As a Veteran FE Player, Should I Skip Fates?

[PuffPuff]

Where do you even get the money to forge a +4, let alone +7, without DLC on Nohr?

It can be done with Great Merchants and abusing the Chrom DLC episode to make the money with the easy life skill. Basically, you cannot without this. -.-

[Great Geargia Gateway]

I'm in the same boat you are Maelstrom.. I have an iffy thing against the redundant content and the good gameplay I hear is good, despite my view on it being highly changed from what Fire Emblem used to be. I also think I'm going to take on Conquest. I'm willing to give this a go when localized, and I'll stretch to see what the western has compared to the original. The reason why I'm willing to give it a try is because I'm an Emblem-Fanboy and it's my childhood like any other vets.

I might either buy it straight away, wait for (Interesting) reviews after some weeks, or get it lent by a friend.

- If Fates isn't for you, there are some alternatives on the market. FE creator and FE2-5 director Shouzou Kaga has broken a ten year silence, and is working on a new SRPG in vein of his titles. It's free, in 2-parts, and is rumored that the first part releases next summer (though some Japanese knowledge will be required, at least until a potential translation)

I heard of this, but hadn't heard much about it. The last thing I heard was that Kaga need an artist.

[Shephen]

It costs 16000 gold worth in weapons to make a +4 iron forge, then 128000 for +7. It just straight up isn't happening main game in any of the routes unless you make everyone black smiths for Smithy skill or do a lot of grinding.

[Radiant head]

I'm kind of in the same dilemma. Aesthetically, this game looks awful on every level, but the gameplay sounds like it could be really good, and it seems to update from Awakening in the right ways.

The fact that it's sold out helps, so I'll probably hold of for a while.

Edited November 14, 2015 by Radiant head

[CyborgZeta]

I'd recommend waiting for the game to release and for people to get their thoughts sorted out.

See what the game plays like, listen to what others have to say about it, and then decide if the game might be for you.

With the direction Fire Emblem is going in as a franchise, it just might not be for you anymore. I know I feel similarly after playing Fates myself.

[andodel]

It's gotten to that point. I've been a big FE fan for some time now and am just getting into the ones without western releases (FE 4 and 12, more specifically). The more I look at FE Fates, the more I get this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that the Fire Emblem I love is gone forever. I don't want unbreakable weapons. I don't want ridiculously unbalanced gameplay difficulties. I don't want DLC made for grinding, or even any sort of level grinding at all. I don't want 10+ Ests thrown into the campaign in the form of children. Right now, I feel like that kind of guy who could write a 10-page article about everything Awakening did wrong.

I know there's a ton of FE vets here, which is why I came to ask this question:

From this standing point, should I skip FE Fates, or does it have enough of the classic FE in it that I just might have missed somewhere?

Does this make any sense?

Lets go down the list, shall we?

>unbreakable weapons

Was in Fe gaiden, so technically not new. Also, its a straight up improvement. Weapon uses were worthless in awakening, since you could easily restock between battles. Never had to worry about future stores not selling what you wanted. Ultimately, I like the weapons of fates, since each one has drawbacks and advantages. That and it will take away the tediousness of weapon uses, which might have only mattered in Nohr.

>Unbalanced difficulties

Lunatic+ was idiotic, sure, but thats not returning. Other than that, its difficult to judge difficulty without playing. Honestly, it seems fine from the gameplay I've seen. Normal is easy, Hard is normal, and Lunatic is likely very hard.

>Grinding

Grindings been around from the beginning via arenas. You don't want the grind dlc, don't buy it. Nohr has no grinding outside of dlc, so theres that too.

>Children

Implementation is stupid, but whatever. I get not!cordelia so it's fine in my book. Also, they're not ests. They level based on story progression, and can potentially promote right away and be of immediate use.

Buy it, it looks amazing. The new pair up and weapons systems seem to make gameplay leagues better than awakening. Support the series.

Edited November 15, 2015 by andodel

[Maelstrom.]

Wow, I'm a little surprised by the amount of responses I got.

And yeah, I started to have problems when the enemies start getting max forged weapons. And my terrible hard mode experience was from a run I had dropped some time before, so that might have something to do with it.....

Even though I may hate myself for it, I'll probably get Conquest and attempt a no-grind hard mode run.

I guess I should also take back everything I said about FE ever being balanced. More than enough people have proved me wrong.

[DeadGame]

I hear you there, I'm torn apart aswell in that manner.

On one hand it's been one of my favourite franchises by Nintendo, but on the other hand it's extremely frustrating to see what they're doing with it in recent years,

to the point that I actually want them to end it and create an entirely new one. Although that doesn't refer to the core gameplay changes they made.

We'll see if they tone down certain elements in the localization, until then I suggest holding onto your money.

[Thane]

Your issues with the game seem to be mostly related to the gameplay. I'm not a veteran of the series, but I compared to earlier entries, I really did like Fates' gameplay and approach to strategy; I was never a fan of maintaining durability on weapons since it hindered the usage of the more powerful ones (not to mention in Awakening everyone just went for Armsthrift anyway), and having fewer powerful weapons makes you have to think about who gets to carry what.

