Chase

So it's a question of buffs vs. debuffs then? I think I prefer Femui in that toss-up - but I will say this. Rally Defense makes Nowi compelling.

That's a 5-star Effie. I want. I WANT---- todays singular pull was a 4* Nowi. Are Nowi and Femui apples and oranges - or is one better than the other? (also if Nowi is a loli I don't understand. She's a 1000 something years old and her physique seems more akin to a short young adult than a child's. I'm so. Confused.) I like Nowi's character. But also Corrin's role on the team.

I had the choice to go after Effie and Azura -or- spend a 5 orber on the hopes of pulling Eirika or Ephraim. I decided my odds were better to purse my lance units this time - and I pulled a three star Gwendolyn. Finally. An armor knight. I like that she has drag back as a skill possibility and the Killer Lance...

Today's pulls were: 4-star Jakob: It's not. Takumi. DANG IT. ....but it breaks my awful luck of pulling garbage like- 3-star Hinata: Never mind. I think this is like...the 5th Hinata I've pulled. Can I get something like....Laslow, Selena, Ogma.............Ryoma, Xander.....Lyn? ....Please? Hinata's the worst. --- Who? Veronica? I for one still think she's a unit you don't want attacking you on Enemy Phase. I found her to be pretty difficult on the easiest story mode. (Xander "ain't shit" though on that map. If you're talking about Olivia - I like Olivia too. I just like Azura more.

Olivia is a pretty good unit against green units, but she's still true to her paperthin Gotta Dance Fast motif I assume she had in Awakening. I'm just bitter I don't have Azura. --- I like seeing Ephraim and Eirika at least. Gives me hope that eventually the whole roster of Fire Emblem units may be reached. (I need Charlotte in my life.)

Nice Effie, man. I found I was pretty lucky with Effie's defense growths the two times I've completed a Conquest run. I know this because the second time, I wanted to use Benny, but it would have been a downgrade in offensive power for a minimal gain in defense. DUDE SPECIAL MAP FELICIA HYPE. "WE'VE GOT TROUBLE"....and Narcian I guess. Whatever.

Short story short. Nope. It is definitely interesting. If you younger folks are considering university, my word is to go for it. Not because it will be enough to set you up for life, but because the experiences are some of the best I've had in life. Susan because of this meme: I used to have a cat friend that we called "Sir Boots" because he was a black cat with white paws that looked like those old-school Keds tennis shoes from far away. He was just as brooding as I am. He was a pal. Of course, then we got a dog and he was like "Yeah, cya, no thanks." Of course. Things I like: - Reinstating the Mexico City Policy. - Nominating Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. - Greenlighting the Keystone Pipeline. - Helping the economy (for now) just by existing. Things I don't like: - Trying a half-cocked travel ban that was EASILY shut down as discriminatory against Muslims by the 9th Circuit Court (one of the most liberal appeals courts in the country - but that doesn't actually matter.), and giving "Christians" preferential treatment. - Getting into a twitter spat with leaders from Mexico and ....Australia? When did we start arguing with Australia? - Burdening his press secretary to be the "Blatant Lair In Chief" to the press corps - especially over stupid things like what Niel Gorsuch said to Democratic senators (which actually HELP Gorsuch get confirmed, no less!) or how many people attended his inauguration. - Praying for "The Apprentice" at the National Prayer Breakfast. - Using the memorial wall at the CIA as a political platform. - Attacking the judiciary simply because it's not in agreement with him. - Greenlighting the Dakota Access Pipeline. (I'm for North American non-renewable resource gathering, but I'm not for disregarding Native Americans who have lost their lives over the pipeline in question to do so.) - Trying to "Fast-track" Obamacare repeal while Congress is indecisive as to which replacement plan they want to replace it with. - accidentally killing an American citizen in a military raid. - Interrupting a phone call with a foreign leader to LEARN about a treaty he had spent a majority of the call talking mess about. What we have with President Trump is a man that is trying to run America like he ran his business assets - and is finding out that it's not nearly as easy a transition as he anticipated it to be. We're also finding out (what a lot of us already knew) that Trump isn't very knowledgeable about things pertaining to government at all - and it's increasingly apparent that he will need to be willing to learn VERY quickly in order to bolster his administration OR be a puppet-in-chief for more experienced members of the bureaucracy (which is very dangerous in itself.) I didn't vote for him - even as a conservative - because I believe the facts matter. Judging by the way he's waging a war against the press - I would say President Trump only cares about his narrative. Boredom. I wouldn't quote me, but the meaning of life is to eat barbeque as of late. (My actual answer is to pursue God, share Him with His people, and hopefully do so by example as best I can.) I'm trying to pick up a scholarly understanding of the Bible through the angles of theology, philosophy, history, and ministry. My major is referred to as "Christian Studies". 50 Duck sized horses. MULTIMAN SMASH! You guys let her LEAVE? Shame on y'all.

