RANKING ALL 5 ROUTES in Fire Emblem: Three Houses Story
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2024
- #fe3h #fireemblem
I am preparing to make some enemies... Presenting my highly subjective and probably controversial take on the different story paths of Three Houses. Deals with themes, characters, and overall execution.
I did mention gameplay a couple times but this ranking primarily deals with story. Ultimately this is just my opinion, I'm not presenting it as fact.
If you enjoyed the video, like, comment, subscribe, it all helps.
Link to my latest montage:
• GOLDEN DEER MEME TEAM ...
Montage playlist:
• FE3H Meme Teams
Link to Nintendo DREAM interview:
serenesforest.net/2020/03/24/...
Music used from FE3H:
Woven by Fate, Golden Deer and Crescent Moon, Arcana Code, Three Crowns, Learning Lessons, King of Lions
Outro: Olberic Theme from Octopath Traveler
Thanks for watching! Next major video should be my Blue Lions Meme Team, which will be themed around Xenoblade, stay tuned!
RANKING ALL FIVE Routes in the Story of Fire Emblem: Three Houses - เกม
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The biggest positive about Claude's route?
*God Shattering Star*
Yeeees
Claude himself
As someone who disliked VW, the biggest positive to me was that although I didn't like Claude much, his support actually made characters I do like much better. Because they feel stronger on their home route than on any other. Hilda and Lorenz are my 2 favorite Golden Deer and their supports with Claude are IMO some of Claude's best supports. Neither character is the same when recruited elsewhere: Lorenz never gets the chance to become friends with Claude, and Hilda never really matures. Claude helps both become stronger characters on their default route, and his support with a few others are great too, like with Marianne.
I just wish Claude himself was better written, I suppose.
@@l.n.3372 honestly agree. Claude is pretty okay as a character but he's not as well written as Dima or El. He's so not connected to the entire plot. With Dima & El, their boss battle makes sense because they fought against the last thing that stands against their ideals while Claude battles Nemesis? He comes out of nowhere and he has no connection with Claude whatsover. But God Shattering Star is the only good thing about his boss battle. Maybe they made it really good for the most anticlimactic final battle
@@mythoughtsexactly2145
It's a good song but I think it's overrated. It feels like they wanted to capture the feel of say, Twilight of the Gods. But that song was already good in 8 bit lmao
As someone who played VW first, I feel the route was more focused on Claude’s search for answers about Fodlan more than Claude himself, which is a shame because Claude could’ve easily been the most interesting of the lords had VW be more personal to him.
yes, just imagine exploring almawyra. a continent that is supposly bigger than fodland.
@@alexanderflores7422 That would be extremely compelling, and now you’re making me wish for more DLC lmao
Literallyyyyyy Silver Snow honestly just ruined the whole game. If they just never did it and just did the 3 fully fleshed out... When will IS get it completely right??
It sounds like they need more competent writers beyond those who write fan fictions.
@@mansoor6678 just search for my comment in this section, you will understand how much more this game could use.
except if they make a final fantasy/remake move, taht would be awesome.
I think one of the reasons why Azure Moon is such a great story is because every Blue Lions student gets involved in the main story, which makes the entire narrative more believable in a sense that everyone was affected by this war even way before it started. Dedue, Ingrid, Felix and Annette got affected by the aftermath of the Tragedy of Duscur, Sylvain and Ashe's relatives are part of White Cloud's main story, and Mercedes is related to the Death Knight. Not to mention most of them except Ashe are all childhood friends so their supports tend to get deeper instead of "haha your personality trait!" or "I relate to you because I explained a backstory that somehow fits us"
Another reason why its really fascinating. White Clouds really benefited Blue Lions in general. Like I said with Miklan & Lonato but also when you pit Mercie against the Death Knight, Dimitri relating to Byleth on losing a loved one, Gilbert also helping taking down Miklan, Flame Emperor's build up makes much more impact, and especially when Dimitri really comforts Byleth at her lowest point and in comes full circle when Byleth tells him what he said to her before at his lowest point.
This is so true. My favorite students are the blue lions. And they are the ones most involved in the main story as you said. The other houses are just..... there. Or rather the students. Azure Moon just has the best build up in my opinion. But I still like the other characters. Bernie is just too precious.
Nikita Akashya I feel the same even if my two other favourites Bernadetta and Marianne aren’t part of the house it’s still a good cast (I do think Marianne X Dimitri is a very good outcome considering what they’ve been through)
I totally agree. I played BL first and I was so surprised to learn that White Clouds was just...the same. When I was playing BL I assumed it was tailored to the house but nope. It just works so well for BL.
Impossible 28 fr same
I think that in blue lions there is the only thing that makes jeralts death actually meaningful. We learn more about dimitri and his experiences with losing his family and also dimitris reason to live, wich also further explains his behaviour during the boar phase. Furthermore, in the boar phase, dimitri mentions jeralts death and byleths lust for vengeance to say that byleths a hypocrite for telling him to stop. The other routes dont have a reason as to why he has to be dead or do anything with it aside from showing us a cult we already know exist
Azure moon first one
He is a man of culture
He is a man of Duscur
or as i like to call it.... a sheep
I did Azure Moon as my first blind run
Only those that don't care for the plot prefer that route.
@@richardshiflett5181 no more like the lore, in terms of plot, azure moon is really good
You know my problem with VW is that it's so little about Claude, he is just the narrator instead of Seteth.
*The game is actually more about Claude when you don't pick his route.*
When you play Azure Moon, Silver Snow or Crimson Flower you get a glimpse of Claudes genius by having the outward appearance of having a internal quarrel, so the Empire doesn't try to kill him immediatly.
The month before Claude gets his relevant chapter
(in AS you save his life and see more of his tactical genius by the way he set up the positioning of his troops (like Hilda guarding the tiny and only bridge).
Also all of Deirdrus inhabitants are safely waiting on ships. Cunning bastard.)
(in crimson flower he summons the Almyrans to help, and the unit placement is even more terrific then in AS obviously)
(I don't remember SS honestly it was so neglageble for me)
everyone in the monestary talks about the way Claude leads the country and how he even has his own title to go along with his schemes.
Hubert compliments him about how he was prepared regardless of the outcome.
But at least we got the Nemesis fight, right?
Well there is still nothing significant about Claude there, it's more about Hildas character development than Claudes.
R.I.P. Claude one of the coolest characters in the game
Definitely agree that VW should have been rewritten to be more about Claude.
I have to agree VW is a lot from silver snow but Claude does talk to you about how ideals a lot and you learn a ton about him during the route as well as his idea of a new dawn being way different than silver snow being open to all countries
I completely understand why you would like VW the least though, because it really does feel like it isn't all connected, but personally I just liked all of the characters as well as the information on byleth, etc. And what fódlan would have become after him. But dang, I love the other routes a lot as well and I'm probably going to play through them again especially crimson flower because I played it before the updates with jeritza
@@clauke4014 Yes I see it now, I should've phrased it differently, the route is alot about Claude, but only the talk side of Claude, he's not doing anything differently than Seteth would have done.
Where is the chapter where we go to almyra to recruit the Almyrans or if not that, than why didn't we at least get the Almyrans to help with nemesis or something, Claudes route just isn't unique at all.
IDC if he talks about ideals and stuff, it doesn't impact the story.
@@yoshi7193 True, I just personally liked the ending of it as in what fódlan became the most, but yeah, understandable.
So I'm going to play Devil's Advocate for Verdant Wind. The point of Claude is that he's an outsider, it's even one of his victory quotes. The core idea of Three House's story is that something is deeply broken within Fodlan but while everyone senses it no one can seem to identify exactly what it is. Enter Claude, a character defined by trying to figure out people's hidden intentions and gaining understanding of other cultures. It would take an outsider who was not directly influenced by the dealings of Fodlan to pick apart what in the world is plaguing this land. Because Rhea is too roped up in resurrecting her mother to care. Edelgard is too caught up in her war. And Dimitri falls to insanity and obsession with Edelgard. Nobody can see that Kingdom vs Empire is just the sequel to Seiros vs Nemesis which itself is the sequel to Sothis vs Agartha. Except for Claude who isn't blinded by personal hang ups.
claude is instead blinded by being an outsider and only desires to destroy the borders for his own selfish reasons to make everyone else an outsider, he's easily the most selfish of the available lords
@@Demonic0Jester The most selfish or the least concerned about everyone trying to fulfill their personal vendettas. His quest for knowledge is the only thing that actually gets to the bottom of all of Fodlan's problems and it's summated by the fact that his route has the best final boss.
Maybe that was the point the game was trying to make.
(Just debating, don't take it too seriously)
@@blackmanwhitesuit his route would create the worst long term problems that would only be solvable through extreme methods
@@Demonic0Jester That's because he's striving for real lasting change, which would obviously have the biggest repercussions.
Edelgard talks a big game, but in the end, she misses the mark. Dimitri is just trying his best. Claude is opening pandora's box and trying to solve it. He's crazy and I love it.
@@blackmanwhitesuit well not really, he's just destroying fodlan by making it part of almyra, he could just go make almyrans not be raiding barbarians instead
Azure Moon is so good I can't bring myself to play other routes because I don't want to see Dimitri die lol
Wanna see Dimitri with 2 eyes? Crimson flower
this is a mood
I only see truth here
Kinda the opposite, dont wanna see edelgard die
Same
AM is my favourite not only from a narrative sense and by having the best character arc, it's the only route where Dimitri doesn't die. That's just the icing on the cake
Couldn't agree more!
I liked it cause it had the best cutscenes
Arcanium the Adventurer depressing doesn’t make it bad. Persona 3 is far more depressing, but it’s the second best in the persona series. It’s a tragedy, with an ending full of hope.
@Arcanium the Adventurer Dimitri is happier and they do take down slither in the dark... so it’s the best outcome for Fodlan imo... since fun fact: if you recruit everyone... this can be the route where the most people survive with only Edelgard and Hubert dying
@@davidklassen5791 debatable
The thing about 3 houses is that your first playthrough is something that stays with you to a degree where it has major biased because a large amount of the flaws don’t materialise until multiple playthroughs and the magic finally fades.
I played VW first and its my favourite. I love the Deers and think they’re the best characters.
I played silver snow first. No bias there lmao
I dunno abt that. I played CF first and honestly I never felt any special way towards Edelgard 💀 although maybe it’s because even going through her route I didn’t totally agree with her
@@gemlue7827 Same here. Playing CF first, yet never really buying into Edelgard's ideals leads to a route where you feel like a villain. Seeing how far Edelgard goes in non-CF routes just further fueled my disgust over her actions
@@relic5752 I played BL first, so I kinda already have a bias towards edelgard
I actually think blue lions ending is the best because it summarizes all that happened. Dimitri hands edelgard his hand, showing that he is willing to forgive her and not end the war with death. When Edelgard took out her dagger, dimitri kills her, showing that he is benevolent but not too much. Dimitri lets the dagger fall to the floor and doesnt take it back up. The dagger is sign of edelgards rebellion. Dimitri not taking it shows that he wont start a war like this and wont cut out a path to the future like her. When dimitri and byleth leave the room, dimitri looks back one last time to the dark room with his dead sister in it. Byleth takes his hand and leads him away from the room to the bright outside with a living crowd. This shows dimitri focussing on the dead wich let him to a dark place and byleth leading him away from that and into the light and the living. Thanks to byleth, dimitri will live for the living, not the dead
The ending to AM is beautifully subtle, with a lot of ambiguous symbols and this gives it so much room for creative and meaningful interpretations, thanks for sharing yours!
@@BlueBarossa youre welcome. I think that golden deer has a hidden leave your past behind. Claude doesnt talk much about his past and the theme of antiracism fits with the image that the past doesnt matter. Claude realized that. Marianne needs to realize that her crest doesnt mean that shes a bad luck charm. Raphael is past the death of his parents and tells ignatz that it wasnt his fault and leave it behind. Lorenz realizes that the background of one doesnt mean anything and that commoners can change the world. Lysithea does get her revenge on TWSITD. That theme is great and sends a good message but it unfortunately is hidden behind silver snows story. Rip claude
One thing I think a lot of people don't see about AM's ending is how it affects Edelgard's character. Her throwing the dagger wasn't her trying to kill Dimitri in a last act of rebellion, it was a suicide. She lost, and in her mind, the only way Fodlan could know peace was if one of them died. That's why she didn't accept his mercy and why she attacked him. Edelgard know that he'd stab her on instinct if she attacked him, and so she used him to take her own life and secure Fodlan's future. Kinda funny that even when she dies, she's victorious in a way.
@@NEETKitten i wouldnt call her victorious cause she dies and the new world she wants wont come but yeah youre definitefly right she sees her death or her victory as only options. Shes stubborn and determined to her goals and will follow them as long as she lives but realizes that there is bad in her deeds so she sees purpose in her death
@@B_A-tr Remember, she wants a united Fodlan, and while not in the way she wants, that's exactly what Dimitri creates. I'd call that at least a partial victory.
When playing Azure Moon, you feel powerful with how you can just blast through and also the final boss is fair and not annoying like Silver Snow.
Cf final chapter is the worst. Everythongs burning and all your land units start to suck. The reinforcement suck ass and by the end you wanna die
@@B_A-tr CF final is super easy once you know what triggers the reinforcements, probably the easiest of the 4 final maps.
