Chapter 2
Those who read the gamescript notice how it varies, depending if units died or lived. If Titania dies, she notes in chapter 3 that Shinon, Gatrie and Ike have to do all the work, as she is wounded. Never thought about the possibility of Titania dying in chapter 2. This means that the plot includes other characters and is letting them talk and being involved. This effort in the writing can be worthwhile, as it makes the characters more relevant. One could think that with every FE-game we have more budget and save space to make their units more detailed, but it is either not the case or all the effort dedicates itself to the wrong places. Like all the attractions in My Castle to let the characters swim, dress and cook.
This chapter continues the fighting of the bandits. They want to take revenge for the events of chapter 1. The execution is quite contrived. They kidnap Mist and Rolf and... write a letter.
Okay, you can't really met the mercenaries face-to-face, but I have trouble imaging that toothless barbarian writing something. An ambush would be more exciting.
But they wanted to create a situation where Ike is in trouble because the decisive act in this chapter is his decision to ignore Titanias order, to refuse to wait and to act arbitrary. This is to show his character strengths and flaws, being stubborn and heroic. It's plausible, what annoys me is how Rhys, Oscar and even the hotheaded Boyd first hold Ike off, just to join him anyways. I'm buying that Boyd joins Ike and Rhys may just be too weakwilled to defyy Ike. But Oscar does little to calm Ike, even though it would correspond with his nature and character. He has the role of a big brother and is an experienced mercenary. He even was trained as a knight. Does he not recall to remain calm, diligent and listening to his superior? The game should have one or two lines indicating that he doesn't agree with Ike. He only catches up with them when it is already too late to backtrack.
Even the gameplay shows us that Ike was making a fatal decision. The bandits are the majority and would have killed the mercenaries. It is a hopeless situation which only strenghthens Titanias entrance. I have said it numerous times: If Gameplay and plot complement each other, they are creating a narrativ method and effect which is unique for a video game. Other media like books or movies can create this in a similar way, but not the same. If a videogames let you face a minority against a mayority with higher stats, you may feel scared and overwhelmed. A book would describe the high number of enemies and elaborate on the feelings of hopelessness. A movie would show the large number of enemies, maybe with a certain camera angle. If reinforcement arrive in the videogame, it can create similar feelings like the arrival of the Rohirrim in The Lord of the Rings. Well, if it is done right, it's nothing to exciting in this chapter.
After the routing of all bandits one remaining plays a hostage scenario with Rolf. It is passable, but executed clumsy in one or two places. After the mercenaries surrendered, he announces to kill Rolf. Doesn't he expect that they will take their weapons afterwards? Does he think that they will let themselves be killed one after the other? Wouldn't it be more plausible in his position to negotiate and flee? Sadly, most of Fire Emblem enemys are stupid and evil, just to make it clear that our own units are good and heroic. Sometimes I'm hoping for more reasonable villains with more vision, because otherwise I feel insulted in my intellicence. And since I'm occupying myself extensive with a childrens videogame, it is clear how demaning my intelligence is.
Anyways, Shinon saves the day. Gatrie is there as well, but all he does is making dumb comments. He is slow in his armor, is sweating and couldn't catch up. It foreshadows his class gameplaywise.
The next conversation is in chapter 3, but here it is more fitting.
Ike is ashamed of himself, which is authentic and understandable. He is young and stubborn. Leaders, successfull people, they are defined by how they are willing to take risk, trust they instincts, question everything and push their beliefs through everything. If Ike would be faithful and well-behaved, he would never become a leader. He needs a number of mentors who scold him if necessary. Only then he can triumph over them.
The scene annoys me slightly, because not only Ike, but Rhys, Boyd and Oscar as well are all willing to take the blame on their own. This is an anime-thing which is refering to the exaggerate apologizing of the Japanese, I guess. Personally I would blame Oscar, since he should have been the one in charge and with the responsibility over the others.
Regardless, Greil punishes Ike by grounding him. Maybe he even forbade him the use of the Nintendo Switch. Aren't there more plausible punishments like cleaning the stable or the house? But there are no bad consequences for Ike. The punishment is canceled before it even began. Ike is needed for the next mission.
Rhys
They may emphasize a bit too much that he is sickly, but it cements his role as a priest, both story- and gameplaywise. On top of that, Rhys has a passive nature which makes him one of those characters who are't polarizing and annoying. But they aren't memorable either. Male healers (even young ones) existed way before FE9, which is why I can't even bring sexism into place and ask if he is unmanly and how important that question would be. His supports with Titania and Rolf are fitting, but with the other two the authors trap themselves by using Rhys fragility to higlight the eccentricity of his partners. Mia and Kieran distress him in a idiotical way with their rough natures, just for the sake of comedy. And in the support with Ulki Rhys is suddenly a child with the wish to fly. Ulki is just baffled, probably as much as we are over Rhys behaviour in this support.
Chapter 3
The mission in this chapter is a similar one as in chapter 1. we get two new units.
