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Echoes Characterisation

Not strictly Heroes related. I got Echoes shortly after it first came out and for the life of me it just can't hold my attention, I've only got as far as act 3 in a year. I've finally figured out why; the lack of characterisation. Please note I do not mean the lack of a marriage and child mechanic, I mean a lack of the characters talking to each other. The majority get their plot lines and one additional conversation which needs to do their entire backstory, motivations, quirks, flaws, goals etc which just isn't enough.

Take Faye, at least to the point in the game I'm at, she's madly in love with Alm and basically tells Silque to fuck off because she isn't Alm. That's it... her entire character.

For all that people bemoan Awakening and Fates, I felt the strongest point of both is good and, mostly, deep characterisation that turns them from a unit to a person you care about and don't want to see die. I can't say the same about Echoes, pretty much the entire cast is known to me as 'mage', 'bulky melee', 'healer' etc.

Is it just me that finds the bulk of the cast flat and boring? Not as flat and boring as the Askr Trio, certainly, but that's bars not even off the ground. Also, sorry for the slightly ranty tone. I do like the ploy, mostly, still don't get a farm boy being given total control of an amry after he's been in 2 whole battles, but it makes more sense than any of Fate's plots, again, I know it's a low bar.

Asked by Galaxia92 months 2 weeks ago

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Did you just diss the Askr Trio? Oh hell naw bruh.

Anna is a greedy businesswoman, Sharena is an adorable muffin, and Alfonse finally found his match with Silas. Please tell me how they're flat/boring? 🤔

That you accurately summed Anna and Sharena's entire characters up in two words each sort of proves the point. I don't dislike them but given the type of game they're not going to get too much development, Veronica got an extra sentence added onto her character description (realised burning every thing in every realm to ash is bad) so there's still hope.

I love the echoes characters.
Faye is a bad example though, she's probably the weakest link.

I think you're searching for the wrong thing. The echoes characters are indeed not the deepest, but I think that a lot of their charm comes from them being simple and likeable.

Mae being an absolute ball of energy
Gray's sense of humor
Saber being a lovable rouge.

A few more deeper things are Clive being a elitist and having to struggle with accepting commoners and Lukas having issues with having a lack of passion akin to a sociopath (see his supports)

I think there's a lot to love.

Mae and Saber are in the handful I actually like, along with Celica and Valbar, note all four are on the same route so Celica's path can hold my attention while Alm's has so little to keep me interested. Clair is a little amusing due to her poshness and vocabulary.

Side note; would love Mae to get a unique weapon in Heroes so I had a reason to do her as a 4* merge.

On Alms side there are Gray, Clair, Python, Mathilda as charming characters.
With characters like Lukas and Clive on the more interesting side.
Alm himself is maybe not the deepest of characters but he does a great job of being a hero. With a nice balance between confidence, selfdoubt, determenation and care he can be the hero the deliverence and Echoes needs.

But it's all a matter of opinion.

On a side note, I don't see Mae as a priority for a unique weapon. She doesn't need it and I'd rather it go to someone who does or is more important.
For echoes:
Saber and Gray need one
Clive, Mathilda and Berkut deserve one.

I feel Clive gets overlooked for refinements because he's not populair, but he's one of the most prominent supporting characters in echoes.
Maybe Romphona with a differend refine?

You're not that off with the characteristic aspects of the game, but I personally think that's what it makes kinda charming (atleast for me).
Not everyone needs a dramatic backstory, long ass introductions in some sort.
About Alm and Faye:

Alm: He's more like a victim of the FE developers. Since it's a japanese game he got the "Anime-Main-Character-Treatment":
-no parents, lives with a family member, his grandpa (isn't everytime the case but often)
-saved his childhood friend who is now in love with him (mostly seen)
-he wants to fight for the right thing, he's in some sort stubborn, sometimes naive but also vey kind hearted and cares about his friends (like every mainstream anime main character)
Not everyone likes those kind of characters, but someone like me who really likes him (favourite character hands down) can see above those flaws (that's why there're still episodes of One Piece, Dragon Ball and Naruto, my opinion of course).

Faye: Funny thing is I don't see her as the crazy psycho that only has eyes for Alm and only for him, I see her more like Atra from Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans:
- Loves Alm since they're children (I read something about that she was in love with him even before he saved her life so yeah) and really cares about him and helps and cheers for him (what is in my opinion really cute)
- Not only does she cares about Alm, but about everyone that she's friends with (the other village boys and Celica) she's just not good at speaking to people that she's not familiar with (what is understandable in my opnion, she even apologizes to to Silque and even wants to be her friend, when I remember correctly)
She's maybe not the best cook, like Atra, but I really think that those two seem very similar (didn't make so much points because when you now Atra you can mostly compair those two with each other).

All in all I can understand your feeling and it's nothing wrong about it. Just wanted to give my opnion to the situation.

Alm being a common person figurehead for the army I could get, even including him in high level battle strategy meetings, but deferring to his decision on matters of battle and war, of which he has no experience, does annoy me. I know he, and most FE lords, fall into the savoir with greatness thrust upon them camp so I can go along with it.

I've gone to the wiki and read Faye and Silque's final support and they do indeed actually talk.

Well... I can certainly see where your coming from. Sure the cast doesn't have many supports but the characters do have good depth when you read into them. I'll give some examples...

Clive is a leader who has no desire to be on the battlefield. He's already renowned at the time you meet him. But really, he doesn't want the attention. Sure, he wants to take his home back and end the war, but all he wants is to live his life with Mathilda. Hell, he knows he's not a battlefield man. He's weak. No really, he says it himself to Alm in Act 3. He even represents it on the field as he's one of the worst units in the game. Alm's 10x the leader he would want to be but he knows he can't be.

Python is a carefree man who cares very much for his responsibilities but doesnt want to do them. His father being a woodwork, he was trained his entire life to be hardworking and responsible when really, he just wants to live life. His lazy attitude isn't to avoid his work, he has it because he knows that he shouldn't waste his time in something he does want to do. He wouldn't be in the war if it wasn't something he himself wanted to do. And because of this attitude, he's gained a lot of wisdom from it. Almost akin to enlightenment, in a way.

Sonya is a woman with abandonment and daddy issues. Her dad was an evil psychopath who forced her sisters to become whiches. She's the only one left in her family. That's why she simi relates to Genny as she hasn't seen her father since she was young. Genny even looks up to Sonya as the mother she never had because of the disconnect from another parent.

Celica is... Well I think this video explains her far better than I ever could. https://youtu.be/WIu6_QItndU

I'm not the best at explaining characters so forgive me on that part. But Echoes does have a good showcase of characters, you just need to really read into them. I haven't even gone over other great characters like Gray, Mae, Boey, Tobin, Clair. Zeke, Leon, Lukas, the Whitewings, ect....

I think I may have missed Python somewhere.

I've only just recruited Sonya and the Whitewings, who's backstories I know from the wiki and the Whitewings each get 2 conversations which should help. I say 'just recruited', that was about 2 months ago when I last played the thing.