@@luukjansen4221 it doesn't matter how easy the chapter is AFTER your first playthrough. Any map in the game is a cake walk if you know the ins and outs and intricacies. What truly matters is the first time you play the map and the CF final map is the MOST ANNOYING SHIT EVER. The Black Eagles route incentives you to have a higher than average number of mages, then in the final map fills the enemy ranks with tons of Falcon Knights that are next to immune to magic and will double your mages into the grave if they even think of standing anywhere withing ten spaces of any of them. The golems, the long lasting monster units, are 100% immune to magic damage until you break their armor, but god forbid you send any of your tanky units in to do that because their weapon shreds defense like nothing and has a 3 space range (Hope you didn't like using Edelgard in this map becasue she will get nuked by everything). To top it all off the fire is not only EXTREMELY tedious to move around but it also gimps any cavalry units you have into complete uselessness that can never get anywhere. Everything about the map is built to counter every choice the game incentivises you to make and that is in NO way fun. It sets you up for failure
@@dallasmeeker5577well on my first time playing this map (which was on maddening) I figured out pretty quickly what triggered the falcon Knights from the left and right, so with 2-3 divine pulses that shouldn't be a problem anymore. I can agree that all of your mages are countered pretty hard, but its not like the entire black eagles squad are mages: Edelgard, Petra, Ferdinand, Caspar and Bernadetta, plus assuming Dorothea as dancer, so that makes Linhardt and Hubert are kinda prebuild mages. So unless you only recruited/built everyone to be a mage, it shouldn't be that hard. They even give you Jeritza who has excellent mixed stats and growths. The Rhea boss is almost too easy since Edelgards Aymr can take out a complete healthbar in one turn.
Tbh I think the second to last map is harder, because if you dont act quickly everything transforms into demonic beasts and while being busy killing them, Serios/Rhea comes to smack your ass.
@@dallasmeeker5577
Sounds like a nice challange.
I think a great strength of Three Houses is how no one side is portrayed as completely in the right. The fact that many conflicts between the former classmates are birthed out of circumstance allows for a sort of tragedy in the actions you are forced to take. And, by allowing the player to experience all of the scenarios and getting to know each of the classes it makes the conflicts more compelling than any one true route ever could.
I agree till the point about the true route not being compelling. There is actually a huge and realtively easy way to portray a true route. The most ideal ending would simply be preventing Edelgard's war from happening as in the grand scheme of things it does end up being pointless and instead we would actually help her become a more whole person while concentrating on the true evil that is usually just glanced over in the routes, the TWSITD.
I did not enjoy Crimson Flower personally because it doesnt answer any of the questions I would have had of Edelgard there, they are deliberately avoided only showing Edelgard and her actions in worse light then even in the other routes, because there you can presume she has the answers. To me it always felt like "helping Edelgard, does not equaly helping Edelgard fight her war", they are almost opposed to each other, as she is at least partially a broken person, even at the very end she would rather chose death then the hand offered even tho it could still lead to her ideals becoming real.
Tell that to the BL fanboys.
@@KaiSaeren How is her war pointless? You must be lying no way you played CF and managed to miss every single detail.
@@jxrage9134 Her war is pointless, however as with many things it comes down to a point of view. That being said, how and why would anyone lie about this, people who havnt played the game likely wouldnt care to write comments on it either, I have played 6 playthroughs at this point so I have a good grasp of what is in the game, CF actually provides very little in ways of Edelgard explaining her vision beyond few buzzwords, and straight up ignores many questions player would have, Im surprised you feel so strongly about this, unless you indeed missed some details.
The reason I think her war is pointless can be largely summed up by this very beautiful quote from Terry Pratchet: “It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.”
The world she will create will not be better, in fact there is every chance it will be worse, given the state of Fodlan and its economics after draining 6 year continent wide war. Her world will still have greed, cruelty, fear, pain and suffering, things will be called different names but fundamentals will stay the same.
There will be new religion, whatever it is, because people flock to something the can believe in.
This tortured, young girl with an incredibly limited understanding and view of the world that has already decided by the young age of 17 that she will conquer and rule the entire continent does all of this simply because she believes she can do better. That is partly because of her powers, her terrible upbringing, her shortened lifespan and largely due to her gargantuan messiah complex due to all those things.
She wants to create new world order where things will be better, if indeed that is what she wishes However her rule will be deeply flawed, just like there are now TWSITD and many corrupted nobles, instead there will new groups under different names circumventing or going around the laws she will create.
The world which we do not even yet know will be any better, has every potential to be even worse, has already been paid for by the blood of thousands if not more.
And thats not counting that now, with Fodlan under one rule, all it takes is for one weak emperror, or one that doesnt agree with her ideals for everything to fall apart and the blood being wasted.
On top of that, because of her upbringing and limited understanding of the world, she continually ignores the larger threat that TWSITD are and only deals with them in an epilogue, which provides no details, who knows how long that war took and how bloody it was.
And as far as crests go, ignoring how she ascribes failures to the system while credit goes to the individuals, it couldnt possibly work both ways, crests take care of themselfs, they only ever came to prominence because of their power, the power people ascribed to them because of their usefullness, Hanneman can create tools for people without crests in every route foregoing much of their effectivness. However just as Edelgard uses her crest to achieve what she wants, if another war came on Fodlan, she or her descendants would again use those with powerful crests to defend them, as those in the past did, which is how they became important.
Even in her new system where crests would no longer be as important, the values would simply shift, suddenly people would value intleligence over anything else, or other magical qualities which will allow people to "game" the meritocracy she will establish and new ways to explot that would come about.
Just look at our modern politicaly correct world, it still sucks for so many people.
To summ up, people are people and always will be, they are responsible for the good and bad that befals them for the most part, society and culture can be changed, influenced and improved over time but her war is simply one of ideals without even a clear path forward, its a gamble with lifes of thousands if not more and as I wrote, I believe what she really fights is the human condition, so even if she wins, even if everything works out perfectly to how she imagines it, the world will stay largely the same, hence her war is pointless. The church she fights isnt evil, we know that, it is simply flawed, much like her future will be, much like she and Rhea both are, similar as they are to begin with.
She simply doesnt see any other way and that is because she is already hurt, twisted, confused and alone by the time we meet her. Friends can put friends straight, family can put family straight, but she only ever had Hubert if that, who will always make her ingrained faults only worse.
I would like to help Edelgard be a more complete, better person, so that her life would be better, she even says it herself, the little girl Dimitri knew is dead, this is the ultimate leader Edelgard, not a person Edelgard and because of that she is blind to many things and can only do what she set out to do, all the way to the end, otherwise everything she has already done, sacrificed and lost, would be pointless, even if a helping hand was offered, she wouldnt be able to accept it.
@@KaiSaeren Don't even have to read the hole thing you wrote, to know you weren't paying attention in CF.
Don't give me none of that, "the world will still have some problems, so her war is pointless." You can't even call it her war because it was inevitably going to happen anyway with twisted and the church. The same amount of lives would be loss if not more because, no one would be able to stop Twisteds nukes. Edelgard knew, which is one of the reasons she had to pretend to work with them and fight the church FIRST. Her starting the war in it self already limited the amount of casualties.
Every routes ending still has problems, but that's just how the world is, Edelgard wasn't trying to make a perfect world because that doesn't exist. She was trying to get rid of twisted, the corrupt, dictating church, the awful nobility system, the oppression of those with out crests and the overrating of those with crests (this is due to Rhea and the church.) It's clear she knew she can't change everything, but she wanted to change as many things in the world for the better, within her shortened life span and war was the only way to do this.
Overall the war is still worth it because of the results in the end:
No more nobility, no more abusing of crests, no more heiristocracy, no more poor commoners, FREE EDUCATION (which couldn't be achieved without a war, it was suggested by Ferdinand), improved relations with other nations ( also needed a war, in VW too, stated by Claude himself that he would start a war to get rid of racism, just like Edelgard), all corrupt nobles have been stripped of power by Edelgard herself, commoners can now rise into power through merit, no more twisted, no more corrupt church, no more phycotic lizard dictators (Rhea), no more experiments on children, no more nukes (twisted are confirmed to be entirely defeated), the list goes on, there are countless benifets to the war that was coming anyway, Edelgard took advantage of that and used it to change the world for the better. In the end she saved more then a thousand more lives than all the lives lost in general.
Think about how many more lives would be completely destroyed due to nobility, crests, twisted, ect all these things were only stoped through war. The fact that you can blatantly ignore everything accomplished along with the epilogue that says she OBTAINED LASTING PEACE, proves you to be ridiculously biased, to the extent of ignoring in game FACTS. Children would still be getting experimented on and disowned due to the missplaced value of crests, for crying out loud Rhea herself says that all these things ARE COMMON OCCURRENCES (PLAY THE GAME AGAIN!) Some many more people would have died and or have lived terrible lives.
No matter what Rhea says it is clear Fodlan was definitely not a peaceful place before the war and it was only getting worse. With no one to stop Rhea and the church except twisted the world was inevitably screwed and killing off both of them in a war for humanity is what saved Fodlan.
Also CF has the best outcome when compared to the other routes as well so I don't see your point, AM literally just ends the war and then everything stays the same if not worse now that a child murdering lunatic is on the throne, lol don't think the people will be ok with that, unlike Edelgard he didn't save them from anything he just kinda neat the empire and that's it crests, nobility, racism, twisted are all still a major issue not to mention his system that will immediately fail once he dies or is assassinated (worst outcome.) VW EnDs RaCiSm, but then forgets about literally everything else wrong with Fodlan.
The things I like about each story, things to consider:
Blue angry man story has angry Blue man and everything he sees is just blue like him inside and outside, blue his house and... the you just have a laugh with your friends while blue man violently vibrates in the corner from time to time until he has a good cry. Pretty emotional war story.
Red girl wants to be called Flame man until she gets bored of school, basically just follow her around, school Dark Spiker tag along, at least Jeritza wants you to kill him AND have sex him, at the same time. Pretty good “bullied the wrong kid at school” story.
Some yellow person is upside down church path but you get witty banter while you stand on roof. Gravity isn’t something for you, Green Jesus, to fear. Pretty good book I read upside down.
The Church is mad because Red girl was Flame girl who was bad girl. Your weird religious friends tell you to become a weaponised pope and it’s probably the only route where you can legitimately go around shouting, “Degenerates like you belong on a cross.” Because you are Green Pope Jesus and everyone to pay you tithing each month. Pretty good bible I wrote.
Bonus.
Story before war:
Some not feel so well person gets forced into teaching rich kids about killing the poor until grey ppl start appearing. The grey ppl aren’t actually poor so you really struggle killing them, so you start killing the wild life to force them to starve to death... then your kids get mad at some Red Kid because she has bad taste in Halloween costume and yeah... was she my kid? I dunno... all I know is these support levels aren’t raising themselves so I can marry my favourite kid...
Jeritza’s Ice Cream.
“Red girl wants to be called flame man until she gets bored of school” is probably the most accurate description of this game out there
Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?
Just... Yes. XD
*Alcohol affects where’s off* ok let’s read it again. Oh same comment
Yeah can't forget the using my sword to piercing Jeritza's flesh part
1. Azure moon - Dimitris redemption arc was done extremely well and the cast of characters in this route were my personal favorite. It was the most enjoyable story for me and the ending was perfect. You see how far Dimitri has come and how he is willing to forgive Edelgard. Simply put if you remove Dimitri from this route, it’s nothing. This route focuses mainly on the characters and story which I value you the most in Fire emblem.
2. Crimson Flower - This was my first route I played and Edelgard was such an interesting lord. Instead of being some scumbag emperor who wants to take over the world for power, she does it to try and save the people of Fodlan. Although it contains only 18 chapters the final two in Tailtean and Fhirdiad were my favorite maps within this game. However for me the black eagles cast happens to be my least favorite of all the cast. If the developers just added a little more in this route I believe that it could be my favorite route, maybe add some those who slither conflict.
3. Verdant Wind - Although it’s 3rd Verdant wind is still very solid. Claude was probably my least favorite lord of the three but even so he has his moments. The golden deer class as of whole has some of my favorite characters. The ending of Golden deer is also very well done and the final map has God shattering Star. It addresses all the conflicts like Rhea, Those who slither, Empire, Kingdom, Almayra. It’s definitely the most complete route unlike Crimson flower. To me the story and characters were lacking but the worldbuilding is well done. I also feel that it’s not as a tragic as crimson flower and azure moon was.
4. White clouds - This is an extremely important route because it sets everything up for the post time skip. It can sometimes be boring because the chapters aren’t that exciting to me, but it allows you to get to know the characters within the monastery which I greatly appreciated. It also does a good job in portraying dread like after Jeralts death, or the empire invading Garreg Mach. Overall it can be boring, but without this route the rest of the game wouldn’t be that spectacular.
5. Silver snow - This is a unique route where you don’t have a main lord within your army. It’s essentially the golden deer route with the church and the black eagles students and I’d rather take the golden deer students. Although it is tragic killing Edelgard, that’s about the only thing that impacts you. The final boss is the immaculate one which was annoying because of all the goddamn miracle units. The routes not necessarily bad, just compared to others it simply can’t compete.
John Carlson great opinions! Cool to see another fan of Dimitri’s redemption! :)
How exactly Silver snow and golden deer are the same? like, It might be true to some point but the route also have a lot of familiarities with crimson flower, like the final boss
Azure Moon have a same Silver Snow too. The first four chapters post-timeskip. Silver snow have no Gronder Field and Final map is different compared Verdant Wind.
But Silver Snow was written before Verdant Wind, so the criticism should instead be towards Verdant Wind for being a carbon copy of Silver Snow.
I finished Silver snow but i can tell Rhea was the hardest boss
Verdant Wind is actually my favourite route. And while it’s basically Silver Snow, I actually think it’s an improvement. (This is not to hate, I just want to voice my opinion from what I’ve seen with Verdant Wind.)
