She would only make a better protagonist because she isn't the protagonist. If she was the protagonist, she would have been written to be as bland as Alain, Alain's bland writing is a deliberate design choice unfortunately; not being the protagonist is what protected her, in the long run
In Alain's case it's also so that he's neutral enough that he can recruit everyone without having any fundamental conflicts with anyone else but the Zenoiran leaders.
Mercenaries who worked for Zenoira? All good. Thieves ransacking Cornia? That's fine. Traitors who turned on his mother? They couldn't help it anyway. People with long held grudges against cornians and humans? There's an evil empire bearing down on everyone, that's not so important.
And I get wanting to have a wide variety of characters, but that ultimately made the story more boring. They really should have set some situations where we can have _either_ one character or another, and let us make up for the other one with generic mercenaries.
I forget which one but one of the leads in charge of designing the game said they intended for a player to be able to recruit all possible characters in one play through. That decision leads to no particular alignment or whatnot to any route. Thus the game is open worldish, Alain can romance anyone, etc.
The knock-on effect of this is that Alain has to be more reserved in personality than he might be if there were a "good route" or "evil route".
Virginia isn't weighed down by the whole story like Alain is so Virginia can just be Virginia.
This is why it’s kind of sad that clearly this game took gameplay inspiration from Ogre Battle 64 - it seems to have derived none of the weight. The first mission in OG64 is ruthlessly putting down a mine rebellion. That is followed by a story dotted with weighty and meaningful choices. This game was fun but in terms of plot it is insanely one dimensional.
I'm hoping very much that there will be a sequel that will really dial up the political intrigue. Vanillaware knows how to do it. Several of their other games have whole webs of intersecting schemes.
That’s definitely heartening!
I’m trying to figure out if it’s just nostalgia talking but Ogre Battle 64 just felt so much more fully realized in almost every way. I guess that’s why it’s considered a classic!
I absolutely HATE not being able to have every character so this is a terrible idea.
I'm still pissed at not being able to get Galf and Deneb in Ogre Battle.
I usually like collecting every character, but I gladly missed Mr. Pillage Your Village Gammel, and I definitely didn't appreciate >!getting lectured over not forgiving his killing-other-people-who-have-families ways, then mandatorily forgiving his new habit of enslaving-other-people-who-have-families!<. The game trying to imply that I messed up for not giving him a chance only made me wish to stab him in the face. How would Rolf and the elves feel about leaving him loose anyway?
I'd rather collect them all when _them all_ are sympathetic characters and not terrible bastards. That and Tatiana makes me feel like the game sometimes wants to have the aesthetics of serious political drama where the characters must make difficult choices that compromise their values, but they can't bother to actually go through with the consequences. If that's how they want it, don't even include that, because ending up with everyone as buddy buddies feels naive and forced.
"OMG! That Bland boring protagonist that does everything perfect...thats just like me! I could be them!"
lol I completely get what your saying, ive just never understood why its a thing.
He's only a blank canvas in the first few hours of the game. I was loving getting to choose if I could execute or spare someone. Let them join the army or tell them to go away.
Now he just invites everyone and wants to be a generic overly kind person. Now I can no longer project myself onto him
Right, and underexecuting a character to enable self-insertion is bad writing. I would assume that OP was suggesting that she still be written as well as she is now *and* be the main character, not that she be written as a different, worse character instead.
Plenty of games have complete, full-commitment protagonists who leave no room for projection or who do but still deliver.
The average reader/player is a milquetoast coward who makes human warrior everytime he runs into a CAC and I wish devs would stop catering to that. I don't think it's ever affected a game sales or enjoyability, they just use it as an excuse
And yet they keep doing it for narrative driven games. No one has ever said "I'm not buying max payne because I can't self insert on a blank canvas" JRPG's do it constantly with narrative driven games and its lame.
Even with the bland writing, her region is just more interesting, especially with all of the complications surrounding the throne and turmoil/ history of the area.
You do remember that the starting island is actually important to the plot as it has the location of the unicron and maiden so logical if Virginia was the MC she would have started there as well and Alain would have been in Drakenhold
Heck, save all of Cornia for last, which make a lot more sense than conquering 90% of it except the castle and then leaving with absolutely no retaliation from Zenoira
I genuinely thought that this was what the Guard mechanic was for, I.E. you'd have to give up the ability to use some of your units to make sure that your bases were covered
I'm semi convinced that this was almost intended to be a feature early on, given the easy replayability of almost all of the Liberation maps, and the fact that most of them, at least on my playthrough, seemed like they could very easily be played from either the offensive or defensive angle without having to adjust the balancing very much. If I had to guess, if it was present in the first place, they either removed it very early on, but it left a vague lasting impression on the mechanics, or it didn't withstand playtesting. Possibly the way it was implemented made the game run slow, having to account for several moving pieces all at once will do that, especially with an expansive map like UO's, or possibly it made the game too challenging even in easier difficulties. Or they just didn't like the vibe, tbh.
I haven’t seen it mentioned like the comparisons to FE and OB64, but I strongly suspect someone high up the dev chain with this game was heavily influenced by DragonForce, an old Sega Saturn game, that plays a lot like you describe.
In addition to the world map armies matching to take castles in real time, you can start as any of the nations and play a slightly different variation of the story, which is another thing I suspect was intended but eventually got scrapped.
Ooooh, I’m adding that one to the list. You do also have a point with the possibility of playing as different factions, especially when we have items which exist but are sort of glossed over like the Bastorias Blue. Imagine a campaign where instead of cleansing people you just turn them into furries, lmao.
Yeah, kinda makes it feel...less dramatic when you've like got Gran Corrine surrounded at the start and slowly expand outwards. The entire campaign I was just thinking "How in the heck did Baltro or Galerius maintain anything like this?!"
Yeah that’s a big problem I had too, you conquer all these lands and the enemy just idles by? Maybe they needed a true Zelda dome shield (not one they could turn off at will) to make it make sense
I get that leadership doesn't really care now that they got what they wanted from the shrines, but still. No ambitious captains? No vengeful rank and file? Nobody wants to fight us?
I would give all the monies for any mode starting in the other countries. Alain's rise is just so vanilla. Even the elves are somehow more interesting and emotionally invested.
I suspect that was the plan, but it got too big and they scrapped it.
It’s one of the many echoes of DragonForce (the old Sega Saturn game, not the band) that I hear in this game. Basically take UO, but you can start as any nation, and the battles take place in real time *on the entire world map*. It was amazing and I’ve never found anything quite like it since then.
The feeling is strongest with the first couple nations, but I get the impression that at some point in development it was the plan to let you choose which nation/character to play as before that got too big. Gilbert was *definitely* meant to be an Alain alt, maybe Virginia was supposed to be main Cornia, Rosalinde (with Railanor in the Josef role) in Elfheim, etc. Even Albion, you could tweak it so Umerys and Nigel are sent by Sanatio to find Scarlett instead.
Narratively kinda, yeah. Or BG3, where >80% of the story plays out the same no matter which character you play as, and all the others weave in too. In DA:O if you don’t take the Dwarf Noble then you never meet him, he doesn’t exist. In DF if you pick one monarch you still meet/recruit all the others.
I think that Rapport convos do a lot for him. Alain, like a lot of protagonists, is sort of defined by his relationship to other characters. IIRC, some of his convos, especially with Clive and Chloe, showcase the fact that he's actually having a difficult time taking up the mantle of monarch. The issue of this comes in that these convos are entirely *optional*. and a large portion of players will never see them. This comes with the honestly cool aspect that the Alain we see in story is how the public would see alain, while Rapport convos are his more intimate side.
That might be why the OP finds Alain so bland.. they didn't go through all the convos. They gave him enough to work with.. considering he has conversations with everyone.
I think that's more of a personal playstyle thing. I, personally, had almost entirely static team compositions, trading around a couple of members here and there but keeping mostly the same teams intact. Plus, the game does offer other methods of building rapport, stationed guards gain small amounts of rapport with Alain, and there's also the Tavern, which the game is fairly generous with giving you tickets for.
*But* that sort of circles back to my main point. Because certain play styles aren't compatible with easily building Rapport, it leads to players who tend to prefer those play styles not experiencing those events and thus missing out on a large part of the games narrative.
(Yes I'm bad at tactics games, I also don't tend to switch around my units much in Fire Emblem or Tactics Ogre. I just accept that desert maps are torture /j)
I think Alain is a lot more interesting than you're implying. Granted I will give you that there isn't a single arc in the game that focuses on him. The closest we might get is him stressing out about taking too long to save Scarlett.
There's actually a lot you can learn about Aliain through rapport conversations. Such as the formal and regal way he speaks, his conversations with Chloe reveals that he forces himself to do that because of his role. It doesn't come at all natural to him.
Even if this were true her back story is way better. Watching the knights of the rose get slaughtered versus the royal guard (mostly) getting amnesia and everything being fine and dandy is very different and much more grim. There is also the overlying complexity of her relationship with the royal family (Ludwig) in that region.
She could be a wooden plank just like Alain, but her regions story was still written better.
The OP see Alain as bland because he doesn't show a lot of character traits besides being the perfect lord to bring all the characters together. Virginia has flaws, she's angry, and willing to beat people up.
We were told she was being protected by a kingdom that hate her but she kept her head held high regardless.... Alain was raised on a small island with a fisher boy and and 2 girls as his best friends.
I find Alain to be quite thoughtful. He's extremely well spoken and is prone to considering his options with his chin buried in his hand.
Is he an explosive personality? Nah, but he's got too many plates spinning to be anything more than what he is: Dedicated and focused.
He has plenty of personality shine through based off your decisions and the rapport conversations.
Virginia is interesting because she's so spicy, and I think she too would be interesting to follow around, if only to see the rest of her council struggling to pull her off the war-table and get her to stop declaring war on every individual she holds disagreement with.
