LogFAQs > #967674872

Edelgard - Fire Emblem: Three Houses

I think all Three Houses characters are varying degrees of good insofar as gameplay goes. I know each one has significant advantages and disadvantages in stats and growths compared to others, but I think making more optimal characters is a more dull way of playing, and what differentiates them is clearly their supports. And Edelgard is fine. Like, shes clearly meant to be a very specific ideal personified into an anime archetype, and she executes both of those very well. If this is the type of character that appeals to you, its likely shes appealing VERY well, scratching that same type of I can save them itch that characters like the Persona 5 traitor do. I like P5 Traitor significantly more than Edelgard, mind you, much more fun mask on that one before the other shoe drops, but I think both are well-executed for what theyre going for. I can easily understand hating the character because of how she goes about what she stands for, but I like seeing the depths shell go to or how triumphant her ideals can end up being depending on the route chosen. I appreciate how strongly Three Houses deviates in its back half depending on route; usually choices like these are more subtle until a few endgame chapters, and Edelgard forms an important piece of Three Houses whole through her contribution. Fallen Edelgard pretty much ruined PvP in Heroes, though, so that sucks I guess.

Birdo - Mario Superstar Baseball

Birdo has an incredibly underwhelming bat. Theres a chance in Hell that she hits a homer, but otherwise, shes got incredibly dinky slap hits and easy fly-out charge hits. Normally, she would be dead weight offensively. However, Birdo has the uncontested best Star Hit in the game, the Weird Ball. This turns any ball she hits into an egg, following a line drive trajectory into the outfield, causing the egg to bounce along the ground in a randomized direction three times before finally settling on a trajectory and rolling along. The egg bounces too quickly to properly react, the initial bounce is the only one that counts toward the foul line so it can easily spring into foul territory and require a fielder to book it, and the bounces can actively go OVER fielders at times. This is the most volatile star hit in the game, ranging from a bad egg giving you an instant out to bagging a guaranteed triple at the best of times, or an in-the-park home run if youre playing on a gimmick stadium or an error is made. This makes Birdo have the easiest clear the bases potential of any character in the game, even Bowser; a bad hit can be made into a successful Weird Ball just as well as a good one, Birdo just has to make contact anywhere on the bat and shes got a chance. More skilled players can slice the ball, hitting it on the very first or last frame it can be hit, guaranteeing the ball go straight down the middle to eliminate the possibility of it being caught for an out at all! All of these make Birdo likely the most common choice for captain other than Bowser. A character being captain allows for two things: the number of Team Stars they have available at the start of the game is based on their average chemistry ranking with the rest of their team, and it makes their star hit specials only cost one team star on contact. All other captain candidates on a team will cost two Team Stars if they make contact with the ball, which burns through your resources insanely quickly. A two-star Weird Ball is usually worth it, a one-star Weird Ball? Thats insane value. Birdos only real competition as a captain choice is Donkey Kong, as the Banana Ball is also excellent and both he and Birdo have chemistry with Petey Piranha (for some reason); Bowsers Star Hit is actually terrible, so forcing him to be captain is a nerf to keep his overwhelming power in check. By designing a team around Birdo, you give her the ability to be the most pivotal playmaker on your team, even beyond home run hitters

and that isnt even talking about her defensive utility. Birdo knows Suction, a less powerful version of Yoshis tongue that snoofs softballs swiftly down her schnoz. Now, shes too slow to be a great outfielder like Yoshi, but on shortstop or 2nd? If a ball comes within Birdos zip code, its getting caught into an out. Suction does have a downside, as Birdo is unable to throw the ball for a moment after sucking, but if it nabs a catch out, that hardly matters; its only grounders that really ruin her day. Brido is absolutely fabulous but oddly is usually a later draft choice. Donkey Kong also fills the shortstop/2nd position well and has the added utility of being a home run hitter compared to Birdo, you gotta draft power hitters early or else your opponent will feast on home run hitters, Yoshi and Boo are always valuable, you need to have consistent singles hitters in order to take advantage of Birdo, if youve got Bowser you might not want to be using the Weird Ball for two stars all the time - Birdo is a character that you almost accidentally build your team around. Drafting Birdo as the 6th member of your squad isnt uncommon. But theres no doubting just how fearsome she can be in the right situation - if youre good at setting her up and even adequate at rolling the dice, shell pay dividends. By far her best appearance in the Mario series.

Giant Turtle - Unplayable

He is a friend. I wish that the water wasnt swimmable in Great Bay in Ultimate, that stage was SO much better and more impactful when you sunk like a rock. Now bonking off of the bottom of the laboratory is no longer a skill check for teching. I do think the turtles a really cool way to get into the Great Bay Temple, and find that that temple gets a really bad rap in general, I think the differing water currents and especially the ice arrow puzzles are really neat and dynamic in a more interesting way than a lot of the conveyor belt puzzles of the 2D games. But yeah, its a giant turtle. I like giant turtle.

Lloyd Irving - Tales of Symphonia

I dont think Ive played Tales of Symphonia since what, 2006? Lloyd was never my favorite as a character, weird middleground between the anime meathead idiot hero and the confident bishe JRPG protagonist, never felt like he did either side that well, but he was fine. And damn, when you got to play as him, it was an art form. The way that he naturally air combos with his basic strings, ESPECIALLY for 2004 before Devil May Cry 3 really codified the infinite stylish air juggle as a thing that existed outside of Marvel Vs Capcom, was awesome, and Tempest remains an all-timer of a move to just throw out, turn off your brain, and feel really, really good about. I have no idea if it still holds up (from what I understand and seeing how Tales has evolved, probably not), but it definitely sticks out as something that felt outright magic for its time. Do I think that should translate into a role in Smash? Ehhhh, I think Lloyds time has passed him a bit, I dont think hes QUITE the same case as Cloud where he himself is an icon on-par with his game and I dont think that Velvet and other recent protags are THAT far behind him. But hes really solid, Im sure Id be hit with all kinds of nostalgia hearing brand new Lloyd lines. And while I know theyd never go the extra mile like this man can you imagine Skits in Smash with him? Brilliant.