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Uncovered more tidbits from the E3 trailer


Cysx
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... because new old information is better than what we've gotten recently, aka nothing. If any of this is common knowledge already, do tell me, and I'll turn my profile pic the other way to symbolize my everlasting shame. Also quick disclaimer... long three parts post ahead. It's mainly images, though.

 

TIDBITS 1: This looks familiar

 

RilOCBv.png  UWh2YPM.png

This is the first environment we see in gameplay. Shot 1, the player is about to select Edelgard, shot 2, it zoomed in and Edelgard is about to attack Mercedes.

On the first shot, notice the fork in the road in the top left. On the second shot, the fact that it keeps going to the right at both top corners of the screen.
Also note the specific 7 trees formation visible on both(top of shot 1, left of shot 2), and the darker path, above Edelgard on shot 1, and under her on shot 2.

zk2NYdz.png

Now here's a shot of another environment we see slightly later, which I'll turn around 90° and touch up a bit

h5GIHwm.png 

... fork in the road, path that goes to the right, specific seven trees  formation, and the darker path(which isn't too visible here, so here's a bigger version : https://i.imgur.com/OBEOpHb.jpg

So yeah, it's looking like the same place. To further prove it, here's one combat shot from each, of Edelgard attacking Mercedes, and Byleth attacking Hilda; both are fighting an enemy further down in the direction of the path, and the camera is showing what's behind them.

UWh2YPM.png -> 14Ie92d.png

LLppxZk.png -> 6XZ66w1.png

The angle is slightly different, but you can clearly see a really specific rock formation on the left(which I'd guess is also where that fork in the road leads to). I think this is pretty definitive proof so I'll leave it at that for the sake of brevity, but there are more details if you're not convinced, such as boulders, the moving camera as Mercedes counterattacks Edelgard, etc.

Just to commentate on this real quick, at first I wondered if it only meant that this was the same chapter and we'd get a camera rotation feature. But, that doesn't seem too likely. Look at the minimap on that Byleth screenshot, and you should spot a reversed L-shape made of six grey squares, with a red sword unit at the tip. Considering the seven trees formation is also visible on the map, and we can see in the distance that those grey squares are in fact rocks, those are the same ones Mercedes' squad is standing close to... But those characters are not here.

So, this specific place is likely being reused in two distinct chapters, which, when you think about it, is not that common in Fire Emblem. Maybe a sign of things to come, maybe not.

 

Tidbits 2: Okay, but where's the castle?

 

For anyone wondering if the castle we see Byleth free roaming through in the trailer is nearby, and where, I have a relatively conclusive answer... it's at the end of the road I mentioned earlier, and I can tell because of landmarks(as well as the general topography of the place) that are visible both on the shot of the castle in the distance, and the one right before Byleth attacks Hilda. That being said, they're pretty small and partially covered by trees, so I'll try to convey them as best I can with color coding and bigger screencaps(sorry).

So first, the basic images:

ibMiQ2t.png

hczmC4O.png

... and now the color coded stuff

bnfVxo5.png

9wQ4Irh.png

 

Now assuming you're not busy thinking I'm stretching, you might have noticed the small orange circle. This is the house. What house? Why, this one of course:

 

3JX2NZi.png

(went with a big image here too so that you could spot the path going up the mountain behind it, reinforcing the idea that there is something up there).

So yeah, a house with blue walls(and potentially the objective of the map). On the image above, what I circled is a dark blue part that stands out behind the trees, though it might not be too easy to see without zooming in. Pretty strong chance they're one and the same.

And this is all I have. So clearly it's not 100%, but I feel it's pretty decent proof, and in this case too there are more smaller details here and there, on top of, again, being a bit more obvious in motion than with still images.

Now about the castle itself.
I tried really hard to map the thing out with the various shots we got throughout the trailer, but... I failed, basically. I've concluded that the faraway shot displayed above features a low quality model that's not exactly going for incredible visual fidelity; and overall, we just got too little for something that appears to be decently big.
I still have two little somethings, though.

