Saint Rubenio

Yeah, you know, Aida should absolutely have been the boss of Miletos, actually. They literally did it with an "as you know," lol

Hang in there, Carrefour.

Do not be ashamed. I won't lie, it kinda feels like a filler place. They needed land between Thracia and Arvis for build-up so they just threw Miletos in there. It'd be neat if she was a Miletos royal and that's how she ended up being queen of the place lol And thinking about it, the only character that comes to mind that's black-haired but isn't from Isaach is Asaello. Even Carcino from Sacred Stones isn't this bad off. Even if it's really easy to forget Rennac is from there because he's far easier to associate to the Rausten gang.

I can see the appeal.

Even still. Beats most RPGs, where they tell you your guy's strength is 47, your weapon's power is 81, the enemy's defense is 19 and then you deal 472 damage one turn and 521 the next and God knows why the fuck anything happens. There it is again. It's even funnier the 8th time! Hilda's great. She's not sympathetic, she's not possessed, she's not sexy... She's as horribly, unabashedly, generically evil as every ugly recolored man ever, and she's about as physically unattractive as anime women are allowed to be. And, you know what? That's neat. I feel like I should know who this is but I can't put my finger on it right n... ...Wait, Morrigan? Why Morrigan...? I do love how John Constipatius the VII has a worse reaction to the childhunts than Very Sympathetic Silver-Haired Camus. Manfroy just has clairvoyance. He can just divine where the silver maidens he needs are at any given moment. Gen 2: Where you find yourself missing even the worst gen 1 plot points! ...Oh, right. I forgot...

Yeah they do seem determined not to repeat stuff, which is a valid approach I can get behind. Again, I'll want to see more. I mean, they haven't even made the Steam page yet!

Eh, the platform for indies is PC anyway. The only indies that make their way to consoles are those profitable enough to be able to afford the jump. I have great memories of Heist, even played it multiple times. Perhaps another run will be in order for the release of the second game. ...Already aesthetically I think I like it less, it does that thing where it's turned into a pseudo-3D, which is usually done to alleviate costs. And I feel like I preferred the original "space bounty hunters" hook better than this "pirates in an actual see" thing. But we'll see. There's only a very short trailer at this point, not much to go on.

Holy shit. I ignored the Indie World direct, ended up clicking on it after it was done, skimmed through the timeline bar quickly. Steamworld Heist 2. Thanks a lot Ninty, as soon as they make the Steam page I'm throwing it on my wishlist.

You know more about Gen bossmen than I do. Heck, while you were writing your in-depth, well thought-out post, I had to go on google because I thought Ridale was the one with the holy blood. You probably are. I burned out really badly after the "get all the emblems back" map and never recovered. Yeah, it's not like this is the one game series where you can do basic math with the stats displayed and actually get a result you can use for anything lol ...Seriously FE is so cool for that.

He's her father-in-law. The Constipated clan gets stronger and stronger with each appearance. What's next, John Constipatius with holy blood? ...Actually, the joke doesn't work, because it's not next one that has holy blood. It's this one. Yeah, I think you missed it, but this rando with the funny shitass face has holy blood. Hot damn. Eh, I'm still partial to Hannibal and his adoptive son mirroring Travant and his own Garon'd child. This'd be lost if Sharlow was his biological son. These two don't need to be related at all, though. ...And this convo would've been garbage either way. Ironically, we were talking about her looking more mature being an upside, but then we get to this convo and she's being sultry with what looks to be an 8 year old. Genealogy! I have one wisecrack: Why does Cairpre not get this?! Being Cairpre is suffering. I won't lie, I forgot this is how Arion survived. ...It... does not make much sense, does it. If only. Welp, that's been my favorite map of gen 2. Probably. We'll see how much mileage you get out of the last two chapters. Cry me a river. And I'll have you know, Im consider my enjoyment of the game less important than preserving my run's "purity." Seriously, I should've just used the DLC in my Maddening run of Engage. But my stubborn ass just couldn't stop thinking "I need to beat it properly once so I prove I can do it." Well, I didn't. I'm the one crying a river now. Travant has a secret beard.

Oh wait - you're talking about Rising, right? Yeah that was basically just a little side thing made as a kickstarter reward to hold people over before the game proper. All I've heard of it indicates it is rather mid.

