Sword of Seals Conclusion

I finished this probably a month ago and forgot to update about it. Which means I forgot most of the details. Oh well...

Overall, I rather liked this game. It was shorter than I expected (despite how long it took me to complete), and I didn't realize when it was over because they didn't call the last chapter "endgame." I get confused easily. heh

Here's the list of supports, all of which came with me to the endgame:
A: Roy/Lilina; Chad/Lugh; Klein/Clarine; Alan/Lance
B: Chad/Ray; Lugh/Ray
C: Hugh/Niime; Miledy/Zeiss

I also brought along Rutger, Dieck, & Ellen.

I didn't realize I could have promoted Ellen until the final chapter. Oops. Rutger took down everyone, and the Chad/Ray/Lugh trio was pretty fantastic. (NO ONE touched Lugh.)

I don't get why Roy didn't promote prior to the endgame. I didn't really use him, until I had to battle Zephiel. All my mages did the hard work.

And there are a lot of mages in this game. I basically used them all.

PoR Conclusion & Other things

I've neglected this blog a little in favor of tumblr, as there are many, many other fans there are we gush over FE basically all the time. It's good to "know" people who get it. I've created a tumblr just for my friends at Tellius (found here) so that's where I spend a lot of time at the moment.

This blog will probably only be game conclusion summaries, then, and other wordy things I feel like rambling about. (But probably just the conclusions.)

And speaking of which, I just finished yet around round of PoR! (Hey I was stuck at home for three days this week. I seriously did this in a week.)

I really only wanted to play for Ike/Soren A-support, so I could maybe see Soren's memory scene at the end of RD. So I played normal mode, which seems super easy now. And Ike was my #1 unit, which annoys me because it's such a cop-out. haha

The top 10, with rank & kill count:
1. Ike, Lord, 20 (93)
2. Soren, Sage, 18 (88)
3. Oscar, Paladin, 16 (81)
4. Stefan, Swordmaster, 20 (80)
5. Rolf, Sniper, 17 (78)

6. Jill, Wyvern Lord, 16 (67)
7. Shinon, Sniper, 14 (55)
8. Tanith, Falcon Knight, 20 (38)
9. Tauroneo, General, 20 (20)
10. Tormod, Sage, 6 (17)

I should have let Soren beat more people in the endgame. But come on, Ike didn't even have his weapon equipped for four chapters. How did this even happen?

Oh, and I love that Tormod made the top ten.

Aside from those level-20s listed, I also maxed Sothe's experience. hahaha. He wasn't so bad, once he could actually inflict damage.

Those not listed above included in the endgame were:
Nasir (lev 19)
Rhys, Bishop, 13
Marcia, Falcon Knight, 4
Elincia (lev 4)
Naesala

I only brought along Marcia & Elincia so they could do the triangle attack with Tanith, and then I forgot to give Marcia a sword. Oops.

The list of A-supports: Ike/Soren; Oscar/Tanith; Tormod/Sothe; Jill/Mist; Rhys/Ulki.
I was working on Rolf/Tauroneo as well, but they only got to B. So sad.

Onto Radiant Dawn!

Sacred Stones conclusion x2

I didn't give Sacred Stones enough credit when I first played it. This game is really, really good. I don't know what I was thinking. I want to play it again.

There are so many good characters in this game. I had my select few and promoted them like crazy (as I previously mentioned). Franz was unstoppable. No one ever hit Lute. Buddied her up with Ross, who was equally epic. Ewan was a summoner, for goodness sake.

And I also went a little crazy with supports (all A-rank):
Eirika/Innes
Franz/Forde
Ewan/Saleh
Ross/Lute
Neimi/Colm

I was trying for Ephriam & L'Arachel as well, but that didn't quite happen (they were only at C).

I accidentally killed Saleh in the endgame, which I didn't think was possible, and at that point Ephriam had already critically hit the demon king (what?) so it was stupid to reset. The only guy that died the entire game. Sorry, Ewan.

Oh, and summoners are cool. They can summon a little phantom that enemies go after instead of real characters, which gives me potentially one less enemy attack. That certainly came in handy near the end. And Ewan gains experience every time he summons, too. Bonus!

I really need to be finishing Sword of Seals now, though. I feel like I've been playing that one forever.

