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 Fire Emblem is a series of fantasy strategy role-playing games developed (mainly) by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. The series began in 1990 with the release of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light for the Famicom. It is now on its 16th mainline entry with 2019's Fire Emblem: Three Houses for the Switch. A decade ago, Fire Emblem experienced a resurgence with the release of Fire Emblem Awakening, one of the most celebrated RPGs on the 3DS. Fire Emblem Fates, the subject of this LP, was the follow-up that came out three years later, also on the 3DS. It's only barely a sequel—the characters, events, and locations featured in Fates are mostly disconnected from the world of Awakening—but Intelligent Systems tried to preserve the features that made Awakening so beloved while expanding the scope of the story across three different routes and polishing the gameplay systems to perfection. As far as the writing goes, they were, uh, not wholly successful. But on the gameplay front, specifically on the Conquest route, they absolutely killed it. The three routes in Fates are Birthright, Conquest, and Revelation. They're really three different games; after the decision point in Chapter 6 (out of 28), the routes have different (but overlapping) playable casts, distinct gameplay design, and very divergent stories. Birthright is aimed at newer or more casual players, being generally easier and allowing players to grind to their heart's content by completing optional skirmish battles. In Birthright, you join the royal family of Hoshido in their war against Nohr. Conquest, which is the route we're playing, is the one where you side with Nohr against Hoshido. This route is designed for veterans. The battles are more difficult: enemies have powerful skills, they're positioned in ways that make them tricky to approach, and the AI is adjusted so that they won't just make pointless suicide charges into units they can't damage. Conquest also doesn't allow grinding (without DLC), so you're forced to make do with whatever experience and gold you can get in the campaign itself. In practice, the grinding restriction isn't so bad, since Conquest is very generous with money and all the characters are at least competent when they first join. Revelation is the golden route where you unite the royal families of Hoshido and Nohr against a hidden threat that has been secretly orchestrating their conflict. This route sits between the other two on the difficulty scale: enemies are tougher than in Birthright, but that's mostly because they have bigger stats, rather than having clever combinations of skills and positioning. You're still allowed to grind, unlike Conquest. Unfortunately, Revelation clearly didn't get playtested as much as the first two routes, so there are some very awkward balance problems. It still works as a sandbox to play with (almost) all of your favorite characters from both sides, though. For this LP, I will be playing Conquest on the hardest difficulty, Lunatic. But beyond that, I'm adding an additional challenge.  I have long wished that Fire Emblem LPs could actually showcase every single character a game has to offer. The problem is that the mechanics don't usually support that: you're generally meant to pick out a small group of favorites and just train those, replacing people only occasionally—when they fail too many growth rolls and their stats fall behind, or you get a powerful new unit you want to use, or one of them drops dead and you forge on without them. That's still true in Fates, but this game has a couple of mechanical changes that make it more feasible than usual to train a big team. For one thing, overleveled units earn very little EXP, so it's not possible to get just one or two units outrageously far ahead of the curve the way you could in Awakening. And the Tag Team mechanic makes it a lot easier for weak, underleveled units to pick up kills quickly, since they can borrow a lot of damage from stronger teammates. There's no need to arduously whittle down enemies to 1 HP just to let your weaklings deal the final blow. With that in mind, I am going to train every character in the roster during this run. Here's what that means:
Those are the basic rules of the challenge, but I'm adding a few extra objectives on top:
Fire Emblem Fates has a "home base" feature called My Castle. Here are the rules I'll follow for that:
This is an extreme challenge that has taken a ridiculous amount of planning, but I'm pretty sure I can do it! A disclaimer, though: please don't treat this LP as an actual guide on how to play Conquest. I am making this way, way harder on myself than it needs to be. This is not an ironman run, so if anyone dies, I will reset the map and try again. (That will definitely happen, but you won't see it.) I heard the plot is bad. Are you going to cover it? No! But also yes! The writing in Fates is not good, and I don't care to show it. For years now, I have been mashing Start to skip all the cutscenes. If you do want to see an LP that presents the story of Conquest, try this one. However, I'm using this LP partly to showcase the nascent 3DS Fire Emblem modding scene. As part of that, I am going to present the story as rewritten in the Good Guy Garon mod. I don't necessarily endorse this mod, since I haven't even seen the whole rewritten script to judge it. From what I have seen, though, this seems like a decent attempt at a very difficult task. I'm also using a variety of other mods. You can see that list here. Since I'm playing the game on Citra, I'm also able to use HD textures to make the game look a lot prettier than it would on the tiny 3DS screens. What's the spoiler policy? I wouldn't normally care, but since I'm showing off a rewrite of the game, please tag all spoilers for events that happen beyond the point we've reached in the LP (even if they play out differently in the unmodified script). I'm lost. How do you play Fire Emblem? We're going to see this game's own tutorials, and those should give you enough grounding to follow along. However, I'm not going to do a comprehensive lesson on the fundamentals of Fire Emblem gameplay. If you're interested in a general overview of how these games work, I recommend checking out the other Fire Emblem LPs in the Archive. What's the format for this LP? It's traditional here on SA to present these games as SSLPs, but I'm doing this on video because in the course of this challenge, there will be a lot of intricate maneuvers—too many to reasonably explain in screenshots. It'll be easier to follow along in motion. If you're not interested in the story at all, the video format also lets you skip straight to the action pretty easily. In addition to the videos, I'll be posting extra content in this thread, including my notes on the progression of the campaign (tracking support points, finances, etc.). Zoran fucked around with this message at 21:35 on May 19, 2022 |
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Mar 22, 2022 01:57
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| # ? Apr 29, 2024 02:40 |
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-VFQkQS4-Q We kick things off by creating our avatar and playing the Prologue!