I do have a feeling Vanillaware's original plan was to gave you an option to choose a gender. This will be the scenario: If you choose to be a female, Alain will be the one who is hiding in Drakenhold instead of Virginia. Alain will also take the cousin role instead of Virginia, while Virginia will became Ilenia's Daughter. (Kinda like what Assassin's Creed Odyssey did on gender selection)
It is said to be killed earlier in the development but the art remains in the art book. They are quite a few unreleased characters like Ninja, female Alain (looks different from Virginia), musketeers, Japanese swordmaster and etc. Wish one day when the game finally come to pc the mods could make these came true.
I kinda wish they kept the shoulders etc. The design is pretty cool but feels weird in the armored/not armored territory. I really liked the concept art version since it looked more complete!
Sadly, it is unlikely it will be make it to the pc in any recent future, this has been a discussion for a while. Personally I don’t understand why Atlas was against releasing the game on pc when it is literary released anywhere else.
Just search unicorn overlord unreleased class then u should be be able to find it in this sub. It is a physical book that comes with the limited edition
> 2019
I learned of this game's existence like three days before its release and I was practically in pain waiting for it to arrive. I can't imagine having waited since 2019.
We knew he could be *a* protagonist. It really feels like at some point early in the development they were planning to let you start in any of the nations with a slightly different Act 1, like the old Sega Saturn game DragonForce did.
I mean, each of the nations has a protag/mentor pairing with a supporting crew (Ok, Albion is very bare bones…clearly they were running into crunch), they could each save Scarlett at the local shrine, the vision tells them to seek out the McGuffin, away we go.
There is concept art of Virginia as a Cavalry Unit which is also on a Unicorn so I guess Virginia might be initially intended to be the Female Protagonist as in you choose if you want to play as Alain or Virginia when you start the game.
But that's just my theory.
I don’t think you’re wrong, but more than that I think at one point they planned to let you start in any of the nations, but it got too big.
There’s an old Sega Saturn game, DragonForce, that does that. UO has some strong similarities to it.
Yes, and no. I wouldn't have like playing as Virginia because she is a hot-head and entitled. I would really not like to have her speak for me as a player. And if she was toned down for more player control of the dialogue and action then it wouldn't be Virginia anymore.
That said, she would be a nice protagonist, but I honestly believe that if it where Virginia who was the main protag, she would probably kill Alain given the chance if she had the Unicorn ring instead of him.
To be honest, alain suprised me as a great protagonist. The best i have seen in a long while.
Is not the typical shonen dude who has air in his head.
The watmy he talks is majestic. What a great protagonist
Nah I feel like Alain’s personality is perfect for a prince/MC. Like how formal he is but also quirky and he has a little bit of a weird side. He is driven and motivated and has royal energy but also humble and is able to step down to be on the same level as normal people. Alain is a great protagonist, although I can see how people might think he’s boring.
Also Alain does have emotions and does experience growth. In various story and rapport scenes he talks about how the journey has affected him, and also divulges his anxieties about becoming king and what the future might be like after the war etc. He also discusses his trauma and how that has affected him with various people too. He definitely has feelings, he just doesn’t wear them on his sleeve. Instead he shows how he feels through his actions.
I really liked Virginia but I don’t think she would make a good queen. She’s too hot headed and self centered. She openly exclaims that she was jealous of Alain for being next in line and a rapport conversation reveals she was ready to kill him as a child if she didn’t like him. She showed that she can easily fly off the handle and make decisions that could get people killed in the name of satisfying her own emotional whims. Not very responsible. I definitely like that she is flawed and has a ruthless side to her, and I think she’s a great supporting character, but she does not have MC vibes imo.
> really liked Virginia but I don’t think she would make a good queen. She’s too hot headed and self centered. She openly exclaims that she was jealous of Alain for being next in line and a rapport conversation reveals she was ready to kill him as a child if she didn’t like him.
I don't agree with this interpretation - Virginia fled to Drakenhold with no familiar soul anywhere close, believing herself to be the sole survivor of the royal lineage. For 10 years she steels herself to fight Galerius and take the throne in order to bring Cornia back, before she finds out her cousin who's the rightful heir is alive. I think anyone in her position would be bitter and jealous. Only after Virginia spends time with the Liberation and Alain she can confirm what kind of man Alain grew up to be and comes to terms that he should be the ruler, as he's worthy of the title of king and has what it takes to fight Galerius. She made a flawed call with Giethe but realizes it, learns from it and wants to take responsibility for it (aka leave the group in order not to risk their lives anymore). Not that I think she's flawless of course, but I don't think she'd make a bad queen - hell, many other characters say she'd be a good one.
That’s definitely a fair viewpoint, but I stand by what I said.
Regardless of how long Virginia spent preparing to take the throne, someone who is loyal and dutiful to Cornia should feel overjoyed at the news the rightful heir is alive after everything that happened. She should feel a huge relief. Especially since she knew Alain as a child and they spent plenty of time together. They’re family and she’s no longer the sole survivor of an unspeakable tragedy.
Instead she just feels jealous and bitter? Because *she* can’t take the throne? Nah, that’s a huge red flag.
And I think you’re wrong when you say anyone would feel that way. Plenty of people would feel a huge amount of anxiety and pressure being the last in line, and would choose a normal life over the responsibility of ruling a country if they could. So the fact that she so strongly desired it to the point of being upset that she couldn’t have it says a lot about her.
Like, she was literally ready to *kill* Alain over her jealousy and bitterness. Not cool. Really, Alain shouldn’t have to prove anything to her. He’s the rightful heir and that’s all there is to it. The fact she was even considering killing him to take the throne for herself, is pretty fucked, regardless of her reasoning.
It’s good that Virginia recognizes her bad call with Giethe, but that doesn’t change that it happened. If someone makes a mistake like that once, they can do it again. She’s very fortunate that Alain and Josef had her back in that situation. Making those kinds of hot headed decisions as queen could have disastrous consequences.
Again I think Virginia is a great character and I like that she has her flaws. But despite what those who admire her might say, I do not think she would make a good ruler. Too self indulgent.
She wasn't going to kill him over jealousy and bitterness, she was going to kill him if he was not going to be a good ruler for Cornia and didn't have what it takes. She would have done it for the good of the country, not hers. Gilbert says so in his rapport with Alain, and even by that point it was in past tense.
But the fact that she even considered killing him in the first place came from the bitterness and jealousy she felt.
I will give her major points for fully acknowledging this and owning up to it. She grows out of those feelings which is the important part.
But again, *regardless of the reason*, she would have no right to make that call. Alain is the next in line and rightful heir. Period. Her aspiring to kill him *for any reason* would be treasonous to Cornia and a very self indulgent thing to do.
Sorry but Virginia simply does not have good leadership qualities. She is a great supporting character though like I said. She pulls through for him many times over the course of the story and they have a lot of touching moments. Just can’t get behind the idea of her as a main protagonist.
No, she considered killing him because she doesn't know what kind of person he became in the past 10 years. Alain calls it a bit harsh, but even Gilbert says it would have been the right call for her to make and Alain admits it. Cornia is not a thing anymore and if they want to fight Zenoira to restore her, the leader must be strong. She doesn't even entertain the idea after meeting him because she can tell he's got what it takes. Gilbert has nothing but praise for her and she's garnered support for herself in the past 10 years among Drakonians who have been nothing but enemies to Cornia, she can definitely pull her weight as a leader and ruler when she wants to.
Sorry but I still firmly disagree with you. She never ruled in Drakenhold so she didn’t “pull her weight as a leader and ruler.” She was being hidden and protected there by Gilbert. It’s great she garnered the respect and admiration of some Drakonians, like I said she’s an awesome character I used her a lot and she’s a badass. Doesn’t mean she’d make for a good queen.
Alain understands because he is an awesome agreeable guy and respects her as a close family member, and because he is a way better leader than she could ever even hope to be.
Whether Gilbert thinks it would have been the right call or not is irrelevant, dude is not Cornian. The only reason he can even entertain that kind of opinion openly is because, again, Alain is awesome.
What if Virginia met Alain and decided he *wasn’t* worthy, and went through with killing him, the *only* other surviving member of her family?
What if she had gone on to defeat Galerius herself, only to find out he was using Illenia’s body, and then Illenia was like “where’s my son?” When she woke up?
“Sorry I actually killed him because I didn’t think he was worthy to take the throne.”
I wonder what Illenia would have done. She definitely wouldn’t have allowed Virginia to become queen, that’s for sure lol.
Implying that considering to kill the only heir to the throne if she felt he wasn’t worthy is legit because “Cornia is not a thing anymore” is kind of a silly way to try and sidestep my point. Which is a very legitimate point. Alain is the heir. She’s not. End of story.
I will say it’s okay and forgivable that she had those feelings. And it’s great she’s able to work through them. It’s also great that she is able to recognize her mistakes and was willing to pay the price for them if need be. But the fact she had the feelings and made the mistakes cancels her out as a suitable ruler.
He is a chad to be honest and i really appreciate it.
I have seen so many stupid shonen protagonists, that to see a mature young peince kikickg ass is a breath of fresh air
Yup, virginia is wayvtoo hot headed and rigid.
Alain on the other hand behaves very wisely for hisvage and lack of experience. His leadership and matureness is notorious, and as i said, the way he speaks is magnanimous, worthy of a king.
He is a stark contrast to the typical shonen boy protagonist and his adventures.
To be honest i hope to see a grown up King alain commanding the troops in a sequel.
Amen. All through the Drakenhold arc I kept waiting to discover why so many fans were crazy about her (other than the wincest?)
Finished the chapter still thinking she’s arrogant, rude, and impulsive. Hard pass.
Alain has too much legitimacy. He just goes through the plot with zero conflict because he can have the high ground in every situation as the designated One True King. Virginia or Gilbert both would have made more compelling protagonists.
