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General Chat / Re: What games are you playing 2024? Battle strength determined by frilly outfits

« on: March 27, 2024, 02:52:16 AM »

Baldur's Gate 3 - Finished a second playthrough of BG3 with the Dark Urge. It was mostly an evil playthrough, but I did a lot of talking my way out of problems/lying to people rather than fighting everything I encountered.

I was a Lore Bard, Expertised all the Cha skills and used them extensively to slither out of fights or just to be a pain in the ass. Also Insight and Perception.

Spoilers ahead!

Some highlights:

-I chose the “fantasize about cutting off Gale’s hand” option, which ended up with me actually doing it. RIP Gale I guess.
-Sided with Minthara/goblins over the grove. Feels bad, and the plot is less rich after that due to not having tiefling NPCs, Karlach, Wyll, or Halsin.  I only had Shadowheart/Astarion/Lae’zel for a lot of the run, until Minthy joined in Act 2.
-One advantage of that, though, is that you get a lot of those characters’ unique dialogue with each other!
-Did Lae’zel’s sidequest which i managed to skip first playthrough. Good stuff! I really enjoyed the plot there. One thing I didn’t like though — Lae’zel still says “for Vlakaaith!” even though I betrayed her. Feels kinda silly.
-Act 2 again is a bit depressing because I had the dark urge to kill Isobel and did it. Bye Jaheira and Isobel and Isobel’s gay wife. I feel like this part of the game is the part that feels much emptier than it did first playthrough. No saving the rot. feelsbadman
-Did the Shar path for Shadowheart this time. My culty little pal. Again, objectively the worse route but I figured I’d pack it all into the one playthrough.
-Minthara is fun; very pragmatic and driven, and has basically no moral qualms about anything. I wish she had a little bit more, especially since her camp dialogue is glitched to talk about Gale all the time, even though I didn’t even meet anyone called Gale. LOL. She could be a GOAT character but she ends up falling short thanks to the decreased dialogue and lack of a character quest. I was surprised that she didn’t have more dialogue during the Orin fight. I needed my fix of toxic yuri. Her voice acting is super super super good.
-Also, did her romance. it is very brief and doesn’t really reveal that much about her. Very disappointing. she’s still my hot, evil wife though.
-Did Vampire Ascendent Astarion. Again, objectively bad choice, but it’s very fun to watch him chew scenery in the lategame.
-I accepted Bhaal into my heart.
-I gave Raphael the Crown of Karsus in exchange for the Hammer. Nothing could go wrong
-I sided with Gortash. I think it would have been cool if he was a PC, instead of him just dying. I really liked the Dark Urge’s tie with both Gorty and with Orin. It really adds an extra dimension to their stories, especially Orin who didn’t seem to have much in a ‘regular’ playthrough.
-One random highlight is when I lied to the projection that Lorrakon set up and told him I was a tax collector and he gave me his tax money. LOL
-It felt pretty good to tell the Emperor to fuck himself. Stupid slimy bastard.
-Speaking of which, I used my one shot of Power Word Kill from being Bhaal’s Chosen on him in the final boss fight after chipping him a bit.
-Ending was ‘make everyone thralls, except Minthy who will help me usher in a reign of darkness’. Definitely not a great ending or very fleshed out compared to the regular ending, but it was honestly what I deserved. Sadly, Raphael didn’t come and try to take my crown. I could have taken that bitch.

Gameplay notes:
-Still did the base difficulty. I think I’d want to have a full party to play Hard.
-Bard is a fun class. Cutting Words is quite cool and made a lot of things that were hitting miss. I mostly used the Inspiration on that. Having to determine that you will use Inspo at the beginning of the turn makes its offensive capability less useful than normal.
-For my extra spells, I took Fireball and Counterspell the first time (because I was missing Gale and Wyll, and Counterspell rules), and Misty Step and Shield the second time. Teleporting is good, as it turns out!
-Went with a Rogue/Ranger multiclass for Astarion, which is way better than just Rogue. The extra attack on turn 1 at level 3 + extra attack at level 5 really adds the DPS element that Rogue desperately needed. I did Thief/Gloomstalker. Two bonus actions a turn is pretty swell for stabbing and hiding and dashing. He could really shoot down enemies a lot better than the first time.
-Did Tempest Cleric with Shadowheart. Much like first playthrough, she peaks midgame with max damage Shatter and Spirit Guardian, but she’s always pretty good. GOAT against Ketheric.
-I did Champion Lae’zel. Generally worse than the Battlemaster because of lack of options to increase accuracy, but once she gets rolling with Great Weapon she’s still solid. Action Surge is also sexy, especially with the ease of Short Rest in BG3 vs. 5e DnD
-Minthy is generally very solid; high AC, divine smite, Vow of Enmity. All around very good.
-Using a smaller party makes long rests more common. Didn’t really push my resources, but might have on the higher difficulty!

Final thoughts:

Gameplay is engaging and compelling; combines turn-based/grid-based tabletop gameplay into a game format quite well. The luck aspect is a bit of a damper on otherwise excellent combat. I liked how they took some of the weaker spells and abilities in 5e proper and buffed them. Definitely not an easy game, even on base difficulty, and has a lot of tricky bosses that you have to adjust your strategies to beat. Raphael was probably my favorite fight (and not just because of the music, although it helps), but I also really liked Cazador, Orin, Gortash, the goblin leader, and a lot of other random encounters which ended up being quite challenging and fun to beat. I want to revisit the game on Hard at some point.

I also like how customizable your party is and how you can play around with different builds if you want. I used Bard and Paladin and they felt like they played very different roles in the party while both being incredibly useful. The combinations of characters and classes you could play seems like it could lend a lot of replay value and tinkering around with the multiclass system is something I am interested in.

Plot is a mix of standard DnD flair with mindflayers, which adds an extra supernatural/horror element that I really liked. I wouldn’t say the plot is amazing and I think there’s definitely some parts that could have been done better, but overall I was satisfied with the progression. It starts a little slow, and Act 2 does feel a little fillery at times, but I thought Act 3 does a great job of tying together the threads.

Characters are the highlight of the game. All of your party members have fleshed out motives, backstories, and opinions on the journey. I like how the game gives you a built-in excuse to have party members of varying philosophies and alignments, which allows you to have Astarion and Wyll, two people whose life philosophies and moral codes are diametrically opposing, together in the same party without it feeling stupid or out of character for either. My faves are Lae’zel, Astarion, Karlach, Wyll, and of course Gortash, who revels in being the slimiest tyrant. All of them have compelling backstories and fun interplay with the other PCs. Gortash is a weird mix of power-hungry tyrant and actually a bit optimistic compared to your average character of his archetype?

I think all of the PCs are pretty good, though; I ended up with a positive opinion of all of them, even Gale who is the whitest white man to ever exist.. Halsin and Jaheira are a little less compelling but still likeable. Raphael and Mizora are two of the other highlights from the NPC cast, but a lot of them are quite good. Isobel and Dame Aylin are a great couple <3. Really enjoy their defying fate energy and Dame Aylin is suuuper fucking hot. Really missed them on this most recent run.

The voice acting really lends a lot to this! The game’s voice acting is almost universally very good (aside from Cazador, who sounds like my trying to impersonate a generic villain); Astarion and Lae’zel and Minthara are all great, and Gortash and Orin and Raphael have the right amount of villain pizzazz to make them compelling. I also really like the character designs and the outfit choices, and I really like that you can use not to wear a goofy helmet if you get it.

Some less good things would be
1. the load times and crashing on the steam deck is definitely a problem. I had a few cutscenes also fail to run properly, especially in the Astral Plane/Shadowfell. there are some times when things glitched out, and sometimes spells would take a minute to kick in.
2. the music. way too much of the game has barely noticeable music which is a shame. raphael’s song being a big exception.
3. some weird glitches, especially involving minthara’s dialogue. she repeated this line to me about gale like four times and he wasn’t even in my party. very odd and immersion breaking.  really should be fixed.

Overall, though, I had a great experience! Really enjoyed this game and its characters!

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General Chat / Re: What games are you playing 2024? Battle strength determined by frilly outfits

« on: March 01, 2024, 05:30:53 PM »

Baldur's Gate 3

So I decided against my better instincts to try Baldur's Gate 3, since a lot of people from various directions have been recommending it to me.

First of all, whew! My file ended up being 78 hours, which is longer than it usually takes me to play games. I am generally not much of a completionist for sidequests, but I did the character quests which added a significant chunk of game clock.

Lae'zal is probably my overall favorite character (and I even skipped some of her plot on accident in the earlygame, so I'll need to fix that), but I found all of their plotlines quite compelling. Wyll and Karlach are both really good people but have just enough edge to be fun. Some highlights from the NPC cast include Raphael, Dame Aylin, Isobel, Gortash, Orin, and Rolan. They did a good job of making the villains reasonably fun while also making you hate them. I feel like Astarion and Shadowheart get the best character quests (with the caveat that I missed a lot of Laz'ael's), Wyll's and Gale's are both decent, and Karlach's definitely feels a little less fleshed out than the others. Not getting to meet Zariel is definitely a bummer.

The voice acting is really good too. I thought all of the main characters have great voice acting. I think voice acting can really make a cast shine brighter and this cast definitely does!

Setting-wise, the game does a great job. I really like how the different locations feel lived in, especially Baldur's Gate itself. I think the plot is only 'decent' but the game really thrives on his character interactions and confrontations.

Gameplay is kind of SRPG layered with random die rolls and 5e DnD elements. It would be quite a daunting system to get used to if you weren't familiar with 5e already, but thankfully I am. Even still, there are so many options! Jump command being so important is odd to me. I really enjoyed a lot of the boss fights; Dror Ragzlin, Phase Spider Matriarch, Marcus, the Chosen Three, Viconia, Lorroakan, Cazador... the MVP fight has to be Raphael though. Fantastic music, gripping and difficult fight, lots of moving parts. His taunting and sneering at me…. hot.

Party balance is good, although I have to admit that LVP Rogue is pretty apt to my DnD experience. I adored playing as an Oath of the Ancients Paladin. Would really like to try Bard next, since for some reason there is no Bard PC at all! I was really surprised.

My biggest complaints would be that the game is glitchy, a little finnicky/too much information thrown at you, and that it has a protagonist that doesn't speak except for your dialogue. And the DnD DNA means that chance plays a large factor in combat at times.

I'm definitely interested to play it again pretty soon. I'd like to play as Dark Urge and get Minthara because I want to see what she's all about. Sad to lose some of my PCs but I'd like to get her authentically and play the game that way. My ending was me turning into an illithid and roaming Avernus with Wyll and Karlach. (presumably in a polycule, but wyll won't admit it) At the reunion, I tried to eat Gale's brain but I managed to stop myself. Hooray!

Gameplay notes:

I played as Oath of the Ancients Paladin which is overall solid. Their 'Turn the Faithless' really only came in handy a couple times, but the Healing Radiance was frequently incredibly useful. Really like the mixed fighter and mage role, and Divine Smite is great.

Battlemaster fighter + great weapon fighting feat + level 11 + potion of cloud giant strength for the final battle = ridiculous damage output. Fighter is overall good in this game but especially late after they get a third swing. I think the final form of the final boss took like ~120 a turn just from Lae'zel, which was pretty silly.

Wyll was the overall MVP -- Warlock is dumb as fuck. The armor that adds Cha modifier to cantrips... please. He did like 1d10 + double cha mod with each shot which is ridiculous from range. Cloud of Daggers saved my ass so many times against bosses, and fireball is fireball.

I gave Gale the boring-but-effective Evocation Wizard build, which was definitely really good! His Cantrip game was definitely weaker than Wyll's which makes me inclined to say he's a worse unit but still can't really go wrong with the Wizard arsenal.

Shadowheart... respecced to Light cleric, as I joked about. Fireball/Warding Flare/Radiance of the Dawn/Spirit Guardians/Guardian of Faith are all great, And having a healing battery to extend time between rests is always very useful! Lategame didn't get as much use from her.


Karlach is decent, definitely hits her stride in midgame, but felt like she ended up a little overshadowed by Lae'zel ultimately. Lots of HP and tanking power vs. physical enemies though.

Astarion was probably the worst of the origin characters because Rogue isn't great. I did Assassin for him. I've heard that Thief might have more interesting options. Cunning Action is good utility, but his bulk and damage isn't wonderful.

I didn't really use Halsin or Jaheira much. I was more excited about the origin units and usually ran out of steam with my main character before needing to use them.

I really loved this game. Definitely a big competitor for game of the year, and it's only March 1!!!

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Discussion / Re: 2023 Gaming in Review

« on: January 03, 2024, 04:27:09 PM »

New games I played this year:

Super Mario Bros.: Lost Levels - 1986, Famicom

Let’s not play. This game is absolutely terrible. So bad that they decided not to bring it over to North America after its original release and instead released ‘Super Mario USA’. The fundamental problem? The game basically just expects you to be psychic, requiring you to hit very obscure secret blocks in order to fulfill its challenge. It feels like it was designed by someone who decided the SMB1 was too accessible and easy, and made a game that would make you throw your controller out the window. It is Bad. Do not play it.

