Sunday 16 February 2020

On three houses (3): Cindered Shadows



DLC 4 is the last scheduled expansion of Three Houses and is also the largest expansion. A completely new side story alongside with new characters, quests and activities that provides further clues about the main story.

Having new characters and activities means you need to play side story plus a complete rundown in the main story to experience everything -- which is too much for a player who have already completed the game 5 times. Below are my thoughts after completing the side story with a taste of main story with the presence of the new contents.

Part I: on game mechanics

Part II: maddening and more

*spoilers alert*

Side story

Did it in hard classic and it does not disappoint me. Enemies have config slightly above the "main story" hard, but with limited resources (though not "lacking resources") and being inaccessible to auxiliary battles it could be pretty hard. The way the game works here is pretty close to that in classic Fire Emblem (like Blazing Blade), so as the difficulty.

The side story consists of 6 unique battles. Enemies are compactly packed that does not allow the slightest bit of excessive training.

I personally like the third battle the most -- the two possible routes gives flexibility on how you can play the stage. Actually I figured that it is the safest to use both of them.

The final boss is also interesting given its gimmicky special attack. I found however, the fight would still be possible without the post-AOE weakening. That would be a lot more interesting as well as pushing the difficulty up to the maddening bar.

Story-wise, there is not a lot that you can do in a 7 chapter span where the second half are all about consecutive battles. Someone data-mined that there will be 13 chapters and a more detailed stories can be delivered in such length.

With the introduction of Abyss, I expect them to focus on interaction among underground students and residents because those residents are reasons the student were there. But with 7 chapters only IS did enough to introduce the students. The interactions are left for support conversations, which are also nicely written.

New classes

Yes that is a great solution to what I pointed out before. The new classes aimed to provide full flexibility between magic accessibility and melee potential of the characters.

Dark fliers is the long awaited class, fliers that can use magic. Even with sacrificed growth the class completely worth it given how overpowered fliers can be in the game.

Valkyries seem to clash with holy/dark knight at the master class, but it bridges well between the mage class and the magic knight classes since the lance requirement is gone. It's range+1 also allows long range magic snipers other than Lorenz.

Tricksters and war monks are adjustments to melee-magical units without the problem of mortal servants where growth were split 50/50 that doesn't really work on characters that fit. These two classes are primarily for melee based (trickster for dex based and war monk for vit/def based) characters who also wants to use heal at times.

Trickster is also a bridge between sword users and mortal servants, if one trains reason and faith simultaneously. However this is really a class taylor made for Yuri with his growth distribution especially with his unique combat art, the foul play. In side story I would made him MVP as he and Edelgard combined are capable to take all physical attacks. And while Edelgard slashes back for 35 damage, Yuri simply goes for 15+45 critical...

In side story, the two magical units are very fragile due to its limited movement (compared to master classes), the abundance of stairs (for valkyries) and team composition that couldn't protect them well. The war monk is kind of balanced -- he can sweep but you do not want to put him up front too often. Yuri of course survives anywhere on the map.

If we are to use these classes in the main story with proper team setup, it is expected that dark fliers will be used as a final form. Valkyrie might be a bridge to magic knight but it may also be used as a final form if one wants to do long range snips. Trickster is probably reserved for Yuri or at most Felix. War monk...is still awkward for me.

New region and activities

That I do not have full experience of. But new area's new area. They fill the area with new NPCs and new dialogues that consolidates the story further and this is never a bad thing.

Scraps may be useful for maddening or players who really lack resources. Altar is useful for New Game+ players who wants to get specific item where they didn't get because they skipped some game elements, and that's also good.

The idea of mysterious teacher is nice although I still haven't got a full picture on how it works, but it looks interesting. And for the rest, I am probably won't have the time to explore since it will take me another 15-20 hours to go through the game again...

Cindered Shadows

4 new well-crafted characters and they fit well in Abyss.

Hapi the anti-social who disbeliefs the church. Constance a fallen noble with Schizophrenia. Balthus the bold, the gambler and the alcoholic. Though nothing too surprising you have got to say these settings do work.