Demon King

What the heck. I just defeated the demon king in two hits.

Well three, technically.

Ephraim hit once. Critical hit the second time. Left him with 13 HP.

Innes finished him off.

I don't know if I feel victorious or cheated.

More on this conclusion later.

SS Promotion

For some reason, I wasn't completely sold on Sacred Stones the first time I played it. My excuse is that I was still somewhat new to the Fire Emblem GBA world, and I didn't quite understand its tricks and secrets. Plus I played Ephriam's route which, I later learned, is the more difficult of the two. I went with Erikia's instead this time, though more for variations reasons than anything else.

I am obsessed with promoting people. It's unnatural. I wait until they achieve level 20, and then give them the boost. Sometimes twice, if I can. This is made easier by playing every skirmish. So Ewan, for example, had promoted from pupil before even playing a chapter. That's how you play this game.

So my list of promoted units include:

Joshua: Swordmaster
Forde: Paladin
Franz: Great Knight
Cormag: Wyvern Knight
Artur: Bishop
Vanessa: Falcoknight
Ewan: Summoner
Ross: Warrior
Lute: Sage
Neimi: Ranger
Colm: Rogue

When I stumbled upon the second secret shop, I didn't even have a reason to buy any promotion items. I've just about promoted everyone I can.

This game is awesome.

SoS ch. 21: Sword of Seals

I have no words for my frustration with this chapter. Only this.



I've finally come to accept the fact that not everyone will survive, but if one of those blasted wyvern knights kills one of my mages I simply cannot continue. My mages are so good.

Alan & Lance are rocking the field, though. As you can tell.

Blazing Sword x2

The Blazing Sword endgame is so much more fun when you've actually leveled people up.

Of the crew I brought along to the endgame, it was only the Lords (and Nils) that weren't maxed:
Lyn: Lev 12
Eliwood: Lev 10
Hector: Lev 11
Nils: Lev 18

Everyone else reached level 20:
Oswin: General
Louise: Sniper
Pent: Sage
Canas: Druid
Hawkeye: Berserker
Karel: Swordmaster
Athos: Archsage

A-supports: Hector/Lyn; Eliwood/Ninian; Pent/Louise; Guy/Matthew

My absolute favorite was Canas, followed closely by Oswin. I knew I could send them anywhere on their own and they'd be all right. By the end, though, I was using Canas and Pent mainly for their staff skills. Those resurrected bosses are a pain.

Hector is all kinds of awesome.

Family Connections

Things I learned in the past ten minutes, thanks to the Fire Emblem wiki:

Pent & Louise have children. (Klein and Clarine.)

Niime is mother to Canas, who is father to Hugh. Canas might also be Nino's uncle.

And I really shouldn't be playing Blazing Sword and Sword of Seals at the same time, because I keep on mixing up who is in which game.

But really, I was researching my two new favorite mages: Canas and Pent.

Pent rocks from day one. When he's recruited in the desert, he can easily take on everyone without question. You just have to continue using him so his skills don't get rusty.

But Canas? He's okay at first, but once you level him up nothing can stop him. I got him up to level 20 and then used the class promotion item (too lazy to look up what it's called) and I currently have him at a level 12 druid. He does, like, 24 damage at once. (And hits twice.) Somehow I never recruited him during my first play-through of Blazing Sword, but it totally makes up for him now. He's one of few I can send off on his own and know he'll be okay—because no one can hit him. Way to go, Canas. You're coming to the endgame with me.

RD Conclusion x5

Okay okay, I'm obsessed with this game.

The top five:
5. Rolf - 99
4. Ike - 103
3. Shinon - 108
2. Nephenee - 114


I'm not surprised that he ended up first, I'm more surprised that there were others that didn't. Namely, Brom or Nephenee. Seriously, those two rocked at the end.

Brom ended up at #6, and Leonardo was a total surprise at #8. (Soren was wedged between them.)

I don't think I've ever had so many people with maxed experienced. The list includes:

Ike - Lv 20 Vanguard - Ragnell
Soren - Lv 20 Arch Sage - Rexcalibur
Shinon - Lv 20 Marksman - Double Bow
Nephenee - Lv 20 Sentinel - Silver Greatlance
Brom - Lv 20 Marshall - Urvan
Rolf - Lv 20 Marksman - Silencer
Haar - Lv 20 Dragonlord - Silver Poleax

Shinon and Brom almost had maxed stats as well. Too bad I didn't have more Ashera Icons in my inventory, as they were both lacking in the luck department.