Why did I play it in 2023? Because I am very smart

Super Mario Wonder - 2023, Switch

Ooof. I did a full series replay before I played this game, and honestly the game is just lackluster in terms of its stage design, difficulty, and its powerups are nothing to write home about compared to previous games. Honestly I kinda forgot I even played it like two months later, and only remembered the next day after I was compiling a list of things I played this year.

The game obviously has a lot of love put into it. The animations are crisp, the music is nice (although the sounds are kinda weird), and I love that you can play as a diverse set of characters and the story isn’t just rehashed ‘save the princess’.

But Mario is a gameplay game and its stage design and powerups are the draw, and Wonder does not deliver.

Advance Wars 1: ReBoot Camp - 2023, Switch (original game 2001 for GBA)

Advance Wars 2: ReBoot Camp - 2023, Switch (original game 2003 for GBA)

These two are basically the same game. They feature the core mechanic of generic units, buildable units from a base, and minimal, rudimentary plot. The maps vary from “cool and interesting” to “holy shit these is way too long and grindy for an obvious outcome. The generals’ powers are fun but only a few really push into interesting.

2 gets the nod over 1 by virtue of having more playable characters and being more on the side of good maps rather than long and grindy, but not enough to move the needle all that much.

I’m not sure how much the reboots changed from the original games, since I never played them.


Dark Deity - 2022, Switch (original game 2021 for PC)

I dove into a variety of different SRPGs this year. Dark Deity models itself pretty directly off of GBA Fire Emblem, with a few major twists that make it different.

1. Dark Deity features more branching promotions and skills accompanying these promotions. Obviously FE8 started this but Dark Deity’s potential setups are much more elaborate.
2. It has a huge amount of supports available and allows you to build them by being in battle with the two characters, rather than the incredibly clunky GBA system where you have to have characters stand side-by-side in order to support.
3. While I don't think the game fully succeeds at its goal to create a compelling storyline, I do think that the game has some attempt to write a real plot as opposed to Advance Wars 1/2 which basically don’t.

My biggest beefs with the game is that a) the game’s balance doesn’t really keep up with your power level, and often combinations of the really good abilities can just overwhelm entire maps, b) the game’s writing, while there is a lot of it, most of it is pretty paint-by-numbers, and c) there are a lot of weird bugs and glitches that happen, especially the targeting which seems to be quite buggy.

It’s not as good as FE7/8, let alone later games in the series which improve on the FE formula, but it’s an interesting game and worth playing if you are invested in FE as a series.

Metal Gear Solid 3 - PS2, 2004

Honestly, Metal Gear Solid 3 would be a great game if I didn’t have to, you know, play it.

I hate stealth games. I hate sections in games that require stealth and pretty much always try to bash through any stealth sections if bashing through is a possiblity. So MGS3 is objectively a terrible game for me to play because it’s basically all stealth.

It’s an incredibly interesting game writing-wise. The first hour and the last hour are both absolutely show-stopping, very good, well-plotted, great plot twists. Unfortunately, the game does suffer from the important question of “When The Boss isn’t on screen, everyone should be asking, “Where is The Boss?” She’s a show stopper. A crazy, magnificient bastard. The cringe miniboss squad who can barely muster a gimmick, the incredibly gross General guy, get these bitches out of my face. Where is the Boss???

She is sensational. I love her. Her monologue at the beginning of the game when the other characters are explaining basic gameplay functions, while she’s explaining the nature of betrayal and the fleeting vision of ideology. Beautiful. 10/10. Chef’s kiss.

I like the main character as well. He’s fun and super socially awkward! The ending with him is very neat. Ocelot is funny once you realize he’s a total fucking ham. The comic chaaracter in the game that actually works!

The rest of the characters? Thumbs down honestly. The general guy is so generic and the quirky miniboss squad is just super lame. Eva is a very weird character but not a huge fan.

I can see why people like this game, but it’s very not for me.

Pokémon Scarlet - 2022, Switch

Pokemon Scarlet is probably the game on this list that I have the most trouble placing a ordinal ranking or score to, since I have pretty complex feelings on it.

Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way; the game’s performance is total dogshit and the fact that it shipped in its unfinished state is totally wild. It really feels like it needed another six months or a year in the oven.

Past that, i think the game does quite a lot right. Nemona is an incredibly cute and endearing character, and I think having the rival be a mentor who is also just super nerdy about Pokemon is fun twist on the whole concept. It has a lot of other endearing characters too — the cute Eevee-stan Penny, the ever-loveable old man yaoi duo in Brassius and Hassel, and the delightful Rhimes. The cast is definitely my favorite in the series (admittedly a pretty low bar.) And Clive/Clavell got a few laughs out of me with his ridiculousness. The plot is silly but it’s Pokemon so whatever.

I enjoyed the idea of doing three different types of missions, rather than the rinse and repeat fighting Gym leaders thing that the old games do. I thought all three types of challenges were pretty fun, although I do think that the non-linear nature of the game means that you might potentially do things in a totally wacky order, which means that some things you will encounter will be unusually difficult and others quite easy. I ended up doing a small amount of FAQing just to have a guide about the levels of each challenge, and I felt like that was a good decision to increase my enjoyment of the game. I disapprove of this on general principle though.

One thing I really like about Scarlet is the availability of Pokemon which were often rare or hard to get in some earlier games. The Eevelutions, for example, you can catch in the field, which is a great change. Giving players access to a large amount of Pokemon without insane degrees of effort really suits my playstyle well, since I am old and too lazy to both with jumping through hoops to get a Pokemon. I also liked having prizes for fighting Trainers rather than making it required, so you could customize the length of your game reasonably well.

I thought that the Elite Four and the Champion and the rival fight afterwards were all quite enjoyable and kept me on my toes. I felt like it was in a good place challenge-wise and generally was quite happy with that portion of the game. The game after that… is honestly a little wacky. I still enjoyed the final dungeon and the banter between the characters but I felt like the balance was a little off in terms of encounters there.

I feel like the game scratched my Pokemon itch for a while. Fun game, lots of really fun content, but I don’t really feel the need to revisit or play its DLC.

Mario + Rabbids: The Sparks of Hope - 2022, Switch

Sliding in finishing this the last two days of December! After playing the first Mario + Rabbids game a few years ago and being very impressed with it, I decided to pick up its sequel.

One thing that I think sequels can suffer from is feeling too derivative and not branching out enough. I don’t think this problem applies to Rabbids  - it feels like it adds enough ripples to the battle system that the game feels distinct from its predecessor. The freer movement system, the Dash system being revamped so you can repeatedly attack the same enemy, the Team Jump mechanic having a real-time aspect, and the Sparks as equippable party resources all feel like features that make the battles feel different than the first game’s.

The quality of life improvement of both allowing Mario to be removed from the party and also just allowing us access to more characters earlier in the game. It also doesn’t have incredibly late joinining PCs like Yoshi, or dysfunctional ones like Rabbid Yoshi. The worst offender is in the other direction — not sure what they were thinking with Rabbid Rosalina, who seems like the clear gameplay designer pet character with the multitarget Stop move and the gatling gun attack that easily destroys cover. But the playable characters do all feel distinct, and you get to play as Bowser in the this game!

Now, is Rabbids 2 a better game than 1 overall? That’s a different question altogether. I felt that the game is less tactical than 1, even on the highest difficulty. It’s strange that they added a Hard mode and then made it easier than the first game’s Normal mode, although it’s not that dramatic. Much like the first game, it has maps with variable goals, which is a personal favorite thing of mine, but 2’s feel a little more trivial to fulfill. I’m a little sad that the Toad rescue missions haven’t returned, for all that they can be rather infuriating. I think the extra movement freedom makes the game slower, which is a negative in my book, and the map design isn’t as crisp or well-thought out as the first game.

Its plot is still what you’d expect from a Mario and Rabbids crossover — mostly filler, frequently humorous, and periodically cringe.

The game is still fundamentally enjoyable. It’s still tactical and engaging and has cool maps. I don’t think it quite lives up to the first game but the first game is one of my favorite SRPGs for gameplay of all time, so that’s not really an insult. The game is merely ‘pretty good’, rather than great. And I respect that it doesn’t feel like it is just the same game as the first.

Fire Emblem: Engage - 2023, Switch

Rise from a thousand years ago!

If Rabbids breaks away from its predecessor by implementing minor mechanical changes on top of a core base idea, Fire Embem: Engage radically departs from the previous game, with a mix of fresh and innovative gameplay ideas with the Emblem and Ring equipment system, and harkening back to yesteryear with its simple good vs. evil plotlines. You know my opinion on the predecessor so we can just skip to the point that I like it less, which is the most predictable thing of all time.

Much like Rabbids 2, I started the game on the highest difficulty. Unlike Rabbids 2, the game’s maps feel plotted with a great degree of intention. Each map feels like you as the player have to put a lot of thought into the strategy that you need to employ to win. There are a few maps that fall flat (Chapter 22), but overall I think the game has a lot of engaging maps that keep you on your toes without feeling grindy or excessively difficult. The Rewind mechanic (whatever it is called in this iteration) is always a great boon and sets it above old games in the series. I think the map design is stellar, second only to Conquest in the series.

The Emblems have an interesting warping effect on the gameplay, in that the characters with Emblems feel much more powerful than their allies, which for me is something that I dislike since I like characters to have roughly the same powers and to be able to be compared to each other. I think making the non-Emblem rings give great stat bonuses (and please not ran by gacha!!!). I also think that Canter and Canter+ are overcentralizing abilities and the characters that you can grab those for early are at a great advantage.

The character balance of the game is interesting. It feels like most of the Part 2 joining characters are just more powerful than the ones who join early in the game. Alfred is terrible, Diamant is mid, and Ivy and Hortensia kinda own your mages/healers from Part 1. It’s a bit of a baffling choice. One notable exception is that if you can grab Canter on someone before Chapter 11, it is great to do so and it makes that character better! When I used Clanne that’s what I ended up doing, and while he’s not an amazing PC, at least he can move two squares after acting for longer than other people! Hooray.

Only having two skills slots is definitely a bummer in this system, particularly because Canter will realistically occupy one of them since it’s both very powerful to change position after attacking, and also because it’s a fun ability to use compared to Speed +5 or whatever.

The plot is pretty dreadful. It veers beyond the Mario + Rabbids territory of irreverrence and unseriousness into “wow, this game takes itself 100% seriously and yet I do not understand how anyone could deliver something so cringe with a straight face.” It has a few good characters; I like Ivy and Citrinne and Yunaka pretty well, I think Fogado and Timerra are very endearing, but honestly I don’t think even Ivy really compares to the best characters in old games. The supports are boring and tropey. The Emblem introduction scenes actually make me want to crawl in a hole. “Shine on, Emblem of Beginnings”. Please just, put me out of my misery.

The character designs are hit and miss. Citrinne slaps, but I can’t say I’m into Pepsi-chan.

The game is pretty good despite the plot being a disaster. The second time through was better because I pressed the sceneskip button liberally.

at this point i kinda got tired of writing so....

Theatrhythm - Final Bar Line - 2023, Switch

It’s the same old Theatrhythm. I’m not even sure the game is worth putting on this list, considering that it’s basically the same as the other two games but has some extra characters and new songs. But I paid full price for it, goddammit, and played entirely too many hours of it, so here it goes. Final Fantasy music still rules face.

This Way Madness Lies - 2023, Switch

Next up is a game that was made in a test tube to make me specifically happy. It’s a game where all the playable characters are women, men barely exist, there are silly Shakespeare references, and all the characters dress in brightly colored themed outfits.

The premise is quite fun and the story, while nothing to write home about, moves the game along quite nicely.

The gameplay is very fun! The game manages to balance out the abilities and make the battle system that Zeboyd has been iterating on for the past several games to feel fresh and endearing. The characters all feel distinct from each other and each feels fun to play as. It’s about 10 hours long, which I think is a good length for the style of game. The enemies on the higher difficulties are both quite challenging and you have to be deliberate and thoughtful about how you fight against them. I really like the ‘Trait’ system, where you can choose abilities to use, balancing out the skill(s) that it buffs (sometimes they buff status attack, sometimes ice attack, sometimes they make a specific skill better) with the stats that it gives.

I would say my two biggest complaints are the fact that they got rid of the turn gauge (very weird, considering that CSC had it), and the fact that statuses are hard to see from the ally side. I think it is not as informative as it could be and the game suffers from that.

Otherwise, the game is a delightful romp! I played the NG+ on the highest difficulty as well and it was quite challenging. Very fun game. Would recommend.

Bravely Default 2 - 2021, Switch

If you like job systems games, this one is a banger! Thery took the same basic format of the previous games (the Brave and Default systems allowing you to adjust your turn order, job system), and added each character getting a turn as they come rather than traditional turn-based combat. I definitely think that it makes the game better than the previous two games because the gameplay is more dynamic and you can respond to threats more readily.

The skill system is dynamic and fun to combine with other skills. The game’s class balance isn’t perfect but many of the jobs are quite fun to use and experiment with. I played on Hard mode which challenges you to utilize your resources in the best ways possible. I really liked it!

The plot is serviceable. I like Elvis and think he’s a total riot. Everyone else I could take or leave, but the plot doesn’t really shit itself or anything.

Graphics are definitely nicer than the previous two games, but I’d still prefer to see them upgrade to a more modern style.