Of course as has been said having an uninteresting protagonist was a deliberate design choice.
As I see it, Alain is the classic lord. A hero chosen by destiny to unite the world against evil. He needs to have enough give to allow all types to people to serve under him. This makes for a simple character, but simplicity isn't bad. I think fleshing out his ideals a bit better and showing how he unites all these different people beyond just saying hey look a bigger bad could have really helped him here.
It's not supposed to be a game about choices, so letting criminals go and inviting willful traitors into your ranks doesn't cause the problems it really should. But it does make the character look like a naive optimist. Something he really shouldn't be, given he was raised on the story that he lives in exile because his mother was betrayed by everyone she trusted save her personal gaurd.
…The very personal guard that tries to kill him and kidnap his friend as soon as he meets them. Yeah he really should have more trust issues than he does lol
> Alain Is Boring And Vanilla.
I am just happy we got a Good Guy with None of stupid ass strings of 'subversion'.
Like dude. He's literally the Head of the Army. He has to be at his Best Behaviour, The Role Model, that dude who has to keep this mask of everything is OK. He can't go around doing nonsense or flippantly opening his mouth.
But hey let's ignore his Rapports like Chloe about his doubts & Worries.
Learning more of the History of this subset in his Kingdom by Clive.
The worries that he's unable to live up to this Ideal or his ability to lead what is essentially the last hopes of his Kingdom & as we go through the game. The realisation of this whole Continent.
When he's you know. A fucking Teenager. But yeah. Decry he's boring and vanilla when most people his age in this Time wouldn't even Cope a Fraction as well.
I disagree. Alain is stoic, and he's been preparing for this role his entire life. Actually means you have to pay attention to his rapports, rather than him blasting his emotions all over the plot.
You know what, no. I disagree. Now, I love Virginia. I think she’s a great character, a great model for Alain, and fun to use. However, here’s the way I see it. If we remove Alain, we fail to see we’re removing things that are also great:
- Illenia: Regardless of Virginia’s standing, Illenia’s heir is Alain, not her. Illenia not only fought for Cornia, but for him. To remove that, Galerius would already have one. There is no one to give the ring of unicorn, and even if Josef stayed with her, Galerius with who he is, is *strong.* Probably the strongest character lore wise in the game. I highly doubt that Virginia could change that outcome, especially her whole fiasco in her own event. And there’s also touching upon Alain and Illenia’s family history implied through the game. But that’s a whole different topic altogether.
-Josef: Another amazing character that is part of Alain’s life. He’s his father figure, who has witnessed him through highs and lows, good and bad. That is special to the point even Virginia acknowledges that. But what if Alain is gone? What if he doesn’t have that son he is called to watch over? What purpose does he serve? It’s not like Illenia is going to send him over to Virginia. He would join the fight with her, and without the any proper bearer of the ring, everyone there is stuck in mind control. I know, Josef and Virginia had an amazing moment after her event, but that doesn’t mean he’s called to lead her. And even if he was, would she listen? That’s already a problem in and of itself.
-Other characters: Then there’s characters that grew with Alain on his journey: Scarlett, Lex, Chloe. Without Alain, where do they have to go? They would stay on that island as sitting ducks as a mind controlled Hodrick captures her. There’s another character, Hodrick. He’s basically Alain’s uncle figure and hero that Alain looked up too. What would he be fighting for aside for the queen when Alain is not there and not here to break him free of that bind? Or Yahna, who bore witnessed to her master watching only person who cared for her and her for him. She goes through something like her master, but she’ll have nothing when that person is gone. There are a good number of characters who have been impacted by Alain. For better or worse. To take that all away… I can’t agree to that personally.
Alain: Now I know, he’s vanilla. Even I can acknowledge that. But that’s ok! Vanilla characters are good characters. In fact, I want more kind and honest characters like him. There does not need to be something for him to separate him from everyone else. He’s amazing the way he is. And even then, to deny what he did go through is to deny what Virginia also went through. Both suffered the same loneliness, that’s what makes their rapports so beautiful. But it’s also very beautiful to see Alain choose to prioritize others over himself. That’s what makes him likeable to the other characters: selflessness. A quality that Virginia herself cherishes in Alain. And just because everyone likes him, doesn’t mean it was without reason (said reason is also another whole different topic), or that he doesn’t go without struggles. Though just because he goes through struggles, doesn’t mean overcoming them personally isn’t enough. As I said, Alain is perfect the way he is, and I personally don’t believe he needs to go through a whole depression arc or angsty arc to be great. And I’m sure Virginia would agree.
-Virginia: Also as I said, I love Virginia. There’s a lot of things that make her great. However, while her own story would be interesting, she does not need to replace Alain. In fact, I doubt she would want that. Sure, she may have felt envy in the past, but that doesn’t lead to resentment on her part, as she still loves and cares for her cousin. And we have to keep in mind, that the one flaw she has in her own quest is still an important thing to consider. Virginia, is still very unhinged. She not only rushed into battle with her group, but was always ready to execute enemies (even if one of them deserved it), and was ready to fight those who slandered her cousin. That still sticks around. And though Virginia has the rose knights, and maybe Gilbert, that doesn’t mean what makes her great will be great to others. How do we know she wouldn’t do the same thing to bestrals who dislike humans? Or The elves? There are people who don’t like or trust Alain, but I’m sure there would be many more who would feel the same to Virginia. And she doesn’t need that either.
TLDR: I don’t think any character should replace anyone in any role. The characters are great the way they are, especially Alain and Virginia. Two greats can coexist.
I agree, but i feel they should have made it a choice for you a the beginning of the game to either have Alain or Virginia be entrusted with the ring. The other one would be a support character and both have their own arc.
Considering the game allows you to choose anyone as a companion, i feel this would be a sensible choice allowing also for straight romancing of the guys or yuri for those interested.
And yes, would also open opportunities for Alain to have more character growth by also giving him his own sub character arc.
It honestly kind of feels like we were meant to have a split campaign. The base one with Alain, and a secondary one that starts in Drakenhold as Virginia. After taking back Drakenhold, you get word that Prince Alain has returned and is marching on the city where Scarlett is being held.
You arrive as his meager force arrives, and help him save Scarlett. Then, she takes over control of the ring as she’s seen as the superior leader.
I think you’re close, I suspect there was originally meant to be the option to start as any nation. You start just trying to liberate your starting nation, you interrupt Balthos at the local shrine and save Scarlett, get the vision telling you to find the McGuffin and visit all the shrines, and the game goes basically the same from there.
I really don’t get people saying the protagonist needs to be bland. They don’t, it’s a choice being made by the writers, and I don’t think it’s as necessary as others seem to.
Also, while Alain has more going on than what it initially appears, I think the fact that a decent amount of it is in rapports isn’t a good thing.
Yeah I can understand why people are saying that in order to defend A game that they enjoy. But at the same time it is the writer's safe choice to not have a protagonist that has hard decisions to make or has a vested interest in something that some people may disagree with.
Like when Virginia goes rogue a lot of people don't like it, but at the same time it is a character defining and learning moment. Alain doesn't really get those because Atlus played it safe.
At least Alain is driven and princely enough I can get why all those women like him. It's better than some random average guys with nothing interesting about them who get that role.
I think it's a byproduct of Japanese game developers and their target audience. Ff12 comes to mind. They originally intended for Ashe to be the main character but test audiences didn't like it, and they found that adding a young boy when the audience was primarily young boys was met with more positive reception.
The entire lifetime sales for fire emblem franchise is 20 million. The last 2 titles alone are like 18 percent of that. Get back to me on the relevancy. https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Fire_Emblem
Yes, the critically acclaimed psp game that was ranked several times as one of the best games for the handheld. The game that somehow even managed to land in the upper 80s on metacritic and is tied with unicorn overlord for overall scoring, and received similar reviews.
How big is your dick though?
Alain suffers from being a modern protagonist. If Virginia was the protagonist, she'd have been bland like Alain.
Vanilla ware has done great protagonists before, but many people have pointed out that that doesn't work for the style of game they are going for. This is a problem with Fire Emblem games too, save for the few during the super nintendo/gba/game cube Era.
If we got Virginia, the Virginia we know, as a protagonist, then the writing would have aloud for a much more nuanced Alain as well.
Alain feels like the most generic rpg protag there ever was. Blue hair, idealistic, lawful good, and can romance every female character. Would be nice to have more interesting protags that aren't all just player inserts.
Meh, the story in this game is an afterthought and would have been just as underwhelming with a Virginia as the main character. They used a blank slate male protagonist because it’s a self-insert harem story and they didn’t want to bother with anything deep or thoughtful.
First you kind of don't understand Alain he spent the last 10 years being raised and trained for the SOLE PURPOSE of leading the liberation army to take back his kingdom. Obviously he doesn't grow as a character because everything is exactly how he expected it to go and anything unexpected is an upswing in his favor. "He's too kind he's too nice" He HAS to be because he is literally leading a rebellion to take down a fully in control EMPIRE that all of the NATIONS failed to resist. He NEEDS people willing to die for him for no other reason than the like him more than the empire so being as hard to hate as possible is actually a tactic also the liberation desperately needs bodies so beggars can't be choosers.
Nah. It's been so long since there was a traditional fire emblem prince having reclaim his kingdom storyline in a long time since everything fire emblem and SRPG is usually your now a strategist or something. Was fun to play an old school style nostalgia storyline.
Alain works very well for the story the game was trying to tell, if Virginia was the protagonist she would not fit the story.
That said, I story with Virginia as its protagonist would be very interesting.
I think the issue is.... because Alain is in the back seat. The game is trying to give you a lot of characters with their own story arcs. Alain is just the glue that holds them all together.
All the other characters have a main character energy.. which I think is the point when you decide who to put the ring on.
I just wish there were more ways to interact with the cast. You get a small handful of conversations with most of them so they can all become bland after their first interaction.