My life has consisted of the following things. I've returned to a busy life of being on a university campus almost all the time. This consists of taking my classes in front of professors, doing all the chores I hate, and lots of studying. I've also added a job on top of this, continuing my duties as a recreation leader and teaching, playing with, and caring for children. It makes me tired. It's good to be back. (AMAs are fun. I doubt I'll get asked a lot of stuff, but here goes. Again.)

I'm glad I got to catch up with you before you took off. Have a good time in Spain, my friend.

I WANT EFFIE. SO BAD. EVERYONE I KNOW HAS A DAMN KNIGHT AND I DON'T. Yeah, I had a feeling my team was pretty good despite not being top quality. I never got Clarine and I preferred Azama over Lissa (who I got only through the special map making her even worse in quality.) Units I want - Takumi (No brainer, he's apparently just as broken as he was in Fates.) - Hector (There's probably no better axe fighter in FE.) - Lyn - Effie - Azura - Selena - Arthur - Elise I'm a Fates joiner. (Really, REALLY need to play Awakening or the GBA FE) - so I have personal attachments to the newest cast members.

Dude... This game was/is satisfying. As far as summons have gone, I've been fairly unlucky, but my army is probably fairly scarce in comparison to those who re-rolled over and over or those who threw up the max cash to essentially ensure a 5* summon too. I was pretty stingy with my income (po' college student - that's me ramen money IntSys!) and ultimately paid the price. Final Team: 4* Tharja (MVP) - I get it, Amethyst. I understand why you like this lady. Well, maybe not similarly, but JESUS Rhajat Sr. is a fantastic unit. Darting Blow was just overkill in roughly half of the instances Tharja engaged on player phase. 4* Camilla - Of the two "good" units on my team, Big Sister was more balanced. I really don't like how flying units' movement in this game is literally the same as foot units (and poorly justified by being able to cross terrain). At 4* at least, Camilla is saddled with the Brave Axe - which doesn't hurt Darting Blow - but makes DB kinda pointless. I would have preferred the Hammer (or Camilla's [Sexy] Axe) instead. (Oh Japan. Your pun game and your subliminal messaging is strong. I get why Amethyst likes YOU too.) The best thing about Camilla as a unit in this game - to me - is the combination of Draconic Aura (boosts attack by 30% every three actions) and Savage Blow (AoE after player phase engagement.) 3* Corrin (F) - So, I didn't get lucky with the Focus Tiki pull, but Femui makes an adequate discount and works like she would if you were using her in Conquest. In Heroes, Corn simultaneously boosts her allies' attack (if adjacent) on Player Phase, and debuffs enemies after any engagement. She also gets access to Dragon's Gaze. What's lacking is her Dragonbreath's might in my opinion - and as a middle-of-the-road unit, she often couldn't shrug off all of the opposing enemies later in the story. Still, she's pretty helpful in Arena bouts. 3* Azama - "Death comes for everyone...." unless you have a reliable healer on your team. Then...not as much. Azama isn't anything special, but unlike a unit like Clarine, he can hold his own as bait for other units, setting up Camilla and Tharja. Imbue as a proc is the monk's blessing in Heroes - as it allows every fourth action to heal LOTS of HP to both himself -and- targeted allies... and because Healers act every turn, that happens often. He trivialized arena fights for me - but during the final push in the story, Azama proved his worth. Bench: 4* Cain - I really like this cavalier. He came with Buckler, which is essentially a defensive proc skill, and great defense. Unfortunately, Cavaliers struggle pretty hard in the later going. Still 3 move is nice on these mobile phone apps. 4* Jeorge - It's not Takumi, and I got him too late to utilize. 3* Cherche - I REALLY like Cherche, but her mid-tier caught up to her and made her easy pickings for the tougher units at the end of the story. She can pick up a hammer though. which is fantastic. Having not played Awakening, this is my Fe:A waifu. 3* Olivia - Not everyone HAS a dancer - so early on Olivia was pretty op. ....and then she got cursed by being a paper-thin unit that doesn't hurt all that much later on. You know what Fire Emblem should do? They should put songstresses on horses. That would be awesome. I wouldn't mind being weak to beastbane/killers in exchange for fantastic move on a singer.......still salty Shigure couldn't sing..... 3* Sharena - Best mascot unit (Sorry Anna. You don't count.) due to her defensive nature and ability to wield a lance. I have very few blue units I wanted to use (Oboro came too late, forget Subaki) and Sharena also came with Rally Attack. which was just awesome.

The attachment is a screenie of my FC. I get why people like Tharja now.

