FE13: Through Chapter 19
Feb. 16th, 2013 08:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mark_asphodelI'm not really feeling this plot. Sorry.
For a while, I was genuinely moved by this storyline. Emmeryn's sacrifice and everyone's reaction to it worked well enough in an emotional sense if not a logical sense. The reunion between Lucina and her parents was great. But this second half of the game is feeling perfunctory as hell.
Yen'fay? Do. Not. Care. Basilio? I like the dude, and while I was slightly spoiled by something I read a long time ago (I knew something bad happened to him, just not what or when), and he did put up a good fight... well, it all just felt obligatory. Like Cordelia's peeps getting wiped out. Like Phila getting whacked. As far as midgame shockers go in Fire Emblem, it doesn't really rate. As far as mandatory ally deaths go, it's decent but not... well, it's not a Shit Gets Real moment. That happened back in Chapter Nine.
They've done some interesting stuff with the basic framework of an FE game-- dead father trope subverted, exiled prince business not even happening-- but so much of this feels like they were checking off boxes when they assembled it.
The villains continue to blow chunks. I'm suspending my judgment on Valhart, but Cervantes is a joke and Excellus is like a nasty bloated version of the Happy Mask Salesman from the N64 Zelda games. Gross, in every sense of the word. Unmitigated grossness.
Did I miss the reference to Doma/Duma or did they really take out the reference to him in that chapter? Fuck you, NoA. I was looking forward to that.
Gameplay Stuff:
OK. Chapter 19 was a bloodbath. Had to play it three times. -_-
Lucina/Kjelle are a wonderful sisterly duo of death. <3 So much fun.
Cordelia/Stahl make an excellent battlefield couple. Can't say enough good things about this pairing. Still need to recruit their horrible child, though.
Lissa disappoints me. She can't hit shit with her axes. I'm sorry I went the battle cleric route because she's pretty terrible as that.
Frederick is showing his Jagen-ness... lagging behind in HP and Def, has shitty Res, and is now very prone to dying even in the context of a support network. So much for protecting Lissa, dude. I can recruit their kid now, so I may just bench the both of them afterward. :/
Anna. Rocks. My. Socks.
Henry continues to not be very good at actually killing things with his anima tomes. Ricken is my main man as far as magic goes, aside from Robin of course.
I don't know what else to say. I've gone from being very impressed in a "Wow, this COULD be the best FE game ever!" kind of way to going, "Well, can't wait for that Leif DLC chapter so I can cheap-shot the characters I actually love." Come on, game. You still have time to pull this plot out of the mire and make me feel again.
For a while, I was genuinely moved by this storyline. Emmeryn's sacrifice and everyone's reaction to it worked well enough in an emotional sense if not a logical sense. The reunion between Lucina and her parents was great. But this second half of the game is feeling perfunctory as hell.
Yen'fay? Do. Not. Care. Basilio? I like the dude, and while I was slightly spoiled by something I read a long time ago (I knew something bad happened to him, just not what or when), and he did put up a good fight... well, it all just felt obligatory. Like Cordelia's peeps getting wiped out. Like Phila getting whacked. As far as midgame shockers go in Fire Emblem, it doesn't really rate. As far as mandatory ally deaths go, it's decent but not... well, it's not a Shit Gets Real moment. That happened back in Chapter Nine.
They've done some interesting stuff with the basic framework of an FE game-- dead father trope subverted, exiled prince business not even happening-- but so much of this feels like they were checking off boxes when they assembled it.
The villains continue to blow chunks. I'm suspending my judgment on Valhart, but Cervantes is a joke and Excellus is like a nasty bloated version of the Happy Mask Salesman from the N64 Zelda games. Gross, in every sense of the word. Unmitigated grossness.
Did I miss the reference to Doma/Duma or did they really take out the reference to him in that chapter? Fuck you, NoA. I was looking forward to that.
Gameplay Stuff:
OK. Chapter 19 was a bloodbath. Had to play it three times. -_-
Lucina/Kjelle are a wonderful sisterly duo of death. <3 So much fun.
Cordelia/Stahl make an excellent battlefield couple. Can't say enough good things about this pairing. Still need to recruit their horrible child, though.
Lissa disappoints me. She can't hit shit with her axes. I'm sorry I went the battle cleric route because she's pretty terrible as that.
Frederick is showing his Jagen-ness... lagging behind in HP and Def, has shitty Res, and is now very prone to dying even in the context of a support network. So much for protecting Lissa, dude. I can recruit their kid now, so I may just bench the both of them afterward. :/
Anna. Rocks. My. Socks.
Henry continues to not be very good at actually killing things with his anima tomes. Ricken is my main man as far as magic goes, aside from Robin of course.
I don't know what else to say. I've gone from being very impressed in a "Wow, this COULD be the best FE game ever!" kind of way to going, "Well, can't wait for that Leif DLC chapter so I can cheap-shot the characters I actually love." Come on, game. You still have time to pull this plot out of the mire and make me feel again.
