Regarding Lilith's death, I honestly would have just made it so when she tries to save Corrin, she goes into a gameplay round of combat with the Faceless. If the player fed her often and took care of her, she should have the stats to survive and chill for the rest of the game. If they didn't, she dies and now the player feels like it was their fault that she died because they neglected her. That way that whole thing with feeding Lilith to make her stronger has a little more of a purpose
You know, I thought that it could've been Jakob/Felicia or Silas who died there if they didn't have an A Support, kinda like how Kaze can die in Birthright, since those three have more importance to Corrin than Lilith. But that would work, too.
@@kairi4325 I can definitely see Silas to died there. Silas and Kaze both eventually becomes Corrin's retainers. Silas is literally the Nohrian counterpart of Kaze.
Honestly... I personally would of god damn loved it if Corrin was less "I will stop my country from killing" and more "This war has to happen... You refused to give us aid! You let my people die!" Iirc what little story is left Nohr is on the brinks of collapse in terms of resources. They tried to make make deals with Hoshido but *they always* refused. I would of loved if that was the two major difference.
Yes, they simply didn't want any semblance of evil from the MC. The sanctity of MC is too powerful, wonder if it's a japanese thing or the company being very paranoid of alienating wish fulfillment seekers since Fire Emblem was still on the Nintendo tightrope even after the awakening miracle.
"Im not just gonna skip over the kitsune map" >Skips the kitsune map >Doesnt elaborate on its place in the story >Leaves for 2 more years Its PEAK ladies and gentlemen
God I love being back on Fire Emblem UA-cam. The content that people put out for these games is actually just banger after banger. Cant wait for the rewrite of revalations. Please fix it please please please
This was definitely worth the wait. Keeping the grunting during the Dark Song cutscene was the icing on the cake. (I can not express how much I love this video. I can’t wait for the Birthright video!)
I liked the rewrite very much, however I do think that there are some problems that still linger even in this version: - there's still no justification to invade Hoshido bedsides "Nohr's evil" - this version makes Azura and Corrin seem even more dumb because now they're just murdering the Hoshido royal family which is the exact opposite of what they were trying to do - Garon doesn't feel like a manipulator pulling the strings from the shadows, in this version he's basically a complete non entity until he shows up as a slime monster at the end. Garon should be way more involved in the plot than just giving occasional orders.
I would reason that the first one would be because Hoshido and its royals could pose a threat to Valla with their power (or he's playing both sides having Takumi as another alternate body to posess if things don't go well with the Nohr invasion The second one... yep. Maybe through the story it could become more and more accepted by them and that it's inevitable? Going heavy on "everything is worth sacrificing in exchange of defeating Garon" Last, maybe more behind the scenes parts with him and Iago to show his scheming more or what he's manipulating Iago to do? Dunno
If I recall correctly, the main reason Nohr goes to war is to many mouths to feed and not enough to go around. A real Thanos situation, where Hosido as the opposite situation, to much food not enough mouths. Nohr before garon was bat shit crazy did try to make deals with them but where always refused. I think an amazing plot change would be that Conquest Corrin sees his people suffering first hand. Maybe his support with Silas brings this up where one time when they hanged out all Silas ate that day was the apple he and Corrin shared.
Edit: I just realized I dumped a comment complaining about Conquest writing and didn't acknowledge the video at all. Fantastic video. You covered a lot of new ground and have given me a lot of inspiration to work with. Edit 2: Holy crrrap I love what you did with Hinoka and Ryoma! Especially Hinoka. I wasn't originally sold on "let's kill Hinoka" but the way you handled her death lent so much more value to her as a character than what happened in-game. If a played started with Conquest they'd probably identify with Corrin in the camp of "it's a shame, but you're really not that important of a character and I'm not invested in you" but if they played Birthright first this has the potential to be absolutely gut-wrenching and tear-inducing for the player as Hinoka dies and Corrin refuses to care about her it's Three Houses style dissonance and I am EATING IT UP thank you. ...(Edit over) Okay but in Izumo with the Zola map. This is the most problematic chapter in the game for me, and it's what caused my own fix-it fanfiction to collapse in on itaelf because Xander's characterization is a black hole. He values two things above all else: his country, and his family. Cool things have the potential to happen, and usually don't, when those values conflict. But one thing's for sure: he would never put his vanity above his people. And ideally, the conflict with Hoshido is short and decisive, monimizing bloodshed for both sides. A loyal Nohrian sorcerer, using a clever (if a bit underhanded) ruse, successfully captured the entire Hoshidan royal family. Zola's subterfuge brought the war to a screeching halt; negotiations opened with General Yukimura to determine the terms of Hoshido's surrender. At the fore of these negotiations is Prince Xander, who owes much to the clever mage Zola - perhaps Zola's in for a promotion or three. Nohr releases a Hoshidan royal (probably Sakura or Ryoma, depending on how much pull Nohr feels it has) to act as a puppet and pacifier against inevitable insurrection in Hoshido, while the remaining three are kept in separate Nohrian fortresses as leverage. King Garon sets out to do whatever he's going to do next depending on how he was written, and maybe the peace doesn't last long, but for now Corrin and Xander and Zola are all patting each other on the back for a job well done and a long, bloody conflict avoided. After all, Xander would never put his vanity above his country. He would never allow some twisted sense of "honor" to blind him to the amazing opportunity Zola provided him with. Corrin, unless they were very stupid, would definitely see the capture of the Hoshidan royals as what it is - a chance to end the war, and maybe even keep their blood-siblings safe. And Xander would definitely never slaughter loyal Nohrian soldiers by the dozen - heroes, really for having pulled all this off - just for being a little sneaky. Heck, he wouldn't have slaughtered them if they destroyed diplomatic relations with and made an enemy of Izumo, given that in so doing they also ended the war with Hoshido. A small price to pay. ... This madman massacres his own soldiers because they didn't end the war "honorably" and opts for the long, bloody conflict instead. Way to put your vanity above your country, you utter nincompoop. Can't wait for you to give the intensely hyporcritical "justice is an illusion" speech a little bit from now. I can't. I don't know how to fix this. Because no matter what, the Zola map - Chapter 18, I think? - has Xander and co fighting Zola and his Nohrian soldiers. Aoaaughoarrgh.
I'm not sure why people who criticize chapter 18 keep on insisting that capturing the royals was "a chance to end the war, and maybe even keep their blood-siblings safe". No, it's not lol. The win condition for Nohr is capturing all of Hoshido's territory to plunder and massacre the country. Nohr's army is in universe famously recognized for NOT keeping their prisoners alive or treating their occupied lands fair and well. Garon is clearly genocidal. Also you're not massacring the soldiers in that chapter. 0HP doesn't mean death unless stated otherwise. Also, Xander very much IS characterized as putting his vanity above his country. That's literally why he pointlessly fights you to his death in Birthright and gets somewhat called out by Elise and even Garon later.
