Why do people dislike this game so much?

[Augestein]

Reclassing goes like this:

1. Every time your character swings a weapon, or gains a level, they gain weapon EXP/stats. These go into a character's personal pool.

2. When you choose to reclass someone, it takes the class bases (so loads of speed for swordmasters or lots of defense for generals), and adds them to the character's personal stat pool. Weapon levels are calculated in a similar fashion.

3. Growth rates work similarly - every class has its own growth rate and every character has their own personal growths. The latter tends to be low, unless you're Caeda's speed.

Confusing? Here's a concrete example:

POPE WENDELL is pretty fast for a Sage. That's due to his 8 personal speed. So, what happens when THE POPE is reclassed to Swordmaster? His 8 personal speed is added to the Swordmaster's 13 base speed, resulting in a whopping 21 speed on THE POPE. Granted, he's not going to kill anything of note (he's reliant on the Swordmaster's 5 base strength and the one extra MT thanks to C rank swords), but it's really funny.

There's all sorts of hilarious combinations available, like Cord the Dark Mage, Horace the an Hero, and Pegasus Knight Maria. . .wait, don't do the last one unless you like torturing yourself.

I'll be honest, I like reclass in this version more than the Awakening one (haven't played fates), because you can use it ASAP. And that's really nice. I just hate the limit they place on your units. So I can't fool around and have like a team of knights if I feel like it.

[TheAstraWolf]

Shadow Dragon to me, had potential...but it was wasted in ass gameplay mechanics.

-Lack of rescue command irked me

-Killing units to get Gaiden chapters is despicable

-For a remake it kept being quite archaic

-The lack of color is quite unappealing

-bland story (not awful just bland)

-lack of prologues in other difficulties. The prologues presented the story well (Marth´s struggles to escape Altea and the losses in the way was quite a good addition)

-Blank slates to replace some units that were sacrificed for the gaiden chapters

-lack of characterization to some character that desperately needed it (Bord, Cord, Barst, Wolfguard, Wrys)

-battle sprites are ugly and bland especially when you compared them to FE5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

However even though the game is bad, it has some fun factor to it and the music had some great tracks (Clash of Two Virtues being the best example). It isn´t my least favorite game in the series right now (FE1 is still slightly worse) but it is bad and even disappointing especially when before that I played FE13, 8 and 7 and you can easily see why I don´t like it.

[maybe]

POPE WENDELL is pretty fast for a Sage. That's due to his 8 personal speed. So, what happens when THE POPE is reclassed to Swordmaster? His 8 personal speed is added to the Swordmaster's 13 base speed, resulting in a whopping 21 speed on THE POPE. Granted, he's not going to kill anything of note (he's reliant on the Swordmaster's 5 base strength and the one extra MT thanks to C rank swords), but it's really funny.

is his magic still good though? because then he might be able to use the levin sword

[bottlegnomes]

is his magic still good though? because then he might be able to use the levin sword

Describing Wendell's magic as "good" in the first place is maybe a bit of a stretch, but no, not at all as a swordmaster. He has a base of 1 with a growth of 0%.

I obviously can't speak for everyone, but while it's not my favorite game, I did/do thoroughly enjoy SD. As people have said the colors are dull, etc. but it's still enjoyable.

[eclipse]

On one hand, Wendell will be doing (Levin sword MT + 2) damage to enemies as a swordmaster.

On the other hand, most enemies have very low res.

So it's sorta-viable, at least for the earlier parts of the game. But I'm not sure if everyone truly experimented with the reclass system. . .if not, then SD is kinda boring. If the reclass system is used to its full potential, the game is a lot more enjoyable.

[KFrosty]

Honestly, l liked it purely because of the reclass system. I haven't played it in years, but l remember being able to just change everyone's class every map, just because l could. Granted, l was a bit annoyed when certain classes were limited to one per team, but yet l could have an entire team of Cavaliers. I also remember certain units doing very well outside their default class, such as General Sedgar.

Edited March 13, 2016 by KFrosty

[Jave]

Honestly, l liked it purely because of the reclass system. I haven't played it in years, but l remember being able to just change everyone's class every map, just because l could. Granted, l was a bit annoyed when certain classes were limited to one per team, but yet l could have an entire team of Cavaliers. I also remember certain units doing very well outside their default class, such as General Sedgar.

