Our Bonds Give Us Strength - A Review and Retrospect on Fire Emblem: Awakening

[Commander]

So something that took about 2 years to do was finish my iron man of Fire Emblem Awakening which I set a no pair-ups restriction. Just imagine setting your Cordelia in the last tile of an ambush spawn Bow Knight. I did it, and I'm proud I did it...but oh no I'm never doing that again. It did actually give me quite a bit of insight of the game and rereading some of that dialogue really changed my view of it. Some things actually surprised me and now I can safely say that it's my third favorite FE game which is close to SoV but...I'm pretty sure Radiant Dawn will always be my favorite. This game also divided the community, but I really do think it deserves to be considered a Fire Emblem like the rest...unlike the beast of Fates which is a different story (I don't hate Fates btw). I do want to talk about different aspects of this old game:

 

The Maps

 

Fire Emblem Awakening's Map Design makes Radiant Dawn's structure look like a masterpiece and we know how all over the place that game is. I want to take pair-ups out of the equation since that actually ruins a lot of the game and many of its design ideas. The problem with that is you basically can send any S-ranked support in the middle of the field and they can destroy everyone due to a high guard chance and pretty much always dual strike. When they are adjacent, it's more like a 50% chance to dual strike and a 12% guard rate making things quite different. I'm starting to think the game was designed more with no pair-ups in mind. Your units are much, much squishier when they can't take on 20 units in a single turn and you have to make use of the maps more.

 

So the biggest flaw in Awakening is that every objective is either Rout or Defeat the boss. There's no defense maps nor any escape maps so there's never a time limit. It's actually kind of impressive how varied many of the story maps are despite this. I'm not a fan of the Gaiden paralogue chapters but that's a minor issue. So let's talk about a good map like Chapter 12 which is the port chapter. It's actually designed to be a defense chapter (and lo and behold you gain a new tanky unit) where you try and guard the three sides while you get hammered by the calvary storm. Another interesting chapter is Chapter 21 where you are meant to push forward or get slammed by Mire tomes. Another good one is Chapter 24 as while all enemies move at once, all the calv are slowed by the trees letting you have time to take down all the fliers.

 

I think my favorite chapter is now the one right before the endgame where you fight Aversa a second time. So the reinforcements are actually well planned out and you can avoid getting clobbered by all of them by pushing forward. I think so long as you make it to Aversa by turn 8 you are fine as reinforcements spawn from the bottom slowly upwards. This actually ties in with the story which you have to hurry up before Grima leaves. I have to say for having all the same objectives, many of these maps can be varied and have to be taken on differently. It's kind of impressive they make a time limit without a forced one similar to BExp with the Tellius games.

 

Now I need to talk about the Ambush reinforcements which happen on hard and higher. Honestly, most of these maps only work and are done pretty well due to these mechanics. Because ambush units are so awful you want to do what means necessary to stop them which often the game gives hints shortly before the storm arises. The maps that you can stop these storms or limit them by standing on forts and stairs are some of the better ones. The ones you can't are often the worst ones. You have incentives to stop them over additional free Exp since they more often then not are the reason your units are killed. So many of my deaths were due to those which some were out of my control.

 

And with the good comes with the bad maps...and the bad maps are really, really bad. The irony is that most of those maps are where you fight the big baddies such as Gangrel, Walhart, and Validar. So Validar's is one of my least favorite since you are in a smallish area with pretty much 0 coverage with 25 units charging at you all at the same time with reinforcements hopping in. You need your beasts and best units to sponge up damage as those who survive will overwhelm you while the next wave comes. And if you can't kill them, your other units become easy picking as they have free range to try and hit everybody. Walhart's first fight is pretty bad as well as you're in the smack dab middle with everything charging at you including, you guessed it, reinforcement spawns. The worst one has to be the bloody Milla tree. You are on an open map for flier while all your units are constricted in pretty linear paths while being hounded with ambush spawns from the north and south on top of enemies who run counter who you need to kill ASAP. Gangrel's isn't as bad since the ambush spawns are not right next to you and enemies attack in waves, but it's still an issue with moving forward since you can't cover all sides very easily.

