Unit Feel and the Tragedy of Christmas Cavaliers in Fire Emblem 

Sorry Boopie, but you said you didn't like Joshua's hat, and that makes everything you say wrong.

"Joshua has a hat." Is the most brutally honest statement I've ever heard because that does explain why I liked him so much as soon as I saw him.

joshua has *hat*

Higher move meaning more ways to die is some of the best logic ever.

Lyn mode promoted Sain makes my lizard brain happy. He has the unga bunga damage, 1-2 range and brrrr horse. If I ever played without Lyn mode I'd probably agree, but I'm addicted to Lyn's legion being good.

5:28 Alec has toilet paper on his head. Unit feel/10

i just wanna point out that as bopper is pointing out that forde is 2HKOing with a steel sword, forde warps the footage itself and makes it so he's 1 point short of 2HKOing with that steel sword. you write a script and forde says FUCK you, your script is incorrect i'm actually even worse than you say i am

I usually use the christmas cavs for a few chapters until one of them stands out more than the other, or neither of them do. Either way one of them is going to hold off the enemies in FE6 Chapter 8 at the treasure room until they die while everyone goes to fight Legance. Don't make me flip a coin, Alan.

5:23 I'm going to have to stop you right there cuz Isadora is definitely sexy emblem. Also, I know I'm probably the odd one out, but I really like her character and there is something comical about her complete lack of a Con stat. More bonus points because her support conversation with Renault is the best in the entire fire emblem franchise (tis a shame you will never actually see it in game). Anyway, smoll peen brain use sexy knight. Brain happy. Good vid. 10/10.

I actually ended up taking Alva to endgame, in his intro chapter he leveled up movement twice, which convinced me that I need to use him for that particular run.

Can't say I agree. Christmas Cavs are always in my top 5 favorite units. Cavalier duos are mega fun to me. Seeing them grow together until they're both godlike Paladins is a happiness I cannot describe.

see, I always kept sain because he was a huge simp and i thought it was funny

I've seen videos by people who know the games Really well, who provide statistics as to why the 3 trainees in Sacred Stones kinda suck... they take so much effort to train, and you could focus on someone Good instead... And I don't Care, because Ross goes from a small, aspiring kid to a Badass looking, buff as hell, Crit machine, Amelia goes from a timid girl who barely carries a lance to a mounted General who rushes around the battlefield, and Ewan goes from an apprentice mage who stumbles with each attack to a guy who points at someone, and the fabric of space and time rips apart around them. The animations of their trainee forms are what Really makes me love their journey to uber-badass.

Really loved this video, I always felt like there's a big disconnect because the more casual and elitist sides of FE communities in terms of approach and units used and it's great hearing the difference between unit effectiveness and unit feel articulated so clearly

love this more emotional look as to how people play fire emblem cause at the end of the day we don't play FE to feel like strategic gods (well that is one point but not the main point) it's to have fun. I remember playing PoR for the first time and seeing Astrid and just thinking "huh cute girl with bad bases wonder what she could become" and after 4 chapters and BEXP chugging she quickly went from busted sudan to a Ferrari and she has become one of my favourites to use whenever I play because of that emotional and gameplay journey. And ultimately when it comes to what units you wanna use stats shouldn't be the biggest issue it's whether or not you'll have fun using them wish more people talked about this aspect of FE more, but it is harder to get across as it's not as easy as to reasonably quantify. Keep up the work Bopper and keeping killing those cavs if it means more great vids.

My christmas cavs always get RNG screwed, which has turned into unfortunate disdain for them. I think RNG also plays a big part in unit feel. If a bad unit gets good level-ups I think it turns into good unit feel because of the novelty of a normally terrible unit being able to put in work.

I've been playing FE for the last 13 years or so and I could never pinpoint why I just dont really vibe with the early game cavs and its nuts you were able to articulate such a abstract argument and make it make sense this way in a community that prides itself on data and results driven discourse. Kudos man, earned my sub with this one.

Sully is memorable because I accidentally got her married to Chrom. I say accidentally because I spent the whole time up to that chapter using her purely for her horse and not recognizing her character. Still the most memorable part of Awakening for me.

