participate in Halloween because Grima took the spot :(

5. Her Valentine's alt is adorable but still a seasonal locked unit

6. Her rearmed version is yet another Grima.

HALF of all F!Robin's in FEH are Grima alts. There is no F!Robin available to summon in the normal 4/5 star pool. Getting a brave alt would be a big deal for her and her fans.

Please, spare a vote to the best tactician around, F!Robin!

~

Now, let's talk about Sigurd

Sigurd comes from FE4, Genealogy of the Holy War, a game I know many of you may not have played yet. That's okay though! I get it! It's a bit old and jank to play and you need to emulate it with a translation patch if you don't understand Japanese. So I'm gonna explain who this man is to you....

Sigurd is the heir to house Chalphy and a descent of the crusader Baldr in Judgral, which makes him kind of a big deal. Throughout his game, he makes allies with many people throughout Judgral in an attempt to unify and fight back against the rising corruption.

Along his journey, he meets Deirdre and the two fall in love and end up having a son together, Seliph. Sigurd is devoted to his family and loves Deirdre more than anything in the world. Sigurd is a family man. Look at this Cipher art if you need more explanation:

(*SPOILERS ahead for FE4, but FEH and Engage already spoiled this so if you somehow don't know what happens to Sigurd, maybe stop reading here*)

Tragedy befalls the couple not long after their son is born... Deirdre is kidnapped and her memories are wiped clean as she is needed for a sinister plot... Her holy blood is needed to help the Loptous cult resurrect their dark God so they use Deirdre as a pawn and marry her off to Arvis.

Sigurd is distraught with his wife gone and searches and searches for her but ultimately must continue through on his plans. He returns to his home and is met by Arvis, the Duke of Velthomer, and the descendant of the imperial family. He welcomes them in as a deceitful trick and declares Sigurd a traitor and calls for his execution. Before he issues the order, Arvis lets Sigurd meet his new wife- Deirdre as a sick and twisted punishment. With that, Arvis calls down Valflame and kills Sigurd and many of his army members.

Sigurd's legacy is carried by his son, Seliph, who will free Judgral from the horrors that the dark cult inflicted many years later.

~

So that was heavy. But do you understand why he's such a compelling character??? He has such an unfortunate heroes tale, but FEH let's us see him again and be able to reunite him with his love and his son.

Seliph got his own brave alt two years ago in CYL 6 and it feels right for it to be his father's time to step up and shine as a brave hero.

Let's look at Sigurd's legacy in FEH:

1. His base version is a year 1 sword cavalier who's a bit outdated but not unusable by any means with proper skill investment

2. His duo dancer alt is Deirdre is one of the best arts in the game and I won't let anyone convince me otherwise

3. His Legendary alt was a meta threat at one point in time and the art is gorgeous

4. Lastly, this year he got his second seasonal alt, a tea time Butler alt that just cute. He definitely is serving tea for Deirdre and making sure she's happy.

A brave alt just seems perfectly fitting for him at this point!

~

In conclusion, these are two characters who are ready for their moment to shine in FEH with a brave alt. They've waited for their friends or family members to get there first and now it's (potentially) their time for the brave win. Thank you for reading all this and may the CYL odds be in our favor!

TLDR: Vote for F!Robin and Sigurd in CYL 8!

#feh #fire emblem #fire emblem heroes #cyl8 #cyl #choose your legends #choose your legends 8 #propaganda #f!robin #sigurd fire emblem #sigurd #sigurd x deirdre #fe awakening #fire emblem awakening #fe4 #fire emblem genealogy of the holy war #please vote for them

[lunaede]

toa munday!!

Name: arden

Pronouns: he/she/they

Birthday (no year): Aug 9th

Where are you from? What is your time zone?: I was originally an east coast, USA girlie but I moved out to Colorado a while ago. MST timezone currently!

Roleplay experience: I started roleplaying on gaiaonline and also neopets and people used to yell at me because i was eight and did not know what i was doing. my avatar looked so cool on gaia though, for the record.

Got any pets?: Gabe, Gabe and Hancock, them again, creature

Favorite time of year: fall

Some interests and things you like: art, sewing (both cosplay and day to day wear as well as plushies), writing, playing ttrpgs, old movies, making ocs

Some funfacts & trivia about you: i am such a huge fan of ttrpgs. i really love dming but i also really love playing. i'm weak for vampires & silly little elves. also i am terrified of tornados and all of you are talking about them so casually.

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play?: Final Fantasy (XV, VII mainly), Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls, Animal Crossing

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: grass type / i don't have just one, but from the new game i was partial to houndstone.

How did you get into Fire Emblem?: I saw nico play 3H and became obsessed with Hubert immediately

What Fire Emblem games have you played?: Three Houses, Awakening, Fates, Engage, Genealogy of the Holy War, Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn

First Fire Emblem game: Three Houses!

Favorite Fire Emblem game: Honestly it depends on the day. But most days, its Awakening.

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳: Hubert von Vestra. Arvis Ve-- (a sniper takes me out before I can finish)

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: it was Chrom with the gay awakening patch. If I play m!Robin, it's Chrom, and f!Robin is Libra's wife most of the time. - Fates: I played f!Corrin and romanced Kaze first, m!Corrin was Niles. I really mix it up each time, though. - Three Houses: it. it was Hubert. In every life I will Find Him. - Engage: Ivy on f!Alear and Kagetsu on m!Alear

Favorite Fire Emblem class: sniper/bow knight, or warlock.

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class?: mmmm maybe wyvern rider?

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation?: i think you can guess.

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with?: :oldplead: ah... miss camilla... don't mind if i do

How did you find TOA?: nico said hey look at this and i did

Current TOA muses: frederick, arvis, naesala

Who was your first TOA muse?: frederick <3

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards?: wah probably, knights & men who are a little silly

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most?: morally gray dudes

Favorite TOA-related memory: I am still but a young boy in TOA's history but every day is a nice new memory... I hope for many more to come !

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔: Toe-uh!

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day that you’d like to share? 😉: Actually it was a toss up between Naesala and BK for a moment there, and then of course there always was the looming threat of Hub-- (I am mercifully silenced)

#the polite knight ╱ ooc.

[luminousrider]

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

tagging: you! come closer

---

Name: Erica

Pronouns: she/any/whatever

Birthday (no year): May 3

Where are you from? What is your time zone? Phildelphia ish, EST

Roleplay experience: oh jeeze oh gosh uh like idk 15+years off and on?

Got any pets? Winston the German Shepherd and Pipis the ragdoll pisscat

Favorite time of year: Winter

Some interests and things you like: taking naps

Some funfacts & trivia about you: - I'm the oldest in toa cringe, idk man I'm so tired rn

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? nothing like consistently right now? I like rpgs and games with a good story.

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: Ground and grass, Diglett and Dugtrio I've been their number one fan since the games came out

How did you get into Fire Emblem? I was at a Gamestop determined to buy a new game and Awakening looked interesting. 3H reignited my love of the series though.

What Fire Emblem games have you played? Uhh Radiant Dawn is the only one I don't have any experience with but I read the Jugdral games, the Archanea games, and Binding Blade.

First Fire Emblem game: Awakening

Favorite Fire Emblem game: Genealogy if it counts even if I never played it. Three Houses or Blazing Blade if we're talking about ones I like to actually play.

Any Fire Emblem crushes? Arvis baby call me back we could be clap in clap love clap

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? - Awakening: Frederick I took one look at that freak and knew I was in love- Fates: I think it was Hinata but I honestly don't really remember- Three Houses: Claude and then I immediately felt bad because I stole him from Hilda - Engage: Saphir she's old like me

Favorite Fire Emblem class: I like an armored knight honestly idk why

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class? Some kind of cleric/healer

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? Golden Deer

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with? Sigurd probably it's baby girl time

How did you find TOA? I saw it in the tags when I was looking for Hilda content and went hmm. Kept watching until their Hilda fell through and then jumped on that.

Current TOA muses: Deirdre, Ethlyn, and Altena

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again? Hilda (the good one) but her time is done

Have you had any other TOA muses? Hilda, Charlotte, Elise, Serra, Silvia, Tina, Ninian, is that it?

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards? Tragic wives/moms, little sisters, pink. Love how Ethlyn combines all three of these.

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most? I love familial relationships whether they are biological or found. I also really love cross game relationships whetehr they are platonic or romantic. It's fun having the relationship develop from ground zero rather than with an extra boost from them knowing each other in canon. Plus it's just neat to get to explore. I also like a little (a lot) of drama and angst. Messy relationships are very fun.

Favorite TOA-related memory: It's gotta be all the friendships we've found along the way. The writing and stuff is great and wonderful but the community and sense of belonging is something I will always remember and cherish.

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day in TOA that you’d like to share? Louise is a matter of when not if honestly.

#ooc #this is so cute thanks neffi!

[gascon-en-exil]

What are your 5 favorite FE maps? Be it for story, gameplay, or anything else.

That's quite a difficult question, both because there's so many of them to choose from and because it can be hard to compare maps from different games especially when there are different design philosophies, ex. how most of FE4's maps are a slog to play through but are fantastic in terms of laying out the game's broad narrative. Still, in no particular order:

Genealogy of the Holy War Chapter 5

On the subject of FE4, the atmosphere of Chapter 5 absolutely sells it, full of mounting dread and a sort of fatalism that one rarely sees in FE or in a lot of video games for that matter. The massacre of the knights of Leonster and Quan and Ethlyn's deaths play out as a part of regular gameplay, with no way for the player to intervene in time, and the chapter hits you over and over again with every conquered castle and anxious character conversation and the inevitable barbecue that Sigurd is marching toward. The pacing slows to a crawl in the middle because desert maps are terrible, but like I said this is mostly about the story and atmosphere. Chapter 5 is the one that makes me most skeptical of IS remaking FE4, because of how much it conflicts with the philosophy of never allowing the player to feel too bad. Watch them add an Avatar who figures out Arvis's plan but sticks around anyway until Sigurd sends them to follow Oifey and Shannan at the last minute, paving the way for them to be playable again at the start of Gen 2.