 

All in all, I don't dislike the maps and actually am surprised it has more variety than many of the Fates gimmicks making how you handle maps change. Those open field maps just leave such a sour taste and I think the pair ups mechanic takes away from the pretty well designed maps which I definitely could say weren't lazy or shoddy. My guess is that they were having issues with learning the engine or something as this was the first portable 3d game they made. Also they made bow units pretty damn viable with all those flier threats around. I felt losing Virion super early in the run. Many of them probably should have been how they made them in Echoes...but it's good for what it is.

 

Mechanics

 

Probably the biggest charm of this game was the mechanics. I like and dislike many of them. I actually really, really like the idea of being able to have supports with nearly everyone else so that means almost everyone gets a benefit on the battlefield if someone else is nearby. I also like that there isn't a limit to how many supports a character can have which makes the additional S rank a big plus in my book. I hope that's a staple they change in older games when remaking them. It's just so nice not having to choose whose story to listen to. One thing I'm hit and miss about is the overworld enemies and merchants/shops. I don't mind the idea of fighting enemies for extra grinding but I don't see the point especially when you don't need it and the DLC trumps it in every way. Having to run around the world for certain items was also a pain especially when you weren't sure what was where. I loved the Tellius mechanic of special items being sold from merchants...making me wish the good old Tellius base was back.

 

There are many of the old basics such as weapon durability (I know people dislike it, but even without the weight on con restriction it's still effective...but you stick with better weapons at the end) and the weapon triangle. It just feels wrong in the games that don't have them including SoV. I wouldn't mind magic costing HP though as that's an idea I can get behind. One new addition was the Taguel (Laguz) and...I think they are underrated as Panne was level 30 and still finding a number of uses in the final battle. I wouldn't mind them doing that for a Tellius remake to make Laguz less of a pain to use. Another thing I missed that it feels Fates did less of was the varied character recruits with some being enemies required to talk and other being allies you need to beat the chapter to recruit. There's a lot of tiny things which help and hurt, but now for the big things:

 

Pair ups. I think this is the one thing that's both great and awful at the same time. It's great as it makes the game easy enough for almost anyone to step into the series especially with the ability to not play with Permadeath, but it makes the game to easy to enjoy for the experienced players. Even with my no pair-up run, I liked using it to help traverse characters around the map kind of like how you use Pivot on armors in heroes. It's also pretty neat how the pair-up mechanics are more RNG related when units are adjacent which sounds like a bad thing, but it was pretty fun. Dual strikes were not uncommon but sometimes you get screwed by a much needed one not activating. And since dual guard is rare, it felt like a lucky miss which was always super nice. Unlike Fates, either choice is fine and it kind of gives you a greater freedom to play which I think it appealed to a much broader audience...not only saving but making the series now thrive.

 

Supports. I'll be honest, I think Awakening's smallish cast (if we ignore child units for a minute) worked well with being able to pair everyone with everyone. It was an unheard of idea...other than Radiant Dawn, but unlike that game each character still had a story to explore on top of falling in love and most characters had a different background so you never knew what would happen. The children then had their own group and story to unfold and it was interesting exploring how a child makes up with a dead parent along with how close the others were with each other due to the horrible future. So while I won't disagree with Awakening being "Waifu Emblem" I do feel many characters have pretty interesting stories to explore such as Lon'qu who grew distant to women due to losing the love of his life. The concept itself is interesting, but as seen in Fates, it can get too much taking away from the characters being characters. I love the idea of everyone being able to support with everyone, but I suppose a limit of 5-8 keeping the characters as characters would be the best middle ground. I dislike how all the father supports are all the same and male and female robin count as different supports despite many being the same. Many of the ones I saw and watched were pretty good though and did their job. As long as the original core idea of supports isn't lost, I'm all for "Waifu Emblem"...just no more child units.

