Yang

Hello friends of KH13! Long time no see. I wanted to take time to talk about my favorite game on the 3DS, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. This is a game that's been out since April of 2017, but I wanted to take time to acknowledge it because it's quite a beautiful piece of media. There will be minor spoilers for those that don't know anything about the game.

What's Fire Emblem?

I have always been a big fan of the fire emblem series, more specifically Awakening and Fire Emblem GBA. For those unfamiliar with the series, you have an army of characters at your disposal that you can move across a map and defeat enemies. Just like in chess, each character has its strengths and weaknesses depending on what class they are. So, for example, a pegasus knight can move a very far distance and over most obstacles, but they have poor defenses and are weak to bows. So not only is it important to defeat enemies, but it's also important that your allies are in a location where they are safe from other enemies after the turn has ended. It's very important, especially in the older games, to be cautious about your placement, because your characters will die and you will have to restart the map if you want them back.

However, as many people will tell you, Fire Emblem is much more than that. I originally played Awakening and absolutely loved it. I enjoyed the idea of having so many characters that were your friends, but also fought by your side as allies. Plus, there are so many characters to choose from, and, even if they aren't the strongest of characters, you can pour enough EXP into them and help them become strong. It's almost the characters I find myself liking the most throughout my replays, because you can get very attached to them and you feel legitimate sadness if you slip up and they die. As someone who started playing on casual (filthy, I know) I find myself so much more invested in the game when the threat of permadeath looms over me. It's an excellent mechanic that makes the game more engaging. 

Why Echoes?

Now, on the topic of Fire Emblem Echoes. I had already played Awakening and Fates by this point, and I was ready for a new Fire Emblem game. Knowing it was a remake of Gaiden, which came out in 1992, I was a little hesitant. I heard the story was subpar and dated as were the mechanics. There wasn't even a weapon triangle, which is a well established staple of the series by this point. But, starting up the game, listening to the music, seeing the amazing artwork of Hidari Akio Shimada, I was instantly hooked. This game was such a unique experience for me that I can't quite put my finger on everything that it does right. However, I can try to cover as much as I can in this post.

Story

You start off meeting these two orphans, All and Celica, who are branded with a special birthmark on their hands. They are raised by Sir Mycen, an ex-general who, though comes off as cold, is a very powerful and kindhearted man. Alm is a confident boy who has a little crush on Celica and spends time with her more than anyone else in their small village. Celica is a shy girl with a rather dark past that you come to understand later in the story. Eventually, the two are separated, though Alm promises Celica that he will look for her. A time skip occurs, and you find yourself leading two separate parties, Celica's escorts who help her on her pilgrimage to find the goddess Mila, and the The Deliverance, an army that Alm joins in order to escape the village he's known his whole life. Throughout the story you get to see these characters grow as leaders, and even make some pretty irrational decisions (they are teenagers, after all).

Yet I think that the most important and impactful part of the story is the battle between gods and man. In the kingdom of Valentia there are two gods, Mila and Duma, who govern each half of the continent. Eventually this leads to Duma becoming corrupted with power, and Mila being unable to stop him. You realize that these almighty gods are just like humans, they are imperfect. It is Alm and Celica who are destined to bring the age of gods to an end and allow for humans to live under their own terms. I found this story to be extremely compelling, as you notice how Alm and Celica embody the ideals that the gods had before becoming corrupt. The rest of the story, I can agree, is nothing revolutionary, but it's satisfying nonetheless.

Soundtrack

I find myself constantly going back to the soundtrack for this game. It's so beautiful and hits all the right notes for me. What Lies At the End, Twilight of the Gods, and March to Deliverance are some of the most intense video game themes I've ever listened to (and that's saying something considering KH2 is my favorite game lol). They are not only beautiful, but they set the stage perfectly for the events that are happening when they play. For the sake of spoilers, I'm avoiding the context for most of the songs listed, but March to Deliverance sets the perfect mood for Alm's time in the army making his way through the ranks. It's very uplifting and heroic, using violin, percussion, and piano to drive the song through. 

Voice Acting

Did I mention that nearly EVERY line in the game is voiced? The voice actors for this game are amazing. Ian Sinclair does a FANTASTIC job as Berkut, one of the main antagonists. His range of raw emotion is incredible. I can't say that anyone really has a bad voice either, as it all flows smoothly throughout the game. Just the fact that they managed to record that many voice lines for a game like this is incredible. On top of that, there are memory prisms you pick up throughout the game to help you understand the lore, and they're all voiced. It's incredible how much effort was put into the voice acting alone.

