CYL 2 FEH Channel Announced - Aug 20, 8:30 PM

[Ice Dragon]

2 hours ago, Zangetsu said:

That was the only connection I could make. I mean there's also Farina, but who pair them together? I mean do

 I don't get the Lyn joke.

The joke is that this Hector got together with Farina because she costs money to recruit and you may as well make the most of that price tag (ignoring the sunk cost fallacy).

 

2 hours ago, Lord-Zero said:

Hmm...with Canas out of the competition and both Raigh and Sophia screwed over by launch-tier stats, yes, Nino’s popularity will be enough to get her that tome unless they feel like bringing Niime. 

Sophia doesn't care about her Gen 1 stats because she's min-maxed to hell and back.

[Mau]

Hm all in all I'm kinda disappointed, these heroes just don't feel really....unique?

Veronica: After we just got Maribelle as a really good staff cav, it seems boring for the brave hero to be another one. Don't really care for her art either. Already got Maribelle and Priscilla to fill this role so this is a no for me.

Ephraim: Well his art looks really nice, this could've almost been a possible pick for me if he wasn't an armored axe, since I'm already drowning in green armors. Hell, I made two armor teams just so I could use them all ^^;

Celica: Omgosh her art is beautiful I want her oh she's another infantry sword, nevermind. This is the one I'm most miffed at, I was so hoping she'd be on a horse since she'd be the first female sword cav and at least that would've been something unique but nope, on the huge pile of infantry swords she goes. Her attack art is also pretty meh sadly. Really hope Death Blow 4 isn't inheritable, not only do I not want to deal with that on other units, it would also mean I would forever have to pull for her just for that skill and pls no

Hector: The only one I actually appreciate, simply cause an armored spear I actually like is still something I needed. Though it's kinda boring that he's again an armored unit. I dig his art though, his art just keeps getting better and better. Think I'll go for him and maybe ditch my Legendary Hector for DC, cause having multiple Hectors on one team is just awkward to me.

I would've preferred it if any of these except Veronica were on a horse, my cav team is still kinda lacking. And would've preferred it if Celica was anything but Infantry, really disappointed by her the most.

Edited August 21, 2018 by Mau

[Ice Dragon]

4 minutes ago, Mau said:

Really hope Death Blow 4 isn't inheritable,

It is inheritable.

[Punished Dayni]

Alright, didn't get spoiled before watching.

Spoiler

FEH'S GONE BERSERK

Just talking about last year, but here we go. Arrival of the Brave?

Veronica first. Looks like a staff user. She's mounted (like Bruno (KNEW IT)), has a staff with Dazzling and Rogue effects (Neat.) and Windfire Balm is frankly ridiculous. She seems to have Recover.

Ephraim has GARM. Looks like an armour too (After Fado (DAMMIT)). Garm gives guaranteed followups if he was affected by rallies and/or AM, which he also has. Neat, not too plussed by him though.

Celica's based off her original art (PFFFFT) by Hidari (WHAT), has the Royal Sword (WHY DIDN'T SHE HAVE THE RIGHT TO WIELD IT IN SOV (ALSO DAMMIT ALL IS, NOT A THIRD RED ALT)), which by the way is nice with cooldown charge increases near allies and she also has DB4 (.............WHAT?). That's a lot of death indeed, when Swift Sparrow 3 IS?

Hector's based off Uther (Nice.) and has a lance ("Instead of his beloved Armads." ABOUT TIME FEH). It's Maltet (Well, that's right.) which has a similar effect to Vengeful Fighter (no cooldown charge reduction) and he has a Counter+ Skill in Ostian Counter.

It's also got Forging bonds. FEH also failed to fully censor this time. :P

We get a free CYL unit (Yes, she can get an Oho). She also acknowledged that Ephraim and Hector would trip people up.

So, no Marth or Loki. Oh well, it was a crazy theory.

As for datamine info, so we get these guys as a paralogue (DAMMIT) and Jamke's the GHB (with a map of Verdane the likely GC map. Almost like the next banner's Genealogy. Sorry BB fans). How bizzare, but I'll take it. As for stats and skills, Celica's spread is all offence, with her also having Galeforce Atk Tactic and Double Lion (Alm's Special is her B Skill.). Veronica is like Maribelle in that she's fast and unbulky in either defence, with Windfire balm looking inheritable (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA), Wrathful Staff 3 (unsurprisingly) and Close Guard (That skill Lecina has). Hector is Hector but with a lance is what I would say but his defence is what really shines here with a superboon to it and he also has Ignis, Bold Fighter and Even Res Wave (totally replacing with Ward Armour). Ephraim also gets the higher BST, has a spread similar to Hector but with less defence for more attack, has DA, Close Def and Special Fighter, which is like Guard if it had a baby with Vengeful Fighter but hated the idea of QR being involved.