Claude’s character is very well summarised by his A support with Marianne. He has a burden being mix-blood, but he chooses to cast it aside so he can focus on what he believes is right. It’s kinda like what Dimitri learns in his route, just Claude made that decision earlier. He’s not troubled by his past, instead, like Edelgard, he looks to the future.
As for Nemesis... while Claude has no personal connection to Nemesis, symbolically, Nemesis is the perfect final fight. When one wishes to create a new future, they may also need to confront the past. (Metaphorically and/or literary). When Claude and Byleth face Nemesis, they are, in a way, bringing an end to the world as it once was under Rhea’s guidance. When they strike down Nemesis, they wiped the slate clean, and now they can construct a new Fodlan.
Another thing I want to mention, unlike the other routes, I can feel a real connection between the members of the Golden Deer outside of Supports and battle. Every single Golden Deer student get’s there moment to actually contribute to the overall plot. Lorenz is always critical of Claude, Hilda constantly acts as a motivator (as well as... explaining what happens to Dimitri (Which is my biggest critique of the route)), Raphael stays behind to defend the Great Bridge of Myrddin, Ignatz delivers a letter to Fort Merceus, Lysithea expresses her insight into Those who Slither in the Dark, Marianne tells the legend of Ailell, and Leonie tells Claude and Byleth about the attack on Garreg Mach. From what I’ve seen, the only other students that actually do anything in regards to the plot are Felix, Hubert and Dedue. Everyone else is just kinda there... and yes, you could do it without these students, but the fact that the whole class gets to do something instead of just fading into the background really elevated the experience for me.
I will mention two critiques that I have with that route: They definitely should have made a different scene for Edelgard’s death, but I don’t mind it that much... but oh boy did they do Dimitri dirty in this route... both this route and Silver Snow really dropper the ball with Dimitri (and Claude In SS). Second, I wish that they were much more clear with how Nemesis was resurrected... it doesn’t make sense why both Silver Snow and Verdant Wind go on similar paths, but end up two different ways. And to the argument that TTSITD needed an extra month, that’s actually not the case, because Silver Snow actually skips a month. (Yep, they go from month 3 to month 5 rendering that argument invalid.)
All that said, I can see people liking Edelgard and Dimitri’s routes better, but I just thought I’d voice my opinion as I absolutely love Verdant Wind, and I just adore the Golden Deer as a whole. (Silver Snow on the other hand....)
For me personally... from worst to best:
Silver Snow
Crimson Flower (Coolest route in concept, but I think they should have done more.)
Azure moon (It is a fantastically written route, but I do have gripes about curtain moments)
Verdant Wind (Explained above)
I hate what VW did to dimitri. Like even though CF is my least favorite route of the three lords at least it showed him some respect with an onscreen death. Even SS gave him a few moments with byleth!
hey, you forgot my favorite scene of Verdant Wind! Near the final chapters all of the house members except Claude and Byleth are together and start talking. I love how each one has some kind of hope for their leaders while also throwing around jokes like old friends. I also loved Marianne's analogy, it's literally Verdant Wind with Claude being the Wind and Byleth being the Verdant tree
Friso Laxod I didn’t forget it. I just didn’t think it would add to my argument. I love that scene as well, but I didn’t think it was worth mentioning, since my argument was more focused on Claude, Nemesis and how each student got to do their own thing outside of the other classmates.
My worst to best:
Azure Moon: Like the video said, this is all about Dmitri, which means it didn't solve any issues with regards to Fodlan's bloody history. What happened to the church and TWSITD here? So Dmitri just became king and then happily ever after?
Silver Snow: Not fond of Church characters
Crimson Flower: Could have been as good as VW if the final goal was to eliminate TWSITD
Verdant Wind: This may not be about Claude, but the overall goal to unite Fodlan by opening borders is a classic. And defeating Nemesis? Most satisfying boss fight that I still have the urge to ignore other routes and go VW again
I mostly agree with the points made here. The one thing I'll debate against is that I think Byleth is a better character than people give them credit for. While their lack of outward emotion makes them a prime player insert character, that lack of expression is also an integral part of their character. They bring up time and again how emotionless Byleth seems early-game, so much so that they were even given the nickname of Ashen Demon (the sickest nickname ever) back when they were a mercenary.
They continue to build on this throughout the White Clouds. Whenever someone asks Byleth about their past, their answers are always vague and uncertain, as if nothing in their life really mattered to them all that much. While it works perfectly well as a blank slate for our player insert, the fact remains that this past EXISTS. As a mercenary with no stable home and few close connections, Byleth never got a chance to get attached to anything, likely not helped by how different they were from everyone else (emotionless face, no heartbeat, etc). It wasn't until they became a teacher that they really found a purpose, something to hold on to, something to make them feel like they belonged. Their character arc throughout the early game is all about Byleth becoming attached to their students and learning to express themselves for the first time in their lives.
The moment I really fell in love with Byleth as a character is toward the end of White Clouds. Their father, who in his final moments was relieved to see that his emotionless child really did care about him, was killed. And in their quest to avenge him, they ended up sacrificing one of their closest companions to ascend to the level of godhood. They returned home from their mission victorious, but all their students, whom they grew to care for over the year, now treated them differently, as if they were now somehow out of reach. Dorathea's dialogue in particular makes it feel like Byleth lost something important in their ascension. On top of that is their new acquired class of The Enlightened One. Part of enlightenment is learning to let go of worldly desires, which is the antithesis to the character arc Byleth had been going through all this time. The whole scenario felt like such a somber affair that made me really appreciate the character beneath the player insert.
Byleth's characterization also lends itself well to the multiple routes. They don't fight these wars for the sake of any particular ideals, they fight it for their attachments. For their students. They've made it their purpose in life to stand by them, to help them, and to fight alongside them for THEIR ideals.
So that's why I unironically love Byleth. I think the way they were made is actually pretty brilliant, making them a serviceable player insert while being a compelling character in their own right, kind of like Breath of the Wild's Link. This doesn't actually make me like the Silver Snow route any more, I still think the ending is a mess and that the Byleth Lore you get here isn't worth going through an entire route, but there ya go.
I just hated the inclusion of Fleche in AM I mean, come on such a neglegiable character playing such a major role?
But then again, there's Kronya...
IS really needs to work on the importance of each character.
Ahahahahaha Kronya getting introduced with such a badass design and getting killed off in that same chapter is some kind of twisted joke for sure.
Yeah kronya is uff
nobody even talks about Fleche thats how unnecessary she is
@@yoshi7193 see the positive. Fleche serves as a mirror to dimitri. Kronya literally only exists to kill jeralt wich has no consequence
Honestly, I would have loved if Kronya was a character like Shura from Fates (at least how he was presented in the Conquest route). She somehow manages to stay alive after the sealed forest, and asks to join you after she betrayed TWSITD (I imagine she won't be so enthusiastic about their goal after nearly being killed by one she thought was an ally for it, you saw how desperate she was at her end), and you get the option to either kill or show mercy. You kill, you get a very potent buff item, such as Boots/Shoes of the Wind (+1 to movement). You mercy, you get a new unit. Would have been an exceptional option to add in the DLC.
It would have also been a great opportunity to give us an insider's eye into TWSITD. What they are, how their leadership works, possibly even a look into how they're able to disguise themselves so effectively! Heck, even without supports, I'd probably prefer her over Anna.
Claude is an amazing character. His route kinda sucks.
Tell me bout it. The golden deer have this motive of not letting your background decide who you are. I also think that there is an idea that claude has no clue jow the weak feel. Like how he says that your background doesnt decide how bad your live is to kostas. Theres also something in the cyril support that ticked me of.
But he has the best final boss by far
It was epic as hell with nemesis and at least we know more about the church
Let me restate that: the plot is mostly identical to SS other than you actually go to Gronder and you get to fight Nemesis, which, I must admit, was awesome.
@@anthonystrangio no arguments there.
I started with Azure Moon and I absolutely loved that route and couldn't wait to explore the rest of them. Needless to say, I was disappointed with the content the other routes offered
The same happened for me I was so excited to see the other perspectives that were offered so when I did Verdant Wind I was extremely disappointed that the emotional stakes were nonexistent. Then I did Crimson Flower after and was excited to see Edelgard’s perspective and maybe understand her motives but by the end of it I didn’t dislike her any less than I did when playing Azure Moon. Experiencing Azure Moon as your first route really is a hell of a ride and I’m so proud of the fact that I chose the Blue Lions as my first house but it kinda sucked that it was all downhill from there. After finishing all the routes I went back to Azure Moon for my fifth playthrough just to get the bad taste that the other routes left out of my mouth lol.
Arcanium the Adventurer provided you recruit everyone it’s the route that results in the fewest deaths and overall happiest outcome
Arcanium the Adventurer any characters that you avoid killing directly probably die anyway off screen as they are never seen again and it would make no sense for them to somehow survive despite directly opposing you and being backed into a corner with no way out. In CF Dimitri, Dedue, Rhea, Catherine, Cyril, Gilbert, Judith and Hilda all die there is no way around this. While in AM the only characters that die are Edelgard, Hubert and Jeritza all 3 of which are central antagonists so their deaths are necessary and I shed no tears over them. Dimitri gets to overcome his trauma and reclaim his homeland as well as all of Fodlan and honestly he deserves it and Claude gets to rule Almyra. Given that they part on good terms this will foster friendly relations with Fodlan and Almyra who were previously always antagonistic towards each other.
Arcanium the Adventurer Rhea gets a bad wrap and was never Edelgard’s true enemy and she only becomes an antagonist if Byleth betrays her despite having very little reason to do so. I could go into a big essay explaining why Rhea isn’t evil like Edelgard claims but it would be a lot to type out this video here basically covers it.
th-cam.com/video/N5w0b9zzbO8/w-d-xo.html
Azure Moon is honestly better if it ISN'T your first route, nothing against it, it truly is a good story but it's so much better and emotional with the context from the other routes especially the final cutscene if you understand Edelgard's character. Plus if you don't want to be disappointed with the rest of the route it's at least a good way to keep your hopes up or at least have a good final route to end off your three houses experience. Its what I did and I was satisfied (CF, SS, VW, AM in that order is what I did). I loved all the stories to be honest but AM while I loved it, I was strangely glad that it wasn't my first one (and also glad that CF was my first because dammit, I'm disappointed that it's so rushed)
I found it actually somewhat amusing how the Ashen Wolves actually completes Dimitri's story. The one thing that they never showed was about his family life before the Tragedy. Hapi and her support for him finally brings closure. Things were building up to a head far before the Tragedy that nobody saw and brings in the question of what actually happened to his step mother. At the same time, his A rank ending with Hapi brings They Who Slither into the BL Narrative and lets them deal with that, despite the fact that you accidentally killed the entire hierarchy of They Who Slither without actually knowing about it throughout Azure Moon.
As for the Enbarr vs. Other choice was actually due to the cut content. If you picked Enbarr, Annette and Felix would leave you to join Edelgard after Rodrigue's Death because they couldn't agree to Dimitri's blood soaked path of revenge. So when you fight to take back the Kingdom, they would be there on one side of the map each. It was cut because the developers were worried taking them out would severely affect peoples team comps and make the map essentially unwinnable if you didn't know and invested too much in them personally.
To be honest, i'm grateful that they cut that, i would hate Felix because of that of course, but with Annette it would hurt more for me because i was looking forward to marry her (eventually i did it in my Azure Moon run) and definitely i would cry seeing my favourite waifu betraying Dimitri
I actually would have liked to see them keep that. It flows really well with both if their characters
I think that would've been a neat touch, but letting you keep two character up until a bit through part 2 would be a jerk move because chances are you probably didn't train anyone extra unless you were playing on classic
I'm glad someone gets it! AM is unquestionably the best written route in terms of classic story construction elements. I totally understand someone having another favorite, but in terms of story construction, it's unmatched compared to VW's lack of stakes and Claude's irrelevance, CF's lying about its expectations with TWSITD and hand-waving potentially great conflict because it might make Edelgard look bad, and SS criminally underutilizing Rhea and Edelgard.
AM sets up expectations, plays them out, completes its themes, has an antagonist that's doesn't either pop up out of nowhere or gets vilified to make the protagonist look better, isn't afraid to let its main characters make mistakes and uses them to create conflict rather than ignoring them, plays out its themes, has an actual character arc, the side-cast is more relevant, etc . . . It's the only route where it feels like something actually happened during the time-skip and doesn't essentially boil down to "we sat and did nothing until the self-insert comes back and wins everything for us." It's not all perfect in presentation, but it's the best written bar-none.
This is totally how I feel as well and great point about how AM really used the time skip to great effect.
I'd argue Edelgard does get villified to fit Dimitri's story and make him look better, due to lack of information on why she's doing everything.
That's the problem with AM it is the route that pays the least attention to the details and whats going on in the world. It's the route that feels extremely unfulfilled, the most that happens is you end a war and the world stays almost exactly the way it was, completely defeating the purpose. The story of AM is quite literally just Dimitri's little world where nothing else matters, it almost seems like your fighting for the sake of fighting because all Dimitri's reasons are rather false or not the full truth.
I prefer the other routes story over Dimitri's very small redemption/revenge story where he becomes king and accomplishes nothing for the world. I prefer the story about to sides of a conflict, addressing the problems with the world, getting rid of personal problems to accomplish them, saving humanity at any cost, and dealing with the sacrifices that were made.