 

DLC. 3 Houses is going to have DLC, but I feel like IS and Nintendo has been money grubby after Awakening. Awakening's DLC was much cheaper and delivered so much more. This was Fire Emblem heroes before Fire Emblem heroes. I mean we could argue if the DLC is good enough but the maps were pretty cool bits of nostaglia which you got an old legacy character out of it. I find most of them pretty good, but I want you to imagine Awakening getting a remaster. Just imagine all of those card characters...getting proper 3d renders and being fought on those maps. I think it would be pretty cool looking and make the maps, really, really worth playing (they sometimes have unique convos with certain characters) and it even added well needed dialogue for the spotpass characters...something Scarlett x Ryoma or Yukimara and Shiro will never get. This was DLC I'd say done right and I hope 3 Houses goes back to its roots and not make half-assed cash grabs like they did (Rise of the Deliverance was great but overpriced and Fates only had Heirs of Fate which was not bad).

 

The Story

 

This is actually why I made this post. So a lot of the older fans of the series and some of the newbies all point out that Awakening's story is bad, then some point out that up to Gangrel is fine and then it all falls apart. It's pretty unanimous. I kind of agreed but when I replayed the game I had a revelation (pun not intended) and after relooking at it, the story in the endgame is actually pretty good. If you haven't played Awakening, you are about to be spoiled. I just want to say that the story was built and written on a concept: bonds. And while this is that power of friendship BS you've seen time and time again, it gets interesting so bear with me.

 

So we have to start off with the fact that there are two timelines. There's the original timeline Lucina and the children are from, and there's the new timeline this game takes place. The most important piece of info you need to know from the original timeline is that Robin retained his memories (I believe). It's not as important as the original timeline has different events leading to the same outcome. So when Lucina traveled to the past, Grima caught on and traveled further back into the past than she did. He, however, was only able to send his vessel there as his main body was left behind (or was destroyed. I dunno if past future is canon). So since he wanted to keep traveling between timelines, he tried jump starting Robin to turn into Grima. Since Robin did not perform the Awakening and the rite of passage, it backfired and Robin lost all of his memory, but gained the one memory of how Grima killed that world's Chrom. I should probably look to see if there are any differences in the scenes, but probably not. And that is the only thing Robin remembers before being helped up by Chrom. History continues pretty much the same.

 

The next change is Masked Marth and the Risen coming which is likely the point in time Lucina opened the portal and all those Risen poured into this world causing she and her friends to part different ways. Oddly enough, nobody did question where all the other Risen came from (likely Grima opened a portal letting them through). The next change is Masked Marth replacing Lon'qu in the arena duel. I'm not sure whether she was trying to change this outcome or simply wanted to duel with her father but perhaps it was an attempt to save Basillio's life. The biggest change is Validar's assassination of Emeryn while aiming to steal the Fire Emblem. Now we do have one plot hole here. Chrom was killed by Robin, but Masked Marth says she was about to save Chrom's life. I thought she later said it was just injured but I didn't see that. I'm just gonna go with injured regardless since it will make more sense. This event is what sparks the war between Plegia and Ylisse.

 

Grima not being happy decided to step in and bring Validar back to life...he can do that for some reason. They needed to rewrite history again to make the war with Plegia happen which is how Aversa manipulates Gangrel to pretty much start it. The Fire Emblem was supposed to be brought to his hands, but it didn't matter. The events went back in place and the war happened but I like to believe Chrom was there for this war and had to stay back in the old one due to his injuries leaving Robin and Frederick to take the charge. This means less time spent between Chrom and Robin. The only unknown here is if they recovered the Fire Emblem or not. It does not matter that much. Now this is where history gets a bit complicated. We meet Validar again who is now the king of Plegia, but it's probably more or less he just gave them the ships and told them to go away. He was busy looking for the gemstones and that'd help take care of two. It also helped take care of a major threat to their plan, Walhart.

