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mark_asphodelIf I hadn't been following the pre-release chatter, I don't think Nowi ever would've set off my alarm bells. Like I said, maybe ignorance is bliss when it comes to this stuff.
Okay. Obligatory desert chapter outta the way. Picked up Nowi and Gregor. Maybe it's too much nostalgia for Ukrainian Grandma, but I find Gregor's Russian-accented broken English way, way more charming than I ought to. IDK, they kind of got the way he talks... right? Right enough that I like it.
I was afraid Basilio would be too comic, but outfit aside, he's all right.
Then we get the massive Plot Point in Chapter Nine, complete with a big chunk o' foreshadowing. May I say that Gangrel is strangely endearing for a villain? Maybe it's because he's not banging on about racism or Destroy All Humans (yet?) and seems to have a legitimate beef? Also, you can tell that in meatlife he'd have a rubbery, mobile actor's face capable of pulling off all these insincere expressions. IDK. A very cinematic villain, one outside the norm for this series IMO.
Wow, they pulled out all the stops in making Libra someone you could mistake for a woman. Nice little braid he's got there; reminds me of Relena Peacecraft. As for Tharja... well, I recruited her. There are, so far, no weirdass recruitment chains in this-- you just go and talk to people with Chrom unless they're automatically allies. Kind of strange, given even FE1 had more complex requirements for recruiting people.
Welp. Unlike his predecessor Sigurd, seems like Chrom is gonna have a good long time to contemplate the bad shit that just happened to his family. Also-- I called The Mahnya on sight, didn't I?
Yay. I recruited Anna.
Gameplay:
Pair Up gets increasingly more ridiculous but I can believe it's the only way you can make it through the hardest modes. But having allies assist in kills without exposing them to risk or expending their weapons? Whut.
Those wyvern-rider reinforcements in Chapter Nine were unpleasant.
I will say that among the things I appreciate about FE4 is that you can and basically should deploy your entire force. FE13 isn't as nuts as FE12 about throwing gobs and gobs of characters I won't ever use at me, but it just feels like kind of a waste. OK, here's another mage. Already got two tome users deployed and one on the bench. Now what?
Tricksters-- swords, staves, lock-picking and badassery. I love it.
Character development:
Well, Stahl is a pretty sweet, low-key, likable guy. I like Robin more than I ever imagined possible. Don't love him, but he's a solidly acceptable co-protagonist. Nowi is rendered endearing and non-loli via localization. As Ukrainian Grandma would say, "Thank you for Gott!" And Lon'qu is one of the only myrmidon types I've found worthwhile to use outside of Aira and her mini-me daughter. I tend to prefer the Ogma swordudes over the Navarre-types, but with Lon'qu I'm making an exception. Oh, and he doesn't annoy me, so that helps.
Pairings and Stuff:
Let's see... Chrom/Sully still at A, Stahl/Cordelia at C and climbing, and since I have Anna now I can start building her up with Robin. Oh, and we have Gregor/Nowi at C. Unless their higher-level supports turn me off, the "old crone" and "gramps" are gettin' hitched because I like it for reasons I can't explain.
World-building:
OK. Plegia appears to be future!Macedon/Dolhr, which explains the wyvern riders and the dragon bones lying around. Is Gangrel descended from Michalis, perhaps? He has orangey hair. But there wasn't any desert in Macedon back then. Hmm. Condensing all of Archanea into three mega-states means it's hard to "map" a lot of it culturally, though.
Okay. Obligatory desert chapter outta the way. Picked up Nowi and Gregor. Maybe it's too much nostalgia for Ukrainian Grandma, but I find Gregor's Russian-accented broken English way, way more charming than I ought to. IDK, they kind of got the way he talks... right? Right enough that I like it.
I was afraid Basilio would be too comic, but outfit aside, he's all right.
Then we get the massive Plot Point in Chapter Nine, complete with a big chunk o' foreshadowing. May I say that Gangrel is strangely endearing for a villain? Maybe it's because he's not banging on about racism or Destroy All Humans (yet?) and seems to have a legitimate beef? Also, you can tell that in meatlife he'd have a rubbery, mobile actor's face capable of pulling off all these insincere expressions. IDK. A very cinematic villain, one outside the norm for this series IMO.
Wow, they pulled out all the stops in making Libra someone you could mistake for a woman. Nice little braid he's got there; reminds me of Relena Peacecraft. As for Tharja... well, I recruited her. There are, so far, no weirdass recruitment chains in this-- you just go and talk to people with Chrom unless they're automatically allies. Kind of strange, given even FE1 had more complex requirements for recruiting people.
Welp. Unlike his predecessor Sigurd, seems like Chrom is gonna have a good long time to contemplate the bad shit that just happened to his family. Also-- I called The Mahnya on sight, didn't I?
Yay. I recruited Anna.
Gameplay:
Pair Up gets increasingly more ridiculous but I can believe it's the only way you can make it through the hardest modes. But having allies assist in kills without exposing them to risk or expending their weapons? Whut.
