How Fire Emblem Designs First Maps: A Deep Dive

[@Bethany38326]

The reason Sacred Stones' first map has them going back towards Renae is cause Erika forgot her stats in the palace smh.

[@solomonpnq]

Goddeem

[@olivierblais-turcotte2841]

I think about this comment at least once a week

[@criticalblaster458]

@@olivierblais-turcotte2841 how about now?

[@philiphunt-bull5817]

​@@olivierblais-turcotte2841YOU MUST THINK ABOUT IT TODAY

[@Kristopian]

​@@olivierblais-turcotte2841how about now?

[@Mekkkah]

That was a good video though if you're going for that Pitfalls 1 mic quality I recommend leaving a lawnmower running in the background

[@ProfessorBopper]

Brb deleting video

[@yeasstt]

You forgot about the fan. Gotta leave on 5 air conditioners right next to the mic

[@J-DawgTBH]

No way guys! A wild Exeggutor commented on this video! Let's catch it! Oh wait, this one has a weird nickname. "Mekkah" hmm well I guess it has a trainer nvm. Probably nothing special about it.

[@nate567987]

you should redo that vid IMO

[@hawkrivers-garrett9315]

Really though, the opening was extremely unpleasant, blowing out my earbuds.

[@The_Mr._Biscuit]

"The only right way to play Fire Emblem is to build an army and trust no one." *Proceeds to Path of Radiance Hard with only characters that Greil approved of (because Ike trusts no one).*

[@The_Mr._Biscuit]

For reference, that's Ike, Mist, Titania, Soren, Oscar, Boyd, Rolf, Rhys, Mia (Recruited before Chapter 8), Volke (Originally Greil's hired man), Shinon, and Gatrie.

[@Jadanbr]

@@The_Mr._Biscuit only the greil mercenaries gang playtrough is a interesting concept

[@Leelee-Brown]

My favourite opening map is probably Hector Mode map 1. Your choice of units is so radically different from any other fire emblem game, a thonky axe boy, and a squishy thiefer boy, and both of them feel really good in the map, there's a side objective, and it feels well balanced / tense

[@protatype7487]

That, and squishy thiefer boy is a goddamn badass on Hector mode from all that exp he gets.

[@lolerbot345]

The thing I like about the first chapter of sacred stones is that you can rig the RNG to have Erika crit the first axe bro to kill him because that's the way it was intentionally designed to be played. We know this because in Easy mode the game hand holds you to do those same steps which results in Erika critting the first axe bro and the boss to finish him off.

[@FlameUser64]

wait the easy mode RNG seed is still present on Hard??? that's messed up. I did not know that.

[@AFnord]

The Shadow Dragon first map has another interesting feature, the tile Marth reaches if he makes a full move only has one potential tile he can be attacked from. It's not really all that important, but it gives the player the option to play safe and only allow a single opponent to approach him (which would be more relevant if the enemies were tougher). A player who wants to play it safe can thus decide to just stay there and let the enemies come to them, and they won't be overwhelmed. This could have been used better if you also had a healing item.

[@Ximnart2]

14:17 It also happens in Radiant Dawn where Nealuchi begins with a laguz stone which only has 2 uses out of 3 but he is already transformed at the start of 2-P.

[@christianhansen2569]

I would love a part 2 talking about the other first maps that didn’t get a chance to be covered, or a companion vid about final maps and how they succeed or fail at challenging the player into applying all the lessons they’ve learned throughout the game. I think the later would be interesting because I’ve felt there are some real peaks and valleys (*cough*FE6trueending*cough*) when it comes to the big final showdowns.

[@ProfessorBopper]

Final chapters would be interesting, but their so complex, that I'd probably focus on the need for Gotoh's and how to properly scale final bosses

[@edgelord8337]

My brain: *add gilliam to any map and it's a legend*

[@Rengor1997]

If you're covering first levels, I feel like the first map of Berwick Saga deserves some special mention due to already having alternate paths of proceeding through the level, learning about mechanics and side objectives for people to go for. You should make a vid on it.

[@ProfessorBopper]

I've never gotten to play Berwick Saga (toaster computer), but I definitely want to. How good is it compared to other FE games?

[@Rengor1997]

@@ProfessorBopper Great, I'd say overall it's my fav in basically everything (tho I do prefer new mystery's gameplay). Definitely worth playing when possible.

[@fakesmile172]

I should really play TRS and BWS, I just don't have any time right now.

