Lurker > KamikazePotato

Expected result, but definitely nice to see it officially punched in.

I think Birthright is the game that people dislike the least anyway. Some people hold up Conquest but only if you care about gameplay/music and nothing else.

GBA animations were legitimately the best part of those games.

Hollow Knight was a 7/10 for me that probably goes up to a 8.5/10 if its checkpoint and fast-travel system wasn't so bad. I need to retry it with that mod that makes benches fast-travel points.

Lyn convinced an entire swathe of people that Myrmidon archetypes are the coolest.

I'm one of them.

I like how this topic hasn't mentioned a single thing, good or bad, about Birthright's actual plot yet

Seems appropriate

That sounds like a really miserable way to play though. If I'm going to reduce a game to a pure numbers calculation, I'd rather just play Cookie Clicker.

Deploying less than what's allowed sounds like crazy talk.

Mitama heard you were talking shit

Birthright = world map, like Sacred Stones and Awakening
Conquest = no world map, like Blazing Blade and Tellius

The main reason I can't consider Engage a real FE game is that there doesn't seem to be any dead parents in sight

Takumi did nothing wrong

Fates definitely has a higher budget and larger scope than Awakening. I'll give it that much, at least!

Revelations is definitely meant to be 3rd. You shouldn't play it earlier just because it's bad.

Oh...right. Spotpass character.

What a weird concept that was/is.

It's taken down now, but one of the earliest detailed reviews for FE Awakening on this site was a 10/10. It got featured on a Poll of the Day as one of the Reviews of the Year. Later on the author changed their score to a 4/10 and rewrote the review entirely.

Side note: you never mentioned Priam so I didn't get to touch on my personal soapbox, but I've been annoyed for over a decade (I feel so old) at how a subsection of the fanbase tries to use him to essentially rewrite a part of Ike's characterization.

Anyway, catharsis aside, sorry you didn't enjoy Awakening as much as you'd hoped. The string of all-time greats had to end sometime. You'll still enjoy Blazing Blade, although probably in the Sacred Stones way rather than the Tellius/Jugdral way.

I think you'll also very much enjoy discussing Fates.

I would expect FE4R to me more faithful than it needs to be rather than the opposite. Echoes kept basically all of its questionable design choices. You never know, though.

September 9th! You became a FE hipster in less than three months.

Now imagine waiting for something to scratch a sliver of Radiant Dawn's greatness for a decade.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

But when you get to the guts, at least for me, it really feels like it was specifically designed to get people who DIDNT like FE to come play it. And like, yeah, that was their goal, to bring in a new audience, and it worked! It worked on ME!

But now, Im here, Im deep in, Im in the full on fucking Watch speed runs and Iron Mans in the background everyday at work mode, andand Im just bouncing right off. It all feels so surface level.

Seeing someone transition to this mindset is admittedly cathartic lmao

Oh right, forgot about Future Past. Those are probably better than the main story maps honestly. Just like when Fates did the same concept.

I honestly wouldn't recommend any of Awakening's extra maps. Not unless you really like cameos and seeing character deaths unnecessarily reversed.

Carrying Awakening's cast rating by the strength of his mustache.

LightningStrikes posted...

The fact is except for the very highest level cinema is in dire straights financially, having still not recovered from the pandemic with the cost of living crisis also not helping. The fact is despite a full reopening the industry is still going to end up about 30% behind 2019 in terms of box office with barely more films released than 2020 and 2021. Its very bad in general right now.

This needs to be I'm bold. Movie theaters are hurting right now.

One of my friends once described Awakening as the game equivalent of popcorn, which is still the best descriptor for it that I've ever heard.

I still like it though. It has a relaxing vibe which let's it get away with some stuff.

Just had to have all that EXP, didn't you?

https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/childish-support

Steam reception says Very Positive.

Pretty much the corporate gaslighting that was expected (well, besides Nintendo maybe not responding at all).

Relevant note:
https://twitter.com/aidencalvin/status/1597887859029344256?t=aRQuaZqlMj61sRszXAS7GQ&s=19

I've never been more baited by a game trailer in my entire life.

MalcolmMasher posted...

Obviously it would have to take place on the planet Marth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRs0OqV4uSc

Have the Avatar be from the future too. He's a failed Grima clone vessel who lost his memory or something. That way you still get the Shocking Twist, Lucina can be the Lord stand-in like Chrom was, and you can still marry your waifus.

For the record, what I'm proposing is still way less out-there than some of the original ideas for Awakening.

Among the concepts were a modern-day setting or using the planet Mars as a setting.

tcaz2 posted...

I have always and will always think they should have entirely replaced the Walmart storyline in the middle of the game with a 'you get taken to Lucina's timeline' arc and you see just how bad it is there before coming back to the original timeline and kicking Validar/Grima's ass.

Does not require the other children units at all. Just say they've already left so you don't meet them there.

All it requires is BSing some reason you can get back to the original map to recruit the kids for any pairings you do during it which really shouldn't be too hard considering there's already a dimensional portal in the setting.

I'll do you one better: reformat Awakening into a game where the main characters are Lucina + the 2nd gen, starts off in the ruined timeline before eventually going back to the past

There was a time period in FEH when Awakening/Fates newbie fans were complaining about not getting their 4th strike obscure personal favorite child character. Entire games weren't even represented yet. Thankfully the scales have been balanced since then.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I don't feel like a lot of first gen characters are particularly attached to the story either, though. Outside the core group, they pretty much all show up, say one or two lines, and then are sent to the support dimension. Virion gets cutscene to introduce Cherche, prior to that he didn't even get one for himself! Is Sully ever in a cutscene? Ricken gets 2...I mean it goes on like that, at least Sumia was in a CG.