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Mar 22, 2022 01:57
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Nice mod list. Why not put Azura in her Conquest outfit as well?
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Mar 22, 2022 03:01
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Walla posted:Nice mod list. Why not put Azura in her Conquest outfit as well? I used to have that installed too, but I thought it would interfere with the story a little bit.
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Mar 22, 2022 03:16
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I've been following your content for about a year and had no idea you posted on SA. Excellent work, keep it up. 
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Mar 22, 2022 03:30
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Well this ought to be interesting.
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Mar 22, 2022 03:31
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I saw this video in my recommended and had no idea it was going to be an LP on here too... I'm not great at following video LPs but I'll do my best, this looks really interesting! How are you handling second gen units with regards to them needing to reach level 5 promoted? Given how you're going out of your way to make things difficult I assume you're not just going to Offspring Seal them and then consider them trained and done? I notice Hans no longer calls his troops "cannon fodder". I think Xander's response to Ryoma is new too? It's not the focus of this LP but seeing the GGG script changes will be fun too midnight lasagna fucked around with this message at 12:31 on Mar 22, 2022 |
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Mar 22, 2022 11:54
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midnight lasagna posted:How are you handling second gen units with regards to them needing to reach level 5 promoted? Given how you're going out of your way to make things difficult I assume you're not just going to Offspring Seal them and then consider them trained and done? The S support requirement means I can't just abandon the kids right away, and in fact they'll take over the army towards the end.
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Mar 22, 2022 14:18
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I've never thought about it before, but what are Nyx and Keaton even doing there? They have zero connection to the Nohrian army before you recruit them. Hayato and Kaden on the Hoshidan side too, for that matter. I guess you can just chalk it up to weird prophetic dream logic?
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Mar 22, 2022 15:27
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I think prophetic dream logic is the only answer.
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Mar 22, 2022 16:14
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You absolute lunatic.
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Mar 22, 2022 18:00
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This is how I usually wind up playing Fates, only with full grinding enabled. And also these days with the Gay Fates mod installed, but I can understand THAT one 100% throwing off balance in such a way as to buck constraints. This'll be a really fun watch!
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Mar 23, 2022 03:11
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I’ll be excitedly following this. I never really got the knack for Fates but you always make it look fun
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Mar 23, 2022 04:48
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This seems insane and punishing... I look forward to watching you suffer!
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Mar 23, 2022 05:33
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFOI5LFC0tc We prove our mettle against our older brother, Xander, and meet the rest of our siblings in the Nohrian royal family.
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Mar 24, 2022 01:30
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Wow that's a much better line than "technically an adult". I guess there's no non-creepy way to say "hey this character who looks like a child is actually 18 and therefore totally okay to marry", but the localisation could have phrased it literally any other way... Xander's line about the tribes is odd too, it's nice to see him try to justify Garon's actions but it really doesn't give me "Good Guy Garon" vibes. I'm guessing we're not meant to take that at face value anyway. For how long this game's "tutorial" chapters are, I don't think they do a very good job at teaching the player how to play well. Like you said it's weird that the game teaches you to attack someone who could attack and kill you in return on enemy phase. If you pay attention to the damage you're dealing and taking I suppose you could also view this chapter as a tutorial on personal skills, but if I were a new FE player I think I would see that and just assume that damage values in combat are slightly random? Your chapter commentary is great by the way. I've sped through these first 6 maps so many times that they're just white noise to me now, so it's nice to hear something that makes me stop and think about them again!
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Mar 24, 2022 12:27
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Good first couple of videos, and they've prompted me to start watching your older videos which I've also enjoyed. I'll be following this one with interest.
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Mar 24, 2022 15:20
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So the early justification is "all these tribes are backwards savages without Garon's enlightened conquest and rule"?  The infamous "technically an adult" line was better, at least.Color me unconvinced by this mod, but we'll see. I'll try not to harp on it, and in any case I'm mostly here for the challenge. The early stages don't really give much room for finesse in this challenge, except trying to maximize exp on Jakob in the next couple chapters, I'm guessing.
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Mar 24, 2022 21:50
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It’s really more like “Not Overtly, Cacklingly Evil Garon.” He’s still the hereditary absolute monarch of an imperial power, and he acts the part.
Zoran fucked around with this message at 23:03 on Mar 24, 2022 |
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Mar 24, 2022 23:00
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I just love the "all the tribespeople are savages that would sooner slit your throat than look at you. Oh, except for the ones in this room, they're The Good Ones(tm)" Xander totally has a "spooky ghost" outfit in his closet.
