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Aside from a manga adaptation, Kill la Kill The Game: IF is the first expansion to the story of 2013’s Kill la Kill, the hit anime series that put Studio Trigger on the map. Kill la Kill IF captures the unique fighting styles of the main cast of characters from the anime in arena battles, while also delivering some enjoyable missions to tackle in the single-player campaign. It doesn’t manage to deliver a balanced competitive landscape, but there is a delightful collection of rewards to work towards in Kill la Kill IF–supplying a satisfying incentive for replaying the single-player content.

Kill la Kill follows Ryuko Matoi, who transfers to Japan’s prestigious Honnouji Academy in hopes of finding answers to her father’s murder. Her only clue is half of the giant scissor used to kill him. Honnouji Academy is run by fascist student council president Satsuki Kiryuin and her closest allies: the Elite Four. Students at the school wear Goku Uniforms, each providing enhanced strength and superhuman abilities. Realizing Satsuki recognizes the scissor blade she carries, Ryuko attacks and demands answers, only to be ultimately trounced by the president’s underlings. After escaping, Ryuko stumbles upon a sentient sailor uniform who gifts her with god-like magical girl powers when it feeds on her blood. Now much more powerful, Ryuko swears to defeat the entire student body of Honnouji Academy and gain the answers she seeks.

Kill la Kill IF is a “what if” scenario, asking, “What if Satsuki was the protagonist of Kill la Kill?” The hypothetical is explored in the game’s campaign extraordinarily well, putting forth the theory that Satsuki may have been the brilliant mastermind behind the anime’s entire narrative from the very beginning, tragically refusing the spotlight she wants because she believes her plans for a better world will work out for the better if Ryuko is the main hero. It’s a fascinating addition to Kill la Kill’s lore, and it provides plenty of incentive to see the game’s two-part campaign all the way through.

Combat in Kill la Kill IF is pretty easy to pick up, with your staple combination of close-range, long-range, aerial, guard-break, and special attacks. There’s also a rock-paper-scissors-style clash system that allows you to buff yourself if you’re lucky enough to win. Though every character controls the same, each has a completely different specialty and unique playstyle. Masochistic Ira Gamagoori becomes more powerful by whipping and damaging himself, for instance, while petite Nonon Jakuzure excels at shooting her opponent from a distance and manipulative Nui Harime relies on decoys to overwhelm her opponents from multiple angles. Though the roster does offer a diversity of playstyles, there are only eight options to choose from at launch. That’s a pretty small pool for a fighting game–disappointing given how massive Kill la Kill’s cast is. This is slightly offset by the alternate costumes that change how certain characters attack, but the adjustments aren’t enough to make the variants feel like brand-new fighters.

Exciting though the colorful combat may be, it also feels lopsided with no reliable means of defending yourself. Every fighter can block and dodge, but both moves are pretty slow so it’s fairly easy to just overwhelm opponents with aggressive close-range characters. Once caught in a combo, there’s only one way to recover, and that’s using a counter burst–a move that uses up half of your special attack meter. You have to deal out or endure quite a few hits to fill up the meter, so you can’t regularly rely on having a counter burst at the ready. And if you are caught in a combo and you don’t have that 50% of meter to burn, you just have to wait until your opponent stops attacking you. As a result, juggling can be a pretty big issue against difficult AI opponents or advanced players that know how to pull off the game’s longer, more devastating combos–which can lead to unfair and unfun matches.

Despite the issues with combat, battles in the game are wholeheartedly Kill la Kill, and they’re typically glorious fun as a result. Characters yell out the name of their special attacks–some with barely contained rage and others with malicious glee–in epic battle cries, each one animated in a cel-shaded rendition of Kill la Kill’s over-the-top style. The most powerful blows land with an impact, slowing down the action just long enough for you to understand the recipient is about to be very hurt. The addition of the luck-based clash system feels right at home too, giving you a last-ditch effort to maybe make a comeback–randomly screaming during a battle and luckily finding a deeper well of strength is extremely Kill la Kill. Sure, the lack of a reliable counter system means winning in these battles is less about skill and more about who can press the attack buttons more quickly, but that doesn’t change that most matches are still explosively epic, full of silly puns, and just enjoyable to play. This is especially true for most of the battles in Kill la Kill IF’s campaign.

There are a variety of obstacles to overcome in the campaign as the game offers more than what’s usually expected from arena fighters. Though there are still traditional one-on-one fights, Kill la Kill IF’s story mode is a mixture of various mission types. The most interesting ones take advantage of the constantly shifting alliances in the narrative. One battle has Satsuki, Ryuko, and Nui all fight in a three-way free-for-all, for instance, and another sees Satsuki go up against the brain-washed Elite Four in a one-on-four fight. Wave-based battles against a horde of enemies are thrown into the mix, too. The variety keeps the campaign from getting stale.

