Fire Emblem

[Aozaki-desu]

Just beat Path of Radiance, probably starting Radiant Dawn today / tomorrow
p.s. it was p gud

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

Reminds me, I need to do it.

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

Also, very good timing, considering bthe Fallen Heroes Banner and Ashnard GHB.

[Aozaki-desu]

RADIANT DAWN FUCKING SUCKS HOLY SHIT HOW IS IT SO BAD

[Ratman]

It gets a bit better once you know the completely pointless guys. Fun concept, shame they never came back to it with a game that'd stick to traditional FE formula less, and be more logically built around the idea of hopping around the map with a few groups of units.

Arguably RD is just Gaiden on drugs, and it at least puts minimal effort into cleaning up the obvious issues, letting you pass items between the armies and stuff.

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

Gameplay-wise, RD was pretty great. Same with the overarching plot, IMO. The problem was character interactions and development, or the lack thereof for any characters not named Micaiah, Pelleas, or Elincia. In any case, there are dev journals on the minor characters that reveal interesting details that you unfortunately never learn in-game. Also, I do agree that the switch from the GM to the DB in Part 3 feels like a bucket of ice water to the face. That being said, boss abusing Jarrod solves that problem.

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

Also, the Japanese version had some expanded scripts, especially for Ludvek, and those are helpfully translated at Serenes Forest.

[Aozaki-desu]

oh come on plot is fates tier dogshit
and gameplay is literally the worst - most of the time you play with more or less preset characters because the shit jumps around way too much and you cant really invest
so every map is gimmick map - solve this with this roster, solve that with that roster
which is the worst, maybe older emblems had it better, but nu emblems literally cannot into interesting gimmick chapters

and the second half of part 3 devolves into dragonlord boogaloo that makes three houses wyvern squad look balanced in comparision, there is no tactics involved whatsoever
i honestly dont think i'm finishing this, i'm not feeling like self-flaggelating to this degree right now

- - - Updated - - -

also, there has been 2 fucking chapters where titania literally cannot advance because horses cant traverse waver or scale cliffs
she literally could not get to the part of the map because she sits on a horse and there is nothing to be done about that
whoever thought this to be a good idea needed to be hanged
after shit like this RD gameplay literally cannot be defended in good faith

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

First of all, please type in coherent sentences. That was painful to read. Secondly, I can defend RD gameplay in good faith because it actually epitomizes old FE, in which not every unit, heck not even most units, are optimal, and to raise some truly optimal units, you have to baby them, like Rolf, Astrid, and most of the Dawn Brigade. It's a game where RNG can screw you, and that shit sticks, and despite the long hard slog to the finish, the end is actually rewarding since every Tier 3/Master Class is actually god-like when you get there. Yeah, there are serious flaws with regards to balance, such as most laguz units sucking, many characters being unsuited for their class line, and others, I don't think the gameplay was dogshit. I had fun playing the game.

As for plot, nothing can go below Fates, and to place this game's plot at that level is an insult. RD was a well-done sequel to PoR that expanded on concepts hinted at in PoR and resolved many dangling plot threads. The means to find some of this out is convoluted, but it is still in the game.

[GDB]

Don't forget God-mode Ike just doing everything himself in... I forget if it was Act 3 or 4.

But yeah, that's not a good game.

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

That is more normal-mode, and besides, everyone got god-like at the end. At least, those who weren't Sothe, Tormod, or Muarim.

[Aozaki-desu]

my sentences are fine, aside from occasional typo

they gave me ragnell back in 3-10 i think? Ike is slow though, by the time he gets anywhere everybody is already dead

i was severely tempted to go at it with BK in vs Dawn Brigade mission but was afraid he would proc eclipse and send me to restart the chapter
i did get in range of killing micaiah only to find her literally untouchable which was another super cheap crap
it was really surprising, in an unpleasant way, given that RD has multiple defend missions that can be ended by killing the chapter boss

[Bloble]

I don't love RD much myself. Dropped it around halfway through part 3. It wasn't bad or unfun; it just sorta lost me.

Didn't like its obsession with playing around stat caps. Or its ridiculous growths that only got more ridiculous with BEXP. Or tier 3 classes existing in the first place. Or how the Dawn Brigade was just the least memorable least likable bunch of losers, most of whom never felt satisfying to use and had to constantly get bailed out by a new overpowered unit each mission. Or how damned slow everything was. Or biorhythm. Or how half the skills were useless. Or how, despite having many of the same ingredients as the tactical FEs I love, such as repositioning, rescue, crazy strategies, tons of different units, defense maps, etc, it somehow felt more constraining than any of the GBA fire emblems in what it let you do.

Steal system and canto were fun though. And it's still a hell of a lot more tactical than Awakening, which I ironmanned. Probably gonna replay RD from scratch one of these days.

[Aozaki-desu]

As for plot, nothing can go below Fates, and to place this game's plot at that level is an insult

the plot is exactly on the level of fates
daein is getting oppressed by evil begnion dudes, because theyre evil
there is rebellion in crimea because nobles are evil
the tiger laguz prince is a comical retard becauze laguz are retards (pretty weird stance to take in a second game about RACISM not gonna lie)
micaiah is a walking plot device
pelleas makes izuka look trustworthy (actually izuka is probably my only geniune praise of the plot, he was hilarious)
conveniently, nobody questions zelgius, not even once, aside from offhand mention of how big his dick is - despite the fact that question should've probably been raised once tibarn got blown the fuck out in that one cutscene

Or tier 3 classes existing in the first place.

i did not know about t3 classes, my jaw fucking dropped when i saw what i thought to be maxed out titania level randomly and get even more bullshit powerful

[Bloble]

No actual complaints about the plot on this end. Besides everything being generally way less enjoyable than in PoR despite no clear dip in quality. Maybe I noped out before it started to get bad.

[asterism42]

Skrimir isn't an idiot because he's a laguz, he's an idiot because he's Skrimir.

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

Skrimir isn't an idiot because he's a laguz, he's an idiot because he's Skrimir.

Thank you. Ranulf and Caineghis also clearly demonstrate this.

[Aozaki-desu]

oh my god units just spawn from thin air in unholy numbers
every turn
this is worse than fates

[asterism42]

If you're talking about the map with Izuka, you can literally clear that with only Tibarn and Elincia

[Bloble]

If you're bored of Radiant Dawn, why not try Berwick Saga? Tellius was just ripping off Kaga's notes, y'know.