@@jxrage9134 You can have your opinions, that is fine, but I disagree when you say that Dimitri didn't change anything in Fodlan at the end of AM. He created a nation in which the voices of everyone were listened no matter their bloodline or status, developed peaceful relationships with foreign countries, proved the innocence of the people of Duscur, didn't have to destroy the Church to make it not centralize power nor control the population (Rhea was the worst part of the Church, once she step down and Byleth replaced her as the Archbishop, the Church became a much better organization), and he eventually discovered TWSTD and defeated them (Yes, I know this is only stated in Hapi's solo ending or when paired with Dimitri, but things like the development of relationships with other countries-specially considering that Claude is the king of Almyra- and Dimitri proving the innocence of Duscur are also not stated in every single ending, but it is safe to assume these things did happen during Dimitri's reign in every single possible variation of AM ending, just like Edelgard rebuilding the Church at the end of CF-only stated I think in her paired ending with Manuela, but it can be assumed it happened in every possible variation of CF ending).
Dimitri did create a much better Fodland at the end of AM, just like Edelgard did in CF, Claude in VW and Byleth in SS. AM ending did not leave Fodland the way it was. At the end of AM, Dimitri becomes a benevolent king who loves his people and spends the rest of his live making Fodland a better place for them, so his route is not pointless.
@@luciacamacho444 Proving the innocence of Duscur only makes relations with the Duscur people, so it's not as important as what Claude or Edelgard did Tearing down the borders and all. Commoners voices not being heard wasn't at all the main problem. The problem is that the nobility system was outright terrible and all the wealth, and places of power went to the nobles, unlike what Edelgard did creating a meritocracy (Dimitri being king because he has a crest/ is a noble who is HEIR to the throne and his bloodline.) People would disown their children who don't have crests, experiment on children who didn't have one/ a major one and stated by Rhea these are all common occurrences. The only reason Rhea stepped down is because of the Edelgards war, but she still kept lying to the people telling them that having a crest makes you better than everyone else, not to mention the experiments she did on Byleth and many others. Overall keeping the church around is a bad thing because of all the lies it's filled with that create a divide in society where people aren't treated equally. Edelgard is the only one who addresses this problem and takes action once peace is no longer an option to change things.
Sure Dimitri is a nice king, but that doesn't matter when people around are living terrible lives due to a system built on lies. (Also because his ending with Hapi is DLC and apart of the side story I don't think we can count it, so Twisted is still running around killing/experimenting on children and exacting there revenge. Overall the AM route is the route where the least happens in terms of main story and while I won't say the ending is bad because some small things change, but it is nothing compared to the other routes especially CF.
@@jxrage9134 Dimitri's solo ending:
"After his coronation, Dimitri spent his life reforming and ruling justly over Fódlan. He focused particularly on improving living situations for orphans and *improving foreign relations*. He was known for listening intently to the voices of all, and for instituting a new form of government in which the people were free to be active participants. He lived for his people and alongside them, and was thusly dubbed the Savior King."
His solo ending explains it all. Dimitri reformed the system that oppresed Fodland. Once Rhea step down and Byleth took her place, the Church became much better. There is no need to destroy the Church, it can be reformed.
We also have characters like Sylvain, whose solo ending in *every single route* is:
"As Margrave Gautier, Sylvain devoted his life to improving relations with the people of the Sreng region. *With oration alone, he succeeded in helping to create a new way of life for nobles in which Relics and Crests were no longer viewed as necessary*. Though he went down in history as an extraordinary lord, it nevertheless became customary to refer to cheaters as "sons of Gautier"".
Violence was not the only way to change things.
The experiments were done by TWSTD, which basically controled the Empire.
About what Rhea's experiments, she just created 12 people in 1000 years, aprox. 1 or 2 every 100 years, meaning she allowed all her failures to live their lives and retrieved Sothis' heart once they died, Sitri being a clear example. That does not change the fact that what Rhea did was f*cked up, but it cannot be compared with what Edelgard and Lysithea suffered because of TWSTD.
The Church is by no means the good guy, as the book about science in Abyss show, but the fact that people were obsessed with crests was not the Church's fault, as in the library of the monastery there's a book that states that crests must not be abused. It is a fact that crests grant impressive abilities, Dimitri being the most notable example. Even if there was no Church nor lie about crests being gifts of the goddess, as long as people with crests existed, the crest system would have appeared anyway and crest bearers would have rosen to power anyway. The ones to blame for the crest system are the nobles that overrate crests, being some examples Mercedes' step-father and Sylvain's father. But we also have Rodrigue, who loved his children no matter what crest they had or Ingrid's father, who never forced his daughter to marry if she didn't want to. Also we have Felix, bearer of a Major Crest of Fraldarius, becoming the heir of house Fraldarius only after Glenn died, though we don't know if he had a Major crest as well.
What Edelgard wants is that the position of power is not granted by your bloodline, the best should lead Fodland no matter their blood. In practically all her endings, once her job was done, she found a worthy succesor and retired. I completely agree with her in this particular point, but that does not mean it will work. What if there are *two* or *more* people at the same time that are equally suitable to the possition of Emperor? Each one of them would have part of the population rooting for them. If one of them were chosen, the part of the population that prefer the other candidate(s) will not be happy and would want the candidate they like to be Emperor, meaning a war would happen sooner or later. Things like that have happened in real life.
Inheriting the throne because you are the child of the king is not a sign of equality and it would bring problems eventually, that's a fact, but the succession of power in the way Edelgard wants will also end up in wars.
And finally, the side story is Cindered Shadows. The developers of the game said in an interview that the events of Cindered Shadows did happen off-screen without Byleth and the lords in the main timeline, and we also have Sitri's name finally appearing on her grave, so we can count Hapi's endings and the other Ashen Wolves'. They are canon characters.
I feel like it's all about what you're looking for.
If you want a lore dump, you go Verdant Wind. Silver Snow doesn't give quite as much there.
If you want a character study, you go Azure Moon.
If you want a triumphant accomplishment of a goal, you go Crimson Flower.
If you want more depth into Byleth, you go Cindered Shadows.
you could argue Silver Snow is a balance and in the middle of all those aspects
Azure Moon is BOTH character study and triumphant victory. Crimson Flower is the "what if?" hidden route that lets you play for the other side. And who doesn't enjoy a good evil route?
Azure Moon is my favorite too. Dimitri’s story really touched me. Easily one of my favorite characters ever. I cried quite a few times during the route.
I’m working on my Azure Moon route now and DEFINITELY am appreciating the emotional depth the characters have in this route more than in Verdant Wind. As much as I love Claude I’m a sucker for that character development 🥺
Blue lions is the best cause it's the only path where Dmitri doesn't die.
1. Crimson Flower - First route I did. I’m a sucker for plots involving the strength of humanity. Also Edelgard and Hubert live so it’s worth it.
2. Verdant Wind - Best route for the lore with the best final boss.
3. Azure Moon - Best route emotionally. God bless Dimitri’s character develop.
4. Silver Snow - Way too depressing for my tastes.
I'm a sucker for stories about humanity's fight against a higher force. Crimson Flower is all about the strength of humanity and no need for a god such as Rhea, which is what makes it so great for me, along with Edelgard's development. Always like me a little bit of titanism.
Golden deer appreciation post
GD is perhaps my personal favorite route that I haven’t see to many people comment on, So I figure I say my piece. If’s one two constants in the GD story it’s the ideas of Deception and Truth. For the first half of the game several characters have alternative identities: Edelgard is the flame Emperor(while not foreshadowed it does play into the theme), Solon is Tomas(BTW this is only foreshadowed in the GD route again to play into that deception theme), Jeritza as death knight(while not super relevant to GD I thought I mention), Kronya is Monica, and even Rhea herself as being Saint Seiros and a dragon(which was foreshadowed in GD), even Claude himself doesn’t reveal what he wants until after the time skip.
Contrast that with the 2nd half of the game which is all about finding “the truth” about crest. And that’s thing I love about GD is that post-time-skip early on there’s a established endgame in mind: Rescue Rhea, defeat Edelgard and learn “the truth”. Which makes perfect sense: Claude is a foreigner and is interested in understanding the history of Foldan(much like us the player). Which all the more fitting that player as Byleth also similar in that we are outsiders. Before I go on I must address Byleth’s relationship with Claude. It’s clear early on Claude when we first meet him in the game views us a person from the start. He views Byleth as a friend and mentor best shown that he’s the only character that calls you “teach” throughout the game. Even when he Byleth returns Claude ask if your hungry. It’s clear Claude needs Byleth just as much as the other lords just not in a direct way. It’s says a lot in chapter 13(I believe) there’s a exclusive GD scene where Claude presents a new symbol(the crest of flames). To quote Claude himself “We’re attempting our own miracle, so it seems like a suitable symbol for us.” Then afterwards Hilda complements Claude for rallying the people together but Claude thanks Byleth’s achievements, which shows so how modest he his. He then thanks Byleth and even refers to them as “friend” which is such a interesting detail. And basically goes on about how his “dream” will come to fruition, and uses the metaphor of a bottle opening Fodlan to the rest of the world. Which you can’t help but smile and want to support him in any way you can. This not only shows how ambitious Claude is but also how pure his intentions are. But he still has some room to grow as he still isn’t comfortable telling his peers his goals. Which should tell you how much trust he has in Byleth to share such sensitive things. In general Claude’s characterization of being by far the most mature of the three lords(even recognizing he may be the one to fulfill his dream outside of his route), he’s the most pragmatic. He knows the problem aren’t crest themselves but rather the teachings of the church is what he calls into question. Claude is just a person, a person who just so happens to be in the right circumstances to make his dreams a reality. Once we reach chapter 17 there’s this forward momentum that higher and higher as the stakes rise.
Chapter 17: We fight Edelgard and Dimitri. And I love his “death” scene in the route, it makes sense that it’s anti-climatic: That’s the reality of war and conflict how not everyone gets a happy ending or even an honorable death.
Chapter 18: We see Claude clearly rally Almyra troops to the cause. Also Death Knight not dying here(in SS and GD versions of this map), because It was a Chekhov's Gun meant to warn characters in-story that something bad is going to happen. Also the nukes that happen were actually foreshadowed back in valley of torment chapter by Marianne.
Chapter 19 and 20: We’re pretty going head first and attacking the Empire and defeat Edelgard. Here’s my take on the Edelgard death scene: I disagree with the notion that “it’s better in SS because there’s more build-up/you get a chance to know Edelgard”. The first point doesn’t say much, and Edelgard’s character is very different post-time skip. Now I would like to stress I watched Mangs’ first LP on this game so that gave me a unique perspective on Edelgard’s character post-timeskip(something most first time players/even SS players didn’t have access to) and in my opinion this scene is MORE tragic on GD on thematic level that SS could never achieve. The reason being Edelgard and Claude are foils to each other: Just like her, at the start of the game, he harbors a goal to unite Fódlan under his rule in order to see his ideals and dreams realized, he is very keen to use Byleth to achieve that goal, and he views the Church of Seiros' teachings as an obstacle to that dream. Unlike her, however, he is not particularly keen on using violence or brute force to get his way if he doesn’t have to; he is perfectly fine with reforming or working together with the Church instead of destroying it completely; and, even without Byleth to guide him, he can eventually accept the fact that other people may be better-suited to accomplishing his dreams than he is. Contrast that with Edelgard who is unwilling to compromise and is what ultimately leads to her down fall. This is further supported by fact that in there interaction on this map(something SS does not have assess too) highlights they have a similar motivation but have different values that conflict with each other. Regardless of what Route your playing on it is sad that Byleth has to cut down a former student. In her final moments Edelgard clearly understands that she can’t carry out her goal any further so she entrusted Byleth to finish the job, and we do exactly that. And in a way that concludes the story that the being of the Timeskip started. We defeated Edelgard, we finally rescued Rhea, and we will finally learn “the truth”(dependent on which route your on), and we’re about deal with the REAL enemy, and finish them off for good. To quote George Lucas “It’s like poetry, it rhymes”. Also we finally learn that at Nemesis was nothing mor than a OP bandit. Yet she’s still clearly hiding something we just don’t know what. So we yet to learn the full “truth” of what happened at Zanado.
Chapter 21: This was one of the most interesting Fe has ever done: It’s sci-fi and foreign to Fe, especially the music that accompanies the map(Dubstep Emblem anyone?). And it fits into the GD route of exploring the world three houses has to offer.
Chapter 22: First let’s appreciate God-shattering star as it’s one of the best final maps themes ever. But’s here we finally learn “the truth” behind the crest system and the relics. There are the bones made from the Goddess’ children. Which fits perfectly into the game play side of things: Holy relics actively hurt the user of non-crest users, because of their creation from evil and malice. While the Saint relics actively heal anyone and are made from compassion and love. It’s because of her actions by propagating a false history, encouraging the Crest system by rewriting Crests and Relics as divine weapons and enforcing isolationism through Church tenets, she has created an unequal society in Fódlan, and motivates the actions of Dimitri, Edelgard, and Claude to change the system.