[@BeautifulGaston]

@@ProfessorBopper You should definitely play Berwick, I would love to hear your thoughts. I'm only at chapter 13 but as an FE vet it's still my favorite, and has fantastic map design, especially the first level. The bosses are also very interesting, some will move out to greet you, others will stay on a fort until you pound them then try to run away, and theres usually multiple per map. Really underrated game

[@ericamborsky3230]

@@BeautifulGaston When it comes to bosses in Berwick Saga, I love it when it is possible to just pulverize them with Daoud

[@vishuprathikanti9352]

Say what you will about fe6 but it genuinely has the best tutorial in hard mode. It teaches you Roy sucks, that Marcus is amazing for feeding kills to lance and allen, and that Bors should literally never be used. Also Wolt is in the game. It's also fairly big compared to most prologues, and while it isn't super deep, it's a lot better than most on replay. Edit: alright, maybe you've convinced me fe1 is the best tutorial chapter

[@ProfessorBopper]

FE6 Hard mode has a lot of similarities with FE1, it's just a shame that (as far as I can remember) Marcus one-rounds everyone on normal mode.

[@vishuprathikanti9352]

@@ProfessorBopper yeah that contributes to the general feel that the good moments of fe6 hard mode were on accident lol.

[@Noelle-M4]

Video: *shows 1300 subs* Me looking at current sub-count: *roughly 3200 subs* Looks like your doing something right, because god damn, i found you when you only had about 800. Congrats!

[@thefuzstache1139]

Dude I’m 30 seconds in and I’m cackling. Something about your sense of delivery and comedic timing is so perfect for me. Now don’t let me down with the rest of the video 0.0 Dude, I love you bringing in your teaching experience and knowledge into this. My mother is a teacher, so a lot of this sounds familiar.

[@dimik6745]

I love this analysis, pumped for part 2. I think there is not enough critisism of FE4 and I say that, while it is my favourite Fire Emblem. The general consensus is, that FE4 is an untouchable masterpiece and while I would love it to be true, I think it's time to wake up from the dream and take a good look at the game and especially at what it didn't do right.

[@ProfessorBopper]

FE4 is maybe the hardest game in the series to analyze because it's so dense and different from the other games that you can't fall back on the other games for reference. I would love to tackle it though, especially because it's my least favorite game in the series to play, but I find it very fascinating

[@edfmed1080]

I always thought that people considered the first map in thracia the best first map.

[@zxylo786]

It is. You also have Dagdar's hammer and Leif's Light Brand to beat the guy. It fits with the narrative and it teaches a lot about how Thracia works.

[@shellpoptheepicswordmaster755]

It's because people only like kaga saga

[@kokosb6146]

Haven’t came this early since my ex wife abandoned me

[@MystGang]

I like to think of Gaiden's entire act 1 to be the tutorial, villagers at different levels teach promotions, most maps having busted terrain, Silque teaching magic, leather shield merc teaching the value of items, south fort archer showing the insane range, Clair as a flying unit, Clive as a cav, and Python to make sure you still get an archer even if you randomly promoted without one earlier. The first map sucks tho since you need Tobin and either Alm or Lukas to gang up on someone for Cliff to get xp.

[@ungulatemanalpha]

I think there's either three distinct categories or none. Awakening, Three Houses and Eliwood route's first map all have 4-5 units on a relatively compact map that strike a middle ground between the very rigid 'one unit against 1-2 enemies' and the 'slightly pared down normal map' styles. How you define 'first map' is what constructs these categories, since most of the games have a second chapter that is functionally the 'first chapter' of the others, like Chapter 2 of Sacred Stones, Fates, Path of Radiance, Shadow Dragon, and Hector route, and the difference between 4 units and 7 is a lot smaller than the difference between 1 and 4. Speaking of, Awakening cheats a bit by using the premonition to sneak in the 'first style' of map in an effectively-unlosable manner. One of the really obvious flaws of Fates in hindsight is that they blindly copied Awakening's opening structure by having a premonition tutorial map, then proceeded to use the 'one unit against one enemy' map for the first chapter anyway, defeating the gameplay purpose of the premonition (plus the narrative purpose of the premonition is way less interesting or thematically relevant than it was in Awakening, but that's an entire other can of worms). This 'third category', when done right, basically leverages the same strengths that you talk about when looking at FE1's first map, while having less moving parts by reducing the number of controllable units somewhat. By having very distinct units on a map that is laid out to play to their strengths, it can push players in specific directions without needing to tell them what to do. (If you'll let me complain about Fates some more: Fates' biggest problem was that this map design never stopped happening, so you spent the entire game shoving the jagen-shaped peg into the fort-shaped hole.) Three Houses actually has a pretty terrible first map in this regard, since Byleth, Edelgard and Dimitri are functionally identical on non-Maddening difficulties and you can't even control Jeralt, so the first mock battle has to do basically all the heavy lifting of the rest of the game's mechanics. Awakening gives you four distinct units but the map is totally unthreatening on Normal, bulldozed by pair up on Hard, and too reliant on Frederick on Lunatic, so while it's good as a tutorial it's not great as a map otherwise. tl;dr the best first map in the series is chapter 2 of sacred stones because it has gilliam on it

