Hello, you! Hope you good! I thought I'd write about something that's kept me preoccupied for the last month.
I got myself a Nintendo Switch Lite last month and I've never been happier. I spent the first few weeks playing Animal Crossing, mostly at the behest of my younger sister. It was fun trying to get my island up and running and it's still something I come around to doing whenever I want to chill out and relax after a long day at work. What's not to love about the game? Your animal villagers adore you, too! I could say that this is something people would expect me to be playing because it matches my cute auntie vibe.
While I'm not a fan of first-person shooting games, I've had my fair play of it, particularly Counter-Strike and Left 4 Dead back in when I was in college in 2013. However, I still can't bring myself to play Fortnite even though my little brother pesters me to no end to get a copy, especially since I know he'll wipe me out in seconds because that's just how little brothers are. I do like playing the occasional classic Counter-Strike game at home, by myself, with bots— No real people because I'll die on the spot even after I've just respawned. I'm that bad at co-op games and you could say I never got better because I never even tried again.
Tactical role-playing games are another thing, though. I first discovered the joy of playing this genre when I first got my hands on a hand-me-down Game Boy when I was 11 years old— yes, the grey one, the one that looks like a weapon you can use to fight off a person— that one. My older sister and I took turns playing a single copy of Pokemon Gold, our Cyndaquil subsequently named DOG since she thought a name was limited to three letters. It was fun while it lasted, but the console lived out most of its years beforehand that it eventually died out on us. I found myself with a lovely pearl blue Game Boy Advance SP afterwards. The cartridge stayed alive for at least a few more years until its memory stopped working and eventually stopped saving the game whenever I tried. I recall my parents getting me a knock-off copy of Pokemon Ruby, which eventually died out as well after the berry trees stopped growing and the game stopped saving.
It's pretty safe to say that Pokemon got me started with tactical role-playing games, though it took a while for me to fully appreciate other games. That all changed when one of my uncles introduced me to the joy of the Game Boy Emulator, which he installed on my very first laptop back when I was 13 or 14, give or take. I spent my high school summers writing so much fanfiction and playing games in between without a care in the world and the impending adulthood that loomed over my wide-eyed self. (This was when I realised how much better fiction is than real life.) The emulator had a folder full of games which I still have to this very day. I played the subsequent Pokemon Games after Gold and Silver, Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon, Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 1 and 2, Riviera: The Promised Land, Yggdra Union, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Mega Man Zero and Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.
While I never got to finish some of the games indicated above, Fire Emblem was something I came back to rather frequently. Oddly enough, I found myself replaying the game on the eve of my birthdays, always shedding a tear every time I finish, too. I was so enamoured by the game, its mechanics and story that I simply had to look up the other versions, which also led me to play Blazing Sword and the fan-translated Binding Blade. A lot of people would probably disagree with me, but I do think Sacred Stones was the best GBA game because of its easier mechanics. (May I remind you now that I'm not a professional gamer, so don't expect any educated opinions from me. These are just my opinions, so maybe calm down?)
The game left such a huge impression on me that I incorporated a lot of its aspects to my high fantasy stories in progress. I simply adored the game so much and brought much of that love with me now. I never got to play the successive incarnations of the game since we didn't have a Wii or a DS, so I was pretty convinced that Sacred Stones would remain my favourite RPG for the rest of my life.
That's not the case, apparently, now that I got Three Houses. It was a struggle to get, too, with the lockdown and all. I remember carting the game on Shopee and it ended up disappearing because it apparently sold out before I could even check out. (Yes, that's what I get for waffling around and not standing by my decision.) In the end, I got my copy and spent a good chunk of the last month playing the game and oh, my goodness, all the feels and nostalgia just rushing back to me like whoa, all while I was working through unfamiliar mechanics, fully-voiced characters and scenes and wonderful background music that seemed to pierce through my soul as I played through the whole game.
There will be some spoilers beyond this point, so don't say I didn't warn you!
