New demo with new characters

[Dandy Druid]

I'm happy I get to say LISSA SMASH while playing.

[ChibiToastExplosion]

I'm wondering how healing will go hand in hand with A ranks, if those will be back. Healing sure is nice, but what's the point if you lose rank by taking damage anyway.

It's really hard for me to move on to another map unless I can A rank; although with level ups determining stats to a greater degree in HW, I wonder what the adventure map would look like and if A rank is even a thing for the objectives.

[Arthur97]

I'll admit, I wish Robin used swords (the non magic variety preferably), though I may be in the minority there.

[Interdimensional Observer]

4 minutes ago, Arthur97 said:

I'll admit, I wish Robin used swords (the non magic variety preferably), though I may be in the minority there.

I think I understand where you are coming from. Tactician/Grandmaster has Swords and Magic in Awakening so the player can choose from the start whether to make Robin physical or magical, or both though everyone knows magic is superior.

Unfortunately, this choice of Robin to be physical or magical or both is lost in FE spinoffs/crossovers, because the other characters who make it into such things end up being physical sword users. If, hypothetically speaking, Micaiah or Merric had shown up in Smash 4's base roster, Robin wouldn't have been forced into being the one character to show off FE magic. The same thing with Codename S.T.E.A.M.- thanks a lot Marth/Ike/Lucina (whoever you hate the most) for forcing Robin to abandon their dual cannon nature for a purely magical one!

[Anacybele]

Obviously, Robin uses more magic in spinoffs because balance. There are already so many sword wielders, and since he can also use magic, that's the more logical choice for variety. Same case for Smash.

Man, I thought I could be more patient, but I'm actually kind of dying to see Freddy gameplay... And more characters...

Edited July 8, 2017 by Anacybele

[Arthur97]

8 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I think I understand where you are coming from. Tactician/Grandmaster has Swords and Magic in Awakening so the player can choose from the start whether to make Robin physical or magical, or both though everyone knows magic is superior.

Unfortunately, this choice of Robin to be physical or magical or both is lost in FE spinoffs/crossovers, because the other characters who make it into such things end up being physical sword users. If, hypothetically speaking, Micaiah or Merric had shown up in Smash 4's base roster, Robin wouldn't have been forced into being the one character to show off FE magic. The same thing with Codename S.T.E.A.M.- thanks a lot Marth/Ike/Lucina (whoever you hate the most) for forcing Robin to abandon their dual cannon nature for a purely magical one!

I actually blame Smash.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

The healing items are tea? Not Vulneraries?

[Silent shifter]

16 minutes ago, Gustavos said:

The healing items are tea? Not Vulneraries?

If I remember correctly, the E3 demo has a "use vulneraries" button on the pro controller.

[Iridium]

1 hour ago, Arthur97 said:

I actually blame Smash.

STEAM happened before Smash though, didn't it?

Smash, if anything, lets him use a sword more often than he usually does/would.

[Arthur97]

Just now, Iridium said:

STEAM happened before Smash though, didn't it?

Smash, if anything, lets him use a sword more often than he usually does/would.

You need the Smash Amiibo to use Robin. No, Smash came first. Smash even made the sword part magic, so...

[YotsuMaboroshi]

Robin's always been more associated with magic though.  The opening cut scene of Awakening has them using magic only, no sword.  You don't even know you have a sword until the tutorial starts and you can check your inventory.

Their clothing also resembles mage robes more than it does any sort of physical gear, especially with those long open sleeves.

Edit:  Even stabbing Chrom in the prologue was done with magic, not the sword from your inventory.

Edited July 8, 2017 by YotsuMaboroshi

[Arthur97]

7 minutes ago, YotsuMaboroshi said:

Robin's always been more associated with magic though.  The opening cut scene of Awakening has them using magic only, no sword.  You don't even know you have a sword until the tutorial starts and you can check your inventory.

Their clothing also resembles mage robes more than it does any sort of physical gear, especially with those long open sleeves.

Edit:  Even stabbing Chrom in the prologue was done with magic, not the sword from your inventory.

Fighting a sorcerer with one swordfighter, it makes sense to use magic to cover range. In any regards, the tactician and grandmaster classes had equal growth for magic and strength in Awakening not taking boons and banes into account.

