FE11, believe it or not, and contemplation on supports.

[myaru]

Chapter 13, Wooden Cavalry - it's a bitch.

I think I've started from a save at least five times, and actually went back to the beginning at one point because I didn't have Midia, who you need to recruit whats-his-name, who would be useful since I don't have anybody promoted to the Hero class yet - except he can't do damage worth a damn when it counts - that being the ballista I really wanted to destroy just then. YOU SUCK AS A HERO kind of like Roy, hahahaha. Normally Shadow Dragon doesn't try me like this, but it kicked my ass because I played an odd mix of overly cautious moves (so the craptastic hero wouldn't hit my pansy characters) and moves that were too bold-- because I kept underestimating the movement of the ballista units. Fuck ballistae, seriously.

Anyway, I think I like the game better now. This embodies my argument for pessimism - if you don't expect anything, you can only be pleasantly surprised!

Whatever, it got a lot more fun when I hit Archaneia. I don't know why.

It's interesting to see how much support conversations add to the experience now. Since my first FE game was Radiant Dawn, which has pretty sparse supports and relies mostly on base scenes to convey story and character, I was pleasantly surprised to play Sacred Stones and Path of Radiance and find so much character-centric conversation that was funny and maybe enlightening about the characters you were using, but otherwise unrelated to the story. Going back to zero with Shadow Dragon is really hard. The game still gives you recruitment conversations (in which Caeda is a flirt and Midia is sickeningly sweet with her lover), and I don't know how those compare to the originals, but they do offer some insight into the personalities involved.

Apparently FE11 does use support relationships between characters to boost stats, but they're involuntary, they don't involve characters shouting at each other across a battlefield, and therefore it's just not as much fun. (It is interesting they can be one-sided, though. They can do more with that.)

It's just... sparse. Really sparse. I shouldn't rib people for being disappointed in Radiant Dawn because of the non-existent support conversations, now, should I?

I wonder what they can do to add to the support system. I think one-sided supports and benefits might be interesting, and I can't think of any in previous games that purposely give boosts to one character and not another based on something other than affinity, but I could be wrong - I admit I never pay attention to that kind of thing, and it's a wonder I survive these games at all with how little I care about stats and numbers.

Any ideas?

I could really use some motivation for Rafiel and Nailah right now. Or hell, Oscar. Hmm. I'd like to do something not related to the pairings I've focused on, but that's incredibly difficult when I love them so much.

I need at least one Shadow Dragon icon.

Comments

[mura-arkaine.livejournal.com]

Radiant Dawn was your first? Damn, I wonder if I should have went backwards too haha. Man, I'm so impatient with PoR. I want Queen Elincia already. Her as princess is kind of bleh. But people keep telling me RD would not be as enjoyable having not played PoR. (Plus the whole data converting thing.)

[myaru.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was. I still don't think it's as much of a step back as Shadow Dragon, though, because it does have base conversations, battle conversations, and it's just that the supports on the battlefield are kind of generic.

I agree that RD gets better after PoR, though. While I did still enjoy it without the prequel, certain parts of the game - like chapter two, which is all about Elincia - are just incredibly boring and underdeveloped if you don't know the situation already. She'll get better though. It just takes a while. Elincia's chronic bosom-clutching problem disappears in Radiant Dawn, too. :D

[guety.livejournal.com]

Shadow Dragon was the most boring thing ever to me until I started to enjoy getting my characters killed to get the gaiden chapters. But the close to none character development killed me. Marth is so boring and devoid of personality that made me actually like Roy.

[myaru.livejournal.com]

That was pretty much my own reaction at first. I intended to put it down forever, but then my friend got a copy, and the prospect of wifi play made it ten times more interesting - that, and she gave me a new perspective on it. If you think of FE11 as just gameplay, it's not so bad.

Also, the battles are getting a little more interesting. And I have more pegasus knights, which I just can't say no to, no matter how blah the game is. FE8 bored me for a long time, actually, because compared to PoR and RD that game is really flat and generic. XD So it's all in how you look at it.

[reynardfox.livejournal.com]

Man, you're making me dread getting to chapter thirteen ha ha ha, and here I am stuck on ten. D:

[myaru.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha, just heed my warnings, and take Midia when you get her. XD That was half the problem. Also, in chapter... uhhh, I think it's eleven? You're supposed to recruit a ballistician named Jake with Caeda, and I missed him because I didn't have a faq handy. If you have him on your team when you start chapter 13, I bet that'll make it a lot easier. There's a ballistician hiding in the town in that chapter, but GETTING TO THE TOWN is kind of, uh, hard? Murderous? Yeah.

It's a chapter where, in 60% of the situations, rushing in IS actually a good idea. XD

What was ten? Usually I remember this stuff, but the generic quality of the game makes it harder to keep track of. And I mean that in the nicest way, it's just-- I don't even remember who half of my characters are, at this point. XD

[reynardfox.livejournal.com]

Chapter Ten was recruiting Minerva and her sister what's-her-name, the cleric chick, and oh man I'm gonna get murdered. I've already tried this one several times. Mostly I keep resetting because, well, I'm a dork and keep forgetting to equip my units proper-like before heading out.

Then I get to the Wall Of Enemy Units only to realise, say, Ogma has no swords. Or anything in his inventory. Or my cavaliers have nothing on them. Whoops.