Gatrie
A failed character. Well, gameplaywise his class and availability is cleverly combined: Knights are usually only in the early game useful. So they make Gatrie available only then. When he returns, he is less useful, but the player can notice this easier, because the contrast of chapter 7 and 13 is immense. Would he be obtainable in chapter 8-12, he would only lose slowly in usefulness, which is easier to muss. In the end, only those people will use him again, who want to use him despite his shortcomings. Everyone else knows he isnt needed and they won't be disappointed.
His character serves as a contrast with Shinon and he is a womanizer. This isn't bad per se and one can make something out of it, but it isn't done. Gatrie can't catch up with Shinon, he is unable to counter Shinons cynism and pragmatism. It is an one-sided relationhip in which Gatrie never has the upper hand or gives Shinon clear moments of insight and letting him rethink his behaviour. Sadly, this is his best support. All the other three support begin and end the same way: Gatrie makes a fool out of himself trying to impress them and they ignore him and refuse to give him attention. Let's compare this with Sain from FE7. Rebecca falls for him out of naivity initially, scolds him and give him a second chance. Fiora doesn't know how to handle him, Serra sees through his behaviour and plays him for a fool herself. Priscilla refers to their difference in social status and the love ends tragic-melancholic. Sains supports are bad, but they are diversified, the ladys are threating him different, the result is always different. Gatrie lacks this. In the plot, he occasionally asks Shinon something for exposition purpose. Leaving the mercenaries when they are in a crisis is fitting for Shinon, but Gatrie seems almost callous. He doesn't have much motivation (at one point he mentions that he feels unchallenged). He wants to protect Elincia, because she is a beauty, then he leaves her and is working for Astrid, because she is a beauty. He isn't leaving the mercenaries on his own, but because Shinon does. But they part each other as well, so it's not like Shinon means Gatrie more than the rest of the mercenaries. What a mess.
Speaking of Shinon, I'm dealing with him in chapter 6, because we aren't shown all of his aspects yet. At the moment he is similar to Titania and Greil. xperienced, strict and rebuking Ike for his mistake in chapter 2.
Back to the chapter. The side mission is to rescue Marcia. It is well meant and getting rewarded with her recruitment later on is nice for the gamer, but the implementation has its flaws. Marcia can die in the very first turn, if all of the three enemies hit her. Not probable, but possible. I'm not 100% sure if you can prevent this with some tactics, but the casual gamer can get frustrated easily without doing anything wrong. Furthermore, rescuing her is contrived. The pirates happen to threaten her just the exact moment the mercenaries arrive. Marcia plans to kill them all, which is an incredible overestimation. The pirates even make some good points about how her brother cheated them. Her main target is the boss, but she backs off and fights other pirates. The big question is why she simply doesn't flee. Normally, persons are cornered, but she is on a pegasus and can simply fly away. In fact, she just does that when Ike talks with her. But then why doesn't she flee in the first place? Why does she need Ike to tell her that? The short answer is: Because of gameplay. We are supposed to be introduced to talking with an NPC. The situation is just badly contrived.
The victory condition is a bosskill, even though routing would be more appropriate. I suspect that they want to introduce the player to the different victory conditions even in this early point of the game. That's why in the first three chapters we had three different victory conditions. Playing with the victory condition in mind an change the style of playing tremendously. Players may understand to ignore the main force of the army in the next chapter, because all what matters is defeating the boss. In the following chapters with Daein the victory condition change everytime as well.
Nasir appears in the village. It's not important, it could be a random NPC. So why is he there? The boring reason is, because he is a ship captain. He fits in the port and maybe we trust him more when we meet him again. I had a speculation that he is there as a spy. He could be searching for Gawain or the Fire Emblem. At the end of the chapter the villagers thank Titania and point out how special Greil is. If even simple villagers know Greil, then it is possible that Nasir figures out who Greil is and informs Ena and thus Ashnard. Ashnard may start the war with Crimea at this time, just because he is told the location of the Fire Emblem. But this is just wild speculation. It is more likely that Ashnard planned the war over years. His army meets the Greil mercenaries more by accident.
At the end of the chapter Shinon and Gatrie complain about their work, which foreshadowes their separation. Ironicaly, the work won't be boring anymore starting with the next chapter, when Daein arrives. Is either one of them dead, Titania explains to Ike that the surviving one mourns the death of the other one. Another small detail that improves the script.
Chapter 3 is similar to chapter 1. The game get's away with it, because it ends the bandit arc, before it gets too monotonic. They also introduce two new units and remove the three old ones, which shakes things up. And Ike not only saves a village/port, but a single individual. Ike does the same thing in every chapter, but it varies: He risks his life for strangers who pay him (villagers), he saves his relative and friend (Mist, Rolf) and he rescues a stranger without demanding payment(Marcia). It shows his naivety and unexperience, but it is realistic. Every task demands more of him and we see him grow with his tasks. This makes him more approachable than other lords.
Thankfully, the plot begins with the next chapter. FE9 is already stretching it with the bandit chapters. It ends them before they become boring.