So, in order of preference? Hector and Veronica will be my picks this time, Ephraim might be able to convince me but Celica..... I know it's cool and all but why not that weapon last time?

[Zangetsu]

1 hour ago, Tenzen12 said:

Because Rax Hasta is F7 weapon and Hector doesn't use Lance in FE7. That's why I was also calling Malted being his weapon since forever.

Yea, but they're using his FE 7 design so he shouldn't be using lances to begin with. Admittedly, I did forget that but I figure they would have Old Man Hector since he's a General in FE 6

 

I didn't know that Old Man Hector has a history using Maltet

1 hour ago, Tenzen12 said:

Florina doesn't have any relation to it either, as she doesn't appear in FE6.

I'm grasping straws on why Hector is using the weapon. Apparently, he has a history with it.

 

1 hour ago, NSSKG151 said:

You could still say the theme is people related to the characters. Hector and Veronica is based on their brothers, Ephraim is based on his father and Celica well...she is referencing Alm through Royal Sword instead of art design and they are related as well considering the ending of Gaiden/Echoes?

Damn, so much for Celica inheriting King Lima's depravity.

 

33 minutes ago, SuperTroll Maxim Lapierre said:

Unless they go way left field and bring in youthful Niime because Nino has no real sex appeal

Why would Nino need sex appeal to begin with?

 

21 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

The joke is that this Hector got together with Farina because she costs money to recruit and you may as well make the most of that price tag (ignoring the sunk cost fallacy).

I get it now. Thanks Ice

[Tenzen12]

2 hours ago, Zangetsu said:

Yea, but they're using his FE 7 design so he shouldn't be using lances to begin with. Admittedly, I did forget that but I figure they would have Old Man Hector since he's a General in FE 6

 

I didn't know that Old Man Hector has a history using Maltet

I'm grasping straws on why Hector is using the weapon. Apparently, he has a history with it.

1)I don't asume Hector would wear Uthers armor before his death. And he obviously started using Lances after event of FE7 as well.

2) Maltet is legendary, Hector is Legendary. Hector can use Lance. Hector and Maltet are in same game. Ergo He might be able use Maltet.  And on same note had never had option of using Rax Hasta. There is no problem if young Hector and old man Hector overlap either e because you know, they already do. Do you remember Love abound?

And well he does use Maltet in FEH, so IS apparently I an IS are on same wave, as far as CYL Hector is concerned at least.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2018 by Tenzen12

[Lau]

Nothing for Marth...I'm not mad, I'm just...disheartened?

Anyways. Celica was my free pick. I love her art, but...the Royal Sword? Double Lion? ...Poor Alm. Death Blow 4 is disgusting, hahah.

Veronica...is a healer. No thanks, Maria and Elise do their jobs just fine. I'm not too keen on her art, but I think it's just the angle that makes it look off.

Ephraim...is an armour. We just need flier Ephraim now, hahah. Green does not look good on him, at all. I don't like how Wada drew his hair, it just looks too...poofy?

Hector is another armour. Yay... Like Ephraim, Hector doesn't suit green. Also, Distant Counter power creep. ...Yayy...

 

Overall, pretty lacklustre compared to last years.

[Zangetsu]

47 minutes ago, Tenzen12 said:

1)I don't asume Hector would wear Uthers armor before his death. And he obviously started using Lances after event of FE7 as well.

2) Maltet is legendary, Hector is Legendary. Hector can use Lance. Hector and Maltet are in same game. Ergo He might be able use Maltet.  And on same note had never had option of using Rax Hasta. There is no problem if young Hector and old man Hector overlap either e because you know, they already do. Do you remember Love abound?

And well he does use Maltet in FEH, so IS apparently I an IS are on same wave, as far as CYL Hector is concerned at least.

1. It's not like it was ever hard to imagine Hector could use a lance. I'm pretty sure is because it was to make Eliwood stand out more.

 

2. FEH is already implying the heroes are from alternate timelines to begin with, so I'm fine the majority of their creative liberties. But in this case, I find it to be odd.

Granted, I thought if anyone should wield Maltet it should've been Eliwood. Not that I would have a problem with Eliwood using a silver lance, but others probably will.