Though these types of missions offer a welcome change of pace for an arena fighter, they’re also held back by Kill la Kill IF’s traditional mechanics and features. Most arena fighters don’t need a mechanic to specifically focus on one combatant or a feature to alert you when an off-screen target is about to attack, as fights are pretty much exclusively one-on-one. In Kill la Kill IF’s campaign, where you occasionally fight multiple enemies at once and the only way to remain focused on a character is to stay near them, the absence of any such mechanic or feature is far more noticeable. It’s tricky to stay focused on the fighter you want when you and your opponents are being smacked around the arena, and it’s frustrating when you’re in the midst of a combo and you don’t know whether you need to suddenly dodge or block because you’re about to be attacked from outside your field of view.

Outside the campaign, Kill la Kill IF offers Practice and Versus modes, as well as a horde challenge and figure posing gallery. Given the risque nature of Kill la Kill, it’s a nice surprise that the figures’ available poses aren’t all that leery, though the offering of shots you can produce is a little sparse. The gallery feels tacked on as a poor replacement for a photo mode, which is a shame given how gorgeous many of the characters look while in motion. Offline Versus works without issue; however, as this review in progress is going live the day of Kill la Kill IF’s official international release, we haven’t had adequate time to put the online version through its paces. We’ll update this review once we do.

Both the Japanese and English dub anime voice actors reprise their roles in Kill la Kill IF, so you can enjoy whichever cast you prefer (it’s something a lot more anime games should do, frankly). Unfortunately, the English dub doesn’t perfectly match up in certain animations, so there are quite a few moments where characters are technically done speaking but their mouths keep moving. It’s no deal-breaker, as both sets of voice actors do a great job once again bringing their respective characters to life. The voices aren’t the only sound from the anime to make it into the game either. Songs from Kill la Kill are regularly intermixed into the originally composed soundtrack, including fan-favorites “Before My Body Is Dry” and “Sirius,” augmenting every battle and emotional moment with the same epic sensations as the anime.

The voice actors and soundtrack provide the biggest motivation to keep playing Kill la Kill IF. As you complete the story and win matches, you’ll unlock in-game currency that you can use to buy songs and special recorded messages. The messages that seem to be from the characters’ perspectives are an absolute delight, like Satsuki providing words of encouragement to those living in “this cruel world,” but most are from the voice actors themselves–Todd Haberkorn (Shirou Iori) teasingly relaying congratulations for beating the game, for instance, or Carrie Keranen (Satsuki Kiryuin) revealing just how much it meant to get a chance to do voice work for Kill la Kill again after nearly five years. It’s all phenomenal content–ranging from hilarious to heartfelt–which provides plenty of incentive to keep playing and earn more in-game currency.

Kill la Kill IF is clearly designed for fans of Kill la Kill who are looking for more ways to enjoy the characters, music, and battles of the anime series. Each fighter behaves as they do in the anime, and the excellent voice actor rewards provide a nice incentive to keep playing even after you’ve mastered every character. However, as a fighting game, Kill la Kill IF doesn’t deliver the expected harmony of offense and defense. And though campaign battles that are beyond the one-on-one formula are an awesome addition, the traditional arena fighting game mechanics aren’t designed to adequately handle multiple opponents. The campaign’s startling revelation is a fascinating turn of events for Kill la Kill’s story, though, creating a new and intriguing interpretation of one of 2013’s best anime series.

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Alexei may be linked to Captain America

David Harbour’s character, Alexei, is known in the comics as The Red Guardian, a Russian WW2 hero who was actually married to Natasha for a period of time. It’s unclear what Alexei’s story will be in the MCU, but Harbour walked out on stage wearing a Captain America t-shirt under his suit coat. When the panel moderator asked if Cap was his favorite, Harbor teased that his character has some “complicated feelings” on the matter, leading us to believe that we may get some connection between Alexei and WW2, if not Steve Rogers himself, in the movie.

After all, with Hydra and the Red Room skulking around Europe through the end of the war, it would make sense for other cryo-freeze experiments to have been taking place, right? Maybe Steve isn’t Marvel’s only “man out of time.” Otherwise, Red Guardian is traditionally positioned as Russia’s original answer to the Super Soldier project–so that could be another potential explanation if they choose to drop the WW2 connection. Either way, things are likely to get pretty complicated and very, very interesting.

Platinum Games upcoming Nintendo Switch title, Astral Chain, makes you a metaphysical anime K-9 cop. It’s as cool as it sounds, mixing some light investigation mechanics with a little bit of platforming and a two-character combat system that gives a new twist to Platinum’s approach to stylish, hard action.

At San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Nintendo offered GameSpot our first chance to get hands-on with Astral Chain. We played a small portion of the game that took place a few hours in, which seemed more akin to a side quest than a main story mission. The slice gave a brief look at a lot of what Astral Chain has to offer, including its combat system and investigation mechanics, and how they’ll both work together with the game’s central conceit–controlling two characters at once.

