You get no Sympathy in a "Fire Emblem Discussion"

[jaytalks]

So, what does everybody think about the open-ended overworld feature found in Sacred Stones and Awakening?

When I play for fun, I prefer it. When I play a challenge run, I ignore it. So I don't mind the overworld maps. I feel like casual fans like it so I don't mind it. I never use arenas.

I get Swampasaur's point, but I've used grinding before chapter 11 specifically because I wanted a character at a certain level to beat it, so I don't want to be a hypocrite. I'm generally okay with Gameplay And Story Segregation in most games, provided they dont overuse it.

 

[Hong]

When I play for fun, I prefer it. When I play a challenge run, I ignore it. So I don't mind the overworld maps. I feel like casual fans like it so I don't mind it. I never use arenas.

I get Swampasaur's point, but I've used grinding before chapter 11 specifically because I wanted a character at a certain level to beat it, so I don't want to be a hypocrite. I'm generally okay with Gameplay And Story Segregation in most games, provided they dont overuse it.

You do bring up a good point, jay. It is not like Fire Emblem ever forces you to grind. In fact, prior to Awakening, Sacred Stones has always been the game I recommend to people for trying out the series for that very reason. All the same, while I avoid excess XP because I find the games too easy, it is good if the option is there for those who want it.

Permanent death has become an option as well. It is very easy for a purist like myself to feel threatened and discomforted by the idea of a Fire Emblem that is written in pencil and not pen, though it would be silly to deny the fact it has played a part in its improved commercial success.

 

[Hong]

Long story short: As a part of the gaming industry, I do presentations from time to time. In about a week, I am doing a presentation on Fire Emblem, and I could use some opinions from fellow Emblemiers.

Now, the part of the presentation on Fire Emblem is only to be 5-10 minutes long, with up to an additional 5 minutes for Q&A. My goal is to explain what Fire Emblem is to an audience consisting of people who, with a vary wide range of gaming experience, have probably never heard of it before. I can't hope to go over each entry and all the mechanics in detail, so I am doing at my best at least explaining what it is at a glance. This is a tl;dr of my notes:

• Ask the audience what you get when you combine chess, war simulation, and fantasy conventions.
• Here I play the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-2kf1VKM1U]1990 Fire Emblem commercial[/url]. The idea here is shock and humour to get the audience interested.
• Briefly introduce the subject (Fire Emblem), and go over series history.
• Talk about what defines it:
  • Novel-esque plot, lots of text
  • Heavy emphasis on strategy. Player able to take all the time in the world to make their choices.
  • Supports and character relationships, how they affect the story.
  • Permanent death. I will clarify on the fact this is optional as of recent.
• Show a visible example of play. Point out who the player is, who the enemy is, how battles play out.
• Talk about strategy:
  • Classes differences and specialties
  • Positioning
  • The weapon triangle
  • Other class counters (eg. melee VS archers, archers vs pegasi)
• How the player uses tactics and character unity to overcome odds.
• Reasons why Fire Emblem has had limited success:
  • Not as exciting as other games
  • Permanent death reputation; unforgiving
  • Anime art style has less appeal outside of Asia
• Talk about the legacy of the first commercial, and show the remake of the first commercial.
• Summary of presentation

Fin. Is there anything that I should add or remove?

I really wanted to do a slide on series legacy, but I am afraid I don't have enough for people to appreciate. The series has a few cameos, which are obscure and limited to gamers (such as Smash Bros.) I was hoping some of the VAs for Awakening could be traced to well-known talent, but they seem to only be known for their work in animes, which is not enough. :/

 

[Robert of Normandy]

I use arenas in some FE games. In Thracia I use them as much as possible because they're the only source of money outside of capturing enemies. In Sacred Stones I never really bothered with them, while in FE6/7 I use them sparingly.

As for overworld grinding, I only really used that in Sacred Stones to raise the Trainees and in Awakening for support building. I did abuse it a bit the last time I played Gaiden.

 

[jaytalks]

Long story short: As a part of the gaming industry, I do presentations from time to time. In about a week, I am doing a presentation on Fire Emblem, and I could use some opinions from fellow Emblemiers.