Robin-M Corrin-F Jeorge Camilla Hinata Gunter (Best. Artstyle. In game. Gunter looks like Washington crossing the Deleware. Seriously. Someone shop it.) --- I have a healer in Azama, but offensively he's a tad of a liability until you get him Pain for after battle extra damage. (Surprisingly. Great defensive unit. Good bait.) right now I'm running Cherche, Cain, Femui, and Olivia - because I like dancing. I want Effie. Badly.

I'll get mine up here. But I think I suck at this. Summons: 4-star Cain (dunno. Cav with a Brave Sword though. Best summon unit) 4-star Merric (Mystery right?) 3-star Azama (Fates: Birthright, Azama is helpful) 3-star Frederick (Awakening) 3-star Olivia (Awakening...no dance ) 3-star Florina (dunno. Peg Knight though) 3-star CHERCHE. Thank you FE gods. Or God.

That's why you should justplaygaiden Don't use Conquest's story as a decision maker. It was hard to like because it was poorly written to start with.

I think the Direct mentions that Duma is essentially the territorial warrior god who founds Rigel - a country that is exceedingly strong in the military department but may be too totalitarian and seems to lack resources. Mila founds Zofia as the peace goddess - but her country lapses into a lulled state of gluttony (because humans ruin everything) and it's current ruler seems like a sloth. Gaiden was one of the in-house "inspirations" of the Nohr-Hoshido conflict. (And too a smaller extent Fates in general.) Rigel and Nohr are quite similar in composition. Poor militaristic states. Hoshido is essentially an eastern take on what Zofia wishes it was/used to be. When Silas mentions Nohr's depraved State being the reason non noble Nohrians fight - Ryoma offers to share resources in Birthright. Hoshido displays less than utopian actions often, notably in most instances with Azura. Mael, it probably still is a background context of opposite extremes. However, where Corrin was anchored by their choice of faction, the Gaiden story is more about Alm and Celica themselves and not who they fight for.

I think the game needs to strike a happy medium. If it's a remake of Gaiden (with maps that mirror Gaiden) then it absolutely has to hold to the original NES title. If the Direct is correctly naming SoV as "inspired" only, then there is more room for creative deviance and thus more room for later features (Pair Up, Children, skills, support conversations, etc) What appears to be the case from the Direct is that Alm and Celica and Cliff and Saber and Alm's granddad and Duma and Mila are ALL making a return to fight it out for Zofia and Rigel. The Echoes story seems to be more of a "2.0" or at the very least a modern interpretation of Gaiden than a merely inspired story. We also appear to see gameplay that highlights Gaidens towns and dungeoneering, 1v1 conflicts, flexible promotion trees, and anime styled cutscenes along with game engine ones. No pair up is seen and there are only differences in number of loadable units from 1992 to 2017 on the map shown. This Direct teaser -may- have been geared to series Veterans - but from what we know so far "how Gaiden it is" seems to be the goal for IntSys early on. Newer Emblemiers get a year to dabble with the retelling, a Warriors game, and a mobile game that features plenty of series characters before FE:Switch is released in 2018. I personally agree with you on support conversations, - and I like the Waifu-Sim and child unit optimization mechanics a lot actually - but the biggest issue is that many older FE players HATE Awakening and Fates for being expository, sexualized, and this isn't Alm and Celica's first go around. It would surprise me to see newer returning FE mechanics in this particular game because of this sentiment. Remember when Nintendo removed skinship for Fates in NA? That was a breaking point for the FE community. One where older players demonized the angry newer players for being hurt by the loss of content they liked. Gaiden is a very old game. It's successor -somehow- needs to serve it's fans first and foremost. I hope people like me don't have to relearn the game to enjoy it - but I hope it makes it and Gaiden memorable at the end of the day.

Mael. Get it. That way you have something to use the Amiibos on other than possibly FEWarriors or hoping Alm and/or Celica make the 5mash roster. #Justplaygaiden --- Gameplay will likely be the big seller for one's first time in Valentia though. For previous FE2 players it will be story that defines if it's Gaiden 2.0 or another Shadow Dragon.

Well - yeah. Gameplay was the only thing Gaiden had to sell due to it's limitations. Past that though, it's those same limitations that held back the game from being as well acclaimed along with its not being available to Western audiences for a while. With a bit of paint at the very least, Emblemiers old (for sure) and new (possibly) will probably compare it to the likes of Genealogy, Sacred Stones, and Awakening. Yes Sheep. I want this game. Like right now. I have decided not to hope for things like pair up so much because it's a very recent concept and wasn't -IN- Gaiden. I won't be upset if it's not there, but I'll miss it. I just hope a "talk" option or something is there for character and world building. Deep characters help story. I dig the third person LoZ like 3D dungeon crawl. I also like the Shrine flexible promotion system. And 2017 Celica is a vast upgrade. #alreadyabetterlordthanCorrin

In that case. Hopefully Echoes features a Fates remake where Conquest's story isn't awful, Birthright has more diverse gameplay objectives. And Revelations doesn't muck up BOTH story -and gameplay. --- I hope the story is fleshed out for SoV. One of Gaiden's knocks is that outside of its gameplay mechanics art, maps, characters, and story felt bland and quite thin. If children aren't a thing. I want support conversations. I want more cutscenes like Alm and his grandfather sparring from the Direct. I want. Some meat and potatoes. The gameplay will probably carve its own path.