 

12 minutes ago, Lau said:

Overall, pretty lacklustre compared to last years.

So it wasn't just me that felt it was underwhelming. I know they didn't have a live action tv spot, but I can't put my fingers on why this CYL felt so lackluster compare to last year.

[bottlegnomes]

8 hours ago, NegativeExponents- said:

Assuming she has the atk stat to reliably use heavy blade, she can probably just run Aether to heal that way. That seems like a more reliable heal than just waiting on renewal to activate every other turn.

My concern with that is that, from my experience at least, it's harder to time aether than just running for a turn to wait for renewal. That, and if he so desired, Alm could rely on both, plus renewal 2 to stagger the healing, thanks to 55 neutral DB3 attack.

That said, she doesn't necessarily need HB due to her sword, so I'd been thinking something like QP aether. First turn, kill the crap out of someone with the brave effect and fully charge aether. Second turn aether someone to death and heal back up. Third turn, brave someone to death. Fourth, you're out of sync, but by then the map is over.

 

6 hours ago, Vaximillian said:

Older Nino, older Delthea, and older Sanaki banner. PLEASE INTSYS MAKE IT HAPPEN

Holy shit yes!

Anyway, probably going Hector since I need a DC blue armor and he's basically prebuilt, but I feel like regarding exclusive skills Ephraim got the best of the lot. DC+ is nice, and Maltet is nice, but the Garm double requirements are rather easy and with that it doesn't even matter that his personal skill (AKA guard + empty breath) takes his B slot. I'm honestly planning on swapping Maltet for Berkut's Lance since that seems like it'd benefit him more than anything the QR slot would take the place of, and it seems like he should be able to kill fine with Bonfire instead of Ignis. I do still think it's funny how they still haven't topped BA for Hector's weapons.

Edited August 21, 2018 by bottlegnomes

[Lau]

1 hour ago, Zangetsu said:

So it wasn't just me that felt it was underwhelming. I know they didn't have a live action tv spot, but I can't put my fingers on why this CYL felt so lackluster compare to last year.

There's probably a lot of reasons.

1) We've had a lot of non-seasonal alts, so they've kinda lost their uniqueness. I personally love alts, but I know a lot of people hate them.

2) The characters aren't really the cream of the crop in terms of popularity. For example, Veronica only came second due to the mid-term results being revealed and showing that Camilla could win, so it was a mad dash to prevent that. Also, she's an OC that isn't playable.

3) Split votes put a damper on a lot of people, myself included.

4) Powercreep. People either love it, or hate it.

 

I'm not complaining, I really love Celica's art, but...last year was just better.

[Fabulously Olivier]

Equal parts happy and disappointed with this banner.

Hector - Possibly his best art yet, alongside an overpowered kit. I would have preferred to see a variation in his movement type over a variation in weapon type. Armored lance Hector is great and all, but a great knight or wyvern lord would have been much more interesting to me, even if they came with Armads. Also, the power creep is quite frankly absurd. Stop. Powercreeping. Armor. FFS. 

Ephraim - great art, great kit. Again, I dislike armor comps and hate how they keep powercreeping them at the expense of every other type of team. 

Veronica - absolutely love her new art and kit. Very pleasantly surprised. Though could she kindly set a precedent for healers to get prf staves and better specials?

 

(Celica - I do not care. I personally think she is the most overrated character in the entire franchise from the most boring games in the entire franchise. I do not like her, and this uninteresting kit with uninteresting art isn't going to change that.)

Edited August 21, 2018 by Etheus

[Tenzen12]

Hey! While Celia certainly dragged Echoes down a lot. It's still less boring then SS. 

[Icelerate]

Currently I only have to 5 star armours, Winter Tharja and Zelgius. I would love to get Ephraim and Hector to complete my armour emblem team. 

[Ice Dragon]

11 hours ago, Zangetsu said:

So it wasn't just me that felt it was underwhelming. I know they didn't have a live action tv spot, but I can't put my fingers on why this CYL felt so lackluster compare to last year.

9 hours ago, Lau said:

There's probably a lot of reasons.

1) We've had a lot of non-seasonal alts, so they've kinda lost their uniqueness. I personally love alts, but I know a lot of people hate them.

2) The characters aren't really the cream of the crop in terms of popularity. For example, Veronica only came second due to the mid-term results being revealed and showing that Camilla could win, so it was a mad dash to prevent that. Also, she's an OC that isn't playable.

3) Split votes put a damper on a lot of people, myself included.