Now, the part of the presentation on Fire Emblem is only to be 5-10 minutes long, with up to an additional 5 minutes for Q&A. My goal is to explain what Fire Emblem is to an audience consisting of people who, with a vary wide range of gaming experience, have probably never heard of it before. I can't hope to go over each entry and all the mechanics in detail, so I am doing at my best at least explaining what it is at a glance. This is a tl;dr of my notes:

• Ask the audience what you get when you combine chess, war simulation, and fantasy conventions.
• Here I play the 1990 Fire Emblem commercial. The idea here is shock and humour to get the audience interested.
• Briefly introduce the subject (Fire Emblem), and go over series history.
• Talk about what defines it:
  • Novel-esque plot, lots of text
  • Heavy emphasis on strategy. Player able to take all the time in the world to make their choices.
  • Supports and character relationships, how they affect the story.
  • Permanent death. I will clarify on the fact this is optional as of recent.
• Show a visible example of play. Point out who the player is, who the enemy is, how battles play out.
• Talk about strategy:
  • Classes differences and specialties
  • Positioning
  • The weapon triangle
  • Other class counters (eg. melee VS archers, archers vs pegasi)
• How the player uses tactics and character unity to overcome odds.
• Reasons why Fire Emblem has had limited success:
  • Not as exciting as other games
  • Permanent death reputation; unforgiving
  • Anime art style has less appeal outside of Asia
• Talk about the legacy of the first commercial, and show the remake of the first commercial.
• Summary of presentation

Fin. Is there anything that I should add or remove?

I really wanted to do a slide on series legacy, but I am afraid I don't have enough for people to appreciate. The series has a few cameos, which are obscure and limited to gamers (such as Smash Bros.) I was hoping some of the VAs for Awakening could be traced to well-known talent, but they seem to only be known for their work in animes, which is not enough. :/

great presentation. in all honesty, the series doesnt have a strong enough legacy at this point to warrant the type of slide you are talking about. I think the only way you could talk about its legacy is by referencing any games influenced it. If there is enough of those. You could also talk about the series' anime OVA as well as manga if you choose to do a legacy slide.

I would have permanent death as a strong focus and a key point about the series (which you might have already had in mind), and then talk about some of the changes it made to the series in order to broaden it's appeal (mainly with Awakening). The changes slide would go after permanent death in what defines it or why it has had limited success.

Rather than phrasing it as "not as exciting as other games," I would say that its genre (strategy RPG) historically has struggled to go beyond a niche audience due to the lack of action in the game.

A part of the history (which you probably were already going to do) should be about the fear of the games being too hard for western gamers (along with it being a heavily text based game) resulting in a lack of releases outside Japan until their inclusion in Smash sparked interest.

 

[Hong]

I would have permanent death as a strong focus and a key point about the series (which you might have already had in mind), and then talk about some of the changes it made to the series in order to broaden it's appeal (mainly with Awakening). The changes slide would go after permanent death in what defines it or why it has had limited success.

That's a good idea. Could also talk about how it has created a divide between generations.

Rather than phrasing it as "not as exciting as other games," I would say that its genre (strategy RPG) historically has struggled to go beyond a niche audience due to the lack of action in the game.

I was going to focus on the amount of text more than anything, since you either read it and appreciate it, or skip it and lose out on much of the product.

A part of the history (which you probably were already going to do) should be about the fear of the games being too hard for western gamers (along with it being a heavily text based game) resulting in a lack of releases outside Japan until their inclusion in Smash sparked interest.

This is also a great idea. If I have the time I'll certainly talk about international exposure.

 

[IsmaR]

My condolences in advance.

 

[Hong]

My condolences in advance.

I think I'll fare well.

Certainly no stranger to presentations and speaking in-front of an audience. Plus. with six years in the theatre, nine counting three years of Chinese opera, I would like to think I can be an entertaining presenter. It also helps that I am a closeted comedian, so even if someone is unable to appreciate the subject, I can still get them laughing.

After I go over a few other things, I will be yielding the stage to someone else. She will be presenting on the lore of the Halo universe, and she is not as silly. In that sense, part of my job will be to entertain and lighten up the audience.

