Mechanics you miss when replaying other games

[Irysa]

Which are the most prominent mechanics that you find yourself frustrated without?

Weapon unequipping and Item merging are two of my favourite quality of life additions into the series. The inability to disable a unit's counterattacks without entirely emptying one's inventory is so frustrating when trying to play older games, it limits the kinds of strategies I get used to processing naturally. Item merging means I don't have to keep finding ways to use up low remaining use weapons without crippling a unit's loadout for a chapter. OTOH, Awakening's item merging was a step back from DSFE for some reason, since it automatically fuses instead of allowing you the choice.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Irysa

[MacLovin]

scrolls from fe5 and dismounting.

[metalsnowman3]

I always liked the shove mechanic. Its nice to have another movement type option to get further though it is a little unfair as you can shove people through terrain that would take up a lot of movement (like through desert or swamp in RD).

[Oshimos]

I'd definitely agree with item fusing, my convoy's always cluttered with ~4 use items by the end of a playthrough of any of the older games.

Also, using items during preparations. Sometimes it can be hard to find a turn of downtime for a unit that wants a stat booster or a promotion item, or they might want the inventory slots, and quite honestly once a chapter gets going I tend to forget about them and will have a unit hold onto a Talisman for three chapters before they finally use it.

[dondon151]

I like both item fusing and weapon unequipping, but they're mechanics i can do without. Which makes sense, since i'm used to playing the older games.

After playing FE6 i can say that i definitely miss using items in the prep menu, but even then, that restriction was kind of fun.

Edited September 22, 2014 by dondon151

[Irysa]

I'd have to echo the sentiment that not being able to use items in prep is actually somewhat enjoyable for the tactical considerations it adds (and trying to get 10 units to eat a million boots in the remaining turns you've got left in the game after the Secret Shop lol)

Edited September 22, 2014 by Irysa

[sirmola]

What everyone else said is true, but i also liked the way newer games allowed you to look at enemy ranges without selecting them, As well as the ability to pick where your units started a chapter(which really felt missing in fe5). Also, enemy phase skip can be nice sometimes, and unlimited size convoys are nice.

[Jiac]

Siege tomes, like Bolting, Purge, Eclipse and the use of Ballistas.

[X-Naut]

When I play pre-GBA games it always bugs me that the cursor resets to the enemy after checking range. Especially in FE4 where it's harder to remember where that space is because there are fewer visual cues to follow back.

[bookofholsety]

while i agree with a lot of what's been said so far, the thing which really stands out to me the most isn't technically a mechanic! fe11-13's biggest boon in terms of gameplay is how much smoother and quicker the game flow is, mostly with respect to enemy phase and animations. i've come to really appreciate how they make a point of getting all these things out of the way as quickly as possible: no more being bogged down by tediously long battle animations (eyes fe10 suspiciously) or slow-ass map sprite walk cycles (i'm looking at you fe9), or spending ages waiting for the phase announcement placards to go away (hello there fe4!). it's a minor thing, but i've come to really appreciate it, and it's what stands out the most when i go back to earlier fe games (the gba and (to a lesser extent) snes ones are manageable, but fe9 is just hell). strategy games may be about taking your time to methodically plan your course of action (unless you're fe13, aka "strategy what strategy"), but making the player tediously wait longer than necessary to get control back doesn't aid that in the slightest

in a similar vein, it's kinda awkward going back to games without fe13's "evolved" attack flow setting. to me, it's perhaps the best example of one of those little things which you don't realise are so useful until you try to select an enemy while moving your unit and nothing happens

Edited September 22, 2014 by bookofholsety

[Beelzebub]

I liked unique weapons from 2 and 4. Basically, each weapon is unique so you can't just upgrade the whole party and call it a day. Instead, you have to see who could benefit with what the most. Alternatively, bring back personal weapons, such as in 5. These give characters utility and individuality beyond their stats. For example, look at Eyrios, who is ostensibly a better unit than Olwen, but her personal weapons still make her worth using.

I also really liked dismounting, I thought it gave you an incentive to mix up your party more.

[Knight]

I really liked Ballistas (and onagers). Skipping turns is a mechanic I favour as well. Also having a separate button to look at the stats screen and being able to see move, this only applies to the NES games, but it makes them nearly unplayable to me.

