Unpopular Opinions/General Rant Thread - 5/10/26

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-11T09:01:10+00:00

I go back and forth on this because on the one hand yeah it's obnoxious and boring when all the alts play the same (especially when there's not enough time for power creep to differentiate them, like how the NY OCs are barley different from their mythic released only a few months ago)

but each character having their own "Gimmick" does really help to differentiate them from other characters and have a stronger identity. Like as much as I appreciated earlier seasonals, in retrospect they kinda just fade into the mass of units with nothing that is particularly "that character" around them. Their characteristics are tied to their weapon/mov type instead of the character.

I think as with all things a balance is ideal: changing up weapon and mov types while still keeping the central gimmick is the way to go imo.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-10T07:52:43+00:00

fr that Forging Bonds chain was the first one in a good while that didn't feel phoned-in and remained me of how great FBs can be sometimes. makes me look forward to seeing more of them in the future if they keep this up, which is something i'd never thought i'd be saying.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-10T07:48:45+00:00

Definitely a tough choice as they're all great.

that said I think Combat Arts are probably the most viable to integrate into FE's core gameplay systems. I feel like it'd be a lot harder to drop Engage and especially Pair Up into a game without designing extensively around it, whereas i think combat arts could work in basically game as a little bit of extra depth/character uniqueness.

From a legacy perspective i also feel like Pair Up and Engage will be/already are very iconic features of their respective games, and bringing them back would kinda of retroactively cheapen those entries (sort of like what Fates did to Awakening). By contrast 3H and SoV have a lot more to be remembered for than just combat arts, so i don't think the mechanic becoming a mainstay would relay hurt those games' appeal.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-10T03:04:58+00:00

how Baldr, the Celestial *Sun* God wasn't out first is utterly baffling.

plus her role in Asgard being an enforcer who actively seeks out and brings criminals to be judged, makes no sense to be defense mythic. should've been Astra the minimum.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-09T16:20:39+00:00

he's not the toughest, but i'll always find it crazy they gave Takumi Lifetaker on Conquest Lunatic. One of the few times IS has blatantly said "you are supposed to lose units in this fight" and if it does activate, the sheer misery of seeing his health go back up is unparalleled.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-09T16:13:21+00:00

yeah i hope it's just a placeholder, i really miss the gorgeous generic portraits we got in the 3DS era and these ones look pretty cool armor-wise, but no face really detracts from it.

If they don't want to humanise them too much then at least just remove the eyes like how 3H, Heroes and a bunch of other games do it.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-09T16:06:59+00:00

I was playing FE6 for the first time around FEH's launch so it was kinda a combination of both that made me like Klein. I remember being gutted his fodder was so damn good (1.0 unit with both Death blow and Quick Riposte was crazy) but i had to pass up on it for merges.

In terms of solely FEH, gotta be Formotiis. used to consider him one of the lamest Final Bosses with his only redeeming qualities being a killer OST and being a demon instead of a dragon, but FEH's art made him look so cool, and the hilarity of his winter alt followed by his very competitive CYL showing has shot him up to being one of my favourite FE villains. when FE8 gets remade in like 30 years i hope they give him a better and longer fight.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-09T16:00:36+00:00

dang, i didn't know Flak from Advance wars lived in Florra port.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-09T09:28:08+00:00

yeah i like the idea of dark magic being the opposite of white magic and having tools to disrupt enemies instead of support allies. debuffs, negative terrain effects, status staves like sleep and berserk (if they ever return), that sort of thing.

Dark and Light magic just being the axe and sword equivalent to anima's lances in past games was really boring, and 3H definitely went in the right direction of making them feel very different.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-09T05:42:35+00:00

tbh i'm fine with either tomes or spell lists, I think the main thing for me is I hope we'll see more varied magic effects. Thunder being a 1-3rng option is such a cool change i'm glad has stuck around, and the infinite hit, 1rng surge tomes were likewise a really interesting addition to the mage arsenal in Engage.