Blue Lions Route
I am a casual player. I don't like games on hard mode so I played all three routes in Casual Mode, especially since I don't like the feeling of losing units as well. I opened up in my last blog post that I played the Blue Lions - Azure Moon route in a week— 55 hours if I recall correctly. And, I quote: I'm not gonna lie... I played it horribly. Like, really bad. I missed a lot during the first part of the game because I didn't like reading about how I should play or beat so and so and went on my own jolly way with no regard to the correct gameplay. I did read up on how to build support between characters, but that's that. The Blue Lions were so severely under-levelled when I reached the end of the story that I wanted to chuck the whole thing out and start all over again because the final boss was so... Let's just leave it at that. The Blue Lions route is my favourite one so far, but I feel like I might change my mind when I play the Golden Deer route.
I like how this route mainly focused on Dimitri's inner conflict— which included his transformation from the polite Prince Charming to a perpetually angry edgelord— and how it didn't shy away from what resentment can actually do to a person. I found the Blue Lions the saddest bunch of kids in the story since they all experienced some kind of loss in their lives: Dimitri and Dedue losing their families in the tragedy of Duscur, Felix losing his brother Glenn, who was also Ingrid's fiance at that time, Annette, who was left behind by her father Gilbert, Mercedes losing contact with her younger brother Emile after she and her mother were driven out of the empire, Sylvain, who lost his brother's love the moment he was born with a crest, and Ashe, who eventually lost his adoptive family in the process of an internal power struggle that isn't really explored much in this route.
My strongest units in this route were Dimitri, Felix, Ingrid and Dedue, but they weren't strong enough to wipe out the ending. In fact, even though they were my strongest units, they were still so severely under-levelled that I feared bringing them along to beat the final boss. We still won, though. (Obviously.)
Dimitri was the one I shared the Goddess Tower scene, S-rank support and ending with on this route. I do love my respectful and polite young princes... turned angsty and edgelord after years of battling their inner demons! I have an odd feeling about this route and I think it's strange when you end up with anyone other than Dimitri, seeing as most of this route focused on his descent to madness, his road to redemption and his ascension as the "Saviour King" of Fodlan— all of which was influenced by MC. But you know, this is just me talking and I'm a woman, so this probably holds little value when you're a guy.
Some snaps from this route, which I'm not gonna lie about, is mostly just Dimitri.
Isn't he a dreamboat? ISN'T HE?! BE HONEST!
Y-You can hold my hand as much as you like...
Black Eagles Route
The Black Eagles - Crimson Flower route offered me an altogether different perspective from the previous route I took. I spent a lot of time grinding and coaching my characters here since I didn't want to be so under-levelled when I faced this route's final boss. However, I ended up slacking by the last two moons because I thought my party was already too OP. Oh, was I wrong about that! The last two moons were a pain to finish because of the number of monsters we had to beat. I was like, bruh, we can't catch a break.
This route was mostly about conquest and shows how UNSTOPPABLE A WOMAN WITH A SINGLE-MINDED GOAL AND AN AXE IS. I did think the route was rather short since it could have delved so much deeper into the goals of the story's true evil entity. And when I say true evil entity, I mean those who slither in the dark. Instead, everything was unravelled in the Golden Deer route.
My strongest units in this route were Edelgard, Ferdinand, Petra and Bernadetta. Not that the others weren't strong, but these units performed exceptionally well even when I accidentally left them alone in the map or something. Jeritza was an unexpected addition to the party, but he really is as good a unit as he was the Death Knight.
Hubert was the one I shared the Goddess Tower scene, S-rank support and ending with on this route. DON'T ASK WHY, but yes, I do love my responsible, broody boys as well.
Don't judge me when I say I thought Hubert was cute. Though I did think him ending up with Edelgard made a lot of sense since he can't stop prattling about her even during our S-Support...
Same, king.
Linhardt, my relatable king.
Cindered Shadows Side Story
I was curious about all the hype surrounding the side story, so I decided to get the expansion pass. To be completely blunt and honest, Cindered Shadows was a pain in the ass to play for me compared to the main storyline because of the limited classes, choices, gold and players provided during gameplay. I had no control over their stat growth as well. The map where they had to battle the golems and run away from reinforcements drove me nuts!
BUT the story itself is so good! A lot of aspects about MC's character are revealed here, including details about her parents and how her mother had an incorruptible body that Rhea kept a secret?! The Ashen Wolves are an interesting bunch as well and I'm glad I was able to recruit them when I played the Golden Deer route.
Is it worth the $25? YES, it definitely is. Apart from the amazing side story, the main story also gets a lot of boosts and perks, as well as the chance to recruit the Ashen Wolves to your class and cause.
