PoR Chapter 10: Where we play as Samus and not Snake.

To the point. We will be rescuing prisoners today.

Ike offers a friendly word to Ranulf.

Seems an odd assumption, honestly. It's not like Ike remembers his time in Gallia.

Ranulf also tries to slip a mention to Ike that "beorc" is the politically correct term for... well, beorc. Ike's already caught on, though, so Ranulf changes tack.

This is important. (Incidentally, the JP term for "human-used-as-slur" is "ningen", which is roughly the equivalent word to set up the same thing).

ie "Beorc would not guess the implication on their own."

Any laguz we meet that calls the beorc "humans" is hostile. This is why learning that fact was important.

Supports: Chapters 8-11

So how are we gonna deal with Supports? Supplementary updates! This first update will be a bit of a block update, because so few Supports get added each chapter, but starting with Chapter 12, there'll definitely be enough food for each mission. As for why I waited until now when Supports started becoming available Chapter 8? Script is funny for the first one you're supposed to get.

Today's Supports:

• Ike/Oscar C
• Ike/Soren C
• Titania/Rhys C
• Ike/Titania C
• Mist/Rolf C
  
• Titania/Boyd C
• Ike/Oscar B
  

PoR Chapter 9: When we get three sassy girls at once

We're already in Gallia, guys. We've been in Gallia for... actually, wait, how many maps have been in Gallia? 8 definitely is, 6 probably is, and I'm not sure on 7.

Now that Ike has become commander of the Greil Mercenaries, Soren now provides him with a status report on the army's condition.

This is what we see. The contents of this page describe what happened last mission. Most of these statistics are self-explanatory, except the MVP. I still don't fully understand how MVP is calculated. Unexpectedly, Titania was the star of Chapter 8.

I'm not really sure how helpful it is. In-universe, probably.

PoR Chapter 8: Two girls versus the world

We begin with a few flashbacks to Greil as a dad. Because we're going to need a chapter to fully recover from the last one.

They didn't skimp on this moment. Greil and Jeralt from Three Houses are obvious parallels, especially once we explore deeper into Greil's past, but one major commonality is that both dads get an extended mourning period. The monastery allows for a wide breadth of reactions to Jeralt's death. PoR has to make do with the Base.

Greil's grave, marked with his trusty axe Urvan.

One thing Ike has over Byleth is that we actually get an insight into what he's thinking. Byleth is surprisingly communicative for a mute protagonist, but it's very much outsiders looking in.

Mist needs a little more time for things to parse.

That's going to sting for a while.

Mist's portrait looks so sullen here. Good work, artists. I'm crying again now.

Ike's got a new goal. He's lost people enough by now.

Just... Mist.

Ike promises so much. This time, though, I think he's starting to realise what that means.

Yeah... we're going to get a lot of that first one today.

Path of Radiance Act 1: Greil Mercenaries

We've crossed the threshold. Greil is gone, it's time for Ike to step up to the bat and become the commander of the Greil Mercenaries his father hoped he could be, and he has to deal with the plight of Elincia all on top of that. So what have we done so far?

• Prologue: Ike joins the Greil Mercenaries. A fairly basic tutorial level that doesn't quite feel like it fits.
• Chapter 1: Ike's first mission, to liberate Caldea. Putting the basics into practice and fighting off bandits while also making an effort to push an objective for the Seraph Robe house.
• Chapter 2: The kidnapping attempt. Ike learns the dangers of recklessness, and the player gets access to a healer. Using Rhys can keep your units in the fight longer, but Rhys can't take hits himself.
  
• Chapter 3: The pirate raid. This mission introduces Marcia, and expands on Shinon and Gatrie's grumbles with the mercenary company, but overall keeps the plot twiddling its thumbs while the game introduces you to indirect combat units.
• Chapter 4: First brush with Daein. This map is a solid sharp shock to the system, pitting you against Daein in open terrain without Oscar and Boyd. Ike struggles with soldiers and Soren is too weak to reliably be in multiple fights or secure his own kills- this map is a contender for top five hardest maps if you try to play it legitimately. We just needed a Titania rout, though.
• Chapter 5: Defending from Daein. This map introduces Defend and is more or less you going as hard as you can with all the units you've had access to in this prologue.
• Chapter 6: Escape to Gallia. This is a relatively cute gimmick map, even if the victory condition doesn't quite match with the story.
• Chapter 7: Gallian Fort. Aside from the introduction of Chests, this map is only slightly above average difficulty normally. No, this chapter is memorable for the story, and what a whammy that story is.