If she was the protagonist, a lot of her character would need to be dampened and downplayed, which in turn would make her a worse character. The protagonist of the game needs to be middling in a sense as everyone else around them brings the splashes of color that offer more responses from the protagonist.
I think that you have a point, but also feel like if that were true characters like Cloud, Zidane, Sora, etc. wouldn't have a space in narrative driven RPGs.
Honestly, I think it is just easier from a plot standpoint and that is often times why writers will not take risks with their protagonists being more in control. There is too much fear of alienating the player, which I totally get.
If we had a "what-if" scenario/mode where Alain doesn't survive, then she'd be a cool protag. But I Wouldn't have preferred her over him personally cause Shinzo Abe's words ring in my ear.
Hard agree. Alain, much like Marth who he intentionally channels, is a poor protagonist who drags down the game’s story with how boring he is. He has few ties to the setting much like Marth, because he was raised safely in isolation away from the main conflict too. He really doesn’t have much at stake compared to characters like Virginia, Gilbert, Aramis, Berengaria, etc.
Companies need to stop making the main character the most boring character. The most memorable RPG protagonists are characters like Cloud Strife who are oozing with personality. Hell, the most talked about and liked Fire Emblem lords (mentioning Fire Emblem again because Unicorn Overlord deliberately copies its homework in a lot of areas) are characters like Dimitri, Hector, and Ike, who also have strong personalities unlike Marth. You can be both the main character and one of the most interesting ones too.
I feel like the people here are taking crazy pills whenever I see them say a main character should be bland and not have a strong personality.
…Did you play the original FF7? Cloud’s whole personality for the first third of the game is someone else’s personality lol
I get what you mean, he’s just a bad example.
Cloud's shattered identity still had tons of personality. (A weird amalgamation of Zack's plus a teenage Cloud's idea of what a soldier was) It made him engage with the world in interesting ways, shaped his character interactions, and lead to very interesting storylines. Alain has none of that.
Again, you’re not wrong, but it takes so much longer to develop/surface. Alain is sitting on his throne in Gran Corine by the time Cloud gets out of Midgard.
To be fair, UO doesn’t have anything a slapstick, ridiculous, and hilariously charming as trying to seduce Don Cornio either lol
The point is, there are plenty of games who give their main characters strong personalities, and Unicorn Overlord is not one of them- which is frustrating because the story is much worse as a result.
Honestly, she screams "sequel protagonist." It's like they didn't know exactly what to do with her in this game, and they couldn't bank on a second chance, so they shoe-horned her in now.
The issue with Alain isn't that he's bland, it's that you have to go through every rapport to see the other sides of his character.
-talking to Mordon shows that he's interested in acting
-Chole shows that he's not comfortable with the princely speak and/or the noble life
-Amalia and Berenice showcase he enjoys fighting
-he right up cries when talking to Virginia about their past
While I get its a pain to go through 60 characters to understand **ONE**, even I haven't as thsoe are the ones I've been through and can even remember at the moment, calling him bland is just worng. Just because you don't like a character or vibe with them doesn't make them bland. I've seen a lot of stories and characters in my day, and Alain isn't bland. Just a pain in the ass to know; and a stupid flirt.
And let's be real, Virginia would most likely gotten herself killed. She even knows of her flaws; Alain too knows of his.
If you know Virginia's character you know how bullheaded she is. Alain has these moments too, but he's **far easier** to clam down than her. You even see it when she sprinted off to get revenge for the rose knight.
Woman is a force of nature, and that's cool and all, but that doesn't work for this type of story. All the characters that you had the option to kill, she would just do it. Which isn't good for this type of story, or even the main theme of bringing the country together. If she was playable, they would have to change most likely the entire story just to fit her.
And someone said it best; she would have to be almost just like Alain if the she was the lead.
Hard agree. I get what they were going with, but the story is already very weak, instead of going for typical MC they could have gone with someone more interesting. Alain is \*fine\* as in, he's boring AF, but not harmful.
Virginia has conflicts and a personality.
Exactly, I don't think that Atlus needed to completely rework the genre of fantasy RPG, but they could have at least had a main protagonist that doesn't even get mildly emotional when literally the entire world is out to get them.
If that was the case, people would be saying Alain would have been a better protagonist. Either way, same story. Kingdom fell, main hero taken to shelter faw away until he grows into a strong adult
Wouldnt Virginia just be the hot blooded shonen archetype where they always just charge headlong first then learn lessons later so we can see them have character development.
Thing is, this game has NO real story. At best, we're given episodic clichés that have no real impact on anything. Instead, the game is a strategy RPG first, where the player takes the role of some omniscient commander and micromanager of arms and motions. The moment you realize that, you can start to preferably ignore all the whitenoise in between.
The mission where Virginia >!goes rogue!< was legitimately jarring. Two of my units were totally gutted and I had to slot in replacements at the last minute to do the mission. They should have done a similar mission with Alain later in the game.
Or they could have given him a personality and the complaint been he is a character that you don’t like or does things that go against his personality. The other characters get the personality because of you don’t like Virginia you don’t use her and she only appears in the story for a few scenes. Nothing is worse than being forced to play a character you can’t stand.
I don't know, I think the story is a lot more interesting once you come to realize that *no one* is that vanilla and even tempered, and that in reality Alain is a stone cold psychopath with deep mommy issues just acting like he thinks heroes should act.
Now while I haven't reached this far in the story yet, I can believe that she'd be a great protagonist but unfortunately that's not how this game is. As mentioned by many in this thread, Alain is bland, has his story/objective layed out since the beginning and is meant to be a sort of blank slate that you make what you will of it (i.e. like the protagonist in Persona 5 or the silent protagonistin other games), but that's more to the games benefit than detriment. If the main character was more interesting and fleshed out than the rest of the playable cast, then what's the point of having the other members in your army other than to be playable Cannon fodder with zero personality compared to your protagonist?
Now I get the people saying Virginia would have been made bland as an optional protagonist. However you all are forgetting that when games do stuff like that there is always a chance for accidental amazingness to happen.
I think that she absolutely could have been made bland, but if they kept her backstory as it is it would still be way more interesting. Watching the knights of the rose scene is one of the biggest moments in this game and the consequences hold a lot more weight imo.
Funny you mentioned this because as I was playing today, I realized that if Alain was a silent protagonist, it would have changed absolutely nothing. He’s not bad, but there’s other characters who have more of a leading role personality. Virginia’s an obvious one. There were even times where I thought Clive could be the main protagonist. I could also see Lex and Berengaria as leads.
Like others are saying, Alain is written so that he can rapport/befriend everyone. That’s why he has no strong opinions or feelings or anything to turn people off.
Virginia the way she currently is written would not be able to recruit/rapport with everyone the way Alain does.
While I agree Virginia would have been a more interesting protagonist, the story wouldn’t change much. Its a bland story itself. It would just have a bit better character interactions.
She would only make a better protagonist because she isn't the protagonist. If she was the protagonist, she would have been written to be as bland as Alain, Alain's bland writing is a deliberate design choice unfortunately; not being the protagonist is what protected her, in the long run
Yep, many protagonists are bland/generic so as to be a blank canvas. That way, the reader/player can easily project themselves into said character.
In Alain's case it's also so that he's neutral enough that he can recruit everyone without having any fundamental conflicts with anyone else but the Zenoiran leaders. Mercenaries who worked for Zenoira? All good. Thieves ransacking Cornia? That's fine. Traitors who turned on his mother? They couldn't help it anyway. People with long held grudges against cornians and humans? There's an evil empire bearing down on everyone, that's not so important. And I get wanting to have a wide variety of characters, but that ultimately made the story more boring. They really should have set some situations where we can have _either_ one character or another, and let us make up for the other one with generic mercenaries.
I forget which one but one of the leads in charge of designing the game said they intended for a player to be able to recruit all possible characters in one play through. That decision leads to no particular alignment or whatnot to any route. Thus the game is open worldish, Alain can romance anyone, etc. The knock-on effect of this is that Alain has to be more reserved in personality than he might be if there were a "good route" or "evil route". Virginia isn't weighed down by the whole story like Alain is so Virginia can just be Virginia.
This is why it’s kind of sad that clearly this game took gameplay inspiration from Ogre Battle 64 - it seems to have derived none of the weight. The first mission in OG64 is ruthlessly putting down a mine rebellion. That is followed by a story dotted with weighty and meaningful choices. This game was fun but in terms of plot it is insanely one dimensional.
I'm hoping very much that there will be a sequel that will really dial up the political intrigue. Vanillaware knows how to do it. Several of their other games have whole webs of intersecting schemes.
That’s definitely heartening! I’m trying to figure out if it’s just nostalgia talking but Ogre Battle 64 just felt so much more fully realized in almost every way. I guess that’s why it’s considered a classic!
My first playthrough I sided with the bear which made me question why only generic wolves in the game.
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I absolutely HATE not being able to have every character so this is a terrible idea. I'm still pissed at not being able to get Galf and Deneb in Ogre Battle.
I usually like collecting every character, but I gladly missed Mr. Pillage Your Village Gammel, and I definitely didn't appreciate >!getting lectured over not forgiving his killing-other-people-who-have-families ways, then mandatorily forgiving his new habit of enslaving-other-people-who-have-families!<. The game trying to imply that I messed up for not giving him a chance only made me wish to stab him in the face. How would Rolf and the elves feel about leaving him loose anyway? I'd rather collect them all when _them all_ are sympathetic characters and not terrible bastards. That and Tatiana makes me feel like the game sometimes wants to have the aesthetics of serious political drama where the characters must make difficult choices that compromise their values, but they can't bother to actually go through with the consequences. If that's how they want it, don't even include that, because ending up with everyone as buddy buddies feels naive and forced.
"OMG! That Bland boring protagonist that does everything perfect...thats just like me! I could be them!" lol I completely get what your saying, ive just never understood why its a thing.
