My Blazing Sword Review Part 2 - The Characters

           The Characters: In addition to having a great plot it also has one of the best casts in the series.

                       For example this game has Pent. There is no such thing as too much Pent. It’s cool how he’s nobility and not a corrupt douche-bag. He gets to do whatever he wants and he ends up with a hot wife. Legault also has a great backstory. I remember saying that I thought he was forgettable and I regret ever saying that. Legault’s backstory is actually pretty cool and his supports are fun to read.

                   Some of these characters have been the subject of “Character Spotlight” videos that Mangs has produced over the years. If you haven’t seen them then I suggest that you check them out. For example, Mangs did a great video on Renault that you can see here:

                   Another example of an interesting character is Harken. Harken is a nice departure from the usual mercenary character that the series loves to throw at the player and I appreciate that. While I’m not a particular fan of characters like Canas and Matthew I do see why other people would appreciate them. Then there’s Nino, that little woobie that’s stolen the hearts of so many fans and has started far too many controversial topics about her combat abilities. Nino works as a sympathetic character and the game does a good job of making you root for her (even if one hates her lack of combat efficiency which I’ll get back to in a bit).

                            The villains in this game are also fairly solid. Nergal is one of the best Gharnef characters in the series. His backstory is tragic, even if it’s told in a subtle way. In fact speaking of that the localization goofed up here. I highly encourage you to read this article which goes into the nitty gritty details about the translation error and its impact on the plot:

(https://kantopia.wordpress.com/2015/09/23/fire-emblem-7-comparing-nergals-true-why-did-i-want-power-dialogue-jpneng/)  

                    What I find interesting here is that nobody but the player knows about it at the end of the game. The heroes never learn about it, Athos doesn’t know (from what I remember) and his kids never find out either. That makes it all the more tragic because most people (including some fans of the series) just write him off as a crazy dark mage when the reason WHY he’s so power hungry is tragic. For me, it’s his backstory that sets him apart from characters like Manfroy or Gharnef. In addition to that, Nergal is also different from Manfroy and Gharnef because unlike them he’s not resurrecting an empire, he’s the one who wants to take control for himself. 

                            We also have Lloyd, who’s a pretty cool villain. We also have the evil Sonia that I’m sure most players felt satisfied in killing considering all the crap she did to Nino. Let’s not forget about Marquess Laus, the extremely selfish lout. What is it with the lousy noblemen coming from Laus?

                           For all the things this game did right, I have to admit that from a biased perspective I’m not the biggest fan of some of these characters. I think it has to do with the fact that many of their fan bases have turned me away from liking them (i.e. Hector, Canas and Matthew). The worst of this comes from all the ridiculous “Is Nino good?” threads that erupted into so many toxic arguments. It also doesn’t help that there are some characters here that I genuinely do not like.

                            Raven’s a total edgelord and what’s worse is that we’re never really told what the specifics behind his backstory are. Considering how important the fall of House Cornwall is you’d think that his supports would go into greater detail about this, but nope it’s never fleshed out. It hurts when he’s got his undeserving fan club of characters (Priscilla with her brother fetish, Lucius and Rebecca, etc.). Bartre is a total Neanderthal and Karla comes off as pretentious.

                      It also hurts that I’m not the biggest fan of the three lords either. Lyn could have been cut out of the game altogether and the plot wouldn’t have suffered for it. Eliwood is a little too polite and “noble” to be considered interesting for me. I will say though that I’m glad that he got localized the way that he did. For those who you who don’t know what I’m talking about read this: https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/3bx6a0/on_the_topic_of_censorship_in_fire_emblem_fates/

                     After reading that link I started to appreciate the Western Eliwood a bit more. Then there’s Hector. I think I would’ve liked him more if his fans weren’t constantly acting is if he’s the single best unit in the series. Unlike Lyn I totally get the appeal behind Hector’s character. I like the fact that he’s brash, tough and unmannered. It makes him more relatable to me and I appreciate how un-Eliwood like he is. I want to like Hector more than I currently do, but I have so many bad memories with crap like “Hector the Rektor” that I just bring myself to call myself a Hector fan.

                   Overall Summation: Objectively speaking this is one of the best written casts in the game. Subjectively speaking, I like more Awakening characters than Blazing Sword ones. I think it’s because a lot of the characters in Blazing Sword have some annoying fandoms that have turned me away from characters that under normal circumstances I would of been a fan of too (like Hector for instance).

                                 Still, these characters are better written than the majority of the other characters in the series and the well written supports really go a long way in fleshing them out. I can understand why some of these characters have the appeal that they do, even if I personally can’t call myself a fan.