Does the amount of fanservice bother you?

[-Cynthia-]

I'm definitely not a fan with how overblown the fan service is in this game, let alone using Awakening characters and shoehorning children into it yet again. The series seems to be headed in a direction far from that of its predecessors and I don't understand why we can't get a game that takes what RD accomplished and builds on top of that.

There's so much unnecessary fluff in this game that it isn't even funny.

Yeah this is really the 'fanservice' that bothers me more- having Awakening's characters as 'reincarnations' or whatever just seems like an excuse to reuse old character designs/personalities that were popular rather than trying something new. Reminds me of Priam in Awakening- just a lazy attempt to cater to fans of previous games.

[Sasori]

Yes and no.

The face rubbing is a bit weird, but I can ignore/stomach that as long as its not required. I actually grew a little fond of it from what i've read, considering its so completely shameless that it starts to become very funny.

The underwear thing thats been going around doesn't bother me either. Its not unheard of for Rpg's that have customisation options to have that. Xenoblade, Dragon quest 9, Dragon age, etc.

Its the Awakening pandering that annoys me a little though. The premise of the game was good enough to stand on its own, but now I feel like the game doesn't have the courage to stand on its own merrits. The children themselves where not neccesary in my eyes, but I can live with that. Having 8 carbon copies on the other hand is something that I consider an extreme waste of space.

[JoeyW001]

I can see customers who grew up in a ultra conservative community being offended.. But for me, not at all

I think it's more of a cultural shock for customers in the west (perhaps even just North Americans.. my understanding is Europeans are quite open minded compared to us) that are complaining.

I'm from Canada, never been in hotspings. If half of Europe and all of Asia loves it, its most likely we're the ones missing out. Face rubbing? umm sure. maybe its actually a more affectionate way to express your feelings, i'll still try it out on the game.

I'm not sure what the complaint is with Fanservice (im assuming this refers to the panty/boob shots). Every commercial break in any sport in America is much worse and even more suggestive (milk commercials with girls in bikinis pouring all over their mouth and boobs, girls with nipple bras, literally stickers on their nipples, jumping up and down for something that relates to basket ball.... girls wearing g strings promoting a golf club.. yes.. even in GOLF). Europe.. then dont even care, the girls are topless. It's already ingrained in our culture/media. Japan/Asia can be considered much more conservative in this regard.

Edited June 24, 2015 by JoeyW001

[goodperson707]

Now here is a guy who hit the nail on the spike. It's not incest itself I have a problem with, it's the incest in this game, whether with the Hoshidan or the Nohrian siblings. Doesn't matter if you are blood-related or not, they are your FAMILY! There is more to life than love and marriage, in fact, I consider my family (my parents, my siblings) the most important part of my life and it's NOT because of seeing them as potential waifus.

So I guess my dissatisfaction with the fanservice is that they included marriageable family members (even if Kamui is not blood-related). I am fine with face-rubbing and stripping, but if they threw the whole family theme out the window just to make the avatar able to marry a certain sibling because of that hot bod, then I am utterly dissapointed.

Wow, i myself value family and my sisters more than anything, but that does not mean the other players and the video game designers have to follow my values and place the same importance on family that i do. The game is about choice and more than that to some people it is a game, i myself will never marry the siblings i would prefer not having the option to marry the siblings, but when it cones down too it Kaimui is the player and not all players will think of the siblings as siblings so i see no reason to protest them not seeing Kaimui as a family member. And the option to in yours and mine opinion to throw the family theme out the window is just that an option that we won 't choose and a opinion so guess what? to other people it isn't throwing the theme out the window and surprise surprise it is in the game for them not us. I dislike part of the things in the game, doesn't mean they should not be in the game.

[Book Bro]

I can see customers who grew up in a ultra conservative community being offended.. But for me, not at all

For me it's not about being a prude, it's about it not fitting and being so shamelessly about sex appeal when that was never a part of FE.

People say "well look these other RPGs have much sexier stuff", but often those series have always been like that. It's like if Zelda suddenly became super sexualized with gameplay waifus and sex mini games.