Metroid Dread - 2021, Switch

Metroid Dread combines all the things that make Metroid good (exploration, cool upgrades, well-designed bosses) and avoids the pitfalls (weird misfire bosses, too much grinding). It’s a great game — not too short, not to long — and it is really just throughly enjoyable to play from start to finish. I really enjoyed the Chozo Solider fights and the final boss slaps. The game’s plot is pretty mid, but who cares, it’s a romp. Maybe one day Metroid will have good plot, but I wouldn’t count on it. The game also looks quite nice for what it is, which obviously is not super fancy but very stylish!

Love this game!!!! If you like Metroidvanias, it’s the best I’ve ever played!!!

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General Chat / Re: What games are you playing 2023: WGAYP, Engage!

« on: October 19, 2023, 02:41:52 PM »

Mario series introspective

I decided to do a replay of a bunch of 2D Marios to celebrate/amp up for the release of Super Mario Wonder on the 20th of October.

Super Mario Bros. 1 (1985, NES) - A classic. Obviously the game has some warts and clunkiness, particularly its sliding/jumping which is a lot less smooth than later entries in the series. Still, I give the game credit for establishing a lot of the Mario traditions that persist to this day, and there’s something fun about the way that the game encourages you to collect coins meticulously and you have to be very diligent/careful about extra lives or else you will be sent back to the beginning of the world. (I know you can cheat for infinite lives but I don’t bother myself.)

I don’t necessarily want the series to bring that stuff back, but it’s a nice change of pace if you want something a little more hardcore.

Lost Levels (1986, Famicom) - I had never played this to completion before. The game is a huge pain in the ass and is honestly such a great tale in making a sequel that is too faithful to the original/feels like a romhack of the first game/a total disaster. The game starts out at around World 7 difficulty-wise and only gets harder from there. You’d think this would be appealing to a hardcore gamer nerd like me but it’s not honestly. By about ¾ in I wanted to throw the game in the dumpster.

Super Mario Bros. 2/US (1988, NES) - When you are so much better than the actual sequel to a game that you get retconned into being the sequel. Anyway, wonderful game, delightful design, music, and I love how the four characters all feel unique to each other. Also, getting to play as a female character was a total dream for young Amy, who often found herself alienated from games due to being forced to play a dude. (And floating is OP, so young Amy also was lucky to use a great character.) I’ve played SMB2 about 30 times so no revelations here but the game is great as always.

Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990, NES) - This game introduced quite a few of the modern conceptions of what worlds look like, and the more overpowered/accessible powerups to help you power through stages. It still has some warts and quirks but it’s a lot more smooth of an experience than 1. It’s the first game that feels like it is part of a world with its cute little world map. Also, World 8 is hard as shit, but in a fun way.

Super Mario World (1991, SNES) - The first game with the large power creep, with both the cape, which is even more overpowered and level-skipping than the racoon suit, and of course the loveable Yoshi, who you can take out of stages and also find blue Yoshis to fly around with just a turtle shell. Yoshi has multiple powerful ways of disabling enemies, can take a free hit, and also can let you jump higher. The game probably was a little too over-the-top with its overpowered stuff, but it’s still fun. One thing I really like about it is that its worlds feel more connected/coherent than many of the other games in the series, and I liked the boss fights in this game with the Koopalings.

Super Mario World 2/Yoshi’s Island (1995, SNES) - I guess depending on your definition this is either a game in the Mario series or the first game in the Yoshi series. Having a game where Yoshi is the hero is pretty great though, and I love the fluttering mechanic. The levels have a lot of creative energy put into them and I absolutely adore the game’s artstyle – it feels unique and gives the game a lot of character.

New Super Mario Bros. (2006, DS) - 2D series revival! After 14 years Mario discovered that it's still cool to make 2D games. Anyway, the game does seem like it is trying to draw back on the series roots, having Fire Flower as its most powerful item. The biggest additions are wall jumping (which at this point has been a big part of a variety of other series, including MMX) and the mini mushroom, which is particularly important in DS because it gives you access to worlds and stages that you would not otherwise be able to do. Interesting series reboot.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009, Wii) - This game brings back a little more of the wonk from 3/World; the Coptorshroom is fucking ridiculous. This game is super fun and has great stage design; I love the creativity put into the stages and the tricks you have to do to get coins. It would be even better if you didn’t have to use the sideways Wiimote as the controller (hint hint Nintendo, re-release this game). Still, great entry into the series, and one I greatly enjoyed replaying.

Super Mario 3D Land (2011, 3DS) - The first real meddling with the traditional 2D formula aside from the pure 3D Marios, which honestly feel like a different genre. The levels are structured more similarly to the 2D games, but it’s imprinted on 3D environments. I really like bringing back the raccoon suit and making it less OP/reflavoring it to be more like a small float. Some very cool/interesting stage design. I noticed that it does a lot of funky things with 3D perspective which sometimes freaks me out and I feel dizzy. It’s a fun little game, but feels like a beta of 3D World which takes its good points and adds many many more.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 (2012, 3DS) - Honestly the worst game I’ve played in the series since Lost Levels. It doesn’t really have any cool or unique mechanics, and its gimmick is COINS which is a terrible gimmick because too many coins devalues coins. Ha ha. The stages are uninspired and easy. I did the entire bonus world with only losing like two lives, which is nuts. Just a thoroughly uninspired entry in the series. Maybe most of their juice was going into…

New Super Mario Bros. U (2012, WiiU) - Colorful, joyful, great stage design, love the squirrel suit, diversity in stages, challenging bonus content, great final boss. A total treat to play from start to finish. The Switch version even has the option to play Toadette! I really enjoyed how the game incorporates Yoshi and the Yoshi babies without making them overcentralizing. Final boss was very fun. Probably my favorite game in the series since SMB3?

Super Mario 3D World (2013, WiiU) - Scratch that. Now this game, this game fucking rules. Diverse stage design, great gimmick maps (double cherry is my personal favorite, and also love the mind-bending blocks that change direction when you jump), the ability to play Peach, the oodles of bonus content, the great difficulty curve, and the final boss fight is inspired. I absolutely love the cat suit – diverse in both combat and in exploration, and fits the 2.5D environment so well. And Champion’s Road, well, is the hardest stage in Mario history. Please make a sequel, Nintendo. I'm begging you.

Overall ratings: 3D World > 2 > 3 > NSMBU > NSMBWii > World > World 2 > NSMB > 1 > 3D Land >> NSMB2 >>>>>> Lost Levels

Overall, it has been quite fun to revisit the 2D/2.5D series. I pre-ordered Wonder already.

5

General Chat / Re: What games are you playing 2023: WGAYP, Engage!

« on: September 20, 2023, 03:02:46 AM »

I'm glad to hear the gameplay holds up in This Way Madness Lies.

The premise and pixel art looked interesting, but I'd somehow managed to miss that it was a Zeboyd game. Which generally feels like a positive even though Cosmic Star Heroine is their only game I've liked without reservation. Addressing the one strat fits all issue with CSH by way of enemy composition sounds super encouraging.

I would definitely play This Way Madness Lies if you liked CSH! 

Speaking of, I just finished the NG+ playthrough. I ended up lowering the difficulty to the second highest again after encountering a particularly nasty random encounter that I couldn't beat. NG+ was fun and it was cool to see all the late late late game abilities and be able to play with them in an environment that put of a fight. Finished with the two playthroughs in about 23 hours.

6

General Chat / Re: What games are you playing 2023: WGAYP, Engage!

« on: September 16, 2023, 05:24:44 AM »

This Way Madness Lies — Completed the game on ‘Challenging’, the second highest difficulty mode.

This game really feels like the culmination of what makes Zeboyd good — tightly balanced gameplay, light-hearted storytelling, and well-balanced characters — and adds magical girls and Shakespeare. Honestly, the game feels like it caters to my interests in such a complete way. Definitely the best gameplay effort from Zeboyd, as well as graphics and character design, and the writing is definitely good at being funny filler.

Beatrice was one of my MVP characters, who has multi-target offensive status (poison/defense down/attack down/charm) and a crazy-high ailment inflicting stat. In addition, this game features the ability to see an enemy’s ‘ailment HP’ which lets you know how close you are to being able to inflict the status. Charm is quite powerful even though it only lasts one turn, since the enemies tend to do massive damage to themselves. Poison is also quite good, especially MT Poison for randoms who can be pretty durable.

The other was Paulina, who is a great healer with several good moves, has multi-target Unstoppable (a buff that lets you go into negative HP for one turn) on her Hyper turns, and has one move that lets you inflict status for an extra turn on an enemy that is currently statuses. Combined with Beatrice’s Charm on bosses, the enemy will often do massive damage to themselves or their support. (And yes, you can charm bosses).

Imogen is forced but she’s a good all-around unit, similar to other Zeboyd main characters. She has healing, light magic, charm, and turn shift. Would be a compelling choice even if she wasn’t forced.

My fourth choice (besides Imogen, who is forced) for the final dungeon was Kate, who is a good defensive tank character with some fun general tricks up her sleeve, such as attracting attacks, buffing defense, and being able to heal herself out of Unstoppable with attacks. She also has a weird White Wind-like healing move which can be useful if your characters are pretty far into the negatives. I also like that her design reminds me of a FE pegasus knight.

The other charcters are Rosiland (who is a mixed fighter/healer, and is pretty good but doesn’t fill the healing niche as well as Paulina because of the lack of MT Unstoppable), Viola (who is the damage character, but doesn’t have a whole lot of other tricks), and Miranda, who feels like a discount version of Paulina, at least the way I play because I like buffing and healing and statusing. She has a skillset that changes laterally whether she is Hyper or not, which is an interesting idea but in practice I didn’t find her toolkit as useful as the other PCs. You could probably run them on the same team and Miranda could fill other roles, but not as well as other characters. None of the characters are bad though.

Interesting to note that they brought the full choice in abilities back to the game, as opposed to Cthulhu Saves Christmas which had three randomized skills in each battle. Cosmic Star Heroine felt very patterned/monotonous because the same combination of abilities were largely used to beat everything, but this game I feel like the enemy compositions matter a lot more and you pay attention to them. It helps that the status HP is visible! Great change.

Music is also a step up from the previous games.

I’m currently replaying the game on NG+ and I turned up the difficulty to the highest setting. I’m about 1/3 through since I’ve been button-mashing through cutscenes and I know where to go.

Great game, recommend to anyone who likes traditional turn based RPGs!

7

Tournaments / Re: RPGVO 2023 Nomination Thread

« on: August 13, 2023, 08:34:45 PM »

Godlike: Odd Eye (SF2), Jowy Atreides (S2), Edelgard (FE3H), Seymour Guado (FFX),
Heavy: Edgar Roni Figaro (FF6), Hildagarde Valentine (SH3), Clarissa Arwin (WA:XF), Rune Walsh (PS4)
Middle: Anastasia Romanov (SH2), Lysithea von Ordelia (FE3H), October (CSWT), Lightning Farron (FF13)
Light:  Hubert von Vestra (FE3H), Queen (S3), Jelanda (VP1), Sialeeds Falenas (S5)

8

General Chat / Re: What games are you playing 2023: WGAYP, Engage!

« on: July 16, 2023, 05:35:57 AM »

We’re halfway through the year, so I decided to do some small write-ups about my favorite games I’ve played this year.

My game of the year this year has gotta be Metroid Dread, which is a fabulous return to the 2D Metroid staples while offering a fresh and fun experience. While the plot is only so-so, the gameplay is stellar. The boss fights are fun and engaging, the upgrade system and exploration is super great, and the atmosphere and setting work are top notch.

My second favourite of the year is probably Bravely Default 2. I haven’t beaten this game quite yet, but I’ve been having a blast with its fresh take on job systems, its change from turn-based in Bravely Default 1 to CTB in Bravely Default 2, and the quality of life features like adjusting in battle speed, retuning the Default system, and making cool boss designs that all feel unique and not just copied from BD1’s. I’m having a great time with the game so far! I will confirm my feelings when it’s completed, but it’s a great game.

My third favourite is probably Theatrhythm: Final Bar. I’ll be honest, this answer feels like a bit of a copout, considering that it’s basically the same game as games I already loved (the first two games) with some slight variation in the formula so they can sell it as a different game. Still, I am forever in love with the endearing chibi designs of the Final Fantasy characters, and what’s not to love about a game where you get to listen to FF music?

An honorable mention to Pokémon Scarlet, which I just finished and throughly enjoyed! It added a fresh coat of paint to a franchise that I've had a lot of trouble getting back into after XY; I love that there are encounters on the map, I love that you have more openness in what you do and when, there is a ton of selection of Pokémon catchable in the mainline (including ALL the Eevees!), and the game despite my skepticism had a plot that was at least heartwarming, if maybe not Oscar-worthy. Really loved this take on the Pokémon experience.

9

Discussion / Re: Three Houses and Politics

« on: July 25, 2021, 05:01:20 AM »

MERCEDES VON MARTRITZ SUPPORT RANKINGS

Interesting character; she often plays a supporting role in her supports rather than being the driving force. She likes to inquire about the feelings and hopes and dreams of others, rather than expressing her own. She is mild but is able to cut through the bullshit of various people, including Dimitri, Sylvain, and Lorenz.

Mercedes/Byleth

Rating: Low 3.