You play a member of a special police force unit called Neuron in Astral Chain, and your duties include dealing with the fact that the astral plane is spilling over into the real world. With it comes monsters, but you have a special trick for dealing with those, too: a Legion, your own astral plane entity that can fight monsters for you automatically or follow your commands. Your Legion is basically like a sword-wielding dog you lead around on a leash. The Legion attacks hostile creatures on its own, but you can also tell it where to go and what to attack.

Your Legion is basically like a sword-wielding dog you lead around on a leash.

The slice of Astral Chain we played started with a case about a missing woman who had seemingly come under attack from an astral plane monster, known as a chimera. Heading to the crime scene means walking through Astral Chain’s city, where you’ll find citizens to speak with and shops where you can buy useful items. Talking with people can give you information about the game’s story and the cases you’ll work on as you progress through the game, and like a real cop, you’ll keep notes about important information you learn along the way. Conversations that took place before our slice of the game had brought up mention of something called “the Red Ghost,” which turned out to be the chimera we’re hunting.

Arriving at the crime scene gave a quick sense of what Astral Chain’s investigations are like. This case required checking certain spots on the ground where evidence had been marked. We were able to see a reconstruction of the victim lying on the ground after the attack and picked up some other information about the event, and eventually, we found a place where the chimera’s astral plane energy had warped reality slightly. That was the clue we were looking for.

Using Your Supernatural Police Dog

As you walk around in Astral Chain, your Legion isn’t necessarily always by your side, but you can just about always summon it with a quick press of the ZL button. You can use it to analyze astral plane evidence, and when we brought our Legion to check out what had happened at the crime scene, it was able to detect an astral trail the chimera had left behind. Now we were using the Legion like a bloodhound, navigating through the streets as it illuminated the trail. Before long, Astral Chain presented another use for the Legion–it can allow you to cross large gaps and leap to distant locations.

When you summon the Legion, it’ll float around on the end of its spectral leash and follow you, but you can take control of its movements by holding ZL and using the right thumbstick. Positioning the Legion on the far side of a gap lets you use it to pull you across the abyss, making it useful for platforming. You can also direct it to specific spots to activate switches and solve simple puzzles.

Eventually, the Legion led us to a portal to the astral plane where the chimera had taken the woman. The astral plane is a spooky, strangely geometric and minimalist landscape, basically filled with arenas for battling enemies and locations to use your Legion to solve puzzles. It was here that we got our first taste of combat, which, despite sometimes requiring you to control two characters in the heat of battle, is actually intuitive and easy to pick up.

One Player Co-op Combat

You only have one attack button in Astral Chain, which you’ll pound away on as you fight enemies to create combos. Variety in combat is created by how your weapon can transform seamlessly; you wield a high-tech police baton that can change shape to fit the situation. It starts as a small, fast melee weapon, but can be switched to a powerful, slow, heavy sword called a gladius, or morphed into a pistol. You can switch your weapon on the fly to change your attacks as you pummel enemies, and stringing several attacks together builds a combo.

Fighting is less about performing a bunch of complex moves and more about exact timing to link your attacks with those of your Legion. String six hits together and you’ll see a blue circle appear on your character as time briefly slows, prompting you to hit ZL to summon your Legion. Do that in time, and the creature will spring into action, adding another big hit to your attack. You can then follow up with another strike of your own, which triggers another Legion prompt, and so on. After you’ve done enough damage, you can also activate finishing moves with your Legion, which sends your partner to rip out a chimera’s “ability core,” and restores your health and increases how long your Legion can fight at your side.

Your other major ability is a quick dodge that can get you out of harm’s way, and slipping past incoming attacks at the absolute last second gives you another opening to send your Legion in for an attack. Combat quickly becomes a fast-paced concert of attacks on open opponents and dodges that give you chances for counter-attacks, with your Legion leaping in and out to extend your combos. When you’re not actively telling your Legion what to do, though, it engages whoever’s closest on its own, without requiring you to babysit it.

The result is the ability to control both characters, or just one, depending on the situation. You still need to be aware of both characters, though–your Legion disappears if a timer that starts when you summon it runs out, and more time gets subtracted as it takes damage.

The Legion has a few other tricks, too. The creature is leashed to your wrist with its spectral chain, but if you control the Legion directly, you can wrap that chain around enemies (including bosses), which briefly locks them in place and stuns them. And like your weapon, you can switch it between a few different versions, like a sword-wielding take, or a slower, more hulking one. The sword Legion can be called on for special moves, too. We fought a big shield-wielding enemy, which required lots of combos with the Legion to beat, but later, it was joined by a floating pink baddie that could create a tether between it and its allies, rendering both invulnerable. Calling on the Legion allows you to take direct control of it for a sword strike that can cut things in the environment, including that energy tether. Slicing through it broke the invulnerability bond, allowing us to send the Legion to fight one enemy while we took on the other.

