Books! Shiny books. Also games.

[lassarina]

So, I finished American Gods last night. I really liked the way it ended. It also made me wonder - it's fairly apparent, throughout the book, that the various gods are strongly affected by the amount of belief in them (for example, the hall of forgotten gods, or whatever it's called.) But this makes me wonder, in a real-life spiritual context:

Comments

[oberndorf]

I would first argue that any god worthy of the name doesn't require anything (barring maybe entertainment) from humanity. That's why they're gods. If they were truly dependent upon us, we would be gods, and they merely the figments of a collective imagination. As an honest to God theist, I'm not particularly enamored with that notion.

As far as FE goes:
Everybody has odd hair. The "main character" through all but maybe one or two of the ten games has had standard anime blue hair. He's usually accompanied by a "red knight" and "green knight" with appropriately hued hair and armor. Grey/white hair tends in more recent games to accompany thunder mages (The Freege family in FE4 and FE5 being notable, but Ilyana is another case in point). But hell, psychic and SPESHUL runs in the genre. Sadly, "special" doesn't usually equate to "kickass" as much as "macguffin".

Second, the only people who can hit/act and then move are mounted troops. Cavalry, pegasus riders, and wyvern knights (and the various class changed permutations thereof). There's also usually a Knight Ring out there (and it's usually a straight up bitch to get) that when equipped allows non-mounted troops to hit and run. All part of the majesty of the game, really, and yet another reason I rely on cavalry to do all my heavy hurting. (With the notable exception of the Holy Weapon users from FE4 who were just plain sick with their magic toys. When they weren't also cavalry, come to think.)

Third, the lack of phoenix down is yet another tactical issue to overcome. The dead don't, strictly speaking, come back to life. Every once in awhile (only in FE4 to my knowledge) there's a mighty magic to bring back the dead, but honestly, aren't there enough games with a revolving door afterlife? The need to keep people alive and the permanence of death add to the challenge (in a good way), the pathos, and the game's ability to give you a large cast.

[lassarina]

Well, phooey on that ;) I actually view Phoenix Down/KO as more of an unconsciousness issue (potential death if uncured) versus true death, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Clearly my lack of decadent Earth logic is wounding me here.

[thenicochan]

Mmm...and had to mention I actually like the permanent death (Unless it's the special occasion of "Oh noes I am injured! G2G!") It adds to the war/battle feel. Just make use of the Battle Save! :3

[lassarina]

I'm just used to Phoenix Down, I think :)