Bulbagarden

So you recommend Persona 4 over 3? Okay, I'll go with that. But I think I'll start with one of the two games in the Shin Megami Tensei series first, since that sounds to be more to my liking, then look into Persona afterward, if I like the SMT titles I play. But should I just forget about Tokyo Mirage Sessions?

Well, what I was mainly asking about the gameplay and the like, but... okay, I guess that works. I generally don't like stories with convoluted plots (mainly because many of them tend to needlessly convoluted just for the sake of it), but I'll keep that in mind. Are any of the Persona/MegaTen titles related in terms of continuity that I should be aware of? And that's good to hear about having endings that differ based on my MC's alignment. I think I will try one of those titles for sure now. I've also wondered, does Fire Emblem: Three Houses have different endings based on which House you join? What exactly is different about each House you choose?

Yeah, I guess I did forget that remakes of FE4&5 will likely have Casual Mode included, just like SoV did (and I would assume all future FE remakes will include that). I feel as though that FE6&7 hold up well enough today as they are and don't really need remakes, anyway... though I wouldn't object to it, all the same. Still, remakes of 4&5 would be preferable for both having official localizations and it sounds like from you that they're worth playing for the stories (but are you saying that that game also had S-supports?). And you've gotten me curious about who Medeus and Loptous are, so do enlighten me - I may never play whatever games they're from, anyway (Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem, perhaps?).

So are you suggesting I should play Conquest after Birthright, then? But then, if you don’t think that Fates is worth playing for the story, then I wonder if I should have even bothered with any of these games at all. Right now, I'm only an average FE player, if not less, so I don’t know if I’d even make it through all the maps in Conquest, anyway… unless they’re easy. But then, I don’t see the point in playing an FE game just for easy maps.

(Also, sorry for the delayed response.)

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Tokyo Mirage Sessions is heavily more into the idol culture/genre, so I'd say skip it if it's not your cup of tea. I'd only recommend it for anyone on the fence about it to play it for the dungeon crawling and OST, at least.

Persona gameplay isn't really all that different from each installment though, it follows most other MegaTen games for having turn based combat. Most people usually play Persona for the story, social links (3-5), and time progression. Continuity in the series is not a problem, save for a few, the most you'll get is a reference or a boss fight depending on the game. Games that do have continuity are SMT I&II (well you can play 2 before 1, but 2 will mention how the protag in 1 dies, otherwise aside from a shared setting not much else), P2 duology, and the Raidou games; Devil Survivor 1&2 are alternate universes so playing 2 before 1 is totally fine, and for SMT IV and Apocalypse, Apocalypse is a what if alternate take on IV's neutrality route ending so it's sort of a sequel, you can still play Apocalypse before IV but I'd recommend playing IV and getting the neutral route first to at least get a better understanding in Apocalypse.

As for FETH, yes there are different endings depending on the four routes you'll play through, though I have not completed the BE or the Silver Snow routes just yet, so for bosses on those two I'll have to see what they are (I have a feeling on who they might be), and apparently the Church route is a watered down version of the Golden Deer route, but I had a feeling that those two routes would be similar in some way anyway. The difference lies between the three lords beliefs, politics of their country, the Chruch's teachings, and TWSITD; the beginning of the game will be the same for each route until the timeskip (almost forgot, a certain battle at a certain location will also be the same), I don't want to say too much to avoid spoilering what I've played through, though. But I will say this, if you do get the game and if there's any character(s) you want to recruit, then I'd recommend raising their support to B as that's the fastest way to recruit a student without having to raise certain stat/skill requirements much, it also means you'll be roaming the monastery often as hosting tea parties, eating, gifting, and returning lost items raises their support too (having them in battle with you also helps, but you'll have to find them and ask for mission assistance. Recruiting characters absolutely requires the effort).

