About delayed support conversations...

[CriticalMiss]

Did anyone else really enjoy that many of the supports could only be seen after progressing to a certain point in the game? I thought it really helped to make characters relevant and interesting throughout the game. In other FEs, I would frequently pair units off or reach units' support limit early on, and then those units wouldn't have any more development for the rest of the game. With the delayed supports, the relationships between characters developed throughout the whole game, which made the progression more interesting and natural to me. I also really liked how delaying the supports allowed characters to comment on and grow from what was happening in the main story. Combined with the base conversations, the delayed supports allowed side characters to connect with the main story much more than in previous games. Overall, I really enjoyed this system and hope that it returns in future games. What do you all think?

[property of nuvelle]

It allows them the conversations flow with the game instead of silly irrelevant situations. They were nice.

[Dandy Druid]

It's nicer this way because IMO, it's more telling of their personality. How characters progress alongside the story and how they react to the environment around build more depth than a support that can be triggered at any time. They will always grow as the story progresses and won't "revert" if a new character starts dialogue with them.

[bethany81707]

Path of Radiance did something similar, but Shadows of Valentia did it better, I feel. Mostly because supports can me made faster.

[CriticalMiss]

11 hours ago, phineas81707 said:

Path of Radiance did something similar, but Shadows of Valentia did it better, I feel. Mostly because supports can me made faster.

I haven't played Path of Radiance yet. How did it work in that game?

 

On a side note, does anyone have an official and/or better name for these supports? I wasn't sure what to call them when making this thread.

Edited July 26, 2017 by CriticalMiss

[Shadow Mir]

6 minutes ago, CriticalMiss said:

I haven't played Path of Radiance yet. How did it work in that game?

In Path of Radiance, supports were built up by deploying the two that were to support on the same map. And some conversations changed if you waited long enough to trigger them.

Edited July 26, 2017 by Levant Mir Celestia

[bethany81707]

1 hour ago, CriticalMiss said:

On a side note, does anyone have an official and/or better name for these supports? I wasn't sure what to call them when making this thread.

Story based supports or progression based supports. Don't think there is or ever will be an official name for them unless it becomes a lot more common/commonly discussed- and I have my doubts that it's compatible with marriage, let alone children (Kaze and Midori, for example).

[CriticalMiss]

17 hours ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

In Path of Radiance, supports were built up by deploying the two that were to support on the same map. And some conversations changed if you waited long enough to trigger them.

That sounds like a cool idea. Thanks for the information.

15 hours ago, phineas81707 said:

Story based supports or progression based supports. Don't think there is or ever will be an official name for them unless it becomes a lot more common/commonly discussed- and I have my doubts that it's compatible with marriage, let alone children (Kaze and Midori, for example).

I like both of those names better. You're probably right about it being incompatible with children. It would result in all of the children becoming available very late in the game and there wouldn't be enough time for the children to gain supports themselves. Maybe it could be included for some non-romantic supports though.

[geozeldadude]

good points. i agree that with everyone that it's good that making the supports flow with the story more is a good thing.