There is a very simple way it could work: other countries. Izumo is a neutral party that does not want to be involved in the conflict, but does not need to be a pacifist state. A Nohrian mage sending false invitations to Hoshidan royalty, and then kidnapping them on Izumo's soil, is a violation of Izumo's sovereignty that would cause an international incident. Having all the royals together would cut off four heads from the Hoshidan hydra, but it would leave an incensed Yukimura (who still has almost the entirety of Hoshido's manpower) and a hostile Izumo (plus Izumo's allies), leading to a longer and bloodier conflict than just marching on Hoshido's capitol without the treachery. Zola's idea wasn't good for Nohr, it was extremely dangerous and misguided, and Xander's only choice was to make a display of putting down the renegade spy lest Izumo and its allies join the conflict against Nohr. Granted this does have the problem of uh, assuming that Fateslandia has major powers other than Nohr and Hoshido, which isn't really presented in the text.
This was really good, can you make a video explaining the plot of all of fates how it is now. This made me realize I didn’t know a lot of things about fates
Here's one of my rewrite ideas that's relavent to the Conquest Route: I would change Hans' character to be less of a serial killer and more of a Shadow Dragon Cultist. (Having killed only people who were traitors to Noir) Garon would inform Hans that Corrin is the Avatar of the Dawn Dragon and thus their natural enemy. But over the course of Conquest they would have a crisis of faith, as they reconsile with Corrin explicitly helping the civilans of Noir, the same goal that drives their fanaticism. Until at last they defect to Corin's side (and likely die in a heroic effort) because they see them as a divinely chosen ruler. Which could also have some weird interactions between them and the other royals.
I have been waiting for this since I was a padawan and my Jedi master said “someday, a new video on Fe fates will come out to fix the horrible writing decisions made” and I was like “far out”… I dunno why I just wanted to mention Star Wars. Edit: I just finished the video. Very good, and I look forward to how you tackle Birthright, whenever that is of course. As for any changes I’d make, I’d leave Sakura alive since killing her would add nothing but shock value. Plus who’s gonna rule Hoshido after this story. So it’s best this way.
I mean. Hoshido being screwed at the end of Conquest is kind of the point. It's supposed to be an ending that feels okay, but leaves something to be desired.
Conquest really should have leaned entirely into the "overthrow garons rule from inside" angle for its story like it started off to be with a few plot points. There were better options to expose garons true self then overthrowing an entire other country just for a magic chair
@@emblemblade9245 A good example was the ice tribe and opera house chapters. Technically following garons orders. But in a way that directly went against him. Basically loopholes.
Oh hey the episode I said to myself I would subscribe to the channel for. Two years ago, and I watched the first video in this series. At least the UA-cam recommendation got around to showing me this video within about a month of when it came out
I find that garon's plan makes sense. he wanted to knock corrin into the void so that she would be posessed by anankos, (just less obviously) and then blow up the sword himself also i would make it so that the sword just flew out and exploded haveing the shadow enemies appear after the sword exploded. just the sword flies into the air and stabs into the ground to explode. also make the sword look less evil. that's a big problem with fates writing is makeing evil things too obviously evil. I really feel like corrin should be able to blame garon for her mothers death as a reason to side with hoshido. but i also feel like corrind should also be able to not blame it on garon. let's say garon says he found the sword on an enemy attacker who tried to kill him. he recognizes the sword is strong, and that you need protection. he "worries" about giveing it to you before he says he doesn't have anything better to give you. you need to be able to defend yourself well after all. so while it is still garron's fault, he should have plausible deniability strong enough for corrin to want to hear his side of the story.
While I do appreciate that this version makes the game WAY more coherent, I think it would strengthen your argument in the future to give a brief reading of what you think the game is about, thematically. That way you could also review how your changes heighten or expand on the games' themes. Adding a thematic dimension to your analysis could also help explain a few of Fates' more baffling writing decisions (such as the Corrin Goes To Heaven scene), as I don't think a good-faith analysis such as this one should write them off as accomplishing nothing. It would also give the video an overall thesis which would help the video build to something other than an alternate summary and a "so, yea." However, I wouldn't be so verbose if this video didn't genuinely pique my interest, and your editing did make me giggle (googly eyes Leo for the win). I hope to see more videos like this in the future.
For the eternal Staicase it would be funny if Lilith only died if you cheese the map cause if you cheese it there are too many faceless and they get through
For a story where we already have us "killing" kaze and rinkah but not killing them, I dont see why you have to kill sakura. Not to mention using mikoto as a reason is not going to work with the players because we all know the developers made sakura not mikoto's daughter so that perverted players can make corrin bang her...cough, i digress. The point is that killing sakura using a reason that isnt even valid in reality is not going to work well when we had similiar situation and the characters got out of it unharmed before.
I made it a point where if you kill Kaze and Rinkah in the map, they die and you can't recruit them. Plus, just because it's not a plot point in the base game doesn't mean it can't be justified in a rewrite.
@@Bicken What does her death achieve plotwise? If it achieves nothing, and it is not hard to let her survive, then you are just killing her for the sake of killing her
I don't understand the point of changing Mikoto's death. The sequence of event doesn't really make a ton of sense. Why don't the hoshidan siblings kill Dragon Corrin or at least imprisoned them, even if they understood it was an accident? Why are they taking Corrin to face off the Nohrians in chapter 6? In the original it made sense that Corrin won their trust, as the dragon-rampage was clearly directed at their mom's killer and they've already wittnessed Corrin opposing the Faceless from Nohr to save Sakura and Hinoka. It made sense that they believed Corrin to be on their side. But you made Corrin Mikoto's killer and Hoshido understandably more distrustful of them, so what are we doing at the frontlines in chapter 6?
@lobsterp3821 I explained it in the part 1 video, but in essence, I made it to where the Hoshidan Family sort of split on their reactions, with Ryoma assuming the best in Corrin and Takumi assuming the worst. Reskin the vallite soldiers and the shadow man to be hoshidan soldiers and Takumi, and the main purpose is to get rid of some weird plotholes and to strengthen Ryoma's and Takumi's character arcs. I suggest giving the whole thing a watch, because I explain my reasoning better there.
This was a very good rewrite. I don't know if this aligns with your rules, but if it was me, I would have changed a handful of things that either bothered me, or would have benefit the story as a whole. 1. Let Azura show XANDER the glowing orb, not Corrin. I think this would add conflict and fantastic character development between Xander, Ganon, and his siblings for the rest of the game. It just the overall better choice and it my alter Xanders actions later in the story. 2.) The very last chapter when Xander finally stands up to his father needs to be A.) Voice acted, seriously and B). the other siblings needed to side with Corrin and Xander a lot quicker. I know what they were trying to go for because at one point. Ganon was a loving father to them, but we never see that unless you search for it in the supports. I just think the Nohr siblings deciding not to kill or even defend themselves from their father after everything he has done is just a stretch to me. Also, having Xander possibly call you a traitor if your wrong after everything you have done for him...hurts... 3.) This will probably be the most controversial take from this post and it depends on your view of the family tree (to which some of it i think is complete horse shit,) but I think the game would have benefited from Xander and Corrin being a couple. It is very clear in MULTIPLE scenes during the game that they have feelings for each other OUTSIDE of their support's itself. Literally in chapter 6, Xander drops everything to make sure Corrin is safe and disobeys his fathers orders. He also defends her and protects her multiple times! What makes it worse, or better depending on who you ask is if you play Fire Emblem Warriors and get to A rank with Xander and Corrin, it is revealed that Xander has rushed to get home to see Corrin every time he was done with a mission. If IS wanted to implement that they would be together somehow, they should have just done it if the dialog was going to reflect that.