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FE4 did not have S supports, the support system didn't start until later on in the series. 4 is unique in that it also has a jealousy system, but anyway raising love points requires the women to battle near an eligible male (Sigurd x Deirdre and Ethlyn x Quan are the exception as their love automatically grows with each other), if the women do not get married before the timeskip, then their children will not appear and substitute characters will take the child characters places. 5 doesn't have this though as it's a side story to 4, as in Leif's journey before joining Seliph's army. Grima's connection to Medues: implied to be a earth dragon, hatred for Naga, similar summoning to Medeus, wanting to conquer humanity/Archanea, and the whole point of the Fire Emblem itself of sealing them; Grima's connection to Loptous (he actually appears in 4, but is a Archanea dragon): possession of future Robin similar to Loptous' possession of Julius due to shared blood, has a cult dedicated to them, Loptous has the elite guard called the Deadlords and in Awakening the Deadlords there have the Jugdrali Holy Weapons that are also servants to Grima, and (while minor) Grima's form looks like Loptous' serpentine form. If anything it's like Nintendo wanted Grima to be both characters with how similar in story they are.

Only if you want to, but Conquest is better for maps and their different victory conditions (similar to older games). But all three routes stories are terrible anyway so you're not missing much if you don't play. Only play, though, if you think you might like certain characters at least. Maps in Conquest are easy imo, Conquest also doesn't have grinding so at most you'll just have to plan out who you want to deploy that'll help you the most, essentially. (and if anything, you can always just use the royal siblings the most if it gets hard for you, the Nohr royals are pretty good units)

Yeah, based on that, I'd say that I will just skip TMS when it's re-released on the Switch. I only brought it up again to be sure if it was a game for me... even though I already basically figured it wasn't, just from our earlier discussion. The idol culture thing is sure not going to draw me in, though I didn't know it had dungeon-crawling, too. I don't know enough about the OST, but if it's mainly just a lot of J-Pop songs, then that will also just be a turn-off for me. Either way, I doubt that this is something that I will be interested to play anyway. It's funny that this game was originally conceived, not as an FE x Persona crossover, but an FE x Pokémon crossover game. Now there's a crossover series I can get behind.

Okay, great, so I will for sure just play either Nocturne or Digital Devil Saga (I'm leaning more towards the former) to see if I would enjoy this series. If I do, then I will definitely get more into the series and will try Persona 4, as well. I do appreciate the detailed response.

Awesome to hear! To be honest, I'm kind of surprised that there are multiple endings based on Houses/routes the player chooses, as I wasn't expecting that to be the case. But knowing that there are, I am definitely going to get the game when I get a Switch. IDK if it will be the first Switch game I buy, but I will get it at some point.

Oh, I guess I didn't realize that the support system was a mechanic that FE picked up in later installments (though I feel I should have figured that). Okay, I think I get why Grima's an issue now. The way I see it, the only reason Grima shares many traits and plot points to other dragon deities was just because of how much Awakening was designed to be a throwback to previous installments in the series, given that it could have been the FE series' swansong.

I guess I didn't think about Conquest potentially having different map objectives, so that might sway me to check it out, even if I don't like Birthright. And even if the plots are so bad, then, yeah, maybe I'll at least get attached to some of the characters (though I have a hard time picturing any likeable characters in Fates, given its reputation). The lack of grinding is actually the part that makes me nervous about being able to finish the game, but if it's as easy as you say - and I would hope it's at most no harder than Blazing Blade - then perhaps I should manage. I'd probably just play Normal-Casual for a first-time play, lol. And I guess having potentially OP characters like the ones you mentioned should also help. (Truth be told, the main reason I decided to try the games at all is because you recommended them.)

Understandable, idol series/culture is certainly not a niche that everyone loves (especially in the west), I thought it was a fun game personally but I do see why people can be put off/not be into it much (aside from the idol influence even). Yeah since it's a crossover with SMT (mostly Persona, Atlus and Nintendo should just say it straight up) it'd undoubtedly would have dungeon crawling; as for the OST it does have J-Pop songs but there are tracks, especially battle themes, that don't have any singing at all too, though if you aren't a fan of that either then yeah I can see you might not enjoy much of it then. Speaking of FE x Pokémon, I used to think that Pokémon Conquest was that until someone told me it wasn't, mainly cause it's a tactics game from what I'm told (though I haven't played that side game before, I want to sometime though), but I would certainly play an FE game crossed over with Pokémon (same with an FF x FE game, would be interesting for sure).