I think that isadora is hot so I used her and think she's pretty good

There is one pair of Christmas Cavalier that avoided this fate. Berwick Saga, Leon and Adel are both spear cavaliers but are completely different in terms of skills. Leon, for example, has Deathmatch which allows him to fight five full rounds of combat against an enemy while Adel has Vantage. This completely changes their playstyle heck both of them have supporter skill which gives them a massive bonus if they are near each other.

Maximum Himbo Gilliam is the answer. Always.

Me who gets overly attached to the christmas cavs and consideres Isadora their second favorite fe7 character: 😳

2:38 Why must you torture us with this gleeful vision of what could've been??

your videos are some of the greatest Fire Emblem RU-vid content on the site. I love the term "Unit Feel", and it's making me think twice about why everyone doesn't overlevel their Lords like I do to get into the Linus version of Four Fanged Offense to get the best boy Geitz

I love that cavaliers have a weakness while wyvern riders are literal armored knights on wings

Wow.... This is crazy. This video was super amazing, and for the Christmas Cavs, I literally had the total opposite reaction. My sister and I played the GBA FE together, and we absolutely loved the Chrismas Cavs, we loved the GBA Chrismas Cavs design, character, and usually had funny experiences with them. I think it is amazing that everyone has different experiences with them, that's the best part about Fire Emblem to me. They served quite well in our playthroughs! They're one of the reasons why I have such a GBA bias, but also, it's the most nostalgic for me and funnest when I played them with my sister, so I suppose it makes sense I love them so much, haha.

I think Sain has excellent unit feel though. Obviously the game heavily endears you to him on a first playthrough since he has a ton of amusing dialogue in Lyn Mode and is one your best units throughout it all, but even ignoring that, Sain has quite possibly the most lucrative thing possible to monkey brain: Big numbers. The guy has a ton of strength. Way too much. Quickly spirals into overkill, which is the best kind of kill. Lowen, despite being an excellent unit, is always slept on and ignored by casual players because while he has nice bases and a good class he has absolutely no personality to speak of and terribad offensive growths which, while *sufficient* from a practical perspective, just don't appeal as much as oneshotting dudes. I agree with the video overall, just thought that pick was odd.

tl;dr: average Franz fan < average Amelia Enjoyer

About unit feel. How many times do you hear someone in the comments or on the FE subreddit say things like "I made Amelia into an general because Giliam is my only other general and I already have 2 paladins"? I also find it interesting how bottom tier units like Amelia, Mozu, Sophia and Rolf get more attention because they stand out in their badness unlike someone whose just mediocre like Trec.

I don’t know why, but I rarely think of the Christmas cavs individually, almost always as pairs.

Nino is just doing her best and that's why i love her :(

I like Forde for the simple fact that I managed to come up with the surname: "Forde Motor Company" and then I kept using him. He kept getting strength growths and was pretty much took the place that Franz is logically supposed to have.

Had to take a step back when i saw juggermelon's art in this vid. Bara himbo rep

Kane and Alva were given so little effort they’re names are effectively just Cain and Abels spelled different and with the letters rearranged respectively.

Sain was special because he has a memorable 1 note personality. I remember him because I laughed at him as a kid.

You're really underrating Noish there my man.

Don't insult me :

Thank you so much for making this video! I always had this vibe about playing the games that I could never explain... and you're just explaining it right here!

I think this is why I like the flexible promotions of the newer games so much. I can make my own story arcs for better unit feel - like making Bernie into a general, and Raphael into a Priest. And it can be different each time I play, too.

Inventing new terms I see. I gotta say though i feel this so hard. When having unit viability discussions, whenever I have to explain why a unit like Zihark from PoR isn't great I initially get stuck with my explanation. It's easy to explain why when you give it enough thought - sword locked, not mounted, etc. But my initial thought is genuinely "he doesn't feel great to use" and I feel like most mediocre units can fall under this umbrella. Also Marisa is the worst unit in SS? I mean, bottom 3 for sure, but Amelia and Ewan... Happy holidays Bopper!

This puts words on a feeling it is hard to grasp while reading discussions on why some people disagree so much over units. I hope you expand on the concept of unit feel in later videos!

"How come people don't load up on horses and fliers" Me: Tugs collar I really enjoy flying around the map at the speed of sound and tend to rely on Paladins to do most of my damage eating while the Pegas go ham on the other side of the map. If I can class someone into a horse then I will always do so and when the main characters have gender options I will always play female so I can get that pegasus and one turn maps. Might just be a me thing, but I love turning Fire Emblem into a cav strat game.