And of course Yuri. As a house leader (kind of) he completes the weapon cycle among the leaders, and he also completes the personality quadrants among them. He is charismatic but disbeliefs in the church unlike Claude. His charm and wise fits with his trickster class, but what surrounds him does not give him free will after all. He is the classic Japanese RPG protagonist, and a fitting last piece to this Fire Emblem sequel.

I wish that the support between Yuri and Byleth(s) could have been more romantic -- Yuri can flirt Ingrid without backfiring (just look at Sylvain), but he seems to be so clueless against us...

Conclusion

So, what should I grade Fire Emblem Three Houses for now?

School system that attracts everyone except hardcore classic players. New class system that is pretty much complete upon DLC. Multiple difficulties that can be completed with or without extra battles. Up to 40 characters with thousands of support conversations.

...all in one game. This is Fire Emblem Three Houses.

I would give 7.8/10 after writing (1). But with DLC the game probably worths a score of 8.5/10. A masterpiece that is for everybody, whether you are hardcore SRPG player or not.

Tuesday 11 February 2020

夢.十夜 (X4) Encore

2019年12月30日,國際展示場。

外面下了一整天的陰冷小雨。加上凜冽的寒風,不用多想也知道今天的一般入場隊列是何種地獄。

此刻的我正坐在南4館的攤檔上當吉祥物兼攤主。正確來說,我現在正穿著深藍色軍裝飾演著幻影異聞錄♯FE蒼井樹(Aoi Itsuki),在她的攤檔裡幫忙。攤裡擺著新刊[火紋英雄:利用深度學習量化移位輔助技的價值]、既刊[火紋英雄:亂數機制在回合制棋盤上的優劣]和一本寄賣火紋風花雪月的狼師x青獅班級同人本。

既刊上次莫名奇妙完售給予她不少信心,讓她再印了20本既刊出來賣。我看著厚0.3cm一點都不薄的評論本,真的可以賣出去嗎?從結果來看的話她的決定似乎是對的:上次引發的後續討論為她吸了不少人氣,這次出現了專程來補買評論本的粉絲。

另一方面新刊的人氣好像沒有預期中好。本來我以為遊戲邁進第三年的話老玩家陸續合出自己的+10初代(1st gen)角,在初代角合滿+10在能力(BST)值上也打不過四代(4th gen)角的情況下,移位技能應該變得更重要才對。將移位技能量化一下的話不就能知道自己的+10角色能在主流活多久了嗎?我坐了快半天才想通背後的原因。

我們被分到的是科學相關而非火紋相關的區域,會過來的人不是專程來找我們就是被我們本本的數學內容所吸引。既刊的話就算是沒玩過火紋的人也能靠想象大概掌握兩套規則的分別;新刊所探討的技能價值量化則深入了許多,一下子就進入到遊戲的核心:技能配搭。技能配搭讓角色之間的勝負不再絕對,相對地要衡量技能在多大程度上幫到角色也變得更複雜,因為能用一個技能的不再是指定幾隻角色而是一大群角色,技能在不同角色上的效果也不同。她集中在競技場與天空城兩個PVP模式,試圖以主流打法為基準找出初代角色的能力極限。這些內容都不是隨便一個路人可以立刻理解的,潛在的顧客當然就少了很多。

既刊和風花同人本一點一點的變少,30本新刊則好像卡在了三分二的存貨一直出不去。偶而會有來詢問的人,但問題似乎都以在風花同人本和合照請求為主。緊綁在胸前的鎧甲讓我稍為冒汗,如果我可以出去拍一下照甚至只是吹一下風就好了……