Fates Revelation Chapter 21

Revelation's numerous gimmick maps miss more often than they hit, but this one is fairly interesting with tiles that shift enemies between promoted and unpromoted forms. There's some fun tactical potential here, especially as you can use a Dragon Vein to swap the tile effects, and it's more memorable fun than the route's awkward attempts at platforming or a stealth mission lifted from Path of Radiance or...God, that snow level....

Blazing Blade Chapter 26x (Eliwood)/28x (Hector)

Sonia is one of my favorite FE antagonists, because she's just so delightfully evil even as I'm fairly indifferent to her woobie of an adopted daughter. This map is sort of a take on a water dungeon concept, with platforms that sink and rise every few turns. It can be a headache to navigate, especially as Sonia is one of those bosses that spams long-range magic, but it's generally not too difficult to figure out unless you're actually trying to use Nino. The ending is great too, with the reveal that Sonia was a morph all along and didn't realize it.

Three Houses Crimson Flower Chapter 17

FE16's map design is overall unremarkable, so on the basis of character work alone it was either this or the non-CF battle in Enbarr for its Ferdibert boss conversation. This one took the prize though, because 1) that boss conversation requires me to be using Ferdinand, whereas the Dimidue death scene can be triggered by anyone, 2) that's just one line, and while it does provide the energy for the ship's Wicked parallel that the voice actors took advantage of that's nothing compared to a dialogue scene that's so gay that it had to be laid over a black screen because any visual would completely obliterate all attempts to no homo Dimitri and Dedue's relationship, and 3) unlike every other instance of optional character moments in battles I can think of in this game, getting the Dimidue death scene actually makes the map easier as you don't have to fight Dedue as a Crest Beast. That's some good gameplay and (very gay) story integration right there.

Radiant Dawn Part 3 Endgame

Desperately needs the option to skip enemy and NPC phases, but it's got a feeling of dread and inevitability similar to FE4 Chapter 4 thanks to the ominous counter in the corner of the screen that goes up whenever any unit is defeated. It's complicated and sprawling and I've seen this map play out in all sorts of ways based on what the AI decides to do, and the enemies can be quite difficult too and make it tough to rush ahead and treat this like a rout map. Then the counter gets to 80 and the map just...ends, and so does the world sort of. The first time you play through it without knowing what's coming up it can all be pretty jarring.

#Fire Emblem

[fortune-maiden]

ugh what do I have to do to get some forging bonds points for Azelle? I have everyone else up to at least the A conversation but poor Azelle is stuck at C T_T

(are his conversations written out anywhere at least?)

#fire emblem heroes #my luck with Azelle is just terrible T_T #but i really want to see his conversations because they feature Arvis #and Arvis is one of my favorite characters in Genealogy

[gentleoverdrive]

(83/?) "This world is beautiful indeed--"

While I have been playing Fire Emblem games in some way or another since 2005, it was not until 2011 that I finally fell in love with the series for real, and it all starts with one instrumental and one character. The problem is, once you see the name of the musical track, it'll spoil a good chunk of the game, so I will simply post a link right here and if you want to click on it, don't say I didn't warn you. ---- Of course, if you've read past entries of my dumb blog, you know that I speak of one man and one man only...

...one Arvis of Velthomer, in specificity. ---- People often said (sometimes jokingly, sometimes seriously) that discourse concerning "certain Fódlanese lords" this, "toxic as fuck" that and that they're highly divisive characters and yadda yadda yadda. While I think all three of the FE16 lords had something going for them, I must confess that I've found all three of them kinda... unremarkable? (Byleth is straight up worse than both Robin and Corrin, btw) ---- Like sure, Tara Platt is fantastic as Edelgard, and one of the reasons Dimitri's janky character arc (sorta) works is because Chris Hackney is an absolute tour de force masquerading as a voice actor, and much of the rest of the cast did a fantastic job as well... but none of them are as important to the reason I became an "Emblemer" as Arvis is. ---- And the thing is that, while the game itself provides a brief but fairly interesting glimpse for his character arc, the reason that Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War has remained my favorite FE game (even if I've grown incredibly fond of Shadows of Valentia, to the point that Alm x Celica is one of the few ships I'm legit invested in) is because Arvis' actions will put your media literacy credentials to the test. ---- To call it a gut-punch for first-timers is not even fair. If you've managed to remain spoiler free all this while, I am not going to spoil you (I ain't no nice guy, but I do respect people's choices concerning spoilers), but when people say that Fódlan discourse gets "toxic", or that twitter is a "hellsite (derogatory)" let me write this: You people are young, and immediately go for words that seem like the right fit, but you have yet to learn what "dumpster fire level discourse" means. Not until a Japanese Emblemer calls you a leaky sieve full of shit for daring to imply something about FE4 makes sense. ---- So yeah, while it was said jokingly: If you thought Three Houses discourse got bad, Jugdral Emblem discourse will make you WISH we go back to Three Houses discourse. Here's to Fire Emblem fans: We're dumbasses! See ya' tomorrow!

#diary #daily life of an old shithead #fire emblem #jugdral #arvis #again: no spoiling newbies! #fe4 #dumb discourse #something something 'nobody hates fire emblem more than fire emblem fans' something something #which is bullshit by the way. #recognizing that what you like is not perfect doesn't mean you hate it. it means you want it to get better and keep improving upon itself #fire emblem genealogy of the holy war #that being said I love this janky-ass game too much.

[arkus-rhapsode]

Rhapsode’s Top 10 Favorite Fire Emblem Antagonists

Hey guys, so I wanted to do something a bit special because of a few asks I’ve gotten from time to time. Namely, who are my favorite villains in FE. Thing is, I wanted to do something with this for a while outside of an ask, and hear I am.

Now before I even start, these are all MY OPINIONS. These are my favorite antagonists in FE, not some objective masterlist that means anyone who isn’t on here is a bad villain. If you agree with me on this list, great! If you think I got everything wrong, I respect that opinion.

So if I left out any of your personal favorite villains in FE, let me know in a reply or reblog.

Now a little bit of criteria on how I had made choices,

Uniqueness: What does a villain bring as a character. Because FE is nothing if not a bit archetypal.

Impact on the Narrative: Now I think a good villain should be an active participant in the narrative as well as have a level of relevance. They also should have relation to the lore of the world they’re in.

Personality: In my opinion even a poorly written character with a magnetic presence can be more tolerable than a poorly written character with no personality

Were they satisfying of a boss in game: While FE emphasizes narrative, it has some terrific gameplay. So I would hope the opposing units really give you a run for your money.

Oh and fair warning, this will have spoilers.

With all that out of the way, sit back and I’ll tell you all about my favorite FE villains!

10. Uhai (Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade)

Yeah, so, we’re starting with probably the most tertiar antagonist on this list. While Uhai might not seem that important in the grand scheme of things. Being a Black Fang member who’s scared of what Nergal is going to do and is out for Ninian. 

So why did I pick him over other Black Fangs or Saceans?

Well in terms of Saceans, I really felt Uhai brought the most personality compared to someone like Glass, who was pretty basic. Especially for Lyn’s final villain. Uhai definitely felt the most… “Sacean,” if that makes sense. Having a code of honor and integrity. As well as acting on self preservation.

And while Uhai isn’t my favorite Black Fang, he shows something different as being one of the original fangs and having this sense of honor. Which was a really nice reminder about the humble origins of the Black Fang.

I also really like how he could’ve easily killed Lyn when he kidnapped her, but let her go to kill her as a warrior. Given Lyn’s underlying theme of fighting sexism, to have an opponent that didn’t factor in her gender and would fight her on equal terms, it was a really cool scene.

Sadly, he’s just a minor antagonist and if he got more time like being a part of the Four Fangs, I think he could’ve really added more.

9. Orson (Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones)

Orson seems pretty simple all things considered. He loved his wife, Monica, and after losing her, he is willing to make a deal with the devil to bring her back. It’s not much, but I think what plays into the effectiveness is seeing him before his wife is revived and having him on your team, then watching what he has become after her revival.

Having a villain who starts off as a playable character and then later is an antagonist is always tricky. From a story perspective, you spent time with them that even you, the player, feel negatively affected by the heel turn. However, from a gameplay aspect, it's a tad annoying if you spent time grinding them. 

Orson, is pretty obvious in that he’ll be turning against you, but we really see him as a somewhat charming and endearing guy at first. But then when he returns to Renais to be with his wife, it leads to one of the most unsettling narrative shifts I think FE has done.

We see him now in charge of Renais, but now more mentally disturbed, physically malnourished, and locking himself away from the rest of the kingdom to be with his wife. Seeming like magic has possessed him. But when you find that this is due to being reunited with his wife who is now just a corpse that can only say “Darling” you really feel this messed up mood permeating the chapter.

There's so much unsaid, and I think that it works to the advantage of the story. Comparing the Orson you meet when he’s your ally to the Orson you meet as an opponent, it really doesn’t need to be said how he fell so hard. That Orson has given up so much and now that he has his wife back he’s just convincing himself that she’s alive.

While another villain on this list did the heel turn far better than Orson, I still think that the sheer shock of Orson’s story really makes you feel for him, while just wanting to end him.

8. Bloom, Hilda, Ishtar and Ishtore (Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War)

So this one is definitely cheating. 

