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arkus-rhapsode · 4 months ago

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Fire Emblem and Aesthetics-A Mini Discussion

So for those who don't know, I don't really play Fire Emblem Heroes, but I still have an interest in seeing what units they release. Usually for fanfic purposes or just keeping track of new resplendent designs. But recently, FEH had an update for the original character of Dagr and it got me thinking about how resplendent from jotunheim look

Combined with FEH's ongoing storyline of taking from Norse mythology it really made me think-"Wait, why don't we have a Norse Fire Emblem game?"

Now look, I'm not here to bemoan that FEH don't have a console version, non gacha style game, but it really got me thinking about how we may be missing out on something relating to the use of a rich mythology and it only being in a mobile game more about collecting waifus and husbandos.

You see, Fire Emblem is no stranger to cribbing from existing mythologies like Norse in Genealogy, Arthurian myth and the matters of France in Elibe, and several characters just straight up being named after mythological/classic literature characters like Beowulf, Sampson, Priam etc. But its always done in this relatively Anglo-Saxon-British-French homogeny of aesthetics for their tales. So we can have a character named Sigurd, but he's not gonna look like he's fresh off the Viking Ship. Now Fire Emblem isn't the only franchise to do this, many pieces of media made by other countries draw upon these sort of exaggerated/romanticized look for fantasy stories all the time. And I want to be clear I am not advocating for "Medieval accuracy," I think that's silly. What I'm more getting at is I feel like FE could do with changing up its setting/aesthetics to perhaps inspire newer experiences.

Now I'm not saying FE as a franchise needs to be reinvented. In fact, I think FE has one of the most universal accessible mechanics in turn-based gaming. Simple to pick up, but still able to create many difficult maps and challenges. And by this point has made the support system one of the most iconic in gaming. But if the mechanics are good, doesn't that mean it could be transplanted into another setting? Well, In a way, yes. But once again, I'm not advocating for FE to stop being this fantasy style sword and sorcery story and become like the Napoleonic wars.

(That is a real Nintendo game by the way. Its wild!)

No what I'm saying is that the broad terms of "Middle Ages Warfare" is much more than simply a certain type Eurocentric fantasy.

I'll tell you what, as much as people like to rip on Birthright, I'm still shocked how it took so long for Fire Emblem to have a game where Japanese culture and aesthetics is super prominent and a main setting for a game. Fire Emblem tends to have one character who is obviously inspired by Japanese culture or even sometimes a single country. But a full blown game where so many characters come from and embrace this Japanese backdrop was unique.

Now of course it was still Birthright, so while you got these cool glimpses of a unique world and story like the Oni inspired Flame Tribe, the start of having a lot of retainers as main characters, the monk class and using fans as a weapons, and even roping in Kitsune. It still doesn't really do much than an average FE adventure with them. But it did at lease prove the the FE formula *could* still work removed from its conventional trappings.

Another in the different aesthetic, but missed opportunity category would be Fire Emblem Three Houses country of Almyra being pretty heavily inspired by Persian/Middle Eastern culture. A country that was gesturing so hard at an interesting idea that its left fan artist and fanfic writers to swoon over the idea of a possible FE game set in Almyra.

And if you want an even more recent example, for all the desert backdrops we've had in Fire Emblem, its kinda astounding it wasn't until Engage that we got a lightly (And admittedly exaggerated) African inspired country.

When I see stuff like this and what FEH is doing it makes me realize that we could be getting more. Im sure the next FE will likely still lean on its typical fantastical Anglo-Saxon look, but eventually there's got to be some spice to it. Sure it may be different, but Fire Emblem is a franchise that with each entry does try to be something different while maintaining certain core gameplay elements. So what is the harm of trying to approach something that looks a bit different?

Im not asking for an extreme change right away. Maybe start lighter. We have tons of pirates in Fire Emblem, why not a pirate/sea based game? We've even had the rare few pirate as a playable character. Its a type of story that could be told within the typical Fire Emblem world.

Then perhaps maybe something a bit more culturally ubiquitous like Greeco-Roman inspired FE? There's plenty of gods and magic, but also swords and spears to draw forth on. Heck, that may even open up new potential enemies or stories to tell with like an Evil Senate or a Gladiator culture. It could even push FE to maybe drop or reinvent certain tropes like how they approach the knighthood type of character where a certain culture's version of knight is different. Maybe even make new classes the way Birthright had to.

Overall, I think Fire Emblem is and always has been a malleable franchise. And because of that, I think it can afford to take certain risks on something as simple as drawing from another culture during the medieval magic era, while still being able to provide things that people still love about the franchise like the combat system and support system. Will there be push back on it looking different? Of course, I remember when Three Houses first teasers dropped and everyone was wondering what was up with the military school outfits and what even race was Claude. And of course a different aesthetic doesn't make the game automatically good. But let's remember, that people were judgmental of Birthright not because it went all in on looking Japanese, but because the general story and writing was lackluster for many.

But if you can make an interesting and likable cast of a characters that elevate the story, and make a memorable world for people to wage war in, I see no reason why you couldn't make Fire Emblem work set in the Netherlands.

If there is a personal aesthetic or theme you'd like to see Fire Emblem tackle, sound off in the replies. I'd love to hear what you guys think.

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somethingwittyandweird · 2 months ago

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It's that time again! What's your favorite game you played this year?

Hope you're ready for a response to rival last year's post. There are so many good games that I have so much yapping to do about. And, if I may say so, this year was an accomplished one: I made some notable progress putting long-standing backlog titles to rest, as well as some new games that won me instantly. So, let's dive in...

We started off VERY strong with converting one of last year's “I watched this game and it was cool” to “I played this game and it was cool”: Hi-Fi Rush. It absolutely captivated me throughout. It has everything- charm, style, writing and characters that are heartfelt, hilarious, and over the top all at once- and most of all it has an incredibly natural evolution of the high-style high-precision action genre into a rhythm-based brawler where the world moves to the beat. Do I even need to mention it has, not one, but two banger soundtracks? It's a game I look forward to replaying (a rare praise from me), and one I know I'll be in love with for a long time.

Around the same time I was working my way through Sea of Stars- I've talked more about that here but it also really had me engaged as a modern love letter back to the SNES JRPG era. Visually stunning, musically lovely, satisfying gameplay, and a story that I felt gave its well written characters the space they deserved.

Once those were out of the way, I had my mission for the rest of the year: get this backlog CLEARED. Throughout the year, I knocked out:

Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia: a game beloved by many growing up that had passed me by. Experiencing it for myself years later, I could tell that I would have poured endless hours into this DS title as a kid, and even today I loved it enough to 100% its quests and Pokedex. Absolutely killer writing and fun gameplay that still holds up today. I am glad I played it as an older adult though for one reason: at this age I know how not to harm my DS’ screen when drawing endless loops.

NEO TWEWY: A sequel to a cult classic I never thought I'd see but I was so, so happy to see it come back. The new game massively shook up the gameplay (it had to, TWEWY for DS is very literally inimitable) but fully kept the spirit and updated it. As the OG wore its 2000s teen culture loud, this game carried the torch forward and gave us the same charm with modern Internet culture. It brought back old characters in excellent ways, added great new ones, had some of my favorite kind of time travel writing moments, and did it all with style, flair, and a rocking OST. In every way a worthy successor to the OG.

Indivisible: Another game I wrote about elsewhere, Lab Zero's sadly ill-fated entry into action platforming. As I said there, I'm glad I could give myself closure on it and I was glad to appreciate the parts of it that did clearly shine- the delicious visuals and combat gameplay. Hopeful to see where those devs end up and what they'll contribute their talent to now.

Triangle Strategy: In terms of strategy games this was a foray outside my usual Fire Emblem interest zone, but it is my friend’s favorite game of all time, so I had to give it a go. The differences took some adjusting, but I ended up enjoying my time with the game. Combat was engaging, visuals had me oohing and ahhing in places, I liked the characters (Julio and Jens my MVPs). But the standout was the story- as deep and politically thrilling as I was promised it would be. The narrative voting/negotiation system offered me some cool moments of choosing my path (or one time having it chosen for me) which culminated in a really really well set up three-way ending split; it wasn't just choosing a side but choosing an ideology, and the characters who wouldn't abide that choice felt completely justified in their refusal to follow you. I didn't get the golden route, but I may go back someday. Without a doubt my best narrative game of the year. (Plus, the final boss of the route I chose was really really tactically engaging and I loved it as much as i feared it.)

Along the way, a few non-backlog titles did sneak their way onto the list…

Case of the Golden Idol: a visually quirky detective narrative puzzle game that scratched the same deductive itch as Obra Dinn, I had a lot of fun deciphering its ersatz mystery. Each chapter is a death tableau and you use clues and logic to piece together who is who, what is what, and what has happened, with each scene leading to a bizarre overarching narrative that makes you want to keep going just to see how wild it gets.

Death’s Door: A little soulslite adventure title about a reaper crow working for Death and trying to straighten up some loose ends. The environments are really well modeled (though a map wouldn't have gone amiss) and the combat system had a satisfying loop with some unique twists. Its final boss impressed me by being a spectacle fight through multiple zones that showed off the boss’ powers thematically, let you learn what the boss was doing in each phase, and wasn't a drag to retry (the usual danger with set piece fights that keep shifting areas).