It’s a pretty typical Byleth support, giving us information about the character’s motives and the way they tick without really exploring the relationship, but I like this one more than some for two reasons. 1) it has an S support for both genders and 2) the A support has some masterclass flirting and I find it endearing.

Best line: “I’m choosing to live my life how I want, in pursuit of my own happiness. I need you to accept that. I’m in charge of my own destiny. Not you, not anyone else. Just me.”

Mercedes/Dimitri (four part)

Rating: 5

I really like how this support starts out in a pretty lighthearted, humorous way, where Mercie, who forgot about training she needed to do, enlists Dimitri to help her. Mercedes almost kills Dimitri (whoops) but he still resolves to help her because he’s a polite guy who wants to be helpful. Then we get into Dimitri’s non-existent sewing abilities, which are funny on the surface, but the support reveals how frustrated he is with his own deficiencies and inability to be ‘delicate’ (which ties in with his own character arc). Mercedes tries to get him to open up about his family, which he does, and then he gets her to open up a bit too.

They both have this thing in the chain where each of them deflects talking about themselves to the other by trying to change the conversation to the other’s feelings. I think it is very cute.

The A support is maybe one of the single best supports in the game for understanding both characters. It explores Dimitri’s shame and relationship with death, and Mercedes’ ability to rationalize someone’s murderousness using -logic-, obviously derived from her own rationalizing of her brother’s actions. Really good exploration of Azure Moon’s themes, with the discussion of living in the present instead of the past, and Mercedes just wanting Dimitri to forgive himself.

This support is one of the reasons I get so annoyed when people say that Dimitri is ‘magically cured of mental illness’ because it’s so obvious here that he is struggling mightily with self-image and being haunted by his past.

Best line: “Please, I can’t hear any more of this self-deprecation! I just want to be by your side. Is that so much to ask?”

Mercedes/Dedue

Rating: 5

What an amazing support. Mercedes really is able to get Dedue to open up about Duscur, and not just its death and the discrimination he faces, but its culture and lifestyle. She is sensitive to his feelings and relates to him by talking about sharing her own family’s recipes, when her family is also gone and she uses this to allow him to open up about his feelings I think it’s so sweet and well-handled and they just have such a loving, wonderful dynamic. (Also, Dedue almost asks her on a date but is too shy. Booo!)

I love this because it’s a rare place where we learn about Duscur’s culture and we really break Dedue’s heavily built barriers. He is able to comfortably express himself to someone who is non-judgmental and who legitimately cares for both him and his people. Sob. Wonderful. I cried while reading it again.

Best line: “Duscur is gone, but I’m still here…”

Mercedes/Felix

Rating: High 4.

God this support is raw, really cutting to the heart of both characters and their collective mourning over their brothers. Felix is upset about feeling like someone’s brother replacement / traumatized from his own brother’s death, and Mercedes is coping / dealing with her own brother’s mental illness. Very good stuff all around; love this support chain. At first I thought Felix was just being a huge dick but now I understand why he is the way he is, this chain makes a lot of sense and I feel a lot of empathy for both of them as they struggle with their sibling problems. Ugh, good stuff.

Best line: “I’ve already spent years filling in for someone who’s dead. My older brother inspired love and respect—he was a great knight. He died. Since his death, his memory has followed me around like a shadow.”

Mercedes/Ashe

Rating: 2.

This support is about cooking or baking or something. Too many of the Blue Lions support chains boil down to women being bad at cooking, to be honest!

Best line: no

Mercedes/Sylvain

Rating: 5

Another great Mercedes support with a male Lion. This time, Mercedes and Sylvain resonate with each other very strongly because of their opposition to the Crest-based system that they both navigate as Crest-bearers. Mercedes expresses her sadness, Sylvain expresses his rage.

Sylvain hits on her a few times in this support, but she consistently deflects his bullshit, but in a nice way.

Sylvain: Of course! I think I love you! And I mean that. With all my heart. I love you, Mercedes! Let’s get married and have Crest babies!

Mercedes: Sure, sure.

Sure, sure always makes me laugh; what an amazing way to just tell Sylvain he is full of shit.

The A support is stellar. Sylvain takes off the mask, and we see he true feelings. Mercedes is just relieved that the mask is gone after all of this time, and they bond over their feelings.

Sylvain: Mercedes… Was my sad smile really that bad? Did it ruin my dashing good looks?

Mercedes: Not at all. You actually look more handsome to me with honesty on your face.

Augh, what a great line. I love this support. They are so sweet. They both deserve to live in a world where they feel comfortable about being honest.

Best line: “Don’t be ashamed of crying. I’m here to protect you. Will you protect me in return?”

Mercedes/Annette

Rating: 2.

This support is really strange. It feels like it should be a good support, since Mercedes and Annette have such a close bond plotwise and there is a lot of pre-existing bonds, but the support is just kind of a dud. The B has some fake melodrama which feels artificially produced to create some sort of problem, and then the A support ends in an unsatisfying way. I think there’s a reason why this ship isn’t popular, and one of those reasons is because this support is kinda underwhelming, sorry.

(I have heard that this support is better in Japanese. Please don’t DM me about the Japanese version, because I genuinely don’t give a fuck.)

Best line: no

Mercedes/Ingrid (two part)

Rating: 4

One of those supports I definitely curse the game for not having an A support and ending, this could have been an amazing WLW ship but the game robbed us. Regardless, great support, explores the relationship between two women who have been trapped in the patriarchal, Crest-obsessed culture and are both coping with it in their own way; Mercedes is more traditional and feminine, whereas Ingrid is more drawn to knighthood, but both share the commonality of being tired of being used for their lineage.

Best line: “I’m not a tool for furthering my family’s fortunes. I’m a knight at heart. Regardless of what my father desires.”

Mercedes/Ferdinand (four part)

Rating: High 3

I would qualify this as one of the modestly funny supports in the game; it has Mercedes falling asleep as Ferdinand talks, and then Ferdinand trying his best to do the right thing but not really thinking very hard about it. It’s sweet and Ferdinand is such a cutiepie. Very romantic ending.

Best line: “Of course I do. Let me try that again in a way you might understand. Ahem. A true noble cuts their own path, seizing freedom from the clutches of tyranny!”

Mercedes/Lorenz

Rating: Lowish 4

Okay so the first time I watched this support it made me laugh pretty hard because Mercedes, who is usually so nice and sweet, just really slits his throat in this support. “You can’t even see us of lower birth?” Holy shiiit. And then in the A “Your lack of tact is probably what women find irresistible about you” She really calls out his unfortunate value system in a frank and blunt way. Actually, that’s one of the things I like about her.

With that being said, I think that the support shows a pretty human and understandable side of Lorenz as well; he just wants to fulfill his perceived duty to his family, even at the cost of his own personal happiness, and Mercedes convinces him that perhaps that is not the only way. I think it’s very heartwarming, ultimately.

Best line: “I find myself growing irritated just looking at you.”

Mercedes/Ignatz

Rating: Low 3.

Sweet support that develops a cute relationship between Mercedes and Ignatz. Nothing too groundbreaking but it’s heartwarming. Definitely looked this up to remember it!

Best line: “You’re making this out to be much bigger than it is. I mostly just don’t pay attention. Being like me is more trouble than it’s worth.”

Mercedes/Hilda

Rating: 2

Honestly not much going on here. Hilda is manipulative, Mercedes is nice. Treads mostly already tread ground for both characters, and it is trod better in other supports.

Best line: no

Mercedes/Alois

Rating: Lowish 4.

Interesting support. On the surface it seems silly, since it’s about ghost stories, but there are some things about both characters that are pretty cool that are revealed here! Alois, like many of the other characters in the cast, has to grapple with mortality, death, and killing as part of his job. I would be interested to learn more about Faerghus’s culture with respect to the dead haunting people because it is a bit of a recurring theme, both literally and metaphorically.

Mercedes, on the other hand, can just dispense scary stories with a straight face. I have always interpreted her blasé stance on death as part of her backstory and the fact that she’s had to reconcile with her brother being a serial killer and her family being so fucked up, but that might just be me reading more than is there. Regardless, I really like this one!

Best line: “As a knight myself, I slew countless foes. I shudder at the memory of my own deeds. The corpses I made, heaped in a pile, would be like a mountain. I suppose that’s why I’m so frightened of ghosts. What if they appear before me, seeking revenge?”

Mercedes/Cyril (two part)

Rating: High 2.

It’s kinda sweet and shows you Mercedes’ motherly side and shows a friendlier side of Cyril, but it’s not too groundbreaking. I definitely had to look this up to remember it.

Best line: nah

Mercedes/Jeritza

Rating: 4

This support is vital in understanding both of these characters and chalk full of meaningful and impactful conversations about their past, as well as serving as a wrap-up to both of their characters with respect to their relationship with each other.

Best line: “You saw it yourself. The demon that lives within bears his fangs indiscriminately. You… know all of this, and still you wish for me to remain?”

Mercedes/Constance

Rating: Low 3

It’s fine. I like their familiar familiarity and Mercedes’ sisterly love for Constance. Some backstory stuff for Constance, some exploration of their relationship with each other in the backstory. Never gonna be a big fan of Constance supports though.

Best line: “Our names shall ring out across Fódlan, earning us the titles we rightly deserve!”

Three supports Mercedes should have had:

Edelgard. If someone does not support Edelgard, they should. Simple. I could see either a discussion about the Empire/her brother or some philosophical discussions about the role of religion and church in society, a variant on the Manuela one.
Flayn. They both are free-spirited and a little bit odd, so I think they would get along well.
Manuela. Discussion of how being treated as a piece of meat has affected them both in different ways. Could be with Dorothea as well but I think Manuela deserves good supports.

10

Discussion / Re: Three Houses and Politics

« on: July 21, 2021, 11:19:30 PM »

LYSITHEA VON ORDELIA SUPPORT RANKINGS / ANALYSIS

Lysithea/Byleth

Rating: Low 3.

This is mostly just Lysithea info dump but it’s not bad as it serves a useful plot function to explain her. I like the exploration of Lysithea’s insecurity with respect to being perceived as just ‘talented’ because of her Crests, and the S support is sweet.

Best line: “Anyhow, I’ve made a point to work harder than most and not rely too heavily on the power they bestow. So, I find it frustrating that the only praise I receive is directly related to that power.”

Lysithea/Claude

Rating: 3.

It’s okay. There are some definitely good humorous bits, but I do feel like it coasts a little too much on the Claude being vaguely condescending to Lysithea, which I don’t really like much. You will notice that as a general theme in these writeups; I think condescending can be an effective part of her supports, but I think this one is mostly just about that. I do like how he talks about respecting her, though, although he doesn’t always show it. Decent support but not great. Also feel like there is basically zero romantic chemistry here.

Best line: “If a child and a princess are out, what’s left? Should I treat you as a noble hero? Draw your sword, Lysithea! If you wish to continue studying, you must first defeat me in battle!”

Lysithea/Lorenz (four part)

Rating: High 2.

I’ll be honest, I don’t really like Lorenz very much, particularly his interactions with women. This one isn’t awful, but I still feel the whiff of condescension wafting from him in this support. But the A is pretty sweet, I’ll grant, and I like how he breaks through to try to help put her mind at ease.

Best line: “I don’t have time to “take a rest”. I’m overloaded with work, and I have less time than everyone else. I just want to do my own thing, bring order to the Alliance, and put my parents’ minds at ease.”

Lysithea/Raphael

Rating: 1.

This support gives me hives. Just stop being weird and condescending and ask for consent, Raphael!! I think there’s a big difference in people being asses and realizing it (see below) vs. Raphael, who just doesn’t really care about being really patronizing to Lysithea (and his sister).

Best line: no

Lysithea/Ignatz

Rating: High 3.

I know a lot of people hate this support, but I like it because it has some really good character development from Lysithea and Ignatz both; Lysithea realizes that her words are hurtful and tactless toward him, and we learn about Ignatz’s rather crippling indecision paralysis as well as his confusion about Lysithea’s hurtfulness toward him. I don’t think I would ship them because she would just run roughshod over him, but it’s an interesting support with some glimmers of good stuff for both characters.

Best line: “It’s not easy for me to rely on people, but with you, it’s different.”

Lysithea/Marianne (two part)

Rating: Low 3. This support is somewhat similar to the previous one where we explore Lysithea’s insensitivity to people with anxiety, but I think it lacks the arc of the Ignatz one which I really liked.

Best line: “Don’t envy me. Instead, just choose to find the positive, won’t you?”

Lysithea/Hilda (two part)

Rating: 4.

I like this support because it shows you a different side of both characters; Hilda’s desire to play ‘big sister’ and Lysithea’s desire to be attractive, even if she ultimately decides she doesn’t really care enough to do anything about it. Not a super deep support but I think it offers insight into both characters. Needed an A IMO because the B ends a little gay, as seen below.

Best line: “She really is brimming with untapped potential. When she smiles like that, wow! Even my heart skips a beat.”

Lysithea/Leonie (two part)

Rating: Low 3.

It’s about training or something. I would give this one a 2 because I literally don’t remember it except for…

Best line: “I was just thinking what incredible partner you’d make. Really, you’ve got all of the perfect qualities!”