After fighting some smaller enemies, we took on the chimera we’d been hunting, a multi-headed dog creature called, of course, Cerberus. The boss fight felt pretty typical to action games, with the monster winding up for big ground-smashing attacks that sent shockwaves outward, or leaping into the air to come hurtling back down toward us. The skill in the fight was in recognizing and dodging incoming attacks to create openings for the Legion to strike at the Cerberus. Avoiding attacks was a big focus since the boss could do massive damage to both you and your Legion; you need to protect yourself and pay attention to where your partner is to keep both of you alive and dishing out combo damage.

More Astral Police Work

The fight was tough, but in all not too overwhelming. Astral Chain’s combat feels relatively simple when you first pick it up, which helps keep it accessible, but the number of things you can do with your Legion as you get used to the speed and timing of a fight adds a lot of complexity. The result is a combat system that allows you to do a lot of cool things as you get better at it, but which adds difficulty in the amount of attention and coordination it demands. Astral Chain wants you to be constantly thinking in two directions, and the skill involved in its fights comes both from quick reactions and timing, and from keeping track of both characters so you can use them effectively without getting either one killed.

The Astral Chain demo wrapped up with defeating the boss and returning the woman safely back to the human world–only to discover that in the meantime, chimeras had started appearing all over the place and the astral plane was bleeding through into the real world. Civilians were scattered around the area where chimeras were showing up, so we were tasked with clearing out the enemies–along with a giant, sword-wielding boss creature–in order to save them.

Astral Chain wants you to be constantly thinking in two directions.

Though the demo only lasted 20 minutes or so, our look at Astral Chain was enough to get a sense of how fast and satisfying its combat can be. It looks as though your Legion will be an integral part of the entire experience, which offers a lot of depth to a combat system that’s otherwise simple enough that just about anybody can pick it up.

The demo was a little thinner on what the other half of the game will be like, as you venture through the city talking to other humans and solving metaphysical crimes. The investigation in our slice of the game was pretty shallow and simplistic, but the inclusion of the notebook suggests that doing police work will be a bigger part of the game and might be more complex than just interacting with certain spots on the ground.

What’s clear is that there are a lot of cool ideas at work in Astral Chain. Platinum Games’ newest take on combat changes up the usual approach to action games just enough to feel fresh without being overwhelming, and its metaphysical setting and two-character mechanics suggest everything beyond fighting will be pretty interesting, too. We won’t have to wait long to see how Platinum’s new ideas work together as a whole; Astral Chain is due to hit Nintendo Switch on August 30.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the latest movie from iconic filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, shines a spotlight on a very specific era in Hollywood: the late 1960s. It’s a time during which Tarantino was a young kid, but one he seems to almost worship in this movie, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as a washed-up TV cowboy and his stunt double/best friend. The two live next door to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate’s house in the Hollywood hills–the house where, on August 9, 1969, members of the Manson family cult murdered the latter, her unborn child, and three of her friends.

That’s how it happened in real life–but events in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood play out slightly differently. This is your final spoiler warning.

The Manson cult’s portrayal in the movie is, largely, accurate. The “family” really did occupy Spahn Ranch, where an aging George Spahn let them run amok in exchange for their help with operations. Tourists getting horseback rides at the ranch seems entirely plausible. And the cultists who set out to do “the devil’s work” that night are accurately portrayed in the movie as well, including Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel.

However, there’s one key difference in the movie that causes the whole ordeal to end on an entirely different, and much happier, note during the film’s climax: The reality is that DiCaprio and Pitt’s characters, Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth, are entirely fictional. Everything that involves them never happened, including Booth’s visit to Spahn Ranch, Dalton’s haranguing of the cultists as their loud car idled in front of his house, and the fight with the cultists at the end.

In real life, Tex and his cohorts entered Tate and Polanski’s house and murdered Tate, who was eight and a half months pregnant, along with her friends Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Abigail Folger (of the Folgers coffee family).

In the movie, Kasabian (played by Stranger Things Season 3’s Maya Hawke) abandons her co-conspirators after their encounter with Dalton in the cul-de-sac. The remaining three cultists enter Dalton’s house–not Tate’s–where Booth recognizes them as the “hippies” he encountered at Spahn Ranch. Booth sics his very good dog Brandy on Tex, and manages to (brutally and with extreme conviction) kill or maim all three. When the last cultist stumbles outside into Dalton’s pool, blindly firing her gun, Dalton retrieves his flamethrower from the shed and roasts her.

In the end, Tate and co. remain safe and sound next door, and Tate finally invites Dalton in for a drink. Booth has a minor stab wound from which he’ll recover. Brandy will receive lots of treats, scritches, and pats. Presumably, they all become friends and live happily ever after.

