Let's Play Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (Artur: Be the Dancing Queen)

[ArmsAreLoud]

So today I got incredibly nostalgic for one of my favorite game series on the GBA (I blame kaoticAntagonist). With my newfound desire to play I decided "Oh what the hell might as well get some attention out of it" so I made this.

I'm not actually going to set up any special rules for myself with the exception of no tower visits because come on this game is easy enough as it is.

Will I actually be able to complete a project I work on??? Let's find out.


Man, I could listen to this game's music forever.


Go big or go home! Oh who am I kidding this is by far the easiest entry in what is otherwise a very difficult set of games.


Introduction stuff, blah blah. Basically the Sacred Stones are this set of super powerful items that locked up all the monsters that once terrorized the land.


This is probably supposed to look like a real world country or something but I'm drawing a blank.


Fun fact about Fire Emblem: Peerless warriors have a tendency to get killed early in the game. Just ask Old Hector.


Jehanna is a desert country filled with myrmidons who make most of their money off mercenary work, which makes it entirely different from Sacae which is a plains country filled with myrmidons who make most of their money off mercenary work.


OH SNAP


OH SNAP


OH SNAP


OH SNAP


OH SNAPokay I will stop now.


OH SN... That is very unfortunate.


Fun fact: In the Japanese version this chick is apparently the poster child for incestuous innuendo. It was toned down quite a bit in the American version (whether that is a good thing or not is up to you).


Say it with me: Chekhov's Gun.


This man is Seth. He is the Oifaye of the group, starting off with very high base stats early in the game and having adequate growth percentages to keep up as the game goes on.

He's also a very boring character. Sorry bro but your raging boner for Eirika shall not be satisfied in this run.


The people in red are there to kill him. Just in case you didn't pick up on that.


You don't want to know what he wants to do with the wayward princess of Renais.


Next time I get into a fight I am totally using this.


Pictured here is Seth being a total wuss.


You say that as if you didn't enjoy it.

Blah blah more dialog mainly just Eirika commenting on how Seth is hurt and she would totally be willing to give him some tender healings.


Way to jinx yourself, Seth.


Called it.


I'm sure he did.


Baby's first kill.


You don't even have a unique character portrait, of course we can.


And that's that.


Baby's first level up.


"War is hell."
-Barney the Dinosaur


I'm sure you used to play all sorts of games with your brother and Lyon.


Yes. Deal with it.

[ArmsAreLoud]

Isn't this what we were already doing?


OH, I get it. She's the one escaping. That makes more sense.


This man is the very model of a modern major general.


I think we all know how this is going to turn out.


Classic capture the castle scenario. It's all coming back to me.


Fun facts from random townspeople.


Hey man don't mind me, just going to spawn in enemy territory.


Yes, that is what the word "armorslayer" would imply.



Level ups, part one.


Suddenly leaving Seth there so that everyone else can get experience seems like a very silly idea.


It actually took me forever to kill this guy. The dodge boost from him standing on the fort was kind of irritating.



Level ups, part two. I'm considering using Franz in the long run though I've never really liked Paladins. I will probably stop considering him when other options become available.


The lesbifriends reunite while Gilliam watches.


As if she has anything to do with that.


Uh oh, here comes the angstmobile.


The music stops here like it is some shocking development that we totally did not see coming.


Cool story, bro.

[Phantomime]

Okay. I just started playing this, as one of my Ambassador games, and this has made me laugh, (in a muffled way, as I am supposed to be working) +1 reader.

[godFish]

I've been working on Sacred Stones off and on since September, first clearing a normal run, now I'm a few missions in on hard mode. I'll be interested to see how you fare at hard mode, since the enemies get some insane stat boosts or something. (Or I've had the shittest luck ever in level ups)

[Walliard]

I've been working on Sacred Stones off and on since September, first clearing a normal run, now I'm a few missions in on hard mode. I'll be interested to see how you fare at hard mode, since the enemies get some insane stat boosts or something. (Or I've had the shittest luck ever in level ups)

No, that's only in the other GBA games. FE8 hard is mostly about more enemies (and possibly less experience gain?).

I've never actually finished a Hard playthorough of this game, not so much out of difficulty but because I just can't be arsed to care about it.

[godFish]

I haven't noticed more enemies, but less experience would explain a lot. From what I've seen I've been getting normal mode enemy range hit chances, and they tend to hit even on 50s and shit.