Of course, no game is perfect. Revelations has the slowest gameplay in the series and has been called "Gimmick Emblem" by some. There's also a problem with certain maps relying on RNG or just being straight up poorly designed.

With all that said though, the games biggest flaw is its story and characters. If you don't care about that, then you should probably pick it up. However, I personally wish I could unlearn the story, and the worst thing knowing a bit of Japanese has brought me is without a doubt the ability to understand what the hell was going on in this game. It has an even worse story than Blazing Sword.

[alguidrag]

It can be done with Great Merchants and abusing the Chrom DLC episode to make the money with the easy life skill. Basically, you cannot without this. -.-

wait a second... Chrom DLC episode is free? Awesome

[PlayGaiden.EXE]

wait a second... Chrom DLC episode is free? Awesome

It's free... for now.

What I mean by this is... we did get a free DLC episode back when FEA came out, which was Champions of Yore 1. It became a paid DLC later on however.

Furthermore... the Awakening DLC from Fates actually rewards you with the Lodestar and Great Lord reclassing seals, but only on your first clear. Afterwards, you can't get any more on that save file. The other reclassing seals (Vanguard, Grandmaster, etc.) so far can be obtained in unlimited quantities from their paid DLC.

Think Anna's Gift, another free DLC for Fates. This one gave you a free Ballistician or Witch seal, but no more after this. Same principle as Awakening: both are free, and both hand you a one-time only item.

That being said, the Awakening DLC could eventually end up being paid DLC if Nintendo decides to go the direction it went into in FEA (even though there wasn't a particular improvement for CoY1, the Einherjar reward was always unlimited). And if so, I hope we'll be able to get more Lodestar/Great Lord seals for our units.

[PuffPuff]

I'd recommend waiting for the game to release and for people to get their thoughts sorted out.

See what the game plays like, listen to what others have to say about it, and then decide if the game might be for you.

With the direction Fire Emblem is going in as a franchise, it just might not be for you anymore. I know I feel similarly after playing Fates myself.

Sure the direction is different, but among these two games Awakening and Fates, there is alot more that you can do in the games since every other game ends as well as your characters stats and skills after the final chapter.

Lets go down the list, shall we?

>unbreakable weapons

Was in Fe gaiden, so technically not new. Also, its a straight up improvement. Weapon uses were worthless in awakening, since you could easily restock between battles. Never had to worry about future stores not selling what you wanted. Ultimately, I like the weapons of fates, since each one has drawbacks and advantages. That and it will take away the tediousness of weapon uses, which might have only mattered in Nohr.

>Unbalanced difficulties

Lunatic+ was idiotic, sure, but thats not returning. Other than that, its difficult to judge difficulty without playing. Honestly, it seems fine from the gameplay I've seen. Normal is easy, Hard is normal, and Lunatic is likely very hard.

>Grinding

Grindings been around from the beginning via arenas. You don't want the grind dlc, don't buy it. Nohr has no grinding outside of dlc, so theres that too.

>Children

Implementation is stupid, but whatever. I get not!cordelia so it's fine in my book. Also, they're not ests. They level based on story progression, and can potentially promote right away and be of immediate use.

Buy it, it looks amazing. The new pair up and weapons systems seem to make gameplay leagues better than awakening. Support the series.

Yeah, but no penalties except for the Steel equipment like always.

Which that path brings lewdness even to veteran players. That's why I love that route. It's fun! :D

Grinding on Nohr makes you weak. Follow the rules and only grind after you finish Ch26.

Yes.

I will order this game immediately after next month. :D

Your issues with the game seem to be mostly related to the gameplay. I'm not a veteran of the series, but I compared to earlier entries, I really did like Fates' gameplay and approach to strategy; I was never a fan of maintaining durability on weapons since it hindered the usage of the more powerful ones (not to mention in Awakening everyone just went for Armsthrift anyway), and having fewer powerful weapons makes you have to think about who gets to carry what.

Of course, no game is perfect. Revelations has the slowest gameplay in the series and has been called "Gimmick Emblem" by some. There's also a problem with certain maps relying on RNG or just being straight up poorly designed.

With all that said though, the games biggest flaw is its story and characters. If you don't care about that, then you should probably pick it up. However, I personally wish I could unlearn the story, and the worst thing knowing a bit of Japanese has brought me is without a doubt the ability to understand what the hell was going on in this game. It has an even worse story than Blazing Sword.

Wikipedia already gives out the details of the game's juicy content. Be warned when reading them as they are spoilers. Some folks have made a small translation to this game already that you can have a look at on linkmstr's channel. But...some people including me don't look at it since were waiting for the official translation to the game!

It's free... for now.

What I mean by this is... we did get a free DLC episode back when FEA came out, which was Champions of Yore 1. It became a paid DLC later on however.

