I edited my responses into the comments section of some
In response to affinities:
"While they might be superfluous they don't do any harm either and aren't constantly crashing into your face unnecessarily (e.g. like superfluous dialog). This list isn't to say they have to return, it's just listing things that have value to people that are missing in Awakening."
I think you're misunderstanding the point of this list in general. You made a similar point about support conversations in mid-battle but I'm not saying they're better or anything, just that it's something notably different that some people might value. That's why I let "Dismounted" be on the list even though I'm not really a fan of dismounting units myself: because some people might like that and miss its presence.
That being said, your points are generally valid for supporting the opinion that it doesn't matter/doesn't need to be in Awakening/whatever, so I appreciate you giving the counter-thoughts regardless
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About late-game characters and such:
"I figured someone would say that but those characters don't join late enough for them to fill in that role IMO and due to Awakening's lack of linearity, they're missing the same feeling/vibes caused by having characters join late in a story: you can go ahead and do a bunch of skirmishes/DLC maps/paralogues/whatever in the mean time so they basically feel like normal characters just with less supports and a later joining time. - Blazer"
Thus I don't agree that Awakening has it. Too many differences for it to count for me, doesn't really feel similar