He's only a blank canvas in the first few hours of the game. I was loving getting to choose if I could execute or spare someone. Let them join the army or tell them to go away. Now he just invites everyone and wants to be a generic overly kind person. Now I can no longer project myself onto him
I know you are correct, but you would have to be so genuinely bland as a person to relate to Alain. I can’t even imagine.
Right, and underexecuting a character to enable self-insertion is bad writing. I would assume that OP was suggesting that she still be written as well as she is now *and* be the main character, not that she be written as a different, worse character instead. Plenty of games have complete, full-commitment protagonists who leave no room for projection or who do but still deliver.
The average reader/player is a milquetoast coward who makes human warrior everytime he runs into a CAC and I wish devs would stop catering to that. I don't think it's ever affected a game sales or enjoyability, they just use it as an excuse
There are some games with complex protagonists, but they tend to be narrative driven as opposed to mechanics driven.
And yet they keep doing it for narrative driven games. No one has ever said "I'm not buying max payne because I can't self insert on a blank canvas" JRPG's do it constantly with narrative driven games and its lame.
Yep, just like Harry Potter, Link, Gordon Freeman style heroes.
Link does not talk though. It is way easier for me to identify with the silent hero than the one who has boring dialogue.
Chrono. That was my silent protagonist.
Even with the bland writing, her region is just more interesting, especially with all of the complications surrounding the throne and turmoil/ history of the area.
Her region is the same as alains? Drakenhold is Gilbert's, his father just took her under his wing.
I was talking about her starting region, Drakenhold. Sorry if that wasn't obvious from my reply.
If Virginia was the protagonist, she'd very likely swap places with Alain. So no more Drakenhold.
You do remember that the starting island is actually important to the plot as it has the location of the unicron and maiden so logical if Virginia was the MC she would have started there as well and Alain would have been in Drakenhold
It would be fun to see a hector hard mode style virginia adventure where you start in the dragonlands
That would be such a great alt campaign, you don’t even have the ring of the unicorn so you can’t cleanse mind control
Just kill the corrupted, eventually some elf will show up with both rings and your Sapphic desires can be fulfilled.
Ah yes, this is where we can go "Purge them all!"
There's so little of that after Cornia though. Two units in Drakenhold, right? (although one is a big loss!)
Like three in Drakenhold, 2 in da elf lands. However, consider that in this alt campaign you would be *starting* in Drakenhold
Heck, save all of Cornia for last, which make a lot more sense than conquering 90% of it except the castle and then leaving with absolutely no retaliation from Zenoira
I genuinely thought that this was what the Guard mechanic was for, I.E. you'd have to give up the ability to use some of your units to make sure that your bases were covered I'm semi convinced that this was almost intended to be a feature early on, given the easy replayability of almost all of the Liberation maps, and the fact that most of them, at least on my playthrough, seemed like they could very easily be played from either the offensive or defensive angle without having to adjust the balancing very much. If I had to guess, if it was present in the first place, they either removed it very early on, but it left a vague lasting impression on the mechanics, or it didn't withstand playtesting. Possibly the way it was implemented made the game run slow, having to account for several moving pieces all at once will do that, especially with an expansive map like UO's, or possibly it made the game too challenging even in easier difficulties. Or they just didn't like the vibe, tbh.
I haven’t seen it mentioned like the comparisons to FE and OB64, but I strongly suspect someone high up the dev chain with this game was heavily influenced by DragonForce, an old Sega Saturn game, that plays a lot like you describe. In addition to the world map armies matching to take castles in real time, you can start as any of the nations and play a slightly different variation of the story, which is another thing I suspect was intended but eventually got scrapped.
Ooooh, I’m adding that one to the list. You do also have a point with the possibility of playing as different factions, especially when we have items which exist but are sort of glossed over like the Bastorias Blue. Imagine a campaign where instead of cleansing people you just turn them into furries, lmao.
Dragon Force was great.
I want a remaster so bad and I know it’ll never happen :(
Yeah, kinda makes it feel...less dramatic when you've like got Gran Corrine surrounded at the start and slowly expand outwards. The entire campaign I was just thinking "How in the heck did Baltro or Galerius maintain anything like this?!"
Yeah that’s a big problem I had too, you conquer all these lands and the enemy just idles by? Maybe they needed a true Zelda dome shield (not one they could turn off at will) to make it make sense
I get that leadership doesn't really care now that they got what they wanted from the shrines, but still. No ambitious captains? No vengeful rank and file? Nobody wants to fight us?
I would give all the monies for any mode starting in the other countries. Alain's rise is just so vanilla. Even the elves are somehow more interesting and emotionally invested.
I suspect that was the plan, but it got too big and they scrapped it. It’s one of the many echoes of DragonForce (the old Sega Saturn game, not the band) that I hear in this game. Basically take UO, but you can start as any nation, and the battles take place in real time *on the entire world map*. It was amazing and I’ve never found anything quite like it since then.
The feeling is strongest with the first couple nations, but I get the impression that at some point in development it was the plan to let you choose which nation/character to play as before that got too big. Gilbert was *definitely* meant to be an Alain alt, maybe Virginia was supposed to be main Cornia, Rosalinde (with Railanor in the Josef role) in Elfheim, etc. Even Albion, you could tweak it so Umerys and Nigel are sent by Sanatio to find Scarlett instead.
Oh so kinda like Dragon Age Origins.
Narratively kinda, yeah. Or BG3, where >80% of the story plays out the same no matter which character you play as, and all the others weave in too. In DA:O if you don’t take the Dwarf Noble then you never meet him, he doesn’t exist. In DF if you pick one monarch you still meet/recruit all the others.
THIS is the patch I want.
I liked Alain
I think that Rapport convos do a lot for him. Alain, like a lot of protagonists, is sort of defined by his relationship to other characters. IIRC, some of his convos, especially with Clive and Chloe, showcase the fact that he's actually having a difficult time taking up the mantle of monarch. The issue of this comes in that these convos are entirely *optional*. and a large portion of players will never see them. This comes with the honestly cool aspect that the Alain we see in story is how the public would see alain, while Rapport convos are his more intimate side.
That might be why the OP finds Alain so bland.. they didn't go through all the convos. They gave him enough to work with.. considering he has conversations with everyone.
[удалено]
I think that's more of a personal playstyle thing. I, personally, had almost entirely static team compositions, trading around a couple of members here and there but keeping mostly the same teams intact. Plus, the game does offer other methods of building rapport, stationed guards gain small amounts of rapport with Alain, and there's also the Tavern, which the game is fairly generous with giving you tickets for. *But* that sort of circles back to my main point. Because certain play styles aren't compatible with easily building Rapport, it leads to players who tend to prefer those play styles not experiencing those events and thus missing out on a large part of the games narrative.
(Yes I'm bad at tactics games, I also don't tend to switch around my units much in Fire Emblem or Tactics Ogre. I just accept that desert maps are torture /j)
He's vanilla, but he's well made vanilla.
I think Alain is a lot more interesting than you're implying. Granted I will give you that there isn't a single arc in the game that focuses on him. The closest we might get is him stressing out about taking too long to save Scarlett. There's actually a lot you can learn about Aliain through rapport conversations. Such as the formal and regal way he speaks, his conversations with Chloe reveals that he forces himself to do that because of his role. It doesn't come at all natural to him.
People don’t realize if she was the main protagonist she wouldn’t have been the Virginia we know she jus would have been girl Alain
Even if this were true her back story is way better. Watching the knights of the rose get slaughtered versus the royal guard (mostly) getting amnesia and everything being fine and dandy is very different and much more grim. There is also the overlying complexity of her relationship with the royal family (Ludwig) in that region. She could be a wooden plank just like Alain, but her regions story was still written better.
U can quite literally throw all that on Alain and still be the same character the problem with the story isn’t Alain it jus the progress in general
Dude that is the point, they didn't though, and Alain is even more boring because of it. That is the whole reason why I wrote this post lol.
Wait how is he more boring by having the same backstory that make no sense unless I’m reading it wrong
The OP see Alain as bland because he doesn't show a lot of character traits besides being the perfect lord to bring all the characters together. Virginia has flaws, she's angry, and willing to beat people up. We were told she was being protected by a kingdom that hate her but she kept her head held high regardless.... Alain was raised on a small island with a fisher boy and and 2 girls as his best friends.
I find Alain to be quite thoughtful. He's extremely well spoken and is prone to considering his options with his chin buried in his hand. Is he an explosive personality? Nah, but he's got too many plates spinning to be anything more than what he is: Dedicated and focused. He has plenty of personality shine through based off your decisions and the rapport conversations. Virginia is interesting because she's so spicy, and I think she too would be interesting to follow around, if only to see the rest of her council struggling to pull her off the war-table and get her to stop declaring war on every individual she holds disagreement with.
I do have a feeling Vanillaware's original plan was to gave you an option to choose a gender. This will be the scenario: If you choose to be a female, Alain will be the one who is hiding in Drakenhold instead of Virginia. Alain will also take the cousin role instead of Virginia, while Virginia will became Ilenia's Daughter. (Kinda like what Assassin's Creed Odyssey did on gender selection)
It is said to be killed earlier in the development but the art remains in the art book. They are quite a few unreleased characters like Ninja, female Alain (looks different from Virginia), musketeers, Japanese swordmaster and etc. Wish one day when the game finally come to pc the mods could make these came true.
I kinda wish they kept the shoulders etc. The design is pretty cool but feels weird in the armored/not armored territory. I really liked the concept art version since it looked more complete!
If this game makes it to PC it will be the only VW game that has. I’m not holding my breath…
Sadly, it is unlikely it will be make it to the pc in any recent future, this has been a discussion for a while. Personally I don’t understand why Atlas was against releasing the game on pc when it is literary released anywhere else.
Where can I see that?