If it was one thing like just the face rubbing or just the underwear I would still dislike it but not as much. It's the fact that there's so much of it for seemingly no reason other than "it's funny and/or sexy".

As far as the Awakening pandering

Its the Awakening pandering that annoys me a little though. The premise of the game was good enough to stand on its own, but now I feel like the game doesn't have the courage to stand on its own merrits. The children themselves where not neccesary in my eyes, but I can live with that. Having 8 carbon copies on the other hand is something that I consider an extreme waste of space.

This is exactly how I feel.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Book Bro

[dragonlordsd]

What bothers me for fan service is not the hotsprings mechanic, or the face rubbing, it's the fact that half the characters are exact clones of awakening characters. I'm super pissed off about that. It's not just Odin, Luna, and Lazward anymore. Now we have a Tharja clone, a Cordelia clone... it's gotten completely out of hand.

[The Archsage]

Gonna be honest. At first, it did bother me. At first! I was worried the game would be taking a bad direction.

Until my friend pointed out to me that, yes, there is fanservice in the game, but that doesn't mean it's ruining the parts that make the game a Fire Emblem game. The strategy is still there, and they're doing things, like the Dragon Vein to improve upon the strategy. The weapon triangle is still there, and improved upon at that. There's still a story, and whether it's good or not is something we'll find out when we get the game, though signs are pointing that it is indeed good. There's also still supports from the GBA era, only now we don't have an annoying limit on the amount of supports we can have.

With all our basic elements still there, and improved upon, I'd say that makes the game even better. Is everybody else forgetting that before Awakening did so well it might have been the last Fire Emblem game? If what sold Awakening is fanservice, it makes sense that they'd want to include it in the following games to keep doing well. After all, if they don't do well, we might not get anymore Fire Emblem.

So, while I'm not the biggest fan of seeing all this fanservice, I still understand why it's there. And I'd rather it be there, then risk waking up one day to learn that IS had to drop the series, because it wasn't selling very well.

[Rapier]

It's fine when it is optional, like additional costumes or dlcs with hot spring chapters like Awakening had, or when it is an element that comes up a few times. It becomes a problem when it is pushed down your throat, though (the Agarest series, for example, makes allusion to BDSM and sex with their fanservice. That's bad for a game, imo).

I think having many characters dress like sluts (Camilla, Orochi and Charlotte, although they seem to be decent chars) and male characters walk around like Conan the Barbarian (Vaike walks around shirtless, for example) for no better reason diminishes the seriousness of a game that is supposed to depict war and casualties. Worse still, for what people have told me, is that this game is darker than usual. These designs don't help accentuate the intended mood for the game, which they should.

I'm so used to fanservice, that I would play this game even if the fanservice were heavier. And since it won't affect the story at all, I'm fine with it. But I'd prefer if the costumes were on par with the theme of the game. Can we go back to the way the series was in FE10? The costumes were nice and fit well into the intended mood for the game.

Is the face-rubbing completely optional? I've heard it is obligatory for S supports... If it isn't optional, then it -is- an issue for me. As for the rest, I think Fates must be a great game, one that I look forward very much. The fanservice surely won't hinder my enjoyment.

[Tsunami922]

It doesn't bother me at all. I just hope it doesn't get censored in the international release.

[Hempmeister69]

I like the fan servicey aspects but I'd understand if someone who was more prudish conservative felt uncomfortable being in a game that's supposed to have serious and complex story telling initially. Most of these fears for the game are of a purely sensationalist nature. With regards to skin shipping; most of those in opposition of it are tired of the "it's optional bla bla bla" argument. But it is true. Not only that, but the "lewd" sound bites that we've all seen plastered and sensationalized by users on Reddit only happen with your S ranked spouse. One would have to skinship quite a bit to get there in the first place and as said before, if you ignore the mechanic completely, it's like it isn't even there.

Moving onto incest, I think we all know the spoilers by now. And once again, initially it seems like a huge copout on IS's part. In my opinion, however, the real details of the entire matter lend itself to a very nuanced and serious story. The story this time around IS dark and mature, a hell of a lot more than FE12 or Sacred Stones I think.