*

28日下午、青海橋上。

天清海朗的一天,是適合從主場館走到青海館的好天氣。當然這個時間點要搶到FGO、少女前線等的人氣商品已經太晚了。

黑色長髮少女倚在欄杆上,棒球帽、紅色外套、黑色熱褲、連褲襪加白色運動鞋的組合讓人感覺她比起來コミケ的人更像是涉谷的元(?)氣少女。

「所以我的檔口就拜托你了~」
「大姐這可是三日目啊……我留在這邊一整天是要怎樣出去拼殺?」
「給我一個購物清單,我找ACGN的人幫你搶總可以吧?」
「來コミケ的重點就是要閑逛尋找自己不認識的繪師作家啊……留點時間給我總可以了吧?」看她金光閃亮的雙眼就猜到她今天另有打算。
「唔……三點我找人來代班吧。」
「三點的話大部份的攤檔都走了好嗎!一點吧?」
「兩點半。」「一點半。」
「兩點。」「嘛……兩點就兩點吧。」反正我也不是瞄準大手作品,人少點也比較方便。
「不過我有個額外條件。」「嗯?」

「我想泡溫泉。」少女轉身向著我稍稍彎腰,寬鬆的外套沿重力垂下,露出裡面的高分少女(ハイスコアガール)T恤。

我自己來的話肯定是大江戶又近又方便。不過現在是年末加上コミケ,男方浴池肯定大爆滿,這樣女生在大堂也會不舒服吧?所以說是泡溫泉其實是……

「長……長野。」是旅行。

少女似乎並不滿足於這個答案,臉上卻也沒有顯露不滿:「哈~?長野只能看猴子泡溫泉吧?還是你又要到處參觀清酒廠?」

不妙啊,我趕緊從我腦袋中找調動有關長野溫泉的線索。雖然我沒去過但是在訂旅館的網站也看過不少,湯田中有一堆可是都比較接近市區,要傳統的一泊二食……

「唔……長野山田溫泉藤井莊三日兩夜如何?」網上的評分是9.5/10分,總不會是個雷吧。

「先給你六十分,剩下的要到當地再看你的表現吧。」她露出得逞的笑容:「喔對了,請cos成樹君幫我顧檔吧。」

「你是出火紋英雄相關的本,幻影異聞錄還沒登陸在那邊吧?」

「都是火紋就別分太細了啦,當是swtich版發售前應援也好。而且火紋裡適合你的男角也沒多少個吧,要不狼師(ベレト)和樹君讓你二選一好了?我覺得你跟狼師那種無口搭不上啦。」

其實阿樹好像也被評為典型缺乏性格的男主,不過算了……

*

話說回來,不得不說這件cos服造得真是不錯,看得到與看不到的衣服配件都與原作非常接近。左臂與胸部的鎧甲貼身到讓人有點不舒服;底下白色的貼身衣已被汗浸透,不過有外面的長衣斗篷跟長靴罩著不會被看到。因為已經數次站起來拍照,對衣服的構造已經十分清楚。不過沒人來看本的時候自己還是會忍不住往身上看。

現在已經是一點三十五分,距離解放只剩二十五分鐘。從外面進來人群身上的衣服來看,早上的小雨並沒有停止過,寒風甚至吹得更猛了,穿著cos服的我實在不太願意這種天氣下走出去……

既刊還剩五本、新刊還有十二三本、青獅本剛好賣光。以學術本來說這次的成績也還不錯,就算現在收攤將所有本本帶回家也不會造成太大的負擔。要不乾脆找遠一點的學術攤搭訕順便把多出來的的本本送出去呢?但是這種內容不一定對到純學術攤檔的口味,唯一內容比較接近、出Q(quantum) M(machine) L(learning)本的攤檔也已經打過招呼了。

「嗨~讓你久等了~」依舊元氣的聲音從遠處傳來,不過似乎大家都在埋頭看本而沒有理會這聲音的主人。

一位穿高中校服的黑髮少女往這邊走來,旁邊還有一位宅宅,是上次擺ACGN攤的工程師。

「織部つばさ、17歳です!」

我板起臉作勢要捏她的臉頰:「你17歲個鬼--」

她輕輕閃過順勢抱住了我,少女獨有的觸感從沒護甲的右臂傳了過來:「嘻嘻,人家這身衣服好看嗎?」棕色的校服外套和紅色格子短裙雖然很常見,但搭上她的台詞的話便能肯定她cos成了蒼井樹的青梅竹馬、#FE女角織部翼。