While only two members of the Friege family could really stand on their own as definable villains, I actually think when all are together they offer something more unique for FE. Families of villains are a bit of a rarity in FE, especially ones whose family dynamic is well defined in the main story, and not supports. 

But with Bloom, Ishtar, and Ishtore, you get to fight all of them in a chapter thanks to the set up of the Genealogy of the Holy War. It allows for a more unique encounter and this growing feeling of outrage if you end up killing a member of the family.

House Friege continuing on as secondary antagonists in the second generation was a great addition. Giving this sense of history repeating itself, with Bloom seemingly no better than Reptor from the first generation, but where as he is a power hungry politician, Bloom shows some shades of gray in his detestment of Child Hunts and actually being a somewhat decent father figure to Tine. Which actually leads to some interesting contrast to his wife, Hilda.

Hilda is easily the most monstrous of the family, and while I was considering her to be her own separate entry, as she is possibly the most wicked and cruel female villains in the entire franchise. Driving Tailtiu to death, and using Ishtar as a step towards more power. Her additional role a matriarch of the household who married for Bloom’s money and power, adds an extra layer to the band of villains.

Ishtar and Ishtore also offer a role as both not being Child Hunt supporters but act in different ways to them. With Ishtore not getting involved and instead spending more time on Liza and Ishtar actually working with Arvis to free the children rounded up.

As a family unit, it offers a lot of unique villain interaction that I’m sad the limited technology of the time couldn’t capture all of. I’m glad that games like Fates have tried making family units as opponents, but I’d like to see a dynamic similarly fleshed out as the Frieges.

7. Jedah (Fire Emblem Gaiden/Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia)

Okay, how the hell did this guy so high up on the list? No joke, Jedah started at the bottom when I first started this list. I mean, he’s just another Gharnef. What makes him all that different from Nergal or Manfroy?

Well, truth be told, what got Jedah so high up for me is presentation. A lot of Gharnefs are the big game manipulators, and sometimes that can be frustrating if you’re not really in the character. I think Manfroy is one of the most effective villains, but he’s not particularly stand out. 

Nergal is a far more justifiable villain with his motivations, but he’s basically corrupted by “Darkness.”

Jadah, especially in FE15, oozes personality and charisma. I give a lot of points to his more inhuman design that went beyond just making his a wrinkly old man. As well as his expressions. When playing Three Houses, I was shocked at how stone-faced Thales was. But with Jedah, I feel like the artists took a lot of opportunity in giving him a face that could contort in such a way to to sell how much of a schemer and villain he was. 

He has this look of a guy you love to hate.

Also, in terms of story, Jedah really does eclipse Rudolf as a villain (Yes I know, Rudolf is not really a villain) and is easily a more proactive villain than even Berkut. While Jedah serves Duma faithfully, the purple baddie still seems to have done more as an antagonist then the detriorting dragon.

He’s really the most satisfying overarching villain next to Berkut. And power, don’t get me started. While Gharnef’s Imhullu seemed relatively foreshadowed on how he wouldn’t be beaten by normal means, the first time I fought Jedah, I was surprised just how much of a gap in power there was between us. As well as the terrors he summons for the first time are more lovecraftian than the other terrors you fought before.

While Jedah is definitely a fun villain, his greatest weakness is that he is unquestionably in the morally black category. The man sacrificed his own daughters to prove his loyalty. Before then, there was a bit of an argument to be made that witches were just a sign of society and that offering up your soul for more power was just common in a power focused structure. But sacrificing your daughters is a tad on the unforgivable side.

As well as his end goal is really just war and conquest, while being Duma’s number one servant. So ultimately, he’s not very complex. But that lack of complexity still added a chaotic edge to Echoes that was really welcomed.

6. Reinhardt (Fire Emblem: Thracia 776)

Now speaking of complexity here we get, who I consider the best of the Camus archetype. First off, I really like how Reinhardt is built up as the second coming of Crusader Thurd. Especially if you’ve played FE4 and know just how much of an obstacle Ishtar, Bloom and Ishtore were. 

Second is just how tragic his story is. I never really cared for the romance between Camus and Nyna, so at times I didn’t really care for his internal conflict. But the fact that Reinhardt has eyes for Ishtar to the point that Julius is feeling jealous and stripping him of his title. You also get the heartbreak of his sister, Olwen choosing to side against and how much denial he feels until Saias needs to point out how Olwen made this choice herself.

It’s just sad to see a guy who comes off as so imposing and level-headed have so much internal strife because his convictions of loyalty keep putting him on the wrong side of things. At times it feels like you can invest more into him than Lief, I really hope to see an expanse of him in a remake.

Reinhardt is not a character I enjoyed fighting because I wanted to see him be with the Liberation Army. He’s suffered from Julius’s pettiness. He knows how bad things have gotten with Grannvale’s expansion. Yet he just won’t because of his loyalty to his home. 

(I like to think that if you release him, he goes onto serve Tine and Arthur.)

Now, as I said, he still fits that Camus archetype. But unlike Camus or someone like Xander, I wish I had more of an expansion of his loyalty to Friege. I know he loves Ishtar and he probably has some ego built up about “second coming.” But if you’re not a fan of, “he did this out of love.” You’re probably not gonna like him. As a lot of the Camus archetype have always suffered from a, “why are you so loyal.”

People like Dedue and Catherine had the benefit of being playable characters, so you could support them and peel back a lot of their reasonings. And even Camus got more of a reason when he became Zeke and was saved and given a new life in Rigel.

So while Reinhardt makes for a great adversary, I do find him leaving me wanting more that other rival characters could give me.

5. Grima (Fire Emblem: Awakening)

(Note: I’m using masculine descriptors for Grima because I’m personally more used to male Grima and male Robin)

Here’s another baddie I wasn’t too sure where I was gonna put on the list. I knew I wanted him on here, but again, I wasn’t expecting Grima to be so high. He’s built up all throughout Awakening, as well as turning out to be reincarnated in the main character, Robin. Already does push him up on the list. But if you were to dissect his personality, he’s really just your godly final villain, who condescends down on you.

But there’s actually a lot more to this monster than you’d expect.

At first, I see a lot of similarities between him and Duma: Cult worshipers, really powerful dragon, catalyst for a war etc. But Duma as a villain is due to the dragon deterioration. Sure, he’s got bad followers, but losing his sanity kinda enabled them. But Grima… This guy wants to wipe out all life because he can.

Grima is much more a force of nature as a villain. He doesn’t try to dress up his simplistic desire with fancy philosophy. No, he embraces just how above everyone he is and how he’ll enjoy wiping them out. 

Not only that, but design-wise… Holy crap.

The sheer size and power of Grima, coupled with one of the most unique designs for a dragon, makes for a truly nightmarish foe. The boney, almost mechanical way Grima turns his head when ready to attack, just sends shivers down my spine. His size and pension for only wanting to destroy all life really gives off this sense of being an inevitability. A force that can not be stopped from washing over the world.   

It really works with the overall theme of Awakening. Robin trying to forge his own identity and is not tied down to fate. But how exactly can you fight that fate when its just so intimidating? Why with friends, of course! The final moments of Robin and Chrom slaying Grima is one of the most tragic things I’ve watched. With Robin knowing he needs to die to prevent Grima, but the only way to kill Grima is with a Falchion in the hands of Chrom. So Robin must be slain by his best friend, the one he’s gone through hell with and gave him a chance at making this new life for himself. It’s a final battle that breaks my heart.

Speaking of final battles, Grima offers one of the most unique environments for a final battle. Using that monstrous size to serve as a stage for your final fight against the Grimleal on the back of their god. Not to mention the priest warping in to keep bogging you down as you try to get off that killing blow on the Fell Dragon.

The background added by Shadows of Valentia about a young Grima actually being an alchemic monstrosity made to find a way to cheat death not only elevates Grima thematic impact, but also make him more like a lovecraftian horror. Which is something rare in this series. 

That said, the biggest fault in this character is hw sidelined he is. There’s nothing wrong with a simplistic villain, but even in Robin form, Grima really doesn’t take much part in the events. I would’ve liked more interactions with him and Chrom or Robin before the revival.

I also completely understand if someone doesn't care for the “kill all people in the world,” type of villain. What is the endgame after destroying everything? Guess make some zombies. 

I do argue that Grima being a force of nature makes him unique to the whole point of “what happens next?” But again, as a finally boss, I can see if that’s not your style. And while I think the simplicity is kinda beautiful, I myself have a preference for more complex villains.

4. The Black Knight (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance/Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn)

Hoo boy, I’m not gonna make any friends with this one.

How do I even talk about this guy properly? Mainly due to some narrative… Disconnects... between Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. Well I’ll just try and keep with his outing in Path of Radiance.

Black Knight has easily some of the most thematic presence in the series. His anonymous name and sleek design make almost all of his cutscenes a treat. Just stepping onto the battlefield and killing Greil, with the only hint of who he is being that he was one of Greil’s former students already sets him up as an anomaly.

But something you notice quickly, Black Knight has chivalry. He offers to give Greil the legendary blade of Ragnell so they can have an even fight. Sure, Black Knight wants to kill his mentor to prove he has become better, but he’s not gonna do it unfairly. And he lets Ike keep Ragnell, so that he can truly grow as strong as Greil and then give him a true fight.

Speaking of Ragnell, I actually love how it and Black Knight’s Alondite blade are sister swords. Setting up for a rivalry that goes beyond just Ike getting revenge for his dad. It leads to a lot of interesting encounters over the course of the game, building up to a crescendo of when Ike will finally defeat the armored menace.  It honestly makes for a more compelling final brawl than Ashnard.