I'll be honest, this might partially be biased by the All Girls run, but this prologue section overstays its welcome a tad. We haven't seen the whole of it yet, but it's not until Chapter 11 that a casual player has a solid core of units that can afford to bench an underperforming Oscar and/or Boyd. If your Greil Mercs don't turn out, the transitional chapters coming up (8-10) can become quite dangerous. Fortunately, Chapter 8 also introduces us to the Base, which has three things that can help you when you're struggling- a shop, the storage convoy and BEXP.

One thing I've been considering, but am not completely satisfied with, is trying to figure out which chapters to cut. Chapter 3 is the best candidate, in my opinion, as Marcia's appearance and Shinon and Gatrie's dissatisfaction seems plausible to work into other encounters. The opening map, too, kinda suffers from too little to do and the game not quite having figured out what's going on. I'm side-eyeing Chapter 6, but I think at this point, the problem is less "the game is taking too long" and more "the plot structure of Fire Emblem is rebelling against the story being told".

Another solution is adding more characters. Why it takes Marcia so long to come back, I have no idea, and Mia could've been encountered in some other way with minimal changes- and even then, there was no real need for her to be captured and rescued by Greil. The new character in Chapter 8, too, might justifiably make an earlier appearance, though that one is stretching the material a little more.

In the end, we're here to look at Tellius, the highs and lows of its story, and what it has that has brought it such a reputation. This early stretch of the game has not been it. Tellius's strengths come later on in the game, when we have more characters, more fingers in the game's politics, and when the mysteries we've vaguely seen get more openly explored. A lot of RPGs have problems with the opening, often exploring the initial setting with a depth that isn't afforded to other areas and doesn't reflect its proper importance. The Greil Mercenaries are important to explore, as the way Ike treats and is treated by them informs how he approaches new people, but I think this didn't quite stick the landing.

PoR Chapter 7: A Knight clad in ebony

I have to wonder what this title's referring to. There's certainly a breadth of evildoers in this chapter, though.

We've been outta luck looking for Greil.

Soren reasons that it's better to cut their losses and finish the mission. Perhaps we should've asked the Gallians for help scouring the place for Greil.

Titania has one last location to search.

PoR Chapters 5-6: Flight to the land of beasts

Not that kind of flight, sadly.

Ike and Greil are sparring in here. Seems a peculiar use of time, but I never understood these mercenary types.

Mist comes to tell everyone Elincia woke up. I wonder how long she was out for.

Elincia was clearly out of it, so she just assumes the first person she sees is her rescuer.

So, even though he's a commoner, he's still going to be called Lord Ike? Don't change too quickly, Fire Emblem.

Well, now we know where Ike's bluntness comes from. We know she's related to the Crimean Royal Family because of the uniforms on the corpses, which isn't a pleasant conversation.

Well, to be honest, Elincia is taking a huge roll of the die right now, there's nothing to lose. Two of us are former Crimean Knights, which tips the odds in her favour, but I don't think Elincia could know that.

PoR Chapters 3-4: Knight of Greil

Yar har ho and a bottle of rum! Nah, seriously, that's the kind of pirate that lives in Path of Radiance.

...Oh, right, hold on, we left the last chapter awaiting punishment. Wrong tone.

The worst part of being a kid: when your dad puts on his "I'm disappointed in you" face.

Boyd: “No fair playing the martyr! Nobody made me go with you. I left of my own free will! I’m ready to accept my punishment, too! Wait, what am I saying?”

Rhys: “Please, Commander Greil! Titania entrusted me with her orders. If anyone’s to blame for this mess, it’s me. I’m the one who should be punished…”

Oscar: “I set a poor example, Commander Greil. Any punishment should be mine alone.”

Everyone steps up to take the blame. At least we understand why we're getting punished.

Tough but fair. Perhaps we'll have guards for Mist and Rolf for a while. They'll probably need it.

Mist objects- she doesn't feel right seeing her brother punished for trying to save her. Ike, on the other hand, accepts.

...This part, though, I don't get. Even if the game doesn't want Ike's punishment to affect the player, why not timeskip over it? (This never gets brought up again. I can only imagine at some random point during or after the game, Ike just locks himself in his room for ten days. Whether he explains this is another matter.)

Greil's bringing Boyd, Oscar and Rhys, Titania's bringing Shinon, Gatrie and Ike. At the very least, we're not going to be without Titania. That would ruin this run!

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