Oh, hey, a video on one of my favorite FE stories! Neat! Sure hope that it isn't just mindlessly trashing on the game and working with the context as it is (this is a joke, but I've seen so many bad takes emerge from this game that it's actually refreshing to see somebody who openly likes the game). I have some feedback that I want to give. And honestly, I think the story is massively slept on for a variety of reasons, and only has the reputation it does due to how unconvincingly it presents itself as than the actual merit of its ideas. In fact, I'll be devil's advocate and say that it's probably one of my favorite narratives in the series. I like quite a few changes that you've made, but I don't agree in making another character a fallguy for Garon or making Garon more sympathetic. This may seem counter-intuitive, but Garon's whole point is that he's a literal corpse piloted by Anankos, much like Vigarde was by Lyon; Garon's probably the only "cartoon villain" in the series who has a _justification_ for being the way he is, plus, I also feel like I disagree with the core summation of the story's issues when it ignores that Fates probably has the most internally consistent reasoning when you know where to look, problem is most people struggle to take it seriously on the open front and just deem it bad without any further understanding. You're obviously a fair bit better than that, but I think it's objectively possible to keep Fates's plot as is, just need to expand on details or present them in a better light. The issue was always framing with the story, not the story itself. Frankly, a *lot* of the narrative begins to make sense when you approach it out of the angle of your own POV and start to assess things as they are objectively, not as your actions, but as Corrin's. His choice to side with Nohr's very clear why it is; he did it because he couldn't betray literally the only family he knew, and wants to find _some_ way to end the violence without fighting, so he actually poises to try and subvert Garon's rule and try to reform things. Much to my surprise and me being subsequently impressed... this fails. Hans ends up butchering the Chevois forces, and Corrin clearly only succeeded twice at sparing as many as he could because both times were skirmishes (Ch. 8 and 11). It didn't result in anything really changing, and much of Garon - this walking corpse-like figure and his own retainers - trying to run both his kingdom into the ground and Hoshido. But there were no immediately obvious alternatives. The royals were in denial _because they were trying to cope with such a drastic change in their father's behavior,_ and then Corrin learns the truth with Azura: Garon was piloted by _something,_ and was more flesh-and-bone than person at this point. Azura lays out what choices he has very clearly, given Garon had both armor that was near-impervious due to the First Dragon's blessings and the precarious politics with his siblings; he either throw everything and the world to try to defeat him, or save as many as he can by breaking his ideas in order to protect the people he loves and find some means to expose Garon's true form. What follows is Corrin being forced to realpolitik in order to betray his Hoshidan family to try and end this war that has already spiraled out of control. And many people are killed during it. And what truly sells it to me is that... Corrin ends up being rightfully hated by Hoshido for it. The populace jeers him for his perceived betrayal, Hinoka at the end of Conquest outright states _it's not safe for him to be there,_ and he ends up being forced to see two of his brothers die alongside tens of thousands of others. He ends up trying to keep up the cold mask for as long as he can before it just _comes apart,_ his own ideals having to be bended and him seeing many people die as a result of the invasion. Corrin ends up having to confront what he does, and yet... the story doesn't demonize him, or excuse him. It shows nuance. It shows that his actions had consequences, and that despite everything he could've done, it wasn't enough and that he was forced to see his older Hoshidan brother commit suicide and his little brother fall to that _something's_ influence. Fates truly begins to work when you not ask "why does this happen?" and more "why _would_ this happen?". Fates in of itself deconstructs the idea of black and white morality by having it _seem_ as such - come on, a cartoonishly-evil king versus a peace-loving queen? What's the choice to be made? Except it not only has Mikoto as a foreigner and Hoshido having a warrior culture stemming from Sumeragi's dynasty of warfare and bushido that puts its at rivals with nations such as Mokushu, but also Nohr outright going into civil war and the late King Garon - once a just king - dying due to his inability to let go of his attachments as his children were slaughtered one by one, leaving only four in their place. He died a corpse... and that's when Anankos, having committed genocide on his own nation and wiped Valla from existence and the history books, possessed his grief and regrets. And of _course_ he would act so extraordinarily, because he was possessed by a mad god with no understanding of human emotions and if anything something that _loathed_ it. And of _course_ he would hire Iago and Hans, despite most of the Nohrian populace planning borderline revolt due to this. That's what Fates is, it's not about taking what the story says at face value, it's about seeing "what _would_ in canon make these characters act that way?". And what you have, when you connect each of the character interactions between routes and stories, what I think is one of the best-written narratives in the series aside from Genealogy of the Holy War, Echoes and _maybe_ 3H, and the thing is, it's only deemed a bad story for being so unobvious and obtuse when it actually has so much visual and aesthetic worldbuilding. Which is the result of, frankly, a lot of the game being messily implemented. Fates was originally written by Shin Kibayashi across three different novels that were unfittingly crammed into three typical FE routes that were _not_ suited for its format, and that's not aiding the other issues, either: 1) Each route is a game in itself, originally had to buy them individually 2) Only Conquest and Birthright have physical copies 3) Revelation is DLC 4) Lore is scattered through small asides and supports 5) Supports vary depending on which game you get and which characters you support 6) Players can only unlock supports if they use characters together in battle (ergo viability in battle can play a BIG part in that) 7) There's no ready indication which have lore or which are mostly humor or character skits 9) _Ergo_ if someone does not like a character for their initial personality or battle viability and any supports unlocked don't help dissuade that? That person often will just not even try to see if there's more because as far as they are concerned that's all the character is and will be 9) Characters can and will die not only through the player's fault but the story 10) The stories layers become wayyy more apparent reading through All The Routes and seeing how things interconnect - that is discouraged with the whole release plan _and_ the routes themselves being obtuse and having a particular order (implicitly Birthright, Conquest, Revelations, Heirs of Fate + Invisible Truths DLCs) 11) The routes vary in length and a player often _needs_ the plot spelled out to understand what plot points matter or why certain design decisions were made and it's not "Inherently bad writing" 12) This also includes Supports, Paralogues, the 2nd Gen, and DLCs; this is a _lot_ 13) Explanations don't always help because not everyone deep reads and the game expects players to be already questioning common FE tropes And you know what? That's a fucking shame. I've spent 800 hours on Fates and I have it as one of my favorite FEs for a reason, and I'm tired of people saying the story's bad because its obtuse. To me, I'd sooner have a story that is unobvious but has depths that shine brighter than the sun than a story that is clear and concise but whose internal logic and message doesn't work upon greater scrutiny. I firmly believe that if Kibayashi had his script released or that Fates didn't botch adapting the story, it'd be rightfully seen as one of the greatest narratives in not just Fire Emblem, but strategy RPGs in general. Anyways, I got a bit side-winded, haha. I wanted to observe your essay and really take mental note about a lot of it in general. I adore Fates and I always will, and I'd love to help give any future points that you may want, especially as something of a scholar on the game. :D
I agree that the way you described it is the intended way for the story to be read, but I think it's a little unapproachable from a general audience's perspective. If you allow the player to customize and rename Corrin, they're going to project themselves on to them, so it's somewhat narratively necessary to put the player in Corrin's shoes, and have Corrin make decisions that the player could easily see themself making. That's kind of the basis for my entire rewrite.