Compare that to like...the Brom and Nephenee chapter in Radiant Dawn. Yeah there's no more Brom and Nephenee in actual plot after that, but it was very much THEIR chapter, and it was an actual relevant story where they mattered.

Vaike...forgot his axe I guess?

This is true but at least they have seniority. You have 20+ hours to get at least a little attached to Gen 1. I wasn't replacing them for the kid squad.

I honestly didn't use the kids outside of Lucina at all. I prioritize units with plot relevance who I also have an emotional attachment to, and a bunch of newbies coming in halfway through the game didn't do anything for me. They should have been interesting considering they came from a ruined timeline, and that's my jam, but Lucina was the only character where I felt like it truly mattered.

I swear I'm the only person who didn't pay attention whatsoever to inheritance skill optimization. Awakening isn't a hard game, it's not like it mattered!

I have a biiiig writeup prepared in my head about how badly Fates damaged the series for me on a conceptual level

Is that hyperbole? Yes, but as a writer that's my default state of being

A lot of Fates characters don't even have official art.

Oh right, Gunter.

I actually think Emmeryn's (I had to google that name) death scene is a technically good scene stuck in a game that lacks punch. Stick it in a game with better writing/production values and it would've been really effective.

GTM posted...

https://kotaku.com/nintendo-smash-world-tour-fgc-shut-down-panda-esports-1849833867

Nintendo is saying they didn't end the 2022 event

Whay

Either ass covering or different people in the lines of communication saying different things

The Smash World Tour guys responded with this:

We did not expect to have to address this, but Nintendos response via Kotaku has been brought to our attention:

Unfortunately after continuous conversations with Smash World Tour, and after giving the same deep consideration we apply to any potential partner, we were unable to come to an agreement with SWT for a full circuit in 2023. Nintendo did not request any changes to or cancellation of remaining events in 2022, including the 2022 Championship event, considering the negative impact on the players who were already planning to participate.

We are unsure why they are taking this angle, especially in light of the greater statement and all that it contains.

To reiterate from the official statement:

As a last ditch effort, we asked if we could continue running the Championships and the Tour next year without a license, and shift our focus to working with them in 2024. We alluded to how the last year functioned in that capacity, with a mutual understanding that we would not get shut down and focus on the future. We were told directly that those times were now over. This was the final nail in the coffin given our very particular relationship with Nintendo. This is when we realized it truly was all being shut down for real. We asked if they understood the waves that would be made if we were forced to cancel, and Nintendo communicated that they were indeed aware.
To be clear, we asked Nintendo multiple times if they had considered the implications of canceling the Championships as well as next years Tour. They affirmed that they had considered all variables.

We received this statement in writing from Nintendo shortly after our call:

It is Nintendos expectation that an approved license be secured in order to operate any commercial activity featuring Nintendo IP. It is also expected to secure such a license well in advance of any public announcement. After further review, weve found that the Smash World Tour has not met these expectations around health & safety guidelines and has not adhered to our internal partner guidelines. Nintendo will not be able to grant a license for the Smash World Tour Championship 2022 or any Smash World Tour activity in 2023.
To be clear, we did not even submit an application for 2023 yet, the license application was for the 2022 Championships (submitted in April). Nintendo including all 2023 activity was an addition we were not even expecting. In our call that accompanied the statement, we asked multiple times if we would be able to continue to operate without a license as we had in years past with the same unofficial understanding with Nintendo. We were told point blank that those times are over.

They followed up the call with their statement in writing, again confirming both the 2022 Championships and all 2023 activity were in the exact same boat.

When was the last time there was actually a bad Jeigan? You might have to go as far back as Jeigan himself.

Apparently Nintendo isn't even the biggest villain this time! That one dickhead (head of Panda, a major Smash-based company) was partnering with them to run the Panda Cup. He somehow convinced them to CAD other major tournaments, presumably to divert support to his own. Now those tournaments aren't happening and the Panda one maybe isn't either

Smash is suffering

paperwarior posted...

Why does a video game company have legal power over competitions?

Threatening to sue = legal power

tl;dr is that one dickhead behind the scenes torpedoed several major tournaments, including ones Nintendo was actually willing to support

According to the wiki, Awakening reclassing is done through Second Seals.

I respect Awakening for what it did. They thought it would be the last game in the franchise so they threw everything they could into it. It's basically a FE 'greatest hits' with lots of references and re-used mechanics. That leads to an overall more shallow experience, but it's also exceptionally good as a gateway drug. There's a reason that it put the series on the map.

I will also admit to looking forward to you reacting to Fates more though.

Man the vibe of this topic really changed once we got past Jugdral and Tellius. This is pretty much the reaction I expected from someone who became a hardcore fan of the series and decided to revisit Awakening. I still like the game but, yeah.

Awakening has a bunch of slightly awkward references. It was hype at the time but not so much in a world with Fire Emblem Warriors, Heroes, and Engage.

There's also one character later who at best retroactively hurts canon.

Oh and it's great for grinding supports! That's the real place Awakening shines in. I think the individual quality of supports is lower than in previous games, but it I'm glad Awakening set the trend of everyone having supports with everyone else, as well as removing the support cap. Now we get games like Three Houses where the supports are good and plentiful.