[@scottrauch1261]

Gilliam the Rock has enter the fray. He will stop any physical opponent (once he can move his slow ass to the enemy)

[@reubenbailey7491]

I too believe in Gilliam supremecy

[@dryzalizer]

Shoutout to Vestaria Saga's first map with its villagers that break the 4th wall and teach you the mechanics. I swear one of them throws a formula at you, it's hilarious.

[@davinw1671]

I feel like the first map of Binding Blade never really gets the love it deserves. There's a separate tutorial that teaches the basics of movement and combat, so the first chapter can start off with the implicit lessons without worrying about new players learning the mechanics. Of course, this begs the question if the tutorial should be considered the first chapter, but uhhhh... I don't know. Turn 1 has a few different paths that can be taken, but generally Alen and Lance will take out the bottom fighter, and the player will start to move Roy around the cliffs to the north. Bors will be unable to attack the bottom fighter, immediately teaching that armor knights are terrible because of their movement. So new players will probably move him right, to take care of the village and houses slowly. And they have the motivation to visit the village, because they just saw a brigand destroy the north village, and they learned in the tutorial that villages give rewards for visiting them. That only leaves Marcus and Wolt. Chances are they'll send Marcus in to kill the fighter. They'll see that the iron sword can kill in two hits, with 100 percent accuracy, or the silver lance can kill in one hit with 80 accuracy. Whichever one they use, they learn that sometimes ignoring the weapon triangle to get more damage is a viable option. Then Wolt's safest spot is behind Roy, due to the other fighter nearby. With the end of that turn, the boss moves onto the gate, showing how important seizing will be in the game, and the rest of the level plays out. The lessons in the rest of the level depend on how much the player depends on Marcus. If they avoid using him, then Alen and Lance will probably need healing, not only teaching the importance of vulneraries, but the importance of trading, since Lance has a vulnerary while Alen doesn't. If the player moves through the level really slowly, they might even form a support, with the most likely ones being Alen and Lance or Roy and Wolt. Since turn 1 has Wolt being placed behind Roy, and they have the same movement, they're likely to end multiple turns next to each other. Alen and Lance is a bit more iffy, since there's nothing encouraging them to stick together other than similar movement and trading the vulnerary. (And before anybody talks about how slow gba supports are, these specific ones reach C after 15 turns of sitting next to each other, which is very possible for a new player going slowly to stumble upon, although more likely to happen within the next two chapters than in chapter 1.) Another lesson they might stumble upon include how terrain slows units, as there are forests set up near the top of the map that mounted units will have to either go through or around. They might learn about rescuing if they try to keep Bors in the front line or want Roy to move faster. They could learn that sometimes not attacking is a good option, since Lance's javelin might be the only thing they can use, but it has 50% accuracy and low damage against the fighters in the map. Or they could learn to use that javelin as a counter for archers. And of course there's the lesson that the boss is most easily killed by Marcus, although it's very possible to kill him with your other units, except Bors. I probably didn't need to go into this much detail and could've just left it at "I like FE6" but it's a bit late for that.

[@Pavise]

Always wanted to make a video on this topic but was too lazy lmao. Glad to see someone else do it, and do it justice as well. Awesome vid.

[@harrisonmccomb1511]

As a jazz musician it is pretty funny to me that the same playlist of jazz music seems to make its way around a lot of these kinds of videos. Great job as far as the analysis goes!

[@ProfessorBopper]

Royalty free!

[@wargin7049]

Really liked the vid! I would love to see a part 2 :)

[@marcoasturias8520]

The lack of FE6 representation in this video is outrageous; dislike, unsub, report. Now real talk, I really dislike the maps that are, as you called them, "short and sweet tutorials". They are supposed to teach you the ropes but they are also part of the game and on multiple playthroughs they get really boring; Fates is not that stale and is somewhat skippable, Lyn mode is a mini campaing so it´s not that boring and skipable if you don´t care about the gem. The worst one is New Mystery´s with its tortuous blank squares, unskipable on ever difficulty setting and one the higher difficulties, they do all what they can to teach you that you may do everything right and still lose because your MC decided to not get a perfect level up.