Lol and now Awakening expies. I hated the idea at first. Even if it did mean my beloved Tharja was back. But honestly, the details surrounding that weren't what I expected and changed my opinion for the better. I guess what my point is, if these fanservice mechanics do rub you the wrong way(lmao), looking past the surface and how much of the game it actually detracts from is imperative. And if you decide that a 15 second video of Camilla being hot is going to stop you from buying this awesome game, good riddance.

[Aekenon]

You don't need to be a prude to not enjoy fanservice. Let it be known that boobs are A-OK in my book. Sexual themes in video games? Hell yeah, go for it. I would greatly appreciate the medium tackling and incorporating more mature concepts, especially with nuance. But that's not what this is, by a long shot. (In fact, I'd probably go so far as to say its depictions of these themes are largely immature)

The problem with fanservice -- at least for me -- isn't the content, but the context. For example, you're not being shown characters wearing revealing clothing because they're empowered free-spirits who are comfortable with their bods and want the world to know it; nah, you're being shown characters wearing revealing clothing (often contradictory to their personalities) because it's low-hanging fruit for cheap titillation. AKA, basically the definition of fanservice.

I dislike it in the same way I dislike any shoehorned-in element that exists discordantly to the core experience. I always find it ugly when marketing intersects and invades game design, and this case's no different. I like tight experiences: a cohesive vision followed through from one end to the other. These things sort of get in the way of that. That's how it looks to me, anyway.

Now, I'm going to buy this game and I know I'm going to love it, but that doesn't mean I can't be disappointed about certain aspects of it. A lot of people get super defensive when something they loved gets criticized -- and that's super rad, because that kind of passion is great -- but they should remember that it's totally possible to love something and also want it to be better. I don't really want to see anyone on any side of this argument get shut down with sweeping statements. Because hey, we're all Fire Emblem fans here and want the best for our series, even if we can't necessarily agree what that means. That's cool. You're cool. We're all cool.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Aekenon

[B.Leu]

Hell yeah it bother me, especially if it's face rubbing.

But I'll wait till I have the game in hand to truly judge at 100%. And hey, the gameplay seems pretty badass so far.

[wumples]

My main concern is the localization rating. Some things seem to get pretty intimate, and I'm still a minor, so...

[pradian]

I am relatively ok with the fanservice, I have seen worse in games made by Korean developers. Oh man... the costume argument (Tharja?!)... here we go again, people with their selective argument of "Chafing".

I will just put this link here: http://www.tor.com/2013/05/06/boob-plate-armor-would-kill-you/

Edited June 24, 2015 by pradian

[Tryhard]

The problem with fanservice -- at least for me -- isn't the content, but the context. For example, you're not being shown characters wearing revealing clothing because they're empowered free-spirits who are comfortable with their bods and want the world to know it; nah, you're being shown characters wearing revealing clothing (often contradictory to their personalities) because it's low-hanging fruit for cheap titillation. AKA, basically the definition of fanservice.

That's what I thought in regards to context - FE4 had incest, but mainly it was introduced to show how shitty the world was from an interview with Kaga. It had context and reason to exist.

Pseudo-incest seems to exist in FE14 because your "sister" is hot.

I couldn't care less about getting in a moral debate, but I suppose that's why I dislike it.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Tryhard

[Taka-kun]

Wow, i myself value family and my sisters more than anything, but that does not mean the other players and the video game designers have to follow my values and place the same importance on family that i do. The game is about choice and more than that to some people it is a game, i myself will never marry the siblings i would prefer not having the option to marry the siblings, but when it cones down too it Kaimui is the player and not all players will think of the siblings as siblings so i see no reason to protest them not seeing Kaimui as a family member. And the option to in yours and mine opinion to throw the family theme out the window is just that an option that we won 't choose and a opinion so guess what? to other people it isn't throwing the theme out the window and surprise surprise it is in the game for them not us. I dislike part of the things in the game, doesn't mean they should not be in the game.