Ah, but I did have a reason to do that: it greatly amused me. Pretty sure Project Naga tried to go for this but corrupted. I suppose that is one niche. Of course, in regular play Corple has to choose between Paragon and any stats that are actually useful to him, whereas Sharlow just shows up with everything he needs. Because subs are cool. Plot twist: that was the kicker. If Travant had given Altena a sword that blows up she would've loved him way more. Spaniard here. I can confirm this entire country (all of it) is a desolate arid wasteland. Also, I am Travant.

Hmmm... Actually? I have to concede the point, as I am the living proof. I did, in fact, do a sub run with Cairpre present. A really bad Cairpre too, his father was Alec lmao. He was still a lot more useful than the big scrub-tier subs like Tristan and Roddlebahn or whatever his name is this time of year. Really, his biggest problem is just that he's worse than Sharlow and they can't exist together. Combined with Laylea being arguably as good as Lene, leaving Sylvia alone ends up seeming like a better choice, and this is very bad for poor Cairpre.

Oh, Cairpre is definitely better than Hannibal, as is Sharlow and every other unit in gen 2. Cairpre's problem is that being better than Hannibal means nothing, he wants Sylvia to marry Claude or else he gets didly squat out of his dad and his sub has everything you'll ever need of him with less effort required. Except Valkyria, I guess, but Valkyria is a lot better in theory than it is in practice. Agreed that Hannibal and his son needed a special relationship. Especially considering Hannibal can't marry, it'd been cool to make him have that parental bond with his son so he can make money for him at the arena. That'd been pretty cute.

It's a fine interpretation and there is precedent as you say. It's just even dumber in Arion's case because Travant basically hands him peace on a silver platter. Erase him, have Sharlow always exist. ...in all seriousness, letting both get berserk would help, but the problem is that Coirpre really really needs paragon due to his starting situation, and he just... Doesn't get it, unlike Sharlow. Unless they completely change how they function as units, I fear the concept is kinda dead on arrival. I mean, seriously, level 1 priest halfway through chapter 8? Nah, if Hannibal is recruited he just vanishes. He had one week left before retirement and it passed when Hannibal is recruited. If he disappeared, the rebels could accuse Arion's peace negotiations of being a ploy to bide for time, lower their guard and provide Travant an opportunity to return and strike again. Travant had to die, and die in spectacular fashion to leave nothing to chance. Murderer.

Jonathan, Charlotte, Jonathan, Charlotte, Jonathan, Charlotte. I'd still call Ecclesia better but that's just me. PoR is still perfectly fine. Not good. That is what I was concerned about - gameplay being boring. ...is the story any good so far, at least?

He's probably exhibited the most personality out of all the recolors of this one face. Not that that's saying much. I mean, "muh eyes" is a giant cliche, but eh, what are you gonna do. I do love how exasperated Travy is here. Yeah, this scene is another part of what makes Travant one of, if not the best villain in this game. For what it's worth, I don't think he's getting himself killed for "weird honor codes" here. Travant's many things, but he doesn't strike me as one to put much stock in honor. No, I think what he's doing here is ensuring that all the baggage you listed dies with him. With him having paid for his many misdeeds, the rebels' fury is satisfied, and nothing stops Arion from wiping the slate clean and, with Bloom gone as well, negotiating a path towards a new, bright era for Thracia. In theory. It's not a terrible plan, all things considered, and it shows that at least to a degree, he did genuinely wish the betterment of his homeland, if he's willing to ensure it even if he will be too dead to benefit from it. But, of course... There was no need for this. You needlessly killed Philip 4. Murderer. Now imagine Sharlow, except he doesn't have Paragon, he likely has higher stats in worse places and he doesn't get the awesome item from Hannibal that Sharlow does a little later into the chapter. An item, I might add, that's arguably better than even the best case scenario here, which is marrying Sylvia to Claude so her son can get Valkyrie. And that's difficult enough - it's more likely that Sylvia will marry Lewyn or Alec and the wonder boy will eat shit and get nothing he can use at all. Being Cairpre is suffering. Only for Travant to immediately go "you didn't need to go that far" and leave to meet his destiny five minutes later. I don't know, Arion. I think you may have misjudged your father a tad. Even without the line that you (Ping) said should've been there (and I'd agree to be honest), considering he was clearly already toying with the planthat he'd end up doing, he probably would've just had Altena imprisoned until he was dead. Congratulations, Arion - you achieved the exact same end, but Altena got a headache for it. No, but seriously, how do you misinterpret Travant's final words to you so fucking badly, man? You literally got the exact opposite of everything he meant! Yeah, pretty decent save on their part, I'll admit. There he is. Hannibal is so funny. All the trouble of walking around Kapathogia, confusing his AI, killing the bossman and then moving the extremely sluggish priest all the way to him, and you get... the worst unit in gen 2. Bar none. Basically the only thing of value he ever does is give Sharlow a cool staff. If Sharlow even exists. But who cares. He is the cool beardman. You simply must use him. Give him the pursuit ring. Kill Arvis with him! (Actually, don't, it's hilariously difficult to make happen) He definitely could've done with some improvements and some less idiotic dialogue in the Manster part, but all things considered, he's a pretty good villain that makes something of an impression. Pretty great by Genealogy standards. ...And now it's one more chapter of okay-to-good villains and then, uh... the final chapter. Just, the final chapter.