Lysithea/Edelgard

Rating: 5

This support has pretty much everything I want in a support; it develops a relationship between the characters, it’s plot important and develops setting, it involves two interesting characters and their cat and mouse game with each other about the Crest experiments. I feel like the information inside is like so important that I had forgotten it was in their support! I do like how Edelgard bribes Lysithea with cake to talk and Lysithea is both insulted but also accepts the bribe gratefully. They are super cute, whether you see them as partners or friend. Also, I love Edelgard and I am a simp.

Best line: “My aim is to dismantle the current system of aristocracy. The only reason nobles enjoy the status they do is because their bloodlines carry Crests. If Crests lose their value, so will titles of nobility.”

Lysithea/Linhardt

Rating: 4.

One of Linhardt’s more humanizing supports, and full of useful information about the the double Crests. I really like how it shows Linhardt’s humanity and how much he cares for Lysithea, despite his façade. The A support is sweet even if it’s a little weird.

Best line: “You are someone I care about though. So much so, I wish we could be family, you and I.”

Lysithea/Felix

Rating: High 3.

Okay I love this support because it’s SO stupid. It’s literally two grumpy nerds arguing about cake for an entire support. Felix is baffled by cranky, cake loving women and Lysithea is baffled by Felix’s lack of desire for cake. That’s it. The support is about cake. It’s great.

Best line:

Felix: It was satisfying and lightweight. I imagine it would be quite useful as a battlefield provision.

Lysithea: Please refrain from lumping delectable cake into the same category as provisions.

Lysithea/Sylvain (two part)

Rating: Low 4.

In love with this Lysithea-smashing-in-Sylvain’s-face that occurs in this support. It’s an interesting support and explores Sylvain’s relationship with women as well as his tendency to be insincere backfiring. Enjoy this one greatly.

Best line: Ah, so it isn’t my age that’s to blame for you breezing over my wishes. It’s my gender.

Lysithea/Annette (two part)

Rating: Low 3.

They are cute nerds and I like them. It explores their desire to learn, and Lysithea’s sensitivity at being perceived as ‘talented’ rather than hardworking.  It’s not super insightful but it is sweet.

Best line: “I feel excited to continue working super-duper extra hard now. I’m lucky to have someone like you around to inspire me”

Lysithea/Hanneman

Rating: High 2.

It’s kind of like the Linhardt/Lysithea support except more boring. Treads a lot of similar ground and generally in a less interesting way.

Best line: “It’s no trouble. After all, it’s proper etiquette for the young to help the elderly.”

Lysithea/Catherine (two part)

Rating: 2

Boring. It’s about the weather or something?

Best line: no

Lysithea/Cyril (four part)

Rating: 4

This is a very sweet support because it explores a tender, knowledge-nurturing side of Lysithea that doesn’t show up on her other supports, and it’s a good support for Cyril because it humanizes him, and he legitimately has a character arc in the support where he learns to open up and trust someone else. The A+ support is super cute, and I think they are a very sweet ship.

Best line: “Hey, Lysithea! Last night I finished reading the book you lent me. I wanted to tell you right away, but it was late, so I tried to write a letter…”

Lysithea/Balthus

Rating: High 2.

Not that exciting but has some glimmers of Balthus character development.

Best line: no

Three Lysithea supports I wish existed:

Ferdinand. An exploration of the topics alluded to in their paralogue related to his father would be a great addition, especially since Lysithea lives on the borderlands.
Hubert. As I said in the Hubert support, these two have a lot to talk about and are both prickly.
Petra. They are both efficient but go about things in very different ways. Seems like it has potential. Make it an A support IntSys you cowards.

11

Discussion / Re: Three Houses and Politics

« on: July 20, 2021, 12:20:11 AM »

Guess who is back! Luther's back!

I am going to do some support analysis by character.

I developed a 5-point scale to rate the supports based on how much I enjoyed them / their impact on me. 1s will be rare; they will be supports that annoyed or offended me in some major way and had no redeeming features to make up for that.

Luther's support rating scale

5 – Excellent support, delves into important things about both characters, all three parts are interesting, usually ends in a satisfying way.

4. – Great support with significance to one or both characters, consistent positive trajectory throughout the support chain. Good comedy supports will go here as well.

3. Decent support with some character work or interesting backstory for one or both parties, but not quite as exciting as 4 or 5. Decent comedy supports go here.

2. A bog standard support. I probably forgot it and had to look it up.

1. This world is imperfect…

I will also pontificate on what supports I wish existed from the character.

I decided to start this off with Hubert, my boy! because I’m a simp, I love him, and I remember his supports really, really well.

HUBERT VON VESTRA SUPPORT RATINGS / ANALYSIS

Hubert/Byleth

Rating: 4.

It explores the relationship between Hubert, Edelgard, and Byleth quite convincingly and the support chain has a pretty logical trajectory from distrust in the C/B (which is understand in Hubert’s position as Edelgard’s bodyguard) to the A support which he shows Byleth a spirit of both solemn respect and cooperation. The B support is a bit weird at first glance but makes a lot more sense once you realize that the reason why Hubert is probing Byleth about having ‘a second self’ is because of Arundel, who is directly invoked in the support. He is of course used to because he has to keep a careful eye out for Those Who Slither in the Dark and their infiltration of Adrestian society. Once you understand the forces that Hubert is combatting, you understand why he is so paranoia about Edelgard’s acquaintance with someone with a ‘second self’. And the S-support just cute; typical under-confidence in his romantic abilities that is characteristic of Hubert.

Best line: “Nice place, isn’t it, Professor? Standing here, you can almost feel the goddess’s absence. Discounting what dwells within you, of course.”

Hubert/Edelgard

Rating: 5.

The C support is really the first time that you get insight into the scale of the things that they are planning. I like how it explores Edelgard’s grief with bringing her servant along with her on her crazy path, but that he resents her babying and wants her to stop worrying about him. She wants him to be happy and open about his feelings, and he just wants to stay her secretive servant. The exploration of Hubert’s boyhood feelings which have shaped his worldview and his loyalty in the B support is good, but the A support is fantastic. She tries to pull rank on him, he calls her out for her shit by “offering his neck to the executioner”, and he ends up telling her his secrets after she makes an impassioned plea. Maybe. Love how much it tells you about both characters individually and about their relationship, as well as the evolution of trust from them as they grow up.

Best line: “You speak often of painting the path I walk, yet you do so in secret. I am the one you serve, but you refuse to let me in. I trust you, Hubert, and that is precisely why I want to know everything, your secret hopes and burdens. All of it. If I’m truly the center of your world, then I wish you would trust me as well as I trust you.”

Hubert/Ferdinand (4 part)

Rating: 5.

This support has the absolute perfect enemies-to-lovers arc, from the C support where they both unsuccessfully try to one up each other, to the A+ where they flirt with each other relentlessly. The interesting thing about the early part of the support chain is that they clearly both aim toward the same goal of serving their country and trying to be the best they can be for the Empire / the Emperor, but they go about it in ways in which the other finds very alien. The A is a very nice reconciliation between the two, and I love the line “Please do not compliment me again though. I find it quite unsettling. It is like hearing a snake sing an aria. At least put it in a letter next time,” which has spawned many many fanfics. Alone, this would have been a satisfying end to the support chain, but the A+ support just exists to elevate this support to the likely the single gayest support in the series.

Best line: “The thought of receiving a gift from you, unbidden and unreciprocated, fills me with revulsion. Therefore…accept this tea. As a gift. From me.”

Hubert/Caspar (2 part)

Rating: Low 4.

It’s good. I like the contrast between Hubert’s acidic and logical behavior and Caspar’s infectious work ethic and endless optimism. They are a fun ‘odd couple’ and I think it’s a good example of Hubert being a little too overbearing and actually being called out for it, which I really appreciate.

Best line: “YEEEAAAH! I’M BAAACK! IF YOU WANT ME TO SHOUT, THEN I’M GONNA SHOUT! I’M NOT EVEN GONNA THINK ABOUT IT! I KNEW YOU’D COME AROUND!”

Hubert/Linhardt (2 part)

Rating: 3.

This one gives some insight into each of their characters and what makes them tick, but it’s not too exciting to me relatively. Again, a bit of an odd couple routine, but I don’t think it’s as effective as the Caspar one.

Best line: “I don’t know how to feel, to be honest. So for now, let’s pretend I thanked you.”

Hubert/Dorothea

Rating: 5.

This support is fascinating because I think Dorothea and Hubert fundamentally are on different wavelengths. Hubert is fully devoted to Edelgard and finds Dorothea’s implications that he is just doing it out of misguided love for her to be insulting. Dorothea finds him baffling; how could someone be devoted to another so selflessly? The A support is wonderful; it explores each other’s feelings and we see Hubert thrown off kilter by Dorothea’s surprise marriage idea. I think they are an interesting match because Dorothea would not have to doubt if he was just marrying her because she is beautiful (as he basically doesn’t seem to care, as he comments on her competence and ‘battle prowess’ as criteria for marriage) and Hubert would get help in his quest to help Edelgard. It’s very utilitarian but I think it works pretty well.

Best line: “Seems it’s my turn to not understand. Did you just propose marriage as a way to get to know me? How exactly would such an arrangement benefit me?”

Hubert/Bernadetta (4 part)

Rating: 3.

I find this one a little eh. The C is mostly a weird elaborate joke and the C+ is not great. Probably my favorite part is when Hubert wears the flower pin from Bernie; it’s very touching and shows that he’s grown as a character and is willing to be more compromising.

Best line: “Are you telling me to die?”

Hubert/Petra

Rating: Lowish 4.

This is probably the worst look for Hubert from the perspective of ‘wow, Hubert, you are acting like a giant douchebag for no real reason’. I think this is a case where he lets his affection for Edelgard blind him to Petra’s positive traits, and it does come off as a bit condescending. I do love how Petra asserts dominance and largely beats him in the debate though, and the final line of the support (below) is a great display of her power. It’s a good one.

Best line: “Be marking my words, Hubert. One day, between the two of us, you will be choosing me.”

Hubert/Shamir

Rating:

Lowish 4. I love how Shamir calls him out for acting like a weirdo and is just generally dominating him. I think he at times comes off as a little insufferable in his death threats and other such antisocial behavior, and the fact that Shamir just cuts it off at the root… perfect. The A support is legitimately pretty sweet.

Best line: “You’re unstable, Hubert. Be careful who you threaten. I don’t take kindly to those who get in the way of my contracts.”

Hubert/Hanneman (2 part)

Rating: 4.

A good delve into Hubert’s backstory and the events surrounding the Insurrection. This support does not offer any hard proof but it does give strong circumstantial evidence that elder Vestra sold out the Hresvelg family to save Hubert’s life, likely blackmailed. Hubert shuts down Hanneman in this support, likely due to not wanting to know the whole truth. I think you see glimmers of Hanneman’s humanity and empathy in this support, when he is frequently reduced to a mere joke character.

Best line: “You have chosen your own path, Hubert. Continue protecting what you wish to protect, and I shall support you from the bottom of my heart.”

Three Hubert supports I wished existed:

Lysithea. I think that, between both being prickly assholes and both hating the slitherers with every fiber of their being, would have a lot to talk about. Might seal this support til Chapter 12, like the Shamir one.
Annette. Fucked Up Dad Club – why don’t you just, you know, kill him? B and A post-TS I think.
Jeritza. Just a really useful support to fill in some backstory details and I think they would have a weird macabre vibe with each other.

12

General Chat / Re: What games are you playing 2021: Please don't bully cute, girly-girl alchemist

« on: June 17, 2021, 09:57:33 PM »

Fell Seal - Templar SCC-

Looking at this class at a glance, they have a pretty good and self-sustaining skillset. It was interesting to see how all of the different abilities worked together.

Skillset usefulness in general:

Holy Chant -  50-60 Holy-element damage around the user in all directions. Decent but the damage is not that great and it uses 8 MP, which you want to save for Righteous Blade. I mostly used this against the Pektites, who massively resist physicals.

Soothing Chant - 50 - 60 healing in a plus around the user, including themselves. Useful because the healing is pretty limited otherwise.

Cleansing Blade - Magic damage that gets rid of buffs. Situationally very useful and high damage, but didn’t use that often.

Emboldening Chant - +ATK in a plus around the user, including themselves. I used this turn 1 of every fight with at least two people. Attack buffer with subtractive defense is great.

Righteous Blade - Huge Holy-element damage later in the fight - turn 2 or 3. Hits like a truck — became even better later when you encounter a lot of enemies weak to holy, who are oneshot by it even without buffing.

Siphon- an excellent MP manipulator in both directions because it both removes enemies’ abilities to do their turn 2 11-20 MP crap, but also allows you to use Righteous Blade on Turn 2 (as long as you drain at least 4 MP which you usually will). Excellent tool both to decrease enemy offensive output but to increase your own.

Rapturous Chant - Interesting skills. It allows you to heal both status and ~90-100 HP with everyone while sacrificing yourself with no Injury, usually used by a character who would otherwise just die (because Soothing Chant’s healing isn’t that great). I ended up using this a few decisive times to win fights where I was highly statused and out of Remedies, and it’s also pretty cheesy in the escape missions since you can just let Kyrie go to the exit and have every else use it and win without penalty.

