Zadnor, like BSF before it, is significantly easier to care about when I have folks suffering through it with me. Unfortunately, I've not had the opportunity to do so, and because of that my progress through it has been a slog. That said, I may as well give some of my thoughts on it, as I'm near to the end.
The Choice re: Misija
I actually really disliked the options presented, and was reminded of a train of thought from a Let's Player in the Fire Emblem community I watch every now and then. To paraphrase him: "I don't like self-insert characters because the writers can't account for the decisions I would want to make." I definitely felt that here. The first option was the most sensible to me: Misija needs to be held accountable for her crimes. But I don't agree that she needs to die for them. I'm rather big on second chances and seeking atonement through living. I don't believe atonement is too good for anyone, save for those who consciously refuse it. Conversely, I tend to look down on "Redemption Equals Death"-type endings for multiple reasons, varying from moral to meta. So to put it again: It's the sensible choice, but not the one I would pick.
The second choice is worse. The only reason I would ever advocate for absolving her of her crimes by pinning them on her superior officers is if I was more concerned with gaming the outcome of the choice presented than anything else. Naturally, this ended up being what I picked, and for precisely that reason: I guessed that this was the only choice that would leave Misija alive at the end.
The third choice is just... I get the desire to have the third option be a neutral one. And I get the desire to phrase it in the most polite manner possible. But the WoL was directly impacted by Misija's actions, and personally had to kill most of her victims. And besides that, I'm not being asked to be her judge, jury, and executioner. I'm being asked my opinion. "it's not my place to judge" isn't an answer, it's a deflection. It's "no comment" writ in purple prose. I'm a strongly opinionated person in general, even if those opinions tend to be pretty mercurial. I could never be satisfied with such a choice.
So, since the choice I wanted to make wasn't available, I went with a choice I didn't believe in for meta purposes. Then I had certain bits of the ending spoiled for me. I don't mind that. But I'm disappointed to hear that Misija pulls a Darth Vader on us, complete with being so brutally injured that killing her would be an act of mercy. I'm also disappointed that the "Your choice changes the story!" hype amounts to practically nothing. Perhaps Western RPGs have spoiled me in that regard, but when I get told "Your choices will matter", I expect much more from them than the usual "Pick your favorite flavor of 'Yes'." To have that amount to very little even in the short run is just... disappointing. Oh well.
Mikoto
I have not actually gotten to the point her spoiler vision showed would happen, so I don't know how that plays out yet. But to be frank, it's starting to annoy me just how, unlike Misija, she makes zero effort to control the circumstances surrounding her visions. I do hope she slips up in front of Cid before they return and he has the good sense to give her a goddamn parachute. I'll be seriously disappointed if she dies from this, or if something ridiculous happens like Misija flying in from out of nowhere to save her. No spoilers, please!
Zadnor Red Mages
I was surprised, and actually pretty delighted, to see not one but two Red Mages in various Zadnor FATEs. That one of them is the mentor to the other is especially intriguing, and left me wondering what relation they have to X'rhun Tia. Perhaps it's mentioned in their dossiers—I haven't yet looked through all of them. It was also interesting to see that there were more victims of Misija's plot than the ten Blades seen in DR and those conspiring nobles. I was even more delighted that this chain of FATEs ultimately ends with the mentor being captured rather than killed, since undoing his tempering would mean we actually managed to save one of the Blades.
Oh, and watching him throw out the Red mage LB3 got a chuckle out of me. What a cool guy.
Papaga
She's an interesting addition, building off some choice bits of lore from Gyr Abania. She's also freaking adorable. And I find her general affability to be... well, nice. I like that the Bozja content is not afraid to show the enemy having many of the same qualities as traditionally heroic protagonists, which I feel lends weight to the idea that this is a clash between nations rather than Good vs Evil.
It might be a bit of a stretch to say this, but I feel like the second encounter with her is actually a reference to Ogre Battle's combat system. In that game, you arranged your characters into parties with a headcount of five, but large units like gryphons, golems, and dragons counted as two characters when it came to that headcount. Thus, if you wanted a single gryphon in a party, you could only have three human units fighting alongside it. And if you wanted two gryphons? Odds are you'd pair them with a lone Beastmaster.
Shemhazai
I love that she's actually here. I wasn't expecting that at all, thanks to Rofocale's appearance in Rabanastre. But lo and behold, one of my favorite Lucavi! Llofi being present was also quite nice.
I was pretty sad to see what befell Dyunbu and Hernais, however. The gut punch of Dyunbu turning out to actually be dead, coupled with the defilement of their corpses. I don't really have a way to express how much I enjoy bitter moments like this in stories.
Lyon, Gabranth, Menenius, Sicinius
Spoilers regarding Lyon's actions are hard to avoid. I don't blame anyone for my being spoiled. But I will say this: I was right all along!
… in that it's goddamn hard to peg this guy down. As far as I'm concerned, the dossiers-as-epilogue events—which seem to be near universally agreed to be a coverup—could just as easily be the truth. But it's fascinating either way, and it has me interested in seeing this story continue later down the line. Let me say that again. I want to see more of these guys!
Originally Posted by Tanker4444
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