I knew this country was cool. They may have perfected the art but they certainly did not pioneer it. ...Yikes.

Short answer: Nope. Long answer: Basically never in the series's 17 game history. Efforts have been made in a few games to nerf cavalry, but fliers? They've been the best classes in every single game, pretty much. There is no real difference between the stats of infantry and mounted units, so they just do the same thing but they get to places faster. IntSys has always relied on effective damage to combat mounts, but effective weapons do not suffice against the units with the highest ability to maneuver around them. So you end up with "unit that does things" vs "unit that does things but gets there faster." Fangames often take the route of locking them to one weapon type and/or making the stats of cavalry units more middling compared to infantry, so the comparison is closer to "unit that does things" vs "unit that does things worse but gets there faster." You know, an actual trade-off. Still, it's tough - movement is a pretty amazing stat and one of the very few that cannot be grown except with a statbooster that in every game is exceedingly rare. Having more of it is a trait that's much harder to replicate than, say, having a lot of strength or defense.

lmao

I can't believe I ate shit and died again. And you landed on three names that show up in Berwick Saga specifically. Alfons in particular isn't even that close so I found it funny that you just happened upon it lol

Look who stands at the center. They know who the important one is. I mean, maybe Travant's wife hated him too. Hey, there's that attempt at a truce you were asking for. ...From the recruitable, to signal he's recruitable. Because of course. Hannibal is just the best. Or Joseph Goebbels, who shows up in Berwick. I've probably already said it, but it just... still blows my mind that he went there lmao. Then again, he already dropped the Himmler bomb in FE1 so we were fucked from the onset. It means Seliph is justified in conquering a whole country because he's the good boy everyone loves, devaluing the entire point of gen 1 in the process. Gen 2 writing! Alas, if/else statements are just so difficult....I mean, honestly, yeah, kinda, but you'd think they could've done it at least just for Oifey and Shannan. It's not like this was made by a small indie developer, it was a whole team with Nintendo's backing. They can afford the time and money to throw a few if/elses in there. More precisely, Lutéce. Where's the diligent Ping from chapter 5? Whoops, no portraits. Doubtul, all three of them would take another three Kaga games to show up. I can't believe I ate shit and died. Ah, but I was speaking English. You're both wrong. Clearly what Kaga named him after was the bloom shader effect. I present to you, High Bloom.

They seem to be the most popular characters in the hack haha. Glad you liked them as well! Also nice to see more people appreciating the Tick. And his cousin! A fine guess! Just one thing you got wrong - it's Fire Emblem: Dark Stone, actually. Felt a more apt titular mcguffin than the tome that comes out of nowhere in the final chapter, and also better mirrors the vanilla title, like Eckesachs did with the Binding Blade. Thank you for offering to playtest! I was going to start seeking out folks for it very soon, as I am quite close to having the preliminary version ready. Expect a DM in short notice. Also funny you should mention Beran. He happens to be part of the starting team. So look forward to a whole game of Beraning.

Heroes is now 0.03% less bad. They also added Yukimura, which is like... Why? He's the second least popular character in the game, beating only Fuga because Fuga is a Rev exclusive of all things. Not that I'm complaining. I like Yukimura. They fail, but good attempt.

Ahh, true! I almost forgot Gavaleus. Did you have him on the list already? Yeah, I figured this as well, but I needed girls and had no troubadours to work with, so Saaga was pretty convenient in that way.