Fire Emblem 9:
Completed. Around 35 hours to beat, which is surely inflated by the amount of times I got bored midway through a map and started chatting. >_>
<_<
General thoughts.
In a general sense it's an FE game, so I may as well just skip ahead to comparing it to other FE games.
It has a lot of good points against the series though.
It moves faster than normal just across the board. Large maps generally are a lot of fun to play on; In fact, it doesn't give you nearly enough units to really enjoy how fast the game plays, most of the time(can't really say this is a downside, although the low amount of slots makes me subjectively sad.).
CGs are very pretty.
Balance of weapons is generally much better than other FEs. Swords/Axes/Lances only have swords really standing out as a weaker weapon type, and even then swords have Blades and the magic swords(for Elincia/Mist, not that anyone gives them to Elincia. At least, I didn't.). So it's not really too bad. Axes are better, Swords are worse, but compared to how this stands out in FE7 for axes being the worst, it's no comparison. Magic...well, I'll get to magic.
Maps are generally changed up much more often than most FEs with a lot of different goals and rarely do they settle on any one to the point where it's a "standard" goal. Granted this is partially because they made two versions of seize the throne, but whatever, still a good change. Maps are also just really well designed in general, hard to put into words how but it's definitely there.
Skills are nice. Needed more internal balance, but unlike FE8 they aren't horrible jokes and unlike FE4 they don't define a character and a lot of the playing experience. I liked the middle ground, useful but not massive, as a change.
Now, the minuses.
First off, aesthetics. CGs are really very pretty. Movies are fine if you mute the sound so you don't hear the VAs. Graphics are...generically bland and the 3D has none of the style I associate with the series while there were absolutely no songs I found memorable at all. ('cept maybe Ashnard's theme but I barely got to hear that. That was not an impressive battle and no one doubled each other there. Well unless I wanted him to one-round Ena.) It's not offensive...merely dull.
Secondly, class balance. Weapon balance is, as I said, not too bad, except that it has the baffling as hell hiccup of knives existing. There goes two characters who could have been good in a fight, but due to being stuck with 2-Might-Base, 8-at-best-when-others-swing-20 Might weaponry, will never be good. Magic is poor but Magic has never been as good as the other weapon types.
No, though, classes were just balanced badly. Enemies are more accurate and powerful than usual and evasion is generally harder to come by...so your dodgy units can't tank on it until late. And, late's the easy part. hmmmm. that's not good. This literally chucks everyone in the Myrmidon branch out a window for easy usability, when you add in early swords sucking and not making up for their low might issues. They're fine...later, when the game is already easy. But screw that, you can use Nephenee anyways for a similar build with better weaponry, and Stefan is a good prepromo Swordmaster.
Mages, meanwhile, suffer from a lot of subtle things. Magic is bad statistically...worse than usual. Okay, that's okay. Magic also requires Strength to handle it's Weight. Well, that's fine, except the first mage you get will average 3.9 Strength at 20/20 rendering him completely unable at any point to use his(large) speed advantage to deal the useful added damage he could have if he'd had strength and hence balance him. okay.
Enemies are perfectly capable of two-shotting mages with 2 range weapons like Javelins(because you see enemies don't entirely suck, especially early) so you can't keep them just behind the line, you have to shove the line upwards after they attack, rendering them extremely annoying or extremely vunerable. great.
Mages can't use most of the good skills very well. Vantage won't usually kill off enemies with such low power weaponry(even enemy Res doesn't make this happen) and being below 50% for a mage is a death sentence. Flare is...sadly not a bad Occult but surely isn't much.
Later mages all have their own issues. Ilyana sucks, has bad Speed to make up for her Strength. Tormod is...meant to be a Nino like, and in many ways I respect him most out of the non-promoted mages just because what you get when you build him up is a +2 Move Mage with good overall stats and a durability focus the other two don't have, but he's still a project investment and you could just use a non-mage and get actual Might on your weapons. Calill is unable to get staves but is otherwise a good prepromo. Bastian doesn't exist.