4) Powercreep. People either love it, or hate it.

 

I'm not complaining, I really love Celica's art, but...last year was just better.

I don't think any of those are the real reason.

Last year, the game was only half a year old. It's been a full year since then, and we've had a full year's worth of content to fill in many of the gaps in this game, meaning there are fewer innovations that can be added that feel "special".

 

Last year prior to Brave Heroes, Special skill activation manipulation was still in its infancy. Heavy Blade and Guard were only recently introduced and competed with far stronger options in their skill slots with Heavy Blade denying a unit access to skills like Death Blow, Life and Death, and Fury and Guard denying a unit access to Quick Riposte.

Last year, Brave Ike came with Steady Breath, which provided an option to manipulate Special skill activation that only competed with Distant Counter due to being a powerful enemy-phase-oriented skill. Last year, Brave Roy came with Blazing Durandal, which put Heavy Blade on a skill slot where it would not compete with stronger staples like the aforementioned skills.

Last year, Brave Ike had Urvan, a weapon with all three Deflect skills built in before any of them were available as standalone skills. Last year, Brave Lyn was the game's first bow cavalry unit in a game without the diversity of movement type and weapon combinations we have today. Last year, Urvan, Mulagir, Blazing Durandal, and Geirskogel were the first weapons introduced in the game with two third-tier skill effects (excluding effective damage).

Since then, the game has added Warding Breath, the Heavy Blade Sacred Seal, the Flashing Blade Sacred Seal, two weapons with built-in Flashing Blade, Bold Fighter, Vengeful Fighter, Wrath, characters that can actually make use of Shield Pulse (Fjorm and Raven), and the Quick Riposte Sacred Seal that allows Guard to be used without sacrificing Quick Riposte.

Since then, the game has added 16 new movement type and weapon combinations, filling up 12 of 21 of the empty combinations that existed at the time (the remaining 9 openings are 3 cavalry breath, 2 armor breath, blue flying breath, armor colorless dagger, armor staff, and flying staff), bringing the total combinations up from 27 (out of 48 possibilities) to 43 (out of 76 possibilities).

 

One year ago, with the game only half a year old, the game had a lot of untapped space to play around with and do new and novel things. That untapped space also included the addition of Ike and Lyn as the precursors to Gen 2 units and the four new weapons as the first set of Gen 2 weapons.

With so much new content in the past year, there's less space to grow into, and a new Gen 3 for units and weapons is a far more risky prospect than the start of Gen 2.

Hence, the things they did were more novel and felt more special.

[xchan]

3 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

With so much new content in the past year, there's less space to grow into, and a new Gen 3 for units and weapons is a far more risky prospect than the start of Gen 2.

Hence, the things they did were more novel and felt more special.

It doesn't help that the units from this CYL2 are variations of the current top units. Lance Hector is a slightly different Hardin, Axe Ephraim is a slighly different Hector, Celica is a slightly different Ayra/Karla/Mia, and Veronica is an Elise/Maribelle with a prf weapon.

They didn't have to make anything special like a new combination of weapon+movement type for me to feel more exciting, just something that would have a niche of their own, not one already found on top tier units.

[Fabulously Olivier]

3 hours ago, Tenzen12 said:

Hey! While Celia certainly dragged Echoes down a lot. It's still less boring then SS. 

I disagree completely. Yes, Sacred Stones was too easy, but it at least had some semblance of map design, which is more than can be said of Echoes. Also, while both games have excellent character rosters, SS has quite possibly my favorite overall roster.

[Interdimensional Observer]

18 hours ago, Zangetsu said:

Beta? Does that have to do with his promotion, because that's why I suggest it to begin with.

"Beta" in gaming means a version of the game before the final product. Typically the player never sees this in the final copy, although some fighting and MMO games nowadays seem to have "open betas" that let players play. Bits of the beta stuff sometimes reside in the final products though. I find it fascinating generally, signs of what a game could have been, but didn't become, roads not taken.

In Blazing Sword's data you find these scrapped classes:

Spoiler

The “Lycian Knight” appears to be the predecessor of Eliwood’s Lord class; it is a mounted class that wields both swords and lances (with a higher proficiency in lances) and promotes into a Paladin. The “Lycian Swordfighter” is almost identical to Lyn’s Lord class, but promotes to Swordmaster instead. Hector’s “Lycian Armorknight” class promotes to General and can wield both swords and axes. All three classes share the map and battle animations of the Lord classes and, in the English version, they have the same names as the corresponding promoted Lord classes (eg. Lycian Knight is named Knight Lord).