As for the rest of you slackers...
Pelleas - Lv 16 Arch Sage - Fenrir
Gatrie - Lv 16 Marshall - Silver Greatlance
Rhys - Lv 14 Saint - Ellight
Micaiah - Lv 11 Light Priestess - Thani
Sothe - Lev 9 Whisper - Peshkatz
Sankaki - Lv 9 Empress - Cymbeline
Naesala - Lv 33
Ena - Lv 25
And I kind of killed Kurth during the Ashera battle.

A-supports: Ike/Soren; Shinon/Gatrie; Brom/Nephenee; Rolf/Rhys; Boyd/Mist; Micaiah/Sothe

I like including their weapons in the list, because I select them so very carefully. I bought the Silver Greatlances and Poleax long before the endgame stated, because I knew I'd want them. I don't think I've ever used a Silver Poleax before. It's so awesome.

During the level with all the dragons, I kept Rolf & Shinon buddied up and they passed the Double Bow between them. Then I almost forgot to give Shinon his weapon back for the next level. heh

Supports make everything easier. I send Shinon and Gatrie one way (no one hits them), and Brom and Nephenee the other (likewise). Brom might be one of my new favorite characters.

And hey! This is the first time I didn't kill off Meg. If she had been leveled up a bit more I would have supported her with Brom, but I knew before I reached the tower that she just wouldn't work. She's not so bad once leveled up, though.

Blazing Sword Supports

Is it just me, or are they creepy?

I'm in my second play-through of this title (Hector's story! woo!), and figured I'd actually support some people.

Eliwood and Ninian are following each other around because my little fangirl heart needs them to have A-support. In the C-support conversation, Eliwood asks if she can do a "special dance" for him. Whoa. Too early for that, buddy.

Priscilla and Raven's C-support has kicked in as well, and she reminds him of the time in their childhood that he promised she'd be his bride. Um, lady? He's your brother. She claims it's just a silly child's game, but then proceeds to call herself a child. Um, ew. He's your brother.

Weird things happen when you're involved in a war, I guess.

Fan Recruitment

It seems the only thing my teenage cousin and I have conversations about is video games. it's our one bonding topic. So we were discussing games, and I obviously mentioned that Fire Emblem was one my favorites ever.

"Really?" He says. "I've been meaning to play that."
"Well! I'll let you borrow my copy of Path of Radiance."

This is a big deal for me; loaning out PoR. But anyway. He glanced at the case and said, "Oh! That's where Ike comes from." (As he's one of the group that only knows him from Brawl.) "What about Marth and Roy?" He asked.

Which is funny, because they're all FE titles, and yet he's never played any of them. I guess the style is rather distinct. I, of course, explained which games they originated from, and then boasted that I am currently playing Roy's Japanese-only game with an English hack. There is no limit to my fandom.

I suppose we'll be discussing PoR over Christmas dinner, assuming his busy college schedule has provided him time to play it yet. These are the things I look forward to. I only hope he's as excited over it as I am.

SoS ch. 14: Arcadia

...I obviously spoke too soon.

THIS SAND STORM IS AWFUL. In my typical OCD-way, I refused to let any of my characters die. But heck, that's just impossible here. We're traveling through a desert, which means it's a waste to use anyone on a horse because they don't really move. (Sorry, Alan.) Which means I'm left with a lot of mages, though luckily mine aren't so bad. But Cecilia and Sophia couldn't survive, and I got tired of resetting the game for them. Actually, I got tired of resetting in general, considering I've been muttering to myself about this level for well over a week. (A week seems to be my limit until I just give in.)

So, yeah, I'm pretty sure this chapter is the barrier between "this game isn't so bad" to "why do all my characters suck?". I'm not even using Marcus anymore, because he does so little damage. I don't know what happened to him.

At the moment, my guys with maxed experience are Chad, Lugh, and Rutgar. Lilina is getting there, too. Random much? I love the little guys. I'm working on Ray next.

Sword of Seals strategy

Here's my issue with Sword of Seals: It makes strategy far too easy.