I will have to be concrete here: I don't dislike that there is S-support Kamui and their siblings, I dislike there is S-support Kamui and their siblings INSTEAD of a sibling support between them. I didn't want "I only have these feelings because I see you as a man/woman", I wanted "We'll be family, no matter what" as the highest ranking support. I really loved Morgan's sibling supports, with the elder sibling chastising Morgan.

[CrimeanRoyalKnight]

I like the fan servicey aspects but I'd understand if someone who was more prudish conservative felt uncomfortable being in a game that's supposed to have serious and complex story telling initially. Most of these fears for the game are of a purely sensationalist nature. With regards to skin shipping; most of those in opposition of it are tired of the "it's optional bla bla bla" argument. But it is true. Not only that, but the "lewd" sound bites that we've all seen plastered and sensationalized by users on Reddit only happen with your S ranked spouse. One would have to skinship quite a bit to get there in the first place and as said before, if you ignore the mechanic completely, it's like it isn't even there.

Moving onto incest, I think we all know the spoilers by now. And once again, initially it seems like a huge copout on IS's part. In my opinion, however, the real details of the entire matter lend itself to a very nuanced and serious story. The story this time around IS dark and mature, a hell of a lot more than FE12 or Sacred Stones I think.

Lol and now Awakening expies. I hated the idea at first. Even if it did mean my beloved Tharja was back. But honestly, the details surrounding that weren't what I expected and changed my opinion for the better. I guess what my point is, if these fanservice mechanics do rub you the wrong way(lmao), looking past the surface and how much of the game it actually detracts from is imperative. And if you decide that a 15 second video of Camilla being hot is going to stop you from buying this awesome game, good riddance.

How considerate to call people who dislike sex in your face prudes or conversavites.

Maybe some of these are not prudes at all and just don't want this sort of thing in Fire Emblem, which is something I would've agreed with 100% whole heartedly if I didn't accept that the series has changed and stopped caring about whathever absurd fanservice elemennt they're gonna pull; I embrace the Marx rubbing, the Marx rubbing is good.

I agree you could ignore it, but it's still there, after all, and it's needed if you want to get bonus supports faster in Nohr, which NEEDS all the help you can get, at least on a first playthrough. That wouldn't make people who aim for the best and dislike this happy, lol.

Regarding the incest... have you heard what Takumi says in his S support skinship rubbing?

That might rub people the wrong fucking way and they have the right to feel irked by it. The way it's presented is not dark and forbidden like how it was in Genalogy but it's fanservice as fuck, so nope, I don't buy this. This feature is in so we can virtually fuck virtual characters we find sexy.

And with the story, while it does seem dark, dark =/= good, even if I don't currently have any particularly negative or positive opinion on it.

But, darker than Sacred Stones??

Two words:

"Darling... darling..."

[BrightBow]

Options are fun and I am all in favour of that. But you cannot at one hand try to explore themes about bonds, friendships and love while at the same time allowing the player to do with his "friends" as they please. Those goals are contradictory.

Because that's the thing about friendship, marriage and all those connections between people: Relationships are not just about yourself. It's not just about what others give you. It's also about giving, to put your own desires behind their needs.

If you don't show the proper respect and devotion towards your friends and only ever consider what you want instead of ever considering the wishes of them, then the relationship will suffer for it and eventual it will simply end altogether. So on order to think and in order to learn, the player must be pushed to take the desires of others into account. Because that selfish attitude is not the beginning of relationships, it's their end.

But the characters are never allowed any agency of their own. The most beautiful moment were this was shown was of course the ending of Awakening: Sacrifice yourself and save the world or save yourself and risk and burden another generation. For your friends, this should be a difficult situation. Every person would act differently towards finding a friend in such a position.

A knight like Frederick or a ruler like Virion might believe into devoting yourself for the good of others. A commoner like Donnel might think that in such a large world, the only responsibility you have is towards friends and family. And the children might not want their own descendants to face the same horrors that they experienced themselves.