Those wyvern-rider reinforcements in Chapter Nine were unpleasant.
I will say that among the things I appreciate about FE4 is that you can and basically should deploy your entire force. FE13 isn't as nuts as FE12 about throwing gobs and gobs of characters I won't ever use at me, but it just feels like kind of a waste. OK, here's another mage. Already got two tome users deployed and one on the bench. Now what?
Tricksters-- swords, staves, lock-picking and badassery. I love it.
Character development:
Well, Stahl is a pretty sweet, low-key, likable guy. I like Robin more than I ever imagined possible. Don't love him, but he's a solidly acceptable co-protagonist. Nowi is rendered endearing and non-loli via localization. As Ukrainian Grandma would say, "Thank you for Gott!" And Lon'qu is one of the only myrmidon types I've found worthwhile to use outside of Aira and her mini-me daughter. I tend to prefer the Ogma swordudes over the Navarre-types, but with Lon'qu I'm making an exception. Oh, and he doesn't annoy me, so that helps.
Pairings and Stuff:
Let's see... Chrom/Sully still at A, Stahl/Cordelia at C and climbing, and since I have Anna now I can start building her up with Robin. Oh, and we have Gregor/Nowi at C. Unless their higher-level supports turn me off, the "old crone" and "gramps" are gettin' hitched because I like it for reasons I can't explain.
World-building:
OK. Plegia appears to be future!Macedon/Dolhr, which explains the wyvern riders and the dragon bones lying around. Is Gangrel descended from Michalis, perhaps? He has orangey hair. But there wasn't any desert in Macedon back then. Hmm. Condensing all of Archanea into three mega-states means it's hard to "map" a lot of it culturally, though.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-09 07:49 pm (UTC)What changes did they institute in her case? I'm curious.
May I say that Gangrel is strangely endearing for a villain? Maybe it's because he's not banging on about racism or Destroy All Humans (yet?) and seems to have a legitimate beef?
This is what I enjoyed about him pre-local, too. Yeah, he's kind of an ass about it, but it's a very human course to follow - an utter refusal to let go of past grudges. And over recent atrocities, at that. (Giving the Good Player Kingdom a skeleton in its closet was a pleasantly surprising twist.)
But having allies assist in kills without exposing them to risk or expending their weapons? Whut.
Aye, I figure that first point's the biggest advantage Pair Up gives you, particularly where healers and other squishies are concerned. A good way to keep 'em safe from surprise lol deaths.
Was unaware that Pair Up attacks didn't subtract weapon use, though. I thought the endurance costs were paid normally.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-10 02:13 pm (UTC)She admittedly looks young but in no way comes across as a child. She doesn't seem markedly "younger" than other girls on the marriage market, like Lissa and Maribell.
Giving the Good Player Kingdom a skeleton in its closet was a pleasantly surprising twist.
Yeah, that's usually shoved off on the Big Not-Evil Empire-- Archanea, Etruria, Begnion. Not the Altea/Pherae/Crimea "homeland," though Leonster in FE5 turns out to have some skeletons in its locker, and I don't just mean Cuan and Ethlin.
I thought the endurance costs were paid normally.
I need to double check on that.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-10 06:32 pm (UTC)This actually does intrigue me and I hope to eventually see it in action.
Not the Altea/Pherae/Crimea "homeland," though Leonster in FE5 turns out to have some skeletons in its locker, and I don't just mean Cuan and Ethlin.
Heh. But as I recall you covering out here, FE5 was the different one in that regard anyway, what with the moral ambiguity it had going on for the Lensterian side.
[I'll probably still use the non-officialized names due to my own habit and taste. Hope that's fine. -- Actually, it might just be similar to how I treat FE4, with semirandom bouncing between available names.]
no subject
Date: 2013-02-09 07:56 pm (UTC)Avoiding spoilers and talk sounds super appealing. Too bad that means shutting oneself off from the most active areas of fandom entirely. I did try, but :\ And now you can't even go on FFN without big fat spoilers right on the front page.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-10 02:30 pm (UTC)Yeah... he's not very "FE" at all.
Avoiding spoilers and talk sounds super appealing. Too bad that means shutting oneself off from the most active areas of fandom entirely. I did try, but :\
Avoiding spoilers is one thing, but I think I'd have been much happier had I not gone looking up support conversations to see what the characters were "really" like.
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Date: 2013-02-10 02:33 pm (UTC)"Smart" characters who come across as insulting to academic types are a pet peeve of mine.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-11 06:31 pm (UTC)Also Lon'qu is like a gender-reversed Florina. Pretty funny.
EDIT: Also, I like Gangrel's motivation but not his character. I consider that a merit of the worldbuilding rather than the dude.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-12 10:08 pm (UTC)I don't find it that appealing but I didn't like it in Florina, either.
Also, I like Gangrel's motivation but not his character. I consider that a merit of the worldbuilding rather than the dude.
Sounds about right.