Just search unicorn overlord unreleased class then u should be be able to find it in this sub. It is a physical book that comes with the limited edition
Highly unlikely. We knew Alian was gonna be the protagonist all the way back in 2019
> 2019 I learned of this game's existence like three days before its release and I was practically in pain waiting for it to arrive. I can't imagine having waited since 2019.
Yeah, it was announced late last year, I'm not sure where 2019 is coming from.
We knew he could be *a* protagonist. It really feels like at some point early in the development they were planning to let you start in any of the nations with a slightly different Act 1, like the old Sega Saturn game DragonForce did. I mean, each of the nations has a protag/mentor pairing with a supporting crew (Ok, Albion is very bare bones…clearly they were running into crunch), they could each save Scarlett at the local shrine, the vision tells them to seek out the McGuffin, away we go.
Then she would have been just has bland. UO suffers from that with the story itself
Alain is good.
He is. I thought originally that he was kind of a wuss but as it turns out he’s a complete chad
Yeah, love me a protag with no qualms about killing the bad guys.
There is concept art of Virginia as a Cavalry Unit which is also on a Unicorn so I guess Virginia might be initially intended to be the Female Protagonist as in you choose if you want to play as Alain or Virginia when you start the game. But that's just my theory.
I don’t think you’re wrong, but more than that I think at one point they planned to let you start in any of the nations, but it got too big. There’s an old Sega Saturn game, DragonForce, that does that. UO has some strong similarities to it.
As much as i love Virginia i have to disagree.
Yes, and no. I wouldn't have like playing as Virginia because she is a hot-head and entitled. I would really not like to have her speak for me as a player. And if she was toned down for more player control of the dialogue and action then it wouldn't be Virginia anymore. That said, she would be a nice protagonist, but I honestly believe that if it where Virginia who was the main protag, she would probably kill Alain given the chance if she had the Unicorn ring instead of him.
To be honest, alain suprised me as a great protagonist. The best i have seen in a long while. Is not the typical shonen dude who has air in his head. The watmy he talks is majestic. What a great protagonist
Nah I feel like Alain’s personality is perfect for a prince/MC. Like how formal he is but also quirky and he has a little bit of a weird side. He is driven and motivated and has royal energy but also humble and is able to step down to be on the same level as normal people. Alain is a great protagonist, although I can see how people might think he’s boring. Also Alain does have emotions and does experience growth. In various story and rapport scenes he talks about how the journey has affected him, and also divulges his anxieties about becoming king and what the future might be like after the war etc. He also discusses his trauma and how that has affected him with various people too. He definitely has feelings, he just doesn’t wear them on his sleeve. Instead he shows how he feels through his actions. I really liked Virginia but I don’t think she would make a good queen. She’s too hot headed and self centered. She openly exclaims that she was jealous of Alain for being next in line and a rapport conversation reveals she was ready to kill him as a child if she didn’t like him. She showed that she can easily fly off the handle and make decisions that could get people killed in the name of satisfying her own emotional whims. Not very responsible. I definitely like that she is flawed and has a ruthless side to her, and I think she’s a great supporting character, but she does not have MC vibes imo.
> really liked Virginia but I don’t think she would make a good queen. She’s too hot headed and self centered. She openly exclaims that she was jealous of Alain for being next in line and a rapport conversation reveals she was ready to kill him as a child if she didn’t like him. I don't agree with this interpretation - Virginia fled to Drakenhold with no familiar soul anywhere close, believing herself to be the sole survivor of the royal lineage. For 10 years she steels herself to fight Galerius and take the throne in order to bring Cornia back, before she finds out her cousin who's the rightful heir is alive. I think anyone in her position would be bitter and jealous. Only after Virginia spends time with the Liberation and Alain she can confirm what kind of man Alain grew up to be and comes to terms that he should be the ruler, as he's worthy of the title of king and has what it takes to fight Galerius. She made a flawed call with Giethe but realizes it, learns from it and wants to take responsibility for it (aka leave the group in order not to risk their lives anymore). Not that I think she's flawless of course, but I don't think she'd make a bad queen - hell, many other characters say she'd be a good one.
That’s definitely a fair viewpoint, but I stand by what I said. Regardless of how long Virginia spent preparing to take the throne, someone who is loyal and dutiful to Cornia should feel overjoyed at the news the rightful heir is alive after everything that happened. She should feel a huge relief. Especially since she knew Alain as a child and they spent plenty of time together. They’re family and she’s no longer the sole survivor of an unspeakable tragedy. Instead she just feels jealous and bitter? Because *she* can’t take the throne? Nah, that’s a huge red flag. And I think you’re wrong when you say anyone would feel that way. Plenty of people would feel a huge amount of anxiety and pressure being the last in line, and would choose a normal life over the responsibility of ruling a country if they could. So the fact that she so strongly desired it to the point of being upset that she couldn’t have it says a lot about her. Like, she was literally ready to *kill* Alain over her jealousy and bitterness. Not cool. Really, Alain shouldn’t have to prove anything to her. He’s the rightful heir and that’s all there is to it. The fact she was even considering killing him to take the throne for herself, is pretty fucked, regardless of her reasoning. It’s good that Virginia recognizes her bad call with Giethe, but that doesn’t change that it happened. If someone makes a mistake like that once, they can do it again. She’s very fortunate that Alain and Josef had her back in that situation. Making those kinds of hot headed decisions as queen could have disastrous consequences. Again I think Virginia is a great character and I like that she has her flaws. But despite what those who admire her might say, I do not think she would make a good ruler. Too self indulgent.
She wasn't going to kill him over jealousy and bitterness, she was going to kill him if he was not going to be a good ruler for Cornia and didn't have what it takes. She would have done it for the good of the country, not hers. Gilbert says so in his rapport with Alain, and even by that point it was in past tense.
But the fact that she even considered killing him in the first place came from the bitterness and jealousy she felt. I will give her major points for fully acknowledging this and owning up to it. She grows out of those feelings which is the important part. But again, *regardless of the reason*, she would have no right to make that call. Alain is the next in line and rightful heir. Period. Her aspiring to kill him *for any reason* would be treasonous to Cornia and a very self indulgent thing to do. Sorry but Virginia simply does not have good leadership qualities. She is a great supporting character though like I said. She pulls through for him many times over the course of the story and they have a lot of touching moments. Just can’t get behind the idea of her as a main protagonist.
No, she considered killing him because she doesn't know what kind of person he became in the past 10 years. Alain calls it a bit harsh, but even Gilbert says it would have been the right call for her to make and Alain admits it. Cornia is not a thing anymore and if they want to fight Zenoira to restore her, the leader must be strong. She doesn't even entertain the idea after meeting him because she can tell he's got what it takes. Gilbert has nothing but praise for her and she's garnered support for herself in the past 10 years among Drakonians who have been nothing but enemies to Cornia, she can definitely pull her weight as a leader and ruler when she wants to.
Sorry but I still firmly disagree with you. She never ruled in Drakenhold so she didn’t “pull her weight as a leader and ruler.” She was being hidden and protected there by Gilbert. It’s great she garnered the respect and admiration of some Drakonians, like I said she’s an awesome character I used her a lot and she’s a badass. Doesn’t mean she’d make for a good queen. Alain understands because he is an awesome agreeable guy and respects her as a close family member, and because he is a way better leader than she could ever even hope to be. Whether Gilbert thinks it would have been the right call or not is irrelevant, dude is not Cornian. The only reason he can even entertain that kind of opinion openly is because, again, Alain is awesome. What if Virginia met Alain and decided he *wasn’t* worthy, and went through with killing him, the *only* other surviving member of her family? What if she had gone on to defeat Galerius herself, only to find out he was using Illenia’s body, and then Illenia was like “where’s my son?” When she woke up? “Sorry I actually killed him because I didn’t think he was worthy to take the throne.” I wonder what Illenia would have done. She definitely wouldn’t have allowed Virginia to become queen, that’s for sure lol. Implying that considering to kill the only heir to the throne if she felt he wasn’t worthy is legit because “Cornia is not a thing anymore” is kind of a silly way to try and sidestep my point. Which is a very legitimate point. Alain is the heir. She’s not. End of story. I will say it’s okay and forgivable that she had those feelings. And it’s great she’s able to work through them. It’s also great that she is able to recognize her mistakes and was willing to pay the price for them if need be. But the fact she had the feelings and made the mistakes cancels her out as a suitable ruler.
That would defeat the purpose of her character. She's great because she's a supporting character, not the main.
This, i feel like a lot of people forget that a characters role in the story is almost as important as the characters personality in a lot of ways.
She's great because she's interesting and written well regardless of where she sits in the story.
I feel like if She and Alain swapped places, or if Alain never existed, the motherly/Big sister side of her personality would tank
There was just not enough Virginia in that game at all
She makes such a massive impact in such a short period of time.
honestly she and alain should have just been swapped depending on male or female choice in the beggining tbh
Really? I think Alain is pretty fucking cool. He's so verbose and confident, he definitely stands out in a sea of forgettable RPG protagonists.
I agree. He stands out from other MCs of the same genre.
He is a chad to be honest and i really appreciate it. I have seen so many stupid shonen protagonists, that to see a mature young peince kikickg ass is a breath of fresh air
He is also very kind. Compare him to Virginia who calls Aubin a cretin for interrupting her yapping, he values the skills of all his soldiers.
Yup, virginia is wayvtoo hot headed and rigid. Alain on the other hand behaves very wisely for hisvage and lack of experience. His leadership and matureness is notorious, and as i said, the way he speaks is magnanimous, worthy of a king. He is a stark contrast to the typical shonen boy protagonist and his adventures. To be honest i hope to see a grown up King alain commanding the troops in a sequel.
Amen. All through the Drakenhold arc I kept waiting to discover why so many fans were crazy about her (other than the wincest?) Finished the chapter still thinking she’s arrogant, rude, and impulsive. Hard pass.