#JUSTPLAYGAIDEN #AGAIN #MAKEGAIDENGREATAGAIN!? --- ok. Hype aside, there were two games I wanted to go back and play after entering the series with Fates. Radiant Dawn and Gaiden. Gaiden was the great-grandparent of modern FE in many of its gameplay elements. It's the first stones throw and while it's an ugly duckling and quite aged - it's also the kickstarter for many great titles following it. Echoes being on the 3DS is all I wanted. Now the game just needs to come out. (I for one -do- hope child units and pair up mechanics from Fates/FEA stick around as a series noob. Alm+Celica=Wunderkind.)

I had thought that Skarmory was Gen 3 too, but Skarm was pretty rare in Gen 2 due to only being on that route that connects Blackthorn to New Bark/Cherrygrove after the player has Fly. If I remember correctly.

Gen Three. I suffered massive PTSD and Burnout from this generation, filling the National Dex with my friends in Hoenn with help from Emerald, FireRed, LeafGreen, and the Colisseum franchise. I love the starters. I like the layout of the region. I like the fresh characters after staying too close to home by putting Johto on Kanto's continent. This generation only dropped the ball in transfer of old friends being impossible - but it's fresh cast is REALLY how you knew Pokémon was in the big leagues. Gen Five Where Hoenn was the boss in total playtime, Unova offered just what the doctor ordered for a huge burn from said playtime. A fresh story that features genuine adult questioning of ethics and several Pokémon that are better than their appearance. The cast was again fresh, and there's something about getting so much unwarranted hate that makes the contrarian in me appreciate this generation even more. Gen Seven Give GF some credit here. Sun and Moon is a very enjoyable installment to the franchise because the story does a much better job than X and Y at being as good as Black and White, while caring the most about inclusion. If you are a Genwunner, Red and Blue make the trek to Alola to head the Battle Tree and Alolan forms are only of Kantonian originals. TeamFour? Cynthia and every noteworthy Sinnoh Pokémon is probably available in Alola (with the possible 4 remake.) Twosers and Fivites? Starters are Island Scannable. Sixers? Megas are still here with a better Zygarde to play with. Really. Only Hoenn fans like myself weren't repped - and we just got ORAS. May just be on a high - but there's almost something for everyone. Gen Two Essentially two games in one with nods to the first generation for inspiration. Not bad - but outside of that HeartGold and SoulSilver help the original games shine with its fresher lick of paint. Gen One I -am- a Genwunner. And these games are very. Very. VERY old. Not aged well in my opinion. Gen Six Powercreep. Worse story than gen 5. Only winner was the best starter ever in Chespin. Sorry. Megas we're not for every Pokémon and we now know from the mega Pokedex in SuMo that mega evolution is selfish and HURTS Pokémon. Bad. Bad. Bad. Did not play gen 4.

FOUR POINTS! (Hahaha, right?) 1. Sun and Moon is much more inclusive in various senses than previous generations. For example, Pheromosa is said to be so beautiful that anyone, regardless of gender, can't help but become infatuated with it. Lillie has the same "hint dropping" appreciation for the player regardless of it's a male or female player model. Hyper Training, while having a very steep level 100 + Bottle Caps stipulation, allows any Pokémon to fix its genes for competitive success. There are ways to avoid trainer battles and rewards for beating them on nearly every route. It's a light hearted game - but also has its share of weight and darkness for those who like edges. Then there's the apparent succession from Mega Evolution to Z-Moves, which are accessible to ALL Pokémon. Where ORAS was a love letter to fans of the original Gen 3 titles - Game Freak almost is calling Open Swim with these games. And it's doing so loud and perfectly clear. 2. You can almost remember every character with a significant moment. Kukui's breaking and entering, Hau hitting on Lusamine lowkey - to things like Sophocles and Molayne calling each other with nicknames, Hiker David, and "Press A to Pound!" - This particularly makes the whole game prone to cause laughter regardless of who you are dealing with. 3. Already mentioned was self-awareness. The Pokémon franchise isn't perfect, and it's almost like Masuda and the writers know it well - making some of the dialogue self-depreciating and thus funny to us as players. They also seemed to try and make much needed ease-of-life updates to the basic Pokémon formula. And they are very good. 4. It's a fresh experience and it's always going to be a recommendation because it's changing as much as possible while still being a Pokémon game.