#FE4 thoughts

First off, this is a more-or-less blind, iron man run. So I already got Finn "killed" in the first battle. Oops!

Will fill this thread with more input after I've played more of the game

The enemies are tough in general, so when you have to deal with multiple crowds at once and you need to tackle objectives like Ayra's recruitment, how are ppl actually doing it without savestates? It's hard not to trigger a bloodbath and many casualties (for your side)

I saw Dynasty Warriors as 3D Fire Emblem. And this is indeed like 2D Dynasty Warriors. However, the lack of a third dimension and real time means you can't sneak around Ayra, go into a castle, come back and then talk to her.

Like, even without any of that, for Fire Emblem

standards, this seems to have been designed on purpose to make you lose an officer. This is what FE was supposed to be all along though... permadeath ain't supposed to be an option, like you wouldn't have a choice in a real war either.

I lost Midayle to Ayra. Could've easily avoided that, but I don't mind seeing how things play out without x or y character still alive

>the Silence staff literally snaps out the BGM

Kino.

In chapter 2 now. I've only lost Finn and Midayle up till now, but it feels like I was stripped off of 10 units altogether. That's how much worth the characters in FE4 are - unlike most FE games where a ton of units can be one-man-armies sooner than later

This game is so chill. This is like the fourth time I've done the prologue and chapter 1, but they're more like full-fledged battles and not like tutorials, so it never gets stale. Now I can freely, finally move forward though.

FE4 has been touted as the best Fire Emblem ever since it came out, and only a few others have been argued to possibly make it budge from the throne (FE5/FE9/FE10?).

Now the story hasn't picked up. The characters haven't shown their true potential and most efficient writing yet.

And I'm sure I haven't seen most of the mechanics at this point. Yet, this game... you can feel it as early as chapter 1, how the core gameplay and mechanics are rooted in perfection and make literally every other aspect shine - the story, the roster, the additional tools you

get as you unlock more classes for your army and progress from castle to castle. This shit is TIGHT. It only needs a few modern QoL improvements to peak. Also, maybe add the 'Trade' feature between units on the field?

Anyway, just got Lewyn.

I'm legit surprised the Kaga elitism hasn't been more overblown, and many fans not only opened their arms, but also eventually considered FE9/FE10 as another peak of Fire Emblem as a series. They are both so simple in comparison...

Lost both Alec and Deirdre in the scuffle with Voltz. RIP

When I did chapter 2 years ago, I know capturing the first castle was a breeze because this is Horse Emblem and I still had all of my horsemen. Now, it took forever because Finn and Midayle are gone. If any other cav (Quan, Alec, Noishe, etc) were gone instead, the outcome

would have been the exact same: I couldn't save the first village that got assaulted by thieves, whereas I succeeded at doing it the first time.

The game isn't hard with a full army - losing 4 units (so far) adds a lot of challenge. Loving it.

Also I didn't get the Brave Axe for Lex. So I'm not making it any easier tbh

Chapter 3: Alden is dead. Don't need to drag his ass everywhere now.

So. It's common misinformation that FE9/FE10 have horribly long enemy phases... Now, this game is ASS in that regard. It's HELL. I couldn't play it without a 4x fast-forward button.

Liking the look of my boy Travant. I hope he turns out to be like Valter, a wyvern lord nemesis to your army, except a good and interesting character this time please

Playing Horse Emblem with three horsemen gone is not the sweetest experience I've been through with this series, but that'll teach me a lesson not to let characters go for shits and giggles

Oh yeah, this bs post reminded me of a thought I had on FE4's plot and characters so far. Just gonna leave this screencap here for future reference - I'll elaborate later

Real shit???

Chapter 4 - nice change of scenery. Sigurd and Beowulf have been doing their big daddy schtick to carry the rest of the army, but that caused the latter's downfall. Jamke died, I immediately brought him back. Also Midayle with a second Valkyrie use, but that was a waste -

he died in chapter 1, he's way too underleveled now, at least he can shoot some pegasi down (if he's lucky enough to even hit them)

This chapter wouldn't be so tough if it didn't take away the Leonster crew from me at the beginning lol

#FE4

The writing is wonderful, but only on the condition that you see this as a politics/war/intrigue-driven game, and not a character-driven one. After all, why should we care that Sigurd married Deirdre and knocked her up when they've only just met and interacted for ¼ of a

chapter? And why does the plot become all uppity about Eldigan taking up arms against his beloved ones, and he howls out dramatic speeches about it being his last battle - yet the player is just like "who the FUCK is Eldigan?"