In most levels, there's one logical path that your guys can take. And everyone's bunched up on this path trying to get through. My system is pretty flawless, actually. I stick Alan and Lance in the front, they get beat up a little, and in the next move they retreat to let the other guys take over. I do this in practically every chapter.

Per the norm with me, my little guys are ridiculously leveled up. I send Chad and Lugh, who now have A-support, off on their own. No one hits them and they defeat everyone. I'm not even worried about those guys anymore. Plus, they both have maxed experience.

I recall from Blazing Sword a similar thing going on. So I know that at some point, things are going to get crazy difficult out of nowhere. I may be approaching that point. I'm waiting for it. I need more of a challenge in this game.

PoR Conclusion, hard mode

After my several play-throughs of this game, I decided it was finally time to go at it in hard mode.

I wouldn't call it hard, but it was certainly increasingly challenging. Stronger enemies—and more of them—and experience points not as easily gained. You know you've played a game too many times when you say at any random level, "hey that enemy wasn't there before!"

But I rather like hard mode. Works the brain cells a little more.

The obligatory endgame roster includes: Ike; Ena; Elincia; Boyd; Ulki; Shinon; Rolf; Oscar; Tanith; Rhys; Haar; Astrid; Titania; Stefan.
Honestly, Ulki, Shinon, and Titania just weren't that good to warrant a spot in the endgame. But I kept them around for finishing off enemies and the like. Besides, Boyd & Ulki had A-support so it certainly helped Boyd out to have his buddy around.
And I kind of accidentally killed off Haar in the end. But what can you do?

And can we discuss how I have to battle Ashnard twice in hard mode? yeah. Even with Ike maxed he only did nine damage. Good thing I had a couple physic staves; Rhys kept himself busy at the end. I also didn't know Ashnard moves from his post about nine turns in, which was unfortunate for Rolf the first time around :(

And the top five: (with number of wins)
5. Ike (95)
4. Oscar (99)
3. Rolf (110)
2. Titania (127)
1. Boyd (143)
I like me some Greil Mercenaries.

I'm actually surprised that Astrid isn't in there. Once I had her leveled up and promoted, she was unstoppable. Equipped her with an axe and gave her the Provoke skill and she tore down everyone. I think she came in at #7. Only she and Ike had maxed exp, though Rolf was five points from it himself. I kept on willing more enemies to appear at the endgame just so I could properly max him out. Oh well.

But yeah, Boyd was awesome. He was MVP for more than half of the game, I'm not even kidding. I used to think Boyd pretty useless and I tend to not use him that much, but I guess I just proved that he's totally worth training.

Hard mode = success.

Why I Love Rolf, #1,542

Rolf with the Double Bow, courtesy of Path of Radiance:


THAT THING IS BIGGER THAN HE IS.

And yet, he still manages to critical hit and active deadeye all the time. Take that, Daein.

Also: I ordered a custom Rolf plushie from the same person who made my Shinon one. I mean, come on... he needs a buddy, right?

Mercenary Dreams

And here's yet another dream involving our favorite mercenaries:

I actually don't remember the beginning part of it, but for some reason the Greil Mercenaries are battling against Crimea (!). Oscar and I sneak into the palace to sabotage their plans, and are wary because no one is in sight. The group decides to take advantage of this and steal some of their equipment. We're walking down a corridor lined with offices; Oscar doesn't venture far from me. There's an open door in which I know must be Kieran's office, because his red armor is hanging up inside. I know there's a javelin in there I want to swipe, but Oscar silently refuses by quickly passing by the door.

It is a little strange, I realize, for us to be up against the Crimean knights. And the fact that Kieran is obviously not wearing his armor. But the group isn't fazed by it. We continue down the corridor, silently, willing ourselves to remain unnoticed.

Re-recuriting Shinon

I'm about to cross over into Daein, but there's a certain lovable bastard I have to recruit first. Being in hard mode, this is slightly more difficult than unusual. The first time around would have been fine if Ike hadn't missed him. Idiot.

With each attempt, I stuck someone different in his path just to view the conversations. Conclusions? His interaction with Boyd is one of the most bastardly things he's ever said. And he's probably in love with Titania. (But come on, aren't they all, secretly?)