Also with Ashnard, we come back to that whole chivalry thing. Because while Ashnard displays himself as a “Mad King,” Black Knight still honorably serves him. In fact, while I’ve seen many people debate the true identity of Black Knight, I actually like the idea that he was just a student of Greil. He needs no true identity except being an embodiment of knightly principles and power.

For all the good and bad that entails.

Leading to great parallels between him and Ike. Ike being a mercenary whose principles differ so much from the Black Knight make him an ideal opponent for the Black Knight.

Now all that said, we need to get to the big but. The actual identity of the Black Knight being Zelgius raises a lot of questions and messes with the consistency of the story. I genuinely feel like it would be more powerful if Zelgius was his own character. While the ambiguity of the Black Knight added to his.

The best moment in Radiant Dawn for me is honestly his end, where he’s at least proud to have helped perfected Ike’s swordplay. But after that, I can’t exactly say he’s the same character. And that unfortunately keeps him from being any higher on the list.

3. Berkut (Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia)

Top 3, everyone! And we’re kicking it off with the Rigelean Prince, Berkut.

After coming off Fates, there was this really big cloud hanging over the FE fandom if they’d actually be able to recover from their dip in storytelling. And then Echoes came up with the game-exclusive addition of Berkut. 

Berkut really was a return to for with understandable villains. Having grown up being a noble of Rigel and as nephew of Rudolf next in line for the throne. In a society that prides itself on power, Berkut was only ever asked to be strong enough to ascend to that title of king.

And when you first see him dancing with Rinea, he really does seem invincible. Dancing in the conquered halls of Zofia Castle with his one true love as he does not need to take to the battlefield to assist in fighting the Deliverance. Only bothering to fight Alm as “sport.”

At first, he really just comes off as an arrogant Blue Blood that you wanna knock off his horse. But after he loses once and sees Alm’s brand, it just starts this downward spiral. Begging is uncle for one more chance, rejecting the help of Nuibaba’s mirror, only to use it out of fear that he might actually not be able to win against Alm.

Also, massive props to Ian Sinclair as Berkut’s english voice. As FE had started going fully dubbed, Sinclair brings such a performance as the deteriorating prince.

I like he even makes more dynamics with the Duma Faithful, believing that they’re supposed to serve his house and respect him, but Jedah counters that their real allegiance is to Duma. Tempting Berkut with his power. But Berkut himself even finds Duma’s strength disgusting.

When he finally falls after Rudolf naming Alm his true heir, so see just how low he’s fallen as he sacrifices Rinea to make his pact with Duma and use his new mystical enhancements to take out the Deliverance golden boy Alm, once and for all.

Berkut’s story is easily an ideal tragic character. Very powerful and smart, but flawed. His own fears motivating his actions as well as the constraints of his society and family pressure. Add on how he’s made that he will not marry Rinea until he becomes Emperor, as he feels that is only when he’s worthy enough, and this guy’s basically telegraphing the grave he’s about to dig himself.

No way can I undersell how much Berkut seemingly revived faith in writing for future FE antagonists as the series was still suffering from the… mixed reaction to Fates.

2. Edelgard von Hresvelg (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

God what have I not said about Edelgard? Well if you want to read more comprehensive stuff I’ve written about her, you can find it here.

But in short, Edelgard was a phenomenal twist character. Built up slowly over the course of the game and the fact someone as high as a lord would secretly be planning to destroy the church was a shock. 

Her role as the most intellectual of the three house leaders, motivated by logic and pragmatism offered a unique opposition to the over emotional Dimitri. Her being the product of crest experimentation and the second wielder of the crest of flames makes for a pretty powerful backstory. Not to mention being one of the few lords whose political system we fully get to see realize. With the multiple ministers having robbed power from her family.

Her relationship with Dimitri is also one of the sweetest villain backstories. You see the two actually sit down and try to end this and you know it’s probably only because of their shared past. The oath of the dagger of how they both have made their own paths that veer off in different directions is the first signs of turmoil that El has felt ever since her declaration of war.

And then there’s her final fight. I don’t think I have felt a more satisfying final battle than with Hagemon Husk Edelgard. The long throne room crawl as guards and monsters poured in to try and stand in your way. All whlie Edelgard tries to snipe at you from a distance with her new fireball technique. 

Also if were giving points to acting, Tara Platt brings a great performance as both Edelgard and the Flame Emperor.

Now like Black Knight, the biggest flaw is a lot of minute nitpicks that really add up over the multiple routes. The Black Eagle route even seems to do away with a lot of Edelgards ambiguity. But if you stick to BL and GD Edelgard, you have one of the best antagonists in the series. Leaving me excited what FE17 has in store.

1. Arvis (Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War)

Yeah, you all knew this one was coming. The OG Flame Emperor himself, Arvis.

So for those who don’t know, Arvis was basically Edelgard before Edelgard. Having watched corrupt nobles run Grannvale for a time as well as grown up under the self destructive Duke Victor, Arvis had intended to make Grannvale a more fair world. Free of prejudice and pain.

Use the feuding lords to his advantage to claim land and renown, Arvis also stayed by the current King of Grannvale, Azmur. Earning him some brownie points. Arvis’s alliance with Manfroy and the Lopto Sect ultimately leads to him getting his chance at the throne. With Manfroy finding the long lost granddaughter (and wife of Sigurd) Deirdre,  wiping her memory clean and “conveniently” leaving her for Arvis to find and fall in love with. 

By marrying and impregnating the newly found prince, Arvis was named Emperor Regent by Azmur till their child came of age. However, to unilaterally have Grannvale under his control, he had to take out Sigurd in one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the history of FE, The Belhalla Massacre.

At first Arvis seems like this manipulative puppet master with delusions of conquest, but the more you learn about him and the environment he came from. Arvis truly wants to make a better and more fair world. And unlike someone like Zephiel, he doesn’t think that means wipe out all humans. You see that he doesn’t even hold contempt for Sigurd, more indifference as he regrets that Sigurd would not be able to see Arvis’s new world.

But with his ultimate tragedy being that faustian deal he cut with Manfroy ultimately led to the birth of Julius. Who, with the Major Loptous blood, would go on to not only be Loptous’ vessel, but also wrestle away power from Arvis. The tragic irony of what secured his hold on the throne being what ultimately makes him lose it. Add on some more angst as he realizes that Deirdre is actually his half sister and that Manfroy’s intention was for them to bear a child like Julius, you have easily one of the most tragic tales in FE.

We also see more of the dynamics of Arvis in the Seliph book of FE4. Actually trying to save all the children taken by Julius with Ishtar. As well as his love for his own children, Julius and Julia, going out of his way to save Julius and finally face his reckoning against Seliph.

His battle is brutal, as after what he did to Sigurd, you want to beat down Arvis with Seliph. You want nothing more but to his rule. But as you’ve gone on, you see just how much of person Arvis is. And while you want Seliph to get his vengeance, it doesn’t make the fight any easier as you are left to wonder what things would be like if Arvis was Emperor without Manfroy using Julius.

 His final words to Seliph just echo in your head, making you wish there was a better way this could’ve turned out.

If there is one negative I could say about Arvis, its the fact he basically monopolizes the story for his own. His actions basically pushing so much of the narrative he eclipses Sigurd. But honestly, if we got a remake with more time devoted to character interaction in Sigurd’s army, I think it would balance out nicely.

Welp, that’s my Top 10 FE antagonists. Let me know if you agree or disagree. And if this gets enough hits, I might do similar posts in the future. Till next time, take care!

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #feh #fire emblem blazing blade #fire emblem genealogy of the holy war #tellius #fire emblem blazing sword #fire emblem sacred stones #fire emblem thracia 776 #fire emblem awakening #fire emblem echoes shadows of valentia #fire emblem gaiden #orson #hilda #ishtar #ishtore #bloom #friege #tine #tailtiu #jedah #reinhardt #fe5 #julius #edelgard von hraesvelgr #arvis #grima #chrom #robin

[crystalelemental]

While I’m busy annoying fans of Genealogy with my general disinterest in its cast, here are some other characters I have strong opinions about:

Sigurd’s not nearly as interesting as people make him out to be.  The main action leading to him being branded a traitor was super avoidable and his squire even points out that he’s making a mistake.  His “romance” with Deirdre is one of the most shallow things the series has produced, and literally none of the awful events of Act 2 would’ve happened if he had just kept it in his pants.  His actions during the war are made with good intentions that often lead to further conflict, but most of the critical actions that cause disaster were super avoidable and complete his fault.  Good job, moron.

Arvis is also a putz.  Look, I get it.  His entire point is that he’s trying to build the world for the better, but is highly questionable in his means.  Cool concept!  Problem is we spend like no time with him, and the only indications of this are his discussions with Manfroy, where he talks about how he’s not going to persecute them like in ages past, but he’s also definitely not going to let them revive the baby eating god they worship.  Okay, solid.  The issue is, he knows full well he carries Loptyr blood, and that’s why Manfroy is sticking around.  And suddenly, Manfroy appears with some lady with amnesia, and is oddly insistent on you fucking this woman and having kids.  Did...did you never think about who this woman was, or why Manfroy’s so invested in her sex life?  This is not a difficult conclusion to reach, buddy.

