In this chat, we’re talking about the first 10 chapters of Fire Emblem: Awakening. There will be spoilers, so be wary!
Summer: HELLO
Jillian: HELLO
i’m so excited for this
our very first video game club
Summer: I KNOWWWWW
WELCOME TO FIRE EMBLEM: AWAKENING PT 1
Jillian: this is so cute
ok yes! so here’s what’s happening: summer and i both started playing fire emblem: awakening at the same time. every 10 chapters in the game or so, we’re going to meet to talk about it. like a book club! but for video games!
and also we’re going to publish those chats here because why not
i think that pretty much covers it
Summer: we know everyone is itching to hear us discuss fire emblem yet again
Jillian: oh of course
so for our very first chat we both played up to chapter 10
Summer: it went by way faster than i thought
Jillian: i literally just finished two minutes ago because i even procrastinate video games
the first few chapters went by VERY fast but the last 3 or so felt slower to me. maybe because the battles started getting harder, maybe because i started spending more time preparing for battles by making sure everyone had good weapons and stuff?
i also spent a lot of time today just doing paralogue battles, so that takes up some more time too
Summer: okay i LOVE that you can just hit L and it’ll redistribute everyone’s weapons before a battle
Jillian: i haven’t done that yet! should i
Summer: omg yessss
it’s great
it means especially an inactive unit isn’t hogging weapons
and it’ll auto-give everyone a healing item
Jillian: ok i’ll try that for next time because honestly it’s kind of annoying having to check everyone’s inventory before a battle
that sounds amazing
why…..didn’t…..fe3h have that
Summer: that’s something i wish carried over to three houses!!!
Jillian: there must have been a reason why they didn’t include it but like. why. it’s great!
Summer: i guess it’s worth it to say we’ve both only played three houses so a lot of this convo will be like “This is different than fe3h”
Jillian: YES! true
this is only the second fire emblem game either of us has played
Summer: the fact that the monastery was so revolutionary for fire emblem….b/c it’s’ a Home Base….
kind of amazing…i think i feel it a lot with the supports lol
i bet that’s why the fandom for fe3h exploded….
Jillian: yeah omg it’s really cool actually to play an older fire emblem game and realize how much stuff was added to fe3h
Summer: like there’s no way i’ll get all of these supports
Jillian: having the monastery and being able to eat meals with all the characters does really help farm supports
i think i’ll have to do a lot of auxiliary battles in between chapters if i want to try to get a lot of supports in this game
because outside of battles and whatever is going on in “the barracks” there’s no other way
Summer: the BARRACKS IS SO FUNNY
everyone has these low impact random convos
i love it
frankly the supports are kind of ridiculous overall…chrom/frobin’s support chain is driving me insane
Jillian: i’m literally still decompressing from watching chrom and robin’s S support just now
Summer: GOD I CANNOT WAIT
Jillian: i actually screamed
Summer: i love them
Jillian: you will scream
all of their supports are very romcom-y
Summer: i don’t think i’ll ever play a fire emblem game and not fall deeply in love w/ the lord character
Jillian: RIGHT WHY WOULD YOU
i mean, i’m still excited to see robin’s S supports with other characters but i’m already so invested in her relationship with chrom oops
Summer: NO SAME
Jillian: the thing about fire emblem games is that you caaaaaaan romance other characters and still enjoy it of course but so much of the plot revolves around your character and whoever the lord is, so,
by default it’s going to feel like a more complete, satisfying relationship
Summer: i wish you could be gay though
Jillian: yeah ome
Summer: like i don’t think there’s a single same gender ending for any characters?!
Jillian: fire emblem awakening does not have any gay options at all, afaik
i’m pretty sure there are a few women characters who don’t even have supports with other women at all lol
Summer: jesus christ
allegedly there’s some sort of marriage/child mechanic but i still think that’s a shitty cop-out
like obv i am enjoying the game but damn imagine playing as mrobin and not being able to marry chrom!