Boyd: Shinon! I couldn't care less who you decided to work for... Heck, I'd hoped you were dead! But even so, Daein? You couldn't find anything better than this? What were you thinking?
Shinon: Haven't changed a bit, have you? You're still a mouthy piece of work. Listen up! Daein's a great place to work right now. The pay's great, and strength at arms is the only thing that determines class standing. You want to join me?
Boyd: Don't be ridiculous!
Shinon: Well then, only one thing to do. Out of the goodness of my heart, I'll teach you how adults fight. And as far as payment goes... I'll take your life. How's that sound?
Boyd: Keep talking, Shinon! I'm gonna beat the obnoxious clean out of you.


Titania: Shinon! You're with Daein, of all things?
Shinon: Long time, no see, Captain. You know, we didn't always see eye to eye, but... I never once minded taking orders from you.
Titania: To tell the truth, I really didn't mind having to listen to your endless complaints and insults, either. Hold nothing back. Let's pay each other... the proper respect.
Shinon: Yes, I think that's best. So in the end, we finally agree on something, eh?

Astrid

Astrid doesn't get enough credit. By the time she shows up I already have an awesome archer (that is, Rolf), and I know Shinon's coming back, so I never bothered to use her. But I wanted her to hang out with Gatrie, so I had her around on the field.

At first she's pretty useless, but she levels up quickly thanks to her Paragon skill. With ever enemy she defeats, she gained a level. In one chapter alone, I had her go up probably six levels. And once she can use a killer bow, no one stands a chance. I'll probably be promoting her to Paladin tonight. That would kind of be awesome.

And by the way, support conversations haven't popped up between her and Gatrie yet. What the heck.

Best Game Ever

As I was driving home last night, listening to some Radiant Dawn tunes I had burned onto a CD, it occured to me that this game is, in fact, my favorite game ever.

It kind of doesn't make sense, since I consider the Zelda games my favorite series. So in theory, one of those should be my favorite. But despite my addition to Twilight Princess, I can stop myself in the middle of a game and go to sleep. With Radiant Dawn, I've had many moments in which I say, "Oh crap, when did it get to be 2am?"

For the longest time I couldn't determine whether I liked Radiant Dawn or Path of Radiance better, with one being the other's sequel, but because I played RD first I'm always going to be drawn to it. It's been about a month since my last completion of the game, and my hands are already itching to break out the disc again.

So what is it about this game, anyway? Plot, certainly. The age-old tale of knights and dragons and the like. But also the characters. The Greil Mercenaries are the ones that bring me back to this series. I know more than I should admit about this band of imaginary people: how they met, who loves/hates one another, and things they don't even know about themselves. They're just so well-developed.

And with the strategy-based RPG, it's never the same game twice. Since experienced is granted per character, not by group, you can really focus on making individual people stronger. And it's the ones you least expect that, if trained properly, knock everyone else out of the water. While Titania and Ike are naturally awesome, people like Soren and Edward—who are weaker at first—can far surpass them once they're leveled up.

It requires the brainpower for planning and strategy. You have to decide early on who you're going to train, because there are so many characters and they can't all gain adequate experience points. I have my standards, of course, despite my attempt to train someone else. Edward gets priority in the beginning of the game, and I always end up maxing out Rolf and Shinon (I love snipers). And even though he doesn't appear until later in the game, Stefan almost always gets a spot at the end. One of these days I'll give someone else a chance. But it's so hard when you're emotionally attached to your favorites.

Hector

I kind of fell in love with Hector during Blazing Sword. He's currently #4 in my Fire Emblem Top Five, which is impressive considering the other four are from the Tellius series (yeah. We see where my priorities lie).

So when I learned, in Sword of Seals, that he had been captured by the enemy, I scoffed at them. Who do they think they are, anyway, to think they can defeat the great Hector?

HE DIES! This isn't really a spoiler, since it happens in chapter three. I spent so much time with him in Blazing Sword; he was probably better than everyone else toward the end. So who are these guys that were able to defeat him? So disappointing. I was rather liking his bushy blue beard.

Also, I've been stuck on chapter four of Sword of Seals for a week, because it's a little impossible. Well, "impossible" if you want all your characters to survive, which I do. Come on, Roy. I know you can do this.