For FE7, if I had to pick 3, I think I’d choose:
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Chapter 7x → I loved how Lyn stressed out how much tougher going through this chapter would be. At the time it felt like a really important decision, and I really enjoyed how Ninian/Nils asked if we were sure, and Lyn responded that if I believed we could do it, then she would trust my judgement. It felt really good.
Still, I remember struggling much more in Chapters 8 and 9, but I digress XD -
Night of Farewells → I’m actually not a fan of the map gimmick, but the circumstances surrounding this chapter are ones that I was a huge fan of back during my first playthrough, and I still am now.
I love how the main plot kind of felt like it took a backseat in order to get us to focus on Nino and Jaffar’s plight. Nino’s character especially has been wonderfully built up over the last 4 or so chapters, and finally getting her to face Sonia, only for the latter to show her true colors to her… man, was it just riveting😨 -
Light → Even though the Dragon is way too easily defeated in my opinion (and half of my party usually does little to no damage to it -_-), the rest of the battle beforehand is really solid.
I love how the Morph thing gave us a plausible in-game excuse to fight previous versions of the bosses we fought throughout the game. Seeing them smile while closing their eyes after getting defeated really made me feel as though I was freeing them, and I really liked it. Nergal is a pretty solid boss too.
As for FE8:
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Chapter 5x → The first time I played this game, I found it really cool that I would be controlling someone outside my main group (I REALLY enjoyed shifitng POV stories and games when I was younger - still do now). It also helps that the gameplay feels perfectly balanced, and that Ephraim’s plan is so unbelievably genius. The fact that we don’t find out what happened until Chapter 8 is also very clever, imo;
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Chapter 14 (Ephraim) and 15 for the story revelations alone;
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Chapter 16 → I really enjoy the fact that FE8 dealt with some more twisted stuff than usual, and nothing in this series can even compare in terms of messed-up stuff (except maybe FE5’s child hunts that I’m finding out about as I’m playing through it right now for the first time) as thinking about how Orson was fooled into cooperating with Grado. I will not go into any more depth about it here, other than to say that when I realised what he had truly been up to, I had felt utter dread as shivers went through me. Magvel’s dark moments should seriously get more mention sometimes…
FE9 time! Where to even begin with this wonderful gem?
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Chapters 5 and 6-> I love how much focus everyone gets, and I really enjoy seeing everyone’s opinions on what they think they should do with Elincia. I swear FE9 has my favorite starting chapters because of how prominent every characters is alone. XD
They are also pretty fun gameplay chapters, but then again, aside from the lack of in-battle stats, I adore almost everything about Path of Radiance, so… -
Chapter 8 → Greil’s death is treated with so much respect, and seeing both the fall-out, as well as everyone’s reaction to it is one of my favorite moments in the entire game. Everytime I get at least slightly choked up when they get at the planted axe scene, and I love how every time Ike says he will try his best to not disappoint them, internally I’m like “These wonderful people are about to go on such a big adventure they have no idea. I love them so much🥲”.
Introducing the base here was nothing short of genius, and I love how the merchants were tied into Ike finally gaining access to the convoy.
The following battle I’m not as big of a fan of, but I enjoy challenging myself with the B.Exp. requirement, and everything that happened both before and after the battle more than make up for it. -
Chapter 17 → I love Sanaki’s apology, and I find this 4 back-to-back battles much less offensive than Radiant Dawn’s 5-part finale. Really solid chapter all around for me.
FE10 time! Can’t wait to get into some controversy with this first pick!
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Part 3: Chapter 6 → Micaiah is one of my favorite main characters ever. I can relate both to her love for her country, as well as her fear of others shunning her once they find out she’s Branded. Her group is my favorite one in the game to play as, and I really enjoy the difficulty spike of this chapter.
Hearing “The Devoted” play as the enemy battle theme while I’m promoting my first-tiers (long live Hard Mode), is quite the unique feeling of “How in the hell was this game balanced and why do I still love playing it so much? XD”; -
Part 3: Chapter 9 → I’ve always loved this chapter’s placement into the story. Its implementation I’ve always found to be nothing short of masterful.
I also really enjoy trying to end the chapter as soon as possible while also getting the Spirit Dust with Marcia at the end. -
Part 3: Chapters 12 and 13 → Though many have many things to say about the Blood Pact I actually don’t mind it all that much. I myself just wish it was better forshadowed during Part 1.
Though 3-13 is way better gameplay-wise, the conversation with Nico in 3-12, and getting to see how under-leveled Micaiah’s units are compared to Ike’s during the base screen, while also knowing that these are the last time “The Task At Hand” plays… everything just combines really well for me here.
Nothing too special to say about any other game. Maybe I’ll come back to this after I’ve finished them, 'cuase right now I still have to finish them since I’m playing a bit through all of the other games (except FE1 and FE2, 'cause screw that gameplay speed -_-)