Blasphemous: One of those “classics” of the modern indie metroidvania space, and one of the first to get overtly Soulsy with it, I finally got the chance to try it and it showed me just why it deserves its "classic" status. The writing was very Souls and the platforming very vania, both excelling in their own way. I really loved the sheer variety of collectibles, that's a strong point in my heart for any metroidvania. I absolutely adored the music, a masterwork of Spanish guitar tracks I still listen to. And visually the game’s strong Spanish Roman Catholic aesthetic absolutely oozed artistic passion, and it was clear that so much work went into its visuals… including the surprising amount of (well-animated) gore. Which leads me to…

Nine Sols: if I had a nickel for every soulslike metroidvania I played this year that turned out to be quite unexpectedly graphic, these would be my two nickels. But content warning aside, I can't sing Nine Sols’ praise enough. Its gameplay was thoroughly polished and at every turn designed to help you feel like a kickbutt martial artist warrior, running up walls and surviving lethal enemies with perfect parrying and a unique attack to give that iconic ‘dash past enemy, beat, they explode’ rhythm to the fights. Then it sells that mastery by making enemies increasingly lethal, requiring more and more skill, but the floor never ramped hard enough that I was frustrated (though the last two bosses had me baffled for a while). Exploration felt rewarding with a lot of cool and useful items to find, and seeing this game’s beautiful blend of "Taopunk" futuristic + traditional Oriental environmental designs was a treat unto itself. And lastly, there's a gripping story that unfolds as you get to know its characters- Yi, your mysterious protagonist, the friends he makes, and the enemies he ruthlessly cuts down.

Are we done yet? Almost, I promise.

As of writing I'm in the middle of Echoes of Wisdom and Ghost Trick, so those, while both great titles, will I think be their own posts. All that's left then is to acknowledge the games I played that I didn't, or couldn't, “beat:” the multiplayer ones.

I played a bunch of MtG with my friends, and I played a lot of Civilization VI with other friends, and those both took up many happy hours. If this wasn't too long already I'd tell you about unstoppable bunnies and definitely not werewolves, or my friends and I allying to conquer the world. But I knew when I got my switch recap today that there's a clear standout in hour count alone: It's not a surprise to you or to me, it's Splatoon freshwater-freaking 3.

How could I not give it the most love for this year where I fell harder into it than ever before? Where my elite Salmon Runner friend helped me climb to dizzying new heights of EVP rank 999? Where I appeared on so many friend’s multiplayer streams for Splatfests and Big Runs? Where I took it upon myself to fill out my weapon collection 100%? Where I did Side Order runs until I knew every floor by name? Every one of those things has given me a cherished memory… but none more cherished than attending an honest-to-goodness music festival in this game, with my friends, reminiscing on past triumphs, on the importance of living in the present, and with the thrill of looking to the future. I loved Splatoon 3, and with the Grand Festival, it felt like the game, the devs, and the community gave me that love right back.

That, among all of these games’ memories and experiences, is the one I think I'll treasure longest.

Video games are cool. I'm so, so glad they're real.

#i talk a lot tag #long post #you give me a wonderful gift in the excuse to make this post.#i'm sorry (i'm not sorry) about the length #time to go listen to three wishes and reminisce again #hi fi rush #sea of stars #pokemon ranger #ntwewy #triangle strategy #case of the golden idol #deaths door #blasphemous #nine sols #splatoon #splatoon 3 #it's a fine time to be alive

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emblemxeno · 6 months ago

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I think 3H's biggest problem gameplay-wise is that you aren't allowed to play at your pace

You have to do 4 monastery segments before you can do the chapter mission. If you feel like making a lot of story progress in one go, you have to sacrifice teaching, side missions, and shit

Awakening maps are also monotonous, but you can do 5 story missions, 3 paralogues, and then 2 farming battles if you were in the mood to do that

It's not even similar to Persona 5 in that sense. Persona 5 also has a calendar system, but the only restriction for main missions is that you have a deadline. You have the option to do it earlier and then relax with social links and side missions until your next one or vice-versa

There are multiple methods of maximizing your time in P5

3H only has 1

THIS AS WELL, I can't believe I didn't specify it earlier.

The gameplay loop and foundation of building units is fun for the first time or two when playing 3H, but it heavily loses its luster with every subsequent attempt.

To further add on your points:

You have to do 4 monastery segments before you can do the chapter mission. If you feel like making a lot of story progress in one go, you have to sacrifice teaching, side missions, and shit

The gameplay loop and foundation of building units is fun for the first time or two when playing 3H, but it heavily loses its luster with every subsequent attempt. You can't afford to skip teaching especially on higher difficulties because you're handicapping yourself. 3H as a game wants you to spend time in monastery teaching and making sure to have the player want to max character motivation as much as possible each week. It's just that none of things to do that are fun or engaging.

Awakening maps are also monotonous, but you can do 5 story missions, 3 paralogues, and then 2 farming battles if you were in the mood to do that

YEP. Any monotony in main game Awakening-in many post NES games really-can be circumvented extremely easily because there's just more freedom to play, brainstorm, and mess around in those games that won't completely bite you in the ass later. Ironically, having most of your cast be akin to Donnel and other villager/trainee units makes things unexciting because for a good while, you're playing the "Magikarp Exp Share" game to max out jobs, getting enough skill ranks, and most likely putting everyone on mounts.

What made trainee type units (and equivalents such as Magikarp in other RPGs) fun in previous games is that they're almost always singular or sparse. Your capable units babying the soon-to-be juggernaut makes good brain tingles. 3H, on the other hand, you're just training everyone from baby to... a regular fire emblem team. Not terrible, but nothing as spectacular as say, a typical team in Sacred Stones or Radiant Dawn.

Exactly! What works for Persona is just that there's a lot of moving parts, with varying things that directly relate to performance within the combat loop. A good give and take that makes you feel accomplished, because improving social traits -> more social links and activities -> better and more varied personas unlocked -> more social links and opportunities for improving traits.

This system unfortunately just doesn't work with an FE gameplay style, because FE doesn't have as many aspects in its map combat that require such a system to be necessary. We have "supports lead to better combat which help reinforce keeping certain characters together to have even better supports" and that's it. Having better supports don't make these things less tedious or change them in any gameplay improving way either; in fact, all the activities serve is to make the repetitive teaching system go faster. All wrapped in a calendar system that, as you said, is restricting and tedious because most of it doesn't actually matter since it's just empty days skipped through the teaching weeks. You can't avoid it because it's necessary to have functional units later, yet it's not fun to watch or engage with.

I really, desperately hope that IS doesn't take the wrong lesson from 3H's success and make another overstuffed hub with mechanics that don't gel with FE's map gameplay. A Tellius style base and/or an Awakening style world map is sufficient.

#queue #fire emblem discourse #cool nonnies

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controversial-blorbo-bracket · 1 year ago

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Controversial Character Tournament Round 2: Light Yagami from Death Note vs Edelgard von Hresvelg from Fire Emblem: Three Houses

(remember that these characters are fictional and your fellow tumblr users are real. please be normal in the notes, i will not hesitate to block if you harass people)

Propaganda under the cut, may contain spoilers:

Light Yagami:

LOVE: - "He does some messed up things but have you considered: fucked up protagonists rock :)" HATE: - "this man makes me sick. ive genuinely had manic episodes over hating him. i have trauma from his existence in general. not even because of the murder. because hes a sexist cheater :(" - "My cousin and I frequently debate this. I think despite his 'intentions' he's ultimately a despicable character who cares for nobody but himself. She disagrees and says that he is just trying to do the right thing and making a difference in the world (she still thinks his actions are wrong, but she doesn't think he himself is despicable)" BOTH: - "I mean cmon man"

Edelgard Von Hresvelg:

LOVE: "People either claim she's the hero or the irredeemable villain with no in between. She's also my lovely wife who has never done anything wrong in her life." "I never even finished her route and remember nothing of what happens in that game but I DO remember the absolute warzone the fandom turned into because of her. She staged a coup and overthrew the head of the government/church and I think that's pretty cool of her. "But she committed war crimes!" God forbid women do anything." "I lied in the previous question. I don't hate her or love her in fact I have never even played this game. But I keep finding people making up Discourse™ featuring wild accusations of bigotry towards both Edelgard fans and Edelgard haters so I feel that she belongs here. (Also my friend hates her. but HER friend loves Edelgard. So even in my small social circle there is a clear polarization.)" "ok I don't have any solid propaganda because my opinion of her is more positive-neutral, but. she fits the spirit of this poll. trust me." "[three houses spoilers] Yes she started a war but it was the only apparent way to break the chokehold the church had over everyone in Fodlan. Also she’s the only lord you can gay marry so I’m hopelessly biased" "every time i go into the tag its either "edelgard is perfect no notes!!" or "edelgard is literally a fascist!!!". ive never seen someone with a neutral opinion of her. i yearn for battle." "I know very little about her to be quite honest! But good god. As a fire emblem fan for the GBA and engage. I have NEVER seen such a decisive character like Edelgard. Jesus Christ. I still find stuff in those tags. What the hell!!!" "I don’t even go to Fire Emblem but even I know that Edelgard has never done anything wrong, ever, in her entire life, and that if she did any war crimes they were a SUPER effective use of girl power. source: I am a lesbian. (realtalk I genuinely love a noble-minded extremist revolutionary and think Edelgard is a great character, so it’s kind of a shame that opinion on her seems to simply split down the line of “whether the person wants to kiss Edelgard or Dimitri more.”)"