The highlighted part is what I meant.

I don't think this means Eliwood was destined originally for Maltet though, since there is no remnant of it at all in the data. And a Blazing Sword prototype from two months prior to release has Eliwood using Durandal, albeit with a different animation. And Lyn is using it too.

 

Besides the Lycian Knight class, I'd like Eliwood with Maltet for other reasons.

• As you said, Knight Lord can use Lances.
• Furthermore, while Roland was likely infantry, Baligan, the user of Maltet, was likely a Paladin.
• Speaking of Paladins, Trial Map Old Eliwood in FE6 has S Lances, but only A Swords and C Axes. (FE6 Hector had only A Axes and A Lances.)
• Lastly, I don't mean to insult Eliwood or anything, but Ilia seems "mild" (outside of the weather), like him, as weird as that sounds.

 

17 hours ago, Vaximillian said:

Older Nino, older Delthea, and older Sanaki banner. PLEASE INTSYS MAKE IT HAPPEN

I will gladly second Young Mother Nino and older Sanaki. Whether they give Sanaki a new older self based on the person she grows into after RD, or that scrapped sultry adult Sanaki from PoR (which even has an unused map sprite I once saw), I don't care. 

Spoiler

It exists IS, why not try using it?

 

9 minutes ago, Etheus said:

I disagree completely. Yes, Sacred Stones was too easy, but it at least had some semblance of map design, which is more than can be said of Echoes. Also, while both games have excellent character rosters, SS has quite possibly my favorite overall roster.

SoV had some semblances too, just thiner, cruder semblances, but I could see maps where I thought "if only they had expanded on this idea more". I would say SS had some good maps, the best desert chapter ever (if only the bosses eventually moved on Hard with an entourage), Ephraim's route on the whole isn't bad, outside of a little too much backstabbyness on the Phantom Ship. Eirika's is worse, but nothing really atrocious.

SS's roster to me, I don't know what exactly to think of it. For some reason Moulder likes to come to the surface of my thoughts for me, and so does Vanessa, two very plain characters. L'Arachel provides some pop! (even if I've gotten over it), others have some color, and there characters I do quite like, but on the whole it leans towards a little too vanilla for me.

[Ice Dragon]

30 minutes ago, xchan said:

It doesn't help that the units from this CYL2 are variations of the current top units. Lance Hector is a slightly different Hardin, Axe Ephraim is a slighly different Hector, Celica is a slightly different Ayra/Karla/Mia, and Veronica is an Elise/Maribelle with a prf weapon.

You're severely oversimplifying things there if all it takes to be "a slightly different Hardin" is to have a lance, Distant Counter, and Bold Fighter by default. Can you back up all of your comparisons?

Hardin's niche as a lance armor is the fact that he has viable mixed bulk, whereas Hector focuses on his offenses and physical bulk. Maltet's Slaying effect also allows Hector to run a Special skill with a higher cooldown than Hardin can.

Ephraim is very different from every unit currently existing due to how Garm and Special Fighter work together, allowing him to have a powerful player phase and enemy phase without sacrificing either one.

Celica is almost identical to Mia in terms of her stat distribution and can run all of Mia's builds, but can also be played completely differently due to her access to Royal Sword and Double Lion, allowing her to run a far more aggressive initial player phase.

Veronica's unique weapon is Peshkatz with a built-in Dazzling Staff refine. That's a very, very different niche than Elise and Maribelle. Veronica is literally the best dagger unit in the game right now that can also double as a staff unit if she ever needs to. Elise and Maribelle are not dagger units.

[Tenzen12]

2 hours ago, Etheus said:

I disagree completely. Yes, Sacred Stones was too easy, but it at least had some semblance of map design, which is more than can be said of Echoes. Also, while both games have excellent character rosters, SS has quite possibly my favorite overall roster.

There are exactly 3 memorable characters in SS. Eirika/Ephraim, they might not have lot of personality but In exchange they have lot of screen time and then there is Marisa who may not have lot of personality either but is kinda hot. 

As for maps design doesn't matter if it can be instantly blitzed. Not enough time admire anything. 

Edited August 22, 2018 by Tenzen12

[Vaximillian]

14 hours ago, Etheus said:

(Celica - I do not care. I personally think she is the most overrated character in the entire franchise from the most boring games in the entire franchise.)

Ike fan calling Celica overrated. It’s either stupidly ironic, ironically stupid, or both.