Either one will be a great start regardless, though I will say I do heavily agree with you probably starting with Nocturne first (my bias is showing lol).

To be honest, when it was announced fully for the first time I was hesitant at first, especially when at the time we only got the English title and nothing else. I was worried it might go the Fates route of endings ("different" but not really, especially when two endings are the same just swapping the royals and the third everyone lives and makes peace) cause the title "Three Houses" made me concerned. Gladly FETH delivered, and the plots in the four routes do at least differ after the timeskip. (still liked the Blue Lions route the most though so far)

Nah I can see why some might think that, though I'm sure whenever they do remake 4 and 5 they'll add in actual supports, especially to flesh out certain characters better. I'll say this, at least Grima is better than Anankos (the true boss of Fates), what gets me more is how they showed him in Echoes mostly though. So I can at least kind of forgive it in Awakening as it is supposed to be a throw back like you said and I can see why they'd want to add in certain aspects from other villains in the series. Though I would say the series would most likely be dead in the west if Awakening didn't sell well, it'd just go back to being Japan only again since they still sell considerably well over there ever since release with an odd outlier or two at least; doesn't help when trying to advertise FE in the west, especially here in the US, it isn't the greatest, which contributed to why it wasn't super well known here and causing sales to not be great.

Conquest is great due to that imo, but Birthright and Revelation gameplay isn't too bad either, so that's one of the praises that Fates still gets. Some characters are definitely eh, but I did end up liking quite a few of them, especially Jakob (though I like jerkish characters usually, except Takumi though) and Charlotte; Peri is another one I actually liked too even though a lot of people like to call her a DA OC lol. I never found Blazing Blade to be hard personally due to Lyn's tutorial mode, but Conquest isn't too hard, I'll say this it isn't like 5's terrible RNG and fatigue system and it definitely isn't 10 (normal mode here is hard mode in Japan, for example, it's notorious that 9 is easier but 10 can be brutal because of that since they messed up the naming in translation for difficulty settings). That being said, despite my jabbing at Fates I do still recommend them from a gameplay and OST standpoint, and there are some great characters too imo; and it's still a good start for newcomers too, so it's why I still recommend them and Awakening (for newer entries, easier to beat, etc.) when it comes to the 3DS installments.

It's not that I mind vocals in video game music - I don't necessarily - but that I'm just not really generally into J-Pop songs. How much I would enjoy any of the music in Persona/SMT/TMS, vocals or no, would depend on what kind of music it generally is. I can see why you would think that Pokémon Conquest was a Pokémon x FE crossover, since it basically was an FE-style Pokémon title. Incidentally, while it was not a crossover series with Fire Emblem, it happens to be a crossover with another video game series of which I was not familiar prior to called Nobunaga's Ambition, which apparently is a turn-based Strategy RPG series... just like FE. Supposedly, Pokémon Conquest's development was the reason that Tokyo Mirage Sessions didn't become a Pokémon x FE crossover title as originally planned. I still hope we get a crossover game sometime, too, because that's a crossover event that could actually work well together. And, yeah, I guess Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy could work, too (I'm just picturing FE Lords fighting alongside dudes with weapons like Buster Swords, Gunblades, arm-mounted cannons, and other crazy weapons, lol). As for Pokémon Conquest itself, it's fun, IMO, but I would only recommend it if you don't mind playing a Strategy game that's easier than any Fire Emblem.

So are you telling me that both of FE: Fates routes were advertised as having different endings, but weren't really different? And even Revelations' ending is just more of a combination of the other two endings? Lol. Well, it's good to know that Three Houses delivers on that promise, and that the plots also diverge at a certain point, so that's makes me even more interested.