HATE: "So on the one hand, she's fully willing to kill and burn and murder her way to a "better future" at the expense of the present, but on the other hand she's pretty cool and #girlboss. She's also a canon gay romance option, but idk if that makes her more or less problematic." "I just. I understand why people like her. I really do. And I don't have anything new to say for why I dislike her. Edelgard fans and stans have heard everything. She has great points and motivation, but her methods are wrong. She hitches her ideals to the first good opportunity and never reconsiders her allegiance when things go off the rails. She hates the church for "lying to people" and proceeds to lie to her own populace herself in her own route. She gives Claude an opportunity to live because she knows he believes in her goals. But Dimitri and his Kingdom are too beholden to the church to ever be offered such mercy. She herself acknowledges that the change she wants to see is more quickly enacted through war than subtle and slow societal change. She recognizes the human toll of her actions, but she justifies it through flowery language and an insistence that the change needs to happen now or it never will. I honestly find her so interesting, and I agree with a lot of her thoughts about the need for societal change in the world of FE:3H. But people latched onto her and propped her up as someone who can do no wrong. And that just never sat right with me. I just think she’s a hypocrite who got put in front of a shiny means to her end and was immediately blind to every other opportunity around her." BOTH: - "I dont even play fire emblem but I cant escape people not shutting up about how much they love or hate her" - "You said there were no hate answers for her...and I don't really hate her so it wouldn't be right but I wanted to balance things out some. She's the perfect storm of a character who sounds right and progressive and has a route all to herself that doesn't contradict that...but once you play other routes, it becomes clear she's kind of. full of misinformation. And attacking people who don't deserve it. Also a LOT of the divisiveness I'm willing to blame on the writers rather than her, for having her both be Evil Tyrant we NEED to take down and Sad Uwu Baby who just wants to eat cake and laze around and loves You the Player SO MUCH."

#poll #4 submissions #12 submissions #round 2 #yagami light #light death note #light yagami #death note #edelgard von hresvelg #fe3h edelgard #edelgard fire emblem #fe3h #fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem 3 houses

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falciesystemessays · 6 months ago

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the sense i get from fire emblem fates conquest is that it wants very much to be an engaging tactical experience where you are at every point making interesting choices with consistent consequences. it wants the core appeal to be outsmarting the opponent. and it succeeds! but,

for me the appeal of a tactics game is more about a power fantasy, it's about freedom and control and the dopamine rush when i do something cool. a liberating teleport, a well-placed area-of-effect, pushing enemies into other enemies, this is the stuff of tactics games to me. and it feels like fates is almost afraid to give you that kind of power, out of fear of making the game "brainless."

there aren't that many weapons in fates that i'd say "feel good to use." they basically all come with some kind of weakness that stops them from feeling solid. bronze weapons can't crit or activate skills, throwing weapons are also like that and can't double and makes enemies more likely to double against you because fates hates fun, and silver weapons reduce your strength every time you use them (and this stacks!) character-specific skills are a cool idea, but most are too minor to really factor into your gameplan. the nerfs to the pair-up system (which are cool and warranted) means there's real reason for units to not be paired-up, but that makes both entering and leaving pair-up way more of a commitment.

the game never wants you to feel like the big dog, and while to some this is exactly what they want from a strategy game, to me it feels stifling. it's like if the next mario game made your jump height worse solely to force you to use advanced techniques like the long jump and triple jump. yes, you've made more involved gameplay, but you've also made the basic interactions of the game feel worse.

there are things i like about fates. despite my gripes with the weapons, they do have a kind of creativity that i really respect. the enemy ai is actually really stellar, they don't all just make a beeline for you or come at you the moment you step into their range, so you end up playing a more complicated game against them. i really like how each level has an optional objective, whether that's "get these items," "protect this unit," or "clear the level quickly," and leaves it up to you whether you want to just clear the level or go above and beyond. fe fates is a game that Goes For It at every turn, and i gotta respect any developer that does that.

but i find myself frustrated trying to actually play it, because despite being an immaculately-designed srpg that i as a designer will definitely learn from, it's also one whose values chafe against mine. but in a sense, i appreciate it for that. because now i know more of what my values are. i value power fantasies and clever plays, i value a contained system that doesn't break its own rules, and i value the innate joy of moving a piece across a board. maybe you don't, and that's okay. there is no one answer to game design. but i think it's worth interrogating this stuff, so we can grow as appreciators of games.

#game design #fire emblem #fire emblem fates #fe14 #this is the most good faith criticism you could possibly imagine so don't you dare tell me “don't tag your hate”

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h-worksrambles · 8 months ago

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I have a real bug bear with this strange assumption I see in a lot of online discussion of Engage. That if you didn’t like Engage’s story you must be some Three Houses newbie who doesn’t know what Fire Emblem is.

My dude, this ain’t my first rodeo. I’ve played a pretty good chunk of the series at this point. I played Blazing Blade and Sacred Stones. I played Awakening and Shadows of Valentia. More recently I finished both Tellius games and Genealogy of the Holy War. I know Fire Emblem writing can and has been far better than whatever the hell they were doing with Engage. Hell, I like Three Houses but I don’t think it’s the best Fire Emblem story by a long shot. I could write a whole other piece on my complicated relationship with that game’s writing.

Playing the other games just better highlights to me how Engage is definitely trying to tell a story that harkens back to those games, but routinely comes up short. It wants to be breezy and colourful like the GBA games, but its aesthetic and character design is far less cohesive than any of those three games. It wants to cleverly marry gameplay with story like the SNES Jugdral games but is too scared to let its player punches last longer than a chapter. It wants to key into Awakening’s simple yet heartfelt nostalgic template but fails to clear even that middling bar due to an inability to set up any of its big emotional moments. It repurposes multiple plot points and story concepts from Fates, but doesn’t really improve on any of its shortcomings in setup and character writing.

Most of all, it’s at war with itself, unable to decide whether to be a campy romp that is pure self indulgent fanservice, or a more heartfelt story with genuine dramatic moments. It opens with a wonderfully cheesy tokusatsu esque transformation sequence and never reaches that level of camp again until near the very end. Meanwhile, there are rare moments of genuinely good character stuff. But they’re the exception to the rule as most of the story’s big emotional moments are utterly lacking in buildup. The writers just had a cool scene in mind and didn’t bother to put the work in to earn any of them. What we get is an uncanny valley that ends up simply being boring. It’s too dry and self serious to embrace its naive camp. And it’s too phoned in and sloppily written to really be earnest. There’s a burgeoning theme of family and self identity that’s begging to be explored more but never goes anywhere. Between Alear’s past and hints of a character arc, the clumsy half integration of the Emblems, and other half formed concepts and characters like Veyle, Lumera and Sombron, Engage is a story with a finger in several pies at once, but never placing more than the tip on any of them.

It’s not ‘just a simple story’. Shadows of Valentia and Sacred Stones are simple stories. Engage is honestly one of the more out there and wild plots in the series. Nor is it ‘not taking itself seriously’. It’s absolutely trying to make you feel something. But it rushes through and fumbles every good idea it has. Engage reminds me more of modern Pokémon than anything. It wants to play at being a big RPG. It wants to make you sit through hours and hours of cutscenes, give you a huge colourful cast of characters, and end on a big anime-esque finale. But its dialogue and cutscenes are flat, the characters never hit their full potential, and the big hype moments are totally unearned and out of left field.

If Engage’s story really was just safe and simple, I wouldn’t even mind. If it had more respect for the player’s time, and trimmed down its cutscene length, acknowledging that it’s not doing anything ambitious and just letting you get to the gameplay quicker, that would be fine. Conversely, if it actually did go all the way with any of its half formed themes and characters, it could be genuinely interesting. Hell, it could even have a been a totally bat shit, campy spectacle thar leaned utterly into the cheese and I’d probably have loved it. But it’s none of those things. It’s just incompetently put together. Sloppy, irritating and painfully dry.

The unending Three Houses Vs Engage discourse just misses the forest for the trees. That not only has Fire Emblem not fixed it’s worst writing habits in over 10 years, they’ve actually gotten worse.

It’s apparently too much to ask for a story that can walk the line between falling apart under the weight of its own ambition, or doing the bare minimum and relying on melodramatic spectacle to hide its own shallowness.

It’s too much to ask for a game that is able to give its main character real depth and flaws to grapple with because that would get in the way of the player’s power fantasy, letting them feel like the world’s most special little chosen one who everyone loves unconditionally.

