DarthMikey

Thracia is the most interesting because of Travant and the whole struggle of the southern region. I don't really like Verdane because we only spend one chapter there and basically all we learn is "forest country full of bandits." It doesn't even get brought up at the end if Jamke has no son. If we're just talking like aesthetics though then I ain't like Yied, it's ass to traverse and it's the only chapter theme that gets kinda old for me.

Honestly I like them both being there for FE4, and I think they should be maintained for an Echoes remake. I don't want them to be a regular thing in any given FE (and they're not, for good reason), but I like the additional strategy they provide for planning out pairings, and the fact that certain units are literally just incapable of double attacking is part of what gives the game its unique feel. Imo, most units who don't have Pursuit in Gen 1 aren't even significantly worse than their counterparts; Lex is an MVP as long as he has Brave Axe, I think Noish is more useful than Alec, Quan has a fitting handicap considering his great stats and OP weapons, etc. The big exception to this is Arden, but he ought to be buffed outright in a remake just to give you an excuse to use him beyond memeing.

That's fair. The thing with his motivation is, like @ping was getting at, Zephiel says in Chapter 22 that he's fine with the dragons being mindless weapons, because human reason and emotion are exactly what he hates (seeing as it was his father's jealousy and trickery that caused him so much pain). His viewpoint isn't necessarily sensible, but I understand why he arrived there and I actually have some sympathy for him. But, I can also see why his goal seems shallow. I'm fine with him not appearing too much, but I would have liked to hear one or two more scenes where he talks about or at least hints at his reason for what he's doing, as opposed to his one big speech. As for Walhart, I agree but I was talking more about main villains; Walhart is really only relevant for a decent chunk in the middle of Awakening. There are plenty of side villains or bosses throughout the series that are cast as relatable or tragic, all the way back to Camus in FE1. (Ofc Walhart isn't in the same vein as him, but still)

I agree with a lot of your points; the gameplay is unnecessarily frustrating at some points and the plot is kinda lacking; but I think Zephiel is being sold a little short. He's not super deep or anything, but among FE villains he's pretty unique. Most main villains in the series are either irredeemably, cartoon-villain evil (Gharnef, Ashnard, Validar, Garon) or use the cop-out of "they're good guys being mind-controlled" (Hardin, Julius, Lyon). I guess Nergal kinda shows regret at the end of FE7 if you meet a bunch of obscure requirements that make him say six more words, but he pretty much falls into the first category. I can't think of another game in the series where the primary villain you're chasing is presented as a OK person with a really warped perspective, who isn't being mind-controlled (albeit I guess influenced by Jahn). I mean, obviously he still does hella bad things, but you get the impression Zephiel thinks it's all in service of the right thing, rather than just being mindless destruction. His viewpoint isn't all that sensible or sympathetic, but I think a plot gains a little more nuance when the villain has their own legitimate beliefs and insists they're the good guy. Idk, I know it's not a high bar to clear, I just prefer that to Ashnard just wanting to be mega-strong or Garon being possessed by Satan, lol.

I wonder if this is going to cause some kind of significant exodus from the Republican Party, at least for this election year. I know several lifelong Republicans who pretty much hate the whole party right now for not rejecting Trump. This could have some pretty disruptive long-range effects. In other news, what the hell, Donald Trump might be president.

The official announcement video is here, for those who haven't seen it yet. I imagine we'll see and hear more concrete stuff like footage and new Pokemon in the coming months. Maybe it'll play a big role in their E3 presentation?

Cavaliers: For my personality my favorite is probably Treck (no, really), just because he's dopey and lazy and therefore very relatable for me. I like Percival's design the best, and stats is definitely the hardest category. Taking the entire game into view I guess I'd go with Percival again, since on NM he can probably solo C24 with base stats and a Wyrmslayer. Archers: Igrene in all three categories, no question. I guess Klein's a solid runner-up on stats. Nomads: Sue has my favorite personality, Dayan has my favorite design, and Shin has the best stats, no question. Armors: Huh. Well, this one's tough... I guess I'd have to go with Douglas for all three. It's tough not picking Barth on design, though. 'Cause seriously, what a beautiful face. Shamans: Niime wins in all three categories for me, but I like Raigh in personality and design, too, and even stats to some extent. Poor Sophia... Mages: Hugh has my favorite personality and design, but I'll say Lugh for stats. I'd give Lilina second place in the other categories, though. Staffbots: This one's tough... Saul wins in personality and (very slimly) stats, but on design I'm really not sure. I guess I'll pick Cecilia, but I'm pretty neutral on all of them in that area. Thieves: Astore in all three, hands down. Myrmidons: I'll say Rutger for stats and design, and I guess personality, too, though there I like all of them about equally. Axebots: Gonzales is, like, my favorite character in the game, so it's him on all three without a doubt (even in stats I think he's the best of this lot). But I'll also give shout-outs to Geese and Garret in design and Bartre in personality. They Could Be Heroes: Echidna is my favorite on personality and design, but Deke beats her in stats. Ogier is just so plain to me... Wyverns: Who is this "Zeiss" person? Pega-Pony Princesses: Shanna is my favorite in all three categories, though I think she's fairly interchangeable with Tate when it comes to stats unless you've over-leveled her. Now that I think about it, I know barely anything about Juno's character... I guess she's just kinda, like, motherly??? Dancebots: Honestly I'd probably put them about even in all three categories. Stats barely even matter for either of them, and I like both their personalities and designs equally. I've spent way too much time on this already so I'll just say that Roy is okay but has bad stats, I like Fae, and Merlinus is a great human shield.

I recently saw a tweet from Trump saying that endorsements mean virtually nothing and his success is proof of it, and looking at how things stand for now I think he's right. Rubio was endorsed by almost every major politician in SC and he barely beat Ted Cruz, much less Trump. National politicians are flocking to his camp left and right and polls indicate that he'll probably lose to Trump in his own home state. I guess it's just amazing to me how much one dude has overturned the whole political process. This election has already changed the GOP, maybe for good.

In all seriousness, it feels a little soon for a new Pokemon generation (though now that I think about it, I guess there usually is a three- or four-year gap between them), but if the next games are being announced tomorrow then that would be cool. I really enjoyed Y and I like pretty much everything I've seen/heard about ORAS, so I say keep moving forward.

No Pokemon Grey, no Pokemon Z... if there's no Pokemon Stars this time then I'mma start throwing stuff.

There's something about Ted Cruz that really rubs me the wrong way. I can't put my finger on it, but I feel like he's even more dangerous than Trump in a way almost independent from policy.

I'm gonna double (triple? quadruple???) up on Ghost Trick, it's a truly awesome game that kinda got lost in the mix when it first released. If you like adventure games in particular then I can't recommend it enough.

Every single submission is awesome. It was really tough deciding who to vote for; I wanted to narrow it down to 10 but I think it ended up being 12 or 13, I didn't really count :P Good luck to everybody!

Santorum has endorsed Rubio, which I didn't really see coming. I don't know who I expected him to back; Cruz, maybe?; but then again Rubio is pretty right-wing, he just looks sort of moderate at this point due to Trump and Cruz dominating the conversation.

I had something finished a while ago but hoped to come up with something better. Of course, I never did, and now I come to submit the old entry and find that I'm late by 90 minutes Well, good luck to everyone who did enter! Hoping to see some cool stuff.