Geriba

Very general question... since it seems like you've had the game for a while now, how do you think it stacks up with the rest of the series? I'm not going to put down the hundreds of dollars necessary for an import, but assuming it does come over to the States, is it worth a day one purchase?

His official age is unknown.

Wait, is it really? *checks* ...Well I'll be damned. So does this mean some sexy FE7 music remixes are on the way? Yes please.

Don't feel bad about falling short on the experience rank. Given that funds are your main priority in ranked NM play, it's easy to lose track of high experience requirements in certain chapters, especially the last few. If you opted to use a lot of prepromotes and/or Athos down the stretch, this could have easily knocked a full star off your rating. How much did you use the arena? Seeing as you can get both gold and experience from arena battles at a relatively quick pace (especially with smart rescue/drop/dance strategies that allow for 3-5 battles per turn), in the future, try and plan so that any expendable turns you've accrued (and are likely to accrue) are spent arena abusing on Four-Fanged Offense. So I'm sure you realize now that despite what you may have heard, ranking runs in this game can be tough. Very tough. It's a totally new way to play that demands close attention to detail. If you're in a particularly masochistic mood one of these days, give S-Ranking HHM a shot.

How so? The only difference is that the main lord is superior, but then that means Hector promotes later. Fairly sure enemy stats are higher in HNM compared to ENM as well, and the HNM-exclusive chapters can be tricky.

From what I understand, all of the talk about Jaffar's age is speculation. He certainly looks like he's in the range of 18-21, but there's been no confirmation. A fitting ambiguity.

Can VA be turned off?

Because he was being held in a high-security prison guarded by Ephidel and Jaffar, soon to be Nergal, and the huge Black Fang force that was supposed to stop Eliwood & Co.? Plus, the ritual was coming up. Nergal is hubristic. As he states explicitly, he wants to see Eliwood & Co. in a state of abject fear, desperation, and failure. Common antagonistic trope. If this is a flaw, then every RPG in existence is equally flawed. Why can Cloud take bullets and receive 5 damage in FFVII, but Aeris can't take swords? Why do units in Fire Emblem survive after being impaled by spears and having their heads twain by fighters?

Elbert was opposed to the rebellion, but was kidnapped and used for the ritual. Jaffar's role was to keep Eliwood & Co. at bay until Nergal showed up. Nergal is an all-powerful shaman rivaling Athos, one of the Legendary Heroes, in power; if Jaffar can handle these guys from a plot perspective, then so can Nergal. Not seeing the problem here \ There has always been, and will always be, an essential distinction between plot and gameplay in RPGs. At this point, Jaffar is one of the Four Fangs. Not seeing the problem here.

I'd also like to know about the number of songs available. So far, what we've been provided musically has been pure gold, but I'd like to have some guarantee of quantity as well as quality. Also, does this track here sound like a mellow remix of Chrono Trigger to anyone else?

I have now officially listened to Track 10 more than any other track in the FE series.

I take it there are no rankings, correct?

Wow, custom AI for what is likely a tough defense map? This game really is going above and beyond.