Even then, magic has a terrible forge set that really hurts it. It's not like knives where you can't, it's just that you won't because it costs 2-5x as much as Silver on other weapons, is only the first tier, and gets you....a meh weapon in the end. great. just great.
Snipers are horrible just because you get a Nomad equivalent who is one of the best characters in the game. Also because both of them are actively horrible.
It isn't just negative, either. Paladins are ridiculously good compared to every other class. Mounted is great due to hit and away, they get two weapon choices(the one you choose can and decently often should be bows, rendering Snipers even worse), every single Paladin is at worst decent(Makalov) and most of them are really good. Fliers are really really good too, and none of them have any stat issues or anything. The closest thing you get to bad mounted units are healers, and all healers have issues so you may definitely as well use the mounted ones. >_>
As to things that are neither good nor bad? Laguz. Laguz baffle me, they're in this range where they are solid without standing out enough to be in the game's top tier of units(ignore royals). It's a combination of lackluster prepromo stats but good transformations but picky transformations but Demi-Band but bla bla strategy bla bla, the issue is that you get a unit that is pretty good but you get those with most prepromos in this game.
And Laguz function exactly like prepromos. They don't gain more EXP(as they really, really should). They don't...function differently in any notable way. They just tend to stay usable more long term...when it's easy...and have an annoying element to them. By and large I can't say they're bad but saying they're good is a lie too. It's weird.
Anyways, some random character notes!
Anyone I'm not listing either didn't get used much or didn't get used at all(this happened a fair deal, sadly). I did RNG abuse save/reloads on BEXP. Mostly for 20/20 carryovers for shiny. Shiny! SHIIIIIIIINY! Er sorry. Usually it was a reboot once per character per time giving them BEXP on average, with some exceptions(usually logical ones). Of course early levels couldn't get this treatment so the hard part of the game was actually hard so screw it, whatever. >_>
Incidentally, on a related note, failed the Black Knight duel because none of the FAQs mention Aether is Range 1 when describing it. thanks you're swell. Had a few shots after I guessed this but none decided to click. Too bad.
Ike: 20/20. 60 HP(Cap, one Angelic Robes), 26 Strength(Cap, one Energy Drops), 8 Magic, 27 Skill(I thiiiink he had a Secret Book on this, capped), 28 Speed(Cap), 21 Luck, 24 Defense(Cap), 22 Res(Cap, took both Talismans).
Early on, Ike was a dodgy bastard who had way too much defense and Res but struggled to actually hurt things. It wasn't until the actually hard stages that I appreciated how useful this was overall, although I would have liked some damage. >_> Later on, his Strength caught up a bit(although I can't guarantee he didn't need those drops to cap even with RNG abuse existing) and it mattered less anyhow so he just became a massive boomstick that splattered everything around him. Ragnell helped. Unecessarily. He plays so much like a better Hector it's not even funny, but he's a bit less impressive early on.
Boyd: 20/20. 60 HP(capped), 30 Strength(capped), 2 Magic, 28 Skill(Capped), 27 Speed(Capped), 18 Luck, 18 Defense, 15 Res. The RNG abuse here mostly came in making sure he capped off Strength and Skill late, which I didn't even try to bother with early. In fact I didn't bother with Boyd early. That Speed is entirely natural and capped around early teens because his early growth was around 90% Speed. Frigging awe-inspiring offense throughout due to this and late watching him deal 40x2 to Laguz with a Laguz Axe was just plain fun. My best character out of the early Greil Mercs overall, although not as good in practice as...
Titania: 20/20. 49 HP, 20 Strength, 9 Magic, 26(Capped, two Secret Books) Skill, 27(Cap) Speed, 17 Luck, 18 Defense, 16 Res. I didn't really get any chances to RNG abuse her much-she was impractical as hell until she hit around L10 to even consider BEXPing-so I just gave her the Knight Ward most of the in-battle time after Astrid caught up and let her run around smacking things. She was one of my weakest characters on the final map and....still managed to solo a bunch of L14 Paladins without any necessary support while I was trying to get her up to 20/20(last character I managed this for, was surprised I scraped up this many 20/20s.). Was my kill leader at 112(IIRC) kills. Completely ridiculous, best Jeigan ever for a lot of reasons, both obvious(early game hard) and subtle(EXP gains of not 1 for smashing early game hard enemies=:)). Totally awesome.