Even as Once Upon spends ample time in asides and flashbacks watching Dalton shoot Westerns and seeing Booth beat up Bruce Lee, it deftly builds tension. By the time the movie actually gets to that fateful night, you might even realize that you don’t actually want to see what you fear is about to happen. In that way, OUATIH’s altered ending is a relief.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s ending is not unlike that of Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino’s 2009 film in which a ragtag squad of scrappy Jewish marines succeed in assassinating Hitler along with most of the Nazi leadership in one spectacular and supremely unexpected climactic scene. OUATIH is built on the dread of what the audience knows is coming–the Tate murders–much like first-time viewers expected Inglourious Basterds’ assassination plot to fail.

A shot from the movie within the movie, The 14 Fists of McCluskey

The comparison is overt. Tarantino even acknowledges it himself when, during OUATIH, Dalton thinks back on his starring role in the fictional film The 14 Fists of McCluskey, in which he torches a room full of Nazi generals from a balcony–which is similar enough to the actual climax of Basterds that it’s clearly deliberate.

But there’s more to this ending than mere shock value and wish fulfillment. In case you couldn’t tell from its title, it bears pointing out that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a fairy tale–one about this specific era in Hollywood. It’s a glorification of figures like Dalton and Booth, who, despite feeling used up, clearly have real, not superficial, value–or so Tarantino wants to convey. The point of this movie seems to be that this really was Hollywood’s golden age, and Tarantino appears to wish it had never ended. Fairy tales have happy endings, and that’s why, in the film’s version of events, a couple of old TV cowboys prevent the Tate murder from taking place, ensuring the golden age could live on.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses offers you a very important choice in Chapter 1 – you must choose one of three houses to lead at the Garreg Mach Monastery. Your choice here will determine how the story progresses through Part One and into Part Two when war ravages the land of Fodlan.

Because you are locked into your path the moment you choose which house you’ll be teaching, it’s important to consider the various factors. This page contains non-spoiler information what you’ll get out of each path, from possible characters, perks, and romantic pairings.

Characters Overview – House Comparisons
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Video: Which House Should You Choose in Fire Emblem: Three Houses?

Each of the three houses includes a roster of eight students (including the young lord that acts as House Leader who will someday lead their respective nation). While many characters can be recruited to join your house over the course of Part One, some cannot be convinced to join.

The Black Eagles house consists of students of the Adrestian Empire, and their house leader is Edelgard von Hresvelg. They boast the highest amount of magically-inclined units in the game, and Hubert is the one of the only default mage characters that knows dark magic at the start. However, along with the least amount of Crests of any house, they suffer from a lack of dedicated physically defensive and mounted units. With the right training, Ferdinand can swap between a cavalry unit with being an armored knight, and Petra can easily learn to become a wyvern rider.

Of their personal abilities, Dorothea‘s Songstress ability should be noted as it can heal up to 4 adjacent units per turn, along with Lindhart’s Catnap that allows him to heal on his own by waiting.

Consider recruiting tougher units from other houses like Sylvain, Raphael, Leonie, or Ingrid to make up for the Black Eagles shortcomings.

Character	Edelgard	Hubert	Bernadetta	Caspar	Dorothea	Ferdinand	Linhardt	Petra
Recruitment Requirements	Not Recuitable	Not Recruitable	Strength, Bow	Strength, Brawl	Charm, Authority	Dexterity, Heavy Armor	Magic, Reason	Dexterity, Riding
Crest	Minor Crest of Seiros	None	Minor Crest of Indech	None	None	None	Minor Crest of Cethleann	None
Skill Strengths	Sword, Axe, Authority, Heavy Armor	Bows, Reason, Authority	Lance, Bow	Axe, Brawl	Sword, Reason	Sword, Lance, Axe, Riding	Reason, Faith	Sword, Bow, Flying, Axe
Budding Talents	Reason	Lance	Riding	None	Faith	Heavy Armor	None	None
Default Class Goals	Armored Lord	Dark Bishop / Warlock	Sniper	Warrior, Grappler	Warlock	Paladin	Bishop	Assassin / Wyvern Rider

The Blue Lions house consists of students from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and their house leader is Prince Dimitri Blaiddyd. As this nation values chivalry and honor, they have some of the best mounted units and physically tough characters of all the houses. However, they only have room for two magic users within their ranks, and a single natural bow user. Because of this they may struggle to deal with ranged threats, and the abundance of mounted units can leave your vulnerable to bows or horseslayers. With enough training, you can unlock the budding talents of Felix and Sylvain to increase their magic prowess.

Of their personal abilities, Dedue‘s Staunch Shield makes him the perfect defensive unit by gaining +4 Defense if waiting, and Ashe‘s Lockpick allows you to skip out on certifying anyone to become a Thief or buying keys.

