#alerawolf

[iturbide]

I don't know if you saw, but a new Fire Emblem game was announced and it looks like it's either a prequel/sequel (I really need to watch the trailer again) to Three Houses.

I am beyond excited.

I HAVE BEEN VERY LATE TO THE PARTY BUT I DID FINALLY SEE THE TRAILER

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN NINTENDO did Engage just not sell well enough so they're going to push the Discourse button again because there's no such thing as bad publicity??? My dash has been on fire with people alternatively optimistic and up in arms about this choice and honestly I'm just sitting here munching popcorn because this is gonna be a ride

I'm honestly pretty stoked about a lot of the designs? There are so many more characters of color in that trailer??? Leda and Theodora are both gorgeous, I love Cai's bird mount, and is it just me or does Dietrich's Answerer weapon look similar to Marianne's Blutgang????? And Adult Sothis at long last???????

I'm definitely willing to see where this goes -- I have more questions than answers right now, and I'm honestly not sure how much I trust IntSys after the Three Hopes debacle, but I'll still keep an eye out

[versegm]

Stumbled across your blog for the Fate meta and headcannon. Stayed for that as well. Everything here is very enjoyable to read, I enjoy reading your thoughts very much.

aw that’s really nice, thank you!

[iturbide]

I know you don't play Heroes much anymore but you might be interested to see they added Grima in the game.

Though they disappointingly did go the possessed Robin route. Again.

I SAW THAT I do like that they at least gave the vessels monster features this time rather than just an Ominous Purple Aura -- the wings, horns, and claws are a pretty boss choice.

[iturbide]

I'm thrilled to hear that platonic S-supports are an option in Engage. As much as I love cute romantic supports, I love seeing a nice platonic one as well.

Supports are also why I'm still at chapter 9. Every time new characters join I drag them off to skirmishes to unlock their supports for everyone available.

The fact that they removed gaining support points on the enemy phase makes this take a while. I'm ridiculously over leveled at this point.

I KNOW RIGHT I'M SO PSYCHED ABOUT PLATONIC SUPPORTS GIVE THEM TO ME I NEED THEM it's honestly so nice just to have it acknowledged that not all Supports need to be romantic, that bonds can be that profound without romance factoring in at all. It does my heart so much good.

Also let me assure you, the 'overleveling' will eventually become a problem only for the main story: skirmishes actually increase in strength along with you. The only reason I progressed with the main story at all is because my skirmishes started demanding advanced classes and were just too hard for my army to beat without promoting, and I couldn't do that without a lot more Master Seals than I could get at that point. The main story missions are (generally) a breeze once you hit that point, but do not get overconfident because it will come back to bite you. Don't be like me in Chapter 19. Mistakes were made.

As discussed, I also have the Need for Supports, but because most of my battles are skirmishes and they are hard with that level scaling, I do need to keep my teams rotating to make sure that I have units in the fight that won't get trounced, others that can get some levels to avoid falling behind, and supports on top of it, so...it can be a bit of a struggle to get the Supports up. Especially when archers support each other and I need them on opposite sides of the arena to handle pincers and please why can't you guys make this easy on me. The one thing I really do miss from previous games is the character Pair Up/Adjutant mechanic; I made extensive use of that for support grinding back in Awakening and Three Houses, but since the Emblem Ring now takes that role, I'm finding it much more difficult to effectively rack up supports between units. This is part of why I'm at around 100 hours logged and still don't have everyone's C supports unlocked RIP ME

[iturbide]

Robin won 1st place in CYL! Now I'm just hoping they do a good job on his brave alt.

MY BOY DID IT I'M SO PROUD OF HIM 💖💖💖 And congrats to Sorren and F!Corrin, too!! Fingers crossed that F!Robin makes it next year to join the party! For now though I'm just hoping we get Grandmaster Robin because I've been waiting six years for this

also was no one going to tell me about Valentine's Tak-Tak

[iturbide]

Legendary Robin is perfect. We finally got him.

(This is going to cut into my brave orb stash)

On another note, I really need to hurry up and finish Engage because I have questions I want to ask but don't want to spoil myself story wise.

WE DID AND HE'S LEGENDARY I honestly never thought I'd see the day, I'm still reeling

(in all fairness I have no stash at present, I need to build it from the ground up -- but at least I have lots of maps I can clear since I've been out of the game for months now, right?)

on that same note though I also need to finish Engage because I have a few questions hanging out in my inbox but I haven't actually played to the stuff they mention so I can't weigh in on them effectively yet (this is what happens when I get sidetracked).

[iturbide]

The writing for Heroes is indeed such a disappointment sometimes. I'll see good ideas that then go nowhere.

They have a fantastic framework for a good story between the existing Fire Emblem stories and their original content. But they have done nothing with it really. The writing honestly comes across like they have too many writers and with no one comparing notes or working together. I play other mobile games with actual good writing so it's so disappointing to see this game fall flat story wise.

Yeah exactly!! I don't know whether it's too many writers not comparing notes or too many ideas and not enough care to try and find a single coherent story to tell; they seem to throw every idea at the wall to see what sticks as they get through 13 chapters.

And that's a shame, because you're right: not only do they have a great premise they could be working with and some really interesting original characters to utilize, they also have had some really good ideas in some of the past Books! But the good ideas don't tend to be the ones that see a satisfying conclusion (looking at you, changeling Sharena -- such potential, all squandered by the end of Book 4), left by the wayside in favor of lazy, half-baked concepts that don't make sense when half a moment's thought is applied (Eitri and Book 5's whole ending).

There are games out there that do a good job with their story. Dragalia tends to be my personal stand-out when it comes to a mobile game with a good story: there was clearly a lot of work and effort put into plotting the larger story, and even though it's coming to an end in just two months, what they've done over the course of their narrative has been delightful. They've subverted expectations, they've inverted common tropes, they've put time and care into developing their various characters and showing their growth over the course of the story, and at least to me it's paid off beautifully. As sad as I am to see it coming to a close before its 4th anniversary celebration, I've had an incredible time engaging with its story, and I really look forward to seeing how they wrap it up. I just wish I could say the same for Heroes.

[iturbide]

New Robin/Grima in heroes (plus a few other Awakening characters)

Though I'm a little disappointed they went the possessed Robin route again. I really want to see them in game as separate people.

I'm more than a little concerned by the fact that Grima is kitted out in Validar's regalia. On the other hand, the dragonstone appears to be inheritable, which is interesting.

(I agree with you, though, I'm frustrated that they don't just make a distinction between Robin and Grima since they're two very different characters. Also I'm still waiting on my Grandmaster Robins. Where are they IntSys.)

Also while I am delighted to see that Gregor and Ricken have made it, I have to know: where is the Vaike. How did Phila, who isn't even a playable character and only has a handful of on-screen appearances, get in before the Vaike, who is a part of the Awakening roster so early on that he's used in the item trade tutorial.

and don't even get me started on the absence of Kellam

This is not to say that I'm not happy Phila's there, I'm just. Not all that attached to her the way I am to other characters that still aren't included in the Heroes roster.

(I'm delighted that Gregor made it, though, I love Gregor so much)