Soren: L12 Unpromoted. 24/0/12/16/15/8/4/18. I ditched him around the teens. I'd just like to point out his stats when I ditched him. He was turning out *great* and I still didn't like him enough to stick with him. On a replay I really need to Seraphic Robes his ass and see if I can get somewhere using him. Oh well. I blame wanting 20/20s for FE10 in part for a strong ditching urge.
Oscar: L20/15. 46 HP, 23 Strength, 10 Magic, 25 Skill, 24 Speed, 13 Luck, 24 Defense, 19 Res. Posterboy of "If you get RNG screwed just ditch the bastard and use someone else." for me. Unutterably horrible earlygame except for decent Def and excellent(insanely so) Res(which is still visible here). So I RNG abused him five times as much as most people and got something...that would have been better than Titiania if I stuck with it but meh. I still was using him and he was very useful, I just wonder why I bothered. He ended up with some very high kills just because of how often I fed him kills so he'd be higher level and hence useful. <_< Drat luck.
Shinon: Not sure he gained a level. If he did it was just one. Anywho, Shinon amuses me. He's a prepromo at a great time in the game to be one, who ditches you and comes back a horrible, *underleveled and understatted* prepromo. Um. Yeah. He was useful when I had him early!...
Gatrie: Gained a few levels, but eh. I'd just like to point out that despite being a horrible, horrible character he's even more useful than Shinon early on because of mid-teens defense. I am easily amused by such things. He has 5 Speed at L13 here, which probably isn't that different from normal for him, though. ^_^;
Rhys: 23/0/12/8/6/10/1/15, L7. Ultimately I hated Rhys. I think this was more just the early stages sucking ass for him in retrospect but I *really hated Rhys*. Really. Really really. Like I ditched him for a stock of Vulneraries after a point, until Mist came along. This probably wasn't deserved but jesus christ TAKE A HIT YOU JERK. :(
Mia: 24/10/2/13/17/7/8/4, L11. As the game went on I vaguely regretted not using Mia more, but ultimately I was kinda stuck by limited EXP I could pass out if I wanted shinies. >_> She isn't too bad but she desparately needs Blades/higher Swords and enough strength to use them to feel really competent. Another case of the game screwing her build; She just has issues doing much early on. It annoys me, since she's at least decent thanks to Vantage, but...yeah.
Ilyana: Ditched her the moment I could. You saw my Soren, do you think I was going to bother with Ilyana if I didn't like Soren? yeah.
Rolf: Somehow got the mistaken impression he paid off later and used him for a few levels before learning that this was wrong and ditching him. Looking at the average stats much later I agree. He's not worth it. >_>
UBER MIST: 20/20. 39 HP, 20(capped) Strength, 26(capped) Magic, 14 Skill, 26(capped) Speed, 35 Luck(Two Ashera's Icons), 14 Defense, 21 Resistance. Okay the game liked Mist. I was all set to RNG abuse the hell out of her and it gradually dawned on me-around L10, where she was outclassing her 20/1 Strength-that I wasn't going to need to! Indeed, the only RNG abuse was mostly touchups on Strength/Speed near the end and redos of BEXP levels that sucked that everyone got-and the latter she got far less than most people, as she was already good(I at the start never considered that she'd cap strength and hence did not build towards it, and the rest she was well on her way to capping, so why would I waste good BEXP?). Bafflingly awesome, I suppose the game realized it was at mortal peril if it gave me an actively bad Valkyrie and overcompensated.
Marcia: 20/20. 49 HP, 23 Strength(Cap), 7 Magic, 24 Skill, 28 Speed(Cap), 21 Luck, 24 Defense(Cap), 19 Res. Baffler here is the Defense, which I practically ignored until it capped and went "Oh huh that capped. ...". Anywho she's awesome no matter what and with that defense and a Full Guard she was my go-to for killing the obnoxious Ballista hoards. Yay!