Consider recruiting magically inclined units from other houses like Dorothea, Lysithea, or Linhardt to fill in the gaps.

Character	Dimitri	Dedue	Annette	Ashe	Felix	Ingrid	Mercedes	Sylvain
Recruitment Requirements	Not Recuitable	Not Recruitable	Magic, Faith	Charm, Lance	Speed, Sword	Dexterity, Flying	Magic, Bow	Charm, Reason (Unless Female)
Crest	Minor Crest of Blaiddyd	None	Minor Crest of Dominic	None	Crest of Fraldarius	Minor Crest of Daphnel	Minor Crest of Lamine	Minor Crest of Gautier
Skill Strengths	Sword, Lance, Authority	Lance, Axe, Brawl, Heavy Armor	Axe, Magic, Authority	Axe, Bow	Sword, Bow, Brawl	Sword, Lance, Riding, Flying	Reason, Faith	Lance, Axe, Riding
Budding Talents	Riding	None	None	Lance	Reason	None	Bow	Reason
Default Class Goals	High Lord	Fortress Knight	Warlock	Sniper	Swordmaster	Paladin / Pegasus Knight	Bishop	Paladin

The Golden Deer house consists of students from the Leicster Alliance, and their house leader is Claude von Reigan. As the house with the most commoners among them, they excel with bows and have some of the best long range characters of all the groups. Lysithea is something of an anomaly as she possesses not one but two different Crests. They are a more well-rounded cast of characters that are most evenly spread in their abilities to cover a wide range of roles, but don’t excel as a group in one category. Both Hilda and Raphael can adapt as Armored Knights, and Lorenz and Ignatz can excel as magic users if needed.

Of their personal abilities, both Hilda‘s Advocate and Leonie‘s Rivalry work exceptionally well when attacking alongside male units, as they’ll deal 3 extra damage and grant Leonie 2 extra damage while taking 2 less.

Depending on how you adapt your students, any focused students from other houses will make great recruits.

Character	Claude	Hilda	Ignatz	Leonie	Lorenz	Marianne	Lysithea	Raphael
Recruitment Requirements	Not Recuitable	Not Recruitable	Dex, Authority	Strength, Lance	Charm, Reason	Magic, Riding	Magic, Faith	Strength, Heavy Armor
Crest	Minor Crest of Riegan	Minor Crest of Goneril	None	None	Minor Crest of Gloucester	Mystery Crest	Minor Crest of Charon, Crest of Gloucester	None
Skill Strengths	Sword, Bow, Authority, Riding, Flying	Lance, Axe	Sword, Bow, Authority	Lance, Bow, Riding	Lance, Reason, Riding	Sword, Faith, Riding, Flying	Reason, Faith, Authority	Axe, Brawl, Heavy Armor
Budding Talents	Axe	Heavy Armor	Reason	None	None	Lance	Sword	None
Default Class Goals	Wyvern Master	Warrior	Sniper	Paladin	Paladin	Faith	Warlock	Grappler

Lord Comparisons – Hero’s Relics and Bonuses[edit]

Each of the Lords of the different houses each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and while they may start off fairly similar, they can easily grow into quite different characters.

Edelgard is unique among the other Lords for a very specific reason – She will quickly reveal that she has the power of two Crests – the Minor Crest of Seiros and the Crest of Flames – allowing her to both raise damage using Combat Arts, and also restore health when attacking and even stop counterattacks at times. As her default class goals go, she will become an Armored Lord by Act 2 that boasts a tough defense as well as a strong offense, though she can also be trained in the use of magic as well – which may require her to be reclassed as needed. By Act 2, her Personal Ability will change to Imperial Lineage+, which grants her +4 Res if she waits, allowing her to withstand magic attacks in her armored form.

Dimitri‘s Minor Crest of Blaiddyd allows him to sometimes double his attack and weapon uses during Combat Arts, which can make him an extremely damaging force if protected well. He will become a High Lord by Act 2, l, and can further his high strength and dexterity, but his lower defense and resistance means he’ll need protection. His Personal Ability will also grow to Royal Lineage+, granting him an extra +20 Avoid when at full HP. He can also make use of his budding talent to become a fast-moving Paladin to move at a quicker pace with the rest of the cavalry in the Blue Lions.

Claude‘s Minor Crest of Riegan can help heal him in battle when using combat arts, making him a great unit for hit and run attacks when combined with his bow proficiency. In Act 2, he will become a Wyvern Master to further his range and sniping skills, and will most likely gain more Dexterity and Speed as a result, but he might be the physically weakest of the Lords on his own. His personal ability will expand to Leicester Lineage+, and allow him to move through enemy units to attack behind enemy lines, further cementing his role to snipe risky targets and flee. Unlike the other Lords, his budding talent for Axes won’t directly clash with his default class upgrades.