[Sunwoo]

Come now, Ike and Celica can both be overrated. This isn't some mutually exclusive thing.

That said, I question why they based Celica's CYL design on her Gaiden self. I'm sure Gaiden!Celica has her fans, but let's be serious -- she got the majority of her votes due to SoV, not Gaiden.

[mcsilas]

2 minutes ago, Sunwoo said:

Come now, Ike and Celica can both be overrated. This isn't some mutually exclusive thing.

That said, I question why they based Celica's CYL design on her Gaiden self. I'm sure Gaiden!Celica has her fans, but let's be serious -- she got the majority of her votes due to SoV, not Gaiden.

I think they just want to save her overclass design for a Legendary Celica. Same for when Legendary Alm becomes a thing.

 

[Sunwoo]

3 minutes ago, mcsilas said:

I think they just want to save her overclass design for a Legendary Celica. Same for when Legendary Alm becomes a thing.

I suppose so, but it still feels like a questionable decision nonetheless. Let's not bring up the fact that all Celicas are also red.

EDIT @Ice Dragon: I mean, if they just changed his clothes and not so much his modern facial features you might not get too much question. But if they changed his design super drastically, they might.

Edited August 22, 2018 by Sunwoo

[Ice Dragon]

4 minutes ago, Sunwoo said:

That said, I question why they based Celica's CYL design on her Gaiden self. I'm sure Gaiden!Celica has her fans, but let's be serious -- she got the majority of her votes due to SoV, not Gaiden.

And yet if we got a Brave Marth based off of his pantsless FE1 self, I don't think anyone would question it.

[Fabulously Olivier]

57 minutes ago, Vaximillian said:

Ike fan calling Celica overrated. It’s either stupidly ironic, ironically stupid, or both.

I like Ike. I am not an "Ike fan." He's not even my favorite lord (that is probably Sigurd or Chrom at this point), but I will gladly own up to liking the Tellius games much more than Valentia. But since we're calling people out on their favorite games now, your favorite Fire Emblem is a mobile title (which is still better than Echoes). Frankly, calling anyone out on their tastes is a farce, given that.

 

As for your complete joke of a point, it is neither ironic nor stupid. Celica is an idiot. Every flaw that Eirika holds also exists in Celica, right down to foolhardy naivety which directly causes the end plot to happen. At least Eirika had the excuse of childhood friendship with the villain in question - meaning that Celica is actually significantly less intelligent than Eirika. What exactly does she offer in terms of character traits to make up for this baffling character flaw that isn't also possessed by every other lord?

 

1 hour ago, Tenzen12 said:

There are exactly 3 memorable characters in SS. Eirika/Ephraim, they might not have lot of personality but In exchange they have lot of screen time and then there is Marisa who may not have lot of personality either but is kinda hot. 

As for maps design doesn't matter if it can be instantly blitzed. Not enough time admire anything. 

Lyon - one of, if not the best villains in the franchise

Cormag - one of the most memorable wyvern riders in the franchise, alongside Jill (for good reasons) and Camilla (for two reasons)

Lute - clearly memorable enough to be a runner up in CYL1, despite being a minor character, and for good reason

L'Arachel

Dozla

Kyle and Forde - the social knights with the most personality and the best contrast & friendship of any social knight set in the franchise

Joshua

Orson - a simultaneously sympathetic and monstrous villain with a disturbingly memorable plot twist

Myrrh - one of the most developed Manaketes with an above average investment in the plot for her archetype

Valter - one of the most recognizable villains in the franchise within the FE fandom

 

(And Tana - the thickest pegasus knight. Coughs). 

 

That's a lot more than 3 characters. And frankly, that's just what I would consider to be memorable. If I'm just going by characters that I consider to be good, that would involve MOST of the Sacred Stones cast.

 

Innes is my favorite archer in the franchise - because he's everything good about Shinon with more class and without racism. Gilliam is one of my favorite knights (because quite frankly generals are the least characterized class in Fire Emblem, and he's one of the better ones). Gerik is one of my favorite mercenaries because of his backstory and dynamic with Tethys. 

 

Also, the ability to speed through or grind through a map doesn't make said map not exist. For someone playing the game normally, Sacred Stones is a relatively entertaining game. Frankly, I barely forced myself to finish Echoes, and will never play it again. My best friend (a hardcore fan since Blazing Sword) still hasn't been able to finish Echoes because it is such a lifeless game from a gameplay standpoint. 

Edited August 22, 2018 by Etheus