FE13 completed (Hard Classic). First playthrough is listed as about 36 hours in my game time, but I'm not sure what that counts (certainly doesn't count resets), actual time spent playing the game is probably in the 50-55 hour range. I hit 20/20 with most people right around the end, which felt deliberate.
The game was good fun overall. It certainly isn't perfect, but overall makes a strong case to be the second best game in the series, something I'll be weighing in the coming days.
Its story is overall usual FE, so not very impressive. It's at its strongest during the Plegia arc and then kinda loses its way thereafter, although the identity of the final boss was amusing. Characters are good though... the large majority are memorable and quirky. They don't lend themselves to serious writing too well, but it makes for some good interaction at least. Think a whole cast of people kinda like Kieran or Marcia or Matthew or Serra or L'Arachel. Frederick deserves note for being the best jeigan ever character-wise, too.
Aesthetics-wise, I'm not as big a fan of this game's art as some of the recent ones. But on the other hand, the music is better, and some of the other aesthetic work is good, such as the critical hit cut-ins/battle quotes.
New mechanics are hit and miss. I definitely approve of the multiple difficulty modes available, and the presence of casual mode even if I may not use it much myself. All of the actually
good design decisions from 11-12 (inventory of dead PCs not being lost, enemy phase skip, mid-battle animation skip, weapon rank mattring) return. Branching promotions are great and good to see again. Reclassing is interesting, at least, for all that I didn't bother with it this playthrough. Not sure how I feel about the way this game does it compared to 11-12. For the game's actual new ideas, the new support / support attack system is neat. Made positioning more interesting for sure. Pair Up is less good... it's possibly a bit broken, and certainly strategically limiting as it reduces your number of units and "Separate" is a terrible command for action economy so once you're paired up you have no reason to stop unless there's a lull in battle. I definitely preferred rescue. Hands down the game's massive mechanical failure is the return of ninja reinforcements though. I could rant for a while about the negative effects these have on strategy. At least fog of war is gone.
Anyway, PC notes! More based on my general impressions of them than how mine turned out specifically, but here we go:
Robin (F, +Str -Res): Note that this is not a good build as Robin is more of a mage even with this, and res penalty also tanks speed a bit. Anyway she was still pretty cool. Veteran is evil on paper (I didn't really use it), Solidarity is nice, Rally Spectrum is super-awesome. Hitting both defences is nice, and at worst being a mage with good all-around stats (if unexceptional) is a good niche. Likely the best PC in the game.
Chrom: Solid lord. The comparison here is Ike9, they're quite similar. Chrom doesn't get the awesome avoid supports later, but he also has better unique weapons, promotes when he wants, and escapes the sword lock (and is in a game with better swords anyway).
Frederick: Jeigan, so best character for like the first ten maps. Falls off harder than most previous jeigans, but being effective pairup bait with whoever his A/S supports are saves him past that. Obviously great since this isn't 2004.
Lissa: I dunno, she heals and stuff. Staff exp is faster in this game and she doesn't die when sneezed upon, but her longterm potential isn't wonderful due to all her offensive options starting at E rank and shaky speed. Mine died very early.
Sully: Cavalier with decent overall stats. Solid.
Stahl: Sully with a worse overall growth set, meh at the lower speed. Kind of a Lowen/Kyle variant or something.
Virion: The archest archer. Those bases are a thing, channelling Wolt I see. He can avoid counters I guess, and there are a decent number of enemy flyers in this game and nobody else starts with bow rank until chapter 23, but still bad.
The Vaike: He's okay but feels like a bit of a return of the mediocre old fighter, str and HP and nothing else. Doesn't help that axes are kinda subpar due to -10/-20 hit, and none of his classes really appeal. Still better than the likes of Garcia and Dorcas/Bartre though.
Miriel: Yay, they fixed mages at last! Actual move stat! Lots of good tome options in this game, they aren't crippled by weight or terrible might, and Miriel's even moderately speedy! Def is bad but that's the only real complaint here.
Sumia: The physical durability is problematic, but the way she doubles everything in a game where this is often difficult (especially early) is wonderful.
Kellam: Serenes claims this guy was in the game but I have no idea who he is. I think he's an armour knight, at which point I'll say that Pair Up saves those more in this game than some previous. Past that, eh, armour knight, so didn't use much, I must have my biases.