P2Qfvyj.png

lqzDgYX.png

Shot two especially is much easier to see in motion plus the music at this point of trailer is glorious so you have no excuse. But anyway yes, apparently what we can probably call the entrance of the castle leads directly into that building.
And for thing two... see that silhouette in the lower left of that last image, near the throne of sorts?

taA8BH9.png356KATX.png

... now I will admit that this one is a bit of a stretch, but enemy-induced shade of red aside, there's definitely a resemblance. And assuming I'm correct, this could strengthen the theory that the battles we've covered so far are just training between students, because what would an enemy be doing peacefully hanging out right under your nose? Of course, there are other possible explanations, though. Anyway that's it for tidbits 2. One more to go.

 

Tidbits the third: Mapping that foggy chapter we see a few battles in

 

So out of the 5 gameplay environments showcased in the E3 trailer, only two really gave us anything to work with: the one I've covered above, and a cloudy riverside area we see three combat clips in. Well these can all be located relative to one another, getting us a decent part of the map through the process.

So let's start with the third and last clip because it gives us a nice, convenient angle; you can see the enemy leader's feet right under the mage's dress. As for the map(s), in blue are the allied units, in red the enemy they're targeting, and the grey lines are the limit of our sight. The rest is scenery; azure for the river, green for trees, etc. What's out of sight I left blank because... well we don't see it, simple as that.

HyVFbTY.png  ULSycXZ.png

This river is nice and all, but it's completely out for the remainder of the clips, so maps will be flipped vertically from here on, and the river will be to the south instead of north. Oh and by the way, nobody carries a tome in the above shot. Does that mean anything? Who knows.

The mage then throws a fireball and we get the enemy's viewpoint.

4ucCWC1.png  vAzBM5X.png

For a larger version: https://i.imgur.com/DNk1D9z.jpg

Most of the interesting stuff is to the left. There's a boulder there, with a mountain in the background(both in brown on the map), and even further away, barely visible here, a castle can be spotted(black tiles). I'll detail why the castle in particular is important afterwards, for now what matters is that they're here.

  N9DM8re.png  IvplwWg.png

Okay, so now we go to Dimitri... but wait, that looks familiar doesn't it? Same boulder with a mountain behind, same trees to the right, same castle in the background. Indeed, it's roughly the same place, I've estimated thanks to specific trees visible on both that this is merely one space away. In fact, since this is close range combat and we're getting a view of the enemy space, I'd say Dimitri and the mage attacked from the same tile.
You may have spotted a problem with the map though. Dimitri attacks from 2 range here for the angle to work, that shouldn't be possible when he's fighting with an iron lance.
I chose to assume things were the other way around, and the mage is the one attacking diagonally, since of the two only she should be capable of doing that.

So let's flip the map 45° degrees. Last time, I promise. Also, we can see that the mountain keeps extending to the right, so I put that in.

70AYDlZ.png

And finally, the last clip, starring Claude:

ljiGLN3.png  v5SinaR.png

Now I believe the mountain to the right of Claude's shot to be the same as the one in the other two. Unfortunately even by zooming in, trees partially block the way and this cannot be established with 100% certainty. They share the slanted shape however, and match geographically in the end, so I rolled with it.
Regardless, the big thing is the castle in the back.

Oh, and I didn't show it on the map because this thing is speculation heavy enough as it is, but judging from everything else, Claude seems to be attacking from 3 range here, with an iron bow. Anyway.

From Claude's clip, in the top right:
G77zQVU.png

Now from Dimitri's, in the top left:                                                             From the mage's, same                                                    
q9U17mZ.png  7uPk8oX.png 

And the two fused:

Q1f5Mwp.png

Seems specific enough that it's no coincidence.
So, taking into account that the castles in the back of previous maps are seemingly one and the same, the complete thing looks like this:

CItzGYE.png

... give or take a bunch of spaces here and there at least, and it could be flipped 90°, 180°, or 270°, too. But I think I got relatively close(barring the 50% or so we don't get to see:p).