[YotsuMaboroshi]

23 minutes ago, Arthur97 said:

Fighting a sorcerer with one swordfighter, it makes sense to use magic to cover range. In any regards, the tactician and grandmaster classes had equal growth for magic and strength in Awakening not taking boons and banes into account.

Yes, it makes sense tactics wise, but doesn't change the fact that your first intro to Robin is casting magic, not wielding a sword.  So most people will associate him with magic more than swords.

And that doesn't address the clothing design issue.  Robin's default outfit is a long hooded coat with open sleeves, reminiscent of a mage's robes.  It's fairly similar in style to Soren's robes in FE9, and Mark's robes in FE7, both of which supported from the backline.  Robin's character design is more mage than melee.

Honestly, it feels like they intended Robin to be a mage initially, and then gave equal offensive growths and weapons for both magic and physical so that you could level in Tactician/Grandmaster without severely hindering whatever class you ended in.

Edited July 8, 2017 by YotsuMaboroshi

[Arthur97]

12 minutes ago, YotsuMaboroshi said:

Yes, it makes sense tactics wise, but doesn't change the fact that your first intro to Robin is casting magic, not wielding a sword.  So most people will associate him with magic more than swords.

And that doesn't address the clothing design issue.  Robin's default outfit is a long hooded coat with open sleeves, reminiscent of a mage's robes.  It's fairly similar in style to Soren's robes in FE9, and Mark's robes in FE7, both of which supported from the backline.  Robin's character design is more mage than melee.

Honestly, it feels like they intended Robin to be a mage initially, and then gave equal offensive growths and weapons for both magic and physical so that you could level in Tactician/Grandmaster without severely hindering whatever class you ended in.

Or they thought long cloaks looked cool and they had to keep the face hidden, hence the hood. Do you know how many sword wielding characters in media wear long cloaks?

[YotsuMaboroshi]

18 minutes ago, Arthur97 said:

Or they thought long cloaks looked cool and they had to keep the face hidden, hence the hood. Do you know how many sword wielding characters in media wear long cloaks?

That doesn't change the fact that the coat is closer to mage robes than physical gear by FE standards, and heavily resembles Soren's design from FE9 like Chrom resembles Ike.  There's also the potraits you can choose that carry tomes, while there are none with swords.  More concept art in the art book shows Robin with a tome than a sword.  There's only one piece that has a sword in it, and that also has the tome present.  The armor for the Grandmaster outfit is explicitly designed to resemble a Sniper's armor, which is also a ranged class.

They very heavily pushed Robin as a mage before Smash 4 was a thing.  You are just overlooking that in favor of gameplay (which is fine, but doesn't apply to promotional material, which is what gets used as the basis for stuff like this).

Attempting to move back to the topic:

3 hours ago, ChibiToastExplosion said:

I'm wondering how healing will go hand in hand with A ranks, if those will be back. Healing sure is nice, but what's the point if you lose rank by taking damage anyway.

It's really hard for me to move on to another map unless I can A rank; although with level ups determining stats to a greater degree in HW, I wonder what the adventure map would look like and if A rank is even a thing for the objectives.

Healing staves might apply to others more than yourself.  They might take the place of the rescue mechanic, which would only affect your A ranks due to time taken (based off of HW ranking).

Edited July 8, 2017 by YotsuMaboroshi

[Sentinel07]

Hopefully we get some character trailers over time like what they did with Hyrule Warriors.

[Fireball260]

3 hours ago, Arthur97 said:

I actually blame Smash.

I don't understand this statement. In Smash Robin moves were split 50/50. His specials were tomes but all his normals were his Bronze/Levin Sword. Not only that but Robin had to consistently switch between them because of his durability system. 

[Lau]

8 hours ago, Anacybele said:

But you can't really judge when we haven't actually seen someone play Frederick yet. xP For all we know, his horse is even more awesome than Xander's... I'm withholding my judgement of him in this sense until we do see gameplay for him. I'm excited for him, but only because he's my favorite 3DS character.

OMG, yes please, fire would be awesome as his element. XD

No, no, I meant design wise, idk. I can't explain it, and it is due to personal bias, but who knows? All I know is that I'm torn between Marth and Robin, my babies look so good.

[Interdimensional Observer]

8 hours ago, YotsuMaboroshi said:

Robin's always been more associated with magic though.  The opening cut scene of Awakening has them using magic only, no sword.  You don't even know you have a sword until the tutorial starts and you can check your inventory.