From articles I've read, Awakening actually would have been the series' finale if sales had not met expectations for Nintendo/IS - at least 250,000 copies sold - and not just in the west, but in Japan, as well.
Fire Emblem: Awakening Was Almost The Last Game In The Series
Awakening saved the Fire Emblem series from cancellation

I suppose it is true that the Fates titles, especially Conquest - or maybe it's only Conquest - are at least praised for their strategic maps. I'll also see if there are any characters I actually like, too... but, uh, what does DA OC stand for, exactly? Many do say that Blazing Blade is one of the easier FE titles, and Lyn's chapters were certainly a big help for beginners (not that it was my first title). But the point where I hit a brick wall that I failed to penetrate was Chapter 27 in the game - enemy units just didn't seem to stop coming at my units. Perhaps if Conquest doesn't have a chapter like that one, then I should be fine. I guess, in any case, I do need to get better at this series, if I am to be as good you are. So how exactly do you feel about Fates as a whole? (Just curious, since it's hard to tell.)

And, hey, I don't mean to intrude on your life, but you've been away from here for a few days again, so I hope you're still doing okay.

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J-Pop songs can be pretty same-y, so I get why some might not like it cause of that (or even other factors related to it). Yeah I've heard of Nobunaga's Ambition, haven't played any though but they look to be fun. I know that originally Atlus wasn't enthusiastic about making a crossover with FE and SMT, especially since they already had projects going on at the time, which is why it took a bit to get off the ground at first. I've always thought a FF and FE crossover would be great simply for the idea of FE being crossed over with mostly older FF games that had a medieval like setting (and a few later ones as well), and maybe also crossover with newer FF's just to see how FE characters do in a more modern (well TMS does this anyway) or slight cyberpunk and dystopian setting like FFVII. (or just give me a FE x FF Type-0 crossover, it needs more recognition anyway) That and I'm a firm believer that FE should evolve it's settings more anyway, and adding in new fantasy races, which is why I do actually like Birthright's Feudal Japan setting; I believe that a crossover with FF could actually challenge the series and try something new like that with a spin-off, at least.

Yep, Fates even advertised as being able to be on the "villains" side with Conquest, even though Corrin has even more pacifist ideals in the Nohr route over Hoshido's; and really, the only way it even makes you feel like you "chose wrong" is cause you fight in Garon's army, but even then Corrin and the Nohr siblings only do so to try to save and change him, and they dislike having to kill anybody even if they [the enemy units] are in the wrong. At least with Three Houses, it actually delivers in also feeling like you might have chosen the wrong house depending on how you view what each respective lord believes in, people also say the game makes it feel like you chose wrong if you side with Edelgard (I haven't even gotten to the timeskip for it yet, and already I feel like it was the wrong choice) due to how radical she is in her dislike of Crests (it's justified why she hates them, but the way she goes about it is a YMMV).

Yeah I've read those articles and others like it before, but what they seem to forget is that FE already had a similar situation with older games, specifically Thracia 776, after Kaga left and a whole legal issue came about it (which led him to go on and make TearRing Saga and Vestaria Saga). Thracia 776 is one of the games in the series that didn't sell well (the other that didn't sell too hot was 9 as well), and the series usually already had sold moderately well over in Japan, advertising killed the series here though which is why it never sold well each localized installment pre Awakening, which also caused the New Mystery remake to not even be bothered to get brought over. What also brought it's boost in sales in Japan is that Lucina goes around as Marth for a bit, and Marth is crazy popular in Japan (his games usually sell better over there, both Shadow Dragon and New Mystery remakes sold over 274,000) so it was gonna do well with that added bonus in Japan. So if anything, it was in a tight situation again that at worst would've remained Japan only again. That being said there are indeed other stuff that Awakening brought in that did help it's reception, and western interest being met did help the series more overall, so if anything I am more grateful for that. But I'll have to find the thread on SF that actually had articles in it, iirc it was made around '15 or '16 and the discussion actually talked about it way better.