 

So one of the most important details that's easy to miss happens next. Some point off the screen in the current timeline, Robin told Chrom about his dream in a place where the Plegian Spies could not reach them. We don't know when and we don't know when they devised this plan. So when Lucina tells Basillo Walhart is going to kill him, that's when Basillo got an idea. So before he faked his death, he gave Flavia the fake gemstone. He likely always had the fake one around since the real one is kind of dangerous. This didn't happen in the original timeline. So while Chrom and the others are fighting Walhart, Basillio is going offscreen and stops Plegia from getting the real gemstone also probably because they thought Chrom had the real one. The events all play out the same and then we go to Chapter 21. So the plan is all going to plan and Chrom knows it doesn't matter if Plegia gets the Fire Emblem since the fake Gemstone is in there leading to Chrom's amazing horrible acting and Robin's silence. The plan was so stupid it worked because Validar was so obsessed with reviving Grima he got careless.

 

So we now enter the dragon's table. So the first thing that happens is Robin wants to stay back because they are afraid the events might happen and Validar might take control and kill Chrom. Chrom assures them that won't happen due to the trust and strength they've grown over time. Many of the bonding events this pair went through happened due to the interference of both Grima and Lucina and since Robin had no memory, Chrom really was the one who they trusted above anyone else. So when Validar casts the spell this time, Robin is still in control and aims the spell slightly off to prepare for Validar's downfall as Basillio and Flavia show up. After Chrom died in the original, the rite of awakening happened resurrecting Grima. This chapter explains all of it, but it's so jammed it can come off as nonsense. Now enter Grima who shows up and resurrects their own body. And you're probably wondering, why the hell didn't they do that in the first place? It may seem contrived, but Grima both could and couldn't revive himself. You'll see later, but he had the Awakening requirement down and over with...he just didn't have enough power to do so. That's why he needed Robin and wanted him since that'd bring him up to full strength which backfired and he lost some powers and possible memory loss. Fortunately, Validar did bring a huge power supply (all those Grimleal) which was his backup plan as he pushed history around to make it to that point. So while he lost the Robin battle, he always knew he was going to win the war.

 

So another detail that was lost was the fact Robin switched the fake gemstone out of the Fire Emblem in which is was now shining. So Chrom now performs the rite and I believe theoretically if he traveled to Lucina's timeline, he would still hold the power of the right. After all, he was able to communicate with Naga afterwards kind of like how Grima was still controlling Old Timeline Robin. So now we jump to the final battle and Grima heavily damages everyone and sucks Robin into his body (no homo). And then the dragon grip fails due to the bonds Robin made letting him escape that and...Grima is weaker than when he did the first resurrection. And one final touch for the final battle is the heart showing that no matter the danger, their bonds can overcome anything. And as a final sendoff, Robin sacrifices themselves, but due to moving and creating so many bonds with so many people his (and Grima's) remaining power managed to bring him back to life though with Grima gone, the mark vanished. And thus the adventures of Chrom and Robin started anew.

 

Honestly, I don't think Awakening's story is that bad and nothing really felt shoehorned. Maybe a few things are a bit contrived and most of the plot reveals were jammed in a single chapter, but nothing is super nonsensical bar the ship jumping due to their armor. It worked especially with the fact that you had a choice to sacrifice yourself to save all of humankind. It has its charms and the Lucina scene is kind of sweet seeing as she can't kill you if you're her mother or husband. I do think the illusion of choice is terrible as it pretty much has the character ignore you and do said action anyways. I do think a lot of the story events could've been better executed, but that Gangrel arc was really well done. In other words, I don't think it's as bad as people treat it.

 

Music and Graphics

 

I will say one thing Fates did better. They had better graphics and music. I mean Awakening is still a good looking game and had a pretty good soundtrack. Some of the attacks like armor crits looked ridiculous (general sliding is still hilarious) but I actually didn't notice the feet thing until someone pointed it out. And I still forget about it when watching scenes so I guess the devs did have a point in "we didn't think anyone would notice." I love the map design as all the maps look great and just right. The birds flying backwards is hilarious though, but that waterfall in chapter 24 was another great extra. And that final boss theme was pretty epic sounding. There's a lot of good and memorable themes, but Fates just had better battle themes and boss themes.

