FE13: Characterization Impressions
Feb. 19th, 2013 07:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mark_asphodelWelp. Not getting any fanfiction urges out of this game, yet. We'll see how I feel when I digest the entire plot. Right now I think the plot is A-S-S, but we still have a few chapters to go.
In terms of characterization, I don't really know what to say about this game.
There is so much goddamned text-- as bad or likely worse than FE12-- to process, and so many jarring things in the support conversations that it's possible to have an impression formed and then overturned within the same battle prep menu.
[Also, the plot appears to hinge on people being stupid. And time travel. Neither of these tend to be good for characterization.]
One thing weird about this, to me, is that key character impressions are formed by watching the way they move in 3D and listening to their actual vocal inflections, and that's something that FE has never really excelled at... or even attempted much. Let's be blunt, the battle animations in FE9 are best turned OFF. But FE13 presents a different way of processing the characters than just reading text-boxes and forming impressions based on how well or poorly someone performs in battle (x-ref my fondness for Barst vs the entire Loser!Azel concept).
Frex... I like Virion. I fully expected to hate his damn guts, but I actually like him. Part of it is he's being a good unit for me. Part of it is that his supports do give him some shrewd intelligence to accompany the bluster and philandering. Part of it is... I don't know. Same with Inigo-- watching him fight and hearing his voice give him an appeal that transcends the actual text of his interactions. Same with Lon'qu; I've never gravitated to the myrmidon-types the way some fans do, but Lon'qu's performed nicely and I like his voice and so my overall impression is positive. Even Gaius wasn't intolerable in the chapters I used him, and his particular quirk irritates the hell out of me.
[I found Miriel intolerable pretty much from the get-go, just so you know. Read a few of her kid's supports and I don't care for him either, but maybe he'll have a nice voice and appealing mannerisms.]
So I don't know. I don't LOVE anybody-- I come closest to loving Lucina, I think, but almost every other character has little spiky problems that, like shards of glass, prevent me from embracing them 100%... and the more supports I unlock the more little moments of WTF I discover. I'm not compelled yet to explore anybody in-depth, and probably won't until I know how everyone stands in light of the time-paradox fuckery. It seems to me that the kids don't just come from the future, they seem to come from alternate futures from one another. Or maybe it's just Morgan who doesn't quite fit. IDK, little things in the Paralogues aren't adding up to a coherent whole. So there's no point in me getting all wrapped up in a Lucina/Inigo romance when, it's entirely possible that I'm rewriting things to erase the Lucina and Inigo presented onscreen right outta the timeline.
Basically, my main takeaway from this so far is that the original timeline (I agree with Ammie-- let's call it the alpha universe) was a mess of unfit or absent parents and their disturbed progeny. At this point I'm genuinely starting to resent that the "Future of Despair" type stuff is mostly relegated to DLC, because unless something truly amazing happens in the next few chapters, as a two-act generational drama, FE4 with its narrative flaws and script omissions beats the hell out of FE13.
In terms of characterization, I don't really know what to say about this game.
There is so much goddamned text-- as bad or likely worse than FE12-- to process, and so many jarring things in the support conversations that it's possible to have an impression formed and then overturned within the same battle prep menu.
[Also, the plot appears to hinge on people being stupid. And time travel. Neither of these tend to be good for characterization.]
One thing weird about this, to me, is that key character impressions are formed by watching the way they move in 3D and listening to their actual vocal inflections, and that's something that FE has never really excelled at... or even attempted much. Let's be blunt, the battle animations in FE9 are best turned OFF. But FE13 presents a different way of processing the characters than just reading text-boxes and forming impressions based on how well or poorly someone performs in battle (x-ref my fondness for Barst vs the entire Loser!Azel concept).
Frex... I like Virion. I fully expected to hate his damn guts, but I actually like him. Part of it is he's being a good unit for me. Part of it is that his supports do give him some shrewd intelligence to accompany the bluster and philandering. Part of it is... I don't know. Same with Inigo-- watching him fight and hearing his voice give him an appeal that transcends the actual text of his interactions. Same with Lon'qu; I've never gravitated to the myrmidon-types the way some fans do, but Lon'qu's performed nicely and I like his voice and so my overall impression is positive. Even Gaius wasn't intolerable in the chapters I used him, and his particular quirk irritates the hell out of me.