From what I remember of Blazing Sword's hard mode it was higher levels and 'throw in 10 Pegasus knights on every level'

[Walliard]

That sounds more like just bad luck. I don't think there's ever been any evidence of the AI getting hidden bonuses.

Though as an aside, hit rate in the GBA and later games isn't actually the percentage displayed. Instead, the RNG rolls two numbers and averages them. The net effect is that hit rates from 51 to 99 are more likely than they appear, and 1 to 49 are less likely, resulting in a bell curve of sorts that more accurately reflects how most people "feel" a certain probability should play out.

[-Benedict]

Actually, the 2RN system was only added to the US versions of the GBA games- TBS and TSS maintained the 1RN system in Japan. The 2RN system biases toward the center- the amount that the probability is distorted increases as you approach the ends. An RN of 1 would be a 1/10000 chance, whereas an ordinary 50% would stay the same. Consequently, the further from 50 you go, the more exaggerated the probability is, and the closer you get to 50 the more accurate the displayed percentage is.

FE8 is actually pretty hard if you avoid Valni and the... what were they called, the ruins of whatnot towards the end. Grinding those for EXP is like a safe version of arena grinding, and you can level things like healers and the "trainee" units.

Also, a lot of people hate on Ross, but if you work to get him kills early on, you can promote him by like Chapter 7 on Normal. Pirate-Berserker is pretty fuckin unbelievable of a thing to have (although you have to delay Colm's upgrade unless you want to use Rennac who is Turdrogue Shitmaster). Ross can tear things right apart even without Valni grinding (and there's certainly no reason not to use him if you are using Valni).

[Cervos]

probably the best thing about Sacred Stones was beating both paths and then being able to upgrade the Pupil, Journeyman and Recruit units into super versions of these that kick super ass.

Amelia and Ross had super high critical rates, that it was p ridiculous

Ewan was the only one I didn't like to keep in the base class because his attack animation has him stumble around like a chump.

Either way, since they get 3 classes to level up in, they get even more levels and thus more stats.

They get to level 10 as a Trainee, upgrade automatically, then get to level 20 as a regular class, promotion again, then 20 in the max tier.

P ridiculous and okay rant too much

[ArmsAreLoud]

Ross is the only ax user not named Hector I ever liked to use. That isn't going to change here.


The minimap is now traversable. It doesn't really mean much for me since I am not backtracking to level grind.


This priest is downright awful and you get a Troubadour pretty soon if I recall correctly. I don't remember much about the Pegasus Knight but I am pretty sure she's inferior to Tana. She is also not as sexy as Tana, which is reason enough for me to use Tana instead regardless of stats.


Rushing into enemy territory with an army of like five people.

Never change, FE Lords.


Title drop. I have no witty remarks.


PFFFFFFFFT


You can sack all the villages you want as long as you take a shower in one of them.


Generic Bandit Leader confirmed for one of the smartest members of the cast.


He did this by stepping on it.

He is Godzilla.

I am going to have to fight god damn Godzilla.


Boob lady over there is actually the enemy. She pays me with a Red Gem to go help the villagers.

Sweet dramatic irony.


Ross has a thing for his dad. It isn't a sexual thing but it is still pretty weird.



I swear his level ups don't typically look like this.


I actually forgot that that village was there.

Oh well, I'm sure nothing important was in there.


This guy keeps healing himself and retreating into the mountains. It is rather irritating.


If you will look at the number labeled HIT at the bottom left corner of the screen you will recognize why I love speedy characters.


More level up. Ross does this a lot.


I forgot to check this guy's movement before putting Ross there. Really dodged a bullet when he missed. I leveled up again by having Ross finish the dude off but I forgot to screen cap it WOOPS.


You may thank me by not wasting space on the team selection screen.


Dammit.


The talking mustache is right, Eirika. Your kingdom is dead.


Flashback to one of Eirika's happiest moments. You can fill in the blanks.


This guy came out of nowhere and grabbed Eirika's bracelet. The nerve.

[Cervos]

You know I always thought Ross reminded me of someone



ALSO QUESTION:

If you're going to keep Ross, and since you're not on a 3rd playthrough, are you going to make him a Berserker, Warrior, or Hero?