 

Conclusion

 

Fire Emblem Awakening was meant to be a sendoff and swan song to the series, and it would have been a damn good one. I really do think that even if it came a few games before or a few games after it still would've done really well and be highly recieved. I actually first heard and picked up this game from a podcast with Marriland in it and I don't regret doing so. It was so easy to pick up and play and a game really needed to bring newcomers into the series and I don't think a single game could've done it better. It's a very faulty game, but it really did try to bring a little bit of everything about why people like Fire Emblem while being its own thing and appealing to a bigger audience. It's also the one Fire Emblem game I could safely say I enjoy every aspect of. I dislike Radiant Dawn's unbalanced roster and weak characters, Echoes has terrible maps, FE7 has the archaic controls, PoR has meh graphics and terribly slow animations. Fates, the game that kind of milked off of Awakening, is all over the place as Conquest had a laughable story and a couple maps that went overboard with mechanics, Birthright was gimmick overkill and terrible unit balance, and Rev was...rushed making it not fun to play.

 

Looking back at Awakening does give me hope for 3 Houses as it was worried at a point that every game in the series would be just like it. What I'd like to see come back from this game in 3 Houses is the large amount of supports and actually a good variety of DLC which can bring that ultimate challenge and methods to conquer it. I also wouldn't mind the pair-up system being brought back if both the guard and dual strike were removed (mostly the guard) as while I prefer rescue, I do feel having a way to better traverse your characters is a requirement in all FE games and would rather have an optional mechanic to abuse over not having one at all. I also don't mind the customizable avatar either, but please don't make them the lord and more along the sidelines. And if I ask of something not to come back, please for the love of god, no more small open field maps where everything charges at you all at once. 

 

And as for that iron man, I lost a lot of valuable units and some vital (like Kjelle and Cordelia), but when Lissa, my last main healer, fell, I thought the run was over. But fortunately one man with a Killer Axe in his right hand and a Mend Staff in the other stepped up to the plate and saved the run. Robin may have gotten the most kills, but Libra is the true MVP.

[CrossImpact]

"lost Cordelia"
demonitized and dispossessed.
enjoy your life under the bridge together with Vaike's axe

not that I have anything to add, I had a good opinion of Awakening in the first place, then again it was my first FE.

PS do one for Radiant Dawn too!

[Wolfox]

Awakening. Great game by itself, even with its flaws. I do have to say I'm slightly disappointed that you didn't toss in an Owain quote because that man is a Meme machine

[Commander]

On 10/24/2018 at 5:22 PM, CrossImpact said:

PS do one for Radiant Dawn too!

While it's been a long while since I've played that one, I am familiar still with many aspects of it so I guess I can talk about that thing. Maybe in a week or so because that certainly is a mess to talk about.

 

On 10/24/2018 at 5:37 PM, Wolfox said:

Awakening. Great game by itself, even with its flaws. I do have to say I'm slightly disappointed that you didn't toss in an Owain quote because that man is a Meme machine

Owain is...someone I'm neutral on. I like how over the top he is which gets him to be quite silly such as using Missiletain, but it can get a bit too annoying after a long time. Henry!Owain, he was known as the cursed magician with that beast 28 Magic. Too bad he died. After all, you can't quote a dead man...

 

"Oh! My aching blood!"

[CrossImpact]

3 hours ago, Commander said:

While it's been a long while since I've played that one, I am familiar still with many aspects of it so I guess I can talk about that thing. Maybe in a week or so because that certainly is a mess to talk about.

.... Indeed. Like, I think somewhat better of it after playing it a second time, but still. Much yikes.

Are there any installments of the series you haven't played at all?

[Chase]

I believe Grima's role in the story was beautifully retconned in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (#EchoesPariahStrikesAgain, #JustPlayGaidenBro), and I also believe that Grima's "long game" is better understood in Awakening after understanding why Grima is as powerful as they are. 

 

Spoiler

it is first important to note that "the creation's" encounter with Alm and the player's chosen party in Echoes is not canon in it of itself, in the same way Gold does not canonically beat Red on top of Mount Silver.