This was a super good video!! I feel like I understand what I like about Fire Emblem so much more now

Ah yes, when one is designing a unit one must never forget the *mouthfeel*

Gotta say, I LOVE these fun analytical videos, Keep up the good work!

The hat is why we love Joshua. I can't imagine him without that hat.

I have nothing to say but to praise this video for hitting bullseye why I love Fire Emblem, and I love it way more than most of the other SRPG franchises.

I've always had a lot of fun with high movement rescue drop characters. It feels so good to just feel like you have the whole battlefield at the tips of your fingers

I didn't know I needed a video like this but i did, thank you for validating my lizard brain you king of himbos you

Isadora is very sexy emblem you're mad, MAD!

dope ass christmas vid!! also thanks for the himbo guillam i love him

Merry Christmas Bopper ❤️

Never thought I'd hear Fire Emblem youtuber would talk about Aristotle. Great video!

Bopper... I love you, you amazing beautiful man. A fun fe guy, a demon's souls guy... ty for the quality content. It always gets me excited to watch a new video of yours. Ty.

This is kind of why I've been doing a harem run with a lot of Fire Emblem games as of late. Basically with the exception of the main lord, I only use female units. (Sometimes only use female units if the Lord is a female ie Sacred Stones and Three Houses) I just find it hilariously amusing that I'm overthrowing these medieval empires with an army of cute anime girls.

@2:48 actually the horse goes neigh, I went to preschool I know these things (fr great video! & happy holidays!)

Fantastic video. I love discussions about why people play games, and this one is juicy.

This video hits a very important point, with all the discussion about what is optimal and who are the best units, we often forget most people choose based on what is fun to play/use and unit feel is very important in this choice

Glad i found your channel, love this. I must say though, I LOVE the Santa and Shrek cav’s attack animation. Its so satisfying to be in synch with the horse to lean as far as you can to STAB them, usually twice because speeeeeed. I most fondly remember Franz and he is really good? But i also refuse to use Seth on hard mode so i kinda needed him. :P

Merry Christmas Bopper. Be safe

"Kyle, a literal green unit." - OUCH!!!

This may be the best video about Fire Emblem I've ever watched.

Sully actually has amazing unit feel, just like how it feels amazing when she steps on me

Yo we got a new video essay on Christmas lets goooo.

Alen never doubles while Lance takes off due to his speed advantage? I get that you're mostly using this for a silly example, but the difference between Alen and Lances speed is very small and Alen will do more damage against enemies that neither can double which is a lot of enemies. They will also both usually double most enemies post promotion where Alen will do more damage than Lance

I'm glad for the variety of reasons you pointed out for liking a unit, I feel like it justifies me feeding levels and using all my stat boosting items on Dorcas because of the commercial memes

Great video!

I don't have a quirky comment so I'm just gonna say, this video was a lot of fun to watch man! hope to see even more interesting content like this!

I've had similar experiences with the Cavs where I almost always just use a handful of them because they happen to support with more interesting footlocked units that need to get ferried around to stay in the action; it's almost an afterthought what their personalities are compared to getting bonuses to people I'm actually interested in investing time in. And I think Path of Radiance did it best when they differentiated the cav's starting weapons and gave the player the choice of what kind of weapon triangle control they would have when they did eventually promote (super canto might have been a step too far though). Cav's should have versatility in this similar manner to stand out and feel good to use. Give them more move than they already have compared to footlocked units and even give them weapon ranks that progress them to the point they can use weapons others can't when they become available. But in return make it so that their stats are 9/10 going to remain average (and actually provide challenging enemies where the average amount of stats isn't already enough to one round any opponent without assistance). This would highlight the many more useful aspects new players gloss over like rescuing, terrain access, trade chains etc. without turning it into FE4 where horse riding is the meta.

“Marisa is the worst unit in Sacred Stones” *So you have chosen death*

Kellam is my favorite Armor unit just because his Armor has a very endearing story behind it (His B-Support with Maribelle btw), which is exactly what you mentioned at like 12:40 to be crucial for finding a unit fun to use.

Meanwhile Echoes has a Forsyth to be reckoned with and hurty lightning.