(Berserkerberserkerberserker)

[-Benedict]

I'd say go Berserker because you get to pick between two uses of the Ocean Seal- either Colm, who replaces Rennac (who is shitty) or Ross for replacing Dorza (who surprise is also shitty, way to surround yourself with winners L'Arachel). Between the two, Rennac is better at doing his job (steal ALL THE THINGS) than Dorza is at his, so it's a no-brainer really. Also pirates totes get to walk on water which is useful considering how much time you spend at sea or at ports in this game.

[ArmsAreLoud]

I think you will find that I already know what I'm doing in these games

I played them over and over again with different teams until my GBA broke.

[MythicalWashrag]

She is also not as sexy as Tana, which is reason enough for me to use Tana instead regardless of stats.

This basically sums up how I played every FE game, and every playthrough in each of those games.

Goddammit now I have to playthrough again.
Though I'm going to keep reading. I'm pretty sure I almost literally rofl'd at a few parts. This is grand.

[ArmsAreLoud]

The sexy is the only reason I discovered how incredibly awesome Tethys is.

The girl's luck and speed stats are so obscenely high that she never gets hit. You can put her in a one-space hallway and just have an archer/mage grind behind her (hyuk hyuk) while the enemies completely fail to land a hit.

[Dais]

Hey, a Sacred Stones LP! Freaky, I was just reading some Fire Emblem LPs elsewhere. Of all the ones I've played this is probably the one I played the least (because I lost my cartridge among other reasons), so it will be fun to see what clever tricks and secret items you uncover that I don't know about! On the other hand I remember abusing the postgame stuff to promote everybody, and many of them turned out to be okay, so it will be fun to see what team you go with.

[Walliard]

I think you will find that I already know what I'm doing in these games

All the more reason for us to challenge you, then.

elsewhere

Such as a certain LP forum which has been inundated with them as of late?

[ArmsAreLoud]

Pretty much everyone in this game is broken in one way or another with the exception of Knoll.

The thing is Knoll is the only Shaman in the game so I feel an obligation to use him anyways.

[MythicalWashrag]

The sexy is the only reason I discovered how incredibly awesome Tethys is.

The girl's luck and speed stats are so obscenely high that she never gets hit. You can put her in a one-space hallway and just have an archer/mage grind behind her (hyuk hyuk) while the enemies completely fail to land a hit.

o u

Yeah I always preferred the speedy characters to the slow-but-armored ones.

Also do you use Amelia ever? I always did because she was adorable when she was a recruit. I really didn't want her to rank up.

[ArmsAreLoud]

I've used Amelia a few times, she's alright. I usually have a hard time fitting her on my team because I like to fill my team with Myrmidons/Mages/Archers (I like to not get hit OK) and Ephraim does a pretty good job of filling my lances quota.

[Dais]

Such as a certain LP forum which has been inundated with them as of late?

Yeah, there. Not that I can dig through that stuff properly because I don't have an account there but I find it interesting that nobody has done the only-in-japan games (near as I can see). I'm probably just fixated on that because my favorite game is now FE4 despite having only beaten it once.

Also depending on the game armors/knights are incredibly useful. Namely in games where their lower movement isn't as much of a weakness. Not having to rely on the RNG to evade damage is nice, especially when weapon advantage gives you a decent dodge rate anyway.

Also, Arms, what's your policy on spoilers? I'm guessing not too strict?

[ArmsAreLoud]

My policy is that I don't care about spoilers, it's a six year old game and if you haven't played it yet I question why you are even reading this.

Plus it's kind of impossible to get a good handle on Fire Emblem without telling the story.

Also @jap-only games, the only one I've actually played is FE6. If I actually manage to complete this without losing my or everyone else's interest then I'd totally do an LP of 4.

[godFish]

Ross Stuff

Yeah, I always try and level Ross as fast as possible because he will kick everyone's ass. In my current game I got him to Pirate by the end of level 3. (farming hits off of the general with a hatchet yeeeeeeees)

I usually send Ewan down the shaman-druid path because honestly who are you going to use, Knoll?

[weirdguy]

I think you will find that I already know what I'm doing in these games

I played them over and over again with different teams until my GBA broke.

wait, so, if your GBA broke because you played it to death

does that

does that mean that you are playing this in your mind

and that these are soul screenshots

of a game that you absorbed into your being

[ArmsAreLoud]

I have actually transferred my soul into the game and function as a ghostly entity whispering snide remarks in Eirika's ear and taking pictures that the participants don't want to be made public.