@@Bicken Ah, now that makes sense! I will admit that a major reason I enjoyed Fates as much as I did was because of instead of making Corrin my self-insert, I sort of just used the system to make my own OC, personally. It's a major reason why I was able to enjoy it, I don't really self-insert into games a lot of the time, personally. But now that you put it in the way that you have, it makes sense. It just illustrates my feelings on how Fates was a great story screwed over by how it's presentation to its audience was super-botched. Thank you for replying!
This is lowkey really beautyfully written, props for that. I used to be a "gameplay good, story bad"-guy and hater of the game's writing. But Fates's story (mostly Conquest) earned a soft-spot in my heart over the years. It really makes me sad to think about how awkward the game is, but how actually cohernt and stupidly misunderstood it still is in spite of that. It had all the right ingredients, but was severily undercooked.
I wonder if, one day, someone will do a video on how to fix the plot of Engage. Sure, the gameplay in battle is fine. But the story is...well...a step down from TH, that,s for sure.
So far solid video but um. How would the ice tribe recognize Corrin? She was sheltered for 15 years thank you artbook i believe it was for whem cheve happened
Also im curious. You say elise doesnt recognize Azura because to young. Are we not keeping the fact she was born after Azura was kidnapped as seen with the twos support chain?
I don't understand the memes on the Azura dance scene. Didn't she get a spell put on her to disguise herself? So, what the player sees is Azura for the purpose of it being Azura content and not a disguise, but what the characters really see is a random dancer. i thought this was what they were trying to do? At least it was like that in Birthright.
Frankly MY CASTLE and the Sominel established for me that "Yeah this RUINS the vibe" Even Garreg Mach had it's issues! Frankly Speaking I liked BASE CAMP from Three Hopes! It made BETTER sense then your Army traveling long distances and making it bac to Garreg Mach in record time! Where in Three Hopes, Base Camp made more SENSE for the Missions in the surrouding Area! If we're going to move on a WORLD MAP board like this is Super Mario World! Then it makes sense to use the Base Camp! Give an HQ sure, but use a BASE CAMP so we don't have to have STORY interruptions! The Month Calander was hit and miss with the story (Largely points like say when FLAYN got kidnapped as that takes an ENTIRE MONTH to look for her within the DAMN MONASTRY MIND YOU! At least the final level assures you cannot return in the middle of it) and Engage made this SO MUCH worse! Same with Three Houses, it picks the WORSE moments to let you ACCESS HQ! Like okay the two TWO PARTER chapters made sense not to let you return, but then you got moments like Chapter 8 (You know, King Morion being KIDNAPPED so you're on a TIGHT Schedule! I can forgive Delaying in Chapter 7 to 8 as you can say there was PREPERATION time on both ends and the Army makes it RIGHT as final preparations are made! Then you got Chapter 12-13 where you're dilly daddling when Timerra and Fogado's Mom is being held hostage by Hortensia! Telling me Hortensia had her for what DAYS while I was out doing shit! Frankly if the Narrative has a URGENCY moment, it's better NOT to make a CASTLE IN THE SKY OR ORB WORLD that makes one wonder "why not leave the MACGUFFINS in the Castle? The Bad Guys can't get to it, so why have them on hand to get them SNATCHED as Engage CH10-11 showed Corrin and Alear well more their narritives bring TOO MUCH Fantasy into things that the MY Castle and Sominel can DAMAGE the story when you factor them in! Shez and Byleth are a GOOD example of not being TOO FANTASY despite being Host's to a Goddess Dragon (And a Human that became the closest THING to a God-like ENTITY to said GODDESS Dragon) yet their still treated as "REAL" Byleth has some notoriety as a Mercenary but pales compared to their Dad when you think on it. Shez doesn't even HAVE THAT and only starts getting Notoriety largely because of their association with one of the Three Lords! Also the difference between the two is Byleth is learning to be HUMAN due to being INHUMAN for 20 years of their life (only following their father Jeralt lead and even then) now that Sothis awakened and they are hit with ALOT of emotions and feelings their not use to (next to JOY in bonding with their chosen HOUSE and House Lord, things look like their IMPROVING with their bond with their father beyond Superior and Subordinate and then he dies and Byleth is hit with negative emotions their not use to, sadness and RAGE); Shez was already someone with bonds and instead is going through a case of building their own legend, hell by the time skip after the School is shut down, they've started up their own Mercenary Company like Jeralt did when he left the Knights and building up their own Notoriety by the time their re-recruited by the Chosen Lord! Their endings are also nice as being the new Pope/Archbishop against HALF their will (thanks Rhea) has different results on who they get with (I loved Marianne where not only does she and her father FINALLY get around their bad communication factor and she realizes he DOES care for her! The man mentors Byleth AND Marianne into TRULY understanding Politics and how it works so they can better run the Church and the Political field of the NOW United Fodlan as Archbishop and the Wife of the Archbishop! As Byleth would be VERY terrible in the Politics factor as it seems Jeralt did most of the negotiations and talking and Byleth followed his lead! Something they share with Ike as the man has no time or love of Politics, so it's one thing Byleth has over Ike outside the Battle Life LOL) and Shez doesn't GET an Ending of their story per say, but I can see them settling down into more of a NON-Combat career, or have one set up for when they are unable to be in combat anymore as Mercenary is a means to make ends meet, there was ALWAYS going to be an END!) I'm nicer to Alear then Corrin! But frankly I don't want anymore MANAKATE Lords in the series anymore! Keep the Manakate to the "Mysterious Waifu" characters like Rhea, Lilith and Veyle and make it more GROUNDED! Hell I think it's time to bring back the NON-LORD Lords back! It's been a good while since Ike that I can see this being a good thing! Three Hopes Shez doesn't count since Three Hopes isn't a Main Line FIRE EMBLEM! Just a What If Spin Off of one entry! And no MYSTICAL Powers! Similar to Ike, the Legendary Falchion like weapon is something they EARN the right to wield (as in it's a Legendary that GROWS STRONG because the "Commoner" Lord grew strong themselves then because "Blood ties" I mean Liberation was more a normal mystical sword given to Alear by their adopted mother and Leif's Legendaries were less MAGICAL sword well not GOD Magically induced!)
Regarding Lilith's death, I honestly would have just made it so when she tries to save Corrin, she goes into a gameplay round of combat with the Faceless. If the player fed her often and took care of her, she should have the stats to survive and chill for the rest of the game. If they didn't, she dies and now the player feels like it was their fault that she died because they neglected her. That way that whole thing with feeding Lilith to make her stronger has a little more of a purpose
@@joancruz2785 Ooh. That's a really cool idea! I wish I had thought of that
You know, I thought that it could've been Jakob/Felicia or Silas who died there if they didn't have an A Support, kinda like how Kaze can die in Birthright, since those three have more importance to Corrin than Lilith. But that would work, too.
@@kairi4325 I can definitely see Silas to died there. Silas and Kaze both eventually becomes Corrin's retainers. Silas is literally the Nohrian counterpart of Kaze.
The spookiest thing anyone could do this season: talk about Conquest’s plot, lol
the greatest fix to the plot: deleting the Kitsune map
Thank you sir for your services o7
Honestly... I personally would of god damn loved it if Corrin was less "I will stop my country from killing" and more "This war has to happen... You refused to give us aid! You let my people die!" Iirc what little story is left Nohr is on the brinks of collapse in terms of resources. They tried to make make deals with Hoshido but *they always* refused. I would of loved if that was the two major difference.