I mentioned Eldigan, but it bears repeating: I hate the Camus archetype, and he’s one of the most annoying.  “I am honor-bound to follow my lord’s every command, I cannot join you and must instead try to get them to see reason.”  Yeah, and you know who else had this exact dilemma like two chapters ago?  Jamke.  Guess who’s on our side now, after realizing how fucked up his king was?  Jamke.  There’s no reason you couldn’t do this too.  Honestly, every time the Camus archetype shows up for a leader who is a complete buffoon, I always think of Wallace’s supports with Kent in FE7.  How his king ordered him to capture his daughter and bring her back from the plains, no matter what.  But when Wallace saw the love she shared with the man from the plains, he let her go, because he knew his king would never forgive himself if he tore Lyn’s parents apart.  Wallace put what was best for his king ahead of the order, and the entire moral is that, even if you’re punished for it, your duty is not to the title, but to the person, and you must act in the best interests of the people you serve, not blindly follow a command that would cause everyone harm.  So yeah, I don’t care to hear about the honor-bound idiots who are given plenty of chances to do the right thing but insist on staying with a sinking ship that’s also on fire.

Deirdre is a non-entity, so there’s really no point in talking about her.  Seriously, she exists almost entirely to produce the children that will be plot-critical in Act 2, but otherwise has effectively zero agency.  She shows up and immediately wants to fuck Sigurd, spends one chapter helping, and is immediately kidnapped afterward to be brainwashed and become Arvis’ wife.  Then she dies off-screen before the events of Act 2.  But she and Sigurd just loved each other so much!  They just saw each other and had such an overwhelming desire to fuck, it must have been love!  At least Deirdre’s excuse is being secluded away from men all her life and not knowing how to handle these feelings; what’s Sigurd’s excuse?

Quan and Ethlyn are actually wonderful.  No complaints.  But I do have another for Sigurd.  Hey, remember when they died?  Remember when Sigurd is told that people were ambushed in the desert and everyone’s dead, and he pieces together that it was his sister and his best friend?  Remember how that comment is all we get for his reaction to their loss, how it’s never brought up a single time ever again, and how Sigurd shows absolutely nothing about the devastation of this loss?  Yeah, but hey, it’s fine, you don’t need more dialogue to make a compelling story.  It just would’ve been nice for Genealogy to be a compelling story by having characters actually matter more than they apparently do.

Ayra’s cool, but her brother’s an idiot.  In her conversation with Quan, she mentioned that Quan’s suspicion is correct, and that the king was not responsible for the deaths of those from Grannvale.  A random lord took action without consent, so the king had that lord executed, and went to make peace with Grannvale, only to be assassinated along the way.  So what does her brother do?  “We gotta go to war.”  Uh...you know you’ll be slaughtered, right?  “Yeah, but my honor, though.”  Gen 1 was mostly a bunch of morons given political power and asked to play intelligently.  They all fucked up.

Lewyn...okay, I don’t like Lewyn.  I get his whole thing is running from responsibility, and being tired of the in-fighting over the crown, but his solution of just leaving is petty and childish.  It’s not that there isn’t some level of understanding there.  He’s just not doing it for me.  I do, however, appreciate how self-loathing he is in Gen 2.

No one else in Gen 1 really matters at all to anything substantial, so boy, it’d have been nice to have support conversations to flesh out everyone else a bit more.  But hey, maybe the sequel, right?

Seliph is pretty cool.  I don’t have a ton to say, but his story kinda allows him to take an easier route to power, with a more clear antagonist and the world at large being more united in his cause of overthrowing the empire.  Not particularly compelling, but not doing anything stupid or uninteresting.

Leif inherits being awesome from both of his parents, who were also awesome.  His sister, Altena, is also really cool.  Altena in particular actually gets a lot.  Having been taken in by the man who killed her parents, she’s grown up thinking that he is her true father.  Her character is in a position to act more as a bridge between two smaller nations that have constantly been at war, having the bloodline connection to Leif and to Leonster, while having her upbringing in Thracia and feeling a family connection to Arion, the true son of Travant.  She’s one of the better characters in this game, I think.

Ares is actually one of my favorites in this entire game.  He and Lene have great supports, but more importantly, you know what sets Ares apart?  Having a brain cell.  As soon as he realizes the corrupt lord he works for sent him out to the front lines and has likely taken Lene captive, he immediately turns coat, intent on killing everyone in his way to save her.  Thank you, Ares.  Thank you for being better than your father, who would’ve meekly decided he can’t disobey orders because he’s totally too honorable and not a fucking coward for letting his sister almost get killed.

Julia...oh my god, I have so much to say on Julia.  Has anyone following me noticed I kinda like the Eirika archetypes?  The female characters that are mostly really collected and quiet, occasionally have a showing of fire, and are ultimately either heavily under-utilized and ignored by the plot or given a story that’s really not very good despite how strong their character could’ve been if the story weren’t...the way that it is?  That’s Julia.  I adore Julia.  She spends most of the game not doing much, mostly being silent and also an amnesiac.  She gets like two conversations with Seliph, and they’re...they’re okay.  Nothing exceptional, just...okay.  But hysterically, once she’s kidnapped, she starts to show the makings of a really great character.  She’s compassionate and understanding to her father, who’s realized what a dingus he was, but pushes back against Julius/Loptyr and is pretty up-front about how willing she is now to kill her brother if it means stopping evil from being unleashed in the world.  She refuses to go quietly, and claims she’ll fight them to the end.  And, you know...is promptly brainwashed and spends the entire chapter as an enemy until Seliph kills Manfroy and lets her snap out of it.  Not even just talks to her, that won’t work unless Manfroy’s dead.  She doesn’t even get enough agency to break free of control under her own will.  This is the issue with Julia.  She should be fantastic.  She’s a character who carries the blood of both Naga and Loptyr, the greatest good and the greatest evil of this world.  Within her is a very concrete expression of the good/evil dichotomy that all humans face, and through her actions she chooses to do good for the world, yet acknowledges the potential for evil within her and struggles against it.  That’s super compelling!  Hell, that’s the most compelling character narrative in this entire game!  And what does it amount to?  Jack fucking shit, because her declaration of intent is immediately sidelined for her to be controlled by another for the entire chapter and made to do evil, until the male hero breaks the spell for her.  Only then is she allowed to confront her brother and actually show agency.  Her character arc should’ve been the diamond in the rough, and all the agency and development she brings to the table is immediately undermined.  Julia, sweetie, you deserved so much better than this.

Ugh, that one hurt to complain about.  But since we’re on the topic, Julius.  We’re supposed to be sad about how he’s completely taken over by Loptyr and needs to be stopped.  But...we never really know anything about Julius.  At all.  Julia talks a bit about how he used to be kind, but that’s...that’s it.  There’s no effort to have her and Arvis share stories about what the family used to be like, or give any indication of how close they were aside from saying it was the case once or twice.  So the plight of Julius, the boy who’s possessed, is completely lost on us, and as a result, Julia’s decision to fight against and kill her brother if that’s what it takes, feels a little less impactful, because you just...don’t have any emotional attachment to what’s being lost.

Ishtar is another Camus archetype, but a rare one where I kinda like her?  Kinda.  She’s come far enough to recognize that Julius is killing people and it’s a problem, and does her utmost to circumvent his violent tendencies and save people.  So why doesn’t she just leave?  Well even that’s pretty taken care of.  She was the betrothed of Julius.  She loved him.  Which means she’s another character who could’ve had meaningful dialogue about who he used to be to build up tension, but we’re not talking about that now.  She stays in part because of that love, but also because he’s violent, and seems to have his eye on her at all times.  She’s effectively stuck in an abusive relationship, unable to make a move for fear of what retaliation he might exact on her or the people she’s trying to keep safe.  That’s a way more compelling reason for a character to stick with an awful ruler.  It sucks, but at least it’s ultimately understandable, unlike Eldigan over here.

Oifey and Shanan I feel like should be more interesting characters, but they don’t really get enough time to be much else.  And if those two, who are meant to be prominent, got very little, you can kinda guess that the rest of the cast has basically nothing going for them.

Honestly, a lot of the events of Genealogy at large feel super avoidable, and largely created by idiots being allowed to make decisions.  But on the smaller level, and especially within Gen 2, I feel like all the game needs is support conversations and maybe more dialogue that didn’t focus so heavily on bloodlines.  The history is interesting, but it comes at the expense of most character development, and that’s really not a good trade.  I know people hate when I bring it up, but maybe if the maps were actually chunked and made into several smaller chapters, we could use wind-up and conclusion to castles being taken as a means to fill in more character moments, instead of just having quick exposition dumps and moving on.

#fire emblem genealogy

[stephen-776]

FEH, Stats, History, and Shtuff

As this blog is going to be producing a lot of original content based around FEH (I usually just lurk lol), I think it’s a good idea to give you an idea of my FEH background and how I approach the game.

When Did You Start Playing FEH? Late June 2018. Technically, I started in April 2018, but only long enough to reroll before dropping the game soon after. Summer Innes got me back into the game because I’m weak to manpretty.

Are You F2P? Generally, yes. There is one time in FEH where I spent more money than I wish to admit (and didn’t even get the unit I wanted) and occurred late August. That episode, by the way, is what led me to focus on a small set of units rather than try to roll for everything shiny. At the moment, I’m sitting on 487 orbs and counting.

What Set of Units Do You Focus on? Jugdral units! Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is my favorite Fire Emblem game, so rather than chase after every shiny new unit, I decided to focus on summoning only units to complete my Jugdral dex. A common theme is “nobody gets to use my resources except my Jugdral units.”

What’s the difference Between Jugdral units and Genealogy of the Holy War units? Five characters: Olwen, Reinhardt, their alts, and Saias. WT!Olwen and Saias fulfill very important niches in my army, e.g. WT!Olwen is my only green horse. I haven’t actually played Thracia 776; its alleged difficultly terrifies me and there’s no proper fan translation I’m aware of.

Do you have all FE4/5 Units? No, but almost, because Ayra hasn’t been on a banner since I started playing the game. I have gotten every other unit besides her, 5* them, and still in the processing of merging all my copies together.