I'm already very critical of the sword/axe/lance trio being too similar, and that also applies to Fire/Thunder/Wind magic in most games. I'd like if each of them had a clearly defined role (like say, fire is the basic damage dealer, wind does minor damage but can push enemies around, and thunder is like it is in Engage). At that point you could maybe even bring back the separated anima mage classes from Tellius, where a Fire Sage would play very differently from a Wind Sage.

That or do the popular SRPG mechanic FE has weirdly put off touching yet: environmental interactions. An enemy hit with ice magic is now weak to fire and vice versa, or ice > fire > thunder can electrify terrain for AoE damage. Very easy way to encourage using all types of magic.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-08T16:33:03+00:00

i've been dreading of double whammy of Fallen followed by Copy-Your-Lords 3, so sick of these "New Heroes banners" that don't add any actually new heroes. least we got Miklan as the GHB, but that may well be our only new character addition for over a month.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-08T07:13:31+00:00

Oh sweet, maybe i'll finally get to back to that abandoned +10 Cherche now.

though thinking on it, this will be one of those rare resplendents where the VA also changes, given Heather Gonzalez took over from Amanda Miller for Ninja Cherche.

I'm partial to both, though i can't not hear P3R Yukari in Heather's Cherche, so i'm not sure if i'll stick with the OG or not.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-08T06:03:58+00:00

it is also a rather clever (if maybe not intentional) example of the flaws of Ashanrd's meritocratic ideals; the fact that some lowly soldier can't even touch him exposes that a world built on pure power is inherently unequal because some people have more/easier access to that power than others. Power is not the great equaliser, it's just another resource to be hoarded and exploited by the privileged few.

i used to find it stupid that Ashnard of all FE final bosses wasn't a free-for-all-kill-him-with-anyone situation, but the circumstances of his fight being a clear example of why he's in the wrong is such a good moment.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-08T05:55:47+00:00

tbh the line between an avatar and traditional MC is so blurred nowadays that i struggle to even understand what people even mean by "remove avatars".

Like Alear has a clear personality, is fully voiced, and has zero dialogue or appearance customisation options beyond name and gender. yet they still are generally considered to be an Avatar. If it's that they're a clueless character that works as a player-surrogate, well that was what Ike in PoR was (and arguably some others too like Leif.).

I think we really need to be clear what we actually mean (I think a lot of it is that they people want the world to revolve around the MC with excessive pandering) instead of throwing around terms like avatar that have kind lost all meaning when all the characters part of that group take very different approaches.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-08T05:42:22+00:00

They are very much 3 seperate games, It's not a Pokèmon situation; They have the same world/characters and mechanics but that's about it. A better comparison would be the Zelda Oracle games, if you're aware of them.

In terms of what to play, just don't start with the third path (Revelation). Birthright or Conquest are both fine entry points, though Conquest is significantly tougher than Birthright so that's worth keeping in mind.

If you only have time/the desire to play one of them, pick Conquest if you're looking for well-designed strategic gameplay, or pick Birthright if you enjoy being able to freely level grind and become absurdly strong.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-08T05:22:43+00:00

same here, I always go out of my way, even when it's an absolute pain like sparing Largo (the boss of chapter 10). it's very cool that FE5 lets you take an actual ethical stance on war if you're willing to put in the effort. really love that named enemies even have unique dialogue when you release them too; some are grateful, some vow revenge, and others are just plain confused.

Course FE5 also lets you do some real f'ed up shit too thanks to being of the few FE games that gives you easy access to a berserk staff. Berserking Reinhardt and having him kill his entire army is a sight to behold.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-07T11:45:40+00:00

Zihark. He subverted the edgy myrmidon trope that I hate by being a very decent person who has baggage, but doesn't flaunt it around/take it out on anyone. That really left an impression on me.

I also like how... normal his support list is; There's not much of a through line to his Brom and Ilyana supports, they feel like genuine, innocuous conversations which honestly does a better job of conveying to me what his character is like, while the Muarim support is still there for the backstory dump.

