I guess it's mostly that by the time Alliance politics are brought up in Crimson Flower, the war has been going on for five years and the Lords of the Alliance are understandably getting antsy.
^See, I would have expected that tactic, actually. Suborn Gloucester, or just make him a better deal; blow the bridge once the main host had crossed or was crossing, and suddenly you have the Empress backed up to a chasm in hostile territory. The only downside I can see to that is that it would leave Gloucester territory very open to pillaging, the usual ravages of war, and deserters from the Imperial army making life miserable.
It's been fun.
Question: if there is another Fire Emblem game for the Switch, would you want it to have different routes like this one, or handle variations in playthroughs differently?
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
I’m beginning to wonder if Patricia is planned to be DLC (either as a continuation of Crimson Flower, a bonus chapter, or part of a fifth path). I haven’t gotten to the fight with Cornelia yet, but it’s my understanding that while that explains her role somewhat, we still don’t actually find out what happened to her. The possibilities are somewhat enticing...
Anyway, on what path is it explained what they actually wanted Flayn’s blood for?
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Hmm, good question. Multiple paths certain do seem to be a thing they’re doing now, though I do worry that if they keep doing it, it’ll either get stale or overextend itself. I wouldn’t mind them doing it for at least one more time though, see what comes out of it.
Another thing they could try is having one main storyline, but have the story change based on gameplay choices. Your standard “A or B” choices, sure, but also by recruiting certain characters, fighting certain enemies, collecting certain items, completing paralogues, things like that.
Edited by KarkatTheDalek on Aug 19th 2019 at 10:23:15 AM
Oh God! Natural light!
Mr. Clueless
It's kinda weird how Byleth is mostly a silent hero, yet when they battle they're just as talkative as everyone else.
Or maybe that was the point.
De Romanīs, lingua Latina gloriosa non fuī.
[Gloucester hates Riegan and has been sabotaging innocent merchants with death for years for doing normal work. Only reason he doesn't foam at the mouth on Golden Deer. His son taking Claude's side appears to be the only reason he's willing to work with him, especially when they see results on Golden Deer.
@Karkat: It's to make the people go berserk and transform easier using Crest Stones. As seen with Remire and the students turned unwillingly by Kronya.
Edited by OmegaRadiance on Aug 19th 2019 at 7:21:48 AM
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.
Not really a lord of anything
@Karkat: I'm just sick of silent protagonists in general, regardless of if they're justified by the story or not. There is no reason why we should still have them in character-driven games in this day and age.
This song needs more love.
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
I’m not a huge fan of them either, but I can deal with them. I think they work best for games like this, which let you choose between three protagonists that the writers might not want to reveal everything about right away.
I thought it was something like that, but do they ever explain that directly?
Edited by KarkatTheDalek on Aug 19th 2019 at 10:28:04 AM
Oh God! Natural light!
I have no issue with silent protagonists. I'm playing a game, not watching a movie.
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
I will grant you that Trails of Cold Steel, at least, shows that you can have a voiced protagonist with Persona-style social interaction and have it work really well. Still, I do think that Byleth doesn’t really need to talk when Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude are all right there.
Oh God! Natural light!
It can be done well, certainly. It doesn't automatically make the character better, in my opinion.
It depends on the game for me. Also whether the series has a history with silent protagonists or not, and how much of a player stand-in they're supposed to be. Link doesn't bother me, for example, but Ludger in Tales of Xillia 2 was weird because the series never did it before and hasn't since.
@Karkat: It's hinted at heavily in Lorenz's paralogue, I think. The Gloucester thing, not the other thing.
I wouldn't mind a voiced protagonist, honestly, though the difficulty with that is that what if the main character has a personality you don't like?
It's been fun.
Nope. Three Houses leaves enough open they expect us to connect them.
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
I did mean the Flayn’s blood thing, yes. Though I’m actually really interested in Lorenz, believe it or not. Claude, Hilda and Marianne too, of course (Raphael seems nice, but doesn’t quite grab me just yet).
Oh God! Natural light!
That's a fair few characters in Three Houses that I liked more as time went on. They did a good job of writing characters that might seem initially unlikable but really grew through the game and supports. (Ferdinand was my big one on Black Eagles).
Edited by deludedmusings on Aug 20th 2019 at 12:41:09 AM
Not really a lord of anything
The "player stand-in" excuse always seemed weird to me. It made sense in the days of Dragon Quest I and the original LoZ because the character was a completely blank slate but for things like Byleth or the Luminary from DQXI, they have a set backstory and relationships (and in the case of Byleth, canon emotions in that they lack them). They're already halfway to being a full character, they just completely stop short of it arbitrarily.
Edited by LordVatek on Aug 19th 2019 at 10:44:54 AM
This song needs more love.
I'm fairly sure Corrin having plenty of personality and lots of people not liking it is what led to Byleth.
That's quite likely.
There seems to be a few things which were responses to things not liked in Fates.
Considering that Corrin ranks pretty high on polls, I doubt it. Maybe they just want to try something different.
Edited by dragonfire5000 on Aug 19th 2019 at 7:52:16 AM
That's very true, and a good point to make, Vatek.
In terms of characters, I don't think there's anyone I actually dislike. Lorenz rubs me the wrong way because of his whole 'it's fake news, those girls are trying to discredit me' thing in his supports with Byleth, but he's surprisingly... well, noble-minded otherwise, with stuff like his line in the last month of Crimson Flower about how he finds it intensely hypocritical that all the nobles made such grand gestures of faith before the war, and now they're lining up for Rhea's blood. I still don't like him a lot, but I saved a lot of the Lion and Deer intra-House supports for their own runs and focused mostly on the Eagles.
It's been fun.
Huh, I wasn't aware that the English voice of Claude had a YouTube channel. For anyone who likes watching streams, he's playing Three Houses:
Are you ready to kill every last one of them... with falling blocks?
Edited by Sterok on Aug 19th 2019 at 7:57:03 AM
Seen those. Went to the second stream live, actually (does he have the video up for that one yet?). It’s quite entertaining and I’m planning to keep up with it. Voice actor LPs and streams are usually fun to watch, and this guy’s very funny.
I still love that the chat convinced him to name Byleth “Claudia.”
Edited by SapphireBlue on Aug 19th 2019 at 8:12:57 AM
A single route in terms of overall plot and maps, but with variations to minor details based on your choices. Such as whether certain named enemies appear or not.
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
Blue Lions Rhea was alive for them sweet dragon experiments. Much like Flayn was because sweet dragon blood. Thales is dead and Slytherin was still there as the named Generic stood in. Duscur was completely understood. Only Edelgards mommy is unexplained.
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.