Wait, so you use Jugdral units exclusively? Almost, but it depends on the mode. Modes that are competitive (i.e. arena and aether raids) or require many units (e.g. arena assault) see non-Jugdral units deployed. But content like chain challenges or hero battles? Jugdral only.

What Tier Are In Arena? Tier 18.5. High tier arena requires a large dedication of resources: you need highly merged units with high BST or “duel” skill who can help spoonfeed kills to your unit. The highest tier has one more orb than I usually get and a lot more feathers, so it simply isn’t worth the investment for me.

What Tier are you Aether Raids? Lift Tier is 21+, and I got there with only one Eir! I think that’s an accomplishment. I put a fair amount of effort into AR, such as learning various AI tricks, because seven Jugdral units (that’s more than a quarter of all Jugdral units) are grail only and I need grails. Arvis is my first +10 grail project ofc.

Do You Plan on Sharing Tips for AR? I plan to make a some blogposts of various tips/tricks in AR on both defense and offense. I don’t claim to the best AR player, and most of these tips/tricks I’ve learned elsewhere. I will also eventually showcase some of my AR offense teams (they are not consistent week-to-week because they need to be tailored with the bonus unit in mind). When I need to showcase an AR defense, I’ll use my old defense as an example; however, it has a clear weakness which is why it was retired.

Why is Fire Emblem 4 your favorite FE game? That’s a hard question to answer! FE4 is known for having big maps. Like really big maps. It creates a sense of scale where it feels like a war is developing in real-time, rather than seeing snapshots of individual battles. It’s not impossible during the course of a chapter to make connections. The story, also, is basically anime Game of Thrones—more so than a typical FE game. Plus, I really like some of the juxtaposition between characters and their children, such as how Eldigan/Ares explore the theme of honor and loyalty. There’s a lot more I can say, but I think it’s a great game.

Do you recommend FE4? That’s… a toughie. The game is honestly old and it shows, and while I do appreciate what the big chapters bring to the table, having three hour chapters is hard (unlike most FE games, you can save once every turn and even has a quasi-autosave option). The game is a hard sell to a more modern FE crowd, but I will say if you like Fire Emblem and want something that’s different, check out FE4.

Any more questions? The ‘ask a question’ tab is turned on for a reason! Feel free to ask me a question!  

#fire emblem #feh #genealogy of the holy war #jugdral #fe heroes

[end-of-paradox]

[FE4] Anniversary and Thanks

Happy 22th anniversary to Genealogy of the Holy War, my favorite Fire Emblem title containing some of my favorite characters within the entire franchise, as well as boasting a story beyond compare among its fellow games. Sure, its gameplay is kind of dated here and there, but it’s been a fantastic experience nonetheless.

I’d like to thank the developers and Shouzou Kaga for having created such a fine gaming experience, as well as Bookofholsety for pouring in so many hours translating the game for a wider audience to enjoy. Seriously, thank all of you so much.

Some further thanks:

Thank you, Sigurd and Deirdre, for being such fascinating and compelling characters, as well as a downright wonderful couple.

Most of all, thank you, Arvis, for being one of the most compelling antagonists I have ever come to know in fiction. As far as I know, no antagonist in FE holds a candle to you.

I love this game, okay? To anyone who hasn’t played the game yet: Please play FE4. It’s got some frustrating moments, but don’t let that discourage you from immersing yourself in Jugdral’s story.

I’ve gushed enough now, so I’m out. Have a good one!

#fire emblem #fire emblem 4 #fe4 #genealogy of the holy war #seisen no keifu #sigurd #deirdre #arvis #classic fe #anniversary #fe4 22nd

[nintendotreehouse]

Happy Anniversary, Summoners!

The Fire Emblem Heroes game was released one year ago today, and to celebrate the anniversary, some of the Fire Emblem Heroes team members in the Treehouse got together to reflect on the first year since the game launched. Read on to see what they had to say!

Kris: It’s amazing how much Fire Emblem Heroes has evolved since launch. Many of us on the team play the game heavily outside of work as well, so each time a new option like Inherit Skill or the Weapon Refinery is added, we’re eager to play it on our own devices with our own teams.

But first, we’ve got to localize the content and get it out there, and on the loc side of things, there are aspects of the project that haven’t changed—mainly the amount of research involved. It’s a lot of fun digging into our archives for past games. The Heroes come from every main-series title, so we’ve put together a script database of all the games, including those not released in North America, to help us keep everything aligned.

The Treehouse “Fire Emblem Shrine” is not just for decoration. It’s part of our research!

Matthew: Even the early Famicom games like Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light have scripts that were quite lengthy for the time, so it really took a lot of work to get that all organized into something we could use as a reference. I mean, there are 15 games in the main Fire Emblem series alone!

Kris: It was worth the effort, though. The database allows us to research basic things, like item names or the way a character laughs, as well as deeper references. Most Heroes reference conversations from whatever game they’re from, whether word for word or just in passing.

Frederick does his best to serve his liege…       

…and tries to help the Order, too. Sort of.

Kris: When we come across these lines, sometimes they have to be tweaked for their new context, both in Japanese and in English. A line that was once used angrily in battle might now be recast for general conversation. A critical-attack line might now be the voice used when you tap a Hero during battle. Very often, a line originally directed to a different character might now be directed to you, the Summoner. It's an interesting balance of keeping the link to the source material while fitting a new context and not confusing any players who are new to the series. I get excited when people post online about a reference they got, like the various bonus audio lines for the first round of Choose Your Legends characters.

Matthew: Yeah, it’s always great to see when people pick up on those references. As for me, while I’ve played every game in the Fire Emblem series, Genealogy of the Holy War is still my favorite. I loved how complex the world was in that game, and, of course, that complexity brought about some great drama. When we were asked to work on localizing those characters for Fire Emblem Heroes, I was honored to help out. Sigurd is a very unique lord and Arvis is a very unique villain in the Fire Emblem series. It was important for Christian and I to do their characters justice through the dialog and voice.

Sigurd professing his love to Deirdre in the Super Famicom original game.

Here they reference events from the original game in Fire Emblem Heroes.

Christian: Genealogy of the Holy War originally came out for the Super Famicom, and it was never localized into English. Given how great that game’s characters are, figuring out how to properly render their stories in English was both a challenge and an opportunity. I wanted to get things just right.

I put a lot of thought into how to portray their speech in a style that could successfully bring across the 1990s dark-fantasy style of the original writing while preserving the complexity of the storytelling and characterization for the modern era. In Fire Emblem Heroes, there’s not much dialogue for each character, but it usually cuts to the bone of what makes that character special—and there’s a lot of info that you need to understand to get it right. Matt’s insight was invaluable there.

Matthew: In one of my main teams, Sigurd and Deirdre are together and share an S rank bond. (It’s canon after all, right?) Genealogy wasn’t the first game to give bonuses to characters when they were near someone dear to them, but it expanded the concept greatly and even introduced things famous to the series, like the weapon triangle and skills! There is a lot I want to say, but…since many players have yet to experience the game, I won’t spoil anything about the story here. Let’s just say that it’s much easier to increase the bond between Seliph and Julia in Fire Emblem Heroes than it was in the original game.

(By the way, I’m definitely using these characters for the Illusory Dungeon—that’s a rhythm-based dungeon in which you tap on the screen to attack enemies. And it releases in Fire Emblem Heroes later this month!)

Christian: One thing that has made me very happy is the positive response to these characters—both from fans who played the original Super Famicom game, as well as those who never encountered these characters before they appeared in Fire Emblem Heroes but now consider them to be invaluable parts of their teams. Just a year ago, a lot of Fire Emblem players in the West had no idea who Arden was!

Here, in Genealogy of the Holy War,  Arden is about to find a special ring!

That same ring gives Arden a unique skill in Fire Emblem Heroes as well!

Tim: While I appreciate the history of the older games like Genealogy of the Holy War, the greatest joy I’ve experienced in playing Fire Emblem Heroes during its first year has been the evolution of my beloved #TeamLucina. Lucina was, luckily enough, one of my first summons when the game launched. Since then I’ve been blessed with summoning Special Hero Spring Lucina, obtaining a handful of masked Lucinas (or “Marths”) from the Tempest Trials (thusly merged into a single +4), and the Lucina I got as my Choose Your Legends free Hero.

Matthew: That’s two blues and two reds. Is that team actually any good?

Tim: Imbalanced as #TeamLucina may seem, it’s a surprisingly solid squad—and it all came down to masked Lucina, who arrived upon my shores with naught but Falchion to her name.

Number 6 in my list, but number 1 in my heart.

Kris: We’ve seen a lot of fans online create their own #Team based on a character, artist, or voice actor. Masked Lucina is a great blank slate to work with, too. What did you do with yours?

Tim: I’ve been able to utilize features such as Inherit Skill and Sacred Seals to turn her into the team medic, and a rather efficient one at that. First, I used Inherit Skill to give her Reciprocal Aid, Renewal, and Breath of Life; eventually she earned the Breath of Life Sacred Seal, so whenever she swings her mighty Falchion, adjacent allies receive a whopping 14 HP. Moreover, she’s sitting pretty at 45 HP, meaning she can heal practically any ally to full with Reciprocal Aid. And just a few turns later, or at the start of the next round in the case of a Tempest Trial, she’ll earn 20 HP back thanks to Renewal and Falchion.

Christian: What about her A Skill and Special Skill?

Tim: I gave her Death Blow and Glimmer to further bolster her already staggering attack power of 52.

Matt: You monster.

My one regret is missing the 5 ★ version from the very first Tempest Trial.

Tim: Throw Ally Support into the mix, and #TeamLucina is truly a force to be reckoned with. I pity the poor soul who encounters it in the Arena.