Yet on non-Crimson Flower routes, after being rescued from the Imperial Palace in Enbarr where she was imprisoned for 5 years after the fall of Garreg Mach, she comes to accept not just that Byleth is not and never will be Sothis, but also that even so, they are still worthy of leading the Church, or even Fódlan as a whole (depending on route), and willingly steps aside to allow major reforms to take place. On Verdant Wind and Silver Snow, she becomes willing to trust humans with Fódlan's true history, and comes to regret her manipulation of said history. And so with the return of nemesis we must finished what Rhea started but this time things will be different. I must say it’s fitting that the first boss of the game was a mere bandit and the final boss of GD is nothing more than an overpowered bandit. Yet the ending of Claude not ruling over Foldan shows one last thing about his character: He’s not power hungry. He’s more of a trickster than a schemer. In promotion for the game we all thought he would be a manipulative littlefinger that activity cases chaos. Yet when the game came out he turned out to be a more complex than a power hungry ruler. He doesn’t cause chaos he actually tried to solve things reasonably. As a matter of fact Those who Slitter in the Dark are the REAL schemers that pull everything behind the scenes. They have what I call the “Kimdissi Philosophy”
(A reference to George R.R Martin’s various work, he’s pretty obscure, you probably haven’t heard of him) What it boils down to is this: Be non-directly violent but trick/let your enemies kill themselves. Remember, your enemy has an enemy. Resist with wit not force. Let them cripple each other, manipulate others into doing the dirty work for you, and only do it yourself if obsoletely necessary. and then swoop in to finish them off when the time is right. Because when the dust settles, all the armies will be depleted and thus defenseless as you yourself will be left unopposed. If this sounds familiar this is exactly what Manfroy and Arivs do in Fe 4. As a matter of fact the more I think about it, the more it connects to SWSiTD and their methods but this is hopefully food for thought.
One last thing I will mention is that the world of three houses is most explored in GD from supports to paralogues to even some monastery dialogue too.
Claude’s(who BTW has the best of the three lords because Edelgard’s is a lazy rewrite and Dimitri’s should have been a main chapter), and even Leonie’s(who’s actually a lot more interesting than a one note DILF hunter) focus on the exploration and finding out the saints are actually still alive and are not entirely human. Marianne’s(a character who actually develops as the GD story goes on much like in her supports unlike a certain other character cough Bernadetta cough. But also shows how society and your social status can make you feel awful) focus on a hidden 11th elite which all raises thus one question: it shows that the history of Foldan is more dark than we realized, and makes you wonder what else is the church hiding? Which adds more reason to find Rhea and learn of “the truth”. Raphael(a character who developed before the game which doesn’t makes him boring at all)and Ignatz(who character is all about wanting to see the beauty in the world and the truth) takes a more down to earth approach with the merchants. Lorenz’s(who develops a lot in his supports especially with females. While also in GD there’s this conflict with his father and in general his relationship with his father is that pretty prominent in the GD route) sets up the importance of the great bridge. Hilda’s(a character who develops into Claude’s retainer rather already be established before the game) and Cyril’s(who I think is underrated and I consider him one note him an honorary GD student and even gets more screen time in GD) paralogue shows the tension Foldan has with Almrya(which is further tied in with there C support). Even Lysithea/Ferdinand(whose entire backstory shows how TWSiTD has worked behind the scenes to ruin people’s lives) while not really a greet prologue in general it’s a novelty. But that’s enough for today this post is long enough as is.
Maybe this is just me, but I feel like Claude's role in VW fit his character well. Since CF and AM emphasize that Edelgard and Dimitri remain more down to earth because of Byleth, yet Claude is still stable, he just doesn't have the support of the Knights to back him up without Byleth. He was always more stable, and thus didn't need as much screen time. It does lead to less emotional attachment to the story, but it makes Claude all the more fun and endearing. It's for that reason I can't say it's the worst. To me, that honor goes to Silver Snow, where my feelings for the game disappeared.
Same here. Though another part for me is that it wants to focus on Byleth. A character that was given no character. Yeah we also get Seteth and Flayn and they are some of my favorites, but even still, it's not as grand as one of the three lords
It's not the worst in terms for play. Its just lacking the drama, the conflict, and emotional investment the others have. Dimitri and Edelgard's bloodied rivalry shows in how it molds their characters. Dimitri is haunted by this betrayal and the actions taken since then. Edelgard feels her choices waver with every life lost in the pursuit of change.
Then Claude is just out there trying to aim for the "true enemy". But has no real stakes to the problem beyond being the janitor. while the residents of the place argue and bicker, the janitor comes along and cleans up the mess.
@@Polomance862 probably a late comment but SS does have something that even CF lacks and it's the portrayals of the remaining house members, all of them are nobels on the run trying to survive and then they meet you and you all work together from scratch and you manage to be victorius at the end, AM is probably the only route that has that aspect in tact with using the other house members
Claude has the worst route. But could you IMAGINE not picking Golden Deer as your house?
best final boss tho
Nemesis is just too cool
i can. golden deer has some of the best waifus but it also has some of the most annoying characters (Lorenz, Ignatz, Leonie) Lorenz especially, ugh
@@crusaderking2257 no way you said Lorenz is more annoying than the girl who can't go two lines without singing Jeralt's praise
Like, his character actually developed, but Leonie's entire personality is Jeralt
@@icarustar2457 lmao true, idk lorenz's condescending tone just annoys me more. at least leonie is cute, lorenz has a very punchable face
@@icarustar2457 lmao I agree with you. Lorenz is a bit much but I like his character development. He ends up making some major and beneficial reforms for the commonfolk. I tried giving Leonie a chance but I just wish her ENTIRE personality wasn't based on her obsession with Jeralt. The B support with Leonie after losing Jeralt really made me dislike her even more.
FINALLY ! someone who doesn't completely shit on crimson flower ! it always irked me how over-hated crimson flower was, mostly bcuz of it's length. it was my first route when playing the game and i absolutely loved it, mostly for how emotional the chapters where you fight against the church are. the tailtean plains chapter was such an amazing experience first time around and i'll never forget it.
I like all the routes. But to be honest, both edelgard routes are at the bottom for me. Still like em though.
It's so weird to me that CF is apparently hated because in the circles I hang out, nearly everyone LOVES Crimson Flower. I personally really like it too, it's very emotional, I like the development that best girl Edelgard gets, and fighting against the church is really interesting.
I enjoyed Crimson Flower a ton because it was by far the most unique route. If there’s one complaint I have with it it’s that I really didn’t feel like I was fighting the “bad guys” like the other routes. I don’t think I was necessarily in the wrong during this route, but I sure as hell didn’t feel good about killing off characters like Flayn and Seteth and especially not Dimitri (farewell my king).
@@lemonhead19
I think it is great like that. It makes you feel like Edelgard, having to kill some poor souls even though you don't want to but have to.
@@monochromedream-eatingbaku
I love it too. Edelgard is such an excellently written character and that alone makes the route so nice. But also Hubert who is such a good retainer and all this stuff with Arundel.
Okay, none of the routes have a bad story. But Verdant Wind’s is definitely the weakest. Half of Claude’s personality is “scheme boy” but it barely affects the story. And Hilda just shows up to explain half the story at random intervals, I know that she’s Claude’s unofficial retainer, but she got so much more screen time than any of the other GD. Maybe talk more about Raph’s parents. It’s just mentioned in Raph’s paralogue and like, nowhere else. Talk about Marianne’s suicidal thoughts and how she overcame them. It’s too much of a copy paste of Silver Snow.
Silver Snow’s story is the most okay of the four. It’s Verdant Wind but it makes more sense, because the story was original. It was the first one they wrote, so it was fitted to siding with the church instead of Claude. It makes sense for Seteth and Flayn to be some of the main characters. I just wish that characters like Shamir and Alois got more backstory. And, its Endgame theme (A Funeral of Flowers) is my favorite battle music in all FE, so there’s that.
I haven’t played Crimson Flower. But, I do understand the main gist of the story. I just wish it wasn’t so rushed. If there were more cutscenes or chapters, it would be much better. Edelgard’s a really interesting character, so of course, she had a good story.
Holy crap. Azure Moon is (imo) the best story in FE. You come back and see Dimitri, a shell of his former self. He wants nothing but to kill Edelgard. The only flaw is that Dimitri’s redemption arc feels too forced. A certain character dies, and makes Dimitri reconsider everything and puts sense back into him. I think that Felix was really well written in AM, though the other BL (maybe except Dedue) got the short end of the stick. There should’ve been scenes of Sylvain and Ingrid talking about Dimitri, how much they miss his former self. Maybe Mercedes would try talking to him only for him to snap at her. If he’d gone through a bigger change when Dedue came back, it would’ve made Dedue more significant. But all these flaws don’t keep the story from being beautiful. The final cutscene is one of my favorites in any FE game. Went on a pretty long tangent, but I digress.
sammich great analysis, and I really encourage you to play through cf!
BlueBarossa I’ve tried it before, I’m on Chapter 12 on one file. Though, with 3H, I find that a lot of times I start a new file, I just can’t find the motivation to beat it. I recently started Golden Deer on Hard Mode, and I’m on Chapter 17, so that’s really cool. I think I’ll try CF again sometime.
I find it interesting you criticize VW using Hilda for exposition but not mention AM has this problem but a million times worse. VW uses Hilda to explain plot points they don't have time to show, but AMs entire story literally hinges on characters standing around, and explaining things that happened in the past, or on flashbacks without ever actually showing anything.
The problem with Dedue is that he's actually determinant in AM, he will stay missing/dead if you don't complete his paralogue. So because they have to account for him either coming back or dying, his return isn't able to be treated like the big thing that it should be. It's pretty frustrating, I also honestly think Dedue and Felix should have gotten more supports, similar to Hubert and Ferdinand. They have very different opinions on how to deal with Dimitri that I would have liked to have seen explored more.
Creeeamy I think the flashbacks are fine, they actually show characters from the past. But I can see your point. However, I believe that AM has a lot of single frames, compared to the other ones. Young Edelgard and Dimitri dancing, Fleche attacking Dimitri, and Byleth reaching their hand out to Dimitri. It shows more without actual cutscenes, but I think this comes down to personal standards.
“He’s a self insert. So a story around him would be pretty boring.”
*cough* *cough* FE Fates *cough* *cough*
FE Fates' story kinda sucks though, no matter the route.
Yet they’re both still in smash.
I think Byleth is almost immediately better if every choice he picked was voiced dialogue. Because it just leaves all Byleth supports feeling a bit meh when they should have more emotional impact
It's almost impossible to understand why Edelgard loves Byleth when they act like cardboard. Give me a fully voiced Byleth and maybe I'd understand her feelings towards the avatar character.
A self insert character can be a good protagonist, Fates just sucked in general
I’m so glad I choose blue lions as my first route it really is just yes, the emotion n stuff and how is all about Dimitri is just yes. I think if I didn’t choose it as my first route I wouldn’t have enjoy this game so much to put 200+ hours into it
I played blue lions on my first run, and then silver snow and to be honest, the most fun i had in the game was Dimitris route. Hes such a great character literally put him on the screen and let him do his magic.
Im going to play the rest regardless tho
Gotta say that I really enjoyed VW! I definitely see its flaws but I loved the cast and they had the most fun chemistry for me! They all just felt like friends. Plus yall gotta admit VW had the best final boss and music.
That final cutscene with Byleth and Claude taking down Nemisis is probably my favorite ending cutscene in the game.
Another thing that makes Blue lions great is that we got Nico B to do a playthrough and it was the most entertaining thing I've ever watched.
Anther reason that I dislike Crimson Flower, is that none of the characters in the Black Eagles feel like they have any reason to fight for Edelgard. Bernadetta, Dorothea, and Lindhart are all (more or less) pacifists, so it doesn't make sense that they would want to fight a war. Ferdinad has no reason to fight for Edelgard after what she did to his family Petra even mentions in Crimson Flower that she wants Brigid to be free from the empires grasp, so it makes no sense for her to be fighting with the Empire either. The only one that makes sense, other then Edelgard and Hubert, is Caspar, because he looks up to his dad, the minister of military affairs, and it would make sense that he would want to continue that legacy.
Edelgard got Bernadetta's father, whom she hates, arrested. She has more than enough reason to support Edelgard. Dorothea agrees with Edelgard's thoughts about abolishing nobility. Edelgard also gets Ferdinand's corrupt father jailed. It makes no sense for him to betray the empire because his father was rightfully jailed, and he's very nationalistic. Petra doesn't hate Edelgard, in fact, she likes her, and she is in Fodlan with the intention of Brigid and Adrestia to be in good terms. They all have good reasons to fight for Edelgard. It actually makes no sense for them to fight against her in SS, the only justification is "I believe in the professor" and nothing else. Just like Manuela and Hanneman default to fighting for her if not recruited in AM. Everyone has a reason to fight for Edelgard. Linhardt might be a pacifist but he and Bernadetta still have dignity, instead of just running away or hiding from the war.
@@DeiStar93 she set fire to bernadetta
i think bernie is good with being literally anywhere else than in CF
@@visnesuyuu You're the one who slaughters Bernadetta. CF is also the only route where Bernadetta actually gets out of her room and has some kind of development.
@@DeiStar93 shut up simp
@@visnesuyuu you say that but he's actually not wrong
My top 4 is
4. verdant wind
3. crimson flower
2. silver snow
1. azure moon
Maybe someday we can have a fire emblem game with one story that combines all the best elements of each of 3H routes to create one amazing narrative
Me: has only played SS and VW
Me: thinks all routes all similaire
This video: I’m bout to change your mind
Azure Moon is phenomenal. It has by far been the most emotional video game story I've ever experienced in my life. It's simply incredible.
I've never seen someone put White Clouds as their own route, very interesting...
Azure Moon is not only easily my favorite route in this game, but easily one of my favorite stories out of all the fe series. Its just... So great.
My list would be
Azure Moon
White Clouds
Verdent Wind
Silver Snow
Crimson Flower
Enjoyed your analysis. I thought you were going to be ranking Cindered Shadows as the 5th route and was very relieved to see White Clouds 2nd lol. I'm also in the camp of VW being my least favourite- for the reasons you listed but also just how separate it feels to the rest of the game. There's just such little emotional stakes throughout the entire route and you just luckily stumble your way to the endgame that feels more and more like the plot is pulling random enemies out its butt.
