There's a realism to the pre-Awakening FE that I really admire. The franchise has always been Anime, don't get me wrong. There's gonna be the occasional demon king and dragon war here and there. But the characters really tend to avoid too many trappings. There's a quiet fact of life to them. There's whole backstories you can only find in certain supports and quiet sort of tragedies you might not ever find. Most of your party is ordinary people. You aren't repeating the same character beats over and over. Its soothing.

But honestly, the stand out star is L'arachel. A loud, boastful woman yelling about her holy purpose to smite out evil. You think she'll be annoying on the first impression. But she charmed me really quickly as this lovable narcissist character. Its a hard character beat to land, but there's something endearing about someone running around going "I'm the best in the world and therefore you, my friend, are also the best by association." Papyrus Undertale is probably the best example, but its a winning formula. Her support chain with the main girl is also just the gayest shit in the world, with L'arachel chilling out her persona for a little to genuinely, truly bond with someone. It shows you how she can operate outside of those egotistic moments and be a real person for a while.

Fire Emblem games are pretty neat, I think. Just very charming and fun.

I replayed in April 2021 during exam season while stressing about failing Stats, my last required Math. I started to have heart palpitations about two days in. This game for sure caused it. This game is a fucking cultural wasteland. You can also fuck your cousin. Really incredible how they made this one. It's going to be gone from the eShop a whole month earlier too. People say it's bad to think that's a good thing. I ask if they have 400 hours in this game like I do. My hatred is measured and understandable. Fuck this game you will get subtweeted and dogpiled for disliking it it doesn't change that it sucks ass.