Give Us This Day Our Daily FE12 Update

[mark_asphodel]

 Holy hell.  Update to the official site and everything.  Don't click if you don't want to know.

So, rash, stubborn Luke and composed, gorgeous Rody are members of this "Seventh Platoon" of Altean Knights, along with Katarina and My Unit.  I don't know why Cecil isn't mentioned... maybe she's senior to them?

I am really hoping that this advance promotion of Rody and Luke and their status as "classmates" to Marty Stu and the purple-haired chick will mean that the pair of them get some dialogue and characterization in the Prologue or the My Unit-led chapters.  I am also hoping it will lead to a burst of Cecil/Rody pix, because that would be win.  I don't know why I'm so excited over an obscure pair of cavaliers who never captured the fan imagination (that's the penalty for violating the red/green color scheme, I guess), but I am. 

Cord is back as a playable character.  Cord was another no-show in FE3 Book Two, so his presence in FE12 is yet another new spanner in the canon works.  At this point, the only members of the FE11 cast who will definitely NOT be back are Jake and Beck, as the Ballistician class has been removed from the roster and replaced by Dancer.  I'm a little bummed, but at least Feena will be able to use swords and so may prove kickass.

(I'm not saying the rest of the crew are all back, right down to Raddy and Tomas.  I'm saying we can only rule out the Shooters.)

The graphics and stuff are all basically what we saw in FE11 with maybe some minor tweaks, so don't expect this to look like the GBA games.  But I can give a flying flip about the graphics if the gameplay is good and the characterization and dialogue are decent, so color me happy thus far.

Comments

[samuraiter.livejournal.com]

No Ballisticians? Unfortunate, as I like both Jake and Beck, but ... still, these updates increase my craving! *is turning into a HOLAS Vampire*

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I wanted my shooters for another round. Oh, well. Maybe I'll still get a prepromote Barst the Berserker with stat growths on par with FE11 Wolf/Sedgar. 'Twould be awesome.

[shimizu-hitomi.livejournal.com]

My impression for some reason is that Cecil is their senior. I can't remember if this is actually backed up in the script or if it's just personal headcanon.

Dancers are pretty much awesome in the earlier games. Not killing machines, but not totally fragile and defenseless like in the GBA games. I look forward to seeing how Feena will turn out for the remake in terms of gameplay.

Oh, I'd love to see Raddy and Caesar return. (Raddy's ending has always seemed like an odd loose end in particular given how much the games love to screw with pairings... I've never been able to figure out who his love interest was even supposed to be. XD)

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

My impression for some reason is that Cecil is their senior

I got that impression too, from somewhere... I think from that Spanish-language "World of Dragons" site that referred to her as the guardian of Raman Temple(!). But I think that's the only place I found that piece of info and there is some other weird stuff on that site.

I've never been able to figure out who his love interest was even supposed to be. XD

Oh, wow. It never had occurred to me, until you mentioned it just now, that his love interest might have been someone in the army! Still, Raddy's adorable and I love his look and his outfit (bicolor jacket ftw), so I'd be happy to see him again.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. From a fic-writing perspective I enjoyed the number of FE1 characters who did not appear in FE3 Book Two, as it gave me a pool of characters to kill without affecting the plot any. Having everyone and their little brother in FE12 does take that handy option away.

[penandpaper71.livejournal.com]

I love Rody's and Luke's new art. I really do.

It does seem strange that Cecil is absent, while the other two cavaliers who join with her get all this attention (Particularly since Cecil was pictured with them in their first appearance), but maybe it's because she's been present in some of the gameplay previews and Luke and Rody haven't? I imagine that we'll see new art for Cecil soon enough. By this point, I wouldn't be surprised if all the "new" characters get art, which is good, although I'm hoping that both the "new" and "old" characters will get new art as well. Sad to waste the opportunity.

Considering what we've already heard about the conversations with My Unit, I'm currently betting that both Rody and Luke will get a few lines at least, if not in the main game itself then in the prologue where our character learns to be an Altean knight. I'm hoping for more then that, but I don't want to get my hopes up only to be disappointed. I'll be very happy if there is more interaction then that though.

I'm excited to see what Feena will be like. <3

I want my North America release date! -_-

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

I never liked Luke's design to begin with, and while I did like anime!Rody, his new design has very quickly grown on me. He's beautiful! And I much prefer new!Luke to old!Luke.

It does seem strange that Cecil is absent, while the other two cavaliers who join with her get all this attention

My current hunch is that Luke'n'Rody are going to be featured as sidekicks/companions to My Unit-- his/her very own Cavalier Duo-- whereas Cecil, who may possibly outrank them (see above) is not obligated to be a sidekick to "Chris" and Katarina. And I hope the boys get some character development!

I want my North America release date! -_-

No kidding.

[penandpaper71.livejournal.com]

I never liked Luke's design to begin with, and while I did like anime!Rody, his new design has very quickly grown on me. He's beautiful! And I much prefer new!Luke to old!Luke.

Rody is beautiful. Luke is too actually. I kind of like that bit of cockiness on his face. It gives him some added personality.

