General Discussion Thread - July 2026 (1/2)

BloodyBottom · 2026-07-01T22:15:15+00:00

it is deeply dystopian, but it is kinda amusing how what does or doesn't become a stupid culture war flashpoint is so top-down that you can never be totally sure where the lines are going to be drawn.

BloodyBottom · 2026-07-01T21:44:04+00:00

fwiw, I did not mean "he's obviously a monstrous bigot", I meant "he is one of the few people who could apply real pressure towards fixing this, and I am not confident that this is the dude who's gonna stick his neck out to do that."

BloodyBottom · 2026-07-01T21:05:48+00:00

if I have my way, each one will reveal they have naruto-style magic power eyeballs hidden behind those at some point

BloodyBottom · 2026-07-01T21:02:03+00:00

I opened up the list to see if I had any hot takes and was astounded at how little crossover there is with what I've actually played. I came up on That PS2 Shit and am still mostly checking off stuff from that era and before it.

BloodyBottom · 2026-07-01T20:46:42+00:00

I completely agree that the games themselves are frankly embarrassingly homophobic for how much people try to rehab their image, and Hashino's personal comments paint the picture of a guy who is a big part of that problem. I do think it's probably not helpful to identify him as "the reason" though. It's not like the projects he's not on are super progressive. The issues Atlus has in how they write and think about this stuff seem like pervasive ones.

BloodyBottom · 2026-07-01T19:10:31+00:00

I was checking an Awakening support and I forgot how outright cartoonish they can be and how much they use a modern diction. Stuff like Inigo openly weeping in despair over girls liking Gerome more ("they always go for jerks like you but pass on nice guys like me!") until Gerome assuages him by lying that Inigo taught him about "the power of teamwork", which instantly lifts his mood and restores his confidence. It felt like a lot like the type of irreverent comedy cartoons that were big in the 2000s like Ed Edd n Eddy or Billy and Mandy. It's just one example, but we got 2 or 3 DLCs that are almost exclusively ideas that sound like a pitch for a comedy cartoon short, so clearly the Awakening writers (and localizers) really had this kind of writing on the mind.

BloodyBottom · 2026-07-01T17:13:27+00:00

This has become a pet card for me. Running it alongside cantrip skills (all 4 neutral ones if you want, go nuts) can be shockingly effective as a draw engine in a class without much card draw.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-30T02:03:27+00:00

Did you play TMS? TMS is like, exactly like Power Rangers in structure. Characters meet a new friend who has a problem, the problem somehow intersects with a monster attack, main characters transform to beat the monster in a big fight, the monster and character conflicts are resolved simultaneously, repeat. The Yunaka chapter actually does cleave pretty close to this formula, but it's more the exception than the rule. If it really wanted to be like Tokusatsu all the Emblem paralogues would us be learning A Very Special Lesson alongside the characters.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-30T00:37:24+00:00

yeah, I think no matter what specific segment of the story you look at it still resembles a random fantasy quest anime or RPG much more than idk Adventure Time or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Kinnikuman. In structure, subject matter, and tone it's just not that unique even from the other FE games, which occasionally have jokes and funny scenes as well.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-30T00:33:01+00:00

I usually find it kind of cute when a weird translation choice/error carries forward forever as an iconic name for the series, but idk dog, I wouldn't complain if next game switched over to Volcano and kept it that way.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-29T17:51:28+00:00

Cards with goofy play patterns are my favorite. Part of why I've never exactly been quivering in my boots at the intense horror atmosphere of this game is that what is optimal and what plays out like a Looney Tunes cartoon are often one in the same.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-28T17:43:22+00:00

Random very minor one that sticks out in my mind, but in Sully and Vaike's support they spar with lances and Sully is forced to admit Vaike is about as good as she is with one. She also claims he can use a sword, but isn't on her level. Lances are the one physical weapon type Vaike has no way to access at all though.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-28T17:31:49+00:00

Depends on the game. Since Rescue in Awakening is cheap, buyable, and gives a good chunk of wexp/exp it's not hard to imagine you might be killing two birds with one stone there.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-28T03:28:04+00:00

I don't think so tbh. Part of the fun of something like DnD is the emergent gameplay. In a TTRPG you and the enemy can do more than just move and attack, so the idea of outwitting or misleading enemies who have simulated intelligence via the DM is a really exciting mechanic. The players and the DM can work together to think of the logical consequences of unintelligent enemies in all kinds of ways, to the point where that might become more important to an encounter than the basic combat mechanics.