(Post 2 of 2, stupid 4,000 limit)
DA OC = DeviantArt original character, it was a running joke in the fandom for a while that Peri looked like a self insert character due to her hair color, heterochromia iridum, and personality (she's a sociopath); all associated with the stereotype of usually young artists making their own characters for the first time and making them "quirky" to stand out. Ch.27 on Eliwood's route? Yeah that one can be annoying if anything, it's best if you have your units stick around each other and move slowly (axe units are the best here since most enemies are Knights), and Linus' and Lloyd's weapons are annoying for ranged attacks/nullifying crits. As for the enemy units reinforcements, they appear depending on your movement instead of turns, I always crossed the double bridges and picked off enemies with my axe units and leveling Eliwood at the same time as well so he can promote after the chapter; or you could defend the bridges and fight off most of the enemies before moving on, though I haven't done that strategy. Well thank you, but I wouldn't say I'm that great, it's best to remember that FE is the type of SRPG that any strategy can work if you try your hardest, going with that in mind really helped me often on the higher difficulties especially (and even helped me yeet the final map in the BL route in Three Houses!). My feelings on Fates, in general, is actually meh; it tried something different but fell flat due to the story, terrible supports to even good characters, Azura, and just the way they sold it as three different games (if you didn't get the SE), add in the fact that they forced in child characters with a stupid reason and added in actual Awakening characters into the story (three being the literal children from 13 with different names, I like Inigo but come on IS, and the other three being children characters in this game, but it's not clear if they're reincarnations or ancestors of those characters; and their names are anagrams, seriously). I don't outright hate the games, but it could've been so much more and better that it actually makes me sad, if anything.

Nah you're good, things are good over here now (pretty much what was happening on my end essentially got resolved now, it involved a rude/weird co-worker that I mentioned with Ebail if you wanna read it), it's mostly just work and other irl stuff taking my time and occasionally games too.

Yeah, I can certainly agree with a crossover with FE and an FF that has a more medieval-style setting - that could definitely work. FE with a cyberpunk-style FF setting might seem weird, but... eh, it could be interesting. Still, I'd rather have a Pokémon x FE crossover first myself, if given the choice. And, yes, adding more fantasy species (maybe more character classes, too) would definitely be good to freshen the world-building of the series (though of course, such additions should be set in a new continent/continuity to avoid potential continuity issues). And if Birthright has a somewhat more unique setting for FE as you say, then you've just gotten me a bit more interested in it.

Lol. Well, it sounds to me like neither side is any more "good" than the other; that could make the conflict between the two sides interesting (though I haven’t forgotten that I’m talking FE: Fates here, lol). And Three Houses sounds even more awesome if there's some legit C&C in the Houses/routes you choose.

sigh Well, if you're really sure that IS would've continued the series, whether Awakening met Nintendo's sales expectations or not, even if only in Japan, then I'll just concede there and leave it at that. I know better than to argue with someone who knows the series far better than I.

Ah, I should've realized that you meant DeviantArt. I don't remember who's route it was now (the chapter is called Cog of Destiny, if that helps), but I'll be sure to refer back to your advice when I try again. Well, I'm sure you're still a better player than I am, given how many games in the series you've played compared to me, and for much longer. But thank you for that advice for the series; I'm sure that'll be a big help. Okay, I understand. Would I be correct in guessing that Fates ranks at the bottom your list of the Fire Emblem series? I know you've basically already explained why, but I am still kind of surprised that you would still recommend Fates to others despite your overall so-so feelings about all the Fates titles as a whole.

Yeah, I have looked through it before (sorry to eavesdrop, but it's kinda hard to not notice), and I'm glad everything worked out for you. Honestly, reading that discussion made me feel kinda bad for just "nerding out" with you while another online friend is comforting you with co-worker problems (I can kind of relate to that problem, though it deals with something else entirely). It's good that it's simply gaming and other things taking up your time, though.