It’s too much to ask for a 50 hour RPG with over 7 hours of cutscenes to reach even the standard level of acceptable-to-good generic fantasy writing that most of its franchise’s predecessors reached.

Engage’s story isn’t a ‘return to form’ because it’s ‘simple.’ It’s not ‘prioritising gameplay over story’. They were trying to tell a story and failed, nothing more to it. It’s an anniversary game that tries to harken back to the series’ past but only repeats its worst qualities with none of the strengths.

#a long frustrated ramble about an honestly perfectly fine game that still somehow irritates me #fire emblem engage #fire emblem engage critical #fire emblem

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oswincoleman · 7 months ago

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The Jetty reviews!

Beware, some of these reviews contain spoilers! I will highlight some non-spoiler parts of the reviews here though.

Soundsphere magazine: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The newest BBC One series ‘The Jetty’, which is full of shocks, twists, and more turns than you can shake a stick at, will immediately grab your attention and won’t let go until the credits of the final episode roll.

It’s safe to say, from the opening few scenes, The Jetty is an outstanding piece of cinematography! The beautiful lakes of West Yorkshire are almost characters themselves, from their haunting stillness to their choppy and aggressive waves. The metaphor never seems lost with this series.

With a stellar cast helmed by the ever-brilliant BAFTA and Emmy Award nominated Jenna Coleman (The Wilderness, Doctor Who) as recently widowed and single mother, Detective Ember Manning as she investigates a fire in a small town in Lancashire

Coleman shines as Ember, just as she does in almost all of her dramatic roles, she plays grief in a new light and as the case rears its head, Coleman just goes to prove she really is one of the best actresses of our generation.

Inews: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The ever-reliable Jenna Coleman is the glue that holds the series together, but it’s these flashes into the past where the drama really comes to life.

Amid the tennis and the football and Glastonbury taking up the schedules recently, TV has been crying out for a series like The Jetty – one the entire nation can really get stuck into and chat about at work the next day. I can’t remember the last time a BBC crime series gripped me this much.

The Standard: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Jetty is a complex series, and Coleman carries it beautifully; whether she’s doggedly interviewing suspects or breaking down at home, she’s never less than magnetic. The police case is just the start of the story, really: what the show is really about is power, and how power can be abused, especially in relationships between young girls and older men.

The setting is also a stroke of genius. The picturesque lake acts as the focal point of all the action, veering from pretty to ominous as it laps at the titular jetty of Mack’s boathouse, hiding both secrets and bodies. The end result can be unbearably tense at times, but the show also offers flickers of light in the form of Ember’s relationships with her nearest and dearest.

It’s a welcome breath of fresh air in a series that spotlights and celebrates women – as well as pointing out the dangers of being a young girl in a world where men lurk in the shadows. It’s a message that feels all too relevant today; the show doesn’t offer any easy answers, but the end result is electric.

The Guardian: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jenna Coleman stars in a very good thriller that evolves into a dark, funny and moving look at how women navigate the brutally male world. It’s better than you would ever expect … especially after that opening

The Times: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/the-jetty-review-a-thoughtful-metoo-thriller-with-a-smart-twist-cx3z2z2zm

Still, it is an impressively mature and engaging role for Coleman. Her dry put-downs of her sidekick Hitch (Archie Renaux) were neatly done, showing that sexism operates on many levels, big and small, conscious and unconscious. Sometimes it can just be a thoughtless remark. And Jones was also careful to show that toxicity in this community wasn’t entirely male.

Horse pleasuring aside, it also looks fabulous: breathtaking winter sunsets, the lovely lake glinting in the sharp grey light serving as an emblem for all the murkiness that lies beneath the surface of what shapes into a carefully calibrated four-parter. Too many dramas seem to voyeuristically revel in the terrifying threats that women and girls face. This shows what can be done about it.

What to Watch:

The Jetty should come with a warning because this new thriller is about to become your next TV obsession.

I hope you haven't got much on for the next few days, because you are going to be busy watching Jenna Coleman in her latest thriller - and her first-ever role as a police detective.

I have always been a big Jenna fan, right from her early career as Jasmine Thomas in Emmerdale back in 2005. Since then the British star has spent almost two decades in film and television starring in huge shows like Doctor Who, Victoria, The Serpent and more recently her gripping Prime Video thriller, Wilderness (another show you really have to check out of you haven't already - you won't regret it!).

But somehow The Jetty feels different. While Jenna is very familiar with taking on lead roles in huge TV shows, this four-part thriller marks her first role as a TV detective.

So if you do one thing this week, set aside four hours to yourself and watch The Jetty - this is a show that everyone is going to be talking about.

Stylist

The new BBC miniseries stars Jenna Coleman in a magnetic, layered turn as Detective Ember Manning, a whip-smart, no-nonsense police officer in Lancaster. After the old yacht club, now a showy holiday home, is burned down, Ember’s investigations lead her back to the cold case of Amy Knightly, a local teen who went missing 17 years ago. As her investigations continue, Ember is faced with the disturbing possibility that her late husband, Mac, may have been involved in the girl’s disappearance. To give away much more would spoil the delightfully twisty-turny plot that ensues, but suffice it to say, this show offers up a truly gripping crime story.

But what makes The Jetty a true work of nuance is that it refuses to be overcome by the very real darkness it is portraying – as such, it feels quietly, doggedly brave. Instead of succumbing to doom, gloom and victimhood, it is littered with moments that capture the vast array of experiences of womanhood. Some particularly lovely moments of release include Ember and Hannah belting out KT Tunstall’s Suddenly I See in the car and, later, dancing wildly to The Killers’ When You Were Young. Being a woman in the world is still profoundly dangerous, but it is also filled with elation, joy, friendship, silliness and hope. The Jetty may seem like your average nail-biting detective thriller, but below the surface, it has surprisingly poetic depths.

Financial Times: ⭐⭐⭐

#jenna coleman #jenna louise coleman #the jetty #the jetty bbc #bbc #bbc iplayer #ember manning #jenna coleman acting #the jetty reviews

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wolfhednn · 5 months ago

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Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is. Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing! Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Name: rai

Pronouns: it's complicated so she/he take ur pick

Birthday (no year): may 17

Where are you from? What is your time zone? the states, east coast beast coast. (not rly its swampy here)

How long is your roleplay experience? i regularly lose count. 17 years now i think?

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? neopets, p sure. at least i can't remember rping before that. warrior cats and gifteds rps on neopets were the one-night stands of my heart

How were you introduced to TOA? according to legend, ree was reported famously to have said "we could do it tho" and then i answered "yeah ig we could huh"

Do you have any pets? nah i've come to realize that im not very good at taking care of living things (including myself) and no lifeform should be subjected to that

What is your favorite time of year and why? i'm an autumn girlie, complete with the pumpkin spice. november specifically is my favorite time of year

What is your IRL occupation? i work at a community college writing center ob it's really rewarding to make a direct impact on other people's experiences

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? gacha games, reading, poetry, hearing the dank beat drop in a song and imagining some dramatic rp scene to go along with it

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? honkai: star rail, granblue fantasy, pokemon, jrpgs, otomes, vn's in general, whatever games my friends want to stream for me while i grind granblue fantasy

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: raichu, and flying types

Tell us some fun facts and trivia about yourself! 3 stuffed animals have pride of place on my bed and they are a fennec fox named luhan, a red panda named shizi (persimmon in mandarin), and whale tartaglia

How did you get into Fire Emblem? was browsing the nearby gamestop in college shortly after fates came out, decided to pick it up on a whim because it looked up my alley. got hooked and blasted through the rest of the series in short order afterward

What Fire Emblem games have you played? everything except jugdral, but i've studied jugdral like i did ff7 back in the day in order to rp it

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: fates as mentioned above. favorite depends on the metric jsdjgsk but, simplified, binding blade remains near and dear to my heart

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! i cannot do this i do not hold enough characters in my working memory at a time

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! i think tsubaki. he was pretty and a pegasus knight, and i only liked him more as i actually saw more of his character HAHA

Any Fire Emblem crushes? huh. surprisingly, not really? was definitely expecting to have some for this one

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? 　　Awakening: lucina. and yes. always always 　　Fates: tsubaki, nishiki, and leo. and yes. 　　Three Houses: felix bc i liked his character and i always tend to s-support my faves just to see their lines. ambivalent now tbh im kinda roulette w 3h s-supports 　　Engage: gregory, mostly bc i'm also roulette w engage s-supports rather than any overt favoritism for gregory. maybe fogado?