Jillian: that would be such a bummer!
let chrom be bisexual
Summer: LET CHROM BE BISEXUAL
Jillian: for all that i’ve complained about the restrictions of fe3h’s endings at least they gave us a few gay options
Summer: yeah, and i do think whatever iteration comes after 3h will have even more gay options
Jillian: i hope the next game is just full gay
Summer: oh my god imagine
Jillian: it won’t be but imagine
wait ok so we should actually talk about the plot so far
Summer: YES LOL
Jillian: i feel like it’s really starting to kick off now
Summer: so chapter 9 ends with emmeryn killing herself
Jillian: right lol
Summer: i literally lost it
Jillian: emmeryn is like, the “exalt” or basically the queen and is also chrom’s sister so the whole thing is very weird and traumatic
it was honestly so funny because she made a little speech before she did it and the whole thing was supposed to like, have a point i guess. like she was doing it to stop a war or something? but……..it had no impact except making everyone upset
like……girl you didn’t help at all
she was like bye this isn’t my problem anymore best of luck to you
Summer: NO LITERALLY LIKE
so upsetting jesus christ
ok i LOVE chrom i know we’ve established this
but he is so expressive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jillian: he is! lol
he has a lot of feelings
Summer: like he actually has really surprising emotions and is kind of silly
i love him
btw in this game there’s an actual Fire Emblem that people want
which is kind of funny after playing 3h…where byleth is the fire emblem
Jillian: yeah i feel a little silly but i never knew why the franchise was called fire emblem
and in this game it’s like, an actual object
which makes sense
Summer: i know robin has some sort of Mysterious Past but tbh i feel like the way byleth was positioned made them more…obviously important than robin has been so far
Jillian: yeah so far we don’t really know anything about robin
i’m sure that will be fun and important later but for now she’s just a tactician who showed up and is hanging around i guess
Summer: it’s so funny that a basic trait of blank slate protagonist characters is they just…don’t…REMEMBER???? THINGS?
Jillian: absolute classic
Summer: theyre like “ah yes….who am i…where am i….teach the player character about the world through my forgetting”
Jillian: fire emblem has a lot of reused tropes which i love
like, it’s very comforting to me that although this is a different story and has some different game mechanics and is on a different device and stuff…….it’s still just a fire emblem game. i know what to expect from it. i know what it’s going to give me.
Summer: it’s great
i love the villainous monk librarian type
Jillian: the villainous monk librarian trope is so funny it’s always like, who’s that suspicious old guy? and someone will be like oh him? he’s been around forever, we trust him.
Summer: DSGDJTIKODFSLkgj
Jillian: boom: two seconds later he betrays you and dies
Summer: SO FUCKING FUNNY!
and i love every second of it…
i think the paired battle is actually SUCH a fun mechanic
Jillian: OH wait yeah let’s talk about the paired battle stuff
i like it a lot especially early game when some of my units aren’t as strong on their own
Summer: ok yes. like in fe3h i would put sylvix next to each other all of the time do not separate and like do little fanfiction battles in my head but i love that you actually see character ssupporting each other
Jillian: i like that awakening has both of those
like you can fight paired but you can also just fight side by side which is different somehow
and either way it improves your relationship
Summer: exactly, it’s really cool strategically
Jillian: the paired fighting feels like the adjutants in fe3h
so i think it’s interesting how in awakening it’s something you set up during the battle and can change mid-battle, instead of the way it is in fe3h where you’re basically just adding extra units as adjutants at the beginning and can’t change it during the battle
Summer: i also realized that in bad terrain you can just pair someone with a pegasus rider or mage and move them together then separate to fight if needed
Jillian: wait that’s so smart i didn’t know you could do that
wish i had known that before struggling through all these sand maps
Summer: lkxjffdsklfj it was great i was like these little sword guys will never get anywhere unless i get them to sumia for a sec
Jillian: oh ok so who are your favorite units so far
Summer: OKAY i love sumia and cordelia
Jillian: i like cordelia and i want to like sumia but she’s so weak for me…..both of them die really easily but cordelia at least does more damage
so sumia is mostly benched for now but i’ll try to build her up in auxiliary battles
Summer: and lon’qu
Jillian: LON’QU. GOD.
he’s so good
Summer: he’s great he’s just a pre felix
Jillian: HE IS JUST FELIX
except he’s actually cool whereas felix is just a feral cat trying to be cool
lon’qu and frederick are my best units
Summer: my ricken is also crazy strong i dont know how that happened ;ladskjgrlkefsdj
Jillian: RICKEN?????