Donnel: lol no. Ten levels of sucking, then you need a valuable item that could go to someone who doesn't suck, then you get an E rank in some unexceptional infantry class.
Lon'qu: Sumia minus pegasus. This is probably okay... swordmaster certainly ends up pretty solid. Didn't use too much, though.
Ricken: Miriel with like 5-6 less speed forever. Wait, this is kinda unimpressive.
Maribelle: Lissa who joins later but has a pony. Same flaws though. I was going to try to use her longterm but death happened to her too.
Panne: Somewhat myrmidonish. No 2 range, but decent speed and HP with nothing else terribly bad. Potential's kinda low without reclass. I'd like her more if she'd gained Beastbane before the cavalier swarm of C12 instead of right after.
Gaius: See Lon'qu with a rockier start but thief stuff! Unfortunately you have good prepromos for this role.
Cordelia: Kinda uber, looking at the stat topic nobody has that spd+str combo. More or less Chrom on a pegasus with different weapons. Being a pegasus isn't all win in this game (bows are more common and hurt) but overall still a positive, so Cordelia ranks as one of the best PCs in the game.
Gregor: Gregor is most fun character! Unfortunately Gregor is having forgettable base stats and not comparing well with Lon'qu who also got benched, so bench for Gregor too. (Nothing really
wrong with him, but he didn't inspire.)
Nowi: Range 1-2 manakete, yay! Speed's kinda bad though, and like Panne the potential feels a bit limited. So she's mediocre. This saddens me oh so much given that design.
Libra: Prepromo healer the first. Very solid durability at join but this definitely decays. Still, he serves his purpose well enough. Unlike Lissa or Maribelle he can use the Bolt Axe with no grinding, which is a nice push lategame although by then his combat stats are too shaky to put it to great use.
Tharja: I do like dark magic in this game. Weightless Nosferatu is nerfed from 12 but still very good, Ruin is the long-awaited +crit tome, Waste has definite potential although my Tharja had trouble tapping it (speed- and skill-screwed). Tharja has above average def and speed to use with her magic, so good things to say about her generally here.
Anna: Prepromo healer the second, and very awesome. Also covers thiefy duties, has great evasion, and the Levin Sword is absolutely brutal (if limited) domination midgame. Lategame she falls off a lot like Fred/Libra but remains respectable, just have to watch out for her terribad def.
Olivia: Good work IS, you managed to make a dancer I couldn't be bothered to use. OHKOed by way too much (physical and magic alike), and in a game with ninja reinforcements.
Cherche: Haar! With a weakness which is a much larger concern. Amazing str, good def, speed is at least okay. Speed and the weakness keep her out of the "best units in the game" discussion but still very good.
Henry: Is awesome. And pretty good too, see Tharja and dark magic comments. Henry had the highest non-Tiki def in my army too, and this isn't even terribly unreasonable. Speed could be better though. His death was the most tragic.
Say'ri: I guess IS realised that sword-lock is a bit of a weakness, since SMs got a buff in this game. Innate avoid boost, Astra being the only skill besides Aether which gives a high damage boost (and only uses one weapon charge now, thank goodness), and an extremely powerful 1-2 range sword unique to the class. High offence and her durability manages to be acceptable. Lack of supports a weakness, but there is...
Tiki: Aside from not hitting weakness on the final boss like some, Tiki is an incredibly powerful manakete. Both defences are close to game-best, and she actually has some speed unlike Nowi. She was a PC I could put anywhere and never worry, while countering everything, and teamed with Say'ri they could kill lots of things, too. Offence isn't incredible at base besides being 2 range, though. Basically an armour knight on crack.
Basilio and Flavia: Basilio's another awesome character and Flavia's not bad herself. As PCs they have solid stats and Basilio's actual bow rank is certainly appreciated, though he's a bit fragile due to res. They join a bit underlevelled but not understatted, so they actually get notably better in their 3.5 maps.
NotMarth: Underlevelled but gets really good stats once she gets rolling, and having a nice weapon helps. Not sure what I think about her vs. Chrom; she starts out worse but ends up better.
Kids: My Morgan was decent but fought being underlevelled the entire game and never really closed the gap, though I can see how one would. The rest I used as promoted-at-10 terribly underlevelled filler. The one who inherited two rally skills at once by accident (Sevara) was the most useful until she met her untimely end. I only had four pairings so most of them I didn't even get, of course.
So yeah, good game. 9/10 almost certainly, just need to sort out where.