Yes, they simply didn't want any semblance of evil from the MC. The sanctity of MC is too powerful, wonder if it's a japanese thing or the company being very paranoid of alienating wish fulfillment seekers since Fire Emblem was still on the Nintendo tightrope even after the awakening miracle.
"Im not just gonna skip over the kitsune map"
>Skips the kitsune map
>Doesnt elaborate on its place in the story
>Leaves for 2 more years
Its PEAK ladies and gentlemen
Corrin: We don’t want trouble
Kaden: I don’t want peace, I want problems always.
@@hilgigas09 we want trouble and make it double
It is the best written chapter afterall.
God I love being back on Fire Emblem UA-cam. The content that people put out for these games is actually just banger after banger. Cant wait for the rewrite of revalations. Please fix it please please please
This was definitely worth the wait. Keeping the grunting during the Dark Song cutscene was the icing on the cake. (I can not express how much I love this video. I can’t wait for the Birthright video!)
I liked the rewrite very much, however I do think that there are some problems that still linger even in this version:
- there's still no justification to invade Hoshido bedsides "Nohr's evil"
- this version makes Azura and Corrin seem even more dumb because now they're just murdering the Hoshido royal family which is the exact opposite of what they were trying to do
- Garon doesn't feel like a manipulator pulling the strings from the shadows, in this version he's basically a complete non entity until he shows up as a slime monster at the end. Garon should be way more involved in the plot than just giving occasional orders.
I would reason that the first one would be because Hoshido and its royals could pose a threat to Valla with their power (or he's playing both sides having Takumi as another alternate body to posess if things don't go well with the Nohr invasion
The second one... yep. Maybe through the story it could become more and more accepted by them and that it's inevitable? Going heavy on "everything is worth sacrificing in exchange of defeating Garon"
Last, maybe more behind the scenes parts with him and Iago to show his scheming more or what he's manipulating Iago to do? Dunno
If I recall correctly, the main reason Nohr goes to war is to many mouths to feed and not enough to go around. A real Thanos situation, where Hosido as the opposite situation, to much food not enough mouths. Nohr before garon was bat shit crazy did try to make deals with them but where always refused. I think an amazing plot change would be that Conquest Corrin sees his people suffering first hand. Maybe his support with Silas brings this up where one time when they hanged out all Silas ate that day was the apple he and Corrin shared.
Edit: I just realized I dumped a comment complaining about Conquest writing and didn't acknowledge the video at all.
Fantastic video. You covered a lot of new ground and have given me a lot of inspiration to work with.
Edit 2: Holy crrrap I love what you did with Hinoka and Ryoma! Especially Hinoka. I wasn't originally sold on "let's kill Hinoka" but the way you handled her death lent so much more value to her as a character than what happened in-game. If a played started with Conquest they'd probably identify with Corrin in the camp of "it's a shame, but you're really not that important of a character and I'm not invested in you" but if they played Birthright first this has the potential to be absolutely gut-wrenching and tear-inducing for the player as Hinoka dies and Corrin refuses to care about her it's Three Houses style dissonance and I am EATING IT UP thank you.
...(Edit over)
Okay but in Izumo with the Zola map.
This is the most problematic chapter in the game for me, and it's what caused my own fix-it fanfiction to collapse in on itaelf because Xander's characterization is a black hole.
He values two things above all else: his country, and his family. Cool things have the potential to happen, and usually don't, when those values conflict. But one thing's for sure: he would never put his vanity above his people. And ideally, the conflict with Hoshido is short and decisive, monimizing bloodshed for both sides.
A loyal Nohrian sorcerer, using a clever (if a bit underhanded) ruse, successfully captured the entire Hoshidan royal family. Zola's subterfuge brought the war to a screeching halt; negotiations opened with General Yukimura to determine the terms of Hoshido's surrender. At the fore of these negotiations is Prince Xander, who owes much to the clever mage Zola - perhaps Zola's in for a promotion or three. Nohr releases a Hoshidan royal (probably Sakura or Ryoma, depending on how much pull Nohr feels it has) to act as a puppet and pacifier against inevitable insurrection in Hoshido, while the remaining three are kept in separate Nohrian fortresses as leverage. King Garon sets out to do whatever he's going to do next depending on how he was written, and maybe the peace doesn't last long, but for now Corrin and Xander and Zola are all patting each other on the back for a job well done and a long, bloody conflict avoided.
After all, Xander would never put his vanity above his country. He would never allow some twisted sense of "honor" to blind him to the amazing opportunity Zola provided him with. Corrin, unless they were very stupid, would definitely see the capture of the Hoshidan royals as what it is - a chance to end the war, and maybe even keep their blood-siblings safe. And Xander would definitely never slaughter loyal Nohrian soldiers by the dozen - heroes, really for having pulled all this off - just for being a little sneaky. Heck, he wouldn't have slaughtered them if they destroyed diplomatic relations with and made an enemy of Izumo, given that in so doing they also ended the war with Hoshido. A small price to pay.
...
This madman massacres his own soldiers because they didn't end the war "honorably" and opts for the long, bloody conflict instead. Way to put your vanity above your country, you utter nincompoop. Can't wait for you to give the intensely hyporcritical "justice is an illusion" speech a little bit from now.
I can't. I don't know how to fix this. Because no matter what, the Zola map - Chapter 18, I think? - has Xander and co fighting Zola and his Nohrian soldiers.
Aoaaughoarrgh.
I'm not sure why people who criticize chapter 18 keep on insisting that capturing the royals was "a chance to end the war, and maybe even keep their blood-siblings safe". No, it's not lol. The win condition for Nohr is capturing all of Hoshido's territory to plunder and massacre the country. Nohr's army is in universe famously recognized for NOT keeping their prisoners alive or treating their occupied lands fair and well. Garon is clearly genocidal. Also you're not massacring the soldiers in that chapter. 0HP doesn't mean death unless stated otherwise.
Also, Xander very much IS characterized as putting his vanity above his country. That's literally why he pointlessly fights you to his death in Birthright and gets somewhat called out by Elise and even Garon later.
There is a very simple way it could work: other countries. Izumo is a neutral party that does not want to be involved in the conflict, but does not need to be a pacifist state. A Nohrian mage sending false invitations to Hoshidan royalty, and then kidnapping them on Izumo's soil, is a violation of Izumo's sovereignty that would cause an international incident. Having all the royals together would cut off four heads from the Hoshidan hydra, but it would leave an incensed Yukimura (who still has almost the entirety of Hoshido's manpower) and a hostile Izumo (plus Izumo's allies), leading to a longer and bloodier conflict than just marching on Hoshido's capitol without the treachery. Zola's idea wasn't good for Nohr, it was extremely dangerous and misguided, and Xander's only choice was to make a display of putting down the renegade spy lest Izumo and its allies join the conflict against Nohr.
Granted this does have the problem of uh, assuming that Fateslandia has major powers other than Nohr and Hoshido, which isn't really presented in the text.