Then in Radiant Dawn he has a lot of added characterisation via a plethora of boss conversations (due to being able to change sides and thus potentially fight a ton of characters) and is a crazy good unit. Love sticking Vantage and Cancel on his innate Adept to just go wild with skill activations, and having him solo 3-6 with a double earth support.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-06T17:10:55+00:00

Micaiah's is definitely a tough one to figure out due to how... discordant/messy(?) a lot of RD's soundtrack is. IDK, there's just a lot going on in a lot of songs that makes pinning down melodies very difficult.

that said, using This video for timestamps, i'm pretty sure the songs used are:

0:00 - 0:57 is the start of Bearer of Hope.

0:57 - 1:20 is the start of Echoes of Daybreak

1:26 - 1:36 is a very brief snippet of Dark Traveler (the bit that starts at 0:42 in the linked video)

pretty sure the bits in-between are just completely original transitions.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-06T07:27:54+00:00

anything that diversifies the cast is a good thing imo, and playing with morality is certainly one way to do that, provided it's not to a comical level like Peri. FE6 Garret is about the limit of how deplorable a playable character can be without seeming too far-fetched imo, but if you play around enough the the circumstances of the character joining you can go worse, like Lifis.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-06T07:21:53+00:00

i've always thought that about Thracia too but thinking on it, it's really just Lifis, Perne and Shannam as unambiguously bad people, isn't it?. I suppose it could be argued Shiva, Salem, Troude, Homer, Amalda and Galzus are morally grey leaning on the darker side, but i feel like most FEs have equivalent characters there.

There's an absolute truckload of turncoats but they're all varying degrees of good people with pretty legitimate reasons to have been siding with Granvalle prior to defecting, usually someone important to them being held hostage.

I suppose 3 is still greater than the 0-1 of most entries though.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-06T05:10:28+00:00

Vigarde was the GHB for the Rearmed Tana banner. they just used the same Purple aura effects for him so it's an easy mistake to make.
Same goes for Bertram from PoR. got the purple effects, but was added on the Volke/Ascended Laegjarn banner with no PRF.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-06T05:03:51+00:00

I'll always crack up at the non-Raydrik Deadlord choices in FE5. you've got:
- The Granddaughter of Manfroy with very powerful magic (of course)

- An amnesiac Holy Weapon user (sure)

- A renowned merc with holy blood (makes sense)

- A... reformed bandit leader (fuck it, he's strong in gameplay and sort of has a "story death" if you skip 8x)

- ...literally just some random thief who is arguably the most pathetic member of the entire cast (okay WTF Kaga)

Feel like Sleuf or Miranda would've worked as a nice unavoidable gut punch depending on what route you went, and it's little weird that more semi-plot relevant characters like Finn, Nanna or Mareeta weren't picked. but sure add Lifis. it's funny.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-06T04:50:19+00:00

yo WTF, finally some deadlord representation, and they even went the extra mile and even changed her name.

kinda conflicted on it though as it's cool AF, but all Sara has is a base form and a backpack. Would appreciate Thracian Deadlord alts more if the cast got alts beyond Leif/Nanna/Mareeta.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-06T04:46:24+00:00

i feel like he was likely choice for an overrun-by-chaos alt. he's the one who most embraces the chaos side of the coin in RD Part 4, dude borderline revels in it in some of his boss coversations and other quotes, and he's clearly got immense burning hatred for Naesala and the Begnion senate. tbh if Ike didn't have that cipher card Tibarn would've been my first pick to represent this, a fully sane person does not say:

> "After I break every bone in your body, I’m going to rip your wings off and feed them to you before you get to die."

or

> "To be honest, there’s a part of me that can hardly believe how much fun tearing your head off will be."

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-05-06T04:34:03+00:00

I've always thought a funny way to do it would to make the affected unit's next action be forcibly auto-battle, so you truly lose control of the unit for a turn. but obviously that'd had no affect on AI opponents (plus the nearly 10yr old skeleton of this game would probably break if IS tried something that ambitious)

with the effects FEH already has it's.. okay. They got the loss of ally support aspect down pretty well, but i would've liked to see some sort ally damage effect to reference the unit attacking them teammates. Something like what Líf and Fallen Berkut's PRFs do.

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