I've always thought that FE with a futuristic setting would have been so cool tbh, especially with conflict between the Emblem itself and modern technology (with magic maybe even almost fully dying out because of that, etc.). Fun fact, what really made me want a setting like that even more was that Awakening was originally going to be set on Mars, so the idea of moving away from medieval settings was always there, but seemed too ambitious to even try at the time. Though I'd love to see them try with small steps too, like have a full ancient Egyptian/African setting, or Middle Eastern even (especially since the ending of the GD route in FETH showed people in traditional-like clothing from there via a painting); personally I'd also love to see a setting with Colonial America, could bring in new races, classes, and weapons especially with relation to the Native Americans and colonizers. But anyway, yes new races similar from FF would be cool like the Viera, or just even more common races like orcs, harpies, centaurs (I keep forgetting the Tarvos in SS, but like I want a playable centaur and a full fledged society with them), vampires (which the Nohr siblings were based on), etc. would be so fun, as long as they are written in well within the setting. Birthright also introduced the Kitsune race, likewise for Conquest the Wolfskin race (pretty much like Laguz, of course, but are slightly closer to their respective real world lore kind of), but seeing something like a true werewolf (in relation to the Wolfskin) would have been so great.

Yeah what makes both sides not as good regardless is the death of certain siblings depending on which side you choose (and other characters too, but more emphasis is put on the siblings obviously), and how each side views your betrayal (but is it really betrayal if you didn't even grow up with one set of siblings for most of your life and not have much memories of them at all due to Garon's influences, no, they only word it that way in Conquest cause Corrin's mother died protecting them, similar to their father dying. And Corrin isn't even blood related to them, only Azura since they're cousins lol). But Three Houses is at least better with this, and if you don't recruit all students, but only a few, depending on who you did recruit they will have a pretty sad convo with someone they might have been close with before their fight, and the lords have pretty interesting dialogue when their house allies dies in a certain battle during the timeskip.

Ah I wasn't trying to argue, I'm just directing my irritation towards the writers of the articles themselves really, so I apologize if I sounded like I was (I'll admit it did come across that way after re-reading it). It's just interesting cause they gloss over Kaga leaving after FE5, and the legal issues surrounding it; like with Nintendo wanting TearRing Saga at the time, and Kaga wanting FE to change and wanted to take the series with him to do that. I only mostly know some of this is cause there are actual Japanese fans over on SF that have mentioned it before, I talked with one of them briefly from my previous time there before I left the forums mostly (occasionally browse now, especially for news).

Yeah if it's ch.27 and called "Cog of Destiny", then it's definitely Eliwood's route (in Hector's route, "Cog of Destiny" is in ch.29), it's annoying on hard mode cause of only being able to deploy 10 units. Fates is certainly at the bottom of the list when it comes to FE, they're not the worst games I've played in general though, Fates is good for replay challenges involving certain units and classes though, and I really like Leo so out of the three Conquest is the one I replay most (yeah he's playable in Revelation, but I like Conquest's maps more too). lol I get that from my irl friends too, but hey some people probably might end up liking it anyway, and it's easy to get and easy to start too. (though I'm the kind of person that mostly recommends others to start with FE4 first due to my bias and if someone asks for any installment instead giving me a guideline lol, so if anything it's better I'd recommend newcomers to Fates or Awakening)

Nah it's cool, if it's flat out on my profile it's gonna be read by others anyway so it doesn't bother me, if I didn't want anyone to see it I would've taken it to PM's instead; it's simply something I needed to vent. Don't feel bad, if anything it took my mind off of it at the time so it's all good, but yeah games and daily household stuff is what's mostly taking up my time now. (also I hope everything is okay on your end, co-worker problems, and just problems in general, are not fun)

I rather think that FE with a more dystopian or futuristic setting might be a bit odd... but it could be interesting, if only for something new and fresh, especially if it involved technology clashing with magic, similar to cases in games like Arcanum or FFVI to a degree. But, yes, definitely at least add some new fantasy races/species and creatures for some fresh meat to the series. I would like to see trolls, ogres, minotaurs, mind flayers, and proper vampires and werewolves added myself (or were any such creatures already used?). Anything else new and unique would be welcome, too, if IS is willing to be creative.