 

A desert in Thabes concealed the workshop of Forneus, an alchemist who wanted to create life as well as resurrect an army of the dead. The first of these two tasks, the creation of life, involved some risky ingredients, such as his own blood, and the blood of a Divine Dragon, among other things. This mixture created a tiny malevolent being that had human and divine properties - and that being grew at an alarming rate after Forneus was initially content with studying it. Eventually, the Creation began to communicate with Forneus by sharing it's thoughts with him - and the Creation's mind was not particularly friendly. It is assumed that Forneus, who not only successfully created a powerful lifeform, but also was the creator of the masks that would be worn by an undead army (making him 2-for-2 in the aspiration department), is killed after trying to stop his Creation from getting too powerful.

 

The army of people that were sent to confront Forneus is killed by the Creation, and their corpses became what would eventually become the first "Risen." Grima, after being able to understand their creator and experience his thoughts due to their blood connection, learns how to create their own Risen through this bond.

 

...As for the Creation, He would show up later under the title of the Fell Dragon, Grima. Playing Echoes, a seasoned player of recent FE titles would be able to recognize the Creation's form as Alm and Co. encounters it in the pocket dimension that is their own save file. Later on, this Grima would re-surface and be encountered by the First Exalt of Ylisse, who has some striking similarities to Marth himself yet is not actually the first Marth. Even later, the House Ylisse you see in Awakening arrives on the scene...and Chrom is basically given no chance, leaving the method of at the very least sealing Grima away for another thousand years in the hands of the young Princess Lucina, who watches her world crumble before her very eyes and is in desperate straits. Throughout this long lifespan Grima has, they obtain a TON of power.

 

When you get to the part where Chrom and Robin in the Future Past timeline encounter Validar (the flashback at the beginning of Awakening) Grima has already encountered a foe like Chrom and recognizes just how much of a threat Chrom is. They has the foresight to have Robin, their Vessel, forge a strong bond with the Exalt so that when the time comes, Grima can eradicate the only known enemy they had.

 

You have to give a lot of credit to Lucina and Naga in the Future Past. Without them, Grima had done everything they needed to do, evolved in their strategy in the long millennium that they were sealed, and adapted so much that they were not only extremely powerful, but extremely smart and cunning. Jumping back into the future introduced a second Robin and opened the door for all of that power that backed up that long-harbored adaptation to be lost. Without Robin of Earth-Two, Grima wins and Lucina, her friends, and her world are all but toast more likely than Lucina is able to muster the courage alone to land the killing blow, simply because this isn't Grima's first tango with someone wielding a Kingsfang and trying to play hero.

 

This is where playing Awakening as a stand alone title falls for me. The game hinges so much on the understanding that Grima as a villain is formidable, but the only thing we really get a sense of is that they are immensely powerful and have a fetish for destruction. You wouldn't know how much it meant for Grima to topple Ylisse unless you played a completely different game and were maybe paying attention to an exposition dump during the game at some point. 

[Wolfox]

Owain can get a tad annoying at times, hence why I always prever Inigo (Chrom!Inigo btw, cuz that Rightful King and Swordfair+ Galeforce Lucina)

[Commander]

4 hours ago, CrossImpact said:

Are there any installments of the series you haven't played at all?

I've only played Chapter 1 of FE4, Nothing on Thracia, about a third of FE6, FE12 I got to about halfway, and Tokyo Mirage Session I just got past Aversa. And for ones I haven't played at all and won't ever:

 

FE1, Gaiden, and FE3. I really cannot play NES games at all without losing my mind.

 

3 hours ago, Chase said:

When you get to the part where Chrom and Robin in the Future Past timeline encounter Validar (the flashback at the beginning of Awakening) Grima has already encountered a foe like Chrom and recognizes just how much of a threat Chrom is. They has the foresight to have Robin, their Vessel, forge a strong bond with the Exalt so that when the time comes, Grima can eradicate the only known enemy they had.