Evade Attack - This ability made Septimus 2 pretty easy because it makes Secunda’s attacks pretty weak and the Vampire / Ranger strategies of One For All didn’t work as planned. Otherwise it was generically useful against Assassins and other high damage with basic physicals enemies.

Resilience - -1 turn on statuses came in really handy in a few fights, especially the wyrm fight and any fight that has traps / enemies that counter attacks with Root/Slow/etc.

Defense Expert - Templar is pretty tanky because of this!

Notable fights:

Early game was generally easy. I think the toughest fights in the first half parts were the second temple, the second Mercier fight (I thought I might have to reset just because I couldn’t reach him in his starting position because of Templar’s bad jump, but he came down), and the Baaz Island fight right before the third temple.  A special shoutout, though, to the Wyrm fight, which was both pretty tricky but moreover REALLY FUCKING LONG. He kept Rooting me and I only have two range. He is resistant as fuck to physicals. And because my healing sucked, I had to dedicate a lot of turns to doing it. It took me 1:07 to finish the fight. I did not game over (thank god) but it was quite a trial.

I had a reset on the usually easy ship fight because the sleeping guy just slept in the corner and I had no range nor Flippers. Mistakes were made!

Septimus was screwed over by Assassins not liking Evade Attack. Amazing. The Aqueduct was very tricky for this team — I had three resets, but after turning the game off and coming back, I realized I should have been draining MP aggressively instead of being passive turn 1.

It’s very nice that Aoeths are weak to holy. It really made the fights with them a lot simpler than they could have been. Godeater Wastes was tough but not tooo bad.

The Mountain Temple 1 gave me a couple of resets and I had one reset on being thrown into lava, but nothing too bad.

I had the easiest Septimus + Secunda fight I’ve ever done! Evade Attack is spectacular there. Had a reset on Raife 2 just because I fell into a hole early and was never able to recover. Fuck Raife and Cleave. Primus wasn’t too bad.

The third Gelligh fight gave me a lot of trouble - I ended up having to duel down the Knight after most of my team was decimated — five Injuries, but I won on the first try!

Raife 3 was a nightmare. I think I had about ten resets. Had to lure him to a good spot and MP buff to beat on his evil ass. Also had to go grind to find a Catalyst to upgrade my Phoenix Down because it was just too frustrating without it. Only had one character left at the end, and six Injuries.

Last two fights were trivialized by the Holy weakness and Righteous Blade. 1 Injury on each but only because of lazy play, tbh.

Great fun!

13

Discussion / the artist formerly known as hubert von vestra simp

« on: February 27, 2021, 05:35:11 AM »

*CHARGES IN LIKE A WRECKING BALL*

i decided to do an Objective Analysis of how other mages compared to Hubert Von Vestra because someone challenged my claim that he was mediocre. As a person who has used Hubert many times, I feel qualified to comment on his utter mediocrity as a PC.

I judge mages by a few criteria:

-Crest (does not take 10 from Thyrsus)
-access to 3 range
-access to Meteor / Bolting* see note
-access to female-only classes Valk/DF
-Faith list (access to Physic, Warp, Rescue, Fortify, Seraphim, and Restore, in that order)
-magic / speed / charm
-authority boon/bane
-Banshee (move down)
-magical combat arts

Speed thresholds that matter:

Can double armor knights
Can not be doubled by certain midtier enemies
(none of the mages are super fast)

Magic thresholds that matter:
Can one round armor knights
2 hit kill enemies

Charm: just generally higher is better for hitting Gambits

*note: Linked attacks: Access to Meteor and Bolting means that the character can activate linked attacks at long range, up to 10 squares. This grants supported allies +10 hit (20 for gambits) and +3 hit unsupported. You can equip Meteor/Bolting and get the effect without actually using the spells.

Dorothea supports the most characters and gets it at A rather than A+ so she is the person who utilizes the advantage the most. I think the fact that people don’t know about this might be why Dorothea is an underrated PC.

Anyway…

Hubert vs. other mages

Hubert vs. Lysithea
Hubert’s wins: 3 range spells, Banshee, Charm
Lysithea’s wins: Luna, Seraphim, Warp, Crest, access to female only classes

Amy’s verdict: Lysithea

Hubert vs. Mercedes
Hubert’s wins: 3 range spells, Banshee, magical combat art, Authority boon
Mercedes’s wins: Physic, Fortify, Restore, Crest, access to female only classes

Amy’s verdict: Mercedes

Hubert vs. Dorothea
Hubert’s wins: Banshee, Authority boon
Dorothea’s wins: Physic, Meteor/Linked Attacks, access to female only classes

Amy’s verdict: Dorothea

Hubert vs. Linhardt
Hubert’s wins: 3 range, Banshee, Authority boon, magical combat arts, faster, charm
Linhardt’s wins: Physic, Warp, Restore, Crest

Amy’s verdict: close call but probably Linhardt

Hubert vs. Marianne
Hubert’s wins: Banshee, Authority boon, Reason boon
Marianne’s wins: Physic, Silence, Crest, access to female only classes

Amy’s verdict: Marianne

Hubert vs. Annette
Hubert’s wins: 3 range spells, Banshee, faster
Annette’s wins: Crest, access to female only classes

Amy’s verdict: Hubert before DLC, close afterward

Hubert vs. Hanneman
Hubert’s wins: Banshee, magical combat art, Authority boon, way faster, join time
Hanneman’s wins: Crest, Meteor

Amy’s verdict: Hubert

Hubert vs. Constance
Hubert’s wins: 3 range spells, Banshee, faster (I think??)
Constance’s wins: Rescue, Bolting, Crest, access to female only classes

Amy’s verdict: Constance

Hubert vs. Hapi
Hubert’s wins: faster acquisition of 3 range spells, magical combat arts, faster, Authority boon, Charm
Hapi’s wins: Physic, Crest, access to female only classes

Amy’s verdict: very close

Hubert vs. Manuela
Hubert’s wins: 3 range spells, join time, higher magic, Authority boon, Reason boon and not bane
Manuela’s wins: Warp, Silence, personal ability, access to female only classes, has Bolting (but hard to get)

Amy’s verdict: Hubert

Hubert vs. Sylvain
Hubert’s wins: 3 range spells, Banshee, magical combat arts, Authority boon, higher magic
Sylvain’s wins: Physic, Crest, Black Magic Evade

Amy’s verdict: Hubert

Hubert vs. Lorenz
Hubert’s wins: 3 range spells, Banshee, Authority boon, higher magic, Charm
Lorenz’s wins: Crest

Amy’s verdict: Hubert

Now, wasn't that fun~?

14

Discussion / Re: 2020 games in review

« on: January 03, 2021, 06:33:14 AM »

I played a lot of really good games this year; I really have a lot of respect for the top six and am quite fond of a few of the others. (And then there's old Fire Emblem, which I use to torture myself.) Good year IMO.

13. Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 (SNES, 1999)

After playing the riveting Genealogy of the Holy War last year, I decided to play its intraquel, Thracia 776. Its plot is definitely less interesting than FE4 but just as misogynist, although Augustus ends up being a bit of a proto-Soren in terms of characterization. Gameplaywise, the game starts dull but ends up being rather obnoxious thanks to ninja reinforcements, ridiculous amounts of status Staves, and just general clunky map design. It’s just not a very fun game to play, and unlike Genealogy, which had ideas and was ambitious even if the game isn’t that -fun-, FE5 just ends up being a bit of a boring mess of a game. Definitely extra negative points for some of the horrible map design of a few particular maps; sleep siege tomes and the thief staff / thief map which was just The Fucking Worst. I am glad that it ditched FE4’s really terrible trading mechanic, but there’s not a lot of recommend about this game unless you like bashing your face into a brick wall.

12. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Sword of Light (Switch, 1990/2020 VC release)

Man, who the fuck put all of these Fire Emblem characters in Smash, these games are fucking bad? Sakurai bias. This game is fucking boring. It’s not as stupid as Thracia 776, but the lack of damage projections, knowing if I am doubling or not, and the wonky mechanics make the game pretty underwhelming.

11. SaGa: Scarlet Grace (Switch, 2016)

Interesting game. The core combat system is cool, although the game’s mechanics are obtuse and I found myself in a bit of a repetitive loop in terms of how the combats were executed. The art is nice. The game’s plot is very bad. I wasn’t able to complete the game because the final boss is a difficult spike like you wouldn’t believe - from what I read online, I would have to grind for several hours to get to the power level required to win, and I didn’t that wasn’t worth my time.

10. Ys 8: Lacrosima of Dana (PS4, 2016)

This game has really fun core combat and beautiful graphics and nice music, but its setting work and writing are both very weak, and I think it drags on a little too long. Also, kinda misogynist sadly. I like how the different characters play differently and the beautiful character design of Dana, who is the star of the show.

9. Tales of Vesperia (Switch, 2008)

Two Tales games in one year, amazing! I love Yuri and think he's a very interesting take on a main character, and Rita is great for some laughs. The foil between Yuri and Flynn is interesting; both are ultimately sympathetic even if different. There are some characters like Raven who I am not fond of, as well as Alexei, who is just a nonsensical character. The edition of Patty to the HD collection is weird and bad; she’s a pretty throughly annoying character and a fully unnecessary addition. I really like the environments in this game, especially the grand canyon style one. Gameplay is boring and there are too many battles, although better than Abyss gameplay.

8. Cosmic Star Heroine (Switch, 2017)

Interesting take on the retro RPG style - it has a really cool combat system, and I really like its art and Chrono Trigger-inspired sprites. Gameplay loop is a little repetitive, but at least it’s quick enough that it didn’t grate on me too much. As others have said, I do feel like a weakness of the game is that it doesn’t really matter what enemies do, because you are mostly just trying to pull off cool combos and stuff. The plot is bad as usual for Zeboyd; arguably worse than CTSW thanks to less humor. Good game but a little in one ear and out the other.

7. Atelier Ayesha (Switch, 2012)

Unique game in the context of your traditional RPG. First of all, I love so much that it features so many prominent women, including Ayesha, Wilbell, Regina, Marion, Linca. It isn’t afraid to feature them as if not more prominently than its male characters. The art is lovely, and combat is enjoyable and even with my limited mastery of the crafting system + playing on Hard, I was able to survive. Barely. I know the game is supposed to be quite easy on Normal but I got a lot out of playing Hard. Dungeons are fun and fulfilling especially with the increased challenge. Music is really good too. My biggest complaint is that, while it does most things competently, it doesn’t do one thing that blows my mind. But I really like it anyway.

6. Tales of Berseria (PS4, 2016)

This game's character work and writing and thematic work are phenomenal! Velvet is one of my all time favorite characters, as is Magilou, and even Eleanor and Laphicet are both really solid characters, and I really like the reason vs. emotion debate (and the conclusion that it is horseshit because people who claim to be driven by reason are actually driven more by emotion than they care to admit, harkening back to internet dudebros). I think Artorius + Melchior are both insufferable, obnoxious blowhards who sniff their own farts and the game does such a good job of making them have just enough of a point to not be completely unbelievable but totally, mindblowingly condescending and infuriating. Much like Vesperia, I really like the environments.

The gameplay I think I actually like less than Vesperia because of the weird gauge system involving combos and Velvet’s gauge. Maybe one day a Tales game will have good gameplay.

5. Trials of Mana remake (Switch, 2020)

Great gameplay; enemies are fun and the challenge curve is very nice! I played on Hard and a lot of the bosses are quite fun and challenging. I like how controlling all of the different characters feels very different. Really strong sound track. The graphics, while not state of the art, are colorful and friendly and beautiful. Its plot is, well, bad SNES era plot.

4. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Switch, 2019)

Fantastic game. It really kills the Castlevania formula and is my favorite game in the series (although totally not a Castlevania, obv). Fantastic boss design, great weapon diversity, skills are very fun. The game is very fluid and just generally quite enjoyable. Except the plot. Its plot is terrible.

3. Hollow Knight (PS4, 2017)

The fact that this game is third is ridiculous. It's so good. Fantastic, fluid platforming elements, very nice backgrounds and art, and I really love the sense of mystery as you explore. Good OST but a little underused. It's also a little long for a Metroidvania. It’s a delight to play and explore and just have fun.

2. Hades (Switch, 2020)

I played this game because everyone was raving about it! It's the real deal. It puts 3D action game and old school Zelda in a blender and I think it hits the best notes of both. Although I am not as in love with the writing as some, I think it is decent and the game has some nice messaging about living with and having a dysfunctional family. The voice acting is really nice and the art is great. I don’t think roguelikes will ever be my preferred genre due to the repetitive nature of them, but the different boons and weapons make Hades runs much different from eachother, for all that the randomness can be frustrating. Still, very fun game.

1. Brigandine: Legend of Runersia (Switch, 2020)

I am a SRPG fan and I love the rune and monster system and the strategic war game aspect. It’s like original Brigandine with all of the stupid clunky shit removed, which as it turns out is a really good game. I also really like the final boss of the game. The art is also really good; I love Eliza and Darius! I also like how the different campaigns play differently, much like in the original, and that your position on the map and the units you have can affect your play in the wargame part. The plot is pretty bad and the writing is very stilted, but you know. Thems the breaks.