Each of the Lords will also eventually obtain one of the sacred Hero’s Relics, much like Byleth‘s Sword of the Creator, and each are versatile in their own right. Though they all possess only 20 durability and are more expensive than other items to repair, they are peerless in battle, especially with their exclusive Combat Arts:

Hero’s Relic	Wielded By	Mt	Hit	Crit	Exclusive Combat Art
Aymr (Axe)	Edelgard	24	60	20	Raging Storm – Adds +14 Mt and +10 Hit, allows unit to move again if attack hits.
Areadbhar (Lance)	Dimitri	19	75	10	Atrocity – Adds +15 Mit and +20 Hit, and is effective against all enemy types.
Failnaught (Bow)	Claude	18	75	20	Fallen Star – Adds +10 Mt, +10 Crit, +30 Hit and grants avoidance of enemy attacks in the next combat.

Romance Comparisons and Exclusives[edit]

Of the Three Houses, Byleth is able to pursue an S-Rank romance support relationship with any character, but some characters can only be romanced in their own house as they cannot be recruited, and others may be easier if your character does not have to meet certain criteria to recruit from another house.

Characters in Bold are exclusive to the Black Eagles House and cannot be recruited. Characters in red support a bisexual female romance, and characters in blue support a bixsexual male romance.

Warning – the following section contains very brief info on where each of the paths will lead, as each house will have a different story in Part Two, and may contend with different enemies or have different objectives in the war. Details will be vague, but caution should be used.

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The Black Eagles Path will see the Adrestian Empire declare war on the Church of Seiros, and by extension – any who stand in the way of Edelgard‘s goals. Because of this, any allies you recruit who are members of the Church or the Knights of Seiros will disband from your party. A main objective will include waging war on the Kingdom of Faerghus against Dimitri to reunify the land through force.

The Blue Lions Path will focus on stopping Edelgard and the Adrestian Empire from taking over the continent of Fodlan. Dimitri himself will have his own reason for wanting to defeat Edelgard, making it a primary objective of the war.

The Golden Deer path will be caught up in the war between the Adrestian Empire and its adversaries, but will instead focus on unveiling certain mysteries and fighting the ones who Slither in the Dark, a group that operates behind the scenes, pulling the strings to further an agenda against the Church of Seiros.

The Fourth Path[edit]

There is actually another somewhat hidden path that does not follow any of the Three Houses. This path can only be undertaken by joining the Black Eagles. However, near the end of Part One, you are given a warning of an important choice to aid Edelgard. If you refuse when asked, you will instead defend the Church of Seiros from the Adrestian Empire, and lose access to both Edelgard and Hubert in the process. During the war, your true objective will be to uncover the forces behind the scenes, those who Slither in Dark, and uncover their schemes against the Church of Seiros.

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Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino’s ninth and penultimate movie before he says he’ll stop directing feature films, cleverly showcases the writer-director’s encyclopedic knowledge of cinema and pop culture while also serving as a loving tribute to a bygone era of films and stars. Despite incorporating many elements of the filmmaker’s signature style — dark wit, moments of explosive violence, kitschy references, a great vintage soundtrack, and an overall “cool” vibe — Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood shows a more sentimental side of the Kill Bill filmmaker. And yet it also displays many of his self-indulgences and weaknesses. It’s not Tarantino’s best work, but it’s still better than the best efforts of other filmmakers.The movie reflects the sensibilities of an older and possibly more thoughtful filmmaker than the indie bad boy who stormed the industry back in the ‘90s with his “cool criminal” fare like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. There’s still an undeniable coolness —there’s that word again! — exuded throughout this film, but like an older man, it moves a bit slower, is more contemplative and mindful of the end being nigh, and struggles with things not being the way they were back in the day. Perhaps it’s because he’s set a retirement goal for himself with his tenth film that Tarantino leans so heavily into nostalgia here, staging a last hurrah for a breed of aging Hollywood types out of step with their times.

Tarantino largely focuses his story — which is primarily set over three days in Hollywood circa 1969 — on washed-up actor Rick Dalton and his best pal, former stunt double-turned-flunky, Cliff Booth. Rick is deftly played with feverish desperation and crumbling vanity by Leonardo DiCaprio, while an almost transcendently cool Brad Pitt delivers his best performance in years as Cliff, whose sun-kissed appearance belies the inner darkness that’s cost him everything but the affection of his dog and Rick. Cliff may project a Zen-like chill but there’s a coiled intensity lurking under the surface that speaks to the violence he’s capable of committing. Cliff is in many ways a more interesting and complex character than the narcissistic and fragile Rick, but DiCaprio and Pitt share a breezy, boozy chemistry that makes them great foils for one another.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Gallery

The third pivotal character here is actress Sharon Tate, a beauty whose star is on the rise even as Rick’s is on the decline. This is no A Star is Born-esque showbiz drama, however. It’s historical fiction. Portrayed here as Rick’s next door neighbor, Sharon Tate, of course, was a real person whose brutal death — slain while pregnant by followers of cult leader Charles Manson — has overshadowed her brief film career.