Furthermore... the Awakening DLC from Fates actually rewards you with the Lodestar and Great Lord reclassing seals, but only on your first clear. Afterwards, you can't get any more on that save file. The other reclassing seals (Vanguard, Grandmaster, etc.) so far can be obtained in unlimited quantities from their paid DLC.

Think Anna's Gift, another free DLC for Fates. This one gave you a free Ballistician or Witch seal, but no more after this. Same principle as Awakening: both are free, and both hand you a one-time only item.

That being said, the Awakening DLC could eventually end up being paid DLC if Nintendo decides to go the direction it went into in FEA (even though there wasn't a particular improvement for CoY1, the Einherjar reward was always unlimited). And if so, I hope we'll be able to get more Lodestar/Great Lord seals for our units.

It's still a problem that girls cannot get draining skills without the manuals. Not knowing why they didn't give any Str manuals at the Vanguard episode like they have with the other three vanguard skills?

[Original Alear]

I actually had to abandon the no-grind part of my no-grind run because the game throws 40+ enemies at you while only letting you select 12 of your own units.

Being outnumbered on such a scale in FE is not a new thing.

[Radiant head]

Furthermore... the Awakening DLC from Fates actually rewards you with the Lodestar and Great Lord reclassing seals, but only on your first clear. Afterwards, you can't get any more on that save file. The other reclassing seals (Vanguard, Grandmaster, etc.) so far can be obtained in unlimited quantities from their paid DLC.

Well that's interesting. Do you know if anyone with a Vanguard scroll can learn Aether? And is it functionally different from Hero?

[PlayGaiden.EXE]

Well that's interesting. Do you know if anyone with a Vanguard scroll can learn Aether? And is it functionally different from Hero?

Well, the Vanguard class gets Aether at level 25, so assuming your character can use the Vanguard seal (in this case all male units), then they can get Aether.

The Aether scroll itself (the one dropped by the General in the actual DLC chapter) should be saved for female units because they have no access to Aether outside of the Great Lord class, which requires consuming your one-time-only Great Lord seal from the Awakening DLC in the process.

The Hero class focuses more on Skill and Speed, whereas the Vanguard has higher Strength, Defense and HP.

Edited November 16, 2015 by ItzMeeMario

[Radiant head]

Thanks for the info. I'm just surprised they made that skill so inclusive in this game.

[The DanMan]

Being outnumbered on such a scale in FE is not a new thing.

While true, from what I've experienced and seen in those cases there are more than a few "fodder" enemies and/or generally better level design.

My main issue with how Awakening handled it was it's poor map design, on top of all the enemies being approximately my level (thanks to no-grind) and rushing me, with the threat of ambush-spawning reinforcements forcing me to move into the onslaught that just suicides into the weakest link to force me to restart.

That's not my type of challenge. Nohr, as far as I've heard/seen, doesn't go into as much enemy numbers inflation and instead opts to give them certain set skills on higher difficulties; the strategy becomes "how can I combat/work around these enemies that pose a threat here and here while dealing with this force here" instead of "OMG so many enemies plus ambush reinforcements; can I really make it without losing a unit?"

I'm not the best or most experienced FE player; these are just my observations.

[HTakara82]

I've been playing FE for more than a decade, I don't understand this mentality.

[PuffPuff]

I've been playing FE for more than a decade, I don't understand this mentality.

When before no one cared.

It's funny how a simple set of their amiibos cranked up FE's popularity now.

[CrimeanRoyalKnight]

I've been playing FE for more than a decade, I don't understand this mentality.

What's there to understand? Some people don't like the change in direction the series took, and now they are torn on whether to continue caring or not, simple as that.

When before no one cared.

It's funny how a simple set of their amiibos cranked up FE's popularity now.

Lol I hope you are not being serious. amiibo didn't do anything for FE's popularity, it was Awakening and Smash that helped the series.

amiibo might be popular in America, but it's nothing special in the other parts of the world.

[Great Geargia Gateway]

I just want a Marth amiibo so it can be kept in it's plastic cage while I stroke it.

[Raccoon844]

Honestly, i think you should wait until the heat simmers and THEN decide if you want to get or skip FE:Fates. This way you can properly decide and go for IK and one of the other routes if you choose to buy it.

[Rxmonste]

I'll go for option 2. I think you should adopt a similar attitude for most games, don't brush it off immediately but also don't leap into its arms without being aware whether you're gonna like it or not.

I haven't played it and I won't until it releases in the west. But I don't think you're gonna like it from what I've seen of it, it looks similar to Awakening and I know how much you hate it. I still think you should wait before judging.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Rxmonste

[MrRayan123]

I have a question that will impact my first route, do non DLC grinding enemies in Hoshido Lunatic work like awakening lunatic in which they only give 1 exp?

[Ryo]

I have a question that will impact my first route, do non DLC grinding enemies in Hoshido Lunatic work like awakening lunatic in which they only give 1 exp?

Ignore me, misread your question

Edited November 19, 2015 by Ryo