Fodlan

Depressed? I suppose I never saw Dorothea as "depressed" when compared with some of the other characters. I essentially understand your desire to hear more about her conflicting opinions on the war, but I personally can't expect too much more than they provided, considering that aspect of her character only emerges after the war begins and most of her A supports should be focused on concluding the arcs of their respected support series. Many of her A supports touch upon this change in mentality and how it impacts her perspective on other characters and issues, which is great, but I'm not expecting an in-depth discussion of her mentality on that when there are so many other interesting dynamics to deal with. I think her post-timeskip monastery dialogue does a solid job of addressing this on its own, supplemented by the bits in-support.

The matter isn't that Edelgard doesn't want to abolish the nobility, but that taking and maintaining control of a feudal state like the Adrestian Empire naturally necessitates the loyalty of enough of the upper classes. She certainly doesn't execute as dramatic a "purge" as she might ideally like, but without the proven loyalty of the general population, many of which still associate with their lords as was customary in feudal society, how could she get anything done. It is a matter of political necessity that she retains Bergliez's and Hevring's loyalty, and if Ferdinand can successfully make personal inroads with her as a close and loyal advisor, perhaps he could ensure that the nobility retains some of its past honor, if only in a titular or vestigial form? Regardless if Edelgard intends to abolish the nobility in its entirety or not, the other reasons I mentioned still apply, let alone the fact that Ferdinand does not necessarily need a government sanction to continue to represent House Aegir, his ancestry and prestige alone can grant him and his descendants his noble pride.

Look, the gameplay is great. Crimson Flower has awesome battles. I'd have to play all of the others first to decide if they're better, but they are great. However, I expect gameplay to be great. I'm not playing a game that is a bore.

What makes a route great, is how satisfying it is as a final piece. I've discussed this with Aegir before. I know some people first approached this game as a chance to get into the strategy. I like grand strategy games, and am a big fan of turn-based games like Fire Emblem. But I have never once played an RPG primarily for that. It's the story I care about.

We could talk about the lost opportunities for expansion on certain groups in Crimson Flower, perhaps something with Brigid.

But really, the more glaring issue is just the length itself. They should not have drawn it out, and take the same story already there, but take longer. That's pointless. But there was not enough. I'm not only not bored yet with the Black Eagles (As in, I still want to hang out with them more), I'm not satisified.

Games lead you through an emotional arc. You start off just curious, become emotionally invested, get led on a roller coaster, where they, the developers, want you to keep wanting more. They keep you hungry. Then, it's supposed to end in a climax, a grand finish. The dessert.

The dessert in Crimson Flower was sweet. But the main course wasn't filling.

What I mean is, besides all the unaddressed problems, I felt like I was dropped off a plot cliff.

They brought me on a high, to the point I was rooting for these folks, totally embracing the culture and sentiments of the Empire. I was a proud Adrestian citizen.

Then it just ends.

A post-time skip should not be shorter than the preparatory period.

That's the issue.

The post-time skip, crimson flower proper, was significantly shorter than the Monastery period.

The Monastery plotline was certainly interesting, but that phase in Fire Emblem games is what is suppose to lead up to, prepare you for the war phase.

In older games before this, in between time-skips, you got married and had kids.

I'm not against the fact they removed that aspect in this game, for several glaring reasons. (Such as Byleth's relationship with the characters...) and it gave more time for relationships to deepen. Byleth and Edelgard's would have been worse-off.

But the point is, the post-time skip should be the focus. It's where everything gets intense, people are forming strong alliances, even relationships.

I mean, what happened in the Monastery phase, I would not want them to get rid of. You could excuse it as they wanted to really tell that story. But then the post-time skip phase was just cleanup...

Except it totally wasn't, it was supposed to the climax of everything. Also, considering Crimson Flower was much shorter, then they obviously didn't see the others that way.

A reign period, after what did happen in Crimson Flower would make a ton of sense, considering Edelgard's other goals. Maybe it would focus on Enbarr.

I felt the game set-me up. I seriously felt like I was maybe, maybe halfway through the game by Derdriu.

The whole game

That's how I felt in terms of sentiment, my emotional state, and the pacing. The Monastery phase was loooong. I could not believe they'd cut this short.

It's like if a book has all of the set-up, gets you really attached to the characters...then...