Unrelated, but I thought this was nice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ziXSioJ2JQ

It's a 36-minute-long melody spanning Fire Emblems 1-12. I have been listening to it as I prepare my materials.

 

[Thane of Blue Flames]

You're a cool guy, Hong. Wish they had talks, like the one you're giving, at my school.

 

[---]

Long story short: As a part of the gaming industry, I do presentations from time to time. In about a week, I am doing a presentation on Fire Emblem, and I could use some opinions from fellow Emblemiers.

Now, the part of the presentation on Fire Emblem is only to be 5-10 minutes long, with up to an additional 5 minutes for Q&A. My goal is to explain what Fire Emblem is to an audience consisting of people who, with a vary wide range of gaming experience, have probably never heard of it before. I can't hope to go over each entry and all the mechanics in detail, so I am doing at my best at least explaining what it is at a glance. This is a tl;dr of my notes:

• Ask the audience what you get when you combine chess, war simulation, and fantasy conventions.
• Here I play the 1990 Fire Emblem commercial. The idea here is shock and humour to get the audience interested.
• Briefly introduce the subject (Fire Emblem), and go over series history.
• Talk about what defines it:
  • Novel-esque plot, lots of text
  • Heavy emphasis on strategy. Player able to take all the time in the world to make their choices.
  • Supports and character relationships, how they affect the story.
  • Permanent death. I will clarify on the fact this is optional as of recent.
• Show a visible example of play. Point out who the player is, who the enemy is, how battles play out.
• Talk about strategy:
  • Classes differences and specialties
  • Positioning
  • The weapon triangle
  • Other class counters (eg. melee VS archers, archers vs pegasi)
• How the player uses tactics and character unity to overcome odds.
• Reasons why Fire Emblem has had limited success:
  • Not as exciting as other games
  • Permanent death reputation; unforgiving
  • Anime art style has less appeal outside of Asia
• Talk about the legacy of the first commercial, and show the remake of the first commercial.
• Summary of presentation

Fin. Is there anything that I should add or remove?

I really wanted to do a slide on series legacy, but I am afraid I don't have enough for people to appreciate. The series has a few cameos, which are obscure and limited to gamers (such as Smash Bros.) I was hoping some of the VAs for Awakening could be traced to well-known talent, but they seem to only be known for their work in animes, which is not enough. :/

Reminds me of when I brought in my copies of FE1-5 to play in a presentation for my Japanese class. I unintentionally held down the button as the dialogue scrolled across the screen, while my professor tried to read it out loud as quickly as she could.


I'd also maybe give some personal recommendations for people who may become interested. Such as easiest/hardest/most balanced game, best story, best gameplay, which ones the Smash Bros. guys appear in, etc. Mention the free FE13 Demo on the eShop, that all the Japanese games have translation patches online, maybe even mention the upcoming SMTxFE.

When talking series history, I'd point out the poor sales that FE9-12 had and that FE13 was the last ditch effort to save the series.

Not sure about the legacy of the series as I have not played many other Strategy RPGs, but I do know that the series has had fair success in Japan. Anime, manga, artbooks, Trading Card Game, drama CDs, featured in music concerts, cameos in games such as Smash and Monster Hunter, etc.

Also found this pic, that shows off a fair amount of the series.

 

[Hong]

Reminds me of when I brought in my copies of FE1-5 to play in a presentation for my Japanese class. I unintentionally held down the button as the dialogue scrolled across the screen, while my professor tried to read it out loud as quickly as she could.


I'd also maybe give some personal recommendations for people who may become interested. Such as easiest/hardest/most balanced game, best story, best gameplay, which ones the Smash Bros. guys appear in, etc. Mention the free FE13 Demo on the eShop, that all the Japanese games have translation patches online, maybe even mention the upcoming SMTxFE.

Hmm. Right now, the plan is to only talk about the series history at a glance, though if I rehearse it and find I have time, I would certainly like to talk notable entries. Big changes in direction, commercial success/failure, controversy, etc. This would also be a good chance to point out where a good entry point would be.

Also found this pic, that shows off a fair amount of the series.

I am so stealing that.

No, literally.

I am going to find that and steal it.