Maybe I am just weird, but I love Noish in Fire Emblem 4. He does not have pursuit, but he has really good growths and bases comparatively, and with swords and lances there are things he can do. Because he has the critical skill if you are willing to try forever in the arena, with wrath, weapon triangle, and patience you can almost always have him clear the arena. And when you can do this in the first arena, which normally only Sigurd and maybe Quan can do, you can get Noish lots of extra levels and gold. Which Noish can use to abuse his weapon ranks and have tons of options, or buy things like the paragon ring, pursuit ring, or brave sword to help shore up his weaknesses. His ability to go through the arena with lucky crits alongside his high enough base level comparatively and access to swords to gain xp during chapters let him promote and get another power boost. It is like how it is fun using Amelia because of the zero to hero, but for me Noish is never bad, I am just allowing him to keep up with the best units by letting him do what only he can do. It can also just be fun to gamble withcharge/accost and critical proc to see if he can get his kill, like the devil axe. Alec has a whole other optimalish meme strategy using the paladin's broken +5 magic on promo and the magic ring to make Alec the wielder of the light brand and go around magically 2 ranging people if you don't want your light brand on someone like Sigurd or Azel. Though by chapter 3/4 you should have at least 2 magic swords. Alec has a weird turban thing which I never understood, but it makes his design stick out in my mind. I feel like the skills and dialogue also do a lot to help every unit, not just the Christmas calvs stand out. Even if Noish only talks at the beginning and Alec only has one extra conversation with Sylvia, (Arden mentions he gets a lot of chicks once,) the gameplay helps fill in the gaps as these poor, loyal, but holy blood lacking knights do their best to do their duty to their honourable liege. Additionally if you marry them off (Noish+Ferry gang) you can gain more insight into their characters. Thanks for making this vid man. I am much more into the tactics of Fire Emblem, but unit feel is something important for everyone and the lizard brain has more control than we would like. Even if I don't always agree with you, I appreciate the interesting discussions your videos and streams start. Also they are fun. Merry Christmas, Booper.

I feel that one of the best examples of “unit-feel” is the Jerrot squad. Allen and Lance are boring and dumb. They don’t seem as special as anyone else in the army. Treck and Noah stand out. Treck feels like an armor knight on a horse and it makes him interesting to use. Noah has a cool portrait, can use the killing edge at base, and is pretty okay despite his obnoxiously bad level ups, making for a memorable experience. Jerrot has the opposite problem; he’s got a super muted color palette and feels far more generic than the superhero Marcus who’s been carrying your team for six chapters. I can remember having really fun experiences with Treck, Noah, and Marcus in ways that I can’t with Allen, Lance, and Jerrot.

duessel does in fact smoke the phantom ship.

Finally I don't feel like I've been condescended on by an FE video telling me my love for Myrmidons and Lords is wrong. This was a really good video. 14:10 to 14:40 in particular is my favourite part. FE is not my favourite tactics game, by far it's SMT Devil Survivor and the greatest part about that game is how easy it is to make fun for yourself through demon customisation, skill loadouts, etc.. I know magic is OP and I'll always have my best bro to cover physical in all routes but I'll still do it from time to time.

Unit feel is an interesting concept to explore for any game that has the option to choose whom you use for gameplay. Fire Emblem has that ability to have multiple units with the same class, like playing d&d or PF with the same class, but you can make two rogues in completely different builds But fire Emblem almost fosters the lack of uniqueness in stats and combat ability so we must look to other things to diversify their "characters" versus them as "units" in the game. Personality, as you aptly shown us how forgettable they are as characters. Yeah we had our "horse" units, we didn't have Sain (the charmer), Kent (the straight man), Marcus (the champ), Lowen (the no-eyes), or Isadora (forgettable) as FE7 is concerned Looking forward to more content, more analysis, more streams, everything. Love it man thank you & happy holidays

Its probs because it was my first game, but sain and kent were units i really loved, as well as lowen. The first two because they were, i think, the first units you get to play with, and the later, bc he filled the void they left when the game moved on to Eliwood/Hector's story. Also i just think lowen is cute lol. Canas is also one of my favorites, as you said, I really liked that he was a dark mage and also he's a really good unit + his dialogue about wanting to learn was really cute to me.

That Nino level up made my day.