Same, Constance. Same.
Me when people ask for my help.
Golden Deer Route
I chose this route after completing Cindered Shadows and have finished it fairly recently. I actually had a feeling that Claude would be rather difficult to level up because his main weapons are bows and he isn't a melee player that I can leave on the map to fend for himself and level up like what I did with Dimitri and Edelgard. (Yes, I do that. Crazy, I know.) BUT I addressed that issue by handing him the Chalice of Beginnings (a little perk from the DLC as well). I also managed to recruit every kid from the other two houses just to spare myself the pain of having to kill them off as enemies in Part 2. (Let me save them from this WAR, I BEG—)
I didn't pay much attention to Claude's character in my first two plays and I like how his goal is to end racism. Yes, that's what he wants. King of ending racism. And he's probably a wonderful lover, too.
Claude was the one I shared the Goddess Tower scene, S-rank support and ending with on this route. I must say that his ending with MC was a shocker because HE LEFT ME, BRUHS. While he did say he won't be gone long, I was still surprised because what could possibly be more important than fixing this mess Fodlan was in?! Turns out he's the crown prince of Almyra! Game aside, their politics made me think for a bit because Claude and MC are the rulers of their respective countries, so wouldn't their relationship be complicated? Then again, I imagine MC would leave Fodlan in another person's capable hands and head to Almyra to be with her love. (Again, this doesn't weight much if you're a guy. This is just me and my dumb ass waiting for a fairy tale prince to marry me. You're free to marry Hilda, like always!)
One thing I took note of while playing through the game is that the three main lords aren't meant to be antagonists to each other since they are all fueled by goals and ambitions that are right and absolute to them, but not to the other. I know for a fact that the story has a true evil entity, but that wasn't really fully explored in the Blue Lions route and only had glimpses of it in the Black Eagles route. Apparently, that true evil was found in the Golden Deer route, which I just finished with a bang!
Oh, wow. It's all Claude, too. Sure hope my tastes in 2D men translates to my tastes in real men. So do we heighten our expectations or remain single forever? Your call, Tony.
Girl, as someone who loves sweets as well, you really can't trust people who don't like cake.
He had me at the beard. He really won me over there. Fall in love with me, Claude?!
Overall, the game has really high replay value and I can see myself playing a few more times before my eyes eventually give out on me and the lack of sleep makes me sick. (Though I wish there was an option to, like, skip the opening movie because how many times do I have to watch Seiros stab the fuck out of Nemesis? Lol I can't.) (EDIT: Apparently, you can skip the mini-movies by pressing +! Something I discovered fairly recently AHA.) I actually found the branching storyline very interesting and how there's no definite or true ending to the game, but everything that happens there depends on the decisions the player make. As the player, I was really faced with a lot of moral choices and the fact that I can't save every student I encounter during the war in the different routes actually hit hard. Imagine nurturing those young souls only to strike them down because they're getting in the way of your chosen house leader's aim. I might have to stop there because the war phase of the game still makes me cry a lot. (As if reliving Jeralt's death every playthrough isn't enough! I've played the game thrice and still shed so many tears for that man!) I know I still have yet to play one last route, but I'm taking a break to rest my head and eyes lol.
Here are some snaps which I thought were funny, err, relatable. Manuela griping over her fruitless love life really has me feeling things.
Same. :(((
THIS IS MY MOOD NOW. I JUST WANT TO GO OUT ON DATES?!
All of my hopes for marriage went down the drain. Being a mysterious single aunt to my still-non-existent nieces and nephews doesn't sound too bad, though.
SURE AS HELL I WANT IT NOW
IF IT WAS THIS EASY TO SHARE MY LIFE WITH SOMEONE I WOULD HAVE DONE IT ALREADY.
On a side note, I also had such a great time reading (and listening to) the whole story dialogue and the different support conversations and I'm determined to complete each and every single one. There are no ship wars here because it's a free for all, my friends.
Will I get another Switch game in the future? Will I really pass on getting Pokemon Sword? I think not! I can't wait to go to Greenhills so I can buy cheaper cartridges. (My dad will definitely do the bargaining here.) What games have you been playing? I'd love to hear all about it!
Love forever and still playing, Tony
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