Margot Robbie plays her with a free-spirited vivacity, but the character of Tate herself is not well developed (Robbie has much less dialogue than nearly all the other leading characters). She’s more a symbol of Hollywood dreams than she is a flesh and blood protagonist like Rick and Cliff. Tarantino seems more interested in the idea of Sharon Tate than he necessarily is in exploring who she really was. While she may get short-changed here in some ways, Sharon still gets one of the film’s more emotionally engaging sequences, one that registers on a far more intimate level than some of the scenes featuring Rick or Cliff.

Indeed, that’s the biggest drawback of Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood. Rick’s travails and Cliff’s side story are enjoyable but it’s nevertheless tough to fully connect with them. In the end, you’re left wondering what Tarantino wanted audiences to feel about them or his film save for leaving with an appreciation for Hollywood’s yesteryear. That may be enough, intellectually, for those who want to ruminate on the film industry, past and present. But emotionally speaking, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood and its characters never quite register as strongly as many of Tarantino’s other films and protagonists.

Tarantino has once again assembled a stellar ensemble cast that includes several veterans of his past films like Kurt Russell — who occasionally provides jarring and unearned narration that comes across like a narrative cheat — and great new additions, such as scene stealers Mike Moh as an egotistical Bruce Lee and Julia Butters as a precocious child actor Rick meets on the set of a potential comeback role. But the biggest supporting player in the film isn’t even a person.

It’s become a cliche to say a location is as much a character in a movie as the people but in this case it’s true. This film is as much a love letter to the Los Angeles of 1969 as it is to the films, TV shows and pop culture of that tumultuous era. Tarantino and production designer Barbara Ling — complemented by Robert Richardson’s warm cinematography — have painstakingly recreated the greater L.A. area of that period and its many landmarks. But did we really need to see every street and stretch of freeway Cliff drives along? Nope, and those unnecessarily bloated stretches only makes one feel the film’s nearly three-hour runtime all the more.

The film is also chock full of asides to Rick’s faux movies and TV shows, from his heyday as the star of the ‘50s TV show Bounty Law to his later spaghetti westerns, war movies, and exploitation films. These are often hilarious and spot-on send-ups that lovers of B-movies and the Golden Age of Television will appreciate and laugh at more than casual (and frankly younger) viewers who lack the pop cultural context to get the references Tarantino is making. Indeed, Once Upon a Time …in Hollywood’s effectiveness depends in large part on one’s fondness for the bygone era Tarantino is honoring. But there are times where Tarantino veers into self-indulgence.

There’s another and arguably larger curiosity factor for those going to see this film than what pop culture riffs they’ll get from the director who wears his influences on his proverbial sleeve, and that’s the Manson family murders in August ‘69. Critics have been forbidden from revealing how Tarantino handles one of L.A.’s most infamous crimes, but suffice to say his interpretation was always going to prove divisive and the end result most certainly will. As exploitative and jarring as the whole sequence can be, it also gives the film a jolt in its uneven second half.

Could it have been handled differently? Of course, but this is Quentin Tarantino’s world we’re in here and his bloody and lurid approach serves as an almost meta-commentary on his own films and what he knows his audience expects from him. While this climax never matches the masterful building of suspense in an earlier sequence where Cliff encounters the Manson family on an old movie ranch, the homestretch reminds Tarantino fans of the edgy provocateur he started out as after sitting through two plus hours of slow-moving industry nostalgia.

NECA is back with another great SDCC lineup of super detailed collectibles. This year they’re leaning heavily into the horror movie genre with Pennywise figures from both the TV and movie adaptations of It, a Halloween II Michael Meyers, a really gross Candyman, Leatherface, “Ultimate” Annabelle and Crooked Man figures from the Conjuring universe, Pinhead and more.In addition to the cool horror icons, there are a bunch of neat figures from the Terminator, Alien and Predator movies, including a Parker action figure from Alien, a 1/4 scale Alien, a “Rhino Alien”, Arnold and Sarah Connor figures from Terminator: Dark Fate, and several Predator variants, including the awesome looking Alpha Predator.

NECA Brings Horror Icons and Alien, Predator and Terminator: Dark Fate Collectibles to SDCC

Photos by Adam DiLeo and Scott Collura.

For more on SDCC 2019, check out the 16 panels we’re most excited about this year, the 33 best exclusive collectibles to look out for, and this new photo from Netflix’s The Witcher series.

And be sure to follow our Comic-Con hub all weekend for the latest news, reviews, and interviews out of the show!

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