Gameplay

And finally... gameplay. Oh, do I love the gameplay. It's not like any other Fire Emblem game you'll play. It's traditional because it lacks the support systems added in Awakening and Fates, however there are optional support conversations if you want to get to know the characters better throughout each chapter. Each character, depending on what class they have, has a default weapon that they don't have to equip. You can choose to make your characters more offensive or defensive by giving them a sword or shield that boosts their attack or defense respectively. You can also give them food items that allow for them to heal themselves in battle if your cleric can't do so. Also, they FINALLY BUFFED ARCHERS. Granted they're a bit broken in this game but I'm happy it's them and not pegasus knights.

What really sets this game apart from the rest of the series is dungeon crawling. This sounds like a really strange fit for fire emblem, which is focused mostly on long, strategic battles over short encounter battles. But it actually works. Playing the game on hard, the enemies were not completely overwhelming to fight and most of them could be avoided. They are almost always clumped together so you can fight all of the enemies in one room if you alert them all, which makes battles much faster but more challenging. The game rewards you for being patient and strategic, but you're not forced to play that way like the other games. You're sometimes forced to make quick decisions so you can make it through a dungeon and re-class your characters.

Tl;dr: This game is really fun. It's got an interesting premise and story that's worth getting invested in. It has very lovable characters that feel real because of the environment and incredible voice acting. The art and music are so fitting to the universe and it's left a big impact on me. And the gameplay is fun and engaging and makes you want to keep playing. So, I recommend the game to any who hasn't gotten a chance to play it and has a 3DS, and hope to hear from the people that have played it about their own experience with it.

The thing that fascinates me about Hazel is that it seems Salem actually sent him to peacefully negotiate with Sienna. Up until now I assumed his “negotiation” would consist of punching Sienna's ticket machines until she submitted. Salem actually thought Hazel would be able to convince Sienna to join with them, despite Sienna wanting to kill Hazel just for coming into her throne room. If Hazel’s argument is that persuasive I would love to hear it.

This makes me wonder what the point of including Hazel in this scene was? I understand this scene was exposition to show how "evil" Adam is, but what is the point of Hazel being there? He attempted to mediate, but he didn't accomplish anything. I swear they just threw him in for comic relief. 

Also, RIP Sienna. She was a really well designed character, and I liked her personality dynamic. But she was literally killed on her debut... to further Adam's character...  -_- 

Wow this thread is dead...

Also here's Yang's short while I suffer through the fact that I can't get access the first episode. 

http://roosterteeth.com/episode/rwby-volume-5-yang-38-gojh4

I'm back from the grave for the RWBY hype!

What are you guys looking forward to most in the upcoming trailer? Kinda hoping it's slightly different from the one shown at RTX.

No robot arm for Yang?

Listen, Ironwood's factory is slow as balls, and they can't find the paint to match my bike. 

Hey, nice drawings! I like the gen 4 Ash with Infernape. Cool stuff!

Bumblebee is canon. 

Hmm... Don't know how I completely feel about this volume. I'm gonna go Firaga on this and give it a harsh critique. 

(I'm not gonna bother giving this a spoiler, if you haven't seen the finale then don't read this yet.)

For the volume as a whole, I'll say what mostly everyone else is saying: The dark tone was way too rushed, without enough buildup. I understand the writers were trying to give it shock value, but it just turned out a little more bland than it could've been. The beginning of the volume is too repetitive and there doesn't seem to be too much going on besides "Oh another fight!"

It seemed like this volume was all over the place. It tried to be the tide-turner volume but it just ended up being a weird mix of backstory, unnecessary fight sequences, and a decent ending. Next to the character deaths, the ending was the only thing that left an impact on me. Not the entire finale, but the setup for the ending. 

As for the finale, it was... meh. I wasn't surprised to see a main villain, but surprised to see her this early. I guess that was the writers trying to add relevance to this volume last second. Either way, Salem has a cool design that gives of a Tokyo Ghoul / Naruto type feel.

Pyrrha's death was no surprise because of the buildup. I'm gonna disagree with what some of you guys said and flat out say I think she's dead and gone. I believe that Pyrrha wasn't even the one destined to be the Fall Maiden in the first place, and it was a mistake by Oz and Co. Hence Cinder's "It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours." I think bringing Pyrrha back at any point would be beating a dead horse. 

What I did like, however, was the ending with Ruby, Jaune, Nora, and Ren. I didn't expect these guys to be the four to survive, and I'm not sure how I feel about that team. But the idea of them traveling to Haven (I believe it's Haven, correct me if I'm wrong) because that leaves a lot of open doors for character development, changes in scenery, etc. No offense, but I'm glad that they've moved away from Beacon, because I want to see more of the different kingdoms and (maybe) develop a stronger lore to back up the plot. 

So, in general, the volume wasn't the best, but I like where it's going, so hopefully the next one has a little bit more character. 