 

To add to this, it's easier to have Robin use magic in cinematic sequences because it looks better than slashing/stabbing in first person perspective. Furthermore, it makes it easier to hide Robin's all too variable face outside of first person perspective. And lastly, magic with its whole wisdom and being on the backline thing tends to align better with being a strategist than a sword does.

7 hours ago, Fireball260 said:

I don't understand this statement. In Smash Robin moves were split 50/50. His specials were tomes but all his normals were his Bronze/Levin Sword. Not only that but Robin had to consistently switch between them because of his durability system.

The problem with the Levin Sword is that it's a magical sword, which in FE means it really isn't that much of a sword at all, given 95% of them deal physical damage. Furthermore, the Bronze Sword is a weaker fallback, Robin's stronger and therefore truer blade is the Levin Sword.

[Arthur97]

7 hours ago, Fireball260 said:

I don't understand this statement. In Smash Robin moves were split 50/50. His specials were tomes but all his normals were his Bronze/Levin Sword. Not only that but Robin had to consistently switch between them because of his durability system. 

It's because they made even his sword magic. Had they gone with a different sword, then it would have been an even split (and they don't even use the Levin Sword correctly). His only physical sword is also the lowest tier standard sword there is, but at least i makes some sense from a durability standpoint. I mean, even their boxing ring tag is "Tactician Magician."

I won't deny they like to push magic, but to make him entirely magic is a disservice. 

[Anacybele]

7 hours ago, Lautsuu said:

No, no, I meant design wise, idk. I can't explain it, and it is due to personal bias, but who knows? All I know is that I'm torn between Marth and Robin, my babies look so good.

Oh. :P Then I guess I'm on the opposite side of that here. I never liked Xander's design and I always liked Frederick's.

[Anacybele]

8 hours ago, Sentinel07 said:

Hopefully we get some character trailers over time like what they did with Hyrule Warriors.

Yeah, I think another reason I'm feeling a little impatient is that this trailer feels incomplete without gameplay footage of the characters. And that's why I'm so eager to see some for Frederick (other than my favoritism for him, that is).

I also need to hear some "Pick a god and pray!" man...

Edited July 8, 2017 by Anacybele

[Arthur97]

So is there any footage of this? I want to see Lucina for myself. I'm afraid people may write her off due to Sword bias.

[YotsuMaboroshi]

2 hours ago, Arthur97 said:

It's because they made even his sword magic. Had they gone with a different sword, then it would have been an even split (and they don't even use the Levin Sword correctly). His only physical sword is also the lowest tier standard sword there is, but at least i makes some sense from a durability standpoint. I mean, even their boxing ring tag is "Tactician Magician."

I won't deny they like to push magic, but to make him entirely magic is a disservice. 

I disagree that it's a disservice, because there's no actual characterization for physical use.  It's like claiming Xander's depiction is a disservice because he doesn't use a lance in addition to Seigfried, or Leo with just Brynnhildr would be a disservice because of lack of sword use.  It's the weapon they're most associated with, so their main set is going to use it.

Setting that aside, devs have said weapon switching is in, so it make sense for the tome moveset to entirely use magic.  We don't actually know if Robin can equip swords yet (I think).  Corrin partially transforming doesn't mean Robin should have used physical swords in his magic set, as Corrin partially transforms for Dragon Fang procs while using a sword in Fates.

Edited July 8, 2017 by YotsuMaboroshi

[Arthur97]

12 minutes ago, YotsuMaboroshi said:

I disagree that it's a disservice, because there's no actual characterization for physical use.  It's like claiming Xander's depiction is a disservice because he doesn't use a lance in addition to Seigfried, or Leo with just Brynnhildr would be a disservice because of lack of sword use.  It's the weapon they're most associated with, so their main set is going to use it.

Setting that aside, devs have said weapon switching is in, so it make sense for the tome moveset to entirely use magic.  We don't actually know if Robin can equip swords yet (I think).  Corrin partially transforming doesn't mean Robin should have used physical swords in his magic set, as Corrin partially transforms for Dragon Fang procs while using a sword in Fates.

But Robin is more than a mage. His class is known for both swords and magic as Lissa points out after the prologue. Ideally, he should use both.