My personal ranking would be WC > CF > AM > SS > VW. Honestly I think White Clouds is the strongest section of the game. It sets up so many different storylines so well and most of the maps are a lot more challenging. If we could have a branch of fate and skip WC I think a lot more people would appreciate it more, but I imagine most of us are kind of sick with WC having played it so much.
Thanks so much! Totally agree that the lack of emotional stakes in VW made it less exciting than it could have been. The last two chapters in VW and SS feel very disconnected to me as well. You have an interesting ranking and glad you can see how well WC sets up for the subsequent paths. Definitely feel like people would appreciate being able to skip to part 2, maybe on NG+?
@@BlueBarossa It's why I think implementing TWSITD into CF would be harder than a lot of people say. It would make more sense as Edelgard is far more involved with them and especially Thales, but we just got another Shambala type map to round off CF then I think the route would actually be worse overall.
For sure, I feel like you'd miss out on getting to know your students and especially your lord if you skipped WC for the first time you ran a route, but it definitely drags when you do it so often. If they had time it would have been cool to vary it a little more between houses.
@@mvjbass9561 Interesting thought on integrating TWSITD in CF. I also think that Rhea makes the best final boss for the route and anything to come after is an anticlimax. Personally, I think a rewrite could accommodate the inclusion of one/two chapters dealing with TWSITD just before the Tailtean Plains.
Totally agree on WC dragging on later runs.
@@BlueBarossa I do agree. It's interesting to think about because Edelgard and Hubert are significantly weakening their army and chances of defeating the now combined Kingdom & Church- perhaps it could be written that they believe it's too great a risk to leave TWSITD alone after what happens to Arianrhod. Anything post Rhea would ruin the climax but also change the mechanics significantly, Divine Pulse for instance wouldn't exist.
Chapter 17 into 18 is the perfect finale which I honestly don't think any route comes close to. AM is the only contender but I'd still give it to CF.
The only problem I had with White Clouds was that for the most part it was always the same no matter which house you picked. Aside from some minor dialogue (which only occured during the BE route), you constantly did the same missions like the Red Canyon, the Lance of Ruin retrieval, the search for Flayn, etc.
I played BL first, so when I saw that a good amount of the missions took place in the Kingdom, I assumed the other houses had their own respective problems in their own countries. When I did the GD and BE routes, it became incredibly boring as everything was exactly the same regardless.
This being said, I do agree that the pacing is what sells it for me.
Also, I'm glad someone appreciated AM as much as I did. Dimitri is tied with Ike and Alm as my 3 favorite lords in the series.
Azure Moon was also my favorite! I pretty much 100% agree with your ranking. Great explanations as to why too! Nice video :)
It blows my mind how AM is feels like the most finished, not rushed route. It just shouldn't be when you have routes like SS and CF, which are actually meant to portray the central conflict in Fodlan, that feel half assed.
AM got everything, an intricate, well written lord, many of the BL students have backstories that tie well with many plot points like Miklan, Lord Lonato and the Death Knight, it has the best cutscenes in the game and the maps post-timeskip differ from those in SS and VW.
AM shouldn't be the best route in the game, yet, it definitely is
Also and most importantly it doesn't deal much with TWSITD, which I feel damashed the story in other routes a lot.
I played Azure Moon first right when the game came out and I was SO surprised talking to my friends playing other routes that the White Clouds chapters revolving around Lonato and Miklan were still present for them. Even after playing them again with other houses it feels so out of place considering none of the other early chapters revolved around characters from the Black Eagles or Golden Deer. Hell, even the Death Knight chapters could be argued as having bosses related to a Blue Lions character in Mercedes. So much emotion is lost from Mutiny in the Mist if you don't have Ashe to speak to Lonato. So much of the emotion is lost from Tower of Black Winds if you don't have Sylvain to speak to Miklan. They just don't feel like they make much sense in any other route (barring recruiting).
My personal list, from best to worst:
Azure Moon: Best route, hands down. Honestly, it's the only one in the base game that focuses on character, as most character development happens within supports. Dimitri is the only character that gets this treatment outside of Byleth through the main story. People complain that TWSITD weren't properly dealt with, but, as I see it, Edelgard ended up exhausting their remaining resources in her final stand at Enbarr, not to mention the various leadership disputes that would erupt if you killed Myson, who I assume was second-in-command before Thales' death (which is highly likely, given the massive benefits for doing so).
Cindered Shadows (sort of a route, sort of not, I consider it as such, it's about the same length as some of the part 2 routes): An excellent introduction to the Ashen Wolves. While the house leaders could have done more, and it would have been perfect to make Jeralt playable, it was made to focus on the new characters, which it did quite well, if I say so myself. Aelfric, though, didn't really make much of an impression as an antagonist. I called it from practically the moment he was introduced, but he was serviceable.
Verdant Wind: As you explained, it's just Silver Snow, but with Claude. What makes it better than Silver Snow are the extra few maps, as well as the fact that it has a more interesting final boss. The Golden Deer cast is great, and I think Claude's underrepresentation in this route is supplemented by his representation in other routes, where he tends to play quite a major role as leader of the alliance.
White Clouds: Intro that sets everything up quite well. Not much else to say other than the fact that I have to run through it more times than I'd like.
Crimson Flower: The most unique route. That being said, it's obvious that it was rushed, really. All Crimson Flower needed was a little more time, but that being said, it was the first one I played through (I met the criteria accidentally, and sided with Edelgard simply because she was my best unit at the time), but it has a lot of flaws. I get why we didn't take out TWSITD on-screen though. Rhea as the final boss was very fitting here, and having something else afterwards would have ruined that climactic battle.
Silver Snow: I don't like Rhea as the final boss. It's so sudden and out of nowhere that I can't bring myself to like it. I would have guessed that Claude's route was the originator, as even Nemesis had more buildup than Rhea.
VW is my favorite but I think AM is the best.
I completely understand why people wouldn’t like Claude or just think he’s a weak character compared to Edelgard or Dimitri (I just like him the most cause I like his personality tbh). But I do think that he is a deep character but it isn’t shown well in his story, more so in his supports. Also just the cast of the GD house is my favorite of any of the houses by far tbh.
I probably have bias cause VW was my first route but (while it is up for debate whether it’s the best outcome for fodlan) I think it has the most satisfying ending. It’s the only route that I feel actually delivers on all that the first act was building up to with twsitd, as well as the only route that really explains the lore.
And I do think that Claude and Nemesis actually did have a connection to each other in the story, even if it wasn’t direct. During the first half of the gd route Claude explains his fascination with heros relics and his want to find out more about the churches secrets. It’s a shame this isn’t really tied into his motivations or his goals but it’s still there.
That being said, AM is still the best route on a story and development level. There’s not much I can add onto my thoughts on the route as the video basically explained all the reasons that make it so good.
For CF though, I think you’re only really gonna like it if you like Edelgard to be honest. A lot of people claim it to be the worst route because of the lack of cutscenes and it overall feeling really rushed, and a lot of people think it’s the best cause they agree with Edelgard. I played edelgards route 2nd cause I wanted to learn more about her character but honestly I was really let down. I think I would’ve loved her character had it not been for her route feeling so rushed
While I think Claude not being a major part of VW is a problem, I definitely don't think it's all that detrimental. The route isn't really about Claude, it's more about uncovering the lore of the world, and in that aspect I think it succeeds in a lot of ways. That being said though, AM is still absolutely my favorite because Dimitri is so well written and it's a great, self-contained story that's compelling the whole way through, so while I do think it's a shame that VW doesn't have nearly the same kind of character driven story, I do still think that it being more lore driven is fine. Plus I think there's a lot of value in spectacle (Chapter 21, the final fight versus Nemesis, etc.). VW has one of my favorite final fights to any video game because it feels like a massive battle and a conclusion to a genuinely massive war, and that feeling of scale carries a lot of weight, at least for me personally. I just wish the events leading up to the final battle were more coherent.
My most major issue with CF is that despite Edelgard being the most important part of that story, she gets close to absolutely zero development. I still think she's a great antagonist, but I don't think her leading her own route works at all because of her lack of development. In VW, you at least had Hilda and other characters like Judith making up for Claude's lack of real development, but CF unfortunately didn't have the same circumstances. That and it just feels so weird to go against the church when you do in CF. With the information the player is given, especially if you're considering that it might be the first person's playthrough, there's close to zero reason to side with Edelgard. I think her route in a lot of ways feels, as you said, the most incomplete because of these reasons.
Silver Snow is just a clusterfuck.
My personal ranking would be:
1. Azure Moon
2. Verdant Wind
3. Crimson Flower
4. Silver Snow
Also, your videos are extremely well edited and your content is genuinely impressive, especially given your channel is relatively small. I hope you keep up with the great content man.
Kleitos great analysis. My issue with VW is twofold: claude’s irrelevance and the lack of story coherence (which is even more problematic on SS).
As for CF I think whilst it would be difficult to argue that Edelgard develops necessarily, I still find her triumph to be very gratifying. Byleth is able to impact Edelgard and Dimitri I’m very meaningful ways.
Thank you so much for watching my content!! Hopefully my channel will expand in the future.
I don’t really know man, in CF you don’t have any real reason to side with Rhea. All you know is your characters dad doesn’t trust her, she’s weirdly protective of you (as in she wants to use you) and that the church is going around killing those who disagree with them and you originally had to run away in secret from them for some reason. Then you know flame emperor works with some seriously bad people, but not for them and doesn’t directly ever try to harm you and even calls off forces and offers to work together. I might be crazy, but for me it seemed pretty even to me if not in Edlegards favor
Something else to mention about Azure Moon is that it ties in a lot more to White Clouds, Lord Lanoto being Ashes father, Mikilain being Sylvains brother, and Death knight being the brother of Mercedes, helps make the whole story feel more complete rather than just your monthly mission, these are things that directly impact your student in your class
I remember dismissing this video two years ago because I thought placing Verdant Wind (my favorite route at the time) below Silver Snow was heresy. Looking back now, Azure Moon is _by far_ my favorite, while Verdant Wind is just kinda... there, lol.
My personal ranking would have to be
1. Azure Moon- It was the first route I played and I fell in love with the characters of the Blue Lion House and Dmitri's arch was so fulfilling to play through.
2.Crimson Flower- Edelgards story was really interesting to me, and it is the most unique route in the game, the Black Eagles are a great house.
3. Silver Snow- This route has a great house to fight with, and allows otherwise supporting characters in other routes Seteth and Flayn to take a more leading role. while other routes build to the Wars end this one is unique in building to the truth of Byleth.
4- White Clouds- I love seeing all the characters interact at the monastery and the first half shows you whats unique about fodlan it introduces crests, relics and TWSITD really well and sets up the timeskip perfectly
5- Cindered Shadows- While the story is predictable in places, the cast is brilliant and maps are so unique Yuri to me is a better claude, and the inclusion of sitri was really well done, it really ties Byleth into Garreg Mach even more
6- Verdant Wind, I love Claude and some of the golden deer but this route is basically silver snow with a worse end, The search for the truth of the heros relics is really good but can't hold up to the other main storylines of the other routes
Hazza Thanks for your ranking I agree with a lot of it! Except maybe CS I’d actually put that last, haha!
I loved Crimson Flower, it has the best net outcome for every lord. Fighting the church is seemingly what Daddy Jeralt would’ve wanted. Edelgard has a vision for the future which is something I unfortunately can’t say for Dimitri, and it was basically exactly what I wanted from Fates Conquest when it was first announced
Yeah, to me it seemed like Claude and Dimitri wanted to try and keep the "system" (church) in place but reform it in some way. Edelgard wanted to burn it all down and start new, to me that seemed like the option that would be the most effective in solving the many issues that arose because of the church. I think AM has wonderful writing, but CF just made sense.
Most common argument I hear against CF was the morality issue, but people seem to forget that the church isn't anywhere close to the standard of morality that one would assume should belong to a religion. So many problems stem from the existence of the church and Rhea's own selfishness.
I think your list fits well with mine, especially white clouds. There were always small hints at disaster, and the monastery felt alive. After the time skip, the monastery felt so empty and rigid, and I think there was potential to really drive home the point that the kids grew up. Instead of the relaxed, happy energy from pre timeskip, there could have been nervous energy or dread for who they’ll face next. The kids showed these emotions (one specific time is dorothea’s dialogue after killing ferdie) but not in a very strong and consistent way.
Poor vw, I liked that route and everyone hate it T_T
Btw, I think all route have some good and some bad things so I found hard ranking them, but this is my "tier list"
1st Azure moon
2nd Verdant Wind
3rd Silver snow
4th Crimson Flower
Actually I like all the route, but CF is my least favourite, it has a lot of potenzial but is so short and that's sad...
There's totally nothing wrong with liking VW! I also think that every route has something good and bad about them! Cool list, and thanks for watching!
I mostly appreciate VW because of Golden Deer being the house of memes that also has a lot of lighthearted wholesomeness and signs of hope in a terrible war caused by someone willing to betray all of them. Oh, and God Shattering Star
I can feel you..verdant wind was my first route and I really love it
Started with Crimson Flower. Was very disappointed by Silver Snow but amazed by Azure Moon. I liked Verdant Wind better than Silver Snow most likely because it felt more complete. Silver Snow's boss was such a letdown.
