Fire Emblem: Fates / If...

Members see less ads - sign up now for free and join the community!

  • This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn more.

buddhafied

Sphere Hunter
Sep 30, 2013
241
126
Vancouver, BC
#1
Fire Emblem is a series I heard a lot about but never actually get to play. Well, to correct myself, I played the original one very briefly, in Japanese, and since my Japanese wasn't that great then (neither it is now), it wasn't as fun for me. On top of that, compare to the Super Robot War series, the animation was a bit simple and (even more) repetitive, so I didn't get it to it at all.

Fast forward 25 years to now, I sort of am really intrigued about the trailer and the direction of the series has taken. Especially the upcoming ones (If and the crossover with Shin Megami Tensei). FE:I particularly interests me because of its multiple paths:

http://www.rpgsite.net/news/4242-fire-emblem-if-multiple-storyline-paths-and-dlc-information

FE_TwoBoxartsJapan.png

It almost felt like a "choose your own adventure" book, which is not that far fetch from some of these SRPG games, but FE:I seems to take it to another level.

Anyone excited about this game? Also, as someone who wants try the series out, any suggestions to which game should I start or does it matter? I know all about the permanent death mode, etc, which actually sounds painful but fun.
 
#4
Do they have bear-ish type? I don't care about their stat, he's gonna be my husband :D
They had one in Awakening. The gruff guy with a heart of gold, as you'd expect lol.

Awakening was interesting. It was the game that breathed life into the FE series after its steady decline in the years prior. There were talks of it being the last ever FE game were it not to sell well, and yet it exceeded Nintendo's projections by a wide margin.

What you see with FE: if is an evolution from Awakening's concept. Some people want a challenging game, and some others just want to enjoy the characters and their relationships. Awakening was heavily focused on the latter, and though that factor saved the series, some loyal fans weren't too happy with Awakening's weak game balance and design. By crafting two different experiences, Intelligent Systems is hoping to cater to both the old and new fans, Nohr being more challenging and Hoshido being a more casual experience. You could base your decision on which aspect you place more emphasis on, but I'm definitely getting all of the three announced scenarios.

I heard that pre-orders for the limited edition of the game sold out pretty quick in Japan. The series has finally got some legs on it.
 
Last edited:

buddhafied

Sphere Hunter
Sep 30, 2013
241
126
Vancouver, BC
#5
They had one in Awakening. The gruff guy with a heart of gold, as you'd expect lol.
I will let Hagger knows I need an open relationship for a while.

What you see with FE: if is an evolution from Awakening's concept. Some people want a challenging game, and some others just want to enjoy the characters and their relationships. Awakening was heavily focused on the latter, and though that factor saved the series, some loyal fans weren't too happy with Awakening's weak game balance and design. By crafting two different experiences, Intelligent Systems is hoping to cater to both the old and new fans, Nohr being more challenging and Hoshido being a more casual experience. You could base your decision on which aspect you place more emphasis on, but I'm definitely getting all of the three announced scenarios.
I am a big suck for this type of games, so I think I'm going to give it a try for sure. Do you recommend Awakening then? Not like I need more backlog, but I feel that I should give it a try. According to How Long To Beat, it's around 30 hours completion for main story? Is it more or less accurate for you? http://howlongtobeat.com/game.php?id=3556
 
#6
I will let Hagger knows I need an open relationship for a while.



I am a big suck for this type of games, so I think I'm going to give it a try for sure. Do you recommend Awakening then? Not like I need more backlog, but I feel that I should give it a try. According to How Long To Beat, it's around 30 hours completion for main story? Is it more or less accurate for you? http://howlongtobeat.com/game.php?id=3556
I'm really not the kind of person who recommends stuff because I have a history of being in the minority when it comes to most things I like lol. Do I think Awakening is a neat game though? Yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed it. A lot of people do, plenty of people don't. I'd be happy if newcomers end up enjoying it though.