However, that's all good. As long as you pay attention to everything, the characters's stakes are extremely believable and relatable, their writing is, as I said above, really good, and the way they weave with the politics and wars of the game is ace!

Three Houses, on the other hand, has far too much dialogue and nothing in its scenario ends up really working as a result. Three Houses TELLS you about "politics" and dukes and kingdoms and whatnot, but it doesn't SHOW you any of that, it just shows you its pathetic 12 maps in

a loop. Every other Fire Emblem game (except Fates... okay maybe even fucking Fates was better) is superior to 3H in that regard.

FE4 is a breath of fresh air. I knew it had one of the better stories in the series, but in my experience - I started with FE7 and played both

Tellius games, THEN I saw the whole shitshow from FE11 to FE16, while also going back to FE6 and FE8, and now, 12 years later, I'm finally getting to play a game that isn't... remarkably *flawed*. And for 12 years I knew that FE4 and FE5 were at the top, so it shouldn't come as

a surprise, but... the gap between 4 and Fates/Three Houses still has me literally SHOOK.

Now don't get me wrong, I still love a few of those games for their characters and/or gameplay. I couldn't say Fire Emblem is my favorite franchise if I could only stomach FE7/FE9/FE10 lol

FE8 haters are ugly.

Sigurd is a cheekier, yet less goofy version of Chrom. I loved Chrom and I also love Sigurd now - he isn't the stiff tough dude one can imagine when looking at official art

PSA: I know the FE4 characters came before the ones I'm comparing them to. I don't mean to imply otherwise.

I should play more FE4 over the week-end. Still in chapter 4, rescuing the peasants

I appear to be done with ch4. Only promotions so far are Lex, Adean, and Jamke. Ayra and Noish should follow suit soon enough

Couples so far are
Noish x Adean
Ayra x Dew
Azel x Tiltyu
Lewyn x Sylvia

Chapter 5 is the last one for gen 1 huh

I don't have enough coin to resurrect Beowulf right away. But surely I can scrape just enough during the fight and resurrect him just in time for the barbecue?

...okay this was too nasty even for me, I'm sorry

I managed to get him back asap thanks to the arena. Good.

Hoping Quan and Ethlyn show up at some point

They showed up alright. LMAO

This string of events is really fascinating

I'm done for today. Will resume either tomorrow or next week

The meteor shower that welcomes you as you go into the desert... this gives off major musou vibes. FE4 being remade as a musou could be nice

Also, Jamke and Brighid soloed the Beige Ritter like it was nothing.

Archers melting everything? Is this FEHeroes?

>Beowulf dead again

Travant's wyverns hit like fucking trucks. I did not see that coming. I do expect more deaths this one turn though

Tiltyu: DEAD. Ferry: DEAD.

The latter was killed by Magorn, after she was put to sleep by one of the priests in the west. And of course, this fucker had to position himself out of my archers' range. I have a feeling he'll murder Sylvia in the next turn

RIP

Considering this is the final battle, I actually greatly enjoy the enemies being very dangerous and my allies are falling one after the other during this climax. Feels like war!

>you can talk to your allies even if they're sleeping
kek

Forseti just eviscerated that boss. Nice

I assumed conquering Phinora would make the Meteor sages disappear... but they're STILL HERE AND I JUST LOST MY PEGASUS KNIGHT

This whole thing is just so ridiculous, I love it. FE4 is GOATED.

Soooo... there's only one way forward... and if the spellcasters in the east haven't sniped/wiped my units out with their meteors, I still have to face this army of a considerable size in the west.

This is the hallway of DOOM.

I only have 13 characters left, including one that's useless (Dew) and one that is rather underleveled (Midayle)

How many will make it to the end?

We already know the answer to that.