Kris: In the meantime, I’ll just be over here working on my +10 Frederick. Leveling the duplicates to merge should go quick thanks to the Special Training maps releasing later this month, since they let you train your units based on their type for an easier way to earn Exp and SP.

That’s all for this time, but from all of us on the Fire Emblem Heroes team here in the Treehouse, we hope you all continue to enjoy the game!

Good luck, Summoners!

—Kris C., Matthew N., Christian N., Tim M.

#Fire Emblem #Heroes #Nintendo #Treehouse

[yue-muffin]

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War Thoughts, Part 1

Here to chronicle my first impressions of the first part of the long haul that is this wonderful game. I went into it mainly wanting to experience the story myself since I’ve been having a hard time concentrating on following let’s plays, but I never expected to find myself loving the gameplay to this extent. In retrospect, it really isn’t so surprising given that Genealogy of the Holy War excels at gameplay-story integration and I am all about that gameplay-story integration (after all, some of my favorite titles of all time outside the FE series are games like Okami and Shadow of the Colossus).

fyi: this review-thing has no sense of direction, it’s just me rambling. spoilers ahead!

I have seen people say that FE4 is the FE game that comes the closest to feeling like a war vs. a series of battles/skirmishes and I didn’t quite believe them, since all of the games I have seen or played myself very much feel like jumping from one battle to another, with varying degrees of cohesive plot tying them together.

Well, I was SO wrong because FE4 genuinely does come the closest to feeling like an actual continent-crossing war that stretches over the course of years and not days or months. Even looking at each chapter, and each segment of each chapter, the gameplay takes a long time and while it can feel tedious, well...isn’t that the nature of the beast? The maps are huge, the roads between castles are long, because you are basically crossing an entire chunk of a country in the span of a single chapter. That distance shouldn’t be overcome just by moving your unit 5 spaces.

What I really like about this game is that it doesn’t really compromise this gameplay-story integration for the sake of making the game “easier” or more palatable. Though, the game itself is decently easy as far as FE games go (if you’re stuck, just train Sigurd and drag a healer along and you’re basically set). Still, there are parts that will inevitably frustrate people (like the huge maps), but it does add to the charm of the game’s dedication to gameplay-story integration, even if it makes some things tedious.

I also think the game did a good job fleshing out most of its characters given how limited characterization to anyone who isn’t the main lord was in this era of the franchise’s history. The random little convos they have (which usually grant weapons or grow love points) also help, and I actually prefer this system to the current support system (I also like Path of Radiance’s). They reveal some details about the characters and also provide more depth to how the individual would react to the events of the chapter.

The fact that the money and inventories aren’t shared gives me conniptions lol but it kind of works at times considering most of the army isn’t technically part of the “army” as in...they’re just like hired hands (in one case literally) or people from other kingdoms helping out. It’d be a little weird to share all funds in that case? This is still one of the more annoying features, along with the pawnshop. I get the realism of “sell my weapon, buy another” but could we not have just handed the weapon to a buddy in exchange for cash instead of adding in the middleman...

Now, as for the plot. The twist. The thing that is spoiled by this point in time but a serious whiplash if you went into this game knowing nothing except how FE1-3 played.

I really loved it. This game congratulates you briefly and gives you hope, as the characters feel in the game itself, that the long campaign may finally be over. That this war is at least nearing an end. We made sacrifices along the way (Quan and Ethlyn...), but we dragged ourselves across the finish line in the end. All that’s left is one more castle. You probably expect Arvis to turn on Sigurd and want to smack him for not realizing it. I know, if not spoiled, I would have thought that was leading up to a final battle at Belhalla.

Well, screw your expectations, says the game. Since when does war or conflict between nations wrap up that nicely? If you check Arvis’s stats from the prologue, you might be genuinely worried about having to fight him and for good reason, but the game has your back! Don’t you worry!

It’s not even a question, like how you can fruitlessly try to save Quan and Ethlyn. The game just makes you watch as flaming meteors kill your army and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Because, from the start when Sigurd launched himself into this rescue mission and for every battle after that, there was nothing he could do to stop his inevitable end. It’s just a snowball of events no one has any control over, with one logical conclusion.

And wow, does that feel like such a good way to end your tragic hero’s journey. Sigurd’s not that deep, some feel he’s not very interesting, but he is definitely meant to be an archetypical knight in shining armor and the tragic hero of the story and he plays it well. His strengths are his ultimate downfall, his fatal flaw. Wanting to help others, upholding noble ideas, aren’t bad traits. But they are exactly what led him and his friends to their deaths.

I love the fact that your hero’s actions had consequences, consequences that mean something and have a lasting and visceral impact on the rest of the game. Nothing is more boring to me than a protagonist whose actions have little to no impact on the story, world, or characters or worse - a narrative that pretends the protagonist affects change when really, they don’t.

Sure, in the grand scheme of things, Sigurd is really just playing into Arvis’s hands. He ends up being a tool to bring about the empire the man wanted. But the story doesn’t make it come across as such, or at least it doesn’t feel like it until after Agustria and you get that “uh-oh” moment. That’s when it becomes clear Sigurd is in over his head, and this “doing the right thing” act is turning into something he can’t turn back from. Because you’re controlling him and his army, and the game gives you goals in the form of villains and castles to conquer, you feel like you have some agency and you’re doing more or less the right thing.

So, I like the fact that the game just kills off nearly every playable character up to this point. It turns a war simulation game into something a little more real. A game will never replicate the real thing, of course, but it forces you to open your eyes a bit when it takes away everything you’ve built up just like that.

I really love the soundtrack of this game. It’s the most memorable of the series, to me. I’m not musically inclined, so it takes quite a bit to get me to remember and pay attention to the music. It’s a good thing so the soundtrack is so good, too, because each chapter is really long and you have to listen to that one track for quite a while lol.

And, finally, I will never stop loving the ability to field every unit. It helps the game feel more like a proper battlefield and less like a small skirmish. It has never made sense for the game to say “hey, we’re fighting in this giant field BUT you can only take 10 people”. You don’t have to field every unit if you don’t want to, but I like that the option is there.

#the muffin's video gaming adventures

[gascon-en-exil]

Crimson Flower lets Edelgard institute all her progressive reforms, and puts a definitive kibosh on both the Agartheans and the dragons. Various other character endings describe the slitherers resurfacing and being foiled again. Dmitri the emperor, and he's a well-meaning lad who probably makes reasonable strides against racism and systemic crest bias, but he largely keeps things going as they were. He makes it very clear that he hasn't thought very hard about his position in the world.

Edelgard, on the other hand, is justified in everything she does by virtue of her circumstances. At no point does she have any options other than declaring war on the continent or dying, because she has been in the clutches of the Agartheans her entire life. They want to use her as a figurehead, but make it very clear that they will bump her off if she steps out of line. She cannot prevent the war, so she instead makes it her own, and rallies her forces until she's can make a move against them.

Dimitri is a hereditary autocrat who secures his family's grip on the entirety of a continent, 2/3 of which he obtains through conquest. Really struggling to see the 'not an autocrat' angle here even if he does some positive reforms later in life. Like we get a fairly decent look at how non-traumatized Dimitri acts in CF and it all sets up that he entered into a political marriage and had a quick child to secure the inheritance. Hereditary monarchy is a scourge even if you have a 'good' monarch

FIrst, let’s get the most obvious thing out the way: there is no evidence that Dimitri has a political marriage and an heir in CF. 

The line about the Blaiddyd line continuing almost certainly refers to his uncle Rufus, who is killed in Cornelia’s coup in the non-CF routes but is presumably still alive in CF because she never gets the chance to carry it out. In the Dimidue death scene Dimitri expresses regret for not being able to get revenge for his family among others, so he’s still thinking of family in terms of his slain father and stepmother. I’ve also pointed out several times that Dimitri’s fondness for orphans is noted in story text and in AM’s ending tapestry, such that it’s entirely reasonable to conclude that he adopts regardless of circumstances as a way of diminishing the role of Crest-based inheritance. In CF his circumstances seem to be nearly identical to the Dimidue paired ending where there is no queen in sight and Dedue is a royal consort in all but name. I highly doubt they chose to adopt while fighting a war that’s by now been dragging on for over five years, so the conclusion about Rufus stands (even more so because he’s noted elsewhere to be a shameless womanizer so it’s likely he’s got one or more bastards somewhere). If you’re looking for a hereditary monarch who founds or perpetuates a dynasty, that would be Claude, or Byleth in various VW/SS endings. Quibbling over monarch vs. emperor has little meaning in this context, especially when Edelgard stepping down after an indeterminate amount of time and naming a successor is fully in line with real world dictatorships. Non-democratic systems of government are the standard for all of FE, although the beginnings of a representative government mentioned in Dimitri’s solo ending might be the single closest instance of a significant movement away from that even if it’s only a constitutional monarchy with the heir to the throne a Crestless adoptee. This follows naturally from the years of the timeskip where Dimitri was homeless and in and out of the slums of the Kingdom, where he saw the suffering of the common people firsthand and, as seen in the AM parley, came to understand their needs better than Edelgard ever attempts. In conjunction with Claude’s ignorance of the lives of the Almyran people as seen in his Cyril supports, it’s actually reasonable to conclude that Dimitri has thought about his position relative to his subjects more than either of the other leaders.

