First impressions on FE7 on GBA. And whats good about it??

[vazful]

So im new to the FE series. I have only played Genealogy of the Holy War which and i find it way better than this one in every aspect, beside the gold/item/inventory management.

Now regarding FE7 (im in chapter 7).

Sound -> nothing special (i dont even count it).

Main story idea -> whatever, its so generic that i dont even care it.

Characters/dialogues -> very bad, childish, uniteresting, no personalities, just generic stuff and characters with random reasons to follow a female just because she is a female in a world where you cant be sure for anyone.

Graphics -> i cant say they are good, i actually thing the visuals are bad. just too bright. SNES visuals ARE wayyy better.

Last but not least, the gameplay. Here i need some honest opinions.

So far i cant say that im impressed but im not underwhelmed either. Ofc i would prefer big maps like in GOTHW but well.... Anyway....

What if i skip FE7 and The binding Blades. Do i miss anything regarding the gameplay? something special that exists only in those games (or even all 3 titles in GBA) that is worth the time?

EDIT:

Something i forgot to mention about FE7. The stats arent really realistic. Lyn lvl 5 has 7 DEF while Kent and Sain lvl 6 have 6 DEF when they are supposed to be knights with heavier armor. Even Florina lvl 2 has 5 DEF... really WTF!.

Edited December 25, 2015 by vazful

[Shadow Mir]

I won't spoil anything, but I'll say that you're not even in the main game yet. Also, what you stated in your edit's impossible since Lyn only starts with 2 base defense. And for what it's worth, FE6 introduced the support feature.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Levant Colthearts

[maybe]

well if you have level 5 lyn with 7 defense that's because you're insanely lucky

i remember hearing someone say they had level 20 lyn with 3 defense

anyway, the first ten chapters are basically a boring tutorial, the rest of the game i'd say is a lot better

also even as someone who loves fe4 fe7's map designs are a hell of a lot better than fe4's

Edited December 25, 2015 by maybe

[vazful]

And i notice now that there isnt Repair or even Storage like in FE4.... steps back for no reason?

[Shadow Mir]

And i notice now that there isnt Repair or even Storage like in FE4.... steps back for no reason?

You do get storage eventually, and in the main game. On the other hand, FE4's repair system has the questionable honour of being a good concept that was made dumb.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Levant Colthearts

[BBM]

Starting with FE4 is not really a good representative of the series as a whole. FE2, FE4, and FE5 are very different from the rest of the games; all three have features that aren't in any other game.

The best way to describe FE6 and FE7 is probably... vanilla. The games before and after them (other than 1/3) all have more features. Having more features doesn't necessarily make them better though.

Also, sometimes you get characters that on average will have a low stat but get lucky and end up with a high stat (or the opposite, where a character is unlucky and end up with a lower than normal stat). That's just how all FE games are. Lyn's Level 5 defence is around 3, on average.

[vazful]

You do get storage eventually, and in the main game. On the other hand, FE4's repair system has the questionable honour of being a good concept that was made dumb.

So what u do with unique weapons? you dont use them cause they will break? just have the for collection reasons?

Right now i have Armorslayer with 18 Durability but i dont know if i should use it or not.

[Shadow Mir]

So what u do with unique weapons? you dont use them cause they will break? just have the for collection reasons?

Right now i have Armorslayer with 18 Durability but i dont know if i should use it or not.

Nope. It's more a case of finding the right time to use those weapons (the aforementioned Armorslayer is good against Knights and Generals, for example). Basically, if you're attacking a knight or general, feel free to use it, but against other enemies, run-of-the-mill weaponry would be better choices.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Levant Colthearts

[Rei Rei]

Hahaha, this thread actually reminds me a lot of when I first played FE7, which was also the 2nd one I played overall, the first being Genealogy.

Indeed, the GBA games might look a lot bland and standard when compared to FE4, but considering it was the first one to be released on Western countries IIRC, it was a way of setting the tone to the series.

But even FE7 has some good story elements and characters (most of them chars are mid to end game, though), it's just that most of them are absent during the first 10 chapters, which, like said beforehand, are tutorial chapters. Don't give up on it so soon.

[MCProductions]

I swear I'm the only one who likes the Tutorial's plot

FE7 was designed with newcomers in mind, so the game might seem bland at first, but once you get to the main game is becomes worthy of the title "best in the series" imo.

[Gradivus.]

once you get to the main game is becomes worthy of the title "best in the series" imo.

Good yeah, but best sounds really questionable, I'd argue FE6 is easily better since it has better gaiden chapters (FE7's gaidens are mostly terribly gimmick-based or boring, except maybe 13x) and otherwise also less maps that are boring, Hector mode also adds a bunch of not very interesting maps which is kind of sad considering it's the more challenging story (compared to Eliwood's). I think some of the other FEs are better too but they're way different.

Also, there's nothing silly about Florina having 5 Def or Sain having 6 Def. 1 Def always translates into 1 less damage, and you'll realize on your own that the stat scaling is fine once you play through the game. Characters with heavier armor tend to grow defense more often. Armor Knights generally have 11-13 defense at base throughout the series, with some exceptions.