This was really good, can you make a video explaining the plot of all of fates how it is now. This made me realize I didn’t know a lot of things about fates
Here's one of my rewrite ideas that's relavent to the Conquest Route:
I would change Hans' character to be less of a serial killer and more of a Shadow Dragon Cultist. (Having killed only people who were traitors to Noir) Garon would inform Hans that Corrin is the Avatar of the Dawn Dragon and thus their natural enemy.
But over the course of Conquest they would have a crisis of faith, as they reconsile with Corrin explicitly helping the civilans of Noir, the same goal that drives their fanaticism. Until at last they defect to Corin's side (and likely die in a heroic effort) because they see them as a divinely chosen ruler.
Which could also have some weird interactions between them and the other royals.
Been waiting for this ever since I saw part 1 like a year ago
This thumbnail confirms that the best thing to be bestowed onto Fire Emblem Content Creators is Fire Emblem Heroes artwork
I have been waiting for this since I was a padawan and my Jedi master said “someday, a new video on Fe fates will come out to fix the horrible writing decisions made” and I was like “far out”… I dunno why I just wanted to mention Star Wars.
Edit: I just finished the video. Very good, and I look forward to how you tackle Birthright, whenever that is of course. As for any changes I’d make, I’d leave Sakura alive since killing her would add nothing but shock value. Plus who’s gonna rule Hoshido after this story. So it’s best this way.
I mean. Hoshido being screwed at the end of Conquest is kind of the point. It's supposed to be an ending that feels okay, but leaves something to be desired.
@@Bickenyeah but will the same happen to Birthright? Either route, it wouldn’t be fair for Hoshido or Nohr. I guess that’s what Revelations is for.
Conquest really should have leaned entirely into the "overthrow garons rule from inside" angle for its story like it started off to be with a few plot points.
There were better options to expose garons true self then overthrowing an entire other country just for a magic chair
Like what?
@@emblemblade9245 A good example was the ice tribe and opera house chapters. Technically following garons orders. But in a way that directly went against him. Basically loopholes.
10:49 Wait, that game has the same artist as Awakening and Fates?! *OMG* I never thought about it.
1) fire emblem conquest content 2024
2) also you are good at this
Dude, this is so good
Oh hey the episode I said to myself I would subscribe to the channel for. Two years ago, and I watched the first video in this series.
At least the UA-cam recommendation got around to showing me this video within about a month of when it came out
I find that garon's plan makes sense. he wanted to knock corrin into the void so that she would be posessed by anankos, (just less obviously) and then blow up the sword himself also i would make it so that the sword just flew out and exploded haveing the shadow enemies appear after the sword exploded. just the sword flies into the air and stabs into the ground to explode. also make the sword look less evil. that's a big problem with fates writing is makeing evil things too obviously evil. I really feel like corrin should be able to blame garon for her mothers death as a reason to side with hoshido. but i also feel like corrind should also be able to not blame it on garon. let's say garon says he found the sword on an enemy attacker who tried to kill him. he recognizes the sword is strong, and that you need protection. he "worries" about giveing it to you before he says he doesn't have anything better to give you. you need to be able to defend yourself well after all. so while it is still garron's fault, he should have plausible deniability strong enough for corrin to want to hear his side of the story.
Finally someone understands how much of a Fates Highlight Iago is. He’s so funny
This editing is bloody FIIIIIRE
emblem
Man, it's been two years since the last one? Jesus, it feels like yesterday.
While I do appreciate that this version makes the game WAY more coherent, I think it would strengthen your argument in the future to give a brief reading of what you think the game is about, thematically. That way you could also review how your changes heighten or expand on the games' themes. Adding a thematic dimension to your analysis could also help explain a few of Fates' more baffling writing decisions (such as the Corrin Goes To Heaven scene), as I don't think a good-faith analysis such as this one should write them off as accomplishing nothing. It would also give the video an overall thesis which would help the video build to something other than an alternate summary and a "so, yea." However, I wouldn't be so verbose if this video didn't genuinely pique my interest, and your editing did make me giggle (googly eyes Leo for the win). I hope to see more videos like this in the future.
6:25 “Did somebody say IMPULSIVE?”
You forgot the ninja Map
22:39 Iago is relatable because I, too, dislike Corrin and have a magical teleporting hologram
I really like how you did Garron.
Great vid!
Really great video! Loved fates’ gameplay but not story!
Now we fix birthright and revelations!
Lets go, so hyped for this
It's finally here, let's go!!😁
For the eternal Staicase it would be funny if Lilith only died if you cheese the map cause if you cheese it there are too many faceless and they get through
It's been 3,000 years...
For a story where we already have us "killing" kaze and rinkah but not killing them, I dont see why you have to kill sakura. Not to mention using mikoto as a reason is not going to work with the players because we all know the developers made sakura not mikoto's daughter so that perverted players can make corrin bang her...cough, i digress. The point is that killing sakura using a reason that isnt even valid in reality is not going to work well when we had similiar situation and the characters got out of it unharmed before.
I made it a point where if you kill Kaze and Rinkah in the map, they die and you can't recruit them. Plus, just because it's not a plot point in the base game doesn't mean it can't be justified in a rewrite.
@@Bicken What does her death achieve plotwise? If it achieves nothing, and it is not hard to let her survive, then you are just killing her for the sake of killing her
One slight question. Who’s going to rule Hosido if all the royals are dead? Yukimura?
Realistically, it's be annexed by Nohr or someone like Corrin would take over as ruler.
@ makes sense.
I don't understand the point of changing Mikoto's death. The sequence of event doesn't really make a ton of sense. Why don't the hoshidan siblings kill Dragon Corrin or at least imprisoned them, even if they understood it was an accident? Why are they taking Corrin to face off the Nohrians in chapter 6? In the original it made sense that Corrin won their trust, as the dragon-rampage was clearly directed at their mom's killer and they've already wittnessed Corrin opposing the Faceless from Nohr to save Sakura and Hinoka. It made sense that they believed Corrin to be on their side. But you made Corrin Mikoto's killer and Hoshido understandably more distrustful of them, so what are we doing at the frontlines in chapter 6?
@lobsterp3821 I explained it in the part 1 video, but in essence, I made it to where the Hoshidan Family sort of split on their reactions, with Ryoma assuming the best in Corrin and Takumi assuming the worst. Reskin the vallite soldiers and the shadow man to be hoshidan soldiers and Takumi, and the main purpose is to get rid of some weird plotholes and to strengthen Ryoma's and Takumi's character arcs. I suggest giving the whole thing a watch, because I explain my reasoning better there.
@@Bicken ohhh, there was a Part 1. Didn't realize sorry
Do a birthright and relavation next?
Yep yep
Poor Sakura is right, why can’t we just be friends…
This was a very good rewrite. I don't know if this aligns with your rules, but if it was me, I would have changed a handful of things that either bothered me, or would have benefit the story as a whole.
1. Let Azura show XANDER the glowing orb, not Corrin. I think this would add conflict and fantastic character development between Xander, Ganon, and his siblings for the rest of the game. It just the overall better choice and it my alter Xanders actions later in the story.
2.) The very last chapter when Xander finally stands up to his father needs to be A.) Voice acted, seriously and B). the other siblings needed to side with Corrin and Xander a lot quicker. I know what they were trying to go for because at one point. Ganon was a loving father to them, but we never see that unless you search for it in the supports. I just think the Nohr siblings deciding not to kill or even defend themselves from their father after everything he has done is just a stretch to me. Also, having Xander possibly call you a traitor if your wrong after everything you have done for him...hurts...
