FE13: Xenologue 3, Paralogues 5, 6, 10, 12, 15

[mark_asphodel]

So I took a break from the main story.

I gotta say, I love-love-love that Chrom and Lucina promote to use lances... on foot.  Get like Ephraim, indeed.  Speaking of which, I picked up Ephraim's Lnce, I mean Lance, on the Morgan recruitment chapter.  I want Chrom to use it but he's still at D-rank and Lucina's worse than that.   
Also acquired: Micaiah's Pyre, Roy's Blade, and I got Seliph's Blade in Ch 19 but lost it on a restart, boo.  I still have the Innes Bow and a well-worn Orsin's Hatchet. I feel bad about using any of these up, sigh.  I have other cool stuff that's not named for legendary heroes, but it's the legacy weapons I want the most.

Speaking of legendary heroes, Champions of Yore 3 was good fun for support-grinding.  I like how all the male protagonists are so focused on their sisters, er, lovers, er, sister-lovers.  And vice versa.  It kind of made me ship Eliwood/Lyn, oops.  Since they're not "real ppl" I have to withdraw complaints about characterization, though I must say Eliwood's OTT self-deprecation and Sigurd's... bitterness... both struck me as a little odd.

Okay.  So after Chapter 19 I went on a kidlet-collecting spree.  I have acquired:

Severa, the tsundere child of Cordy and Stahl.
Owain, the strange child of Lissa and Frederick
Inigo, the only slightly less strange child of Olivia and Henry
Morgan, the addle-brained child of Robin and Anna

And right now I'm poised to collect Nah, the offspring of Nowi and Gregor, followed by Gerome the son of Cherche and Virion.  I didn't expect to like Cherche and Virion as a couple, but I actually kinda did.  It works.

Anyway... if the parents in this game tend to be quirky to the point of dysfunction, the kids are worse.  Kjelle seems sane enough, but so far I have hand full of jokers.  I kind of liked Owain when reading him in text, but in action he's worse than Vaike.  Seriously, I didn't mind Vaike that much... but Owain annoys me[*].  Inigo puts on a better front (Owain doesn't realize he needs one) but alternates between blushy-blushy shy and blithe womanizer.  I already knew Morgan was a semi-amnesiac little fruitloop, so I can't say I'm surprised there.  And Severa is...

UN-FUCKING-PLEASANT

I realize that's the point.  Despite her tropey nature, I almost have to applaud IS for vomiting up this little hellchild.  One of the problems with FE4/5 was that the kids arguably weren't screwed up enough.  Sety and Fee only show cracks with Levin as their father.  Arthur and Tinny and Leaf all have their triggers for homicidal rage, and some of the kids have mild-to-moderate Issues, but then you have someone like Delmud: "I've a sister I didn't know existed?  All right; can't wait to meet her!  Mom went missing in the desert?  I guess that's to be expected. Aw, my sister died?  I guess things like that happen."  Prozac or pot, you make the call there.  In Severa, you get a kid who actively rages that her mother put Chrom'n'Country before her own child-- angry, lonely, venomous, manipulative, and just generally repellent.  I don't like the execution of it, exactly, but I'm glad they went there instead of presenting us with a Gen 2 along the same lines as what FE4 gave us.

As far as Gen 2 pairings go, I'm building up Owain/Severa because they deserve one another and Inigo/Lucina because... because I can, really.  And who else is left?  My Morgan's female.  The Avatar's taken and that's yucky anyway.  Yarne and Laurent don't exist in my playthrough at present and Gerome is... well, he wears a mask.  I don't know much about him. 

* I did like the scene with him and Lissa regarding his own Mark of the Exalt and Lissa's lack thereof.  Many of the pleasures of FE13 are in these little touches.

Comments

[intaglionyx]

So far, the only Gen 2 characters I really know much about are Lucina, Kjelle, and Nah. You already know how I feel about Lucina, Nah is interesting, and Kjelle is, um. "Some are more equal than others!" Really, IS?

[zyriex]

As awesome as she is at murdering things, Severa is pretty much little miss Borderline Personality Disorder and gods if it isn't grating as fuck.

I'm tempted to put her together with Gerome since the angsty little dipwads deserve each other (I haven't gone for Owain in my run yet)

I can't help but wish we had FE13's mechanics with 8's cast. For all of the latter's flaws I liked its supporting cast the most out of the entire series. The characters were still quirky, but felt more nuanced than 13's or some of 9/10's (Illyana anyone?)

[mark_asphodel]

Yeah, the cast of FE8 is hands-down my favorite. I love the core cast of the Archanea games and in FE5, but the side characters often got the shaft development-wise in those games, so it's not the same effect as in FE8.

How was Gerome's recruitment chapter?

[zyriex]

A bunch of islands connected by bridges, aka flyer heaven. On hard mode there were veritable shitons of wyvern lords with fun things such as forged spears and silver axes.

Oh right, Gerome is a fatlistic little fucker who seems to think that there's no point in trying to change the past and was looking to set his wyvern free amongst her own kind. They're apparently all dead in the future

[thenicochan]

I can't help it, I love Owain haha. But he's the child of Lissa and Vaike in my game, and it makes a lot of sense where his...er...bold mannerisms come from. And unlike someone naturally hotblooded like, er, Kieran, at least Owain realizes that he is totally off-ball.

[amielleon]

I find Inigo kind of likable. At first I was like "oh yes that's exactly what we needed, another Virion," but then the shyness came up and it's an interesting combination at least. Plus the kid has a strong responsible streak that comes out in his supports with dad (that, I have mentioned, read pretty ironically when his dad is Henry).

Anyway, if you end up getting them, I think you'll probably hate Cynthia's personality to bits like I do. And Noire's "quirk" is ... disconcerting. And concerning. And, uh, believable, which is the worst part.

And don't worry about Chrom and lances -- once he's got D and a javelin that weapon level basically practices itself.

[mark_asphodel]

I do like Inigo, which is one reason I'm keeping him with Lucina. I don't love him, but I do quite like him. (That Henry-father support came out interesting, yeah).

Anyway, if you end up getting them, I think you'll probably hate Cynthia's personality to bits like I do.

She's gonna be a Gaius!Cynthia if I do get her. The offspring of Sumia and Gaius. Oh, I can't wait.

And Noire's "quirk" is ... disconcerting. And concerning. And, uh, believable, which is the worst part.

The child abuse thing?

And don't worry about Chrom and lances -- once he's got D and a javelin that weapon level basically practices itself.

Got him a javelin. We're in business on Project Get Like Ephraim.

[amielleon]

Yes, the child abuse thing. And her apparent dissociative identity disorder or something.