[@ProfessorBopper]

I wanted to talk FE6, but it's really similar to FE1 and I thought it be redundant. It's a good map though, with Marcus perfectly setting up kills for Allan/Lance/Roy/Wolt(lol)/Bors(lolol). I agree that New Mystery's is the most annoying, if only because it's so long and so unskippable. Since there's very little story happening during them, Prologue VIII is the only one that feels significant.

[@aqualord364]

I love FE12 to death but I rarely start playthroughs because the prologues are so miserable. I haaaate the more puzzle-like design with only one answer on higher difficulties

[@papersonic9941]

@@ProfessorBopper I believe Marcus only leaves them at low HP on Hard. He straight up one-rounds then on Normal.

[@dmas7749]

@@aqualord364 lets not forget that lunatic and maniac are basically luck-dependant for survival

[@Skasaha_]

The vast majority of players only play it once, so that is most designer's priority.

[@Drayze1]

The boss rant is my thoughts exactly, and it's the main reason why I get confused when people say they wished the final boss of Thracia 776 had higher stats. The combat in Fire Emblem is incredibly simple, so having to take down a single enemy, no matter how beefy or tanky, will always be simple and boring. Sometimes it will take a while, but figuring out the best option is as simple as checking the battle forecast with all your units, figuring out who does the most damage without dying, and then attacking with them until the boss stops moving. Higher stats on said enemy just raise the likelihood that you'll have to start the map over again at no fault of your own. The fun in Fire Emblem has always been in overcoming formations of enemies and interesting map design, and I feel that Thracia, more than probably any other game in the series, proves that this can be difficult even if each individual enemy is quite weak most of the time.

[@thewindysage1538]

Thracia itself is just not that type of fe game Status effects are king here and it shows First Veld has stone which is uncurable unless you did 24x,which I pity you for it Then there's his final entourage A wall of berserkers and then a group of dark sage that get their magic boosted to 30 Its literally juggernaut proof as wrath bersekers are basically a counterattack nightmare The game clearlt wants you to either pick them off slowly but expose you to stone or berserk one of them in hopes of getting some weight of your shoulders And this are just the last enemies of the game Thrones and gates give 10 defense for a reason,you have to actually think about your encounters

[@audreyii5087]

Fire Emblem analysis plus Kamasi Washington? That's a vibe and a half, subscribed. Good shit man.

[@justcallmexen]

I wanted to possibly start doing videos myself, and my first idea was to discuss early portions of games where developers attempt to teach lessons and then start to open up and stop handholding. This would be similar though I'd probably go through the 10 Lyn chapters instead of only describing one map from each game, so I still have hope that if I did such a video it wouldn't be a topic already covered here. If you do a second video on this I am interested to hear about Radiant Dawn, partly given the weird difficulty naming and how that may affect how the map is played. Edward makes for a nice Lord replacement sword user, with advantage against the bandits, and Michiah has the option to fight at long range or heal Edward with her unique ability. I honestly wish that Leonardo showed up a turn sooner to help out however. Less running to catch up to the other two.

[@ProfessorBopper]

Definitely try your hand at making videos! I wanted to for years, finally did, and it's been awesome! I would definitely love to see an analysis of Lyn mode because most people just sort of dismiss it, which is weird because it's the first experience that many people had with Fire Emblem

[@jierdareisa4313]

I really like these kind of videos you make, keep up the good work man!

[@Kuriso2]

Very enjoyable video. I think the structure is great. Many videos of this nature tend to adopt a very rigid form, going from one point after the other like an enumeration. But you managed to link beautifully several topics, making it very fluid. Your decision to flesh out more certain parts and discuss other elements, such as bosses in the franchise, really hooked me.

[@basedgebby5820]

Love that we unironically became the Bop Squad, so iconic.

[@thereaIitsybitsyspider]

Radiant Dawn's first level is adequate at introducing the idea of chipping down enemies with ranged characters, but it does not prepare you for the difficulty spike.

[@DD151]

You brought up issues with Weissman as the boss of FE5 chapter 1, but grudgingly pointed out that he sets the expectation that bosses on gates and thrones in FE5 can only be approached in specific ways to make them as easy as possible. Isn't this actually a good thing? Gates and thrones giving excessive defense is a problem with FE5, not with FE5's first chapter. While Fire Sword Eyvel is the easiest way to ORKO Weissman, Dagdar OHKOs the guy with his Hammer and Osian can ORKO the boss on enemy phase with a Brave Axe counter boosted by Wrath. You can also chip him with Leif's Light Brand or fish for crits with Finn's Brave Lance. I think that killing Weissman is a greater incentive to bust out your unusual, broken weapons than capturing is, because many players are able to get away with capturing enemies using Iron Axes and Short Lances.