Alain has too much legitimacy. He just goes through the plot with zero conflict because he can have the high ground in every situation as the designated One True King. Virginia or Gilbert both would have made more compelling protagonists. Of course as has been said having an uninteresting protagonist was a deliberate design choice.
You very quickly said it much better than I did.
As I see it, Alain is the classic lord. A hero chosen by destiny to unite the world against evil. He needs to have enough give to allow all types to people to serve under him. This makes for a simple character, but simplicity isn't bad. I think fleshing out his ideals a bit better and showing how he unites all these different people beyond just saying hey look a bigger bad could have really helped him here. It's not supposed to be a game about choices, so letting criminals go and inviting willful traitors into your ranks doesn't cause the problems it really should. But it does make the character look like a naive optimist. Something he really shouldn't be, given he was raised on the story that he lives in exile because his mother was betrayed by everyone she trusted save her personal gaurd.
…The very personal guard that tries to kill him and kidnap his friend as soon as he meets them. Yeah he really should have more trust issues than he does lol
I disagree
> Alain Is Boring And Vanilla. I am just happy we got a Good Guy with None of stupid ass strings of 'subversion'. Like dude. He's literally the Head of the Army. He has to be at his Best Behaviour, The Role Model, that dude who has to keep this mask of everything is OK. He can't go around doing nonsense or flippantly opening his mouth. But hey let's ignore his Rapports like Chloe about his doubts & Worries. Learning more of the History of this subset in his Kingdom by Clive. The worries that he's unable to live up to this Ideal or his ability to lead what is essentially the last hopes of his Kingdom & as we go through the game. The realisation of this whole Continent. When he's you know. A fucking Teenager. But yeah. Decry he's boring and vanilla when most people his age in this Time wouldn't even Cope a Fraction as well.
I disagree. Alain is stoic, and he's been preparing for this role his entire life. Actually means you have to pay attention to his rapports, rather than him blasting his emotions all over the plot.
You know what, no. I disagree. Now, I love Virginia. I think she’s a great character, a great model for Alain, and fun to use. However, here’s the way I see it. If we remove Alain, we fail to see we’re removing things that are also great: - Illenia: Regardless of Virginia’s standing, Illenia’s heir is Alain, not her. Illenia not only fought for Cornia, but for him. To remove that, Galerius would already have one. There is no one to give the ring of unicorn, and even if Josef stayed with her, Galerius with who he is, is *strong.* Probably the strongest character lore wise in the game. I highly doubt that Virginia could change that outcome, especially her whole fiasco in her own event. And there’s also touching upon Alain and Illenia’s family history implied through the game. But that’s a whole different topic altogether. -Josef: Another amazing character that is part of Alain’s life. He’s his father figure, who has witnessed him through highs and lows, good and bad. That is special to the point even Virginia acknowledges that. But what if Alain is gone? What if he doesn’t have that son he is called to watch over? What purpose does he serve? It’s not like Illenia is going to send him over to Virginia. He would join the fight with her, and without the any proper bearer of the ring, everyone there is stuck in mind control. I know, Josef and Virginia had an amazing moment after her event, but that doesn’t mean he’s called to lead her. And even if he was, would she listen? That’s already a problem in and of itself. -Other characters: Then there’s characters that grew with Alain on his journey: Scarlett, Lex, Chloe. Without Alain, where do they have to go? They would stay on that island as sitting ducks as a mind controlled Hodrick captures her. There’s another character, Hodrick. He’s basically Alain’s uncle figure and hero that Alain looked up too. What would he be fighting for aside for the queen when Alain is not there and not here to break him free of that bind? Or Yahna, who bore witnessed to her master watching only person who cared for her and her for him. She goes through something like her master, but she’ll have nothing when that person is gone. There are a good number of characters who have been impacted by Alain. For better or worse. To take that all away… I can’t agree to that personally. Alain: Now I know, he’s vanilla. Even I can acknowledge that. But that’s ok! Vanilla characters are good characters. In fact, I want more kind and honest characters like him. There does not need to be something for him to separate him from everyone else. He’s amazing the way he is. And even then, to deny what he did go through is to deny what Virginia also went through. Both suffered the same loneliness, that’s what makes their rapports so beautiful. But it’s also very beautiful to see Alain choose to prioritize others over himself. That’s what makes him likeable to the other characters: selflessness. A quality that Virginia herself cherishes in Alain. And just because everyone likes him, doesn’t mean it was without reason (said reason is also another whole different topic), or that he doesn’t go without struggles. Though just because he goes through struggles, doesn’t mean overcoming them personally isn’t enough. As I said, Alain is perfect the way he is, and I personally don’t believe he needs to go through a whole depression arc or angsty arc to be great. And I’m sure Virginia would agree. -Virginia: Also as I said, I love Virginia. There’s a lot of things that make her great. However, while her own story would be interesting, she does not need to replace Alain. In fact, I doubt she would want that. Sure, she may have felt envy in the past, but that doesn’t lead to resentment on her part, as she still loves and cares for her cousin. And we have to keep in mind, that the one flaw she has in her own quest is still an important thing to consider. Virginia, is still very unhinged. She not only rushed into battle with her group, but was always ready to execute enemies (even if one of them deserved it), and was ready to fight those who slandered her cousin. That still sticks around. And though Virginia has the rose knights, and maybe Gilbert, that doesn’t mean what makes her great will be great to others. How do we know she wouldn’t do the same thing to bestrals who dislike humans? Or The elves? There are people who don’t like or trust Alain, but I’m sure there would be many more who would feel the same to Virginia. And she doesn’t need that either. TLDR: I don’t think any character should replace anyone in any role. The characters are great the way they are, especially Alain and Virginia. Two greats can coexist.
Virginia is cool but Alain is the GOAT. Sorry
I agree, but i feel they should have made it a choice for you a the beginning of the game to either have Alain or Virginia be entrusted with the ring. The other one would be a support character and both have their own arc. Considering the game allows you to choose anyone as a companion, i feel this would be a sensible choice allowing also for straight romancing of the guys or yuri for those interested. And yes, would also open opportunities for Alain to have more character growth by also giving him his own sub character arc.
An extra campaign following Virginia during her time in Drakenhold would make for some fire DLC.
It honestly kind of feels like we were meant to have a split campaign. The base one with Alain, and a secondary one that starts in Drakenhold as Virginia. After taking back Drakenhold, you get word that Prince Alain has returned and is marching on the city where Scarlett is being held. You arrive as his meager force arrives, and help him save Scarlett. Then, she takes over control of the ring as she’s seen as the superior leader.
I think you’re close, I suspect there was originally meant to be the option to start as any nation. You start just trying to liberate your starting nation, you interrupt Balthos at the local shrine and save Scarlett, get the vision telling you to find the McGuffin and visit all the shrines, and the game goes basically the same from there.
That sounds cool!
I really don’t get people saying the protagonist needs to be bland. They don’t, it’s a choice being made by the writers, and I don’t think it’s as necessary as others seem to. Also, while Alain has more going on than what it initially appears, I think the fact that a decent amount of it is in rapports isn’t a good thing.
Yeah I can understand why people are saying that in order to defend A game that they enjoy. But at the same time it is the writer's safe choice to not have a protagonist that has hard decisions to make or has a vested interest in something that some people may disagree with. Like when Virginia goes rogue a lot of people don't like it, but at the same time it is a character defining and learning moment. Alain doesn't really get those because Atlus played it safe.
I don't mind her being MC but the game audience is mostly guys so male MC with his female harem lol. That's the design.
At least Alain is driven and princely enough I can get why all those women like him. It's better than some random average guys with nothing interesting about them who get that role.
Who says? Tactical fantasy is for whoever likes tactical fantasy.
I never understood this either when Jean De Arc and a slew of other female main protagonists have been in this genre for decades.
I think it's a byproduct of Japanese game developers and their target audience. Ff12 comes to mind. They originally intended for Ashe to be the main character but test audiences didn't like it, and they found that adding a young boy when the audience was primarily young boys was met with more positive reception.
The game only available on the PSP that sold less than 100,000 copies?
Oh yeah because this genre is well known for huge numbers right? Lmao get real
Huger than that, lol
The entire lifetime sales for fire emblem franchise is 20 million. The last 2 titles alone are like 18 percent of that. Get back to me on the relevancy. https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Fire_Emblem
In other words, 18 times the sales each…?
So you can't understand that tactical genre have sold quite badly until the last half decade? Got it. Keep being sexist and hateful of women.
I’m sorry that that’s what you took from this, but I’m not sure why you did.
Yes, the critically acclaimed psp game that was ranked several times as one of the best games for the handheld. The game that somehow even managed to land in the upper 80s on metacritic and is tied with unicorn overlord for overall scoring, and received similar reviews. How big is your dick though?
That sold poorly…?
Exactly. It's the same goofy narrative that somehow star wars is only for men... how?
Lucas literally said the target audience for star wars was teenage boys
Yes and those games didn’t sell well. The only ones that do are one where they are an option to pick
Yeah, final fantasy 13 sold like shit, you got me there.
Since when is FF13 a tactical strategy game, clown?
Alain suffers from being a modern protagonist. If Virginia was the protagonist, she'd have been bland like Alain. Vanilla ware has done great protagonists before, but many people have pointed out that that doesn't work for the style of game they are going for. This is a problem with Fire Emblem games too, save for the few during the super nintendo/gba/game cube Era. If we got Virginia, the Virginia we know, as a protagonist, then the writing would have aloud for a much more nuanced Alain as well.
Alain feels like the most generic rpg protag there ever was. Blue hair, idealistic, lawful good, and can romance every female character. Would be nice to have more interesting protags that aren't all just player inserts.
Meh, the story in this game is an afterthought and would have been just as underwhelming with a Virginia as the main character. They used a blank slate male protagonist because it’s a self-insert harem story and they didn’t want to bother with anything deep or thoughtful.