Oh, I know you weren't actually trying to start an argument; your message didn't come across that way to me. I was just taken aback that there was more to the situation than what was said in those articles and that not many seem to know about that. I suppose I may have overreacted a bit there in my post, all the same.

Okay, good to know. I assume Hector's route can only be done once the game is completed on Eliwood's route once? I've only been playing the game on Normal (Easy?) Mode and I've still been struggling with that chapter. If only I could grind, I wouldn't have had this problem... But I'll just have to keep your advice in mind and try again when I get back to the game. Honestly, I should have asked you for tips on how to best that chapter earlier, instead of just quitting. That's what I kind of figured about how you feel about Fates. I wondered if there was a single Fire Emblem title that you did not like; and if you rank Fates at the bottom of the barrel, then you really must enjoy every game in the series to a degree (even if only for minor things). And it's commendable that you would still recommend Fates to gamers who want to get a start in the series. I would recommend The Sacred Stones (which I know is also another one of your favorites) to newcomers, myself, since I think it may actually be easier than Awakening, at least putting Casual Mode aside... with the only drawback being that SS is well out of print and won't be as easy to obtain as Awakening or Fates (even though Awakening and even Fates may be out of print by now, too).

Yeah, talking about things you like can definitely get your mind off of IRL problems. Glad I could help to ease your mind from your work problems, even if it was unintentional on my part. I'm doing just fine on my end. My own problems with co-workers are mainly in the past now, so no need to worry. (Though I do wish I didn't get work hours cut at one of my jobs too severely this week... but my store manager had no choice. :/ )

Definitely interesting for sure, but I'd want them to take baby steps with it at least, and of course I wouldn't want them to go that route for every other installment afterwards. Adding in new races (and classes) first though would be great at least, dragons, pegasi, zombies, and laguz are fine and all but give me a mermaid NPC/enemy (unless they do a pirate emblem, then it'd make more sense to have one be playable) or a playable lamia that's recruitable in a desert or forest map or something; just give me new races please, and if they want to go more original in their own ideas of races (since the laguz and manaketes are kind of this, at least in regards to society and culture in a way, though humanoids with animal features and shapeshifting aren't anything new) that's fine too.

You didn't overreact, so it's all good. I can definitely understand where the writers of the articles are coming from though if it's their first time in getting into the series (or second if they've played a GBA or Tellius installment) at least.

Yeah since Lyn's and Eliwood's routes are both played back to back Hector's route is able to played after completing the "main story" once. Hector's route is essentially Eliwood's route but through Hector's perspective, it does have six unique chapters and two unique recruits though, and there's also Hector Hard Mode but you have to beat Hector's route on Normal once to unlock it. Sacred Stones is most definitely a good start too, it's easy and has grinding, I'd also recommend Blazing Sword too for anyone interested in any of the GBA installments (I would recommend Binding Blade, but I know most don't want to emulate). They could be out of print, I've seen quite a few of them used in various GameStop stores and of course both used and new online, so they could be well out of print by now due to the Switch and Switch Lite now; of course the last new 3DS game I got was Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth since it came out late in the 3DS's lifespan, so I don't keep up with much of that anymore since buying games for the Switch.

Yup, it's just nice to be able to get things off of somebody's mind even if it was unintentional, so for that I thank you. That's good, though that sucks work hours were cut, hope everything works out with it though. And hey, if you need to vent about it or just want an ear for it, I'm always happy to listen.

Agreed. Don't want to make such drastic changes too much, or too quickly, or you could potentially alienate your fanbase. Those are interesting ideas for recruitable races, but sure; anything new would be welcome to me.

Having a different perspective on a character route that I've done before, with unique chapters and units, sounds interesting. I hope Hector Hard Mode isn't required to get some special or true ending...