But really, thanks a lot.

I'd really like to mention the TCG, OVA and other merchandise if it's possible. We'll see.

 

[Robert of Normandy]

Also found this pic, that shows off a fair amount of the series.

Damn, whoever that guy is has a CIB retail version AND the NP version of Thracia.

Stupid collectors, always hogging things and making games harder to find for everyone else

 

[xXIke-SamaXx]

The game doesn't have any challenge after Ch 3.

The pairing system is too much. It absolutely trivializes a number of mechanics, such as speed penalties. What is more is it makes Fire Emblem more volatile than it already is; the difference between an attack and an attack followed up by a dual strike, is immense. I LOVE the concept of visibly having the characters fight together, but Dual strikes should only be dealing like maybe half damage, and the base stat bonuses are unnecessary. Getting bonuses to stats like atk, def, avoid, hit, etc., was already more than enough. Simply having the characters able to stack without the Rescue penalties and restrictions of the past is huge.

Awakening, like Thracia 776, is largely fake difficulty. The only thing that will kill you, besides Counter (usually by someone who initiated the attack), are reinforcements. As it stands, it is a memory game. I am all for enemy reinforcements forcing the player to have to respond and adapt, but vague text hints are not sufficient enough telegraphing. Sometimes the game doesn't even grant you that. Either have them appear and not attack until next turn (maybe have them not give XP), or have some kind of warning graphic that suggests where they could come from.
Having fliers that can attack up to 10 cells away appear on a map that is only 16 cells wide, with enough speed to double healers, is a bit much. I fully anticipated that flying units would appear from the side of the screen, and walled off my healers, and Lissa still died because they had Spears.

It just upsets me. Path of Radiance is by far the best designed FE as of recent as far as difficulty is concerned. The Maniac difficulty found on the Japanese version is what Lunatic should have been modelled after.
Oh, I am sure Falco will be fine if he lost something. Having the fastest vertical speed, one of the best spikes, and the best projectile is already more than enough. I am not sure how Falco's blaster has remained as it has for two games. I think Fox's blaster in SSB64 did it right: It was spaced out in such a way that you could just barely weave through it as the majority of the cast, but it still gave Fox a lot of control.

Thracia 776 is only hard at the beginning but once you get the balance down and Promote Othin (Orsin) you are good to go.

 

[FireEmblemFan101]

I have decided, after looking at a little bit of RD, that Begnion's empire is messed up. Especially Duke Oliver Tanas

 

[FireEmblemFan101]

We noticed...

But dude. Just a game!

True, a game it may be, but it really shows disrespect to the characters. Insults won't hurt the characters because they are animations made through artistic skill and codes. I hope you understand where I am coming from. Marth and Roy aren't gay. And it really shows how people think about characters, and shows how intelligent they are.

 

[FireEmblemFan101]

For the Generals:
Top left: Black Knight?
Top Right: Taureneo
Mid Left: Brom
Mid Right: GAY TREE
Bottom Left: Meg
Bottom Right: Zelgius

Sages(from top to bottom):
Left Column: Soren, Tormod, Bastian,Pelleas
Right Column: Illyana, Calil, Micaiah

Bishops(from top to bottom):
Left column: Rhys, Laura
Middle column: Oliver, Lekain,Hetzel
Right Column: Valtome, Numida?

How'd I do?

Zelgius is the Black Knight.

 

[Robert of Normandy]

Zelgius is the Black Knight.

Uh dude

I think we all know who the Black Knight REALLY is

Spoiler

 

[FireEmblemFan101]

Uh dude

I think we all know who the Black Knight REALLY is

Spoiler

It's not Jill,or Anna, and You put Top Left: Black Knight, and Bottom Right: Zeligus. I am wondering about your thought process. go to Wikipedia and Look up
List of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance characters and click on 3.3 The Black Knight or click the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Fire_Emblem:_Path_of_Radiance_characters#Black_Knight

 

[FalKoopa]

It's not Jill,or Anna, and You put Top Left: Black Knight, and Bottom Right: Zeligus. I am wondering about your thought process. go to Wikipedia and Look up
List of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance characters and click on 3.3 The Black Knight or click the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Fire_Emblem:_Path_of_Radiance_characters#Black_Knight

You really need to be less serious...

