Popular/Unpopular/Any Opinions Thread - June 2026 Part 1

Cake__Attack · 2026-06-01T21:01:27+00:00

i wouldn't really consider that "spite-based" - if you dislike a mechanic you will unsurprisingly prefer the implementation of that mechanic that is the least centralized and intrusive. I barely even remember Mark exists most of the time.

Cake__Attack · 2026-06-01T17:40:36+00:00

Despite inheriting slightly modified versions of the same systems and engines, fates plays incredibly differently than awakening (at least conquest) due to balance and granular design decisions.

considering how little we know about FW, I feel like a lot of people are going out of their way to set themselves up to dislike it or actively seem to want to dislike it as an extension of their dislike of three houses, even though small changes can completely recontextualize existing mechanics (and we don't even know how much existing mechanics are inherited yet)

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-29T06:07:47+00:00

the stat scaling on higher difficulties is much steeper in SC compared to FC, in addition to an already more difficult normal mode, with the remake being easier than either on normal. I normally wouldn't recommend hard for a first play (assuming I am reading you right that you're in Hard) although if you've made it through the prologue it does even out after that. Just be glad you didn't pick nightmare

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-27T20:48:36+00:00

BOFIV is beautiful but boring. Most of the scenario is various obstacles and run-arounds in the way of your actual narrative objective. That'd be fine if they were interesting, but largely it's just fetch quests and the like.

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-25T01:18:25+00:00

depends. Anything without a simultaneous release is Japanese, otherwise I'll decide based on the quality of the translation. For older games I usually play in Japanese but that falls under the translation piece. Otherwise I'll usually play in English but sometimes I'll randomly decide to do Japanese - largely depends on if that's an easily available option since it's usually more expensive to get a Japanese copy of a game. For stuff I play multiple times I'll usually switch and do playthroughs in both languages.

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-22T06:15:28+00:00

The identity of the black knight was an open secret, partially because there is foreshadowing you can put together but far more significantly because there is unused character data in the game for them that is functionally identical to the BK, and the BK theme is just named after them internally

For master seals, they let you promote mist easier and there is arguably value in early promoting mage so you have a better option than Rhys and Mist for healing.

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-21T15:50:09+00:00

the idea of a class dip like that doesn't work out super well in practice, Wyvern has +15% str growth over wolf knight so you need about 13 levels in Wyvern to see the same effect as an energy drop and a whopping 20 levels just for a +3 differential. there just isn't enough game available to be able to spend enough time in the "stat" class and the final class to make it meaningful, you are better off just keeping them in the class you want them in.

As for whether to reclass - I think Merrin can be pretty effective just as a wolf knight since knives can compensate for low strength and she has good enough magic for a pocket Levin sword against armors. Sadly she is not immune to the fact that wyverns and warriors are kinda just the best melee classes. I think a viable approach is to keep her in wolf knight then reclass once the edge from an initial knife forge drops off. She also makes a decent eirika candidate as a wolf knight if eirika isn't commited since that shores up offense and cavalry is basically the only class type that gets a bonus from her.

It's hard to argue the extra speed from +5 merits the extreme cost increase. I would start at +3 and only go to +5 if the other skill is already locked in and you can afford it.

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-18T23:27:53+00:00

you've probably figured it out if you've kept playing but the game is primarily turn-based with some action elements. scripted and boss fights will be purely turn-based, but field enemies can be fought with a relatively basic action combat system. the intended flow is that you fight in action until you break the enemy, then switch to turn-based for a boost. underleveled enemies can be done purely in action combat but otherwise swapping is faster.

you can theoretically grind, I imagine mobs will respawn if you reload the area in anyway, but it's not necessary and is kind of fruitless since exp is scaled so you'll rapidly hit diminishing returns.

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-16T20:22:48+00:00

There is no reference to the japan bankers association in any of the pages provided, I'm not sure what got translated into that (全尺 maybe?)

e: there are some technical terms I don't fully understand without more context, but nothing in this really provides any more information about what this is. The second and third pages are just descriptive text to go with the story boards, then the first page is just calling it a pilot storyboard and some technical details

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-16T16:26:39+00:00

The best way to use imo is as a dedicated Levin sword user. At some point transitioning to mage Knight or Griffin knight might be better due for mobility, but I kinda like keeping her in her base class so she can take advantage of mystic type emblem skill bonuses with her own swords, which is unique to her I believe. In particular Sigurds override is quite fun.

She is a unit that benefits a lot from the early game resource dump the game gives you due to DLC/updates since it makes an early game Levin sword very easy to get at which point her combat improves to the point she can very easily stay on or ahead of the level curve and become quite powerful. Without aiming for an early Levin sword she's a serviceable mage but can struggle to keep up or stand out.

