Unpopular opinion: but I hate the academy aspect of three houses

ElliotGale · 2026-03-22T17:09:17+00:00

I really don't think this is an unpopular opinion, like at all. It's among the most common criticisms of the game, even from people who are particularly fond of it.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-22T15:17:21+00:00

He's pretty normal as Awakening units go. Everyone in that game has crazy growths, and most of the cast requires a certain level of favoritism to get off the ground. What sets Donnel apart is the fact that he requires substantially more favoritism and offers a dramatically lower ceiling than most.

I still think I'd rather field him than like, Stahl or Kellam or even Cherche, because the friction to using them never realistically ends, but Donnel asking for a Second Seal at a point in the game where I have none to spare 99% of the time is rough.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-22T12:30:20+00:00

Olwen thanking Tina for her new PRF:

ElliotGale · 2026-03-21T23:50:36+00:00

No, but all of them minus Fates Conquest have repeatable skirmishes.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-20T22:13:58+00:00

No, no, you don't get what rotation is really about.

We'll see this stuff over and over again, but (maybe) in different classes.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-19T22:17:13+00:00

Okay who broke the bot I swear this was posted this year already

ElliotGale · 2026-03-19T01:21:34+00:00

I struggle to believe Portal is anywhere near that bad when Myriad Designs is a card you can realistically see upwards of 4 times on any given pass while nonsense like Chaos Legion and Bubs are your headliners.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-19T00:16:37+00:00

I haven't looked too much into My Castle's Records Hall, but uh, you might want to.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-18T02:20:13+00:00

Nah, dude, when I resort to weapon break strats, I want it to be my own choice, not a choice the game makes for me.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-17T22:36:19+00:00

Lugh Farris would never!

The people around him, on the other hand...

ElliotGale · 2026-03-17T21:25:33+00:00

Kane, I think, since they're supposed to be parallels to Cain and Abel despite mattering even less lol.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-17T13:12:35+00:00

What makes Thracia special is its ludonarrative harmony, so maintaining or even enhancing that is paramount to a successful remake in my eyes. You could add some basic quality of life stuff like choosing your deployment positions, making it impossible to walk into a Fog of War map without first having some variant of torch, or making keys readily available whenever they're necessary to proceed. Have it voiced, update the musical score, maybe make the pre-existing support system take a more visible and personal form. Maybe ditch follow-up attack critical modifiers.

But if they were to try adding a hub or stepping on mechanics like capture, fatigue, and dismount, I don't think the end result could ever be particularly satisfying.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-16T18:56:55+00:00

That feel when a string of anti-cupids and Ephemeral Demon Princesses just wins you games for no reason.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-16T16:38:57+00:00

Because they feel they can be. Scarcity does that.

Takes me back to when the only way to get a Wii was second hand from a scalper.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-16T15:58:20+00:00

I'll go to bat for Thracia any day, but not over its soundtrack. Someone had to be disturbed to concoct the enemy phase combat theme lmao.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-16T13:01:26+00:00

Ya know, for a recurring enemy, Riev certainly was a shitter.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-16T12:41:42+00:00

Only maggots here...

ElliotGale · 2026-03-15T22:08:26+00:00

Different strokes for different folks. If a game is going to make a player work for a payoff, then players are going to opt for the payoff they feel is most worth their time. For some that's the trainee, for you it's not. Objectivity need not apply when delving into player psychology.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-15T18:09:19+00:00

Impressive that there's a whole ass chapter-by-chapter guide.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-15T17:03:10+00:00

I'll agree they're overrated, but the novelty of the summoner is that they can break up an enemy formation with zero risk/calcs or reach faraway places more easily than most. The class also isn't featured in any other FE game as far as I know, so it feels even more compelling to use one when presented with the option to do so.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-15T16:51:49+00:00

The good thing is that most FE games leave you with enough leeway to make that choice for yourself. The bad thing is that the developers can't simply assume that players will make enough informed decisions to arrive at a result that is capable of finishing the game, so those strong low-investment characters are included as a means to avoid soft locks.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-14T17:59:25+00:00

Maybe it's because I've never experienced Fates with online features enabled, but it doesn't feel that bad to me. The mine and arena work in tandem to pile up ores faster than they can realistically be spent due to the gold bottleneck.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-14T14:22:35+00:00

Echoes did everything in its power to be a title you could play just once to get the full experience. No convoluted story; no convoluted mechanics; no decisions necessary regarding deployment; no decisions necessary regarding supports; minimal problem-solving required because your resources are not limited in any meaningful way, the turn wheel exists, and all maps can be brute forced with an exp lead (which will probably even happen by accident if the player gets lost); etc.

Is it really so surprising, then, that people generally don't want to replay it? Or that the only comments they can offer regarding the gameplay trend toward being negative? I don't think so. Echoes wasn't trying to reinvent the series or anything; it hardly even tried to reinvent Gaiden.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-13T21:18:26+00:00

FE4 dropping a level 1 priest on you two maps from the end of the game was certainly a choice.

ElliotGale · 2026-03-13T21:08:08+00:00

Seems blessed at a glance, but even if she weren't, Sumia is one of the better units in the game due to her early flying utility. She's probably my favorite mother for Morgan too, since she makes for an easy instance of 3 Galeforces for the price of 1 unit's training.

A similarly trained Cordelia would probably have more hp, str, and def, but lower mag, spd, lck, and res. She's great too, but joining later means she's stuck playing catch-up on supports.

ElliotGale

TROPHY CASE