Seifus

Well, I honestly don't know what to feel at this point. Fates burned me so hard on Fire Emblem that I've just about given up on the series. SoV was alright, but I mainly bought that because of better character designs and that it had an established story that could not be greatly changed. Looking at the trailer, it looks like they may have learned from their mistakes (better world building, more sensible character designs, an unspoken promise of a more consistent and coherent story) but this is all one trailer and it will take more than what we got, a looottt more, before I consider picking it up. Perhaps I've been spoiled on the Witcher 3, Dark Souls, Pillars of Eternity, Yoko Taro and the like as well as Howard, Moorcock, Pratchett, and Gaiman's books when it comes to characters and story. If it is actually good in both gameplay and story, I will pick it up. Now, I am all for a Scottish Kingdom. Fear the men in kilts!

Whenever I think squads in an RPG, I keep thinking of Kingdom Under Fire

Picked up my pre-order launch day, but I was not able to snag the amiibos

So far my initial impression of the game is that it does a much better job of presenting it's characters, world, and story in a much better fashion than Fates did. The voice acting is some of the best in a video game I have ever heard. The music is great. Also, Gray is currently my bro and my team's MVP.

Thank Dio they did not go with that.

Still in the early part of Chapter 1 (just recruited Slique), but I'm loving the dialogue. It made me laugh a few times and succeeded in making me care about the characters.

True, perhaps I'm just being too cynical for my own good. Either way, I'll wait to see what others say about SoV before I make a decision. As for why I used the Witcher 3 as an example, I think it was because it was one of the few games that actually wow'd me over the past decade, some others being Mass Effect 2, Nier, the Walking Dead Season 1, Spec Ops: The Line, and Skyrim. That does not happen very often. I think a part of the reason why I hold the Witcher 3 in such high regard is because, well, to me it felt genuine. As in the creators obviously respected the source material and wanted to write their own story and put a lot of care, effort, and thought to make the narrative engaging and appealing, and the characters feel like real-life living people. Any cliches that popped up were either subverted, done in creative ways, or were well-written that they felt fresh. They did not try to copy what everyone else was doing in an effort to appeal to other audiences. I think that's what's missing in many games nowadays including Western RPGs and JRPGs is that they would rather copy what someone else is doing rather than focus on making the core of their work appealing. Persona 4 may not be the best JRPG on the market, but it is obvious that the creators wanted to make a good story and game. FE:Fates, meanwhile, seems to jam in as many things that made past FE games successful without any thought given to make them work in a logical fashion, and without understanding why what they were putting in was successful in the first place. It felt rather cynical, something made to earn money from as many different audiences as it can. And remembering that the developers said they worked closely to the original rough draft made by Shin Kibayashi, it also seems that they had no confidence in their own creative skills and would rather work off what's already there. So, I do agree with you that stories need to make sense. True that we should not expect George R.R. Martin tier type of writing from JRPGs. I would rather take a well-written, cliched story made with care and effort instead of a cynical, pandering imitation with no heart.

Is there a poll option that says "I never finished it, but the quality of the story still haunts me"? Because that's how I feel regarding Fates. I'm still on Conquest Ch.8, Birthright Ch.15, and Revelations Ch. 18, and I could not work up the motivation when I reached those parts to continue. I wanted the story to be decent, but it wasn't. If I could ignore the story like I do with the Diablo series and many other Diablo-like games, I would, but since the game insists on shoving the story in my face, I can't ignore it even if I choose to skip the cutscenes. For a better part of a year, I keep trying to shove the story out of my mind, only for it to come roaring back as I come up with new ways to change and improve it. I am Ahab, and the story has become my White Whale. I want to be optimistic about SoV, but I'm not. I am not confident that future Fire Emblem games will be good. Fire Emblem is now in the same position as Bioware games for me right now where I fear what's going to happen next (DA:I just wore me down to where I never touched the expansion DLC). I think the developers need to take a good hard look at the Fire Emblem series and decide if they want to continue down this path or tear it down and start again. TBH, I want the tear it down part as I think strategy rpgs are due for an overhaul on how they tell their stories. In a world where the Witcher 3 exists, RPGs can no longer really afford to coast on subpar stories anymore.

Very wise. I actually wish that it was more involved in the plot acting more like Mother Base-demiplane. Just knock out enemies and teleport them to your castle to convice them to join. Just imagine how differently Conquest could have gone if we did that.

I have the Conquest hard copy and currently at chapter 8 since it released, ch 15 for Birthright, and ch 18 for revelations. I'll admit the gameplay is fun but I generally play rpgs for the story as well, and the game let me down in that regard. I don't think that I'll be able to finish the games as I like a good story. Birthright's story from what I have experienced just kind of meanders, Revelations so far is just dumb, and after reading what happens in Conquest and people's opinions on it, I honestly want to beat IS over the head with the book "How NOT to Write a Novel." The children are pointless, My Castle could have been like Mother base but it is also forgotten by the plot. This game is actually stirs the same feelings I had for FF13, wondering what the heck was going on and not given motivation to be invested in the characters and plot, and actually FF13 made me give up on the series for five years before being sucked into FF14:HW. So, I hope that the next one is better, but I'm not too hopeful.

Corrin x Reina (I love her a lot, and you can't take my Sky Knight from me) Xander x Charlotte (Localization support was a bit weaker than their Japanese suppport, but I still love it) Takumi x Oboro (Because doi) Azura x Kaden (The fact that she's innocently after his fuzzy fur from the start sealed it for me) Ryoma x Scarlet (Because fuck you IS you jerks! Why couldn't this be a thing? *sobs*)

That was actually very good. I wish that their supports in-game where at this level of quality. I had the following mental picture of what the brothers did after she and Corrin left: Xander turned to Leo, not saying a word. Leo slowly turned and met his brother's gaze, dreading what would happened next. He did agree after all. Xander's face never changed as he extended an open hand to Leo. Leo looked at the hand, sighed, pulled out his money pouch and placed it in Xander's hand. Xander retracted the hand and then turned and left. What Leo could not see as Xander left was a smug smirk spreading across the crown prince's face. I can imagine the siblings trying to get a reaction out of the shocked Hinoka. Ryoma waving his hand across her face, Takumi snapping his fingers, Sakura quietly asking if she was alright.

I would also like to add Reina x Peri, Reina x Hinoka, Reina x Subaki, Scarlet x the rest of the Hoshido Royal family.

I love you guys!

You have no idea how happy this make me. Bloodlust family FTW!