Favorite Fire Emblem class? nomad ranger / bow knight

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? i've been told i'd be mage into mage knight but wielding dark magic. magic nuke but kind of whatever everything else. lysithea but mounted i guess. if i'm somehow playable the circumstances must be EXTRAORDINARY because good luck peeling me away from my nice quiet life for your continental justice war no thanks

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? black eagles probably and i'd cringe abt it

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? reason and authority boon. gauntlet, heavy armor, flying bane. i don't rly think i'd have a budding talent in any of the rest

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? tbh i'd probably be from elusia

How do you pronounce TOA? individual letters

Current TOA muses: felix, caeldori, rosado

Past TOA muses? too fucking many yall. ugh lemme see. volug, sety, idunn, leif, yuri, kurthnaga, ephraim, lucius, etzel, nel, citrinne, nishiki

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? will smith gestures at the grumpycat

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? reckless boys with hearts of gold (felix, leif, zeiss, ephraim); perfectionistic dreamers (caeldori), charismatic cunning extroverts concealing a boatload of issues, somber cerebral sages (sety, etzel, kurthnaga arguably)

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? there's plenty of archetypes i don't gravitate toward, but i don't really wish i did either. so not really

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? i like dramatic, fast-paced action scenes. i also like anything that explores complex topics and reveals how subjective the world really is, situations that challenge a character's views and beliefs and force them to reflect on what makes right or wrong

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? not really right now. i don't usually have rp wishlists like this because my enjoyment of a scene depends more on how effectively i feel it's being executed rather than just getting to do the specific scene by itself

Favorite TOA-related memories? probably running team mercy in lock&key? that was a really fulfilling experience

Present or past tense? present tense

Normal size text, small text, no preference? small text but idc what my partner uses

Got any potential muse delusions to share? i have muses falling out my pockets. lately i've been fistfighting the ilios in my head constantly. sometimes you just want to play a loser

#﹙ ˙ ˖ × ﹚ + / DAYLIGHT BREAKS WITHOUT WAR .#halfway to a decade i cant believe it #im sure some of these answers are repeats from last year but fuck me if i can find where i answered it last time

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optimismxmagicism · 5 months ago

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TOA Anniversary Munday

(TY for the template Neffi!)

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Name: Queen

Pronouns: She/Her

Birthday (no year): October 18th

Where are you from? What is your time zone? Netherlands, CEST

How long is your roleplay experience? Uhhh about 10 years now I'd say?

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? Gamefaqs had a thread where you could create your own Fire Emblem Fates character. I joined out of curiosity when i was like 13 or so and things just kinds went from there.

How were you introduced to TOA? Rosie, my online big sis, sometimes shared snippets of her experiences with me. I got curious and the rest is history.

Do you have any pets? I have an elderly doggy named Beef :)

What is your favorite time of year and why? (Season, holiday, general period) Winter, definitely. I'm a cold over heat kinda girlie and I like the early nights and cold weather. Perfect for soup!

What is your IRL occupation? IT support service worker and Maid Cafe waitress during the weekends.

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? I'm big into cooking, gardening and cleaning.

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? Final Fantasy, Genshin Impact, Persona, Danganronpa, Pokemon, Tales of, Uchikoshi games, just to name a few. Also big into Otomes and BL games.

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: Fairy! Favorite is probably Sylveon and Vivillon.

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! - I am an auntie to 3 adorable little nephews. Love babysitting them :) - Truly I am a girly girly girl. I love pink and cute things and all that goodness. Always have firmly believed that femininity is strength and anyone who disagreed with me has been ground to dust under my heels :) - I used to have a YT channel where I uploaded my own vocaloid covers. I stopped though because I lost interest and the videos gained little traction.

How did you get into Fire Emblem? *Deep sigh* Ike x Marth Yaoi during the Smash Bros Brawl days.... This was before I knew anything about either character and just thought they looked cute together.

What Fire Emblem games have you played? All of them except for Gen 2 of Genealogy (glitches killed that run) as well as Thracia. I'll get to them someday...

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: My First game was Shadow Dragon. My favorite is a tie between Sacred Stones and Three Houses

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! Ashe, Ewan, Nils, Nina, Dimitri

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! Wolf. This was because I was still young and just entered my "started liking boys that weren't squeaky clean" phase.

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 Dimitri.. If you know me you know I'm down horrendous. Sorry kwdjwkdj. Chrom and Xander are also hot.

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: Chrom forever and always. - Fates: Tsubaki was my first. Nowadays its Xander, Jakob or Shigure. - Three Houses: Dimitri. Its always Dimitri. If I play BL and I don't choose Dimitri I have been killed and replaced. - Engage: Diamant was my first! I also really liked Kagetsu and Amber.

Favorite Fire Emblem class? Dancer!

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? I'd be the cleric that needs to be babied at first but gives cracked heals later on. High magic/speed/resistance, low Strength/Defense.

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? (Black Eagles, Blue Lions, Golden Deer, Church of Seiros, Those Who Slither in the Dark, unaffiliated civilian, other - for example Almyran) Blue Lions baybeeeeeeee

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? Boons: Faith Reason Authority - Banes: Axes, Brawling, Heavy Armor

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? (Firene, the Kingdom of Abundance; Brodia, the Kingdom of Might; Elusia, the Kingdom of Knowledge; Solm, the Queendom of Freedom; Lythos, the holy land of the Divine Dragon; Gradlon, the desolate land of the Fell Dragon) Wherever Kagetsu's from.

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔(separate letters, to-ah, other?) To-ah.

Current TOA muses: Ewan, Nils, Byleth M

Past TOA muses? Uhhh from the top of my head: Saleh, Rolf, Nina, Takumi, Male Corrin.

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? Ewan was my first! I don't think I'll be dropping him for a long time as he's just become so special to me :)

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? Characters that put up a front of being easygoing or simple, but have a lot of inner troubles they hide from others. Those that like to make others happy.

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? Very masculine types. Manly Men or Muscle Himbos are characters I greatly enjoy but just don't like to write.

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? I like writing scenes where characters bond with each other, either over an earnest heart to heart or silly shenanigans.

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? I would love to write a scene where the mask just fully crumbles and the entire truth is revealed about my muses deepest feelings. Also for Byleth specifically I'd love to write post timeskip scenes where he's in touch with his emotions and takes on the role of Archbishop.

Favorite TOA-related memories? A specific one was Andrei's turnaround on Ewan during the halloween candy game. It was one of the first major bonds Ewan would end up developing.

Present or past tense? I Try to say I'm past tense mostly but sometimes I jumble things up a little.

Normal size text, small text, no preference? I've started trying small text recently, but I'd say I have no real preference.

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉 Nope! I think I'm set for now. There is one character that, If the opportunity ever arises I'd want to get but not right now.

#(ooc: let's take it easy!)#munday

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mikittalabs · 8 months ago

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in a mood right now and i've been playing fire emblem again, recipe for disaster so let's just get on with this post.

anyway it feels like every time an fe fan mentions liking something about engage, it's in spite of it. there's always a "but" tacked on. like you can't really like engage, alear's hair is red and blue and isn't that so dumb!

and i get it, engage is tonally light. it's not about poorly written politics like 3h is. it's great that 3h has a sad line from dorothea a few dozen times and that characters love to talk about how much war sucks every 10 minutes.

it's weird and annoying. every criticism of 3h is fought back against because actually you just missed this single piece of lore from a random npc in ch6 you fucking nincompoop. did you even play the game? the fact every character loves to exposit information at you is actually a good thing and a sign of good writing and doesn't completely muddy up the experience.

meanwhile you have to prove that you actually like engage. and yea. i love engage. i think it's great. i'm gonna talk about things i like because i think the game is good. there is no "but" here.

think a perfect example of this whole "in spite of" thing is yunaka. that's not to say i don't like her, i think she's great, too, but she's also the character who angsts the most out of the cast. her ass is not slick when it comes to hiding her backstory.

naturally, the fandom likes her in spite of engage. like i'm sorry that hortensia is so offputting that you completely missed her story about abusive families and desperately reaching out for something that you can't go back to, and might not have existed in the first place. it's so sucks that celine talked about tea in the 2 supports of hers you got. it sure would be a shame if she's hiding some odd feelings of resentment towards alfred or her cruel tendencies.

sorry guys, supports can't have subtext. if your characters aren't saying exactly what they feel and exactly why all of the time, then it's bad writing. actually subtext is just bad. exposition dumps are where it's at! i loved that part where rhea looked at the camera at the end of verdant wind and told us the entire history of fodlan. or like, the majority of 3h supports.

i forget if i ever posted it but i called 3h characters a vehicle for more lore, and i think i was kinda on to something. engage has a lot of silly supports where characters are just goofing around, but they were never used for more lore in the way 3h uses its cast.

3h supports typically involve someone just telling the other their entire backstory and i'm not about to argue that it isn't giving you more information on a character. in an extremely physical manner, it is. but it's obnoxious. it's an extremely unsubtle way to get across information.

in a very literal manner, you, as the player, are learning about this character. things have in fact happened to them, but i think the crucial difference lies in how this doesn't usually tell you anything about the character as a person. you can draw connections between how they act and their backstory, sure, but what does that actually say about them?

sylvain acts like that because his family fucking sucks. this is true, but he's still acting like a fucking cunt. i understand that crests are so highly valuable in fodlan society that he was objectified and reduced to the fact he had a crest. he says that himself in his support with mercedes. it does not change the fact that he is still a piece of shit to women. contrary to popular belief, i don't think the fact that he's nice to annette changes that fact. also like, mercedes's own backstory is completely glossed over in that support, but that's another conversation for another time.

contrast that with pandreo. he's a silly goofy party guy. there can't be any depth to him because this is engage. except you read his supports and realize he's a deeply faithful man. he found faith when his parents were being The Worst and he parties because it's how he expresses his faith. perhaps you're initial perceptions of a character are not always correct. something you would think fe fans would know considering sylvain has supports where the support partner says something to that effect.

ok i'm starting to get a headache so i'm just calling it here. see you all in hell or however people end these long posts

#i mean not that i've experienced this #i've been so annoyed by the fandom's perception of engage that i don't even talk about it irl #and like sorry to drag 3h into this but literally every time i see engage brought up #it's to compare it to 3h #and also i hate 3h so #whoopsies :P #i sure hope that little tidbit isn't used to say that i can't compare 3h and engage because i'm biased against 3h #i've hated 3h since before engage even leaked if that helps #fuck it #fandom tagging this at the risk of my sanity #fire emblem #this post is either gonna be deleted cuz i felt like it or cuz i got annoyed #let's see what happens first #mlabs myaps

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vanquishedvaliant · 2 months ago

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Finished Engage.