 

Ok that's the bulk of it, thanks for reading this, hopefully it was worth your time. Here's one last thing I spotted after a while that I think bears mentioning, from Claude's clip:

ZuWC2Jr.png

... some sort of rune on the ground. Not sure what it could be, since things like healing tiles and such tend to only appear on the map, not in actual battle. I guess it's a new game though so who knows?

Anyway, that's it, now to continue waiting for more info from Nintendo... sooner than later hopefully. Y'all have a good one.

Edited by Cysx
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That's some seriously impressive detective work!

I'd say your theories are very sound. The "mock battle between students" (and teachers, considering mustache guy?) did seem like the most likely theory regarding this battle, but you are certainly giving more credence to that.

I did assume all the clips were from one battle, but it was just an assumption really: I certainly hadn't even tried to start thinking how the full map looked like! I hadn't even noticed the castle in the background of some of the battle clips. 

Mustache guy being the same character from the "castle" clip does seem probable. It's very possible that this is the default "mage" costume, but even the hair looks identical between the two. Mustache-wielding men are far too rare as playable characters in Fire Emblem in general, but the fact we (probably) see him hanging around the castle makes him a bit more likely to be playable I'd say.

Thanks for the super in-depth analysis!

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9 hours ago, thecrimsonflash said:

actually, In shadows of valentia the supplies tiles did show up in battles and I would say that they would be no less awkward than the traditional healing tiles.

Ooooh you're right, I forgot. All right then, that's most likely what it is.

9 hours ago, Ayra said:

That's some seriously impressive detective work!

I'd say your theories are very sound. The "mock battle between students" (and teachers, considering mustache guy?) did seem like the most likely theory regarding this battle, but you are certainly giving more credence to that.

I did assume all the clips were from one battle, but it was just an assumption really: I certainly hadn't even tried to start thinking how the full map looked like! I hadn't even noticed the castle in the background of some of the battle clips. 

Mustache guy being the same character from the "castle" clip does seem probable. It's very possible that this is the default "mage" costume, but even the hair looks identical between the two. Mustache-wielding men are far too rare as playable characters in Fire Emblem in general, but the fact we (probably) see him hanging around the castle makes him a bit more likely to be playable I'd say.

Thanks for the super in-depth analysis!

Yeah, didn't really get into it, but my take on mustache man's case is pretty much the same as yours. And if we're correct, I look forward to him as an ally, I think there's a lot of potential there.

Beyond that, truth be told I've been sitting on some of this stuff for a while. I'm just so concerned nobody will care, just in general, and it gets seriously debilitating at times. Regardless, thanks for the kind words:)

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Really cool analysis. I think you're probably right and that all these battles are set around the castle, and that it's probably some sort of training/test with several students and teachers. Interestingly enough, Edelgard does mention a mock battle when talking with Byleth (see here), so that ties in pretty well too.

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If the green glow is really a healing tile fine, but i'm a little sad that the supplies tiles of Echoes are gone. They seemed like such a nice touch, those little guarded camps full of food bags and crates, just like using food items instead of potions for healing and stats. 

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Thanks so much for posting this! I was waiting for someone to do a really in-depth analysis.

Do you think the castle in the background is the school? I have a feeling all of the gameplay we saw is relatively early in the game.

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4 hours ago, Dandy Druid said:

Thanks so much for posting this! I was waiting for someone to do a really in-depth analysis.

Do you think the castle in the background is the school? I have a feeling all of the gameplay we saw is relatively early in the game.

I'd say so, yes. We do see quite a few spires during the free roaming part, which matches with the castle model in a general sense. I just don't think it's remotely accurate to how the real thing would actually look from afar, at the moment. Plus their editing would be really weird if that wasn't the same place, and if those really are mock battles, it'd make sense that they'd take place nearby the school.

