Yes, they cancel each other out. Because they're on two opposite sides of the main conflict. They are still far more important to the plot of the game, and how the story plays out, than the gems are.
In the Future Past, the gems are important. In Awakening, they are literally just macguffins. They are shiny, do-nothing trinkets that you have to have because reasons. There is nothing to them. If you need proof of this, just watch the scene where the gemstones are kept far away from the battle because no one wanted to tempt fate, and yet Grima still comes back because he doesn't need them. They're just a plot element to chase down, and they contribute almost nothing to the story.
And, again, story is not everything. Gameplay is incredibly important (especially when considering Smash Bros.), and Chrom is so much more bland than Robin in that regard.
I think you are mixing up things here. all i said is that the FE/gemstones are the things the plot revolves around, since they are tied to grima's awakening, and the FE is the thing that drives the plot forward (if Validar had the fe from day 1, he wouldn't need to manipulate Gangrel, Walhart and Robin into doing stuff for him, which makes up about 80% of the game's story). they don't contribute to the story directly because the game gives a bigger focus to defeating the enemy commander. The objective of the Gangrel arc is played to be "defeat Gangrel', when its actually "don't let the rat get the Fire emblem". Why did Validar need to manipulate Gangrel into beating Walhart? To keep him away from the fe and to get the 2 Valmese gemstones... all of this, of course, because the guy forgot he could just teleport and steal all 4 gems and the Fe itself.
time travel is important too, but it isn't the main element of the story: it's not moving the plot around, it's doing the exact inverse: trying to change the plot. Lucina's interference only allowed things to wrap up faster due to speeding up the wars, and giving robin the idea to pull that bait and switch with Basilio (something that if he were more cautious or had more time to think, could've been done without Lucina interfering)
robin's ties to grima? They don't impact the story til the last chapter. Validar didn't need Robin as the vessel, he jsut kept messing with Robin because
robin is meant to be the player and they were trying to make us feel more important than we are he is evil. There was no need to mess with Robin in chapter 13 (unless that was when Validar put a mind control hex on Robin, or something), and due to Validar forgetting his teleport shenanigans, he also didn't need to mind control robin into stealing the Fe (which is his major objective) or betraying Chrom (whom he could've killed anytime). the importance he had due to this was completely ignored because Lucina brought Grima with her, no need for Vessel, no need for Robin. And he only had importance on the last chapter because Grima was power-hungry and evil/dumb (why try to get mor epower from Robin if he coudl've just done a barrel roll and killed everyone who had a shot at stopping him?)
Yes, story is not everything, but a game meant to be a celebration of multiple nitnedo franchises shouldn't put a Deutoragonist before a Protagonist. Would you be fine if Injustice: Gods among us had Nightwing playable but Batman was relegated to his super? it's wrong for the exact same reasons.
Stroy isn't everything, but Moveset Potential also isn't everything. To what use is having a unique moveset if people don't care about the character? it's what happened with Zelda, MGW, Olimar, R.o.b, Ness, Lucas, Mewtwo... people rarely play these guys and they are undoubtedly the most unique newcomers from their respective games. Their moveset and their character didn't appeal to the general public. Funnily enough 4 of them are mage-like characters, too.
People use Ike far more than they use olimar and ike is literally Link with no projectiles and brought NOTHING new to smash because his playstyle was already done. People initially liked ike because he was badass and had a big sword and cape.
Sakurai managed to convince most people that Moveset potential is the only thing that is important, but it simply isn't. Being the most important character in-line should be the top priority. Tingle would've been far more unique than the Zelda reps we got/could get. Waluigi has enough wacky stuff from the spin-offs to have a moveset more interesting than Rosalian, Jr and Toad TOGETHER. They could even be fun to play as too. But they aren't important enough to get in smash.
After importance, being a fun character to play as should've been the most important thing. Again, i bring the example of Ike: he added NOTHING to Brawl, but he was fun to play as; he looked like a badass, and he was important at the time. People like Characters that give the player feelings of empowerment due to either being too fast for the opponent to keep up, or Strong enough for they to finish things in few hits. Pikachu and Fox are consistently popular in smash for a reason. Defensive characters are unpopular for a reason. The whole melee vs brawl think illustrates this very well, too.
Being unique is an extra bonus, and is something all characters are capable of. comparatively to Robin, it might seem Chrom would've been nothing, but you do remember the List i made of all the stuff available to Chrom, don't you? It is foolish to deny Chrom had a good shot at being unique had the looks and attitude to make himself as popular and he was likely to have a fitting and liked playstyle backing him up.
I do hope Robin betrays my expectations and ends up being:
a) Fun and not that defensive
and
b) not ruining the metagame with Thunder camping.
i literally have no issue with him besides the above (as a magical character, i don't think i should worry about chaingrabbing) and the old importance issue. If he gets a major role compared to Chrom in a next FE and SMTxFe, then i'm fine with him even if i would've liked to play as Chrom better
That's not out of character. Rosalina is all about her Luma's and how she's motherly, yes, but she's not forcing them to fight FOR her, while she basically eats popcorn. She's fighting ALONGSIDE them. Rosalina AND Luma. THE Ice ClimberS. It shows teamwork, and as Rosalina loves the Lumas, the Lumas love her.
And even then, if she just used things from Mario Galaxy, her moveset wouldn't be as unique or fun, would it?
it shows teamwork, but what mother even brings her kids to fight with her? a bad mother that doesn't care about her kids.. something that Rosalina was shown to be the opposite. And it's only evne that much teamwork, Roslaina has command over the Luma's actions: it's a puppet to her.
and you care too much about being unique: if you are trampling over the character's traits and personality just for a gimmick, you are either taking the wrong gimmick or the wrong character (or both, seeing as Rosalina has no business being playable if neither Toad or Bowser Jr are playable)