Also, I finished the main story in 25 hours, which I bumped up to 50 playing the DLC campaigns. The DLC are mostly character fanservice/challenge maps with one story-based campaign. I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo had used this as a test to see if the Nohr/Hoshido direction would work.
 
Likes: buddhafied

Watermango

Stiltzkin's Apprentice
Jun 19, 2015
6
3
32
California
#7
Ah I can't wait for this game to come out! The previous versions of Fire Emblems have been in western settings with the occasional eastern culture dropped into the story and via the units (myrmidon, nomad, etc). But now the Hoshido route for FE: Fates (name was recently changed for the Western audience) will allow Nintendo to flesh out an Eastern setting in full scope of its own game. And just as @Lucina mentioned, this setting change has captivated the Japanese audience! There are tons of orders for the Hoshido game already in Japan, and I'm happy that this probably means one of my favorite series will continue onward.
However! I will be buying the Nohr route first and foremost. The harder difficulty appeals to me more and I simply cannot ignore the blonde twintailed sister princess, of course.

As for your question about getting into the series, @buddhafied, Awakening is a great starting point for new players. For the first time in FE history the game offers a Casual mode where your units won't be lost if they fall on the battlefield. Of course if you want that traditional FE feel or style you can still choose Classic mode. This is great because it lets you tune your game to how hard you want it to be. For example,

Casual mode - Hard difficulty: A game played in this manner would offer you tough choices when it comes to fighting units without the fear of losing units. But be aware that a unit that has retreated from the battle cannot gain experience once gone from the chapter map! Great for folks who wanna throw their units like pawns into the enemy.
or perhaps
Classic mode - Easy difficulty: This could be similar in overall difficulty to the above example, and you would instead prioritize the health points of your units so they would not die. Or you could be really hardcore and never reset once your unit is dead, and gone for good. This difficulty reduces enemy statistics and reinforcements, so you may not run into that situation too often, though. A good setup for those who want that old Fire Emblem fear of protecting your own army without having to spend a ton of time strategizing.

So yeah! Awakening is a great place to start. Other Fire Emblem games are a bit tougher but not all of them. Another good FE game for beginners is FE8 (The Sacred Stones) for the GBA which was just released on the Nintendo eShop for the Wii U today.

If you can't tell, I love this series. Haha! :p
I've personally put over 300 hours into Awakening myself, but that's just because of the insane DLC replayability. I love these little sprites and all their children.
 
Likes: buddhafied

buddhafied

Sphere Hunter
Sep 30, 2013
241
126
Vancouver, BC
#8
Also, I finished the main story in 25 hours, which I bumped up to 50 playing the DLC campaigns. The DLC are mostly character fanservice/challenge maps with one story-based campaign. I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo had used this as a test to see if the Nohr/Hoshido direction would work.
That's good to know. As I'm getting older, I really only have time to finish the main story quests and maybe some important side quests that I happened to stubble across. If I ever want to make a dent to my backlog, that's the only way.

If you can't tell, I love this series. Haha! :p
I've personally put over 300 hours into Awakening myself, but that's just because of the insane DLC replayability. I love these little sprites and all their children.
Wow, thanks for the insights and explaining the difficulty levels! I am officially putting this game to a list of game I want to finish in the next 12 months! I will start with FE: Awakening as well, might challenge the classic mode just to experience how brutal it is. I am really looking forward to FE: Fates actually. I think I'll enjoy it a lot. I've been a fan of Front Mission as well as Super Robot Wars for years, and of course Final Fantasy Tactic, so I enjoy this type of game play a lot. You got me all excited!

Edited the title to include "Fire Emblem: Fates" to reflect the new name announced during E3 2015
 

Watermango

Stiltzkin's Apprentice
Jun 19, 2015
6
3
32
California
#14
Folks have been streaming the new game on twitch as of yesterday and it's looking fantastic! Seems like you can make decisions that alter the story and who lives/dies, too.

From the looks of it, it will be very limited. Only one character and only one sex to be eligible for this per route.
It seems like Zero is your man for same sex male marriage @buddhafied. I want to marry Owain's child personally. She looks just like Lissa!