[@daylen7010]

Great video! Really felt like you figured out what the Devs intended for new players to do, your sense of humor also goes hand in hand with this kind of videos IMO, hopefully we get a sequel. (also, Harmony of Dissonance's Tracks are really something else, have you ever checked out Jorge Fuentes' arrangements?)

[@J-DawgTBH]

Dude, you got Mekkah and Rengor commenting on your videos! I'm so happy for you.

[@darcyscott1750]

I'd love a part 2. Particularly, your comments on the rest of the 3ds fire emblem & 3 houses.

[@Hiya8partyz]

“Remember Gomez?” Thank you for the nightmare fuel.

[@Aeivious]

Early levels are 90% of the time the best maps in the game, the devs know mostly what you're capable of, limited resources and enemies don't have to be too insane yet. Radiant dawn does a good job of alleviating this by spreading out characters first chapters through out the game. But most of the time the first 10 or so chapters are the best and everything else is just the devs prepping for best case scenario on the players end.

[@BAIGAMING]

25:20 This is why I liked FE6's turn limit for the best ending, the turn limits every 5 maps or so isn't hard, but as long as you don't turtle you'll get through fine. I do feel bad because there were other KZbinrs like ShaneBrained who played FE5 but he didn't realize you couldn't get the best ending unless you met the turn limits for special maps to get gaiden chapters, the game sometimes hints them but they should've made it more obvious otherwise you wouldn't realize it on a blind playthrough.

[@thattimestampguy]

2:20 Which map is considered the First Map? 5:34 Common Points of First Chapter Tutorials 7:10 FE Shadow Dragon Prologue 11:24 Cognitive Overload

[@danielwappner1035]

Great video! Took me a while to actually end up watching it, but it is very good.

[@Sam-sb7ce]

I'd really like to hear your thoughts on radiant dawn in general to be honest. great video!

[@graemetang4173]

30:18 How could anyone forget the great french bread reference?!?!

[@ZuoKalp]

20:08 Ah yes, my favorite characters of Echoes, Tobin and Tobin.

[@caseyhoward4986]

Lol I noticed that, double Tobin 0_o

[@emberhermin52]

Fucking RIP Kliff

[@MuffinfromMars]

Its weird seeing my (rather expensive) thracia shitpost still being referenced over two years after I had it made. Great video!

[@riolufistofmight]

I feel like Prologue and Chapter 1 work together as intro maps for FE8, as its after that that you get "agency" on the map screen, start assigning characters to battles, pre-setting inventories, get a bunch of money from the one king dude, etc.

[@rpgnerd7610]

I reallylove videos about fire emblem map design. Especially more so since I've delve into GBA Rom hacking. Making maps and designs choices is such a thrill.

[@0rac1eF0rk]

There's a lot of interesting aspects to the Kaga Saga 1st chapters. I would recommend including those games in discussions about the Fire Emblem series in the future because they deserve it.

[@Aisubun]

You know what's funny? There's a version of Fall of Renais scaled down for FEH and that version has you starting from the bottom right and moving up towards the top left.

[@nickkuroshi0]

Wow, starting the fire emblem series with Geneology and currently playing through Thracia has clearly thrown my perspective out the door, since I thought the Thracia prologue would have been classified as a small map.

[@theghostcreator776]

Dude how'd you start with genealogy!?

[@intensellylit4100]

​@@theghostcreator776he played it before any others, probably

[@shadowslash1258]

First Levels of FE are complicated. They can make or sour the experience. Or can cause a game over. Anyways, good video as always. The video makes loads of sense, especially to those that haven't played all of the games yet. You're criminally underrated.

[@Slashandz]

I tried FE4 for the first time this year. Throughout the entire first map, I had no idea what was going on. I was getting all these new units every turn, they were dying in one hit... I haven't played it again since lol.

[@shytendeakatamanoir9740]

Yes, you shouldn't be able to kill Jagen in New Mystery Prologue, since he already died in Shadow Dragon Prologue IV.

[@graemetang4173]

The very first FE map I ever played was Eliwood's chapter 11 because I got a used copy of FE7 and even without the tutorials, it was a great introduction (I still love the series 12 years later!)