General Sedgar does not do "very well". He and Wolf as Generals are flippin' broken.

Seriously, look at this shit:

Wolf:

HP: 180% STR: 95% MAG: 0% SKL: 90% SPD: 60% LCK: 50% DEF: 90% RES: 0%

Sedgar:

HP: 180% STR: 75% MAG: 0% SKL: 100% SPD: 60% LCK: 30% DEF: 110% RES: 0%

[halfar]

For the record, there's an FE11 patch that removes the Gaiden requirements.

http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=51430

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Actually the gaiden requirements aren't even the major downer in this game for me. Since this game throws lots of shitty (prepromoted) units, I don't feel bad for killing them. (Although this meachanic is just absurd by forcing you to do the exact opposite how you normally have to play this series.)

More the non existing plot and character information make FE11 my second least favorite game.

I can't identify with anyone except for Caeda just because of Roger's recruitment.

You finish one chapter and then like three lines will introduce the next mission, that's it. Next chapter begins.

It's actually very easy to beat this game in just one day even with map animations and not skipping conversations.

[maybe]

I can't identify with anyone except for Caeda just because of Roger's recruitment.

this is mildly concerning

[Kyea]

As others have mentioned, the graphics aren't great, the gaiden requirements, and was a little too simplistic--felt like a major step backwards from previous games to me.

I also did not like that Marth had to do absolutely everything. He was so busy seizing, talking, visiting villages, running around, etc. that he missed out on a lot of combat time and level progression. Usually I make a point to make my lord(s) a beast in combat, but Marth felt like a little errand boy more than a soldier and great leader... This may link back to the over-simplistic nature versus the other games.

[eclipse]

As others have mentioned, the graphics aren't great, the gaiden requirements, and was a little too simplistic--felt like a major step backwards from previous games to me.

I also did not like that Marth had to do absolutely everything. He was so busy seizing, talking, visiting villages, running around, etc. that he missed out on a lot of combat time and level progression. Usually I make a point to make my lord(s) a beast in combat, but Marth felt like a little errand boy more than a soldier and great leader... This may link back to the over-simplistic nature versus the other games.

You can have it all. Warp staves cut out half of the journey. Have him eat the Chapter 12 boots, and you've got a unit with nine movement who is only mildly concerned about Ridersbane and bows.

[secondworld]

The stuff Shadow Dragon added is really cool but imo either not balanced, or not enough of.

It's good for one or two, maaaaybe three playthroughs I think, unless you're one of those people who get really into it.

[Kyea]

You can have it all. Warp staves cut out half of the journey. Have him eat the Chapter 12 boots, and you've got a unit with nine movement who is only mildly concerned about Ridersbane and bows.

That would feel rather gimmicky to me. It's definitely good advice and not too hard to figure out. However, I think the game would play a lot smoother if everyone could at least visit places. It's simply awkward and not fun for me. Yeah I can work around to make Marth get places quicker and invest in him heavily and that works... But I think the game could be built to work better, be easier to play, and generally more fun for me. These small decisions make the game feel clunky, outdated, or even uncomfortable.

I think a few changes could have made the game a lot easier to play and generally more enjoyable. First, a different graphic style could have made the game instantly more appealing instead of slightly off-putting. Second, take a little pressure off Marth and spread out the errand load to the whole army. Three, have different Gaiden requirements (maybe not a small change).

[bottlegnomes]

Eclipse, why ridersbanes?

[Wanuska]

.... And you can't even dismount anymore

[Magical Glace]

The thing about FE11 is, while a fine game on its own, was following FE10 and really took steps back from it.

A lot of mechanics in FE10 were not retroactively added to modernize it, which really dragged it down.

The game gave you a lot of really pointless units, a lot of whom had no lines besides a death quote.

The maps were very turtle-encouraging.

The enemies weren't varied, tbh. There were a lot of Cavs.

The game rewards bad play, which is pretty dumb.

Falcoknights and some weapons were locked behind a Wi-fi shop, which can no longer be accessed. It's kinda unfair to lock stuff behind a wall of having a specific Wi-fi type.

[Schleimann]

I've never seen a balanced Fire Emblem game...

I personally feel like what made Shadow Dragon fail to reach the fans is the shift it makes from other games. It is a bit like Star Wars III versus the original star wars movies. While both are great, ROTS is an enjoyable reason for very different reasons to the originals.