@OP's question, I recommend against skipping FE7 and FE6. FE7 isn't very interesting during Lyn mode, but as others said it'll get better once you got past the tutorial.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Gradivus.

[Shadow Mir]

Good yeah, but best sounds really questionable, I'd argue FE6 is easily better since it has better gaiden chapters (FE7's gaidens are mostly terribly gimmick-based or boring, except maybe 13x) and otherwise also less maps that are boring, Hector mode also adds a bunch of not very interesting maps which is kind of sad considering it's the more challenging story (compared to Eliwood's). I think some of the other FEs are better too but they're way different.

Also, there's nothing silly about Florina having 5 Def or Sain having 6 Def. 1 Def always translates into 1 less damage, and you'll realize on your own that the stat scaling is fine once you play through the game. Armor Knights generally have 11-13 defense at base throughout the series, with some exceptions.

@OP's question, I recommend against skipping FE7 and FE6. FE7 isn't very interesting during Lyn mode, but as others said it'll get better once you got past the tutorial.

I'd disagree with you on FE6's gaiden chapters since most of them are rather gimmicky themselves (pretty much all of them except 8x and 12x, and the former has another problem).

[Jedi]

I'd disagree with you on FE6's gaiden chapters since most of them are rather gimmicky themselves (pretty much all of them except 8x and 12x, and the former has another problem).

Oh please, you disagree because you hate fe6, let people who actually know what they are talking about do the recommendations.

[Gradivus.]

^

Let me expand on it though.

One can strategize around the gimmicks in FE6's

- 14x (not going really slowly, killing the bolting dude with a flier, silencing the generic one, among other possibilities)

- 16x (not letting units have sub 10 HP after a player phase)

- 21x (again, keeping units above 10 HP)

relatively easily.

- 20xI's walls can be circumvented by warping units into the throne room, which there are a bunch more reasons to do

- Henning is a bit tedious to kill, but he's unlikely to ruin a playthrough and unless you willingly take risks, he won't kill any of your units.

I'll concede 20xS as a bad map.

In FE7's

- Port of Badon, you have to either go through a clusterfuck or just trivially skip them in a way the game makes really obvious. It isn't challenging and it isn't particularly interesting or fun when done the "hard" way.

- Imprisoner of Magic, you have to deal with a bunch of mages and there's the magic seal you don't really have a way to get around, it's overall just not a hard map and just a clusterfuck with mages and the magic seal adds pretty much nothing of value to it, aside from making the mages take longer to deal with because you can't make use of EP action in that area. The boss also is just tacked-on (except maybe from an LTC perspective) due to it.

- I'm more or less indifferent to Genesis since I rarely play it.

- Night of Farewells is just needlessly long and is pretty tedious to play.

- 29x/31x and Value of Life are pretty much tacked-on, for fairly obvious reasons.

FE7's gaiden chapters force the players to go through gimmicks that aren't very interesting, FE6's don't.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Gradivus.

[Shadow Mir]

^

Let me expand on it though.

One can strategize around the gimmicks in FE6's

- 14x (not going really slowly, killing the bolting dude with a flier, silencing the generic one, etc)

- 16x (not letting units have sub 10 HP after a player phase)

- 21x (again, keeping units above 10 HP)

relatively easily.

- 20xI's walls can be circumvented by warping units into the throne room, which there are a bunch more reasons to do

- Henning is a bit tedious to kill, but he's unlikely to ruin a playthrough and unless you willingly take risks, he won't kill any of your units.

I'll concede 20xS as a bad map.

In FE7's

- Port of Badon, you have to either go through a clusterfuck or just trivially skip them in a way the game makes really obvious. It isn't challenging and it isn't particularly interesting or fun when done the "hard" way.

- Imprisoner of Magic, you have to deal with a bunch of mages and there's the magic seal you don't really have a way to get around, it's overall just not a hard map and just a clusterfuck with mages and the magic seal adds pretty much nothing of value to it, aside from making the mages take longer to deal with because you can't make use of EP action in that area. The boss also is just tacked-on (except maybe from an LTC perspective) due to it.

- I'm more or less indifferent to Genesis since I rarely play it. I can't speak from a lot of experience here either, but the way the magic seal forces you

- Night of Farewells is just needlessly long and is pretty tedious to play.

- 29x/31x and Value of Life are pretty much tacked-on, for fairly obvious reasons.

FE7's gaiden chapters force the players to go through gimmicks that aren't very interesting, FE6's don't.

-I still think that 14x is pretty terribad because of it having TWO bolting mages in the same area, one of which is the boss, in addition to it reminding me of NoF, which I agree with you on being a bad map. Also, Silence falls victim to Useless Useful Spell in this game, particularly since no one in this game really has the Mag to hit the viable targets with a modicum of reliability other than Niime.

-16x has more to do with how unpredictable they are than them actually being a threat. Otherwise, fair enough.

-Aren't the traps in 21x weak as all hell (IIRC, they won't even scratch most of your units)? If so, then they're virtually a non-factor.

Oh please, you disagree because you hate fe6, let people who actually know what they are talking about do the recommendations.