Summer: the little boy himself!!!
Jillian: ok maybe i should use him that’s hilarious
Summer: YES IDK HOW HIS STAT GROWTH GOT SO GOOD LMAO. i am also going to make libra and tharja part of my main rotation probably.
Jillian: YES i’m very excited about libra and tharja and i want to use them for sure
i really like pairing sully and stahl together also
Summer: omg i don’t use either of them…
Jillian: i have a soft spot for sully because her VA also did sailor jupiter’s voice
Summer: i use panne a lot i love her
i kind of want to use the little dragon girl but i hate that trope of ancient being in the body of a 9 y/o lmao
Jillian: ugh yeah……dragon cool tho so i have been using her
(she’s one of the ones who only has supports with men i think lol! go figure)
Summer: GOD that’s so fucked akldsfjgrkeflj
Jillian: yeah it’s gross
i haven’t seen any of the supports yet tho so who knows
Summer: i feel like fe3h was a little bit less bad with that trope wrt sothis and flayn
but rip
Jillian: do you have any supports other than chrom and robin’s yet
Summer: YEAH i’ve gotten supports robin + frederick, sumia, ricken
and i have like B support with miriel + lon’qu for some reason?!
Jillian: omg that’s funny
Summer: cordelia and frederick’s support is kind of funny they are both just like…good servants lmao
Jillian: aw i love them
i need to focus on getting more of robin’s supports with everyone else…..now that i’ve got her S support with chrom lol
Summer: i feel like it’s harder than in fe3h to even know who has supports…
Jillian: chrom and frederick’s C support is really funny also
Summer: OMG YEAH IT’s SO FUNNY SLDFKjslkfjdsl i love frederick !!!
Jillian: their B support gets more into their relationship but i can’t wait to see the A support
sully and stahl have kinda fun supports, i think they’ll have a cute ending
Summer: i know immediately after i finish the game im gonna look up everyone’s support chains
Jillian: YES
Summer: i wanna watch chrobin’s w/ mrobin so badly
apparently it’s very good?
Jillian: ohhhh interesting
maybe i’ll watch that right now honestly
Summer: srerksjdfjgle honestly…no spoilers at this point
damn i love this game
i feel so energized thinking about it…
Jillian: i love fire emblem!!!!!
Summer: OH we didn’t even talk about “marth”
Jillian: OH
WAIT YEAH LOL
kind of a huge plot point
Summer: ok like. that’s lucina right
Jillian: i think so
Summer: of Super Smash Brothers Fame
Jillian: alskdjfsdk yeah that’s how i recognized her
but i wonder what the whole story is
Summer: GOD i’m so intrigued
Jillian: me too
i honestly don’t know where the story is going to go from here other than like, war
Summer: same right
ok i know that fire emblem games have a crazy history of racism but i’m glad that like ,,, there are at least brown characters ,,,, on the same side as you LMAO
what’s her name. flavia
Jillian: god right
flavia and the other guy
Summer: i’m a little worried about playing the earlier games sdkfjslfjs
Jillian: yeah rip
Summer: they’re really fun characters they’re like the judith and nader
Jillian: oh we love judith and nader
Summer: but yeah i love seeing the seeds of a lot of stuff that fe3h built out a lot but then also the really cool things unique to awakening that i ADORE
also like, i use anna in awakening lol she rocks as a unit
Jillian: ooooh yes like what
I THINK IT’S SO FUNNY THAT SHE’S IN AWAKENING
Summer: ok so paired battles rock. i think the locked classes is kind of cool, like working w/in the constraint of your healer unit not being able to battle??? idk it makes things more strategic
Jillian: ugh yeah…it’s annoying me but you’re right
Summer: i do like that you sort of just have a ridiculous bank of characters, i know that it’s because of classic mode but it’s fun to swap out people for the heck of it vs in fe3h it felt more intentional to recruit
also when i recruited people i didn’t use i felt bad for some reason…brain broke
Jillian: oh yeah we’re just picking up characters left and right
Summer: like i got that villager dude and i was like. man i am never using this guy
Jillian: something about playing in casual mode vs playing in classic that i think is fun to think about is how much it changes your gameplay? like, i’ll send people out to fight in some corner of the map by themselves with half their hp because i know that even if they die i’d rather have them go out doing damage than waste a turn getting healed sometimes
Summer: YEAH OMG
like how much more careful will i be in classic…
i might even look up strategies…
Jillian: i’m also already dying without being able to undo turns like in fe3h lol
Summer: SAME FUCK
Jillian: i had to do chapter 9 three times because robin kept dying
Summer: like sometimes i’ll just do something stupid and be like wow i wish i didn’t do that!