They just win, and it's over.

10 chapters for Leicester, 10 for Faerghus, 9 for the Church...6 for Adrestia.

As a writer, I get that when a story is done, it's done. It's dumb to drag it out. Maybe I liked it so much partly because it wasn't dragged out. I don't see how it was complete at all.

I definitely loved it, and thought it was awesome. I was just disappointed that I didn't reach closure. I felt the final support scene was too short, and so was the whole route.

SS was not an advertised side. When I bought the game, I thought I was choosing Adrestia, Leicester, or Faerghus. It's great that it exists, I love that. But Edelgard is on the game's cover box. Her route should be as long as the others.

Forget the Slitherer's. There could have been something with the grumbling Lord's of the Empire, another insurrection situation. Internal conflict. There could have been something in Adrestia, following the family of say, Bernadetta, that ends up expanding on all of the characters.

Lord knows Hubert could use it. Some internal problem with Hevring that offers us something with Hubert, and again, expands on the others (Longer than a paralogue. A full main mission) would mean so much.

I mean, I'm sure you could argue this for any character, any route. There is always room for more. I just feel they left a lot of meat on the table for Adrestia.

We are told Arundel is terrible, the guy who hurt our poor El. Every other parent in Adrestia besides Ionius seems terrible. We're made to hate them as much as anyone else, maybe more, because it's personal...

Yet we don't get to confront them? I really have never bought into the idea that dev's should leave something like that up to the imagination.

Let me leave it up to the imagination who they all end up with, or if they remain friends.

There is literally no one who does not want to beat the heck out of that woman's Uncle or Bernadetta's Dad, and there is no one who would dislike learning more about these folk's trauma, past, or Adrestia's nobility El hates so much (It would be a way to show how right she is, or let you decide if she is. Maybe some of the Nobles don't seem so bad). I mean, maybe they were afraid to do that? I could see how they could screw it up with Edelgard, they don't want her to be just the official trauma girl of the game. Some of them dealt with legitimately abusive parents/relatives.

But I'd love to touch on that, and more importantly, I wanted them to delve deep. Considering Adrestia justify's its motives on the basis of justice, and all of the Adrestian players were somehow wronged by the nobility, crest system, or the Church, slamming home how they have hurt the country would mean a lot. Not just the characters, but Adrestia. Showing the country's disrepair, the suffering the people, specifically because of the deranged, totally pragmatic actions of the nobility and church without regard for the people. I mean, consider how easily they throw people away, without concern. How is that not incorporated into a dedicated mission? Really breaking through the decadence and greed of the establishment.

Really, considering how some parts of the community think Edelgard is the devil or something, offering a chance for her 1. To be sympathized with and 2. Justify herself more (As in, by I don't know, maybe the route has more exclusive intelligence about Rhea and the Church, something to really make you question their motives more.) would be good. Of course, the dev's want to balance the routes. So making Rhea be pure evil, would not be great. But I don't know, a negative painting of Rhea's handling of Sitri, and Byleth's birth would make sense. Maybe they dig up whats-it-hooser from the Abyss, and see some of his justification. I don't think he was just nuts, Jeralt literally burnt down a library for his kid. They can't end that with Rhea telling Byleth 'oh yes, she wanted you to live, I gave her your heart.'

Have them somehow dig into some less savory motives or past actions of the Church. Maybe the 'real scoop' on the western church. I don't man, all countries have propoganda. Show me it all.

No, the worst thing about her is that she keeps taking Edelgard's time up. I wanted to have tea time with my house leader, and I can't. Ugh. Is it weird to be jealous of a videogame character stealing time from your favorite?

Hubert even mentions how much she is focused on Edelgard. I felt myself getting protective.

Also...

She broke me with this line (Edelgard): "But maybe it's better to have someone to rely on... so that you can support and guide each other through the darkness." after the battle of eagle and lion.

This might be the fact I learned public speaking from MLK (As In I'm inspire by his speaking style) but I love how she talks in terms of light and darkness. I'm just screaming at the screen, saying: "Yes girl! Speak the truth! We need to stand together against the darkness."

'Darkness cannot banish darkness. Only the light can do that.' - MLK.

Edelgard speaks like a prophet, a preacher, or a civil rights icon. My type of leader.