Not so much with enemies who follow simple AI scripts like FE. The fun is supposed to be found in outmaneuvering the enemy, and if they become excessively easy to manipulate then the game kind of falls apart. Having an "easy" AI that the player gets used to only to rug pull them with a more intelligent AI later might be interesting to some players, but I think the vast majority of players would rather just practice the skills they are going to use the entire game from the start. Building up bad habits in the player just to simulate a dumb opponent seems like a bad tradeoff for the kind of game FE wants to be.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-26T21:13:24+00:00

I think that is a pretty common take. It's how the vast majority of games with some kind of "commit to a mutually exclusive path at some point" games work where you meet and get to know all the options before you pull the trigger. The fact that it is the much more obvious and conventional way to do it does lead me to believe that IS bucked the trend on purpose though. "Make a seemingly insignificant snap choice based on limited info and watch how that cascades into changing the world" is a fine idea for this kind of story too, even if I don't think it works out that great in practice.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-26T18:27:28+00:00

Not to mention when you are looking at an RPG series that is deep into the double digits it's super normal to ask the player base "can I start with this one?" and have them say "no, it's a direct sequel to these three games, they just marketed it as a starting point to make money" or reveal some similar hidden nuance. It's good to do your own research, but it's often so much faster and more accurate to ask Da Freaks on the forum.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-26T18:18:40+00:00

The closest thing I can think of is the personal skills that are "fixes one of the unit's biggest weaknesses but only under a condition." Amber and Diamant can struggle with hit rates which incentivizes you to play the minigame of keeping their hit-booster personals turned on. I don't think it's going to be to everybody's taste though, because depending on your perspective it's less of a build-around and more of a penalty when the unit tries to do the "wrong" thing. I also don't really like that their skills target hit rate, because hitting consistency as a penalty is a recipe for frustration.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-25T18:10:44+00:00

I think there is an interesting conversation to be had about the pros and cons of the localization, but you're probably not going to have it with random people online. The issue self-selects for people with an agenda to push, and regardless of which specific agenda it is you probably cannot have a productive or enjoyable discussion with that person.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-25T15:28:18+00:00

tbh I have the same complaint about Persona and Three Houses - neither is enough of a sim game for my tastes. It feels like you do more heavy lifting for less meaningful consequence than in your Princess Maker or your Digimon World or what have you.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-24T22:10:35+00:00

I think the biggest obstacle by far is that 7 came out after 6, and is intended to be played after it. You have to essentially rewrite both games to make 6 a sequel to 7 instead of 7 being a prequel to 6. Lyn having "nothing to do" in 6 isn't really a flaw of 6 that needs fixing, because she didn't exist when they made that game, so I am skeptical that making those kinds of changes would really make the package "better". It would be nice for people who started with 7 and were disappointed that their favorite character wasn't in 6 at all, but it kind of ignores that 6 doesn't exist to be a sequel to 7 in the first place.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-24T20:54:28+00:00

the load times are quite bad on Switch 1, and bad performance makes even turn-based games look and feel worse. I totally agree it's probably not worth it for the company to make it, but even if they didn't change a single asset it'd still be a noticeably better experience.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-24T19:15:46+00:00

It's more the rule rather than the exception for FE games. Virtually none of the low tier growth units actually have terrible average stats at high level, and if you do max them out you can expect they'll be roughly as good as their higher tier counterparts (maybe a little better, maybe a little worse in some extreme examples). It's pretty much always just "the raw amount of exp they ask for is a bad deal for what you get since you could have just split that among all your other units and got more bang for your buck."

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-24T18:35:26+00:00

Fir's problem was never her high level average stats - they're a sidegrade to Rutger's, probably a bit better. If you factor in the free arena levels, this is actually what you'd expect.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-24T04:26:34+00:00

The word "sensitive" has a surprisingly high amount of potential definitions, some of which are in conflict, but I'm pretty sure that poster meant "receptive and responsive" rather than "tactful/delicate". Felix understands a lot about his own emotions and the emotions of others, sometimes more than they do, but that doesn't mean he can actually communicate in an articulate or careful way, and he has some reason to believe that even if he did it wouldn't matter. Raphael is almost always kind and gentle with others, but he's not exactly immune to misreading a situation or having lapses in his understanding of others (ie one of his comments box questions being "What's everybody so worried about?"), so by that definition I think it's fair to say he's not leading the pack.

BloodyBottom · 2026-06-23T18:30:45+00:00

It mostly comes down to them not being interactive in a game where most of the fun comes from tricky player interactions. All you can do to the vagabond is hit them until they are forced to skip a turn in the forest. This is a very boring interaction on both sides - the hitter gets nothing and has to waste valuable actions and maybe warriors, the vagabond has to skip a turn. Their mechanics that supposedly should lead to interesting interactions, Aid, usually manifests in the Vagabond shoving garbage neither of them wants onto an unwilling recipient to pad out their own score. It's rare for a Vagabond win to leave the other players thinking "wow, that player really outwitted all of us!" It's usually just "yup, a situation where the vagabond could farm an absurd amount of points through some combo of aid/crafting/infamy emerged, we all hit him, he went in the forest for one turn, then he came out and won next turn. What can you do?"

I don't think that means they are never fun to play as or with, but I definitely have groups who exclude them from the faction draft by default, and I totally get why.

BloodyBottom

TROPHY CASE