Fire Emblem

RE: Shirow Shirow

Validar knows Grima is going to kill him and everyone in it, as do his cultists, so why are they doing this? Gharnef was using Medeus, Manfroy was rewarded, Lekain was spared, ETC, so Validar is just odd.

Also the character seemed to have a Complexity Addiction, especially in the spot pass content.

Edited by Monsund on Jun 12th 2019 at 12:15:07 PM

Considering how little presence Validar has despite being the leader of said cult? YES.

@Clarste: It would help yeah, but I don't think it would avoid that criticism. At least I don't recall it having avoided it in other similar cases

Of Awakening's 4 main villains, Validar is easily the weakest due to being just evil without adequate backstory or even any real pathos to his villainy despite being Robin's father. Gangrel and Walhart manage to be proper characters with more interesting motives and presence even before being recruited. Grima has the benefit of being a giant dragon for cool points, and subsequent games have fleshed out the big G tremendously. But, since there are 4 notable villains with their own spotlights, Validar being weak doesn't drag down the game too much.

Eh, I liked Validar as a villain. I like his design, I like both of his voice actors, and I like how he's basically a railroady gamemaster who throws a fit when the players don't want to play the campaign he created.

He's also fun to beat up.

RE: Sterok

Gangrel's motivation is extremely confused though and the game ultimately goes with "he was in it For the Evulz."

Honestly, I see absolutely nothing wrong with a villain who's just mindlessly sadistic and destructive.

Not everyone needs a Freudian Excuse or a ticket to the Well-Intentioned Extremist convention. Not everyone should. Some people really are just that cruel.

RE: Shirow Shirow

Gharnef is a good mindlessly evil and petty villain. Validar doesn't work because why would you want to get eaten by a dragon and why is that a religion with so many people in it?

Also Validar ruins the potential morally grey situation with Ylisse's past.

TBH I can't think of a similar case to compare it with. The Token Woman Protagonist is quite solidly embedded in these things.

That said, it's true that having the Good Woman and the Bad Woman can easily fall into other harmful stereotypes depending on how you play it.

Wait, Weapon Triangle is gone?

Validar isn't engaging. Gangrel is. Gharnef I don't care for either, but he's the OG evil from the NES era, so I don't mind cutting him some slack.

Lances do effective damage against cavalry. RIP cavalry.

I wonder what the difference between swords and axes is then.

Wait shit are they making it so the weapons actually have sensible Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors interaction!?

LANGRISSER DID IT FIRST!

RE: Sterok

Was Gangrel really that engaging? It takes till spot pass to learn he originally wanted to fight Walhart, having somehow known he was coming, before going Drunk with Power. For most of the game, he's just a cackling maniac.

Okay I feel like getting this off my chest because I need an outlet for my moronacy.

So a while ago I rented Valentia from Gamefly. Played it, liked it, but I returned it without finishing it because unlike say Wolfenstein a Fire Emblem game takes a lot of time to finish so its more of a buy than a rental. I returned the little cartridge back to Gamefly soon after with the intent to buy it one day.

Here's the kicker. Some time later I learned a little detail about DS cartridges. Unlike say the PS 4 where save data is saved on the console meaning I don't need a specific disk of The Witcher to access the data, any disc will do, a DS game's save is stored on the little teeny tiny cartridge.

........ Ya get where I'm going at here right? That cartridge that has my data, that was a rental, I ended up returning without storing anything to the cloud & I will never see it again.

So if I want to play Valentia again, I have to start aaaaaaaallllllll over.........

Edited by slimcoder on Jun 12th 2019 at 12:41:26 PM

Hate to break it to you but apocalypse cults and mass suicides are a thing that actually do exist. I can easily believe that if a gigantic superdragon that would destroy the world was real there would be legions of people willing to do its bidding, weirdly enough.

RIP progress. I've been there. Usually wasn't my fault...

Edited by ShirowShirow on Jun 12th 2019 at 3:39:23 PM

Gangrel's got some Death Seeker tendencies even before his defeat and recruitment, and his grudge against Ylisse is partially justified. He grew up in shit, and so spends his adult life shitting on others. Basically, Niles if he were a king with a sadistic bloodlust instead of a thief with sadistic ordinary lust.

It's not much but it's more than a lot of other villains get. I found him and Walhart pretty compelling compared to Daddy Long Neck.

Edited by Anomalocaris20 on Jun 12th 2019 at 3:39:25 PM

RE: Shirow Shirow

Doubtful people seem pretty attached to living and there's no indication anywhere that Grima's worshippers believe in any kind of afterlife.

RE: Anomalocaris 20

Incorrect, Ylisse's war never hurt Gangrel. Gangrel hates the world because bandits killed his mother and rants about how he hates Plegia.

Edited by Monsund on Jun 12th 2019 at 12:40:00 PM

Religion telling people that they will be rewarded in the afterlife for their death in the real world is pretty common.

In fact, real-world religions have to specifically make suicide a sin or else their teachings would simply encourage everyone to kill themselves immediately. It's kind of an obvious loophole.

Edited by Clarste on Jun 12th 2019 at 12:40:07 PM

Ham is fun, he really seems to enjoy what he does, and he gives a different vibe from most other arc villains. Good enough for me.

RE: Clarste

Not religions that tell their worshippers their souls will be eaten.

RE: Sterok

Fair enough, he's more enjoyable then Validar and his selfish motivation makes some sense.

Edited by Monsund on Jun 12th 2019 at 12:41:52 PM

Same reason why there are so many people in cults dedicated to the Great Old Ones, who care nothing for their worshippers and would bring death to said cults if they ever fully awaken. Zealotry is a hell of a drug.

Hey, if you're part of an evil cult, being eaten by a dragon isn't the worst that can happen to you.

Edited by dragonfire5000 on Jun 12th 2019 at 12:42:19 PM

I didn't say Gangrel was specifically hurt by the war. Those were two separate sentences.

Have you considered that maybe getting your soul eaten is a good thing? Like, "live on forever as a part of Grima" or whatever.

Religion is weird.

I'm reminded of a character in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice who mentions he wants to be the "bride" of the Great Serpent worshipped in Ashina. Which, as one might guess, involves climbing into a palanquin and letting a giant snake eat you.

Some people are just weird.

Edited by dragonfire5000 on Jun 12th 2019 at 12:44:51 PM