Yet everyone will tell you not to sacrifice yourself. No one will swallow their grief and accept it or even acknowledge the necessity of the act. And despite that conviction, if you do it anyway, everyone will sing your praise. No one will be angry at you for ignoring their feelings or leaving them behind. They all just take turns saying their stupid line involving their little gimmick that they have in place of genuine characterisation.

And if you don't to it, everyone will cheer you up that you did the right thing. Somehow everyone is totally cool with dooming future generations. Even those who experienced the horror firsthand, who lost their friends and family to the world-eating monster that is Grima, will happily expose their children and grandchildren to the same fate.

You are given a choice but you are not given purpose. Loosing Robin means nothing to the player. What matters is how her actions affects the lives of those that live in her world. You care about these characters, so you care how your decisions affect them.

Yet by preventing the characters to have any agency on their own, by forcing them to suck the player's dick no matter what, by shielding the player from any consequence of their actions, it is denying the player's decision an actual meaning, it denies them the option of having the feeling that they are affecting the lives of the people they care about, it denies them to learn from the experience. It turns what could be an amazing scenario that makes you think about the meaning of your life, your responsibilities and the meaning of your existence in the lives of those close to you into nothing but an empty farce.

And the decision to grope your friends or to marry or not to marry your siblings is empty for the same reason: Because the characters can't say no. You are not allowed to explore these scenarios. You reach S-Rank and you are married. The game told you that would happen before you reached your first support level. You are entitled to that. The game won't allow you to feel the weight of your own decisions by let's say: Giving you the opportunity to push your sister to sleep with you just to find out that she feels absolutely horrible afterwards since she just can't see you as anything but a brother, to give you the opportunity to reflect on your actions, to maybe come to the conclusion that you were acting selfish.

I mean, in theory this situations are interesting as heck. These conflicting emotions and desires. That's the stuff that the series should explore if it really cares about bonds. But you can't do that if the desire of the player is really all that matters and everyone will bend over backwards to tell you how great and noble you are for showing no concern for others.

Edited June 24, 2015 by BrightBow

[Roflolxp54]

Senran Kagura Burst exists. That is all.

[Tryhard]

Senran Kagura Burst exists. That is all.

Yes, but does it try to be anything that it is not? I think everyone knows what they are getting into when they buy that game.

I'm not sure what you're point is, or even if you have one.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Tryhard

[Mighty Kamina]

I could care less about the fanservice. I'm just having fun with the game.

[DragonLord]

Not too fond of the fanservice in the game, but I'll get it regardless. I just hope this isn't the direction the series is going to be taking from here on out.

[goodperson707]

I will have to be concrete here: I don't dislike that there is S-support Kamui and their siblings, I dislike there is S-support Kamui and their siblings INSTEAD of a sibling support between them. I didn't want "I only have these feelings because I see you as a man/woman", I wanted "We'll be family, no matter what" as the highest ranking support. I really loved Morgan's sibling supports, with the elder sibling chastising Morgan.

So? That is what I would want as well, but i still don't see the problem of them not doing that, nor do i have a problem with what they did do. The thing is that there will most likely be a sibling bond established regardless, unless you do get the S support. The fact that they can have feelings for you doesn't mean they will, love it or hate it the romance normally doesn't kick in until the S support.

[Sixsmith]

I'll be honest, it does, a bit. I actually loved playing matchmaker with my units in Awakening, and I'm really happy marriage is a returning feature, and I like the children, even if their inclusion is a bit of a stretch. But totally revealing and useless fantasy armor is one of my pet peeves (goddammit Camilla, your outfit is so ill-suited for battle), and I find the Skinship feature to be a bit... much? Strange? I can't see myself using it often. I dunno, there's just something about inviting your comrades to your room for a one-on-one face-caressing...

[Duke]

I've probably gotten so dezentised to common fanservice that it only elicits laughter out of me when it goes all over the top, so it doesn't bother me.

Now on the other hand all these Awakening expy characters are so far my biggest gripe in the game. It's irritating to think that not!Inigo and the rest of them have possibly robbed us of much more interresting characters. That and it just generally feels like a lazy way of bloating the character roster. If you can't come up with more characters then flesh out the ones you have.