[@sull8009]

My favorite first map is actually Awakening's, specifically on the Lunatic difficulties. I know that from a critical viewpoint, they're pretty godawful. They're RNG dependent and don't allow for much variety in how to defeat them. Though, ironically enough, it does teach you how most of Lunatic will go down: Frederick does everything until Robin can eat all the EXP, and you have to exploit the game with things that feel like they weren't intended (i.e. water trick). My enjoyment comes from that it just feels like a puzzle where you have to figure out the winning combination. Every time I play the map, I want to find a better way to exploit it. Though it might just be stockholm at this point.

[@just-mees]

I personally really like the first map of eliwoods story I also personally really like your videos, keep them coming

[@dectorey7233]

Honestly the FE12 opening prologue are amongst my favorites. They go way into more depth than any other opening map in the franchise, such as unit ordering and AI manipulation. While it's normal mode is definitely not good for new players (then again what FE newcomer is going to play FE12 as their first game?), the lunatic mode provides more in depth skills for veteran FE players who crave a greater challenge with genuine strategies that need to be formed. Also shoutout to Awakening for a good opening map (assuming the map being the prologue, premonition seems way too basic for an opening tutorial map) for introducing different enemy classes, weapon types, and other mechanics with very little text and enough enemy density and open space to get a good feel for the mechanics.

[@ProfessorBopper]

FE12 lunatic is generally very good at what it does, and is probably the best extended tutorial in the series, although it's frustrating on repeat playthroughs because nothing happens in the plot until Prologue VIII, which definitely makes the whole think feel inconsequential. At least Lyn is going on an adventure

[@amosbird1988]

Shadow dragon also teaches that sacrifices,hard choices, and smaller teams on that 1st map

[@gignaksmarfdown4210]

The Ambien joke was hilarious immediate like and sub

[@romandelatorre5775]

Man I don't know if its the knowledge of being a teacher, your love for the series or just you being you. But damn I really like how you explain and give argumentation clear enough while still giving sprinkles of humor and goofiness all around. Looking fowars for pt2. Have you thought of doing the same but for the "best" endgame chapter?

[@xx_pit_xx8492]

Oh this is an interesting topic. It may be interesting talking about prologues as a hole. Games like fe7 and fates take up to 5 chapters just for the tutorial, it may be a little boring on repeated playgroughts, but things like the chapter of rinkah and kaze teach you how to use pair up in defensive and offensive ways for example. With only one chapter that would have been more difficult to do. But I think that maps that take their time to be designed with all the necessary elements like Thracia as you mentioned are better in their own way. They just are more interesting to analyze (or at least listening to other people al analyzing them) So yeah, i would like to see part 2 of this

[@nicoloenricorimoldi7425]

Yeah, FE bosses have never been good. Anyways, it’s kinda upsetting to know that FE8 early game bosses don’t have unique palettes because the programmers made a mistake and didn’t assign the ones that are already in the code.

[@rosaparks6479]

3H bosses were really cool Like the final bosses

[@nicoloenricorimoldi7425]

@@rosaparks6479 I agree, the monsters are a breath of fresh air. The nastiest ones are way overtuned, however.

[@ProfessorBopper]

Monster fights are pretty cool because you have to think about positioning, gambits, comboing for destroying heath bars, and breaking their barriers (an extra challenge that rewards the player). Some are too ridiculous though, specifically any with miracle.

[@rosaparks6479]

@@ProfessorBopper oh yeah miracle is dumb

[@lpfan4491]

The devs always kinda fail. FE7 also has two palettes that are not properly loaded in. FE6 has like 6 or sth.

[@PaigeLTS05]

I had the volume up way too high at the start and I jumped. Other than that, good video. Can't wait for part 2.

[@mockinghyena960]

Awesome video!

[@CharlesChaldea]

I did a ROM hack for Sacred Stones once, where I used different characters in place of Seth and Eirika. When it came time to alter the dialogue for the cutscene, I changed it so that the Seth stand-in character wanted to quickly deal with the axe bros that were chasing them, because if he didn't, even if the two of them lost their pursuers, those pursuers would be able to relay more accurate information about their whereabouts and direction of travel. "Shit, they've seen us. We'd better deal with them before they can report back to their captain about where we're going." I presumed that Seth proper would have a similar take on it, falling back on military tactics and knowing that he stood a good chance of making this detour as efficient and worthwhile as possible. They were fortunate to have lost all other pursuers/not been chased by anyone else and didn't want the enemy to know that they went this way in particular, but Eirika would've had to bite that bullet had it been her alone escaping and he thought he'd make himself useful. I agree, though. Making it an escape chapter where the enemies' placement directly interferes with said escape would make having to defeat the enemies as an objective a much more understandable thing.

