Aura V. @auravulpes@computerfairi.es

Also, I looked up Conquest's plot. Apparently in Conquest, it's actually a fake King Garon, and that's how that stuff works, I guess? I dunno. I'd play Conquest, but I'm still exhausted from Birthright. And then, like, Revelation, it turns out that a dragon wants to kill humanity and is using a fake King Garon to do that. 's weird. Probably interesting, but still, weird.

Honestly, I like difficulty settings like that game has. Like, definitely have the hard modes for people who like those, but also have easier modes for folx like me who suck at video games. I always appreciate it when a game does that, even if it's hard to figure out how to do it (like with VVVVVV and its invincibility mode and slowdown settings; how do you do difficulty settings for that game otherwise?).

I really do appreciate the game's difficulty options. I could not have beaten it if it weren't for phoenix mode, where your units revive on your next turn when killed. I know some people will bitch at me about playing with that on, but fuck 'em. I'm not good enough at turn-based strategy games to even play on casual mode, much less classic. (Though, I probably was more reckless than I might have otherwise been in other modes, so, you know...)

But, yeah, Birthright was good. I really enjoyed it. It had a good story, etc., etc. The ending kept making me cry. First, when Lilith died. Not immediately, but when I went back to give an offering, that's when it hit me, even as I tried to joke through it. Then, with Elise's death. Then, when Corrin kinda but not quite dies and people show up to help you not die, when Kana showed up, I nearly lost it. And then again when Azura died. Those all hurt.

So, I finally finished Birthright and, um, let me just say I am *never* playing another Fire Emblem game again. It's not that they're not good. I really liked Birthright. It's not that I can't beat them. (Well, maybe the older ones, but the newer ones have *very* nice difficulty settings for those of us who suck at strategy games.) But, like, that was a *lot* of mental and emotional effort. I'm honestly kinda exhausted from playing it. I can't do another. Not yet, anyways.

(I can't believe I spelled my in-game husband's name wrong *grumble* *grumble*)

Anyways, enough rambling about all this.

(Oh, and, in case you're curious, yes, I have gotten to S-rank support with someone, and that someone was Kadan. ... Listen, I have a thing for kitsune. Don't judge me.)

Oh! Also, with Camilla's armor and the weird pelvic area, you could also maybe slip a sword in there and slice a leg off. So, that's another way that just seems stupid.

It just amuses me to no end how awful that armor is, all in the name of fanservice. (Ofc, don't get me wrong, a lot of the armor is pretty shit, but that's especially egregious.) Of course, then I noticed that apparently fem Corrin's Hoshido Noble armor has the same ass thing going on. So, yeah.

That's also a good place to rant about the armor. I was having a good laugh yesterday about Camilla's armor. Like, you've got the tit windows, which, you know, easy stab point. You've got the weird shit going on with the pubic area, and the way you could shove a sword or something up her ass. And then there's the gap between top and bottom, which I can only imagine is there to make it easier to commit Seppuku.

Speaking of weird, the fanservice when you encounter her in chapter...14, I think it was? First time since making your choice. Like, it's just weird to focus on her tits and ass while she's making cooing remarks about, well, *you*, her little sibling. Like, it would be egregious if it was some random character (say, Oboro), but someone who's supposed to be your older sister? That's just weird.

Like, it weirded me out enough when she remarked about making it home in time for Corrin's nap. That was...um...weird. Then she talks later about wanting to sing Corrin to sleep. Or how she's going to stab Corrin then hold her in her arms like when Corrin was a baby. It's just weird. It's like she just sees Corrin as a real-life version of Babysitting Mama...or, as Leo put it, a dress-up doll! It's just weird.

Topic change: Camilla. Am I the only one who finds her incredibly creepy? I mean, I think Leo said it best when he mentioned how she treats Corrin like a dress-up doll. Maybe this is just for fem Corrin? I dunno, but, like, it just weirds me out how she talks about Corrin.

Part of me wants to play through Conquest when I get through with Birthright, just to see how the fuck that happens, but that kinda seems like doing a genocide run of Undertale after you've finished a pacifist run: completionism for the sake of completionism with no real reason to do it otherwise, and I'm really not about that life. I'll probably just go look up the plot on Wikipedia.

(Don't spoil it for me yet!)

On the topic of choosing sides, why would the player's character (Corrin, I suppose) want to choose Nohr? Like, sure, family, blah, blah, blah. But, like, Garon literally tried to kill them. Why would they want to go back there?

Also, like, Corrin seems to want peace. Garon seems to want to conquer everything. How on earth is Conquest supposed to play out? Birthright just seems like the more natural story.

I haven't checked, but, like, do they provide those first few chapters as a free demo? If they do, I guess it's not that bad. Play the start, go get the one for the path you want. But otherwise, sheesh. That's ridiculous.

If I hadn't pirated the game and instead actually paid the $20 for it, I'd have been a lot more pissed than I was, and mind you, I was pretty fuckin' pissed. Like, if you're avoiding any and all spoiler info about the game, you really don't know what you'll choose until that moment...when you've already spent the money.

For a start, the way it's split up is stupid. If you're unfamiliar with Fates, it's basically, like, 2 or 3 games. But it's hard, at least without spoilers, to know which of those you want beforehand. Like, I downloaded Conquest. At the climactic choose-your-side moment, though, I wanted to side with Hoshido. Whoops, says the game, you downloaded the wrong game then! Better go buy Birthright!

So, I've been playin' through Fates (Birthright, specifically). It's pretty alright. I've never played a Fire Emblem game before, but I'm likin' it more than I thought I would. What follows are some disordered ramblings about the game. Some spoilers, some not really spoilers.