It was mid.

Gameplay was pretty fun, not like it was the single *best* in the series but honestly the turn to turn square to square tactical gameplay was still up there with the better entries.

But the story... was Power Rangers puppeteering Marth's corpse like a zombie and injecting him with a poor facsimile of Kingdom Hearts. Shallow, juvenile and uncomplicated melodrama that overstays its welcome and introduces too many twists and turns and late game revelations and tragic backstories to have any real coherency.

There's a moment or two in there that works- Marni and Mauvier's allegiance change, Corrupted Hyacinth, etc, but the good moments are just overwhelmed by childishness and a general fear of consequences or permanency in any regard. There's so many one-ups and inconsequential things like Alear dying, coming back to life, dying again, becoming an Emblem, and experiencing no meaningful consequences or repercussions.

Or late-game post-death tragic redemption monologues that drone on far too long like Zephia and Griss, and even Sombron himself, that fail to be very compelling or sympathetic, or even introduce a sense of morose tragedy.

The interstitial Somniel segments feel completely extraneous and tedious and make me long for Gareg Mach actually serving a purpose in the gameplay and narrative, especially coupled with the carnival level minigames they try to entice you to do between every mission, and it just becomes bothersome to keep up with.

And the characters... there's a handful of amusing, funny and likeable characters in the bunch... but they're all extremely shallow and one note. There's very rarely any complicated emotional or ideological barbs on this characters to catch your interest, and the world itself feels incredibly sterile and harmless- other than a few characters that have Tragic Backstories, it doesn't really feel like any real hardships happen in Elyos at all.

At their best, characters in Engage amount to some of the more simple characters from other entries, especially if you compare to Three Houses- it's like every character is Raphael level- endearing, funny, and with a moment here and there of pathos, but not well rounded and intricate characters like many of the others.

Overall... it was worth my time to play for the gameplay alone because they did get that broadly right, but as a whole package Experience it just doesn't hold up- it doesn't engender the kind of deep fixation and intrigue that entries with richer narrative and worldbuilding do, not having enough unique about it to stand on its own.

But as an anniversary celebration game it's also a poor representative of the themes and narratives that the series does well, limited to a superficial recreation of its headliner characters to spout generalized platitudes about hope and friendship saving the day.

The gameplay team had cool ideas and did a good job, but if nothing else it just proves that a Game is not the mechanics alone.

Not a miserable experience, absolutely fun to play, and even worth the time if you don't mind cheesy schlock and you're looking for more Fire Emblem gameplay, but it's not going to be remembered fondly. It's not going to be beloved, and it fails to stoke the nostalgia it so dearly wants to. Something like a 6/10.

And so I go back to praying for a new mainline entry...

#fire emblem engage #fe engage #fire emblem #vivi original

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arkus-rhapsode · 1 year ago

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I want to talk about Crimson Flower and 3H as a narrative

So... after FE3H discourse makes the round every other week, I end up thinking about it for a bit until I realize, hey maybe its better to not focus on a 4 year old game at this point and occupy your time with something else. Everything has basically been said about it at this point and you know where you land.

But this time my thoughts were just getting too strong for me to ignore, so that's why I'm writing this both get it out of my system and maybe just be another voice in the crowd that some people might want to listen to on the divisive topic that is Crimson Flower route.

Now I really hate that I have to put this disclaimer up front, but I feel like the well of this discussion has become so poisoned that I have to before I make my piece. I want to say that if you enjoy Crimson Flower, if you love Edelgard and believe she did nothing wrong and this is the right route, if you are a Black Eagles stan and you genuinely do not have any issues with Crimson Flower route as a whole-that is perfectly fine.

This will be a somewhat critical examination of the narrative choices about the execution of CF, which I feel like whenever 3H, specifically Edelgard is discussed, there is often very disingenuous arguments people make. Which I believe can create more defensive fans of a particular aspect of a story that we should be able to criticize freely. Which perpetuates this never ending cycle of discourse of legit criticism and defense against that criticism becomes drowned out by trying to decouple these very disingenuous claims from legitimate flaws. So I at least want to make it known that I am going to try my best to be in good faith with this post about this tricky subject.

I also want to just say, this is also going to be mostly an examination of narrative. The thing that I personally enjoy the most in an FE game, but we need to genuinely acknowledge that narrative isn't the only reason why people may like Fire Emblem. The ability to form parasocial relationships with fictional characters and being able to experience something the genuinely brings you emotional fulfillment is not invalid. Being able to enjoy fighting against establishments or ideologies you in the real world disagree with through the experience of a video game is not invalid. The same way someone who plays this game for the experience of gameplay isn't invalid when their primary enjoyment stems from the actual mechanics rather than the "logistics" of the story. The point I'm trying to make is that everyone will engage in media in different ways and will enjoy it other ways and that you don't want to invalidate those feelings someone had with their personal experience. So this is going to be about me and my experience as someone who primarily enjoys narrative.

I am just one guy with opinions who is going to layout what I had an issue with and how I think for me that could've been improved upon. You don't have to agree with me on that, and I'm not saying my way is legitimately better. This is all opinionated.

Buckle this is a long one

First things first Im gonna say Im not going to be using any information given in Three Hopes that may contradict what Im about to say. As in my opinion Three Houses came first and does not include the content from Three Hopes so I should think that Three Houses can stand on its own merits and the content that was provided.

Next thing is I want to catch people up on what in my opinion are the points I think CF did for me that ultimately left me unsatisfied

The post time skip Fodlan was too different and felt contradictory to Byleth's role

Edelgard's Characterization in CF in comparison to the other lord's in their respected routes

The role of Rhea

The role of Those who Slither in the Dark

SO the first thing is probably the thing I'm mostly going to have to defend if I haven't lost you already, but Fire Emblem Three Houses as a narrative provides us with a five year time skip in the game that depending on the route will change who is control of the monastery at this point in the war, with each route providing a lord the chance the forge their campaign. However, something I don't think is brought up enough is talking about the liberties that CF takes with their time skip vs the other three routes. Azure Moon, Verdant Wind, and Silver snow all paint a post five years Fodlan as one where the monastery territory has been abandoned, Rhea has been captured, the Alliance territory is split between an imperialist faction and an anti imperialism faction, and the Kingdom has been split with Cornelia making an alliance with the Empire to create the Dukedom of Faerghus as the houses of Gautier and Faldarius hold up the Kingdom.

There are obviously minor changes like Dimitri camping out in the monastery in Azure Moon rather than in the care of Kingdom Allies, but for the most part there is a consistently defined world between the three routes. However, Crimson Flower's post Fodlan is much different. With a grid locked Fodlan after five years with just the church territory falling under the control of Adrestia, Rhea wasn't captured and instead made it to Faerghus, The Alliance is still feuding amongst itself, but most importantly than all, Faerghus is a complete kingdom with Dimitri as King and no Cornelia's Dukedom.

So there are two main reasons why this bothers me.

The first is that Three Houses as a game wants to present you with three options at first, with the idea that your choices will effect the outcome of the war when Byleth returns, however there's enough consistency to imply that this is what Fodlan would be like regardless of whose House you would join, with the primary effect being your class making it to the church for the festival which in turn will make the monastery your new territory for which route. However, Crimson Flower decides to do away with the consistency, implying that the effect Byleth had on the situation is far greater than that of any other route resulting in a drastically shifted Fodlan. So this is more of a problem with FE3H as a whole with the consistency of choice. Fire Emblem has never really had a BioWare style choose your own adventure type of game. There's only one real choice you're given in the case of 3H and that's which house you side with, which you are essentially locked into. Black Eagles is really the only route that offers a choice beyond that with choosing to side with Edelgard or Rhea which will effect who the class sides with in the time skip. The reason I bring this up is that it essentially means that you the player are for the most part on rails for a predetermined plot where all the choices for the series have already been made. So the Fodlan post five years being consistent makes some sense as essentially mostly everything that happened in White Clouds was the same with the acceptation of the class. However, the Crimson Flower one not being consistent and being so radically different based on a game with so minimal choice feels more like an act of narrative convenience. That this is what happened because of a writer fully independent from me the player had decided that this is how Fodlan shall be for this story because it fits what they want to tell.