15

Tournaments / Re: Futurama 2020 Season 2 Finals

« on: December 19, 2020, 06:35:57 AM »

Godlike

Jowy Atreides (Suikoden II) vs Nyarlathotep (Persona 2)

Heavy

Hugo (Suikoden III) vs Nel Zelpher (Star Ocean: Till the End of Time)

Middle

Messam Elmdore (Final Fantasy Tactics) vs Hope Estheim (Final Fantasy XIII)

Light

Adray Lasbard (Star Ocean Till the End of Time) vs Hubert von Vestra (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Rankings

Please vote whether or not to Rank the following games in the DL.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses (9/17) - rank
Octopath Traveler (9/17) - rank

16

General Chat / Re: What games are you playing 2020: The true last year of the current decade

« on: December 12, 2020, 04:04:07 PM »

Three Houses Edelgard and Hubert only -  Finished. I must outwit even death.

Talitean Plains was a bit different than normal. Demonc Beasts are a bit troublesome on this playthrough because it’s much harder to gang up on them, and because these are immune to magic, Hubert can’t damage them. But! Hubert can Banshee them, preventing them from moving, which helped me control them for a couple of turns at least.

I ended up pulling back to the left near the beginning of the map and killing Mercedes and her peg knights first. Killing Mercie stops the tide of peg knights, which I didn’t actually know and is great. I had to do some maneuvering to make sure that Hubert was never hit by a single one or else he would die. Thankfully I was able to do that with the power of Evasion Ring and Alert Stance+. So I killed Mercedes and then went back to the right to kill Sylvain. All of the demonic beasts transformed in the time when I was dicking around, but Rhea didn’t appear. Dedue transformed as well. At this point, I did have to kill one of them. After offing Sylvain, Rhea appeared, and I was able to one-round her with the Brave Axe. I had to dance around the Golem and bait them a few times with Edelgard so they wouldn’t kill Byleth, who was now hiding in the extreme left corner.

I ended up using four Raging Storms to kill Demonic Beast Dedue, and then a couple of turns later killed Dimitri. I fished for the crit on him but didn’t get it, but thankfully he didn’t crit back, nor did he kill me. Hubert finished him off with Frozen Lance.

None of the Demonic Beasts in the upper half of the map were killed except Dedue, and I ended up also abandoning the two Golems. They are just all too big a pain in the neck to bother with.

Final map was a thing. On Turn 1 Edelgard baited the front four enemies with Alert Stance+, and then I killed them and moved onto the Golem. Unlike the Golems on the previous map which I was able to fuck around with and not kill, I had to take out a couple on this map. Thankfully they cannot go down stairs, so I was easily able to mess around with this Golem and kill him. And then there were peg knights. I had some trouble and tinkering with them but ended up beating them after a couple of DP. Probably the biggest difficulty was the area with the Golem at the top of the stairs after Gilbert (who I avoided killing to prevent peg knight spawn from the east/west parts). When you cross the wall, the reinforcements from the south appear. I ended up using one of my shots of Raging Storm here to kill two of them, and then Gambited the rest. Also, lol Holy Knights trying to move through the final map’s terrain.

After this, I killed the Golem, who was a pain in the ass with his like 40 crit after Rhea buffed him a bunch. Once he was felled, all that’s left id Rhea. Now, I need to kill her quickly or else Catherine/Gilbert/Ashe/Annette will be breathing down my throat, so I broke her one turn, Raging Storm x 4 the next, and prayed for crits and not being crit on the third turn. It worked and I won.

Woo hoo!



699 Battles 

17

General Chat / Re: What games are you playing 2020: The true last year of the current decade

« on: December 12, 2020, 12:58:22 AM »

Three Houses Edelgard and Hubert only -

So Chapter 12 was relatively easy, but had some tricky parts. I give Edelgard Cichol Wyverns and Hubert Supreme Armored Company to up his durability and give him a good Gambit. Edie is a Wyvern Lord and Hubert is a Dancer. I ended up timing out the first part of the map, which causes peg knight reinforcements to appear. Because Edelgard is overleveled, she can one shot with Smash, and otherwise I used thicket + Dismount + Killer Axe to try to take them out with a crit.  Otherwise there was some tricky stuff to maneuver around like reinforcements that I ended up avoiding at the beginning, but overall not too bad.

Chapter 13 was fast but pretty hard. I ended up using two shots of Aymr to get to and kill Judith on Turn 3 before the reinforcements appeared; I felt under a lot of pressure to beat the map quickly because there is just a lot of stuff going on and it’s hard to protect Hubert (and Byleth) from harm for very long because I don’t have the usual arsenal of people to take out the enemies. I decided to keep a save file after this map just in case using the two shots was too much to handle later.

Chapter 14 was tricky and I had several resets on it. My first approach was to try to take out the Bow Knights on the right coming from the ship, which was very challenging but I ended up fighting off the swarms of Wyverns + the Bow Knights with a few shots of DP. But then… the reinforcements from from the city pincered me; some came from the bottom and others came from the top, and I could not protect Byleth (or Hubert) long enough to pull out the victory and ended up having to reset. Then I tinkered around with killing Claude early (Turn 2 was my goal, since Turn 1 not too much happens). I realized that Stride is very helpful in this and only had to use two shots of Aymr to get to Claude and Killer Axe+ crit him. I had to tinker around a little with the setup but I ended up getting the victory.

Hubert turns into Dark Knight at this point. So that leaves me with one Aymr use for Seteth/Flayn’s map. Despite multiple DPs just to triggering reinforcements at the wrong time, I ended up not having any resets n this map. Hubert is very good at dealing with Armor Knights and using Frozen Lance to one-shot heroes, but otherwise is killed by almost everything. Edie is the workhorse of course, taking many many hits and dodging with Alert Stance+. Discovered that you can not trigger reinforcements in the map but going to the extreme left and was able to trigger them on my own terms rather than at a bad time. Alois firebombed most of his own allies at a certain point which was hilarious. I think we should participate in Internet Disc Horse and call Alois an evil person for this or something.

Anyway, Flayn ended up appearing much lower down that I am used to, in the centre rather than on the side. This is good because as her group sprinted to the defend point, I had time to catch them. I ended up piling my Gambits into the enemies there and using Hubert to bait the mages. I used my last shot of Aymr on an archer who was about to make it to the gate and then moved Edie on the other side of the battle to smite other enemies who are very annoying. The assassins were a big pain in the ass because I didn’t have Edie with Lances; if I hadn’t have won, I would have done a more anti-Assassin build since a lot of the enemies on the map are them.

The defend condition actually mattered with only two people!

I had zero DPs left for this map, but I won!

So next is Arianrhod. Honestly, this is the breather of Part 2; Rodrigue was easy to Brave Axe to death, and Felix died to a couple of Banshees + run away from Hubert. Lots of Armor Knights for Hubert to eat alive as well. I ended up grabbing eight Agarthium after saving up my Gambits to get them from the Golems. Easy peasy map TBH. I had a couple of DPs just tinkering with setup, but otherwise no issue. I didn’t send anyone to the right at all.




Here’s the skill loadout. Yes, Edie has 50 strength. 29 more than Hubert. Amazing.

Last two maps coming up next. My Raging Storm supply is full again!

18

Discussion / Re: Three Houses and Politics

« on: December 10, 2020, 10:16:14 PM »

Nice essay! I think you are right in that I was asking the wrong question to players with reading comprehension, but there are many people who believe that Rhea is benevolent! Interesting thoughts re: VW/AM's themes. I think I just fundamentally disagree with Azure Moon's theme because I think that the function of a ruler is to make hard decisions. VW ultimately trainwrecks at the end so I'm not really 100% what its message is ultimately, since the end is just punching a zombie in the face, which I'm not even sure what the thematic point is. 

I also disagree with the idea that Edelgard puts the Nabateans on trial -- she doesn't want them to rule the continent, which i think is a pretty reasonable thing to say considering that they've done a pretty shitty job of it for the past thousand years. I think she'd be perfectly happy to let them live their lives out, as she does with Seteth, Flayn, Indech, and Macuil, and if Rhea just wanted to fuck off, I think she would be amendable to that.

She even says it in one of her questions.

"I know this is highly unlikely, but on the off chance that Rhea surrenders and agrees to my terms, what should I do? I would appreciate your thoughts on the matter..."

"Strip her of her power so she can't interfere in politics." is the liked answer.

I don't think it is xenophobic to want a extremely small, powerful minority to get the fuck out and stop ruling.

19

General Chat / Re: What games are you playing 2020: The true last year of the current decade

« on: December 09, 2020, 02:47:06 AM »

Maddening Classic, Edelgard and Hubert only run – Currently in Chapter 10.

Edelgard is a Wyvern Rider with Death Blow, Darting Blow, and very high strength. Hubert is a Dancer for the increased move with high Magic and Frozen Lance. Both are around level 24. Byleth is treated as a Convoy, like FE6 Merlinus if he could only take one hit ever.

Before I started, I identified some sticky points:

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 6, Chapter 9, Chapter 11.

-Chapter 1 Maddening is just a giga pain in the ass, and fewer units further compound this problem. I had a couple of false starts via making some strategic errors, but I ended up doing enough maneuvering and running away to win this fight. I did have one really good stroke of luck in Claude healing himself rather than going for the kill, which was especially hilarious because the heal did not save his life from the next attack.

-Chapter 2 I didn’t end up having any resets on, but I did have to move back and forth across the bridge a couple of times to lure enemies, and I skipped the treasure chest. Money won’t be a big deal on this run, I reasoned, so I didn’t go for it. I was right, incidentally.

-Chapter 6, as you might remember, is the map where Edelgard is missing and you have to either wipe out all of the other enemies or kill the Death Knight. So there are two options, but realistically, Hubert will not be able to kill all of the enemies himself, so killing the Death Knight it is! Hubert is Level 16, so no Paladin with Lancefaire. Sob. Because Lance of Ruin Frozen Lance is short of killing by a magic point or two (and Lance of Ruin Knightkneeler is lolno off of Hubert’s pathetic strength), I go with Killer Lance+ Frozen Lance crit shenanigans, which is obviously not a foolproof strategy. I decide to make him a Cavalier for the Canto and extra move. This takes a bit of tinkering with setup and experimenting. I end up discovering that if you open the door to DK’s room and don’t move in his range, he will not move. So I have to bait him. Great.

Thankfully, Hubert’s speed dismounted from Cavalier is just fast enough that the Death Knight does not double him and Hubert barely doesn’t die in one hit, so my not-very-foolproof strategy is to bait the Death Knight, hope he doesn’t crit, and then hope that Killer Lance+ Frozen Lance crits him. After three tries, I end up baiting the Death Knight and hoping for all to go right. Thankfully it worked on the first try and I didn’t have to do that stupid map again. I didn’t get any of the treasure because Byleth isn’t allowed to get treasure.

Next concern is Chapter 9, since dad likes to kill himself. I ended up not having any resets on this map because of a combination of Reposition, Gambit baiting monsters, Edelgard in Wyvern Rider, and Hubert having Recover to heal dad to prevent him from fucking everything up. I actually even got the Healing Staff! I haven’t gotten many treasure chests this playthrough so it was nice to snag something.

Chapter 11 is of course technically not part of the challenge since Edelgard and Hubert are not present. So I will be recruiting students in Chapter 11 and using them for just that map. Chapter 11 wouldn’t be very hard if I had Edie/Hubie so I'm not gonna sweat it.

We’ll see how the post-TS maps treat me. I’m really not sure.

20

Tournaments / Re: Futurama 2020 Season 2, Week 3

« on: November 22, 2020, 05:36:11 AM »

Godlike

Repede (Tales of Vesperia) vs Chris Lightfellow (Suikoden III)
Luca Blight (Suikoden II) vs Jowy Atreides (Suikoden II)
Nyarlathotep (Persona 2) vs Kraken (Final Fantasy III)
Gadgeteer (Wild ARMs XF) vs Yokai (Bravely Second: End Layer)

Heavy

Rolf Landale (Phantasy Star II) vs Claude von Riegen (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Hugo (Suikoden III) vs Elize Lutus (Tales of Xillia)
Adelbert Steiner (Final Fantasy IX) vs Nel Zelpher (Star Ocean: Till the End of Time)
Umi (Cthulhu Saves the World) vs Rabbid Luigi (Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle)

Middle

Messam Elmdore (Final Fantasy Tactics) vs Clarine (Fire Emblem: Sealed Sword)
Xander (Fire Emblem Fates) vs Rabbid Mario (Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle)
Edge Maverick (Star Ocean The Last Hope) vs Setsuna (I Am Setsuna)
Vivi Ornitier (Final Fantasy IX) vs Hope Estheim (Final Fantasy XIII)

Light

Tin Man (The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road) vs Rebecca Streisand (Wild ARMs 5)
Adray Lasbard (Star Ocean Till the End of Time) vs Lucia (Shadow Hearts Covenant)
Hubert von Vestra (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) vs Rude (Final Fantasy VII) - We will burn together!
Reyna (Eternal Poison) vs Kamil (The 7th Saga)

21

Discussion / Re: Three Houses and Politics

« on: November 16, 2020, 05:10:11 AM »

Fantastic post. I think Linhardt places the role of rejecting the farce of participating in the opera and rejects the operatic society he was born into.