Lethe: Gained a few levels. My first candidate for best Laguz, although I didn't feel that way early on. I blame Mordecai's Defense growth blowing relative to his start. Anyways she's pretty good, if I'd had more slots I would have been fielding her a fair deal. Oh well.
Mordecai: Didn't gain any levels. Good prepromo who drops off fast. And is a Laguz so he's annoying. Yeah.
Volke: L20/6. 37/22/2/26/26/10/13/8. Good: Volke. Bad: Knives. I actually got far more kills with him than I expected(over a dozen by the end I think?) just because he's that good. He wasn't part of my main team because knives are that bad. He held his own going to get chests though and that's a great use soooo I'm happy with him.
Kieran: 20/12. 42/25/2/22/26/12/18/10. Long term pickup I was most "eh" about and he didn't actually show up on the final map(tossed him to staff abuse Elincia instead). Good enough, mind you, just really boring. I dunno why I feel so eh about him, on paper he looks great thinking on it. Granted he gained five points of speed in like the last five levels there so that's part of it.
Nephenee: 20/16. 42/24/9/27/26(cap)/15/20/13. ugghhhhh why didn't I Arm Scroll her. NEVER AGAIN WILL I MAKE THAT MISTAKE FOR THE EARLY GAME. It really did hold her back a bit throughout. She did eventually hit A Spears...when I used said scroll for her B->A and would have done as well to do that off the bat thanks to Steel WEXP. grr. Anywho she's pretty great, although she's not ridiculous. Mia with a marginally worse skill and a much better weapon choice overall=:). I liked her, gave her Vantage and everything and it was fun~ Too bad about running out of EXP to give her, she was the next 20/20 candidate after Titania, and only was because she was 20/15 coming in and I didn't think I could get a 20/15 to 20/20 reasonably(and was probably right).
Brom: Never used. I suppose the fact that you can Knight Ward this silly bastard helps him but meh I'm still not interested.
Zihark: Never used. Mia! With stats more fitting to the game! And no awesome skill! oh. :(
Sothe: Used to pick up chests on one or two stages that I didn't feel Volke was enough for. Um. Yeah he's useless otherwise. Unless you want to L20 him and give him both Angelic Robes, then you can get amusement in the sequel? Then again I think the +5 HP I'll get on Ike was more amusing anyways.
Jill: 20/20. 44 HP, 27(capped) Strength, 14 Magic, 26(Capped) Skill, 27(Capped) Speed, 8 Luck, 27 Defense(Cap), 16 Res. Yeah Jill turned out ridiculously. In more ways than one. Her starting Luck is like 6 and her growth isn't bad. Despite having unbelievably raped one stat she somehow managed to be sick. Maybe it was capping Defense at around L10 promoted, I dunno. Yeaaaaaaaaaah she was frigging awesome. I capped Speed mostly with RNG abuse(And I think there may have been a Speedwings too; I can't recall everything I Item'd and that would make sense. Her Speed wasn't spectacular until the last 10 or so levels regardless, so it doesn't count). Adept made her really good early on for smashing things even ignoring the Speed that would not double but usually did not get her doubled either. She kicked ass mostly on tanking.
Astrid: 20/20. 46 HP, 25(Capped) Strength, 9 Magic, 26 Skill(Cap), 27 Speed(Cap), 21 Luck, 20 Defense, 14 Res. Man she came out irrationally good for someone I barely BEXPed and mostly went "Here have Knight Ward most of the game have a fun.". The Defense in particular is weird feeling, is that remotely normal for her? Anyways, she's awesome, okay stats but awesome, awesome skill on someone who can get 38 levels to use the Knight Ward with. Yeeeeeeessssssss. Too bad it sounds like she's not much in 10. :|
Makalov: Didn't use. Didn't have a slot for him really, but meeeeeeeh sword paladin being the last non-promoted one complete with meh stats and no skill of note. Not bad just meh.
Stefan: Used during Day Breaks, never gained any levels though. I really respect Stefan, he's pretty damn awesome. If you swapped his and Titania's spots he might be better than she is. But I just didn't really feel like using him. I dunno, low move was part of it(meh on foot), but that wasn't all of it. It was just a whim I guess.