 

[FireEmblemFan101]

You really need to be less serious...

Good luck with that. I doubt it will ever happen.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

True, a game it may be, but it really shows disrespect to the characters. Insults won't hurt the characters because they are animations made through artistic skill and codes. I hope you understand where I am coming from. Marth and Roy aren't gay. And it really shows how people think about characters, and shows how intelligent they are.

Oh-kay....

I'm a Christian but this is gay-bashing. Plain and simple.

Good luck with that. I doubt it will ever happen.

As one man to another.

You need a sense of humor to SURVIVE in this world.

 

[OcarinaOfDoom]

So guys, clearly Roy and Lyn are Marth and Ike's cousins. I saw it on Miiverse, and everything on Miiverse is true.

 

[FireEmblemFan101]

Oh-kay....

I'm a Christian but this is gay-bashing. Plain and simple.


As one man to another.

You need a sense of humor to SURVIVE in this world.

Humor is nothing more than a concept.
And how is that Gay-bashing? I just take plain and simple fact, Marth and Roy aren't gay.

 

[FireEmblemFan101]

So guys, clearly Roy and Lyn are Marth and Ike's cousins. I saw it on Miiverse, and everything on Miiverse is true.

No actually. Each Fire Emblem game that's not a sequel or prequel is not related to any other game. Lyn is older than Roy and could possibly be his mother, because Eliwood is Roy's father. Ike's father is Greil. Fire Emblem games do not link different protagonist from other installments that have a different story-line, continent, etc. DLC and Spotpass aren't the same. Whoever said that on Miiverse should really look stuff up before making claims as those.

 

[Robert of Normandy]

No actually. Each Fire Emblem game that's not a sequel or prequel is not related to any other game. Lyn is older than Roy and could possibly be his mother, because Eliwood is Roy's father. Ike's father is Greil. Fire Emblem games do not link different protagonist from other installments that have a different story-line, continent, etc. DLC and Spotpass aren't the same. Whoever said that on Miiverse should really look stuff up before making claims as those.

Most people know this.

We're just having a bit of fun is all.

 

[OcarinaOfDoom]

No actually. Each Fire Emblem game that's not a sequel or prequel is not related to any other game. Lyn is older than Roy and could possibly be his mother, because Eliwood is Roy's father. Ike's father is Greil. Fire Emblem games do not link different protagonist from other installments that have a different story-line, continent, etc. DLC and Spotpass aren't the same. Whoever said that on Miiverse should really look stuff up before making claims as those.

I really need to add /sarcasm at the end of my posts.
/sarcasm

 

[FireEmblemFan101]

Most people know this.

We're just having a bit of fun is all.

Fun is nothing more than a concept.

 

[FireEmblemFan101]

I really need to add /sarcasm at the end of my posts.
/sarcasm

Sarcasm is nothing more than a concept. And I should have linked this one to my other one.

 

[FireEmblemFan101]

Long story short: As a part of the gaming industry, I do presentations from time to time. In about a week, I am doing a presentation on Fire Emblem, and I could use some opinions from fellow Emblemiers.

Now, the part of the presentation on Fire Emblem is only to be 5-10 minutes long, with up to an additional 5 minutes for Q&A. My goal is to explain what Fire Emblem is to an audience consisting of people who, with a vary wide range of gaming experience, have probably never heard of it before. I can't hope to go over each entry and all the mechanics in detail, so I am doing at my best at least explaining what it is at a glance. This is a tl;dr of my notes:

• Ask the audience what you get when you combine chess, war simulation, and fantasy conventions.
• Here I play the 1990 Fire Emblem commercial. The idea here is shock and humour to get the audience interested.
• Briefly introduce the subject (Fire Emblem), and go over series history.
• Talk about what defines it:
  • Novel-esque plot, lots of text
  • Heavy emphasis on strategy. Player able to take all the time in the world to make their choices.
  • Supports and character relationships, how they affect the story.
  • Permanent death. I will clarify on the fact this is optional as of recent.
• Show a visible example of play. Point out who the player is, who the enemy is, how battles play out.
• Talk about strategy:
  • Classes differences and specialties
  • Positioning
  • The weapon triangle
  • Other class counters (eg. melee VS archers, archers vs pegasi)
• How the player uses tactics and character unity to overcome odds.
• Reasons why Fire Emblem has had limited success:
  • Not as exciting as other games
  • Permanent death reputation; unforgiving
  • Anime art style has less appeal outside of Asia
• Talk about the legacy of the first commercial, and show the remake of the first commercial.
• Summary of presentation

Fin. Is there anything that I should add or remove?