We don't know too much about Grima!Robin simply because we never really needed to. All we really know from Lucina is that the Robin from the timeline and Chrom were really good friends and Chrom died at the Dragon's Table. The points in history are the same, but the methods to reach those points changed. Grima...also wasn't too worried about Chrom. They pretty much just sent some goons and were busy doing who knows what offscreen (which ironically is most FE antagonists' demise). I mean Grima does almost win with a single strike. I don't think it was purposely implanted though to kill Chrom. Chrom was an important tool to reach the end destination and without him, many of the events wouldn't have come to pass. In fact, Grima didn't care Chrom was still alive.

 

So looking at chapter 23's script again, there is one little detail I did miss. Indeed that dream Robin has at the beginning is Grima!Robin's memories and it is plainly stated, but after killing Chrom, it seems like Grima!Robin chose to go through with the rite. That's the only reason why Grima wanted Robin to kill Chrom so the rite would be finished. I like how well integrated the "foresight" was into the plot instead of a flat out dream sequence insert (*cough* Echoes and Fates *cough*). And while Echoes did help uncover some of the mysteries to the lore behind this game, there's still many pieces that could be added to better explain it such as the Plegian history and the Dragon's Table being Grima's domain instead of the Earth Dragons. This would be covered in the second game of the "arc" but like SS, Awakening was a standalone so we'll never know.

 

So I am going to talk about Echoes and there's actually...very little we gain that we didn't know already. The masks get explained and where the original risen came from kind of is important and explains a lot of how Grima rose to power, but that's it. We know Grima grew stronger over time seeing as they were much, much bigger later after the first exalt sealed them. This happened probably 1,000 years after Marth in the area where Emeryn committed suicide (whose bones do you think those are?) As for the mind manipulation, Grima was doing that to our Robin giving them headaches and such. The same is shown for Grima!Robin as defeating them in Future Past DLC lets Grima!Robin regain control for a tiny bit. I'm not dissing Echoes for giving us well needed lore, but without it, Grima isn't a terrible antagonist or doesn't have anything going for them.

[CrossImpact]

5 hours ago, Commander said:

I've only played Chapter 1 of FE4, Nothing on Thracia, about a third of FE6, FE12 I got to about halfway, and Tokyo Mirage Session I just got past Aversa. And for ones I haven't played at all and won't ever:

 

FE1, Gaiden, and FE3. I really cannot play NES games at all without losing my mind.

Only having had a sllllightest glance over what you said about Echoes explaining more stuff, I'm still looking kinda forward to it.
I'll dive into Thracia (which looks quite creative thoughout the first chapters), and then I'll have played all of them except for the very original FE1 (it was included as a 'Book 1' in FE3 but with quite some content and characters cut, which, in a game without dialogue, doesn't make too much difference I think xd) and the three remakes.
FE6 looks like a step down from it tbh, the game was kinda annoying. Then 7 and 8 are normal again.

I can completely understand your aversion to the NES games. Though 3 was quite palatable, especially since it was already stepping up the storytelling part. Well, it was SNES already, huh.
Gaiden was not. I've been on Valentia and have no clue what happened why. "I am your father btw." Yay!
I don't know why Duma did a thing. And what's a Mila, never seen that god for sure. I thought she was sealed, but nothing except the credits happened after defeating Duma who never said a single word in the entire game. Not that you would have seen him outside of the last map.
Hah. Fun games.


FE4 is actually my second favourite of the series, just for the world that has been created for it. I often put a lot of value into that and iconic characters over gameplay factors like, let's say map design for instance or mechanics like "hahaaaa your characters can't trade items normally in this game!!! but you can sell them to a shop other characters can buy it from instead!!!"

I absolutely adore Tellius, with the exception of Dawn Brigade + Pelleas. These two games (though I feel stronger about PoR than RD) just had so much to offer. Fantastic world with social relevance, memorable characters with development (or without, hey Shinon), it just felt great to explore more about it. So I'm sad it would take forever to unlock all supports.
But we can get more into that (and of course the gameplay aspects) should you find the time for RD.