FE12, Chapters 1-3

[mark_asphodel]

This is a good game.  Good game, nice game, everybody ought to give it a whirl.  It combines things I really love about FE11 with all the things that people whined about NOT being in FE11. 

I do have to say that Normal Mode is too easy.  I selected it on purpose because this is a long game, I don't have a lot of free time, and I wanted to get through it and experience the whole thing, but... too easy.  Like, if units are dying, you're doing something wrong.  I don't really want the Lunatic Experience right now, because if I want to be frustrated by RNG and surviving on random strokes of luck there's always FE5. But... I should've gone with Hard.

Also, the number of weapon drops in this is absurd.  I can only assume they dry up at some point in time because the glut of cool stuff is pretty whacked.  It's not like I can deploy 20 people on the field at once!  Maybe this version doesn't give you a lot of gold for buying things?  So far the villages mostly yield benchwarmer characters.  

[God, I miss the repair shop.  OTOH... forging!  I can make javelins and hand axes that don't suck!]

I completed Ch3 in few enough turns that I unlocked the first Gaiden chapter of the game; this is the whole MyUnit'n'Katarina assassins side-story.  Goody.  

Anyway, there's not a lot else to say about this.  It's the FE3 storyline with tweaks and Jagen telling Chris what a good little girl she is every damn chapter.  Rody is maintaining a place in my affections in part because he isn't slobbering all over Chris like the majority of the cast.  (He also hits just about all of my knight biases.  I hear Luke turns out better as a unit in this, whereas Abel blew Cain out of the water in FE11[*], but I don't care.)  Flashback scenes do flesh out a lot of things, though-- in terms of re-introducing characters like Julian and Matthis it does a great job.  

I guess it's nice to see a bunch of my old virtual friends.  :)

*For those of you not familiar with Abel in FE11, he's hands-down the best Christmas Cavalier I've ever used.  

Comments

[swanchika]

Maybe this version doesn't give you a lot of gold for buying things?

There are still Arenas, so if you want to sit on an absurd pile of money, there you go... Although I remember a good number of Bullions scattered here and there, especially if you go on inspecting every cave entrance.

(I'd be delighted to rush through the game and confirm that right away, but... it is the end of the semester)

[mark_asphodel]

Goddammit. I didn't go in the cave in CH1. I was too busy guarding up in case reinforcements showed up.

Thanks!

[thenicochan]

You're really psyching me for the game! Who are you enjoying using thus far? Any interesting support convos?

[mark_asphodel]

You get a metric fuckton of characters in this, many of them mounted units, and some of the maps only allow 6-7 units. I've been swapping characters around like crazy in an attempt to find out who's usable... and there are some characters I'm not partial to that I will NEED for later chapter so I've forced myself to use them, too.

Characters I enjoy using:
Myrmidon MyUnit: Myrmidon who comes in with an early level-up advantage? Pretty sweet. She's doing nicely.
Linde: Light/Anima mage who joins your party packing one decent tome and two great tomes? Yes plz.
Rody: Have always been partial to the "Green Lance" units (see: Sain, FE11!Abel). I hear Rody is not the best of your three (three!) starter cavaliers, but he's doing very nicely thus far and having a custom-forged javelin has made him extremely useful.
Catria: Effin' amazing Peg Knight who reclasses to an effin' good cavalier for maps that are not flier-friendly
Palla: See Catria, substitute "damn good" for "effin' good"
Caeda: Wing Spear. Her level-ups have been as good as Catria's thus far.
Barst: Custom-forged Hand Axe. I dunno if he's as good here as he was in FE11 but he was so epic there that I'm giving him a try.
Marth: Classy, reliable, Rapier.
Sirius: Reclassed to Dracoknight Holy Shit Amazing.

Note massive slant toward lance-using mounted units.

Most of the support conversations revolve around MyUnit and honestly I think they're not terribly involving. Characters fall over themselves praising MyUnit (don't care) and MyUnit is obsessed with training (don't care) and whether or not she's "girly" enough (IDGAF). Most of what's revealed so far I already knew: Malliesia has a blatant crush on Marth, Catria has a less blatant and less delusional crush on Marth that's affecting her performance, Sirius notices that MyUnit hates him, Ryan wants MyUnit to be his big sister and we learn his parents really wanted a girl (I guess that explains a few things about Gordin?). IDK.

There was one jaw-dropper involving Marth and MyUnit but the translation there is a bit dodgy according to Amielleon. That's a fun one. I thought I was being trolled by the translating team when I read it.

[kyusil]

so tl;dr, good gameplay-wise but crappy retelling of the story? Maybe I'll import a copy and get the best of both worlds.

[mark_asphodel]

I wouldn't say "crappy." FE12 integrates the FE11 backstory and supplementary exposition in a skillful way, making the whole shebang accessible in a way that it wasn't before. Given the Achilles heel of FE3 was the amount of stuff you had to research via artbook and designers' notes to grasp, this is a HUGE deal. For the first time ever, it's all there.

On the downside, there's MyUnit and all the baggage she brings to the table.

[samuraiter]

Samson: "I'm sexy and I know it."

(I expect a lot of squee when he shows up.)