[I found Miriel intolerable pretty much from the get-go, just so you know. Read a few of her kid's supports and I don't care for him either, but maybe he'll have a nice voice and appealing mannerisms.]
So I don't know. I don't LOVE anybody-- I come closest to loving Lucina, I think, but almost every other character has little spiky problems that, like shards of glass, prevent me from embracing them 100%... and the more supports I unlock the more little moments of WTF I discover. I'm not compelled yet to explore anybody in-depth, and probably won't until I know how everyone stands in light of the time-paradox fuckery. It seems to me that the kids don't just come from the future, they seem to come from alternate futures from one another. Or maybe it's just Morgan who doesn't quite fit. IDK, little things in the Paralogues aren't adding up to a coherent whole. So there's no point in me getting all wrapped up in a Lucina/Inigo romance when, it's entirely possible that I'm rewriting things to erase the Lucina and Inigo presented onscreen right outta the timeline.
Basically, my main takeaway from this so far is that the original timeline (I agree with Ammie-- let's call it the alpha universe) was a mess of unfit or absent parents and their disturbed progeny. At this point I'm genuinely starting to resent that the "Future of Despair" type stuff is mostly relegated to DLC, because unless something truly amazing happens in the next few chapters, as a two-act generational drama, FE4 with its narrative flaws and script omissions beats the hell out of FE13.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-20 12:53 am (UTC)do you know how much I wanted her to actually kill Robin I wanted that like burningand the other siblings are even worse off, feeling like optional add-ons to bolster your forces a bit--which I mean, they are, gameplay-wise, but if you time traveled from the future (which I assume was a complicated thing to do?) to keep all the things from getting fucked up, then I'd hope you're there to offer a bit more impact on the overall plot than additional muscle.
like... if Lucina's entire function in the plot could be replaced by her having psychic visions or something (albeit making her a less interesting character, since those flashbacks to her in the shitty future are pretty fab), the plot's probably not doing something right.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-20 02:34 am (UTC)The identities of Lucina's mother and sibling do not matter. The identities of the rest of the Future Babbies' fathers are similarly irrelevant.
Meanwhile, the exact mechanics of the time travel, and what exactly happens to the kids we see and their timeline, remain really really fuzzy. I definitely don't want to spoil, but Lucina's individual ending, at the very least, complicates things even further, and the way several of the parent/kid supports end seems to indicate that they'll continue to exist even after all this is done with.
I don't even know what I'm trying to say here. It's only fitting, though, that a discussion of the time travel in FE13 is this incoherent. :I.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-20 04:49 am (UTC)Yep. That was weird. That's what comes of the everyone-with-everyone system, though.
I definitely don't want to spoil, but Lucina's individual ending
What was that? I had her married to Inigo and they wandered off together.
and the way several of the parent/kid supports end seems to indicate that they'll continue to exist even after all this is done with.
Yeah, we have time paradox babies confirmed in at least two cases-- Lucina and Inigo in my file. The Henry/Olivia paired ending confirms they have a son, and Basilio's ending mentioned little Lucina growing up.
It's only fitting, though, that a discussion of the time travel in FE13 is this incoherent.
This game was a nice piece of candy. When I recover, I think I'll play some more Thracia 776.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-20 05:02 am (UTC)Yeah, FE4 is the next bit o' strategy gaming on my plate, though with all the school stuff on my plate, it's progressing rather slowly. Good thing I can save every turn!
no subject
Date: 2013-02-20 03:19 am (UTC)(All the English voice acting in this game is pretty tolerable, but there are some cases where I like the Japanese better, including the obvious and most predictable case where the difference is pretty big. I like English!Chrom better though.)
I agree completely that hearing the voices is a big part of characterization this time around. It's kind of cute, actually -- it fits in well with FE13 making a shift toward more conversational dialogue flow.
I feel like the non-role of the children is mostly to accommodate the freedom of time to make S supports and the resultant optional-ness of even getting the children in the first place. It's the unfortunate plot consequence of a smart gameplay decision.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-20 05:39 am (UTC)I actually really like Laurent. While he's got the verbose-odd guy thing that comes from his mother, he is much more compassionate, and shows his cares for the others in his supports. He's still got the whole "For Science!!" thing going on, but he seems to have been cultured in social situations so he's much more apt to handle discussions with others, and he seems to be more naturally altruistic. (His first two supports with Lucina are, IMO, very sweet)
He's also a magical BAMF.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-20 11:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-20 07:27 pm (UTC)