Edelgard however is closer to Petra if anything.  It's never made precisely clear how willing her alliance of convenience with the Dubstep Molemen is, but her C+ support with Byleth and what we're told about the Insurrection of the Seven makes it utterly clear that no one had ever intended her to be anything but a puppet emperor (and as for the Church of Seiros itself, well, that's for another topic), but while Petra stoically endures her position, Edelgard's response is to flip the script and take control of the production; if the world would cast her as the devil, then the devil will be the hero.  However, while we can discuss the PCs and their actions in terms of opera and other forms of performance arts, the world is not a stage and at the end of the day Edelgard is not as stoic as she forces herself to be.  The bit about dispensing with remorse and what not isn't an admission of callousness, it's wanting the curtain to come down already so she can stop forcing herself to act out the part she was forced into to begin with, it's about wanting the bloody farce that the whole of Fodlan was forced to take part in by relics stewing in their own resentment who should've been booed off the stage a millenium ago to just end already so people can see a different show, preferably something happier and less gory.

Really great point. She doesn't want to be callous but callous is the way that she has to perform in order to achieve her goal. "If the world would cast her as a devil, then the devil will be the hero." OMG THIS IS SUCH A GOOD LINE RANDOM. thank you for this post, so thought-provoking!

Ferdibert is definitely canon, which is why I have... fallen into Edelbert hell.  I just finished a 27,000 word fanfic about hegemon and hubert getting married i am so extra 

22

Discussion / Re: Three Houses and Politics

« on: November 15, 2020, 11:25:13 PM »

Crimson Flower Musings - The Anatomy of a Alternate / 'Villain' / 'True' Route
 
One of the enduringly interesting things to me about Three Houses is that Crimson Flower feels somewhere between a villain route and a true route. How does a route feel like both?
 
Although there are differences, the other three routes follow roughly the same template. You start out as an underdog in the war and go through a trajectory of victories until you finally defeat the Empire. In Verdant Wind / Silver Snow, you end up fighting Thales as well.
 
Crimson Flower, however, has a significantly different framing and has you fighting a different enemy: you fight Rhea and the Church of Seiros instead of fighting against the Empire, and one of the major antagonists of the other routes is instead the main character.
 
One of my random favourite lines in the game:
 

I think this line perfectly encapsulates what I aim to talk about today. There is a bit of cheekiness to this exchange that I find quite amusing – the game winking at its own duality. So let’s talk a bit more about the lady of deceit and her sinister servant.
 
Edelgard and Hubert both embrace sort of a villain chic post-timeskip that symbolizes a bit of a commitment to upending the world order at any cost. Edelgard, with her silver hair, devil horned crown, and red dress. Hubert, with his all-black attire, popped collar, and menacing smile.
 
Edelgard starts a war against the Church, a conflict that spans the entire continent, and while she is humanized on her own route, she also seems to believe in her heart that her path is a villainous one, even if she personally sees her cause as righteous. She sees herself as a person willing to drive change, even if it involves starting a continent-spanning conflict and has accepted that she will be seen as a villain by history. In the other routes, she has embraced this role as the catalyst willing to cause change; she regrets that she has to fight Byleth, but she thinks that her sacrifice is necessary to steer the course of history.
 
For his part, Hubert has willingly taken on the mantle of the emperor’s grand vizier. In his appearances in Part 2 as an enemy, he is relentless and cold, and in this antagonist’s role, he shows not only his loyalty to Edelgard but his commitment to the cause of humanity at large, as shown in Verdant Wind and Silver Snow with the letter (despite some misunderstandings on the letter and why it is not sent on Azure Moon, the reason is simply because he was not able to pinpoint the base of the slitherers, not because of some secret grudge he has against Dimitri).
 
When the route splits, you are immediately hit with a different set of circumstances. I love that Chapter 12 is called “The Outset of a Power Struggle” rather than “To War”, which is what non-CF versions of C12 are called. It really frames the conflict in a different light – Edelgard sees it as trying to upend Rhea’s rule and the route is always framed in that way. Characters like Ashe, Lysithea, Lorenz, and Marianne all show different sides of themselves that are not necessarily present on the other routes during the Chapter 12 camp scenes, and Hubert actually opens up to you and is relieved to have your support, despite being suspicious of you before.
 
Side note: I’m not sure exactly how exactly to read into this, but I always thought Hubert’s B support with Byleth imply that he thinks that Byleth might be a slitherer. Evidence:
 
Hubert: I see something of Lord Arundel in you... When I look at you, I feel I can almost see a second self, lurking beneath the surface. It is as if you are in constant dialogue with something inside your heart—something with desires very different from your own. Does that description feel familiar to you at all?
 
At first I thought he was being a weirdo, but having seen it a few times, I think that Hubert is trying to decide if he thinks Byleth is one of the body-swapped.

Anyway...
 
Post-timeskip, you learn that the Death Knight and Those Who Slither in the Dark (framed as unambiguous enemies in the first half of the game) are now both your allies, although in the case of TWSITD that is an extremely uncomfortable alliance. I’m not super interested in getting into the nitty-gritty of why she does it, but the point stands that she has an alliance with people who are unquestionably evil. This gives extra credence to the ‘feeling’ of a villain route, even though Hubert explains exactly what is going on and what his plans are for eliminating them in the future. This is a fairly common conceit for villains; the more sympathetic faction ends up working with a faction that is more unambiguously evil. But in the case of Crimson Flower, you are playing as the more sympathetic faction rather than the traditional good guys.
 
“As more blood wets my feet, they grow heavier with each step. Remorse, resentment, despair... I have dispensed with all such things to come this far.”
 
The weight of having started this war clearly weighs heavy on her as you continue through the story. But she is resolute and determined to see her future through, regardless of the cost. After all, it’s too late to give up now, and a lot of the damage has already been done. One misconception that is bandied about around Edelgard is that she doesn’t care about what she’s done and that she is callous to the will of others. I disagree. She may not deem those things as important as her goals, but she certainly does grapple with the weight of her actions.

You end up fighting against Claude, Dimitri, and Rhea, which are the other three major characters in the story, whereas in the other routes, you mostly concentrate your fighting on just the Empire and their objectively evil allies. So this makes it feel a bit more like a ‘villain’ route. So why do I say that Crimson Flower feels like a true route, then?
 
-Edelgard toppled the social order, which was toxic and eugenicist. The world can begin to change for the better now that these immortal, godlike beings are permanently out of the picture. None of the other routes truly address the inconvenient problem of godlike creatures being in charge of large institutions.
 
-Byleth, who up until Chapter 12 of CF was considered a tool/vessel for Rhea’s mommy, is allowed to make their own decisions and their endings reflect that. On all of the other routes, Byleth’s endings always end with them either as the archbishop (AM) or the immortal ruler of Fodlan (VW/SS). In CF, Byleth can instead do whatever they want – help Edelgard’s new dawn, fight the slitherers, or just open a bakery in the Alliance with Lysithea. The freedom of choice. The freedom to do whatever they like with their life, which is a luxury they have never had before.
 
-The ending cutscene feels so… epic! Dramatic! “When humanity stands strong, and people reach out for each other… there’s no need for gods.” The transformation back into ‘human’ Byleth is really sweet too – I feel like it is Sothis letting go and realizing that humanity needs to stand on its own.

I remember after playing the other routes I felt dissatisfied because I felt like the status quo, aka immortal dragon people having reins on the world, was preserved. I don’t really think that rule via godlike beings who are distant from the people they rule is a good thing at all. I know that Byleth seems like they might be better than Rhea, but I am skeptical that having someone rule for an indefinite length of time is a good thing, and the structure of nobility and the institutions were preserved as well. (The game isn’t clear on exactly what Byleth does in the far future, so I will just leave that up to interpretations. The point is that an all-powerful theocratic institution is allowed to exist in perpetuity.)

Am I trying to argue that Crimson Flower is the ‘canon’ route? No, I think the concept of a ‘canon’ route in a multi-path story without an obvious go-to answer to that question is a fruitless and silly endeavour. But do I think it feels like a route where you side with a morally ambiguous character and yet you feel like the world is at a more satisfying juncture as a result of that? Yes.

23

Tournaments / Re: Futurama 2020 Season 2, Week 2

« on: November 08, 2020, 09:41:10 PM »

Godlike

Nyarlathotep (Persona 2) vs Pamela Ibis (Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis)
Ash Lambert (Vandal Hearts) vs Kraken (Final Fantasy III)
Mattias (Octopath Traveler) vs Gadgeteer (Wild ARMs XF)
Yokai (Bravely Second: End Layer) vs Mewtwo (Pokémon)

Heavy

Tiki (Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon) vs Adelbert Steiner (Final Fanasy IX)
Erik (Dragon Quest XI) vs Nel Zelpher (Star Ocean: Till the End of Time)
Camilla (Fire Emblem Fates) vs Umi (Cthulhu Saves the World)
Rabbid Luigi (Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle) vs Chemist (Final Fantasy V)


Middle

Edge Maverick (Star Ocean The Last Hope) vs Lich (Final Fantasy)
Setsuna (I Am Setsuna) vs Sylveon (Pokémon)
Finn (Child of Light) vs Vivi Ornitier (Final Fantasy IX)
Lux (The 7 th Saga) vs Hope Estheim (Final Fantasy XIII)


Light

Hubert von Vestra (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) vs Chu-Chu (Xenogears)
Lauren (Cosmic Star Heroine) vs Rude (Final Fantasy VII)
Reyna (Eternal Poison) vs Thief M (Final Fantasy Tactics)
Kamil (The 7 th Saga) vs Kain Highwind (Final Fantasy IV)

24

Tournaments / Re: Futurama 2020 Season 2 NOMS

« on: October 25, 2020, 03:13:23 AM »

Godlike:

Ranked: Kefka (FF6), Ryu (BoF3), Jowy Atreides (S2), Sephiran (FE10)

Unranked: Aeterna (IAS), Redeye (OT), Edelgard von Hresvelg (FE3H), Alyssa L’Salle (CSH)

Heavy: 

Ranked: Hugo (S3), Umi (CstW), Raquel Applegate (WA4), Rune Walsh (PS4)

Unranked: Felix Hugo Fraldarius (FE3H), Yang Fabul (FF4:TAY), Bacchus (SO4), Rabbid Luigi (M+R)

Middle:

Ranked: Jessica De’Alkirk (Lunar1), Gaff Gafgarion (FFT), Hope (FF13), Chrom (FE:A)

Unranked: Linca (Atelier Ayesha), Setsuna (IAS), Ophilia (OT), Estelle (ToV)

Light:

Ranked: Chu-Chu (XG), Jelanda (VP1), Lucius (FE7), Innes (FE8)

Unranked: Hubert von Vestra (FE3H), Amy Sage (PS2), Lauren (CSH), Olivya (TOPSP)

25

Discussion / Re: Ranking characters by in-game use: obscura edition

« on: October 23, 2020, 06:02:15 AM »

Three Houses classes ratings

Hero [M]- 2/10. Move is too low. Assassin is just better.
Swordmaster - 2.5/10. Move is too low. Assassin is just better.
Assassin - 6.5/10. more move + terrain shit + stealth = why would you use the other tier 3 sword bitches
Fortress Knight- 2/10. Move and speed are too low. Just use Wyvern Rider Dedue, bitch.
Paladin - 7/10. Slow but stronk, especially for the bois with the strong lance arts         
Wyvern Rider -  9.5/10. Chibi wyvern lord
Warrior- 5/10. Decent but doesn’t compare well at all to Wyvern.
Sniper - 7/10. Low move but Bowfaire class is very cool, as is Hunter’s Volley   
Grappler [M] - 6/10. Fierce Iron Fist and terrain shenanigans
Warlock - 7/10. Generically solid mid-game magic class.   
Dark Bishop [M] - 3/10. free fiendish blow just in case you didn’t grab it on your mages??? i guess??
Bishop - 7/10 every team needs a good healbot

Falcon Knight [F] - 9/10. Almost as OP as wyvern lord     
Wyvern Lord- 10/10. Overpowered as fuck         
Mortal Savant - 6/10. Neat alternate option for some characters like Dorothea/Manuela if you decide to do the sword build for them, but kinda niche       
Great Knight - 2.5/10. Slow as piss like Fortress Knight and a pain in the ass to unlock. ok boomer    
Bow Knight - 8.5/10. Best non-flying class i think            
Dark Knight - 7/10. Decent lategame magic class with high move
Holy Knight - 3/10. White Magic sucks at offensive use due to high weight and the existence of Black Magic, and not getting either Usesx2 nor heal buffing makes it a hard sell for your dedicated healer. Pass.    
War Master [M]   - 4.5/10. Just use grappler or war monk?
Gremory [F] - 6/10. Interesting mixed magic user, although I find I prefer one of the other magic classes on average        

Trickster - 4/10. Interestingly, a good class on CS, but Foul Play is about the only thing they really have going for them since they don’t have any -faires.
War Monk/Cleric - 6/10. brawl avoid +20 is pretty legit as fuck
Dark Flier [F] - 8/10. Flying magic bitch, although held back by lack of flying mage battalions     
Valkyrie [F] - 8/10. Riding magic bitch, lowish power but uncanny blow is fucking lit and the range is great.

Enlightened One - 5/10, is fine
Emperor - 2/10. Fuck the police, bringing us down
Great Lord - 5/10. Is fine.
Barbarossa - 9/10. a flying bowfaire class? don’t mind if i do