[Straylock]

When playing older games, I miss the weapon weight system from the Tellius games. I know there was already a topic about this a little while back, but it saddens me when I see otherwise good units in the GBA games unable to use good weapons because their constitution stat isn't high enough. I just don't like the idea of having to either use a body ring or wait until promotion for a unit in order to not suffer a speed penalty as a result of wielding non-iron weapons.

On the subject of Tellius, shoving was actually really useful. Can we please have that back IS?

[solrocknroll]

why is there no rescue

i mean, i get that it added strategy not having it, but i still miss the liberty of using it, Pair-Up is too broken.

Also, Radiant Dawn's type of skills.

[Mighty Kamina]

Capturing and Thracia's version of stealing. (Where you can take a weapon that an enemy has equipped.) When you see an enemy who has a weapon you want. Great, just go capture them/steal it. Meanwhile other FE's only let certain enemies drop stuff. Why can't I take that killing edge from that Myrmidon I just killed? I mean it's just lying there but I can take that Fighter's crappy Bronze Axe.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Shulk

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

My edited christmas card list:

- shove

- rescue, take and drop

- using items and stat boosts in the preparation menu

- long range tomes for all magic types

- magic weapon triangle (at least anima-light-dark)

- ballistas

- long bows should be nerfed (not as much as in FE10)

- every type of staves (sleep, silence, beserk, poison and blind staff as new features)

- mastery skills (but not as broken as in FE10) and removable skills like provoke, paragon, heal

- weapon triangle should work like in FE7 - 10

- dismounting units

- support system should work like in FE6 - 9 (five supports)

- acting after talking

- using canto after attacking an enemy

- weapon weight has to return, but in a different way (refer to my thread about weapon weight)

- capturing like in FE5

- stealing weapons staffs, items, stat boosts and weapons

- terrain boosts (hit and accuracy boosts, if you attack from upper platform like in FE10)

I think I still forgot some points, but these are the main wishes.

Edited September 25, 2014 by TalesOf Hysteria

[Anacybele]

Well, since I played FE8 and FE7 after I played the Tellius games, I missed Canto. I found the GBA games harder because I used the hit-and-run tactic all the time in the Tellius games thanks to Canto. But not being able to use it in the GBA games kind of threw a monkey wrench into my strategy style. xP

[Shadow Mir]

As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to see shove back, at least.

My list:

- shove

- rescue, take and drop

- using items and stat boosts in the preparation menu

- long range tomes for all magic types

- magic weapon triangle (at least anima-light-dark)

- ballistas

- long bows should be nerfed (not as much as in FE10)

- every type of staves (sleep, silence, bezerk, poison and blind staff as new features)

- mastery skills and removable skills like provoke, paragon, heal

- weapon triangle should work like in FE7 - 10

- dismounting units

- support system should work like in FE6 - 9 (five supports)

- acting after talking like in FE9 and 10

First bold: Why? It just felt like some holdover relic from Jugdral, and even there it was hardly relevant. . .

Second bold: Just how many games were longbows actually USEFUL in?? I can only count 3 of them (Shadow Dragon and the succeeding FEs). I don't see why they need to be nerfed. And honestly, FE9 was just as bad to longbows as FE10 was, considering that in addition to being piss weak they were locked to archers and snipers, AKA, the Tier Induced Scrappies of Fire Emblem.

Edited September 25, 2014 by Levant Caprice

[Baldrick]

Capturing and Thracia's version of stealing.

YES

The ability to repair weapons freely is a big one for me. Without it, I can barely bring myself to use rarer and unique weapons.

I also miss convenience stuff like using items in the prep screen, item merging, seeing enemy range and faster phases.

[Refa]

The magic triangle was the most relevant in FE4...

[Shadow Mir]

The magic triangle was the most relevant in FE4...

Which ain't saying much, given that wind magic was OP as fuck in FE4...

Edited September 25, 2014 by Levant Caprice

[Thor Odinson]

skip enemy phase is my favorite thing ever

some form of sticking a unit on another unit to move further type of thing, rescue and pairup both. I had fun making chains and doing a couple of strats revolving those.

[Soledai]

Capturing from FE5, dismounting to an extent, and growth increasing items like the scrolls and the orb fragments and Star Orb.

Edited September 25, 2014 by Soledai

[The Geek]

I missed having Attack/Staff at the top of the Wait menu so much that I stopped playing FE3.

[Loki Laufeyson]

skip enemy phase is my favorite thing ever

omg you beat me to it, brother. But this so hard.

This needs to be in all the games.