I agree that most of it seems to take place pretty early on. The only exception would be the lava field, which is rarely an earlygame location in FE games, and maybe the underground laboratory ruins/castle ruins because we can't really tell. Outside of that, damage values/HP totals(Edelgard and Byleth aside) are low across the board, iron weapons are being used... nothing too definitive, but yeah.

 

Edited by Cysx
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6 hours ago, Cysx said:

I agree that most of it seems to take place pretty early on. The only exception would be the lava field, which is rarely an earlygame location in FE games, and maybe the underground laboratory ruins/castle ruins because we can't really tell. Outside of that, damage values/HP totals(Edelgard and Byleth aside) are low across the board, iron weapons are being used... nothing too definitive, but yeah.

2

I think the lava field is located under the castle/school. There's also some sort of combat robot (which Claude attacks) and a bunch of crystals all around, so it could be another part of the training prologue.

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2 hours ago, Sushi_Cat said:

I think the lava field is located under the castle/school. There's also some sort of combat robot (which Claude attacks) and a bunch of crystals all around, so it could be another part of the training prologue.

I don't know about the lava field, since you can see the dark sky above the rocks. The laboratory's completely possible though, plus it does look like a basement.

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1 hour ago, Cysx said:

I don't know about the lava field, since you can see the dark sky above the rocks. The laboratory's completely possible though, plus it does look like a basement.

For some weird reason, I had the idea that the shot of the lava was around the basement... I think I saw the trailer too many times. :rolleyes:

Yeah, you're absolutely right. They're two different places and the lava field is probably for another chapter further down the line.

 

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Great analysis. Never thought of that underground lab area being a part of the Castle/Academy/School, but it certainly is possible. Will be interesting to see just how long and important this apparent Military Academy is. How long will this school like setting last, is it just going to be an extended prologue or somewhere we'll be involved with throughout the entire game.

I'm nearly certain the forest battle is the mock battle that Edelgard mentions in the trailer and definitely warming up to the idea of the Lab being one too, maybe even some kind of final test. I do think that forest map is the same battle in all the shots. In the trailer Edelgard is still lvl 3 in all the scenes in that area and I very much expect we'll see a rotatable camera option this go around, which would explain the change in perspective. Character position could be due to any number of things from just positioning over the course of the battle, a second wave, to that footage being form a different attempt at the same battle.

As for the foggy scenes with Claude, Dimitri and the unnamed Mage as well as the Bridge and Lava areas I don't think any of those are Mock battles as they are all fighting generic Kingdom Soldiers, or similar, in all those cases, unlike the almost certain Mock battle in the woods where Byleth and Edelgard are fighting unique characters, other names/portraited teachers/students, only and then Claude fighting some automaton, which could be a training device, in the basement area.

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40 minutes ago, Enduin said:

I do think that forest map is the same battle in all the shots. In the trailer Edelgard is still lvl 3 in all the scenes in that area and I very much expect we'll see a rotatable camera option this go around, which would explain the change in perspective. Character position could be due to any number of things from just positioning over the course of the battle, a second wave, to that footage being form a different attempt at the same battle.

I don't know, I just have a hard time buying that for multiple smaller reasons, though it's certainly possible. Oh, and I didn't mean to imply a rotating camera was impossible, far from it.

Another possibility would be it being a relay chapter à la ch17 of PoR. That could make a lot of sense too.

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Nice analysis, getting a closer look at this game gives my hope a little bit of a boost but not much honestly. This game still really scares me, because I see a lot of ways it can be messed up.

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5 hours ago, Tuvy2 said:

Nice analysis, getting a closer look at this game gives my hope a little bit of a boost but not much honestly. This game still really scares me, because I see a lot of ways it can be messed up.

how can it messed up`im sure IS doing a lot of work to make a game that all of us can be satisfied. After i played all FE games they never dissapointed us. okay there were one or 2 games that make us not satisifed, but im sure they working hard to do a really good game

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