Me after every episode preview: I am going to die when I watch this. 

The Grimm spike was caused by the fear from the audience. That was the intention, to bring the Grimm into civilized areas. 

Also... 

From the games I've played, XII's of course. Leaving the victory fanfare for the boss themes made it feel all the more rewarding.

From a game I haven't played, (but want to) VIII. It's so catchy. 

All of that is superfluous when you actually sit down and analyze her character.

 

Her "backstory" is barely even relevant considering her character has not engaged in anything beyond getting mad and punching crap since episode 1, sans the pointless escapades involving her visit to Junior's nightclub. Remember when she was looking for her mom? Neither do I.

 

M&K, and Monty himself even, said in an interview near the beginning of the show that they wanted her to start off as a air-headed party girl and then develop her into something deeper. They wanted to do this type of thing with all the characters actually. But Yang has stayed stagnant since day one because they screwed up and made her the overbearing sister she occasionally is now to Ruby without establishing the "party girl" thing at all.

 

And no, acting like an idiot and making stupid ass jokes is not being a party girl. She says she wants to be a free spirit and yet she has shown no signs of actually exhibiting those traits. They failed in characterizing her correctly.

 

Which brings me back to the "persona" argument. Yang is not a character. She is Barbara Dunkleman turned into a cartoon character and her only motivation is to be Barbara and occasionally fight once in a while. The writers treat Yang like her VA and therefore do not give her the proper treatment that a character should and have made her just as bad as her stupid puns.

Alright, whatever you say.

Going by that logic, though, I'm honestly surprised you're still watching RWBY in general. Because what you described is all the things I find great about RWBY. Sure, they didn't get the whole "party girl" thing through. But I still love what they created instead. The jokes aren't stupid, they're light hearted and create a happy atmosphere. And I do like the references to Yang's VA, as well as with the other characters. That's what Rooster Teeth's comedy is built upon. And I understand you're not into that.

But the question is, why are you still watching?

Really, she doesn't have so much a character as she does a persona, i.e. Barbara Dunkelman, who plays her, and who the writers focus on when they write her lines and overall motivation. And due to that, her character has both been all over the place and nonexistent at the same time.

... I have to disagree.

Yang shares a lot of certain characteristics that Barbara has, such as the optimistic attitude, puns, etc., but they are not one in the same. Yang herself has a great backstory and she also has a very diverse personality. She can get really angry when she's battling, but it's all for the protection of her friends and her sister. Add in the fact that she wants to know about her past and what happened to her mother. And she keeps this all secret to protect Ruby. It really makes her personality and overall character deep and interesting.

Her character is "all over the place" because she has to be to protect her sister.

Hmm... Idk. The fact that it's the female characters getting a lot of spotlight doesn't mean it's all due to feminism. The strong female characters give the show a really fun touch. But there's a lot of characters that are male that deserve more attention in the show, like Ozpin, Torchwick, Ren, Sun, and Neptune.

But all in all, as a woman, it is a relief to see really unique and diverse female characters at the front of the plot. That's what makes RWBY special. It's much nicer to see Yang as a deep, powerful character instead of just the one with the big tits.

Nope.

 

People other than me are actually calling things into question instead of giving nothing but praise.

It was an inevitability, but yes, thank you for your guiding light.

I'm glad to see my influence is spreading.

It's less of your influence spreading, and more that we know what to expect from you. Lol.

Alright, so I have a few thoughts on this episode:

*pretends I wasn't gone for weeks*

Man, that episode was cool overall. I like Flynt and Neon as characters, but I just think we have too many characters now. It's making me all confused. The neon vs. yang fight reminded me of the neo vs. yang fight... except neon's movements were much more bulky and unfitting for her character. The animation was meh at some points, I think what they need to work on the most in the combat sequences is the consistency and smoothness- the movements were too rough and cartoony, they don't provide as much of a badass feel.

I know that was Monty's thing, but I hope they figure something out! Neo's movements won't look right when she fights onscreen again!

My body is ready for this volume.

I got a sneak peak of the footage shown at the panel, and I can't help but picturing ABRN as characters in Jet Set Radio. I will say that you can tell Monty's no longer animating the fight scenes, because they aren't nearly as smooth and quick. But the animation is much more detailed as far as backgrounds, small details on clothing, and lots facial expression improvement. 

The fight scenes won't be as strong, but I know that the plot will receive a lot more attention because of that. So I'm pumped as hell. 

Yang?Have you gone bananas? Junior Detectives are always loyal to the name!

Of course, but I'm the last of Team RWBY.

... Am I the last living original Team RWBY member? 

This is disappointing...

The most iconic audio ever recorded in this century. 

Prozdvoices is awesome.