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Mar 25, 2022 03:25
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDhUYIpJxcw We meet King Garon in the flesh, we get some new teammates, and we encounter some Hoshidan infiltrators. Zoran fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Apr 1, 2022 |
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Mar 26, 2022 03:32
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This looks like it'll be fun! I'm also happy to get in on a Fire Emblem LP when it's new, rather than way after the fact. Looking forward to more of this.
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Mar 26, 2022 03:47
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I'd like a timestamp for when gameplay/commentary begins. I'm skipping past the story bits because I don't care.
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Mar 26, 2022 10:38
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Dance Officer posted:I'd like a timestamp for when gameplay/commentary begins. I'm skipping past the story bits because I don't care. ? I see timestamps on the most recent one at least for opening/closing cutscenes and the battle
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Mar 26, 2022 12:42
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Erg posted:? I see timestamps on the most recent one at least for opening/closing cutscenes and the battle I missed it, then. Thanks for pointing it out.
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Mar 26, 2022 13:08
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The "G"GG mod does for the moment nail a "old man is going senile" vibe for Garon instead of the "holy poo poo  " in the original script."Leo, was it?"  Although he probably wasn't that much of a nice person even before the evil dragon possession [/understatement]
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Mar 26, 2022 17:11
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Yeah it seems like he was "good" by the standards of an imperialistic monarch bending over backwards to keep a bunch of colonies in line. Which is bad but markedly less so than presented in canon.
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Mar 26, 2022 17:34
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Woah, that was a very clean clear for Chapter 2. I never really learned how to predict who will attack who in that map what with the huge amount of 1-2 range weapons and potential for dual strikes, so I always play it very slowly and turtly.
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Mar 27, 2022 12:26
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N75NVZlrZM We go on a tour of Nohr, encounter some opposition at the border, and find ourselves embroiled in a mysterious plot. Zoran fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Apr 1, 2022 |
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Mar 30, 2022 02:19
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The end of this segment is unintentionally one of the funniest moments in the game. "There might be soldiers lying in wait." "I'll be ready for them!" *is absolutely not ready for them*
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Mar 30, 2022 04:31
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It's been so long since I've watched these cutscenes instead of skipping them that I forgot how utterly ridiculous and contrived this entire section was. No amount of rewriting can save it from being terrible.
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Mar 30, 2022 07:53
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The Shortest Path posted:It's been so long since I've watched these cutscenes instead of skipping them that I forgot how utterly ridiculous and contrived this entire section was. No amount of rewriting can save it from being terrible. While I don't necessarily disagree (ultimately the original plot was a turd and there's only so much you can polish one) I think the "G"GG mod*, at least for the moment, is managing to depict their stated goal, namely that Garon was not and there's still some resistance against the evil dragon possession. My MAJOR beef with the original route is how the Noir royals (mostly Xander) are a bunch of craven enablers all too willling to go along with the latest criming when Garon goes so long as he doesn't pay attention to them; so let's see how the mod changes that.*no I'm not going to stop putting "good" between quotes. That mod should be called the not Garon mod.
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Mar 30, 2022 09:31
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The Shortest Path posted:It's been so long since I've watched these cutscenes instead of skipping them that I forgot how utterly ridiculous and contrived this entire section was. No amount of rewriting can save it from being terrible. I think I agree. There just way too much going on here, and you can’t adequately set everything up and give things room to breathe with some dialogue edits. Zoran fucked around with this message at 02:33 on Apr 1, 2022 |
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Mar 30, 2022 10:20
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This is educational and interesting to watch! If I ever go back to playing this game, I'll have a better understanding of the mechanics the next time around. The not-evil Garon mod is trying its best, but I wonder if an Evil Corrin mod would have been easier.
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Mar 30, 2022 11:17
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This is probably my least favourite of all the pre-split maps, although I don't really like any of them. There's way too many 2 range enemies and Corrin can only attack at 1 range, plus the boss has way too much avoid with no reliable way to hit him. Dealing with the enemies is a little less tedious if you've got Jakob instead of Felicia at least. I had no idea offensive and defense pair-ups gave different bonuses to hit & dodge. I think that explains some things I never really understood...
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Mar 30, 2022 11:35
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If you care about Corrin's hair color, vote in this poll! Your options are the canonical #EDDBC5 or #94D1FF.
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Apr 1, 2022 02:31
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J3pR9g2eDg Our assailant nurses us back to health and then leads us on a whirlwind tour of Hoshido. We meet our real family* and lead a daring rescue of our two sisters. *Kinda.
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Apr 2, 2022 03:30
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I still love that they were so Gung ho on having corrin take their siblings to bone town that they completely destroyed the basic conceit of the paired games. Granted, everything that got said this chapter came from hoshido, but ggg is still feeling cartoonishly evil.
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Apr 2, 2022 16:08
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If you only ever play Conquest, or if you play Birthright but don’t marry any of your Hoshidan siblings, then I’m pretty sure you never find out they’re not actually related to you.
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Apr 2, 2022 16:25
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