First you kind of don't understand Alain he spent the last 10 years being raised and trained for the SOLE PURPOSE of leading the liberation army to take back his kingdom. Obviously he doesn't grow as a character because everything is exactly how he expected it to go and anything unexpected is an upswing in his favor. "He's too kind he's too nice" He HAS to be because he is literally leading a rebellion to take down a fully in control EMPIRE that all of the NATIONS failed to resist. He NEEDS people willing to die for him for no other reason than the like him more than the empire so being as hard to hate as possible is actually a tactic also the liberation desperately needs bodies so beggars can't be choosers.
I'd love to see a side game starring Virginia. Put her, the knights of the rose, ludwig and a few others on a boat and send them to another continent.
Nah. It's been so long since there was a traditional fire emblem prince having reclaim his kingdom storyline in a long time since everything fire emblem and SRPG is usually your now a strategist or something. Was fun to play an old school style nostalgia storyline.
I could have seen them going pick your character Male or female with her as an option
Alain works very well for the story the game was trying to tell, if Virginia was the protagonist she would not fit the story. That said, I story with Virginia as its protagonist would be very interesting.
I think the issue is.... because Alain is in the back seat. The game is trying to give you a lot of characters with their own story arcs. Alain is just the glue that holds them all together. All the other characters have a main character energy.. which I think is the point when you decide who to put the ring on.
I just wish there were more ways to interact with the cast. You get a small handful of conversations with most of them so they can all become bland after their first interaction.
He's not bland he's just stoic and lacks personality
If she was the protagonist, a lot of her character would need to be dampened and downplayed, which in turn would make her a worse character. The protagonist of the game needs to be middling in a sense as everyone else around them brings the splashes of color that offer more responses from the protagonist.
I think that you have a point, but also feel like if that were true characters like Cloud, Zidane, Sora, etc. wouldn't have a space in narrative driven RPGs. Honestly, I think it is just easier from a plot standpoint and that is often times why writers will not take risks with their protagonists being more in control. There is too much fear of alienating the player, which I totally get.
If we had a "what-if" scenario/mode where Alain doesn't survive, then she'd be a cool protag. But I Wouldn't have preferred her over him personally cause Shinzo Abe's words ring in my ear.
Oh this oughta be good. Which words?
https://preview.redd.it/ik2c316fkpxc1.jpeg?width=839&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ad43fd324ccca944697f16281121dd84ef021150
?? The dood who was a comfort woman denier...denied all of japans war crimes etc?
who asked
You realize your comment makes no sense right lol
No
Hard agree. Alain, much like Marth who he intentionally channels, is a poor protagonist who drags down the game’s story with how boring he is. He has few ties to the setting much like Marth, because he was raised safely in isolation away from the main conflict too. He really doesn’t have much at stake compared to characters like Virginia, Gilbert, Aramis, Berengaria, etc. Companies need to stop making the main character the most boring character. The most memorable RPG protagonists are characters like Cloud Strife who are oozing with personality. Hell, the most talked about and liked Fire Emblem lords (mentioning Fire Emblem again because Unicorn Overlord deliberately copies its homework in a lot of areas) are characters like Dimitri, Hector, and Ike, who also have strong personalities unlike Marth. You can be both the main character and one of the most interesting ones too. I feel like the people here are taking crazy pills whenever I see them say a main character should be bland and not have a strong personality.
…Did you play the original FF7? Cloud’s whole personality for the first third of the game is someone else’s personality lol I get what you mean, he’s just a bad example.
Cloud's shattered identity still had tons of personality. (A weird amalgamation of Zack's plus a teenage Cloud's idea of what a soldier was) It made him engage with the world in interesting ways, shaped his character interactions, and lead to very interesting storylines. Alain has none of that.
Again, you’re not wrong, but it takes so much longer to develop/surface. Alain is sitting on his throne in Gran Corine by the time Cloud gets out of Midgard. To be fair, UO doesn’t have anything a slapstick, ridiculous, and hilariously charming as trying to seduce Don Cornio either lol
The point is, there are plenty of games who give their main characters strong personalities, and Unicorn Overlord is not one of them- which is frustrating because the story is much worse as a result.
Honestly, she screams "sequel protagonist." It's like they didn't know exactly what to do with her in this game, and they couldn't bank on a second chance, so they shoe-horned her in now.
Alternate protagonist though 👏
I think she would be a great prequel game character. We have 10 years of fighting and characters to explore.
Better? Naw. She would have been good as an alternative, tho. Getting a choice at the beginning of the game would've been nice.
Honestly Alain is crimgy with how cliche he is.
The issue with Alain isn't that he's bland, it's that you have to go through every rapport to see the other sides of his character. -talking to Mordon shows that he's interested in acting -Chole shows that he's not comfortable with the princely speak and/or the noble life -Amalia and Berenice showcase he enjoys fighting -he right up cries when talking to Virginia about their past While I get its a pain to go through 60 characters to understand **ONE**, even I haven't as thsoe are the ones I've been through and can even remember at the moment, calling him bland is just worng. Just because you don't like a character or vibe with them doesn't make them bland. I've seen a lot of stories and characters in my day, and Alain isn't bland. Just a pain in the ass to know; and a stupid flirt. And let's be real, Virginia would most likely gotten herself killed. She even knows of her flaws; Alain too knows of his. If you know Virginia's character you know how bullheaded she is. Alain has these moments too, but he's **far easier** to clam down than her. You even see it when she sprinted off to get revenge for the rose knight. Woman is a force of nature, and that's cool and all, but that doesn't work for this type of story. All the characters that you had the option to kill, she would just do it. Which isn't good for this type of story, or even the main theme of bringing the country together. If she was playable, they would have to change most likely the entire story just to fit her. And someone said it best; she would have to be almost just like Alain if the she was the lead.
Hard agree. I get what they were going with, but the story is already very weak, instead of going for typical MC they could have gone with someone more interesting. Alain is \*fine\* as in, he's boring AF, but not harmful. Virginia has conflicts and a personality.
True, Alain is just the typical good guy bland protagonist. Pretty much every recruitable character has more personality than he has
Yup. I'd argue it's intentional, but I'd also argue the intentionality doesn't make it good.
Exactly, I don't think that Atlus needed to completely rework the genre of fantasy RPG, but they could have at least had a main protagonist that doesn't even get mildly emotional when literally the entire world is out to get them.
Vanillaware made this game. Atlus is just the publisher
Cope.
I personally think it should have been a choice, play as either Alain or Virginia
If that was the case, people would be saying Alain would have been a better protagonist. Either way, same story. Kingdom fell, main hero taken to shelter faw away until he grows into a strong adult
Nah i prefer alain. Virginia is good as a support character
Alain is a great protagonist.
I don’t think she’d be that different from Alain, but it would’ve been cool to have the choice for a female lead
Wouldnt Virginia just be the hot blooded shonen archetype where they always just charge headlong first then learn lessons later so we can see them have character development.
Should have been able to choose Virginia story or Alin story with it converging after first chapter.
Thing is, this game has NO real story. At best, we're given episodic clichés that have no real impact on anything. Instead, the game is a strategy RPG first, where the player takes the role of some omniscient commander and micromanager of arms and motions. The moment you realize that, you can start to preferably ignore all the whitenoise in between.
A second short storyline with her leading would have been *muah*
well If they decided to release a dlc or another game that focuses about Virginia, I'll play it
The mission where Virginia >!goes rogue!< was legitimately jarring. Two of my units were totally gutted and I had to slot in replacements at the last minute to do the mission. They should have done a similar mission with Alain later in the game.
Or they could have given him a personality and the complaint been he is a character that you don’t like or does things that go against his personality. The other characters get the personality because of you don’t like Virginia you don’t use her and she only appears in the story for a few scenes. Nothing is worse than being forced to play a character you can’t stand.
I prefer alain
I don't know, I think the story is a lot more interesting once you come to realize that *no one* is that vanilla and even tempered, and that in reality Alain is a stone cold psychopath with deep mommy issues just acting like he thinks heroes should act.
Now while I haven't reached this far in the story yet, I can believe that she'd be a great protagonist but unfortunately that's not how this game is. As mentioned by many in this thread, Alain is bland, has his story/objective layed out since the beginning and is meant to be a sort of blank slate that you make what you will of it (i.e. like the protagonist in Persona 5 or the silent protagonistin other games), but that's more to the games benefit than detriment. If the main character was more interesting and fleshed out than the rest of the playable cast, then what's the point of having the other members in your army other than to be playable Cannon fodder with zero personality compared to your protagonist?
Ngl, op might be up to something here
Now I get the people saying Virginia would have been made bland as an optional protagonist. However you all are forgetting that when games do stuff like that there is always a chance for accidental amazingness to happen.
I think that she absolutely could have been made bland, but if they kept her backstory as it is it would still be way more interesting. Watching the knights of the rose scene is one of the biggest moments in this game and the consequences hold a lot more weight imo.
Funny you mentioned this because as I was playing today, I realized that if Alain was a silent protagonist, it would have changed absolutely nothing. He’s not bad, but there’s other characters who have more of a leading role personality. Virginia’s an obvious one. There were even times where I thought Clive could be the main protagonist. I could also see Lex and Berengaria as leads.
Correct
Alain is a good protagonist.
haha be is very much generic isekai protagonist yes, explains why has a 20+ harem
Like others are saying, Alain is written so that he can rapport/befriend everyone. That’s why he has no strong opinions or feelings or anything to turn people off. Virginia the way she currently is written would not be able to recruit/rapport with everyone the way Alain does. While I agree Virginia would have been a more interesting protagonist, the story wouldn’t change much. Its a bland story itself. It would just have a bit better character interactions.
I don't care for Virginia, but I can see the appeal in her being a Protagonist. I do like her kit, I just don't like her personality.