Need to watch out for meteors from the west too. This one damn near took out Midayle

All 13 of them somehow survived the meteor barrage, but the clash with the big army didn't start smoothly.

...12 heroes remaining.

I lost both of my snipers, that's sad.

Lewyn and Azel will attack the enemies from the side with magic

Lewyn just stood there, dodged everything and nuked almost all of his opponents. Legend

Meanwhile... Mjolnir one-shot a full-health, promoted Ayra.

11 heroes remaining

You can see the whole army on one screen now!

And it's... over?

I saw the ending dialogues. Heh... as soon as the red army was gone and it was only blue and yellow units on the field, I knew where this was going lol

I was spoiled beforehand, but seeing the actual event go down was... heavy. And amazing.

FE4 Remake will butcher this glorious tale, I can almost feel it already

Anyway, on to gen 2!

Chapter 5 was an awesome one. I did it all today, it's 9PM right now, and I saw numerous comrades fall to their death in a dangerous traversal of the desert. They gave their lives to allow their side to seize important castles and defeat powerful foes.

I've done iron man runs

in various Fire Emblem games before.

This is the only one where it felt like it mattered.

Lewyn missed his promotion and Beowulf missed his barbecue. F

Enough of that, though. Chapter 6 happens years later and let me tell you, I've been itching to play as this GIGACHAD. Best Navarre design if you ask me

LITERALLY WHO

"Nuns and warfare do NOT mix!"

Seliph is a raging bigot, but I suppose it's better than getting a flaming SJW.

YOOOO THEY'RE ALL PREJUDICED

Wait, whose kid is this? Noish and Adean's? Nice USELESS fighting skills you got there, priestlet.

Chapter 6 map theme is kind of a bop???

My units are trash, save for Seliph and Oifey. They're all fragile af and need babysitting. Is this normal?

They're better now. Chapter 6 was okay, except for that mini-boss Schmidt who was a pain in the ass. What were they thinking with that one?

Finn has the same stats as when he jobbed in the Prologue. He's still a baby Lv.1 cavalier! That can't be good, right?

My current army is way too frail and small, so I won't allow anyone to die yet. Maybe in the later chapters, though.

Perhaps I'm jumping the gun here, but Gen 2 doesn't look as likeable as the first one, save for Shannan, Oifey and maybe Seliph, Leif, Nanna and Daisy.

If FE4 musou becomes a thing, I hope they don't make those children part of the playable cast. They're UNPC material, like

the Sanada retainers and ninjas that accompany you throughout Spirit of Sanada - those are well-written and well-utilized, even without being playable.

Ironically, this map sprite for the Swordmaster class is the most inelegant I've seen in this entire series

Wait, I just realized there's no way to reach Leif's army fast while he's being assaulted by 10 dudes (inc. a promoted general and sage)

...you ARE supposed to have a good Finn for this, aren't you? I'm so screwed

Okay jobber, you better not fuck this up

Bye

I'm a dumbass.

It was either Oifey or this fugly fool, though, so I'm glad they got him.

This was only the first part of the chapter. Let's see how the rest goes :)))

>Lover: Daisy

How???

Lana is dead.

I got Ares now, though. And more allies are on the way

>Linda can only be recruited by talking to her with Emid
>but I let Emid get murdered earlier in the stage

....I might not make it to the end of this game

Gotta be extra careful now. Not letting anyone die if I can help it

I had Ares and Leif meet up with Seliph. I'm hoping the three of them eventually rise up in my esteem like their dads did

...what-

I haven't seen Shannan in Heroes yet, didn't know they gave him some ASSETS

Anyway, this prince doesn't have much in the way of characterization, unlike my faves Shinon or Shamir. It also feels like they made him relevant... just for the sake of relevance? If that makes sense

He's just here to chill, he's handsome and a terrific unit. Love him

Probably my favorite character in FE4

They'd use the Heroes design for a remake, though, wouldn't it? That sucks. Between him showing his abs for no reason and Raquesis becoming a generic loli, modern IS didn't exactly spare FE4's roster

"Don't mind me, just looting every boss I've murdered in this one chapter"

The last boss is another Mjolnir user... ugh.