I really wanted to do a slide on series legacy, but I am afraid I don't have enough for people to appreciate. The series has a few cameos, which are obscure and limited to gamers (such as Smash Bros.) I was hoping some of the VAs for Awakening could be traced to well-known talent, but they seem to only be known for their work in animes, which is not enough. :/

Good luck on your presentation, As part of the permanent death, also mention that if the main character dies, or if objectives aren't met, then you have to restart.

 

[Shotguner159]

Would using the rally skills for Special moves make a hypothetical Fire Emblem character more unique compared to Marth and Ike?

What I mean is, instead of attacks for their Specials, they can create an aura for a limited around of time, which changes their properties to give them an advantage and disadvantage, and would only be able to have one active at a time.

For example,

Up Special: Rally Movement: Any movement done when the character attacks gets increased, like Up Air normally moving them up in the air slightly being able to be used as a recovery move, but attacks do less damage and knockback, and all aerials make the character helpless.

Neutral Special: Rally Strength: The characters attacks get stronger and knocks an opponent back further with them, but takes more damage and knockback from attacks.

Down Special: Rally Defence: The character takes less damage and knockback from attacks, but moves slower and falls faster.

Side Special: Rally Speed: The character moves faster, like wearing a Bunny Hood, but everything gets sped up, so shields would decrease quicker, dodges would be over sooner, and the character would be easier to knock off the stage since they'd fly across it faster.

Final Smash: Rally Spectrum: The character gets all of the advantages of the Specials, but with none of the disadvantages.

 

[Thane of Blue Flames]

Okay, now that's a Robin moveset I could get behind. Altering move properties at will? Now THAT'S a tactical moveset. Insta-mained.

On a side note, Priam's existence annoys me because I had a pet theory that Ike was transported through a wormhole onto a distant planet, where approximately 30 seconds later Samus crashes her ship.

Hijinks ensue

 

[Hong]

Would using the rally skills for Special moves make a hypothetical Fire Emblem character more unique compared to Marth and Ike?

See, we need to be careful here.

Being unique does not mean it is well designed. Those specials are all rather passive effects. I can guarantee you that, unless attack gives a MASSIVE bonus and defence gives an even more absurdly high bonus, they are not going to be compelling choices. Rally Speed will always be the best offensive and defensive choice.

Speed has always remained supreme in Smash Bros. Unless a slow character has some sort of immense blessing (Link's projectiles in SSB64, Dedede's grabs, etc.), it will always remain this way. You just get so many more opportunities, and you are a much trickier prey, if you are faster. What is worse is Rally Defence will just make poor Robin (who I assume would have this?) an easier target for combos, and she will suffer worse from multi-hit attacks.

This is not at all to knock on your creativity. I admire fresh ideas and concepts, but I am afraid they are just not compelling choices. Specials right now are not engaging enough for some characters as it is.

 

[Shotguner159]

The rallies as specials idea occurred to me and got it on here, but couldn't figure out exactly how it would work, so I used the first 4 rally skills I thought of and came up with the most basic pros and cons I could think of for them, without regard for how balanced they were, or how well designed it would be. If someone better at designing things than me could polish the idea, and make it well designed and balanced, would it be a compelling choice, if even only slightly?

Not just Robin, anyone really. The rally skills don't effect the user in Awakening, so someone is rallying whoever the observer wants the hypothetical Awakening character to be. Could be Robin, could be Chrom, could be Lucina, could be Gregor. Though it does make more sense Robin than anyone else, I didn't have anyone particular in mind when I came up with the idea.