Tormod: Never used. I respect him on paper but by then I was really sick of mages.
Muarim: Never used. I respect him on paper but I didn't have any slots, see Lethe there.
Devdan: Used him during Day Breaks. Notable for me forgetting to equip him and having him somehow dodge four out of eight attacks with a Heavy Spear weighing him down, saving his life. I..............don't even know what the hell. I didn't expect four good enemies to pop out on top of the reinforcements on that map okay. Or for them to be bow-wielding Cavs and a Paladin. He couldn't get out of the way fast enough. Anywho, he's like the most boring character ever outside of that. >_>
Tanith: Gained a few levels, despite pretty decent use. Great character but lategame doesn't reward her much outside of picking off Ballista. I would imagine she's a savior on Hard, but as it is the game's not really difficult enough for me to care late, and she's...good and solid otherwise but not ridiculous. I liked her and used her a fair deal though, she just didn't pick up a lot of kills somehow.
Reyson: L15. 38(Angelic Robes) HP, 1 Strength, 18 Magic, 17 Skill(Cap), 18 Speed, 25 Luck, 4 Defense, 25 Res. I could have ground him on the final map but I noticed he wasn't going to cap anything that mattered except maybe Magic(IIRC, don't have his caps up right now) so screw it. Anyways with Boots and Knight Ring he's pretty awesome. He's not much without at least one of them but hey! >_>
Ulki, Janaff: I used one of them for the map you need them to get Naesala off the damn map right now oh god go awaaayyyy oooh Knight Ring, and they were...blandly okay there(It was Ulki). Ulki's better just because ooh evade boost but meh I dunno. They don't strike me as bad but they're so damn bland and they show up during the time of ballista spam. Good timing there.
Calill: Used her like once. She's pretty damn good but again I was fed up with mages late.
Tauroneo: Used him when I recruited him to kill two people just you know because. Terrible but has Resolve so better than some people.
Ranulf: Bla bla no Laguz slots bla. He's okay.
Haar: I think he gained a level for me. Good secondary tank to have around, I can't see not using him if you're lacking on fliers for some reason but he doesn't stand out stunningly in any way. He's nice enough though.
Bastian: Worse than Calill. Worse than Tauroneo for that matter. Worst character in the game overall? PERHAPS.
Lucia: Also pretty horrible. I didn't use either Bastian or Lucia. Even on the map they get deployed free on. They just stayed back near the start and a flier picked up people that got near them instead IIRC. Notable for having fairly comparable stats to Stefan's *start* at L20. ^_^
Geoffrey: 20/20. 49 HP, 22 Strength, 11 Magic, 22 Skill, 27 Speed(cap), 16 Luck, 27 Defense(cap), 13 Res. Got the Knight Ward from the moment he joined but the defense is still marginally miraculous(although it may have involved a Dragonshield. I forget.). Oh right I ditched Kieran for him solely because he was far more likely to hit 20/20. I don't regret it too much, he did fine. Definitely the best lategame prepromo, and there's solid competition there.
Largo: Didn't use. Cool but didn't need him. For why, see: Boyd.
Elincia: L20. 42 HP, 14 Strength, 25(Cap) Magic, 26(Cap) Skill, 25 Speed, 30 Luck, 14 Defense, 23 Res. So it turns out it only takes like 25 turns to hit 20/20 if you abused Fortify, Ashera Staff and Hammerne. Go figure. Too bad she didn't get a better carryover. (Incidentally she was L3 on entering the final stage.)
Ena: Gained a level. Was not very useful at any point. god damnit FAQs you should have mentioned the range 1 thing jerks grrrrrrrrrrrrrr I even gave her Wrath and Resolve and it didn't help because Ashnard could double and kill even if I had given her Speedwings.
Giffca: Was deployed solely to be a giant awesome black lion who eats Ashnard's sorry ass and to give his FE10 self +2 Strength. At least I think that works. I don't think words ever really describe how awesome Laguz Royals are, simply put. So shiny.
And that's it. If you read all of this you are probably Elfboy. If you are not Elfboy you should be worried that his mind control rays are working on you. Or happy. I dunno.