>Unleash Shannan on this fool
>Shannan procs Astra
>boss procs his damage-cancelling skill THREE TIMES
>one-shots Shannan

Fucking...

Oh. He's coming back later? Jeez...

Anyway, chapter 7 is done. If I counted correctly, I have 15 units rn, instead of the 19 one should have in their army. That's not too bad

I didn't let Shannan die to this bs, just so you know

Will start ch8 in the evening. For those unaware, there are 10 chapters in the game

Color me impressed with how daring they made the gameplay mechanics in this one (and doubled down on that for FE5, which is why that one has a reputation of being rather hardcore)

Every non-Jugdral game is so safe and boring in comparison. I'm dreading my FE16 replay even more..

Honestly SoV ain't so bad either. The interesting mechanics are held back by the map design though

"You got Mjolnir fam, you don't need backup"

I likened Travant to wack-ass Valter earlier, but it turns out he's more like Naesala instead, which is awesome. Extremely handsome rogue whose acts of piracy and crime are wholeheartedly dedicated to feeding and ensuring the safety of his people. Travant is more ambitious tho

Lewyn is such an awesome advisor to Seliph btw. Every time he talks about war, it's like he says the MOST OBVIOUS THINGS ABOUT WAR CRIMES AND MORALLY GREY PEOPLE, and it makes it all the more painful to know that 17-years-old zoomers keep arguing about who's right or not in

Three Houses. (spoiler: it's Dimitri who's right, not Edelgard)

Anyway, here's to chapter 8.
...did Leif just leave the army? C'm'on now. Get your skinny ass back here right now

Nevermind, he's still here

ISHTAR BTFO

Shannan's literally the only guy who can kill bosses here. I need to promote ppl asap

3 chapters in and Seliph is still a
random dumb kid. Not bland like Roy, no, but he's exactly like Ike at the beginning of Path of Radiance, a kind, innocent beginner who only means to learn and do well. It's real cute, but the difference here is that Seliph doesn't seem to

develop, progress, etc.

Sigurd was a top-tier protagonist. This one ain't it, chief.

I'll just pretend Shannan is the protag. He's a leader too after all

Seliph is level 20 but I can't promote unless I go back to the starting castle. Can't even do that now because I have to save/recruit Hawk. There's like 30 wyvern knights on our asses. This is going to be tough

Nevermind that -- these ones were chumps lol

Almost done with ch8

There's a "Final Chapter" after 10, so I guess, counting that and the Prologue, there's actually 12 chapters in there? I'm making good progress overall.

Travant said "kill all the women and children while you're at it". He's the evil version of Naesala then

Chapter 9// promoted both Seliph and Ares.

Lester was 10 xp points away from promotion but he jobbed during the last fight of the arena. Shame.

>Altenna has plenty of weaklings to bully in my army but she keeps committing suicide by assaulting Hawk

BITCH WHAT THE FUCK

Leif can't talk to her? I wonder why that is-

Finn had to stay alive? Fuck.

No cool dragon princess for me then

She was just another fodder in the end.

Seliph and Ares went to take a stroll in the woods~

This is bad, though.

Deaths incoming? Bloodshed incoming, for sure.

Asaello and Leen both died. I expected much worse of an outcome, but this is still bad.

...I'll see where this leads me, and if the game eventually becomes too hard for me to manage due to having too few units, I'll load a save back to this chapter and redo it all.

I can do without the archer, but the dancer is a tough loss LOL

Rest in peace, Travant.

Bro???

I recruited these two. And thus I've reached the end of the list of playable characters. I have 17 units now and I probably won't get a chance to resurrect the dead like in gen 1.

Alright, taking a break for now.

My boy Oifey was done dirty btw. Lewyn stole all of his screentime!

What was his name again?

This game has me deep in thought as to how forgettable this fucker actually is. There's 2 and a half chapters left, so perhaps he'd like to make an impression someday? I'm waiting.

Ranking the FE protagonists (sans Leif):

Ike > Lyn > Sigurd > Dimitri > Hector > Chrom > Robin > Eliwood > Ephraim > Alm > Eirika > Celica > Claude > S*liph = Marth = Kris > Edelgard > Micaiah > Roy > Corrin = Byleth

...might want to swap Micaiah with Edelgard there, perhaps. The former's bullshit at least had genuine and justified intentions to back it up. Edelgard just became a tyrant for no reason.