Somewhere I had once read that FE3H shouldn't be treated as one story, but since its a bunch of routes they're all a different universe. Everything might look the same but everything is fundamentally altered that you should accept it as an independent universe. And I can't necessarily say that's wrong as the concept of multiverses is to create a world/scenario that allows to explore familiar characters in unfamiliar settings and you could say that Byleth effect on Edelgard in picking this universe was just so much greater that it would result in such a different universe.

I personally disagree with that which brings me to my second point as I believe this one is going to be a more philosophical point on game design. But I feel like the effort to make three routes so consistent with each other with one so different seems to deliberately undercut the core themes of the game. Offering you a choice that this is who you get to spend your happy schools days with and it is what is going to result in them returning to the monastery one the day of your return. That is the true effect of Byleth on the characters. But as you play through white clouds you can't change what happens to other characters which will result in a brand new scenario. Byleth's presence can never stop Dimitri from going blood mad, Byleth's presence can't stop Claude from discovering the Immaculate One research, and Byleths presence can't stop Edelgard from declaring war. And that is a good thing for this type of on rails route story. Byleth while a player insert who can help their lord in the future, right now everyone is on a path that Byleth can only lightly change. With the characters acting independently of what Byleth and the player desire. And the post time skip Fodlan is a sign of that. Its Five Years without Byleth. This is what these characters would do, that they were always capable of doing and that is why Byleth's return and effect on them is important. This also gives us the ability to observe what a lord is like now after the war, and Byleth's effect on them but also see what a character could be like without that Byleth effect on them. Without Byleth Dimitri stays mad, without Byleth Claude always flees Fodlan, without Byeth Edelgard... well lets put a pin in that.

The only other true choice the player can make beyond the initial one is the side with Edelgard or Rhea which radically alters her. Which honestly feels kinda defeating in a game that has locked Byleth so much on a path and the one time it can deviate actively alters everything. It just feels very hollow as there are parts that make you realize how great the effect Byleth could have on people's lives could be if the game actively wanted to integrate choice with the plot. But it didn't. It wants to make one early choice then lock you in that route for several chapters then remove Byleth and then have their return effect real change on the future of Fodlan. Except for this one route. Its why Crimson Flower feels so much like an asterisk compared to the other route. And I don't just mean the lack of chapters, but this feels like a route that can only exist because it was the one that the developers bothered to create something overly deviating from everything else.

Which brings us to Edelgard's role in Crimson Flower as a whole. Now lets just get this out of the way. Im not going to be talking at all on the morality/realistic implications of what Edelgard is doing. I feel like the "Is she a fascist/authoritarian" conversation is not really helpful to talking about FE3H as a work of narrative and mostly exists to create a bunch of petty beef. This is also not going to be a deconstruction of ever minute detail of Edelgard as a character. This is an examination of her as a character in the narrative that we are presented. This will also involve comparison's to Edelgard and other series lords and I want it to be known that this is not a talking down to the only female lord in the game as being something "lesser" than her male contemporaries. I believe there is genuinely sexism when discussing Edelgard as a character, so I want to say that I am approaching Crimson Flower and Three Houses as a whole in a good conscious that there is not a "right route." That this is a game that where all choices have their pros and their cons. Because that's why we like this entry, right? That 3H would provide us some genuinely complex lords who were all capable of doing great and terrible things regardless of gender?

That's why I had such a long winded discussion about why the change in the post time skip Fodlan is so important both for narrative consistency, but also just generally keeping with the tone, but also it reinforced that Fodlan and its lords while all righteous in their own way can be dangers in their own way. Well that's when I return to the pin about Edelgard. So first I want to go through how the lords are characterized in non devoted routes.

Dimitri in non AZ routes is portrayed as someone so damaged by loss that his who response is to avenge and fight. To never stop making those pay for the damage it has brought on his kingdom as well as any lives lost during the tragedies in places like Duscar and Remire.

Claude in non VW routes is portrayed as a brilliant individual with a lot of charm but seems to be hiding something from everyone. He's a lot smarter than one could assume and that he has some mysterious tie to the kingdom of Almyra that he departs after leaving his land to the stronger kingdom that has come so far, be it Dimitri or Edelgard or the Church.

Edelgard in non CF routes is portrayed as a conspirator to overthrow not only the church but all rule in Fodlan as she believes the Crest based system is flawed and that the only way to enact systemic change is through a single rule. And while she is aware her ideals have costs, she believes that those costs are worth it when weighed against perpetuity of the crest system.

Now I want to talk about what happens to those lords as you play them in their routes.

Dimitri in AZ is portrayed as someone burdened by loss and his quest for vengeance has led to a neglect for his own health and his own actions. That his kill everyone attitude will perpetuate more loss of those he loves and that he needs to learn to rely upon others. That is his true responsibility as king.

Claude in VW is portrayed as an individual who is outside of Fodlan's system who has observed it more as a third party and believes it can be a great place if people work through diplomatically. He too is not a fan of inequality and racism and wishes to make a Fodlan that is more accepting and able to work through negotiation. While he still leaves Fodlan at the end, this time he has been able to implement real systemic change and make one that is sustainable beyond that of a ruler.

In CF we find out that Edelgard is a traumatized girl who was experimented on for the purposes of Crest Research. This makes her a conspirator to overthrow not only the church but all rule in Fodlan as she believes the Crest based system is flawed and that the only way to enact systemic change is through a single rule. And while she is aware her ideals have costs, she believes that those costs are worth it when weighed against perpetuity of the crest system.

Hey wait a minute, that's the same?

So this is where I get to the most glaring flaw for me in this case of narrative and why I think altering the post time skip so much did a lot of damage. Edelgard is a good character and a fascinating one, but in the practice of her narrative, her character journey in her own route isn't like the other lords. Rather she is "right" from the start of the time skip and with the world altering in ways to justify why she is that way.

Now look, I know right now someone could be saying I can't read, that its clearly stated in the text that Edelgard says without Byleth she may have turned into a complete monster to see her goals through to the end. This is referring to how in non CF routes she is on the backfoot getting beaten back and forced to take more drastic measures as whoever Byleth comes closer to ending her ideals. Unlike Dimitri or Claude there's not really a psychological arc she is working through with her sociological arc. Dimitri's arc is almost entirely hinged on him as a character changing in his route. And while Claude the character is also mostly the same, you get an understanding of how his continued participation in Fodlan's politics is so important as he effects sociological change. Claude also does the less stuff that could be considered questionable in Fodlan. He neither initiates the war nor does he intimate greater conflict that is tied into a character arc like Dimitri. Claude action's through the war are mostly to keep the Alliance fighting against each other with avoids giving one side a greater advantage. The truth is Claude real "flaw" is that by being an Almyra he is from a race outside of Fodlan that is inherently untrustworthy in society so his continued prescience in his expanded campaign is done with changing that mentality.

Now one could look at everything I said about Claude and say "well isn't that Edelgard though? She's not the one who needs to change but rather society needs to and this is you making it a fruition?" And I would agree however, then why did post time skip need to change and not Edelgard? So going back to the altered Fodlan, the Fodlan post time skip we see in non CF routes has what can be argued Edelgard's biggest moment of political conquest, making an alliance with Cornelia inside of Faerghus using her authority and influence to expand and bring over a chunk of the kingdom underneath Edelgard's wing. And this makes sense with what has been proposed before us-Edelgard had released a manifesto to lords that would side with her and become her allies in the war to come. This act of subversion is something that benefits her goals for conquering all of Fodlan. However, this is one of the key alterations in CF's time skip. Faerghus is not broken in half, with Edelgard having not empowered Cornelia over the five years. In fact, you do battle with Cornelia with her as a kingdom general.

So if Edelgard isn't a character who is subject to change, why did the world change? Well there is speculation in universe that perhaps Rhea fleeing to Faerghus didn't give her the ability. But I do believe the most likely reason is that narratively the writers of 3H wanted to avoid a scenario where while Byleth was gone Edlegard may have empowered and individual like Cornelia. One of the most objectively evil characters in the game. Now I won't go into to detail if I believe Edelgard knew Cornelia was a TWSITD or not, but as it is presented to us, she seems unaware. Instead I'll focus on the primary point is where they don't want to discuss that while in her route Edelgard was capable of doing something that would potentially cast her in such a negative light. After all, the point of her campaign is the while the bloodshed is worth it to make a new Fodlan free of crests, she's willing to show lenency to those who bend the knee. Again, an action not unreasonable for her character. However, I feel like this not happening in CF genuinely robs us from exploring the flaws of Edelgard's path/showing us what Byleth's effect on her truly is.