 

[Hong]

I actually really like your idea. To refine this:

• Make all the Rallies offensive.
• Rally benefits decay and the Rally has to recharge.
• Rallies double as attacks.

My idea looks like:

B: Rally Strength
Punches ground and creates a shockwave, sending enemies skyward.

Character now has a red aura. Attacks have improved damage, knock-back, and attacks are audibly mightier Overall the most solid Rally.

B + Forward: Rally Speed
Draw weapon and vanish. Pressing B again will reappear and attack, with animations like a GBA-era Myrmidon/Swordmaster.

Green aura. In this state, the character has increased ground speed and falls faster, for better or worse. Great for pressing an advantage and gaining stage control

B + Down: Rally Magic
Spreads their arms and powers up, DBZ style, sending out a pulse of energy and knocking enemies away.

Blue aura. All of their attacks gain additional reach and elemental effects that increase shield-stun. Attacks with a neutral or forward input have a fire effect, downward attacks thunder, and upward attacks wind. Great for pressure.

B + Up : Rally Movement
Lunge in a given direction. Unlike other recoveries, if used in the air the character still has control, so you can use it to juggle or press an advantage in tandem with Rally Speed. This only works once-per-jump, so you need to stand on the stage for it to work again.

Character gains a gold aura as they momentarily benefit from increased aerial manoeuvrability. While this benefit has to recharge, the attack always functions.

--

Thus you now have a play style where it is not about picking a favourite stance, but constantly switching rallies to keep them fresh. It is a character all about gaining momentum in a fight and keeping it, because they are outmatched should they let their Rally fade. The only one with any potential downside is Rally Speed.

 

[Hong]

In other news:

I have just about wrapped up preparing materials for my presentation. I decided to do a slide on permanent death to go into greater detail.

Here is the fun part. What I need now is to decide on what image to use to convey permanent death. I am going to spoiler this since I think a regular here is playing through Path of Radiance right now. Anyway.

Which should I choose?

Spoiler

The mourning of Greil:

The traumatizing image of a lifeless Chrom staring into your soul:

Eliwood in awe of that sick 'stache.

Any other images I could use to increase the gravity of the slide?

 

[Thane of Blue Flames]

Spoiler

The clear choice far and away is Eliwood and Nils mourning over Ninian's dead body, with Lyndis distraught and even stalwart Hector at a loss for words, unable to console any of his companions.

 

[Robert of Normandy]

Spoiler

The Greil picture.

Spoiler

The clear choice far and away is Eliwood and Nils mourning over Ninian's dead body, with Lyndis distraught and even stalwart Hector at a loss for words, unable to console any of his companions.

Ooh, that's good idea too.

 

[Lazurwolf]

It would never happen, but I've always wanted to see how Ephraim would perform in Smash Bros.

 

[Deleted member]

So, I was thinking about a Chrom & Robin slot, a sort of gameplay mix between PKMN Trainer, Sheilda and Rosalina, representing Awakening's most important characters and main feature (double characters battling) at the same time :

- While you're controlling Chrom, Robin follow him on the battlefield, a bit like PKMN Trainer who follows his Pokémons, but does not count as a second character ala Ice Climber.
- Some of Chrom's and Robin's attacks work with both characters.
- You could alternate between Chrom and Robin like for Zelda & Sheik.
- Chrom is more sword-oriented, while Robin is more magic-oriented.
- When Chrom is KO'd, the player lose one life, and Robin takes over without Chrom.
- Then, some of his/her attacks doesn't work as well as when he/she is accompanied by Chrom.
- The player could re-have both Chrom and Robin after he gets KO'd a second time.
- Finally, Chrom works with Female Robin, while Lucina and Male Robin could be an alt for this slot.

And that's it for my idea for Chrom & Robin slot.

You thoughts on it ?

EDIT : Instead of the specificities I've striked, I suggest, like for the PKMN Trainer, Robin takes over Chrom when he's KO'd, and reappears on the background.

 

[Thane of Blue Flames]

Strong dislike?

Nothing against the moveset, it's just that I hate tag-team sort of deals. RosLuma is better because Luma seems more like a helpful summon than a part of a team. Plus, it rings of being short-changed. Two-half characters in one? Eh ...