And now that EVERY possible character has been recruited, up to chapter 9 in my playthrough, here's how they fared! (Template was missing Claud because for some reason the FE templates on TierMaker ALWAYS miss somebody. He's a gen 1 survivor)

30K to resurrect a character is rather cheap if you think about it. Claud can make a killing at the arena, more than ppl will give him credit for.

Repairing weapons and staves is trash in Three Houses because you can just buy more on the side. FE4's "shops" might as well not exist considering how forgettable and limited they made them, so repairing is a really good mechanic here

Oh wait I forgot, FE4 fans don't let their characters die when they play the game, so they couldn't possibly know that

Let's continue chapter 9 now. Featuring the chad prince Shannan and the virgin liberator Seliph (whoever that is)

I believe this is the first time I'm facing a fully promoted enemy squad

Lester w/ the Brave Bow should handle them right?

Nvm, he almost got killed.

The grind to get Leif to level 20 has gotten desesperate

Hit those ballistas, son

I was able to promote Delmud, Leif and Nanna while preparing for Arion.

Speaking of Arion, how does one deal with him? He's extremely powerful.

I just sneaked my way around him and seized the castle. I assume Altenna could've weakened him or make him leave

Anyway, Thracia is finally done. Chapter 10 now...

It's getting dark.

This chapter's first steps are very easy. Just what I needed after Thracia's mayhem.

Fuck Arion, all my homies hate Arion

On the other hand, I am starting to feel the absence of a dancer in my ranks. It sucks, but I guess I let Travant have his fun with Leen before I sent him to hell

I DID SOME CHILD HUNTS OF MY OWN and the lil rascals allowed me to raise Rodolban and Radnay to near-promotion level. Soon, they're going to be assets for my army, instead of the burden they've been for the past 3 chapters

The enemy phase theme in this chapter has to be the best in the series man... IS snapped

>Julius and Ishtar on the field
>Sleep casters all over the place
>Hel users dangerously close to enemy infantry

WE'RE DOOMED

Nah, Shannan will save the day as usual.

...r-right?

Julius and Ishtar aren't moving yet. That's good news I think

They put my boy to sleep and they're about to absolutely ravage him. I have to take the fight to them somehow, or else they will destroy my army in the dirtiest way possible

Shannan, Oifey, Nanna and Lester were all put to sleep as well. My most valuable assets... damn.

Literally half of my crew is asleep rn.

Hawk holding the vanguard like a real bro, though.

Shannan did save our skin in the end.

This was actually easy, all things considered.

And... it's game over for me.

Arvis is too bulky and hits too hard. Nihil prevents Shannan's Astra from happening. Ares is the only one who can hit him 3 or 4 times per fight and deal decent damage, but Arvis procs GrtShield way too often and simply destroys him in return,

and Nanna can't heal all the damage he's suffering with her Mend staff.

As for Seliph, he only does 1 damage per hit regardless of the weapon. I'm fairly sure I got screwed out of getting Tyrfing since I couldn't save the priest in time.

I'll watch the last chapter on YT lol

#FE4: I decided to be fair and call this run a fail. This glorious emperor has bested me, right before the finish line.

I'm thinking of doing it all over again, except try to keep everybody alive this time.

Come to think of it, that's also how I played FE7, my first FE game, back then. My poor, poor decisions resulted in having still unpromoted Hector/Lyn and not enough well-developed units to pass the first phase of the final battle. Starting anew helped me set things right!

So I'm still going to keep FE4's final chapter a surprise for myself, one that I'll get to see once I get better at the game and can actually finish it lol. Not going to watch it on YT

Will quietly, sporadically keep on updating this thread as I start anew and try to reach the final battle again

I've played chapter 1 five times in my life and this girl's recruitment was a nightmare every time. I'd say it's easily the worst recruitment in the series by far,

but I recall reading that FE5 has some surprises in store about that too. Funny how every time FE5 comes up in the conversation, it's about nightmarish and complex gameplay decisions lol. Lemme reiterate, I'm really looking forward to play that one