This is compounded by my issues with how CF is the only route in which you have an active choice beyond class. That by choosing to side with Edelgard when given the option in the tomb would result in this much radical history alteration. But also all of Byleth's effect on her not being as much conqueror over the last 5 years was all done pre time skip. That all that change was done at that moment rather than being something that prompted her to return to Garreg Mach where they'd remeet Byleth and then that would get them to claim it as a base of oppositions in their future war. In CF, Garreg Mach is already claimed rather than the formation of the Dukedom with no real progress. So it makes it seem as though Byleth's real effect on altering this lord's path was always possible in the short time they knew them before disappearing over five years. Of course this is again a bit miffling given that CF is the only route this is a possibility. We can't Change how Dimitri will act in the pre time skip. That he will make choices without Byleth even if they feel urged to remeet at Garreg Mach. But in the case of CF, Edelgard has apparently been changed despite the only real difference in white clouds fighting beside her in the tomb and against the church pre timeskip. But that has sociologically altered so much of Fodlan.

And maybe you genuinely believe that one extra change is enough. Perhaps that one extra choice is enough justification for such a radically new scenario. For me personally, I find that unsatisfying and feels more like the writers traded in a level of consistency for this new scenario that greater justified being on the side of someone who is portrayed as a more active antagonistic force in other routes (Reminder this not me saying the Empire route is an antagonist route. All routes are antagonistic relative to which side you are on).

This is where we get my first what I would've done to make it more narratively satisfying for me. Keep the same post time skip Fodlan as the other routes. Keep Edelgard having brokered a deal with Cornelia to establish the Dukedom and have Byleth find out about it. Be some that either Byleth or another character close to Edelgard questions the extremity of. Then have Cornelia do something evil like she's experimenting on people for TWSITD or maybe she's just abusing the power. Then have Edelgard clean it up. Have Edelgard realize that while she still wants to make her dream of a crestless Fodlan a reality she can't just back lords or nobles that are willing to go along with her for more power. She can still keep the Dukedom territory, but instead she'd be now more understanding what it means for there to be a ruler with a noble soul. So she continues her campaign of conquest but has realized that if she's going to be emperor, she can't just empower people arbitrarily.

In my opinion this not only would tie together some more TWSITD plot while also paralleling it to Edelgard's past and how there was no authority figure to step in and help her all those years ago. But now she is that authority figure. And while it doesn't call her method in question and like Dimitri and Claude she can continue her expanded influence over Fodlan, but now we actively see that Byleth has helped show her that her allies aren't just those pledging loyalty, she actually needs to empower those who are good. She gets to have her fight with Cornelia level and this won't stop her from killing Dimitri in the future.

Like I said, this is what I'd do. And in my opinion it would give Byleth's presence in CF more purpose beyond the bond with Edelgard is nice and fun. But also stay consistent with each route. Showing that there are flaws in Edelgard's sociological plan, but not undercutting what her actual goal is. You can still believe her quest is just and the only right one with her taking an active role in not making the mistakes she perceives Rhea as doing.

And if you are still with me up to my third point, lets talk about Rhea.

So Rhea as a character can best be described as a neutral evil throughout White Clouds. She doesn't really do anything but there is a lot of ominous foreshowing and presentation that Rhea may be up to something or at the very least complicit with many of her policies and tendencies. And when I say "evil" I don't mean she's bad (please don't skewer me Rhea fans). I mean that if the crest system is flawed and the church is emblematic of the systems maintenance of that flawed system. Then Rhea as the face/founder/head of that church bares some responsibility even if all she does is passive.

In all other routes, Rhea is captured by the Empire. Imprisoned in their capital. Anytime she is seen after she is characterized as somewhat docile or defeated, having been imprisoned for so long. VW goes a step farther to reveal what she did as Seiros and all of her actions leading to this point presumably all thanks to be imprisoned and rethinking her life over. CF is the only one Rhea is allowed to be an active player, she is now portrayed a ranting self righteous warrior priest who swears vengeance upon Byleth for being the reincarnation of her mother but not being a proper vessel as she intended and fighting against her. Naturally, if Byleth being the potential for the reincarnation of Sothis siding against her is what her drives her mad, that is believable, however much like the altered Fodlan Rhea in this version is not captured. This is now for Rhea to serve as Edelgard's true climatic opponent. With her symbolically killing the representation of the church and the power of crests being slain by Byleth and Edelgard. Its very poetic. But once again we reach my issue of the time skip altering so much in CF.

As stated before, Rhea was presented as a neutral evil, in doing so she's not really a direct antagonist in any route. Except of course Silver Snow. Where she is deployed as a weapon against Byleth. In this case killing the immaculate one symbolically is cleansing the church of Rhea and allowing it to pass into the hands of the new archbishop. However, Rhea in that fight is under control. Rather than be conscious as an opponent, they make her more of a beast without choice. Thus making this less a flawed character meeting their end and rather a forced confrontation by the evil cult of evil. Now Rhea I think being kept a neutral party was ultimately a good choice. We are given enough about her to understand she has done things questionable and should possibly not hold the authority she has. But she also has not instigated any open any hostility. As such Rhea is more a symbolic player. By making her an active player, CF has to make Rhea more domino and more a threat. She can't portray constant neutrality in a war. But by making her the active antagonist, it makes her less of a symbol and more if just a rotten character who Edelgard is justified in wanting dead. And much like Cornelia and the Dukedom, this alteration comes off as an attempt by the writers to never truly challenge Edelgard's plans for Fodlan. That Edelgard has no flaws in her plan and the bloodshed is beyond justified more than just philosophically. Had Edelgard captured Rhea in CF this would lead to some genuinely uncomfortable questions of keeping her a prisoner. And to 3H's credit they were actually willing to make the player uncomfortable already in Dimitri's route showing him as a mass murderer. Once again, I want to express this isn't me saying Edelgard's quest or goals are wrong and the plot should undermine it. This is me saying that for a game that wants to genuinely have nuanced and uncomfortable political choices made by their character, this is the route where they opt to alter the scenario so that Edelgard is the most justified and does less things that one could find objectionable. Flattening a lot of interesting implications this would raise and what Byleth as a force in this route could possibly able to influence.

Now one could again say, well the reason Rhea wasn't captured because Edelgard didn't use crest beasts this time. Edelgard not using crest beasts is a sign Byleth is changing her and thus that greatly alters the future. Once again, I can see that as understandable justification, but again, my issue off only ever being able to effect this lord pre time skip comes in again. If it was possible to get Edelgard to not use crest beasts, then how come it wasn't possible for me to get Claude to have Almyra support? How come I couldn't stop Dimitri before the war? The answer is again as a game the only other narrative choice that could possibly alter the story happens in CF which is the side with Edelgard in tombs choice. And while I'm not against the idea of angry pope Rhea, but I feel making her CF's full on antagonist was almost making a straw man antagonist for your opposition.

As an aside we also know Arundel is still on Edelgard's side and he is Thales so while she might not know his entire deal, I hesitate to imagine he'd stop using crest beasts in the war over the two years Byleth was gone.

If I was going to once again alter CF to be something I would personally find more satisfying. Have Rhea captured and then have Arundel use the same rage stuff he uses on her Silver Snow. This way you can facilitate an Edelgard vs TWSITD conflict AND you still get your symbolic victory of Edelgard and Byleth killing the symbol of the crests and church. Again, Edelgard is able to do what she wanted to originally, but now we are also confronted with the role TWSITD did play in her life and allowing her to rectify it as well as truly killing the old world by getting rid of Rhea and Thales.

And final point TWSITD. TWSITD are bad. They've always been bad. And they genuinely damage the overall story of CF because this is beyond just a narrative choice, its very clear CF as a story wasn't complete. I feel confident in saying that given the numerous chapters missing compared to the other routes, but also the epilogue needs to say "Oh yeah there was totally a bunch of war against them. Totally." I know this point is probably the least controversial when talking about CF, but I still think its a glaring flaw.

So what's the tl;dr?

This is not an "I hate Crimson Flower or Edelgard post" I genuinely have no interest in debating people about characters that like or enjoy. Nor did I want to turn this into a moral argument about the implication CF. I feel like these topics do real damage to any real criticisms one can have for CF as a narrative.

Which for me, CF as a route fails to really mesh with the rest of 3H as a whole. It feels like it takes a lot of narrative ways out to avoid potentially making their lord seem objectionable, despite much of this game wanting to be about how tragically flawed everyone is. Im not saying Edelgard needed a come to Jesus moment of "Are we the bad guys?" No absolutely not. In my opinion we just lack seeing Edelgard change the same way post time skip as others have due to creating an entirely brand new setting that keeping her as a mostly the same character is not questionable. Nor does she have to do anything that could truly be seen as flawed. Things that Byleth's influence may overcome.

Edelgard is a good character and her goals are understandable. I just personally find the narrative bending to accommodate her in ways so different from the other time skips genuinely make it a weaker narrative for me.

If you enjoy CF as it it. More power to you. Please keep loving CF. This isn't supposed to be a dissuading post. This is merely me as one guy who likes a lot of FE because of the stories it can tell sharing why he personally didn't enjoy this one. Maybe I helped put it words for some who might feel similar. But this is just my opinion

If you have something you'd like to add or reply in the replies or tags please flee free, but for the love god, please be cordial about it. There is so much toxicity and disingenuous takes around Fire Emblem Crimson Flower and Edelgard and Rhea in general, that I would like for us to please be able to talk about this in good faith.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #black eagles #edelgard von hresvelg #crimson flower #rhea #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #claude von riegan #rhapsode rambles

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