3.) This will probably be the most controversial take from this post and it depends on your view of the family tree (to which some of it i think is complete horse shit,) but I think the game would have benefited from Xander and Corrin being a couple. It is very clear in MULTIPLE scenes during the game that they have feelings for each other OUTSIDE of their support's itself. Literally in chapter 6, Xander drops everything to make sure Corrin is safe and disobeys his fathers orders. He also defends her and protects her multiple times! What makes it worse, or better depending on who you ask is if you play Fire Emblem Warriors and get to A rank with Xander and Corrin, it is revealed that Xander has rushed to get home to see Corrin every time he was done with a mission. If IS wanted to implement that they would be together somehow, they should have just done it if the dialog was going to reflect that.
Oh, hey, a video on one of my favorite FE stories! Neat! Sure hope that it isn't just mindlessly trashing on the game and working with the context as it is (this is a joke, but I've seen so many bad takes emerge from this game that it's actually refreshing to see somebody who openly likes the game).
I have some feedback that I want to give. And honestly, I think the story is massively slept on for a variety of reasons, and only has the reputation it does due to how unconvincingly it presents itself as than the actual merit of its ideas. In fact, I'll be devil's advocate and say that it's probably one of my favorite narratives in the series.
I like quite a few changes that you've made, but I don't agree in making another character a fallguy for Garon or making Garon more sympathetic. This may seem counter-intuitive, but Garon's whole point is that he's a literal corpse piloted by Anankos, much like Vigarde was by Lyon; Garon's probably the only "cartoon villain" in the series who has a _justification_ for being the way he is, plus, I also feel like I disagree with the core summation of the story's issues when it ignores that Fates probably has the most internally consistent reasoning when you know where to look, problem is most people struggle to take it seriously on the open front and just deem it bad without any further understanding. You're obviously a fair bit better than that, but I think it's objectively possible to keep Fates's plot as is, just need to expand on details or present them in a better light. The issue was always framing with the story, not the story itself.
Frankly, a *lot* of the narrative begins to make sense when you approach it out of the angle of your own POV and start to assess things as they are objectively, not as your actions, but as Corrin's. His choice to side with Nohr's very clear why it is; he did it because he couldn't betray literally the only family he knew, and wants to find _some_ way to end the violence without fighting, so he actually poises to try and subvert Garon's rule and try to reform things. Much to my surprise and me being subsequently impressed... this fails. Hans ends up butchering the Chevois forces, and Corrin clearly only succeeded twice at sparing as many as he could because both times were skirmishes (Ch. 8 and 11). It didn't result in anything really changing, and much of Garon - this walking corpse-like figure and his own retainers - trying to run both his kingdom into the ground and Hoshido.
But there were no immediately obvious alternatives. The royals were in denial _because they were trying to cope with such a drastic change in their father's behavior,_ and then Corrin learns the truth with Azura: Garon was piloted by _something,_ and was more flesh-and-bone than person at this point. Azura lays out what choices he has very clearly, given Garon had both armor that was near-impervious due to the First Dragon's blessings and the precarious politics with his siblings; he either throw everything and the world to try to defeat him, or save as many as he can by breaking his ideas in order to protect the people he loves and find some means to expose Garon's true form. What follows is Corrin being forced to realpolitik in order to betray his Hoshidan family to try and end this war that has already spiraled out of control. And many people are killed during it.
And what truly sells it to me is that... Corrin ends up being rightfully hated by Hoshido for it. The populace jeers him for his perceived betrayal, Hinoka at the end of Conquest outright states _it's not safe for him to be there,_ and he ends up being forced to see two of his brothers die alongside tens of thousands of others. He ends up trying to keep up the cold mask for as long as he can before it just _comes apart,_ his own ideals having to be bended and him seeing many people die as a result of the invasion. Corrin ends up having to confront what he does, and yet... the story doesn't demonize him, or excuse him. It shows nuance. It shows that his actions had consequences, and that despite everything he could've done, it wasn't enough and that he was forced to see his older Hoshidan brother commit suicide and his little brother fall to that _something's_ influence.
Fates truly begins to work when you not ask "why does this happen?" and more "why _would_ this happen?". Fates in of itself deconstructs the idea of black and white morality by having it _seem_ as such - come on, a cartoonishly-evil king versus a peace-loving queen? What's the choice to be made? Except it not only has Mikoto as a foreigner and Hoshido having a warrior culture stemming from Sumeragi's dynasty of warfare and bushido that puts its at rivals with nations such as Mokushu, but also Nohr outright going into civil war and the late King Garon - once a just king - dying due to his inability to let go of his attachments as his children were slaughtered one by one, leaving only four in their place. He died a corpse... and that's when Anankos, having committed genocide on his own nation and wiped Valla from existence and the history books, possessed his grief and regrets. And of _course_ he would act so extraordinarily, because he was possessed by a mad god with no understanding of human emotions and if anything something that _loathed_ it. And of _course_ he would hire Iago and Hans, despite most of the Nohrian populace planning borderline revolt due to this. That's what Fates is, it's not about taking what the story says at face value, it's about seeing "what _would_ in canon make these characters act that way?". And what you have, when you connect each of the character interactions between routes and stories, what I think is one of the best-written narratives in the series aside from Genealogy of the Holy War, Echoes and _maybe_ 3H, and the thing is, it's only deemed a bad story for being so unobvious and obtuse when it actually has so much visual and aesthetic worldbuilding.
Which is the result of, frankly, a lot of the game being messily implemented. Fates was originally written by Shin Kibayashi across three different novels that were unfittingly crammed into three typical FE routes that were _not_ suited for its format, and that's not aiding the other issues, either:
1) Each route is a game in itself, originally had to buy them individually
2) Only Conquest and Birthright have physical copies
3) Revelation is DLC
4) Lore is scattered through small asides and supports
5) Supports vary depending on which game you get and which characters you support
6) Players can only unlock supports if they use characters together in battle (ergo viability in battle can play a BIG part in that)
7) There's no ready indication which have lore or which are mostly humor or character skits
9) _Ergo_ if someone does not like a character for their initial personality or battle viability and any supports unlocked don't help dissuade that? That person often will just not even try to see if there's more because as far as they are concerned that's all the character is and will be
9) Characters can and will die not only through the player's fault but the story
10) The stories layers become wayyy more apparent reading through All The Routes and seeing how things interconnect - that is discouraged with the whole release plan _and_ the routes themselves being obtuse and having a particular order (implicitly Birthright, Conquest, Revelations, Heirs of Fate + Invisible Truths DLCs)
11) The routes vary in length and a player often _needs_ the plot spelled out to understand what plot points matter or why certain design decisions were made and it's not "Inherently bad writing"
12) This also includes Supports, Paralogues, the 2nd Gen, and DLCs; this is a _lot_
13) Explanations don't always help because not everyone deep reads and the game expects players to be already questioning common FE tropes
And you know what? That's a fucking shame. I've spent 800 hours on Fates and I have it as one of my favorite FEs for a reason, and I'm tired of people saying the story's bad because its obtuse. To me, I'd sooner have a story that is unobvious but has depths that shine brighter than the sun than a story that is clear and concise but whose internal logic and message doesn't work upon greater scrutiny. I firmly believe that if Kibayashi had his script released or that Fates didn't botch adapting the story, it'd be rightfully seen as one of the greatest narratives in not just Fire Emblem, but strategy RPGs in general.