Are you seriously willing to argue that most of FE6's gaidens aren't gimmicky...?

Dammit, ninjas.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Levant Colthearts

[Gradivus.]

"It reminds me of NoF" leading to "it has the same issues as NoF" is a fallacy, given that the map doesn't work in a similar way.

I never silenced them in practice since it isn't very hard to just kill them with a flier (or a paladin if you go the long way), so I might have overestimated the hitrates silence can pull there, but it's not my main argument anyway. The Bolting units in 14x can be defeated more strategically than the quintuple bolting mages in Night of Farewells.

One of NoF's other problems is either taking awfully long or being wholly flier-centric. 14x mildly favors fliers because they let you access the area across the river more quickly, but still allows non-flying units to perform decently either by going the path through the land path, which is within comfortable range in terms of length, or by being dropped past the river, mostly with a barrier/pure water boost. 14x also allows you to use the warp staff to speed things up if you want to.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Gradivus.

[Shadow Mir]

"It reminds me of NoF" leading to "it has the same issues as NoF" is a fallacy, given that the map doesn't work in a similar way.

I never silenced them in practice since it isn't very hard to just kill them with a flier (or a paladin if you go the long way), so I might have overestimated the hitrates silence can pull there, but it's not my main argument anyway. The Bolting units in 14x can be defeated more strategically than the quintuple bolting mages in Night of Farewells.

One of NoF's other problems is either taking awfully long or being wholly flier-centric. 14x mildly favors fliers because they let you access the area across the river more quickly, but still allows non-flying units to perform decently either by going the path through the land path, which is within comfortable range in terms of length, or by being dropped past the river, mostly with a barrier/pure water boost. 14x also allows you to use the warp staff to speed things up if you want to.

Okay, so trying to imply that 14x has the same issues as NoF was a bit much, but still, both have a Bolting boss and disappearing routes - that's plenty for me. That said, in NoF, I generally didn't have to worry about Bolting that much until I got to the boss.

Going back to NoF's Bolting mages, isn't only one of them promoted? If so, just killing him is enough to neuter the long-range threat for most of the chapter. That said, I agree with you that NoF tends to be flier-centric and take a long time.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Levant Colthearts

[DarkDestr0yer61]

I think FE7 is nifty. Also comparing FE7 to FE4 is rather unfair. The games play differently. (I'm no expert on FE4 being that I am currently playing it for the first time, but I can tell that it is a lot different than fe6 through 13).

Also, you are in Lyndis mode. While I find it handholdy, I would argue it is a good starting point for someone getting into the series.

Overall if you don't like the gba titles, I don't know what to suggest to you in the series then. (Not saying the gba games are the best of the best because video games are subjective, but if you are wanting to play another game like Holy War and will dislike any fire emblem game that isn't like Holy War... well, you are out of luck)

[Tamanoir]

And i notice now that there isnt Repair or even Storage like in FE4.... steps back for no reason?

There is a special staff (the Hammerne staff) that can repair items. You get it pretty lately, and it has limited use, though.

I think FE7 is nifty. Also comparing FE7 to FE4 is rather unfair. The games play differently. (I'm no expert on FE4 being that I am currently playing it for the first time, but I can tell that it is a lot different than fe6 through 13).

Also, you are in Lyndis mode. While I find it handholdy, I would argue it is a good starting point for someone getting into the series.

Overall if you don't like the gba titles, I don't know what to suggest to you in the series then. (Not saying the gba games are the best of the best because video games are subjective, but if you are wanting to play another game like Holy War and will dislike any fire emblem game that isn't like Holy War... well, you are out of luck)

I still think FE7 is the best starting point for the series.

But it's my first and most played FE, so I can't be entirely fair towards it (both positively and negatively).

[Gradivus.]

I think any of FE9, FE11 and FE13 would be good to start with when putting the GBA games aside. FE10 and FE12 are sequels to FE9 and FE11 respectively and are generally less simple gameplay-wise in comparison, and their stories are easier to understand if you played the prequels.

[Paper Jam]

FE7 is a good enough starting point for the series, although FE8 is more representative of where the series has been going lately.

[ruadath]

FE7 is a good enough starting point for the series, although FE8 is more representative of where the series has been going lately.

What makes you say that? Just curious. I wish this weren't the case

[MCProductions]

^World Map and Skirmish battles are in SS, Awakening made those a standard feature.

FE7 is definitely the best starting point in the series, but part of me feels that alienates itself to vets who didn't start there.

Edited December 26, 2015 by MCProductions

[vazful]

A question also related to this subject.

When it comes to gameplay are there any differences in GBA titles? (/blazing sword/sacred stone/the blinding blade). For example maybe more inventory slots, weapons types, terrain differences etc etc. Or all 3 of them are identical?

Edited December 26, 2015 by vazful

[ruadath]

Yeah, these are just a few I can think of right now:

- In FE8 Troubadours/Valkyries got nerfed with their Mov being reduced by 1

- Units in FE8 have branched promotion options (i.e. you can choose whether to promote your pegasus knight into falcoknights of wyvern knights)

I'll add more stuff as I think of it.