You are very welcome for the service I provided to make you feel better... however unintentional. XD That's very kind of you to say, but I wouldn't want to vent my IRL problems on you. You don't deserve to take the brunt of any frustrations I may have.

If it's all right with you, there is one more topic that I was hoping you'd tell me about (if you don't mind keeping this discussion going longer), and that I've been interested to hear about from you for a while now. How much did you enjoy your time playing Star Wars: KOTOR? Did you ever get to a second playthrough yet? And did you ever add any other GOG games to your library? (I could understand if you didn't, given how many Switch games have been coming out lately.)

Yup, would love changes but do it in a way where the fanbase doesn't get put off too fast, cause then that'd most likely be the cause of FE dying lol.

Nah it doesn't, so you don't have to play that mode for anything else except if you want a really hard playthrough. I like Hector's route a little more mainly cause it's Hector (and he's not boring like Eliwood imo, even though I do still like him too) and cause Farina is recruitable in his route only, she's my favorite of the Pegasus Knights in Blazing Sword.

Well the offer is still there, so I don't mind. But it's cool if you don't want to either.

I've already started the Light Side in KOTOR a while ago and gotten a bit further, though I haven't gotten back to it yet after Three Houses dropped and getting Dragon Quest XI S last month, I still haven't gotten to Tatooine just yet though. I haven't gotten any other games yet mainly cause of the Switch but I'm hoping that might change soon, I'm going to have to figure out how to divide my time to get to most of them anyway.

I see. Well, I can guess I can understand why other games would take first priority for you, and with the Switch in particular being your primary source of gaming for the time being. I was hoping to hear your thoughts on KOTOR on the whole, but I guess that can wait. Does this mean that you have some ideas for games that you'd like to buy from GOG?

Switch has been my major source of RPG's and otome's as of late for recent systems (and soon another source of fighting games if more catches my eye), though I'm hoping GOG will also fill some RPG niches. So far I'm still gunning for Kenshi though and Gothic looks fun too, so those two have caught my eye on there, still will have to look more though as some games on there I've already played before. I would've gotten Corpse Party: Blood Drive from there since I've played it before on PS Vita, but I literally just got it this morning on Switch and I just loved playing this on portable.

If you're looking for good RPGs from GOG that you haven't already played, I can definitely help you there. I was holding off on giving you a list of recommendations until you played the two I had already recommended to you. I didn't want to overload you with games to look into, especially when you have your Switch to keep you busy, as well. And, hey, Gothic has caught your attention? As in Piranha Bytes' Gothic? Neat. I didn't know you were interested in that kind of game. I guess you really are open to try anything from the genre. I haven't played Gothic yet myself - though it is in my library - but I have played Risen, which is also from PB, and if Gothic is anything like that, it's got to be a very good game. Risen is a much better game than critics and some gamers give it credit for. With that in mind, my recommended list can expand to other games I had in mind.

I don't mind if you give me recommendations right now, though I just probably won't get to them for a while lol. Gothic caught my eye with it's title first actually, I'm hoping it has some hint towards gothic styled architecture and clothing of the medieval kind, then I heard from another online friend that it's supposedly hard so I decided to definitely try this one regardless, I need a hard game currently tbh. Risen I have heard of, I might check it out though I don't know if I'll get it.

I guess that's the primary reason I've been waiting to giving you more recommendations just yet, lol. Then again, you could just add every game I recommend to your wishlist, and then you'll be notified when they're on sale. Maybe I'll just tell you during the next major sale - which would probably be the Winter/Holiday Sale. Well, I'm not sure if Gothic has much to do with that, actually, but I can imagine that it is a difficult game. If it's like Risen, then it's one of those games where you start as a wimp and have to be cautious about where you explore and need to work to steadily get stronger until you can handle basically anything the game throws at you. Of course, the control scheme could also be a factor to the difficulty. That's one of the reasons I've held off on buying the game for so long, myself.