[@shooby9496]

12:09 - I can't believe they turned Vinny from Vinesauce into an axe fighter in Fire Emblem

[@darkvictarion1585]

Fantastic video, much respect.

[@longsocks7798]

What’s good bop squad

[@regalstar]

14:18 there is at least one other time in FE where cutscene action seems to carries over. in RD 4-4, Tormod torches a generic halberdier but doesn't kill him in the pre-battle scene, and the generic halberdier would, in fact, start with only 15 HP out of 45. Though one can only say "seems" because the game just substracts a static 30 HP, despite Tormod actually attacking could've done more or less.

[@leaffinite2001]

Really liking these analytical videos dude. Gotta ask if you ever got that guys truck in court, though

[@LiteralGraphic]

The lack of pop filter and copious amounts of audio clipping really makes this video something special 👌

[@ProfessorBopper]

My pre-pop filter usb mic days hold a special place in my heart

[@goldbergshekelwitz1596]

Dude your FE videos are so comfy

[@quinnlee-miller9792]

I will forever maintain Lyn mode of FE 7 is peak Fire Emblem in all terms; it's such a lovely contained story of a girl losing her family, and making a new one with all her friends. Every chapter brings something interesting, and each character can actually shine a bit, even without supports, because the begining of the maps don't have to be Eliwood and Hector just fucking gabbing all the time. Each character has a decent ending to themselves and there's a satisfying conclusion in Lyn meeting her elderly grandfather. It's almost bittersweet, because Lord Caelin is basically on deaths fucking door without poison, so she only has so long with him. I love replaying Lyn Mode, even if it's simple. It's well crafted and enjoyable each time.

[@pineapplepearjuice6717]

chapter 1 in shadow drqagon (hard) is just super fun to play, also where are my killed the thief with shiida guys at?

[@fernandoek]

Jokes aside, I feel that the choice of making Jagen the boss of the first chapter in the prologue of new mystery is to justify the fact that Jagen isn't playable in the game, since you'll become the replacement. Still considering that, I really wish he was playable anyway...

[@ProfessorBopper]

Jagen should have been playable and then injured during Prologue VIII. It would've made some of the final prologue maps more interesting, and would've made the new villains better as them hurting Jagen would really tug at the heart strings. This dude's been your bro for a whole adventure and now you need to get revenge for him

[@elgatto3133]

Arran is the jagen replacement though

[@elgatto3133]

@@ProfessorBopper I hate fe12's prologue on lunatic with a burning fucking passion

[@ryangallagher9723]

@@elgatto3133 and that's the problem. you don't recruit arran until chapter 1, and you have to suffer through the eight-chapter prologue before you can get there. having jagen in the prologue would make it so much less hellish.

[@NIMPAK1]

I actually 100% agree with FE1 and Thracia having the best big opening maps. It's surprising how well the first game in the series got it right even compared to other entries in the series. I think the only problem with FE1 Ch.1 is the U.I. but it's forgivable since it's a NES game. I would love to see the sequel to this video or even just more map analysis in general. For example I think Chapter 2 of Thracia could be an interesting map to analyze in how it builds upon what you've learned in Chapter 1 while adding a few curve balls and teaching new lessons through higher risk.

[@lolbittheglitchqueen6871]

15:11 I feel like they should have Eirika order Seth to stop due to his injuries and would also explain why he is at full health next chapter.

[@AnnefeatHertz]

came back to mull over what you say here since ive been playing rd and it's making me realize i think the best first map in fe is elincia 1 which... is not a tutorial map at all lmao (but it really feels like one.)

[@GoonCommander]

I think of Weissman more of a lesson that you should prepare the right items and characters for a boss. Weissman loses to both of your Jagens because of their weapon choice. Checking the boss prior to the chapter and making sure you bring someone with a specific weapon intended for use on the boss is pretty important. The only chapters with this "Strong but Stationary" boss type, excluding bosses like Raydrik where you're given the tool to kill him in the same chapter, are 8, 8x, 10, 11, 12, 16A, 17A, 17B, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, and the Final boss. Not all of those are even that strong of bosses (Veld holding stone so he's slow, 22 boss being kinda slow or 8 and 12 being intended to be captured) but the only ones on this list that are impossible to prepare for on a blind run is Gomes in 8x and Salem in 12. Salem is only hard-ish because you're meant to capture him and he puts you're highest HP units to sleep so he doesn't even really count. I remember going through every boss in 776 and comparing characters base stats and average level-ups and weapons and whatnot to see if Asbel could really be considered a "boss killer" but the number of bosses in 776 actually kinda dick on Asbel because they have potential to one round him (low but very real chance you shouldn't risk due to master lance/axe) or are statistically very little threat to multiple other strong units. Asbel is better at shredding "tough" enemies because of reliable 1-2 range and very high skill and speed but his speed can be overkill and not make up for the low max bulk. Unit's like Ilios and Dean can actually outshine a sage asbel assuming he's not clutching onto the last Grafcalibur uses, and Dean basically becomes S+ tier if you manage to get the Dragonpike.