「的確是很可愛,跟我這套一起訂造的嗎?」

「沒有呢,這種JK服太常見了。我只是拿舊cos服循環再用一下啦。對了,你要的本本我都幫你買了喔。」她從旁邊接過紙袋,棕色的紙袋上是叼著花朵的白髮少女,旁邊寫有white parabellum的字樣,毫無疑問就是白髮教副教主凪白みと的作品。隨著教主三嶋くろね與副教主凪白みと人氣水漲船高,更多繪師也投入了量產白髮少女的行列。在新晉白髮教徒之中偏向成熟風格的ふーろ應該會成為明日之星吧。

凪白みと的本子本來就難搶,今年白上吹雪與碧藍江風兩位重量級商業向白髮貓娘的出現使他的人氣再次急升。我收到友人發來的隊列照片後便早早放棄了讓她幫忙的念頭,沒想到她還是為我搶到了一個set,不愧是有專業的在幫忙。我輕輕地撫過她的頭沿著長髮滑下去,但手甲並沒有傳來任何的觸感:「謝啦!我就知道妳最懂我。那你要的本子買了嗎?」

她有點不滿自己的髮型被撥亂,不過只是黑長直應該還好吧?而且她氣鼓鼓的樣子超可愛,穿上JK服的話效果更是有增無減。

「想買的東西都在袋裡啦,你沒看到袋子都穿了一角了嗎?」她有點吃力地把袋子舉起來。底部的確有個角破了,露出裡面滿滿的本子。不過我能斷定那個破洞是人太多把袋擦傷造成的才對。

我打開紙袋翻出屬於她的本子:「嗯……[音遊機台現況2019 ver.]。那旁邊的[DDR 上級向段位全攻略]有看到嗎?我看你也卡在十段好一段時間了。」

「……唔!」她的眼神動搖了一下。

琪魯諾數學教室⑨週年版之基數(cardinal)……那一檔的新刊似乎是low-dimensional topology評論呢,跟你的興趣很像啊。」「……!」

「ゆきさめ的武器娘本呢……刀彼方這次的新刊也不錯呢,他的機甲越來越有Gia的味道了。」「甚麼……!」

「偶像大師那邊有看過嗎?雖然你對R18本沒興趣,不過聽說白瀨終於有正常向本子了……」

之前做的功課派上了用場,我數著她可能感興趣的攤位,她的眼神則越發空洞。沒猜錯的話凪白みと根本是她自己排的,所以她才沒空閒逛其他攤位。不過現在也才差不多兩點,要補救的話還來得及--

「現在不是還有一點時間嘛~我帶你極速走一圈好了。上面所有提過攤位的位置,我都記住了喔。」

「真……真的?」現在的她完全失去平常的氣勢,像兔子般眼巴巴的望著我。

「你看我有騙過你嗎?」我從自己攤位的後方抽出一把長傘:「要看的話現在就要趕快去囉,再晚一點就真的甚麼都沒有了。」傘柄被修改成劍柄的樣子,看上去就像把佩劍抽出來一樣。長傘旁邊才真是蒼井樹的劍,不過遊戲裡劍都是憑空抽出來的,我身上根本沒有掛劍的地方,劍便只好這樣放一邊了。

就這樣,織部翼緊緊地摟著蒼井樹的臂彎,二人快步向其他展館進發,留下苦笑的他和其他羨慕的目光在後面。三日目的血拼之旅,似乎還沒有完結……

*

寫這篇的時候三日目的瑣事依舊浩生生地呈現在我腦海中,那天的天氣和橋上的寒風真教人畢生難忘。排凪白みと的隊列也真是難以想象的長……反正我看到就不想排了。另外在這邊也順便感謝撿到我腰包的人和幫我找回來的staff,處理沒了東館的混沌コミケ還真是辛苦了。

想比起過去外傳這篇重點沒有放在史詩般的遊戲偶遇上,應該更像是我們的日記吧?

還是年記……?

回到現實,在二月回望十二月大家所關注的事情時真是恍如隔世。希望大家保持良知分清黃藍黑白之外,更重要的是身體健康。真的。

二零二零年二月十一日

長野