UPDATES: Fire Emblem Fates Character Analysis, Videos, and Other Stuff

Well, this is definitely a long overdue post. As is the trend, I’m pretty busy this time of year keeping my life in order with various non-gaming related activities. So posts are definitely going to continue being on the sparse side. However, I am setting aside time for three different posts/projects in particular right now which will be up over the course of the next two weeks.

The first is an analysis of the anime Tokyo Ghoul which wrapped up last year. I’ve been thinking about writing something like this ever since the finale aired, but I never did thinking that “this anime could actually help advance discussions of race and racism around the world. Fans will spread this shows messages like wildfire!” Apparently, I was catastrophically mistaken as very few seem to have even understood it to begin with, let alone talk about anything other than the fact that it has a downer ending. So, a harder analysis seems necessary, if only because this show struck a strong chord with me. The length on this one shouldn’t be too unreasonable (probably around 3-5k words) so, I don’t expect that it will take that long. And, since the show is not recent it will probably be the last of these things I get to.

The next thing is of course the other Final Fantasy VII video. Yes, I know unpopular opinions are unpopular, and this video will most certainly only make me enemies, but it has to be said for the good of the remake: people need to lower their damn expectations. The original game was not very good, and at least for the moment, it doesn’t look like the remake will be much better. If we want the RPG genre to continue making strides forward, we mustn’t champion the legacy of mediocrity. I finished script and recorded the audio portion of this. I just need to set aside one day (likely Saturday or Sunday) to put together the decidedly easy video. I would have had this done last Friday, but Fire Emblem Fates happened, bringing us to the third thing and most monumental task on my list: The Fire Emblem Fates Character analysis.

I finished FE Fates: Conquest on hard mode the other day, and have a lot of thoughts about it (etc.), but for now, I’ve come up with a holistic way to analyze the characters. Unfortunately, I can’t personally test all of my analyses within the game space because Nintendo won’t release Revelations digitally until March 10^th IIRC, BUT the late release gives me a clock to race against.

I want to get this analysis done ASAP, so as with Awakening I’ll be periodically updating a single document (initially appearing in the next few days) until I cover everything (Ideally before March 10^th). Conquest is the game I’m currently very familiar with, so I’ll begin with analyses of the Nohr characters. I’ll then move on to Hoshido, and then amend or add to both with respect to Revelations. For Nohr, I will also be conducting separate analyses for the offline and online spaces, with the assumption that you use the DLC to grind for the latter. I’ll add in other sections like skill analyses and pairings as they become appropriate, however, I plan to open with an explanation and analyses of several game systems (namely skills and class changing), and their relevance to character planning.

Oh, and at some point in between analyzing the characters I'll post my complete thoughts on the game itself. As of this moment with Conquest complete, my impression is very positive, but I have to play the other versions before I can genuinely make that call. It’s a lot of ground to cover, but these posts should prove as fruitful to me as they hopefully are for you.