I like Isadora a lot actually but everything you said about her makes a lot of sense and I never really thought about it that way

Really great video! I think I felt this with Lowen because he was so incredibly powerful in my eliwood playtrhough, but I never got to enjoy him as much as Raven, Cannas or even Lyn. I loved how you crystalized this notion about characters many feel in a term which is more specific and, therefore, useful, than just simply calling it fun. I look forward to use it in future discussions, since I found it a great addition to the topic's lexicon. However, I would disagree in your use of the term meta-narrative in the final segment of the video. The character narrative is one that it's inherent to the game, the work of art in question, all by itself. Sure, it's not a plot, but it uses the mechanics, which are some of the game's aspects to tell a story which is all about what's telling, and not a commentary on the nature of telling stories.

god tier video and analysis

Personally i found Forde so endearing as a character i suffered with him despite him always ending uo rng screwed in my runs just goes to show what a great first impression can do

We all have units that we love using regardless of their objective performances.

Umm, that Honda in the commercial you used to describe is my car lol, I guess I'm generic like a Christmas Cav

sometimes in awakening and fates I plan out my promotions to get the most efficient stats and skills for my units (and their kids for the latter). other times I just pick whichever promotion's outfit looks nicer. lizard brain brain says the pixel people won't be able to focus on fighting if their bare legs are chafing in the saddle :(

The only christmas Cavaliers with good unit feel imo are Kent and Sain because they're like important characters for the first 10 chapters of their game (nevermind those chapters are optional after beating the game once). They have a funny dynamic with each other, get featured in multiple CG, and they talk a lot in the cut scenes. Since FE7 was my first game, you can see how I was majorly disappointed by how boring all the other christmas cavs were everywhere else...

I had to pause the video and enjoy a chuckle. "joshua has a hat, haar has an eyepatch...." that got me for some reason.

The commercial you showed for the generic SUV has the car I drive in it. Same make model and color. Lol

Kyle's one spot in my mind is when he beat the final boss to avenge his wife LUTE (my favorite SS character) who died the enemy phase before in a blaze of glory. It still brings a tear to my eye.

I guess the reason I like using both Christmas Cavs, or neither Christmas Cavs (depends on the game) must be because I like the archetype. I like watching them both fight together for the entirety of the game, especially considering they're usually best friends and/or rivals.

Hooray for Bonus Points! Jesus Christ Thracia units have some longass boots. You usually only see those on the ladies but Kain and Alba are dipping into that territory too, the mad lads

It'd be helpful if character portraits popped up on screen when you mention them, because a lot of these names run together lmao

I love the unit feel of laguz units, especially Nailah and Volug early in RD.

I love and hate everything about this, Merry Xmas 🙃

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Hard disagree on Awakening on higher difficulties, using anyone but Fred and Chrobin is suffering until you snowball them, and even using Robin at the start is suffering. Everyone's roughly that zero to hero, and reclassing means that even if their base class is not up to your speed, you can probably make something better out of them. And in that, Sully is among the Awakening waifu cast, she's a ginger tomboy so she's automatically great and makes you an absolute scumbag for dismissing her- uh, wait. I mean that she gets to have a kid, and not just with (you) and other guys, but is also one of the limited supports for Chrom. While she's not as laughably awful as the Sumia/FRobin support, nor does she have the borderline easter egg feel of Olivia, getting to be in the family of the main character is one of the decent stand out traits in Awakening.

Look the way I see it. There are 3 charecters on a horse early in awakening. One of them is fred. Thus explaining why stahl and sully feel meh

Well i have to say that unit feel Is a very good concept, that makes the player to not only use the most overkill and optimal unit but this realy depends on the player for example you said that canas have good unit feel and that's why everyone likes to use him but personaly i dont like to use him because he simply doesn't tell me anything or cames so early that i get a type of attachment to him, same thing with Oswin (but this is because i dont like the armor knigths) but i like Sain because i put him a funny voice the first time i play the game

"Marissa is the worst unit in Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones" Me: *haha Swordmaster Marissa goes wooooooshhh*

It really like these videos about unit feeling, to me depending on game, the Christmas cavaliers can be very forgettable( like fire emblem 3, 4,6,8)to somewhat interesting( fire emblem 13) to actually memorable(fire emblem 3 book 1,7 and 14) but with fates it because there ninja and the class are a really good class(seriously debuffs and poison strike are really good). I do like you give the feeling of using units. While mekkah gives the technical side of fire emblem(which is interesting and fun to talk about), you give the feeling of playing a unit which is rentable by all fire emblem fans.