With Claude being my absolute favorite character in this game
It makes me upset he got the shit end of the stick :((
Well to be fair, Lyn was the favorite of Blazing Sword and she was rather pointless in the game's story
AM is currently the only route I finished (playing CF now) and when you played the scene, where you talk to him in the rain, I started tearing up again. You can feel his pain and it’s just... something else
Bruh, your intro card to Azure Moon gives me major ASOIAF Stark king in the north vibes. Like the second Dimitri's theme started playing I felt a deep urge to bend the knee, shout "King in the North!", and raise Blaiddyd banners in to war to defend The North against Southern conquerors.
My one problem with Azure Moon's ending is its final cutscene before the mural. The main theme of the route is, indisputably, about overcoming a need for revenge. This is most obvious in Dimitri's character arc, as well as scenes like the pointless vengeance of the Duscur people and it being the driving force being Miklan and Lonato being enemies we have to kill. So it sort of sours the message of Dimitri throwing revenge aside to better himself when he decisively kills Edelgard.
IMO it would have meant more if, even after a final, desperate attack, he still refused to take revenge.
I mean a dagger can kill, tbh it's bittersweet to be bittersweet. TWSITD kind of ruin her noble sacrifice a little bit for me, but they are the worst part of 3 houses post time skip always.
what i like about fe is how even with spoilers it doesn't ruin how enjoyable the game can be. You can still enjoy its story and elements without not knowing and that just shows how strong its narrative is and overall game is
I figured silver snow’s final boss being Rhea meant that Edelgard was right all along. She did have the crest of flame, and Rhea/Byleth were the fell star, traditional FE final bosses.
Just subbed and turned on the bell bc I love this game and you described this very well! Thanks man
Appreciate it! :)
@@BlueBarossa all good man, keep up the great content
I'm sorry to say but my ranking in my 4 route all recruit and no recruit.
- 1st : Azure Moon (All recruit)
- 2nd : Silver Snow (All recruit)
- 3rd : Verdant Wind (All recruit)
- 4th : Crimson Flower (All recruit)
- 5th : Verdant Wind (No recruit)
- 6th : Crimson Flower (No recruit)
- 7th : Silver Snow (No recruit)
- 8th : Azure Moon (No recruit)
My opinion in Azure Moon is double or nothing in recruitment.
tbh I actually did recruited everyone in my 1st GD playthrough (and made it even dumber by preceding to make sure almost everyone one of them gets a paired ending (Well...except Ingrid...forever alone I guess)), might wanna try doing the same (paired endings and all probably) with the other routes (and maybe redo GD because of Ashen Wolves and maybe also get the Church Characters involved)
I agree with your list, definitely my favourite route was the blue lions and I loved that ending, imo how Dimitri understood how the woman he loved died years ago, best movie of the game imo
What are your thoughts of Cindered Shadows did you not play when this video came out?
In all honestly, I pretty much agree with your rankings! Here's what I personally thought of each route:
1. Azure Moon - This was my very first play through of the game. I came incredibly close to choosing Claude and the Golden Deer for my first play through, but at the last minute I changed my mind and went with the Blue Lions. I'm extremely glad that I went with this route because it made me absolutely fall in love with the game. It was so emotional, and I was invested all the way through and it made me want to immediately play all of the other routes. I also love The Apex of the World. While it may not have the strong instrumentals and vocals like God-Shattering Star, it was still special and emotional in its own way.
2. Crimson Flower - Even though playing this route physically hurt me because of how attached I still was to Dimitri and the Blue Lions, this is still probably my second favorite route. It was just so different from the others, and it was honestly a bit refreshing to have a different perspective that was against the Church. I also really enjoyed the final map, it was unique and challenging but also rewarding in its own way. I just wish the route was a little bit longer (also when I first started playing I targeted Jeritza as my first S-Support because I didn't realize I could only use him as a unit in Crimson Flower, so it made me happy to finally seduce him lol)
3. Verdant Wind - I agree with pretty much everything you said, but I place it above Silver Snow just because I like Claude and I actually really enjoyed the final battle and boss. Even though I was a bit surprised over Nemesis seemingly coming out of nowhere at the end of Verdant Wind, I enjoyed the final fight against him and the 10 Elite. Plus, God-Shattering Star slaps you in the face out of nowhere and it's probably one of my favorite themes (second only to maybe The Apex of the World). The cut scene of Byleth and Claude after the fight is also one of my favorite cut scenes!
4. Silver Snow - Like I said, I only ranked Verdant Wind above it because I liked Claude and the final boss fight. I think my opinion here also has to do with the fact that I played Verdant Wind first so Silver Snow felt pretty much like a copy of Verdant Wind to me. I also just didn't care much for the final battle against Rhea, it just felt kind of empty and this route didn't really make me feel any emotion. I think my favorite thing about this route is that I finally married Yuri lol. And no offence to my two favorite green-haired churchgoers but Seteth and Flayn are a bit boring compared to Claude in my opinion.
5. White Clouds - I've played the game 7 times and I'm on my 8th right now...I feel like I know the dialogue by heart and I'm just tired of playing it. I do think it does a good job of setting up the game for the second part though.
I feel like each route really could have used a Gotoh Character since there are few units recruit able after the halfway mark and each route has a very decent candidate for CF we could have gotten Arundel as he was present for the battle and can fight seeing as he is Thales, VW could have gotten Nader Seeing as all he really does is explain away how the alliance is functioning without Claude and Judith on the front lines and help out as a green unit once, for AM it would have been awesome for you to get into the final map and have Claude show up asking if he could get his bow back for awhile. and for SS Dimitri could have shown up then after the fight just dispensary as a thanks for killing Edelgard.
The only part of the video I skipped was Silver Snow, as I'm still trying to get to that route. But so far, based on the Three Houses routes alone, I agree with you. Blue Lions told a dark, mature, yet emotionally intimate story, one that harkens back to the high quality of Fire Emblem stories before Awakening. It alone was enough for me to consider the game a return to form, among many other qualities. It's funny to think that the main reason I picked Blue Lions first was because they donned my favourite colour, and they looked cool, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out how well-written the cast was. A far-cry from Awakening and Fates' generic archetypes.
Dimitri is by far the most dynamic character out of the Three Houses representatives, and made his route the easiest to breeze through, purely because of his character arc, and how well-written Azure Moon was. I also liked the house members in the Blue Lions much more than the other houses, because despite their seemingly obvious cliques and archetypes, when you actually see them in motion, they're much harder to sum up.
Dedue's quiet giant persona is complimented by one of the most tragic pasts of the cast. He lost everything he had, but Dimitri was the light in his life that gave him purpose. And despite not saying much, he's still able to bring a lot of emotions out of other characters, like how Ashe can find comfort by just being around him and let his guard down after bottling up 5 years worth of sadness. He's a sympathetic and endearing character, but one who's found inner strength to match his defensive capabilities and role as Dimitri's shield.
Felix seems like he's the hard-arsed strength-obsessed warrior, yet his criticism towards Dimitri, and his eventual chastising of Dedue for not valuing his own life challenges that preconception.
Sylvain seems like the generic skirt-chaser, but when you find out why he does it, his distain of crests and everyone who prioritises them, it paints a picture of a more cynical man who's surrounded by superficiality, and wants just one meaningful relationship. With all that in mind, it makes his devotion to his house all the more admirable.
Ashe has the whole "I wanna be a valiant knight" thing going for him, but his difficult childhood coupled with the loss he has to endure throughout White Clouds gives him a whole other layer of depth and prevents him from being as annoying as other characters like him.
Mercedes is basically the big sister of the group, yet her past is surprisingly vague until you learn more about his younger brother and what he had to sacrifice to keep her safe. She's a fun character to watch interact with others, and one with a surprising amount of thought put into her.
Annette mostly is the light-hearted, ditsy cluts of the group to help round the Blue Lions' more emotionally-heavy cast out, yet her rocky relationship with her father was a welcome addition that prevents her from being nothing more than a quota-filler.
And Ingrid is just straight-up a humanly-written character with the issues and nuances found in the best stories. Someone who is torn between helping her family out in exchange for her freedom, and growing as as a person with her own will and agiency. She's portrayed as very mature and honest, yet despite being the paragon of knighthood, the game does a good job of reminding you she's only human beneath it all.
None of this is to say the other houses don't have good characters here and there, but I felt like a lot of them had repetitive support convos that had forced character arcs, and played into a lot of generic anime archetypes that overshadowed any other nuances they had to their character.
The Golden Deers were especially annoying to me, and lacked that dynamic element that made the Blue Lions feel like actual people.
Hilda's easily the worst of the three retainers, due to her one character trait being that she's lazy and likes to pawn work off to others.
Lorenz is a pompous noble who always has to realise the obvious by the end of every support convo.
Raphael eats and trains, and that's his whole character, aside from the brief moment we learn how he lost his family.
Ignatz is a contemptible weakling who makes up excuses for why he won't pursue his passion, in stead of at least trying to find a balance between his art and his responsibilities.
Lysithea is the least annoying of the bunch with an interesting backstory and empathetic issue, yet even she falls for the generic "stop treating me like a kid!" trope more often than not.
Marianne has some of the most insufferable support convos due to how often they begin with her running away like a coward and yelling "I have to go!" when she's even remotely challenged. Makes me wonder if she has some mild form of autism, because she does seem to be the most mentally-immature of the bunch.
And Leonie is the mother of Jeralt's fucking child, since she can't go just one conversation without bringing up his name, with nothing more going for her aside from her pragmatic hunter-gatherer nature.
I wouldn't mind if these characters were supposed to be flawed or had their shortcomings, as long as they had something more to them than their generic archetypes. They're not real characters, they're just templates that the writers didn't bother to flesh out at all. And I get the appeal of the Golden Deers on the surface. They're light-hearted and happy-go-lucky. But that still doesn't mean there can't be more to them as characters. I have my issues with the Black Eagles, yet they do a good enough job of engaging the audience, due to Edelgard's unique position in the story, and the thought that went into each house member's backstories and their goals in life, and how they contrast, clash or synergise with one another. You'd think Ferdinand and Hubert would be the most uneasy allies throughout, yet their support conversation shows a fascinating outcome where their differences make them two sides of the same coin, like how opposites attract.
What a great review!! I chose Crimson Flower but don’t know if I’ll have time complete another playthrough so that’s why I looked this up, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts in such an organized way with just the right amount of spoilers.
I’m not a “casual” as I’ve played many FE games but I’m not really involved in the fandom, so I was surprised when I started looking things up and saw that many people are rabidly critical, even hateful, of Edlegard. I think Edlegard and then Dmitri are probably the favorites of most players overall. If I do have time I’ll definitely play his route next.
When I got the game I thought the three characters would have minimal story differences, but as I played through I realized, “It feels like I am playing the villain route.” Everyone is running around in red and black armor and talking about how they want to crush their opponents. Personally I always love the villains in stories as they drive so much narrative and we see that with Crimson Flower being so different from the other routes. It’s like getting a behind-the-scenes look at the other side. But I think this is why many people don’t like Edlegard and say she’s evil-she kind of is! It doesn’t lessen my enjoyment of the character any less-what a fun twist, to play as the villain.
That means that Dmitri is the hero of the story and therefore his route has the most narrative development, tragedy, and character growth. We might say his route is the intended or alpha route. Edlegard’s is the alternative route. Dmitri is the one who experiences the hero’s journey. I had my suspicions but your video confirmed that for me.
It’s too bad about Claude! Claude seems to have the most vocal fans but he’s the least developed storyline. If I were to write it I would put Claude truly between Dmitri and Edlegard as a morally gray character who plays both sides of the war, and your choice helps determine which of them wins in the end. I always saw Claude as a man of the people so his story could be more about side missions and the effects of war on the common folk.
What an awesome game! I love the different POVs, but it’s a narrative challenge for the writers. Such a great point too about story informing gameplay with the training. FE3H isn’t perfect but it’s ambitious and darn near close!
Seeing this, i love that you put AM in the first place, that route and the Blue Lions class have a special meaning for me
First of all, 3H was my first FE game, the franchise captured my atention thanks to Super Smash Brothers (specially Lucina and Corrin because they were the FE guys who i use the most) and when 3H was announced, i wanted the game
I recall perfectly that my first intention was to join the Golden Deer house because, let's be honest, Claude is the king of charisma in the game but i sensed an aura of mystery in Dimitri and the Blue Lions, they carried my favourite color and i was feeling strangely identified with Dimitri from the very beggining for some reason so i choose them
Words can't describe the wild ride of emotions that Azure Moon made me feel that in many ways, i even was close to cry at some points
and the ending it's pure satisfaction of me, Sothis, i even liked Edelgard thanks to AM compared to my experience seeing CF and that's saying something, i was really hoping to see her survive just like Dimitri in the last chapters but well, i understand it was too late for that
I probably play CF, VW and SS for a few times and i know that these routes are great in many aspects but they hardly can put me on emotions that AM did so, i really don't understand the fans who think that the route is boring (i pass it when they say is overrated)
Like Edelgard says, she cut her own path to see her ideals come to fruition, well, i cut my own path to be the heart of the Blue Lions
Oh and I started with the CF route. So all the others felt great to me epecially seeing how I took AM last.
Verdant wind may have bean made after silver snow, but its a better version of sliver snow
I have an idea for Claude’s story
It’s later revealed that Claude’s original plan was to learns all the of secrets of everyone to manipulate them into his puppets but when the Black Eagles began the war he quickly starts losing control of the Alliance as they start working for the other factions and has to start bringing them back under his control but then he finds out that the Agarthans were manipulating them into taking sides and starting the war to begin with and after killing Edelgard you find out the Agarthans had to resort to their secondary plan and after fighting your way through them their leader gloats that you’re to late to stop them as they’ve reanimated Nemesis to finish what he started and kill all of the gods
9:28 Where did you get this footage?