Jillian: yeahhhh
and in fe3h i can be like, ok that move sucked but if it doesn’t work out i’ll just go back and redo it
but in awakening i’d have to start the whole battle over
Summer: yup! god robin kept dying so i wouldn’t let her battle on her own
Jillian: YEAH SAME
Summer: but now she’s doin better shes level 16 or something crazy
Jillian: after she died twice i was like, ok stay paired with chrom
Summer: i do love it though they are a Powerhouse
Jillian: they do work well together
Summer: apparently when people play lunatic mode they just pair them together and solo it
Jillian: omg
Summer: i don’t think playing like that is my style HOWEVER
romance
Jillian: romance!!!!
battle tactics are all about narrative and romance
not so much about winning the fight
Summer: EXACTLY !
oh my god when chrom blocks a hit for robin
SWOON…………
Jillian: very cool and sexy of him
very husbandly
Summer: it is so funny that they make the mostly male lord characters like
so fucking dreamy
Jillian: he’s literally a prince
Summer: and yet the prodominent market for these games is cishet men ?
Jillian: GOD RIGHT
is it actually though
that seems so funny
Summer: like…sorry who did you make this prince with the cut off shirt for ???
Jillian: sldkjfsdklfh
Summer: i always forget what the makeup of these fandoms are like until i go on the wikis and read about fan shit
and how controversial the choice to maybe allude to a lesbian in the gamecube fire emblem game was
Jillian: oh my god lol
Summer: it’s funny though tbh i feel like as the games become more neutral with their marketing and as companies stop pretending video games r for 10 year old boys….more gay options will become normalized lmao
Jillian: yep!!!!
Summer: i watched the video game documentary on netflix and i was thinking so much about fire emblem actually
Jillian: oh i should watch that
Summer: b/c they were talking about how they thought they could get girls to play street fighter by adding a Single Lady Character, b/c they thought girls would wanna play as a girl
Jillian: omg
Summer: which like, sure, true to an extent – but it was so funny that they were like “well, maybe one girl will want to play….not possibly two girls. we don’t want to pretend there’s a possibility for that.”
Jillian: jlksdfjksldghskfldsg
Summer: but then the main marriage you’d want in fe:a
which is to chrom, is gender locked!
but not by the gender that these games are marketed towards!
make it make sense….
Jillian: interesting!!!!!
Summer: anyway i love video games and marketing is crazy
Jillian: same with fe3h……you can’t marry dimitri or claude as mbyleth so what’s the point
Summer: NO LITERALLY LIKE
you’re DEPRIVING people of a tied up story
Jillian: what a weird franchise i’ll never understand it
i love it so much tho
Summer: can’t wait for them to announce the next one
even though there are literally 14 for us to play in the backlog
Jillian: i’m still waiting for a second DLC
Summer: GOD
Jillian: as if that will happen
let me pay more money for extra dialogue
Summer: i want a fifth route….lords against byleth
Jillian: WOAH
summer that’s a very cool idea
Summer: thank you i think i stole it from a redditor
Jillian: jfslkdjgskdf
Summer: it could be cool….byleth gets fully corrupted by rhea and the lords ban together to defeat/save her…
anyway
fe:a
Jillian: wow sick
ok any last thoughts about the first 10 chapters of fire emblem: awakening?
Summer: i just love chrom he is a prince
Jillian: wow yes i agree
Summer: head empty chrom only
Jillian: yeah!!!!!!
ok time to go lose my mind about the chrom/robin S support some more
i’m so happy we’re doing this it’s so fun
Summer: ME TOOOOO
Jillian: ok byyyyye friend
see you in the other tab
Summer: SEE YOU IN THE OTHER TAB