Part 13: Prologue Wrap-up

The prophecy has been fulfilled.

Part 9: Prologue Wrap-up

Last time, we defeated the suddenly evil Katarina and saved Prince Marth from being assassinated. Time to say our goodbyes as the prologue ends.





Again, why does nobody remember the bandit thing?



Get used to this line.



I honestly don't know what Draug's trailing off for here. That assassin was what?







Khadein is a desert city that is ruled by mages. Gharnef took it over briefly in Shadow Dragon.









Who knows? :itisamystery:





Goodbye, you beautiful man.





Wrys is the only one who gets Steve's CAPS LOCK.











Oh, there are only 30 or so chapters to go, what's the worst that could happen?











This is like the first time you've asked me anything, Caeda.







That's the end of the Prologue. And upon finishing it for the first time on your cartridge...





All the BS Fire Emblem maps are now available to play! These are bonus maps previously released separately from the original game. They cover some events that happen before Shadow Dragon/FE1 takes place. I'll try to show them all off, there are only 4.

But this update isn't over yet. As people have mentioned in the thread, there are some branching paths in the prologue, based on the questions you are asked at the end of P3, P5, and P6. Also, some people wanted to see some of the Normal/Hard mode differences. To show that off, I'm bringing back a character who was brought up in the old thread. Back in the days when the image quality was bad and the jokes were...the same.



SIR AXELY RISES

Prologue 1 is much the same.



I just wanted to show that even if you're a melee character, Jagen doesn't bother moving to hit you with his Javelin from a range.

Prologue 2 is identical.



In Prologue 3, Normal mode has less enemies, also Caeda doesn't appear until you've defeated the 2 starter foes.

To get this path, say "No" when Jagen asks if you haven't heard about Marth's strategy in the War of Shadows.



Oh, here's Luke's nickname for Axely. Thanks to everyone who pointed out it was based on eye choice in character creation.



Anyway, P4 on this path features Jeorge as the boss instead of Athena. He's a Sniper, which is a promoted Archer, though he doesn't really have the stats of one. Which is a good thing. Also, all the maps from this point on have less enemies on Normal.



As you can see, he also won't come after you until you enter his range on Normal.



Like so.



Jeorge is easily defeated by exploiting his fatal flaw, lack of a 1 range weapon and the power of the HUMAN BOX .



Thanks





So, presumably because they don't want you to have a sniper this early, Jeorge won't join you. Instead...



GAGGLES

Gordin is Ryan's brother, and his only claim to fame is a brief scene in Shadow Dragon where an enemy bandit gags him and tries to get him to kill Marth, serving as your tutorial for "Talk to guys to recruit them".

It's the funniest scene in the game, partially because the bandit keeps calling him "gaggles" and partially because Marth says the words "Yow! It's an enemy ambush!"

Also if you kill him...

: Blast! That archer was on our side!



Unfortunately he wasn't very good. That carries over a little here. Gordin starts at a higher level than Ryan, but Ryan's growths are better, and he'll overtake him given time. I've never really used Gordin for this reason, but with the glut of flying units in this game, I suppose he could come in handy.

P5 is the same, but with less enemies.

To get this path, say "No" when Katarina asks if there's something bothering you.





Pictured: Luke failing to respect the 'fro.



In this version of P6, the enemy boss is...



Ogma! Ogma's an extremely powerful unit in the first game. He comes early and stays powerful for the whole game. He's one of the best units you can pick, and I always use him. He's a Mercenary. In short:



Katarina is understandably worried.



Like Caeda, Normal Mode Ogma won't show until his cronies are down.













Ogma is, like before, really good. He's got strength and durability, and is a good addition to just about any lineup. He's not as strong as he was in the prequel, I think, but certainly not bad. Or the most gutted, by any stretch. Abel

To get this path, say "No" when Katarina asks you if you'll become a royal guard with her.

P7's boss on this path is... (I'm stealing Cain's bit.)



Est here is another famous FE character. She comes into the prequel weak and underleveled in the late game, but is a powerhouse if built up. Honestly, when you have Caeda, it's not really worth it, but she paves the way for a lot of similar characters, of varying quality.



Oddly enough, we start on the other side of the map from Cain's version of P7.







(blink animation)



Here's one of the biggest differences from Hard and above. On Normal mode, for the whole game, reinforcements cannot act on the turn they appear. This can be huge, and the difference between losing a character or not.



Here's a better view of the reinforcements (2 cavaliers), and Axely blocking the fort reinforcement spawn with his body.

Unlike the other bosses, Normal Mode Est still rushes you.





An archer still deals with her handily.





I let Axely take the Cecille headband. It's different on male characters, and gives them FE9 Ike's haircut.



Here's Est. Like Cain, she's super strong at this point in the game, especially on Normal.



Oh, and on Normal Mode P8 you can lure the thieves adjacent to Katarina without pulling her first. Probably why i thought I could do it.



Just wanted to show that base Est can one round kill Normal Mode Katarina.



Here's something we didn't get to see before, the blink animation a scene that only shows up if you wear the Headband.











Can't ditch the 'fro.

That's the end of Axely's adventures, but I wanted to show the prologue ending scenes for Est, Ogma, and Gordin.





As Est oh so smugly informs us, Abel was a character in FE1/FE11.







Aww, he got a girlfriend





I'd remember this.









Anyway, that's all the prologue endings. Some cut content found in the files hints that Norne was originally supposed to appear here too, but I don't know where she'd show up.

So, how do I feel about the options here, and why did I choose the ones I did? Well, I tried to answer "in character" as Steve in the main updates, but as for gameplay's sake, I'll spoiler tag it, because it contains some info on when characters show up.

I think Athena VS Gordin goes to Gordin, just for availability, and by the time of Athena's reappearance, you'll have Maris, Radd, and Navarre vying for her spot if you're not reclassing. Plus she's underleveled.

Draug VS Ogma comes down to personal preference, I think. Ogma's a better character IMO, but Draug is helpful in the early chapters when you have few "tanky" characters. I guess Arran works, but still, availability is nice.

Cain VS Est is Cain hands down. He comes at roughly the same level several chapters earlier, and while you could make the argument that Cain has lots of competition from other good cavaliers, so does Est from her sisters/Caeda. Plus she's a pain to recruit.



That's about all there is to see in the Prologue. I really do like this part of the game. It's not plot crucial, but it sets up the stories of Katarina/MU well, and eases you into the mechanics pretty well. My completion time on Normal Mode was under 30 minutes too, so it's not like it takes too long.

Next time, well, I don't really know.

I'm doing a THREAD VOTE!

Would you like to see me take on a New Archanea Chronicles map, or just jump into Chapter 1 of the main game? I'll let the vote sit for a day or so before deciding.