And speaking of Claude, Dimitri does not conquer the Alliance in AM; rather, Claude hands it over to him unexpectedly after the Kingdom army comes to his aid and fights off the Imperial army invading Derdriu. If Hilda is recruited in AM her monastery dialogue the next month reveals that the Alliance council peacefully agreed to go along with Claude’s decision to cede their territory to the Kingdom. This is incidentally a much better deal than the Alliance gets in either VW or SS, where Claude disappears either at the end of the game or after Gronder and it’s given to Byleth with no further discussion (and the same thing also happens to the Kingdom in both routes). The Empire at the end of the game is in much the same situation as every other antagonist nation in FE, with no one to rule it following the counter-invasion from the protagonist nation(s) because they’re all dead. Similar to Genealogy the picture does open up a bit depending on who’s alive, with Ferdinand, Lorenz, Marianne, etc. governing their respective territories if they’re recruited. Ditto unseen noble heirs like Holst and Caspar’s older brother who are still around to inherit their titles even with Byleth or Dimitri ruling the continent. As far as the Empire is concerned the two of them are as much imperialists as Marth, Seliph, the Renais twins, etc., a far cry from Edelgard in CF invading and conquering two sovereign nations without provocation, predicated in part on the basis that centuries prior they were part of the Empire so it’s acceptable for her to conquer them.

Now, onto Edelgard. You must be aware that Edelgard chose to ally with the Agarthans at Hubert’s suggestion, and she continues to make that choice for nearly a decade without any attempt at checking them despite knowing all the terrible things that they’re getting up to behind the scenes at the monastery and that they enacted earlier without her direct involvement to destabilize the continent and make her conquest easier, like the Tragedy of Duscur and the death of Claude’s uncle. As myself and others have noted attempting to spin her as a helpless victim of their machinations only makes her look incompetent and terrible in her choice of allies - not just the Agarthans themselves but also known murderers Hubert and Jeritza whom she cannot fully control with one frequently going behind her back and the other openly disobeying her multiple times on the battlefield. This in combination with Hubert’s status as the Manfroy to Edelgard’s Arvis leaves me very much in doubt of the Agarthans being truly eradicated in the postgame. Not only is this unsatisfying for the player, but given Hubert’s use of dark magic and dabbling in the Agarthans’ experiments (plus that he was the one who suggested the alliance in the first place, for all that he grumbles about Thales ordering him around) it’s more likely that he eradicates their leadership and then installs himself at the head of the remaining cult, folding them into his established network of spies and assassins. Hubert is one of my favorite characters in this cast, but he’s anything but trustworthy especially if his primary motivation really is wanting Edelgard to sleep with him when it turns out she never will, not even in their paired ending. In keeping with his status as the pathetic hopeless suitor pining for this game’s headlining waifu despite her overt attraction to the self-insert, sexual frustration is built into his character even if he gets a wife or if he and Ferdinand become the most notorious lovers in Enbarr.

Plus, if you look Edelgard actually does rather than what she says she aligns more with what the Agarthans want than the stated goals of her own propaganda. She completes their genocide of the Nabateans and unifies the continent with Agarthans in positions of great power. On the other hand she doesn’t eradicate the nobility as a whole but only replaces those who would oppose her seizing absolute power, which goes to support that it was the Insurrection of the Seven and not the Agarthan experimentation that truly shaped her worldview and motivations. The stated reasons she wants to destroy the church are provably incorrect - she knows they didn’t create Relics or Crests thanks to secret Imperial knowledge passed down from Wilhelm, and she must know that they aren’t all-powerful as the Empire disbanded the Southern Church completely a century before the events of the game with apparently no pushback from Rhea or anyone else - and one must therefore conclude that she instead targets them because they, like the Imperial nobles she replaces and like Claud e and Dimitri defending their nations, would oppose her solitary rule of the continent. It’s just awfully convenient that this goal also accomplishes the Agarthans’ main goal of killing or driving into hiding all of the remaining dragons. Saying that the war was inevitable because the Agarthans were slinking around setting it up to happen doesn’t absolve Edelgard of the responsibility of choosing to ally with them and playing right into their hands, especially when her conquest only noticeably improves her own situation, and possibly Hubert and Jeritza’s now that they have a license to kill, torture, etc. for an entire continent. All of the other Eagles go on to inherit what they would have inherited anyway, and all the reforms mentioned in the CF endings are the same or better in endings for the other routes only your side didn’t start a war and complete a genocide to bring those about.

#Fire Emblem #FE16 #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd #Edelgard von Hresvelg

[demoiselledefortune]

4, 5, and 10

4. Favorite character

Picking only one character would be impossible! Lewyn is my fave from FE4, Soren from FE9, Sanaki from FE10, Legault from FE7, Maribelle from FE13 I suppose. That wraps up the Fire Emblem games that I have actually finished.

Honorable mentions to Arvis, Naesala, Tinny, Altenna, Jill, Sain, Nino, Clarine, Fir… I could go on for a while >_>

5. Least favorite character

There are a lot of very dismal villains with offensive charadesigns, from Validar to Valtome to Excellus to Oliver blargh.

10. Game with the best story 

I think i’d go with Genealogy. Radiant Dawn was almost there, but its last part has a few too many weird shortcuts and disappointing turns. Genealogy is hardly perfect but it keeps the tension to the end even wth all its weird flaws.

#fire emblem #meme answer #gascon en exil

[themysterioust]

Y’know, yesterday I was kinda salty about the voting gauntlet results. I really wanted Sigurd to win, since he’s my favorite lord and all... and Tharja’s already won once, so I was kinda like “aww, you again?!”

But then I realized something. Sigurd’s from FE4, which never came out in the west and is crazy old, and Tharja’s really popular as well as from a newer, more widely released game. But team Sigurd still fought her to a standstill! She had to fight for her victory and we didn’t make it an easy one either.

A lord from an older and less available game KEPT PACE with one of the most popular Awakening characters. And we got a shitton of great Genealogy fanart and hilarious jokes on the reddit out of it! (I’m fond of all the JoJo ones, personally. The Arvis-as-Dio edit that popped up got me laughing so loud I scared one of my coworkers!) I’m actually really impressed with how we did. Salt mine empty. Grats, team Tharja, we gave you our best and you answered. I mean, Sigurd has never had an easy time with red tome users, we really should have known lol!

Now I'm gonna go find a copy of Sacred Stones The Blazing Blade and start my first ever playthrough. Pretty Lyn will be the balm to soothe my wounds while I grind in Heroes! Also, it has Hector, and Heroes has made me love Hector. (and slightly fear but much less so now that Genny is in my barracks, lol!)

#the melon lord speaketh #(eyes hector hard mode) NOT TODAY SATAN

[crystalelemental]

suitsongirls replied to your post: Under typical circumstances, yeah, definitely...

I’m personally really hoping it’s something like “you choose a side, and because of the information you get the other sides are portrayed as bad”

Unreasonable ideals of justice is unsustainable and as such as must be elimated, because they don’t match with reality, vs we must maintain these ideals of justice, and strive to make them real, or everything will come crashing down around us

Also, where is this trailer thing people are talking about?    

The trailer was the one for the timeskip, around the 40 second mark.

As for how the sides work, that’s kind of what I hope for and expect as well.  Again, they drew inspiration for these three from Sigurd, Quan, and Eldigan, none of whom were actually bad people, but who were caught up in fighting for opposite sides and different ideals.  At least with Eldigan, anyway.  So I don’t really expect a full on evil route to exist, but I like the idea of playing with extremes.

Like, the response that mentioned Edelgard might be Arvis?  That’s exactly what I want.  Had Genealogy spent less time going on about bloodlines and shit, and actually spent time on the characters’ reactions to things or developed their ideals and beliefs, Arvis is a strong contender for a favorite villain in the series.  I like the complexities his character suggested; wanting to create a better world, though ruthless in his actions to accomplish it.  He’s well-meaning, in most cases, but is still very clearly on the wrong side of things.

That’s kind of what I want.  I want each route to carry that level of complexity, and that sense of “you’re fighting with a good person, though their ideals or ambitions may not be aligned with what’s right.”  I’ve mentioned before, but my favorite “lord,” and my favorite character in general, is still Micaiah, largely because of this.  She’s kind-hearted and seeks to do what’s right, and is motivated primarily by doing good for others.  But at the same time, when the people she protects are threatened, she goes to nasty lengths to accomplish her goals.  That’s what I want.  That’s what I love, and what I want to see in all three.  And thankfully, they’ve laid the groundwork for each, some a bit more obviously than others.  Claude seems the closest to an outright good guy, but his descriptions comment on his devious nature and that he’s not to be trusted.  Edelgard has expressed in trailers that she thinks the Crests are a great source of contention in the world, and seems to reject lofty ideals of justice, and seems willing to go to extremes to bring about the world she wants to see.  Dimitri...mostly just seems like a murdersaurus, not gonna lie, which is why he’s the least interesting of the three to me.  It’s also why I don’t get why he’s not identified as the potentially evil one, they...haven’t really shown us much in the way of complexity, beyond “he used to follow a chivalous code, but seems to have dropped that in the time-skip due to...reasons.”  The best indication I have is from that same trailer, where he mentions disliking the world where the strong trample the weak, but at the same time he seems pretty on-board for murdering folks, so I dunno.

Anyway, that’s why I’m planning to side with Edelgard.  Of the three, her motivations interest me the most, and are the ones I’d probably align with most.  From what she’s presenting, she’s figured out a societal problem with the crests, and that the obsessions with bloodline creates more problems than it’s worth.  We don’t know specifically what she’s fighting for, but she’s someone who rejects outdated or lofty notions of what makes things good or evil and seems more pragmatic.  She’s a bit extreme, but like...that’s the kind of trait I’m all about in the main character I follow.  I want to see the extremes, the conflict between salvaging her bonds with others or following her ambitions and ideals.  Her route strikes me as the most interesting of the three, so she’s gonna be first pick.

#suitsongirls