I’ve hit a drama slump, which sucks… the last drama I finished was Unnatural (loved it). However, I have been filling the void with video games and I’m not too upset about it.
Fire Emblem: Awakening
My new favorite Fire Emblem game! Even over Fates! As far as gameplay goes, there wasn’t a lot that was different from its successor but I have to say the story was so much better. I didn’t find the narrative flimsy (look at that — it could all be explained in one game!) and the time-traveling babies mechanic made sense. Mostly! And as usual, the support system was top tier for me. I think I just liked the idea of a peace-seeking militia with all of these interesting characters… and there were so many of them! Even the newest acquisitions to the team were so, so good.
I also appreciated that most of them didn’t spend their time fawning over a self-insert or their royal charges. Chrom was the lord of this game and it is an understatement to say that I liked him a lot. Prior to starting the game, I was SET on marrying Frederick because he’s my favorite in Heroes. But how could I say no to those baby blues! The opening/closing sequence… the parallels… ugh. I’m just glad I picked fRobin because mRobin can’t marry Chrom and that would have broken my damn heart!!!! 🙃🙃🙃 Let’s keep it claro though. CHROBIN. IS. CANON. change my mind
Persona 5
PHEW…………. Persona 5 y’all…
igor: welcome to the velvet room
me: pic.twitter.com/bEGC6nD1qJ— spacelovesdisco ☄️🛰️✨ (@spacelovesdisco) March 24, 2018
But I beat it in LESS than a year! I feel like P5 deserves its own post because I feel like I have a lotttttttttttttt to say and those thoughts probably best saved for NG+ since I’ll actually remember what I did and did not like about the game, oop. Except Akechi. I’ll always remember his punk ass. :) :) :) LOL he’s so tragic.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
I bought this last year and got distracted by Awakening, so I only just started it a few weeks ago. IT’S HARD. I always play Fire Emblem on Normal (units come back after battles have ended), and I can usually go an entire battle without any of my units thanks to some good ol “strategery” if you know what I’m sayin. This though? IMPOSSIBLE. The battle UI kind of sucks, you can’t save after each turn without having to “bookmark” and go back to the start screen, no weapon triangle, no way to tell how much damage is being taken/received… and did I mention there’s no weapon triangle? BLASPHEMOUS. There’s just no way I can get through an ambush (YES, AMBUSH) or a major battle without losing at least 6 of my units.
To make matters worse, there’s also a dungeon crawling aspect that’s just like “ughhh more stuff to do”, and you don’t necessarily want to skip them either. Fire Emblem, being a tactical game, is already hard enough. But making me sneak around a dark dungeon with those Terrors and these controls? Girl…
Not all is bad though. I think SoV does a lot of interesting things with magic. Unlike Awakening or Fates where your magic use is limited to what you have equipped, your level of skill, and how durable the item is, in Echoes you learn as you grow. Healers/clerics are also able to use offensive attacks/black magic. The difference here is that healing TAKES health away from the healer. Moves like Nosferatu (offense, black magic) restore HP. It’s an interesting bit of canon considering where the basis of their power comes from (Mila) and that it forces you to be strategic about how much healing you can do before being forced to go on the offensive or get cover.
The artwork is also very beautiful. Kozaki Yusuke is amazing and all, but whew… Hidari. *chef’s kiss* PERFECTION. Such character! I lowkey hate the anime cutscenes because I already know they won’t be as gorgeous as his art lol.
NOW FOR STORY, I like it. I love a good wartime story! Add a bit of mythological history (Duma vs. Mila) and it’s good stuff. Alm becoming the leader of the Deliverance made me roll my eyes a bit (heroes can never be the everyman, I guess), but he seems like a good egg. I also like that the fated pair are also ideological opposites, which we already know is going to lead to some Noble Idiocy down the line. The Deliverance is interesting to me but I wish we had more time to spend with them! Having to do supports ON THE BATTLEFIELD aside, I hate that you can have supports with only a few characters and not everyone. I need to know more about their hopes, their fears, their backstories! I feel like what we’re given isn’t really enough.
I am in the middleish of Act 3 and playing as both characters (simultaneous great/annoying, Celica is so OP) so hopefully I’m less annoyed by the game mechanics and more impressed by the story as time goes on. I’m really hoping to beat this by E3 so I can play my other games and cry about KH3……..