Anyways, I got a bit side-winded, haha. I wanted to observe your essay and really take mental note about a lot of it in general. I adore Fates and I always will, and I'd love to help give any future points that you may want, especially as something of a scholar on the game. :D
I agree that the way you described it is the intended way for the story to be read, but I think it's a little unapproachable from a general audience's perspective. If you allow the player to customize and rename Corrin, they're going to project themselves on to them, so it's somewhat narratively necessary to put the player in Corrin's shoes, and have Corrin make decisions that the player could easily see themself making. That's kind of the basis for my entire rewrite.
@@Bicken Ah, now that makes sense! I will admit that a major reason I enjoyed Fates as much as I did was because of instead of making Corrin my self-insert, I sort of just used the system to make my own OC, personally. It's a major reason why I was able to enjoy it, I don't really self-insert into games a lot of the time, personally. But now that you put it in the way that you have, it makes sense. It just illustrates my feelings on how Fates was a great story screwed over by how it's presentation to its audience was super-botched.
Thank you for replying!
This is lowkey really beautyfully written, props for that.
I used to be a "gameplay good, story bad"-guy and hater of the game's writing. But Fates's story (mostly Conquest) earned a soft-spot in my heart over the years. It really makes me sad to think about how awkward the game is, but how actually cohernt and stupidly misunderstood it still is in spite of that. It had all the right ingredients, but was severily undercooked.
I wonder if, one day, someone will do a video on how to fix the plot of Engage.
Sure, the gameplay in battle is fine. But the story is...well...a step down from TH, that,s for sure.
So far solid video but um. How would the ice tribe recognize Corrin? She was sheltered for 15 years thank you artbook i believe it was for whem cheve happened
Also im curious. You say elise doesnt recognize Azura because to young. Are we not keeping the fact she was born after Azura was kidnapped as seen with the twos support chain?
I still want to see the original story written before they trimmed the story down, WAY down.
I don't understand the memes on the Azura dance scene. Didn't she get a spell put on her to disguise herself? So, what the player sees is Azura for the purpose of it being Azura content and not a disguise, but what the characters really see is a random dancer. i thought this was what they were trying to do? At least it was like that in Birthright.
That's only in Birthright (and a lie by Zola even there lol)
@@LunarBoo Whattt!! How would you know he lied?
I forgot, are you going to try to fix Birthrights plot or just Revelations?
All three routes
Please do birthright next pls
Let's go
Woohoo
Frankly MY CASTLE and the Sominel established for me that "Yeah this RUINS the vibe" Even Garreg Mach had it's issues! Frankly Speaking I liked BASE CAMP from Three Hopes! It made BETTER sense then your Army traveling long distances and making it bac to Garreg Mach in record time! Where in Three Hopes, Base Camp made more SENSE for the Missions in the surrouding Area! If we're going to move on a WORLD MAP board like this is Super Mario World! Then it makes sense to use the Base Camp! Give an HQ sure, but use a BASE CAMP so we don't have to have STORY interruptions! The Month Calander was hit and miss with the story (Largely points like say when FLAYN got kidnapped as that takes an ENTIRE MONTH to look for her within the DAMN MONASTRY MIND YOU! At least the final level assures you cannot return in the middle of it) and Engage made this SO MUCH worse! Same with Three Houses, it picks the WORSE moments to let you ACCESS HQ! Like okay the two TWO PARTER chapters made sense not to let you return, but then you got moments like Chapter 8 (You know, King Morion being KIDNAPPED so you're on a TIGHT Schedule! I can forgive Delaying in Chapter 7 to 8 as you can say there was PREPERATION time on both ends and the Army makes it RIGHT as final preparations are made! Then you got Chapter 12-13 where you're dilly daddling when Timerra and Fogado's Mom is being held hostage by Hortensia! Telling me Hortensia had her for what DAYS while I was out doing shit! Frankly if the Narrative has a URGENCY moment, it's better NOT to make a CASTLE IN THE SKY OR ORB WORLD that makes one wonder "why not leave the MACGUFFINS in the Castle? The Bad Guys can't get to it, so why have them on hand to get them SNATCHED as Engage CH10-11 showed
Corrin and Alear well more their narritives bring TOO MUCH Fantasy into things that the MY Castle and Sominel can DAMAGE the story when you factor them in! Shez and Byleth are a GOOD example of not being TOO FANTASY despite being Host's to a Goddess Dragon (And a Human that became the closest THING to a God-like ENTITY to said GODDESS Dragon) yet their still treated as "REAL" Byleth has some notoriety as a Mercenary but pales compared to their Dad when you think on it. Shez doesn't even HAVE THAT and only starts getting Notoriety largely because of their association with one of the Three Lords! Also the difference between the two is Byleth is learning to be HUMAN due to being INHUMAN for 20 years of their life (only following their father Jeralt lead and even then) now that Sothis awakened and they are hit with ALOT of emotions and feelings their not use to (next to JOY in bonding with their chosen HOUSE and House Lord, things look like their IMPROVING with their bond with their father beyond Superior and Subordinate and then he dies and Byleth is hit with negative emotions their not use to, sadness and RAGE); Shez was already someone with bonds and instead is going through a case of building their own legend, hell by the time skip after the School is shut down, they've started up their own Mercenary Company like Jeralt did when he left the Knights and building up their own Notoriety by the time their re-recruited by the Chosen Lord! Their endings are also nice as being the new Pope/Archbishop against HALF their will (thanks Rhea) has different results on who they get with (I loved Marianne where not only does she and her father FINALLY get around their bad communication factor and she realizes he DOES care for her! The man mentors Byleth AND Marianne into TRULY understanding Politics and how it works so they can better run the Church and the Political field of the NOW United Fodlan as Archbishop and the Wife of the Archbishop! As Byleth would be VERY terrible in the Politics factor as it seems Jeralt did most of the negotiations and talking and Byleth followed his lead! Something they share with Ike as the man has no time or love of Politics, so it's one thing Byleth has over Ike outside the Battle Life LOL) and Shez doesn't GET an Ending of their story per say, but I can see them settling down into more of a NON-Combat career, or have one set up for when they are unable to be in combat anymore as Mercenary is a means to make ends meet, there was ALWAYS going to be an END!)
I'm nicer to Alear then Corrin! But frankly I don't want anymore MANAKATE Lords in the series anymore! Keep the Manakate to the "Mysterious Waifu" characters like Rhea, Lilith and Veyle and make it more GROUNDED! Hell I think it's time to bring back the NON-LORD Lords back! It's been a good while since Ike that I can see this being a good thing! Three Hopes Shez doesn't count since Three Hopes isn't a Main Line FIRE EMBLEM! Just a What If Spin Off of one entry! And no MYSTICAL Powers! Similar to Ike, the Legendary Falchion like weapon is something they EARN the right to wield (as in it's a Legendary that GROWS STRONG because the "Commoner" Lord grew strong themselves then because "Blood ties" I mean Liberation was more a normal mystical sword given to Alear by their adopted mother and Leif's Legendaries were less MAGICAL sword well not GOD Magically induced!)