Golden Deer was my first but it was Azure Moon that made me love this game, I'm a sucker for deep stories and Dimitri's was very interesting to me
My issues with Crimson Flower:
The fact they delt with Those Who Slither in the Dark in the end credits scene instead of in game so the route wouldn't be way shorter than the rest. I remember trying to complete all of Edelgard and Hubert's support conversations to not play the route again to find out the end of those I didn't complete. I was missing Edelgard's A support with Hanneman and Manuela, thinking next battle I could complete these. We're only half way there, right? Got the dark merchant just a month ago... Then the scene to choose a romance option appeared... That moment I realized I have to play this route again to find out what happend in those supports... Mid battle I realized that if the game ends now, then how the game will handle Those Who Slither in the Dark?
But here is the dilemma: the entire plot of the route was leading to Rhea as the main antagonist, not Those Who Slither in the Dark. It won't give the same feeling if they were the final boss and not Rhea.
Here is my solution: Beyond adding cutscenes to basic moments like before and after the time skip and Dimitri's death, they should have added the fight with Those Who Slither in the Dark right before the final battle with Rhea, a response to them destroying The Silver Maiden. Crimson Flower mentioned many times how they need those troops to win the war. I believe that after the fall of the Alliance and The Silver Maiden, the empire should have the troops they need even without Those Who Slither.
All of this to fill in the missing gaps in the route.
What annoied me the most however is playing this route with all of the recruitments. I recruited almost everyone possible. From the first moment I couldn't stand how everyone seemed to break character, they are all loyal to me. Ingrid? Doesn't feel like her at all. Annette? They all whine about how hard it is to fight their homeland and their excuse is their loyaly to ME is stronger. I was missing for 5 years, assumed dead, and you decide to follow me based on you being a part of my class for less then a month? And they keep whining more and more as I progress through the game. My god, it was painful to talk to them at the begining of every month. I felt bad siding with Edelgard right before the first battle of Garreg Mach, the one before the time skip.
If I didn't recruit at least the Blue Lions, I might have liked this route more.
Someone said in the comment section that which route you play first affects your perspective. I agree with this statement. I played Silver Snow first, then Verdant Wind, Crimson Flower and Azure Moon in this order. I believe I would enjoy all of them more if I played them in this order: CF, SS, VW and AM last. Turning on against Rhea in CF wouldn't feels as bad as it did because I wasn't bias. Because of this, SS would make more sense. VW would complete the saga with Those Who Slither properly and add the Battle at Grondor that was missing from CF and SS. AM will feel like a more satisfiying ending to all of this.
Still, I wouldn't know what I get myself into when I choose a house, I can't decide to play CF first without spoiling myself. There is no way around it.
I still agree that VW need to be rewrited, it doesn't feel unique enough. I would have the battle with Nemessis in SS instead of Rhea going berserk as a first fix. This is Byleth's antagonist, not Claud's. I think the main issue with Claud is that he was always a third wheel in this story, he didn't belong anywhere in the conflict to begin with. He was always watching from the side asking why people can't settle things aside a solve their conflicts with diplomecy. Something based around making him a peace maker and keeping everyone alive? Now he truly is coming to speak with the CEO of racism :D
This is my perspective.
FrostedMike I also agree with the idea to put maybe two chapters dealing with twsitd just before tailtean on CF. If not for that CF would be a mostly complete, if still somewhat unpolished route.
For the most part I do agree with the recruitment issue...on one hand I think part of this game’s appeal is that you do get to write your own canon and choose who you want to pair and recruit, but on the other hand a lot of people’s motivations just don’t make sense to join Byleth on CF. But if you exclude recruitment for that many units a lot of players will be totally annoyed.
Glad you showed us our perspective!
@@BlueBarossa In the first playthrough we tend to recruit only some students because we don't know what will happen. If CF was my first playthrough then I would have only one or two units with loyalty issues and it will feel fine. Recruiting everyone in CF only feels bad only if we do recruit everyone. It was my own choise to save everyone and see what will happen and I got pretty much what I expected to happen, this was my third time playing after all. I can't complain because the more you think about it, it makes more sense that some units will face these kind of issues.
It could have been interesting of some units will give cules (or more clues) that they prefer to fight against the empire but it's too late to go back. If they return to their homeland they will be treated as trators everywhere for turning their back on their homeland AND for defecting the empire. If we could get more of this internal conflict, or show they're scared to be cought saying they don't actually support Edelgard's vision. If they feel like they're held "captive" supporting a side they don't believe in. They still cry, but it's a cry that makes sense and actually interesting.
It could make CF much better.
I also believe that CF is written much better then both SS and VW, I enjoied SS more simply because it was my first run and because it was longer.
@@BlueBarossa the agarthans being dealt offscreen is probably due to time constraints
If I have any advice on what order to play the routes in
Go
Verdant Wind
Silver Snow
Crimson Flower
Azure Moon
Thought I'd touch on the whole "Fort Merceus" scene. Notice the soldier's outfits are that of the Resistance army and not the alliance's uniform. I played silver snow before verdant wind, and was pretty confused they didn't change the cutscene like how they change it depending on which Byleth you are.
IMO if you consider every route in part 2 absolutely equal and of the same quality, then picking Blue Lions is still better since this house has the most connections to the events of part 1 miklan, lonato and the flame emperor in total matter most to AM
Great video !
My personnal top would be : CF, AM, VW, SS.
For me CF is the best route because it's the only one where you fight against Rhea and the Church, with an amazing climax in the two last chapters.
It also alows a lot of amazing battle dialogues (Dim VS Felix, Felix VS Sylvain...)
Besides Edelgard is by far my favourite character and finally hearing "the color of sunrise" after listening to the iconic "The Edge of Dawn" is so powerful.
AM in second for me because of all what you said, it's an amazing route, more personal than the other two.
I prefer VW over SS because it's almost the same route but with Claude, who is a great character. And fighting Nemesis with God Shattering Star is still epic.
Moreover, even if it's more dramatic I can't find the resolve to betray Edelgard...
Playing Crimson flower last was the best desicion i've made about this game, the fact that i've played all the other routes first and fought alongside the church and then revisiting the same maps but fighting against the church with eddie (and literally on the opposite side of the map) was just so powerful, special and a breath of fresh air tbh, although i did wish it was longer and they added some extra cutscenes but it was def a special route and a great point to end the game at (this is coming from someone who's fav route is Azure moon btw)
Technically, Hilda came up with the infiltration idea for the mission, not Claude nor Seteth.
"Hidla~ Hilda~"
My biggest gripe with Crimson Flower, is the fact that somehow, with the Byleth on her side, she ends up starting the weakest after the five year skip. Like in all other routes, Edelgard has a majority of Fodlan under control, a majority of the Alliance territory, and even have the capitol of the Holy Kingdom. But in her own route she only had the Empire and the monastery. I know gameplay wise you can’t start with power or else it’ll be to short, although this is the shortest route
Because in other routes, Edelgard is openly using the Demonic Beasts and TWISTD's resources resulting in her powering through the rest of her enemies. In CF, she minimizes TWISTD's involvement as much as possible (while still maintaining the image to them that she's on their side) and relies primarily on the Black Eagle Strike Force. It's one of the results of Byleth staying by her side: She retains her humanity as opposed to throwing it away and becoming an ice-cold emperor that she does in other routes.
Furthermore in CF, the Church of Seiros are still at full power because Rhea escapes as opposed to being captured, and so the Church retreats to Faerghus. As a result of that, the coup that happens in other routes never happens, meaning Dimitri doesn't spend the next five years out in the wild (note how CF is the only route where he doesn't lose one of his eyes) and instead spends the five years as king.
The Blue Lions route is my favorite route but I had one small problem with it. What happen to those who slither in the dark? After the time skip any trace of it just disappears. They are still out there and will wait quietly in the shadows until the resume their work. I would like to think that if Dimitri learn what happen to Edelgard and the identity of the group, he would want to put a stop to it so nobody will suffer ever again.
the 2 relevant TWSitD members post timeskip are killed unknowingly. after that the most TWS have is a mook named Mycen.
what would be your placement for ashen wolves I know it's a dlc but I love all the missions there tough and unique
Qwert isn't a self-insert, he was made always with the story in mind.
I thought I was the only one confused about nemesis coming back.
I'm all about Blue Lions 💙
Even though Verdant Wind had a pretty mediocre story, the characters and especially the music in the last two levels are great.
Weirdly, having Nemesis at the end of SS instead of VW could have made for great ending to the route. There could have been some explanation given that the experiments done on Edelgard were part of their efforts to resurrect Nemesis. Between that and Rhea's potential death around this point, you could frame the final fight as Byleth getting justice for both women along with everyone who's suffered because of what Nemesis and the Agarthans started centuries ago.
You made such a good point about Verdant wind!! I was shocked at first but you're right I fr wish Claude's story was more developed and relied on.
Azure moon was the first route I played and it was amazing
I like that all the different routes in this game appeal to different people, as toxic and stubborn as people can be about it, this game is about flawed people doing flawed things, and it really comes down to ideology and stuff.
That being said, Silver Snow sucks. I could see this being a decent route in a different game. A professor having to fight his ex-students is conceptually very cool. But Byleth is the worst protagonist, I will die on the hill that Byleth is worse than Corrin. A route that revolves around a stand in with no personality just fundamentally does not work.
That being said
1. CF - It's just a story I personally really like. Sacrificing the now for a vastly superior future is a strong moral conflict, it gives the story real stakes, consequences. For once fire emblem isn't about being a goody two shoes little bitch, and it's such a nice change of pace. I wish it had more polish but god damn, it's a nice change of pace. Also Edelgard is the most misunderstood character in the entire game, and the way people perceive her is honestly sad, just how far off target people are, it kinda seems people either didn't listen to her, don't understand her ideology of short term bloodshed for true change, and in some cases people delibaretly omit details in order to prove a point. If you think Edelgard is evil, you're way off point.
2. White Clouds - All the best character moments tend to happen in here. The missions are good, the quests are alright, and it's just kinda fun. I honestly wouldn't have minded a full game of the school stuff
3. VW - For all its flaws, VW has a good cast, the best music in the game, and it has Marianne, so realistically for this reason alone it should be #1. That being said, Claude is an excellent lord, and his motivations are actually good. Throttling the CEO of racism for his ideals of equality.
4. AM - I don't like AM much tbh. It has the worst WC because its cast is horribly bland, Dimitri is interesting but his redemption is forced and awful, and post redemption Dimitri is a pretty bland lord tbh, another "I want to protect the future but make it nicer for people" type character, and even then he's still a fairly flawed character since he kind of ingores the societal problems that Edel and Claude attempt to address, he's basically just a fair king. And the entire plot hinges on exposition and backstory, other routes have this issue to a degree, but AM is built on it, and it's just really lazy story telling. And Dimitri lacks the interesting motivations of Claude and Edel. I actually do get why people like this route, but I find very little enjoyment in it.
5. SS - There's really nothing worth talking about here. Worst final boss theme, worst main character, and siding with the church, a major factor in Fodlan's corrupt society? Ew, no thanks.
Hey @BlueBarossa where would you rank Cindered Shadows?
I’d place it between Silver Snow and Crimson Flower
Timothy_ 3156 interesting. For me, the dlc story is dead last, haha. The plot is just, very, very off the wall.
BlueBarossa fair point, I like Cindered Shadows because it gave me a good first impression on the DLC units (especially Yuri) and the insight on Sitri was interesting but Jeralt really should’ve been involved and the Underground Chase was really fun and engaging
What is the song the credits theme?
I played CF first, then VW, AM and finally SS. I would say that my favourite route was AM, then VW/CF at the same rank, and SS is my least favorite
The description of Verdant Wind earned a like from me. I remember playing it third, and I was just so bummed that Nemesis was the final boss. I wanted to have something personal to Claude, so we could really feel this was his story, and we got... Rhea's nemesis?? (Pun intended) They really should've just switched Nemesis to Silver Snow, and given Claude something different. Heck, maybe even have the final boss be Edelgard, similar to Dimitri, but have it be a special map where the goal is to save as many of your former classmates as you can. Have Claude's message of unity and peace actually take effect, saving people, rather than just another bloodbath ending. It was just kind of disappointing that it felt like all the hype they built for Claude in the first half of the game was kinda swept under the rug in favor of... well, a Silver Snow clone with him in it
I only played one route so I guess I don’t really have a say, but my favourite route so far is Crimson Flower. I’m pretty sure the Black Eagles is the least popular house and Crimson Flower is the most hated route. According to this video it is the only route against the church (i’m not entirely sure so don’t come at me) so i get why it’s the most hated. I guess my opinion is kinda biased but from the view of crimson flower Edelgard wasn’t a monster. She made some questionable decisions but in the end she did the right thing- Plus the black eagles have some amazing characters (i do have favourites from other houses btw)
what i’m trying to say is that edelgard doesn’t seem evil to me (even tho she’s the enemy in the other stories) she has a backstory that explains her actions in Crimson Flower and also in Crimson Flower the main “bad” character is Rhea not Dimitri (for all those blue lions fans) the main point of me writing all of this is to spread love for the amazing black eagles
here are some of my favourite characters that aren’t black eagles
(Claude, Sylvain, Felix, Ingrid, Leonie, Ignatz, Marianne)
I saved Azure Moon for last and honestly I’m glad I did, it was such a compelling story and Dimitri’s journey really got me.