Seeing that they're holding different types of weapons in their artwork, I wonder if IS intends to do the same thing with weapon rank that they did with Cain and Abel in Shadow Dragon (Namely giving each one a higher weapon rank in one area). I'm probably reading into it too much though. They're both weapons usable by cavaliers and it's visually more interesting to have the weapons be different.

My current hunch is that Luke'n'Rody are going to be featured as sidekicks/companions to My Unit-- his/her very own Cavalier Duo-- whereas Cecil, who may possibly outrank them (see above) is not obligated to be a sidekick to "Chris" and Katarina. And I hope the boys get some character development!

Certainly possible. I suppose we'll see soon enough. ^_^

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

I wonder if IS intends to do the same thing with weapon rank that they did with Cain and Abel in Shadow Dragon

I suspect that, too, though isn't it kind of traditional to have each half of the cavalier duo hold a different weapon? I think in the TCG art, Abel always has a sword and Cain has a lance, which of course has been reversed in current gameplay canon. But yes, that was my gut feeling from looking at their pix. Having Rody be the lanceman and Luke the sword dude makes intuitive sense, too.

[penandpaper71.livejournal.com]

I think in the TCG art, Abel always has a sword and Cain has a lance, which of course has been reversed in current gameplay canon.

The only art that I've seen of them had them both holding lances. Cain (http://serenesforest.net/media/fe3illust/Kain.jpg) and Cain (http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/File:Kain.gif). Here's Abel (http://serenesforest.net/media/fe3illust/Abel.jpg), but admittedly I've only found one picture for Abel, while I've seen two for Cain, so there may well be more art for Abel that I haven't see. Perhaps that's the one where he wields a sword.

Technically though, FE3 cavaliers couldn't use two weapons. Social knights used lances, while dismounted knights used swords, which was only really an issue on indoor maps were they were locked to swords and I seem to recall that their stats took a hit. But the lack of the weapon's triangle helped a bit with that, although I missed my javelins while inside.[/whining]

All the cavaliers in FE3 appear to be drawn with lances, but some of them are mounted at the time which explains that. Cecil (http://serenesforest.net/media/fe3illust/Cecil.jpg), Rody (http://serenesforest.net/media/fe3illust/Rody.jpg), and Luke (http://serenesforest.net/media/fe3illust/Ruke.jpg) (Who doesn't appear to be holding a weapon in this picture weirdly, but there isn't a sword in sight). Bonus, Jagen appears to be holding a lance as well here (http://serenesforest.net/media/fe3illust/Jeigan.jpg) and here (http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/File:Jeigan.gif).

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

These were the pix I was thinking of:

Cain, so badass he has TWO lances: http://www.serenesforest.net/media/tcg/5/fe5-003x.jpg
Abel: http://www.serenesforest.net/media/tcg/5/fe5-004.jpg
Cain again: http://www.serenesforest.net/media/tcg/6/fe6-050.jpg
Abel again: http://www.serenesforest.net/media/tcg/6/fe6-051.jpg

I think the second pair of pix represents their FE3 Book II selves.

And here are the equivalents of--
Rody: http://www.serenesforest.net/media/tcg/6/fe6-057.jpg
Luke: http://www.serenesforest.net/media/tcg/6/fe6-058.jpg
Cecil: http://www.serenesforest.net/media/tcg/6/fe6-056.jpg

Wow, I never noticed before, but these cards all have the flags of the respective nations on them!

Caeda: http://www.serenesforest.net/media/tcg/6/fe6-060.jpg
Catria: http://www.serenesforest.net/media/tcg/6/fe6-068.jpg
Linda: http://www.serenesforest.net/media/tcg/6/fe6-063.jpg
Yumina: http://www.serenesforest.net/media/tcg/6/fe6-078x.jpg
Roshe: http://www.serenesforest.net/media/tcg/6/fe6-076.jpg
Ellerean: http://www.serenesforest.net/media/tcg/6/fe6-077x.jpg

Neato. I can stop making things up out of whole cloth!

[penandpaper71.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like that art. *saves* I'm amused about the weapon swap there. If these suspicions turn out to have any foundation, then it might happen again. Luke is holding a lance there, but a sword in his new picture, while Rody is holding a sword there and a lance in his new artwork. Maybe IS just wanted to swap the weapon for the sake of variety?

I like the flags. ^_^

I can never remember, probably because I don't really care about stats and archetypes except for a few rare occasions, but who is supposed to be the "Cain" and "Abel" gameplay wise?

I'm going to have so many cavaliers/paladins on my team when I finally play this game (Assuming that they translate it). O_O So, far I want to use Cecil, Rody, Luke, Cain, Abel, and Sirius. I think I need to cut my list some, but I can't figure out who to cut. D:

[penandpaper71.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you for pointing that art out to me. ^_^

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

I can never remember, probably because I don't really care about stats and archetypes except for a few rare occasions, but who is supposed to be the "Cain" and "Abel" gameplay wise?

I have never seen a 100% applicable definition of "Cain" and "Abel" gameplay wise, so I really can't say. I believe Luke has better HP growth than Rody, marginally better defense, but maxes out on speed a little slower than Rody does. So I guess that makes Rody the Speed/Skill one and Luke the Strength/Def one, whichever those may be.

I think Luke places higher on the Serenes Forest tier list and Rody places higher at GameFaqs. So, uh... it's meaningless? :)