[@audrothewise340]

Your videos are really good.

[@lpfan4491]

18:24 oh hey, it is my favorite jagen. #SoldierRights.

[@CHRISTPUNCHER18]

I accidentally had my volume up when I clicked this vid and the intro startled the everloving fuck out of me LMAO

[@evanb4189]

Binding Blade's opening map is literally FE1's but turned 90°.

[@dariankianfar5721]

3 houses first level is really interesting to me. Jeralt is there to tell you about combat arts, terrain bonuses and healing yet you can just ignore him and just wing it. Knowing that it’s only beneficial to train one of the three lords and Byleth, the universal weapon usage, and daddy Jeralt coming to steal the exp after a few turns gives it such an interesting dynamic to me

[@The13thVGplayer]

Good video, would like more

[@midnightcowboi8193]

I generally agree with all of this, but a key problem I find with a lot of FE first maps is that they don't actually encourage players to play actively. Maps like FE1 Ch. 1 can teach the player about mechanics at the player's own pace, depending on what actions they take, but this map can also be dispatched pretty easily by turtling. There's no "light-a-fire-under-your-ass" quality that actually stresses the active playstyle that the rest of the games benefit from, so players can still get by without really learning much. Features like Jagen's fort & saving the village are nice to notice once you already understand the game's mechanics, but are by no means necessary, so they're more clever details than actually effective teaching tools.

[@SharurFoF]

I'd definitely be interested in your thoughts on RD 1-P.

[@cobaltobject1855]

Yes! I've been saying it for years, the Shadow Dragon prologue is one of the best tutorials in all of gaming.

[@lagspike7763]

15:11 play on easy mode and this map makes a whole lot more sense

[@vsnake8663]

I'd love to see a part two

[@xuanathan]

I should mention SoV's meta is very reliant on hard carries. Merc Kliff with the lightning sword is a better unit than every villager combined in any other class for instance, and a trained and invested Mae or Clive will trivialise their respective routes. So given that, I actually do think the tutorial having you solo the map with Mycen is a great way of telling the player "Its okay if you wanna use a 1 man army, its a good tactic and will work even late game." Gaiden itself was designed more as a traditional jrpg than other fe games, and a big aspect was power progression of your units. A unit soloing a map could be thought of as a character in a jrpg one shotting a random encounter.

[@Profecy02]

20:38 Out here advocating a bunch of children gang up and cold murder a horseman. Cut to post-timeskip to where you can find the villager who did the dirty to be going through life with a thousand yard stare

[@zenmaster8]

I would like a sequel, especially if you also cover awakening because it was the first fe experience for many players and probably influential in their playstyle in other games

[@slanax97]

As bland and generic as Fates Ch1 is, I do like that it teaches the player a very important skill that's fairly unique to Fates (and Conquest specifically). After going a round with Xander and healing up afterwards, Corrin is still not at full HP, and the battle forecast is slightly more in their favor without any obvious differences in the situation: Both Xander and Corrin have the same stats as before. However, if you poke around the stat screen looking for an explanation, you notice Xander's Chivalry skill which is no longer active, teaching the player the baby steps of skill awareness, a key skill to do well in Conquest. How effective it is at teaching that is up for debate though, especially since I've more often than not seen the youtubers who played Fates blind ignore it entirely and then get their Effie torn to ribbons as soon as Seal Defense enters the picture

[@DaniDoyle]

i think i speak for the people when i say I want a part 2

[@grima5788]

I feel you on the jazz coffeehouse aesthetic

[@fufzooz]

Nice video!

[@artstrange3230]

I would request a part 2. DO IT. DON'T LET MY... er... YOUR DREAMS BE DREAMS!

[@tom_7768]

Great video

[@raputha1148]

i felt that endcard in my sould

[@Ocsttiac]

The Bolt Sword is the true Jagen of FE2/15.