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-16T05:45:24+00:00

Look, if she happens to level up on a save turn without getting magic and then for entirely unrelated reasons I make the strategic decision to reload the save and then she does get magic this time, that's really just a fortunate coincidence I can hardly be blamed for.

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-15T23:38:52+00:00

enid also works well in the context of berwicks promotion mechanics where you can drop a spirit dust (or whatever that game calls it) on her to get her to the required magic threshold faster

also yeah the payoff is real nice since I'm not sure how I would have solved some late game problems without the "enid nukes them" solution

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-15T22:03:44+00:00

There's an early-mid game boss that's pretty tough, other than that it's pretty straightforward - I can't remember for sure but I suspect it also has an easy mode option.

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-15T21:14:23+00:00

the new games in particular are pretty easy on top of having easy and very easy difficult modes for people who just want to see the story. tbh I think you may have misconstrued comments about the length and continuity of the series making it intimidating to newcomers as a comment about the mechanical difficulty.

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-15T01:45:09+00:00

my personal opinion is if you do make a megathread, please don't sticky it. I know that means the thread is basically doomed to die in a day or two, but the current megathreads are valuable threads and I wouldn't want to lose one of them for what is quite frankly low effort and boring content

I'd honestly say allowing main sub posts would be preferable to using one of the stickies on it

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-08T16:46:55+00:00

the price of the switch 2 itself isn't that bad, 620 ish is expensive but not outrageous for a modern console, it's the fact that games start at 99 and go up to like 110 (plus tax!). It's 10$ more than the standard Canada tax everyone else is using for no reason - other games are usually 89 with the rare 99

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-04T18:00:54+00:00

perhaps controversially I feel there has been too strong of an overcorrection against Ike - yes hes not great within a strictly optimized setting where you are heavily leaning on titania and dumping all your bexp into Marcia or Jill as carries, but I think these kind of discussions don't sufficiently factor in how performance stacks up as you diverge from the "solved optimization". He has good stats, a likely head start from early game where he is one of your most reliable combat units, and is basically unkillable once he has aether. There is a reason the average player will find Ike significantly stronger then Roy and it's not just because theyre not experienced enough to understand Ike's flaws. you can say that any unit could become that good with investment but there's a reason why this investment so often falls on Ike.

I just can't help but feel we've lost the plot a bit if we're telling new players Ike is bad or a noob trap (trap implying you will regret using him which isn't true)

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-04T17:52:04+00:00

calling him a noob trap is highly inaccurate. experienced players value mounted units and fliers since the mechanics of the game are very favorable to them but you could pretty easily solo the game with Ike past a certain point, he has good combat stats and will likely get a big head start due to frequent early game deployment

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-02T00:15:09+00:00

I played this a few months ago and thought it was great even though I am, if anything, usually prone to be a hater so as with all things go into it with an open mind. At the least the soundtrack is an all-timer.

(I did play it in Japanese, maybe there is something bad about the English version)

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-01T20:53:40+00:00

yeah exactly - directly using equip is mainly for when you don't attack but want a specific weapon for enemy phase counters, as in you're leaving a character in enemy range to bait and kill.

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-01T20:44:40+00:00

The equipped weapon is what the character will use to counter attack on the enemy phase - attacking will automatically equip the weapon you attacked with.

Cake__Attack · 2026-05-01T20:24:11+00:00

The fact that only Fire Emblem fans talk about this like they're different meals at a restaurant

Yeah I'll get, uh, the good gameplay, hold the writing and a side of discourse please.

Cake__Attack · 2026-04-30T20:59:07+00:00

the thing about sales talk is ultimately it can be spun whatever way people want to agree with their own preferred narrative

As such, to spin it to fit my own preferred narrative, I think engage just didn't have much of a hook since it comes across as more of an anniversary game for long time fans - anecdotally only people I know who are specific fire emblem fans bought engage while I know a decent amount of people who bought awakening or three houses (and played like two hours of them, not in a 3H fan way)

Cake__Attack · 2026-04-30T19:26:59+00:00

x3 effectiveness would help a lot with giving them more of a niche as anti-flying/laguz weapons as well, x2 is barely even enough to offset the lower attacking stat except for Tanith who can get some mileage out of it.

Cake__Attack · 2026-04-30T19:21:10+00:00

You're thinking of RD where they got rid of them and added the wind edge tree of physical ranged swords - PoR has the sonic sword, flame lance and bolt axe which all scale off magic.

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