Why do people hate Awakening's story?

[semolinaro]

One of the things people complain the most about Awakening (along with its unbalanced gameplay) is its story. I'm just really curious to know why so many people rip it apart, because I personally really enjoyed the story. It was epic, had a charming cast, made great references to FE3 and was built on some great Shakespearian-style moments (Emmeryn's death, battle against Gangrel, Grima's resurrection, Lucina's reunion with Chrom, etc.) Plus I really appreciated the creativity with the children, as they were implemented into the story and had some great backstories, as well as working as a game mechanic. I read tons of fantasy novels and even write a few myself, and I took much inspiration from Awakening. The only part of the plot that could have been a little more polished was the Walhart and Valm arc, but it still ended up relating to the main conflict in the end. People also say it lacks worldbuilding, but I felt so eager to explore the entire continent after every chapter because the narrative (at least I thought so) threw in little tidbits of history here and there.

What is that people don't like? Especially after playing Fates, which has a story that is just downright stupid at some points, I just don't understand why people hate on Awakening.

[Magical Glace]

Because it was altogether rushed after chapter 11 or so. Valm had pretty much no bearing on anything, Grima and Validar's plan was outright contradictory, rendering several plot deaths entirely moot at the end, and making the final choice (actually, all choices) entirely pointless. Oh, there wasn't enough kittens either.

[HF Makalov Fanboy Kai]

because death literally means nothing in that universe.

also, the whole "i need the fire emblem to revive, except now i suddenly don't lol"

alot of stuff really don't make sense once you stop and think about it.

[IceBrand]

There were too many chiefs in the kitchen.

[Jedi]

After the Gangrel arc, it just doesn't make sense at all, hell my favorite character comes in at the worst arc of the game and I only stand it because of her (Say'ri), and Robin takes too much of the spotlight.

Also death is meaningless thanks to certain bonus content, which is implied to be canonical for the most part.

[IceBrand]

After the Gangrel arc, it just doesn't make sense at all, hell my favorite character comes in at the worst arc of the game and I only stand it because of her (Say'ri), and Robin takes too much of the spotlight.

Also death is meaningless thanks to certain bonus content, which is implied to be canonical for the most part.

Dragon balls. That's the only reasonable excuse.

[Harvey]

I never had an issue with the story. If anything I'm surprised to find many find it shallow.

Sure, it may be cliche but its still a great story nonetheless.

[eclipse]

The story felt like it should've been three separate games. Everything felt horribly rushed, which didn't give the story enough time to truly develop the characters.

[Alex95]

The story felt like it should've been three separate games. Everything felt horribly rushed, which didn't give the story enough time to truly develop the characters.

Enter Fates

[Ken Masters]

Because people hate fun and things that aren't used to in "their" series.

[HF Makalov Fanboy Kai]

Because people hate fun and things that aren't used to in "their" series.

your bait gets a 1/10 only because i am replying to it.

[MCProductions]

Ah, Awakening's story. This is gonna be interesting, seeing it's what I have the biggest love hate relationship with in videogame history. I like the connections to FE3, but I hate how they fucked up the references to FE2. Seriously, everything on Valm that ties to FE2 is literally in the opposite location of where it should be. I like the characters, but I hate the use of time travel to justify some of them. Say what will about Fates shoehorning the kids in, but I'll take outrealm shenanigans over time travel any day. Crash Bandicoot 3 is the only game to do time traveling well, and that's only because the game didn't give a shit about plot. I loved the Gangrel arc my first run, but then the God forsaken Grima arc killed it for me. Seriously, why have all of Chrom's character development in the first two parts of the game be about redeeming himself and his country from his father's actions, only to have said father's actions proven ENTIRELY justified in the third arc, even if his method of taking them is still wrong One third of the game is filler, which is never a good thing imo, and seriously FUCK CHAPTER 23.

People complain about Robin's worship, but I give that a pass as Robin at least does a good bit before that really starts showing in the Valm Arc. Tho seeing as I feel Kris from FE12 is the only bad avatar in the series, make of that what you will.

[eclipse]

Enter Fates

Fates did a better job of developing things than Awakening. Yes, Fates has its faults, but I don't think that's one of them.

EDIT:

Because people hate fun and things that aren't used to in "their" series.

And this is a bad post. Please don't speak for everyone else.

Edited July 5, 2016 by eclipse

[Thinks Their Own Way]

On their own, the stories are fine. But all in one feels like a giant cluster fuck. I think time travel stories are almost never done well. Here it felt like something they pull out of their ass with no set-up what so ever.

[TadpoleSuperHero]

I love the story in Awakening! It's not the best in the series, but I find it quite good.

I'm not the biggest fan of them taking a three-arc approach to it, especially because the three arcs feel rather disconnected from each other thematically and narratively. That said, I enjoy each of the arcs more each time I replay the game. The Valm arc, what I thought of as pointless filler the first time playing, now really resonates with me, challenging the characters with a villain who wants nothing more than to destroy everyone in his path, and challenging Chrom philosophically and further developing Chrom's character. It also serves as an important arc for Lucina, as she joins the cast permanently and shows how much the future she comes from has scarred her, desperately fighting to change what happened in her past but unable to do much.

To me, what resonates with me most as I replay the game each time are the characters, especially Lucina. You really get this powerful sense of the desolated future she came from, how much it has scarred her, and how much that pain and anguish plays into the ultimate endgame of the story. You also have incredible moments like Chapter 10 (I think it's that one?), after Emmeryn's death where you're in the rainy wasteland and the enemy army doesn't want to fight you - but they have to follow orders. It's moments like those that are so quintessentially Fire Emblem, showcasing the realities and hardships of war. And the music of that chapter really drives the point home in a very emotional way.

I do not at all like Robin, especially the twist at the end that Robin is destined to become the Dark Dragon and blah blah blah ugh. I thought that ultimate plot twist was unnecessary, and liked Robin more up to that point as, although he/she's a player avatar, they don't take the reins of the story, with Chrom and Lucina serving as the "main" characters. Then Robin goes and screws it all up with amnesia and being a vessel for Grima and blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I felt Awakening's story was very much in line with past entries. It's certainly better than anything pre-GBA era, and I would say on par with most of the games since then. There are a few better stories - 7 and Path of Radiance come to mind - but Awakening fits very well into the Fire Emblem mythos and creates an emotional, character-driven tale showcasing the pain and hardship of war, but also the hope and fervor of heroes.

Stuff like the bonus content making death canonically meaningless and little nitpicks stemming from overthinking the plot don't bother me. The bonus content is avoidable, and I actually don't care for the "revived" characters, opting only for the kids and Priam's Paralogue because dang, that dude's cool, and his chapter is tons of fun.

Also, Awakening had a bajillion callbacks to previous Fire Emblem games, which I love. And it has my favorite incarnations of both Tiki (not a fan of her loli form in every other game, love her in Awakening) and Anna (she's hilarious and makes me so happy having her playable).

[Jedi]

Dragon balls. That's the only reasonable excuse.

Haha, I mean you aren't wrong. It's part of why I like the History of Trunks stuff, because Toryiama wasn't afraid to show how bad off the world would be possibly without em.

Going back to Awakening, thats a similar strength it has, in the Future DLC we have a very strong bit of writing. Which is funny because I often compare certain Awakening plot points to certain Dragon Ball ones. Mostly the Android arc, but yeah. (Which is kinda funny I'm eh on Awakening but I love the Android/Cell arc)

Edited July 5, 2016 by Jedi

[Sentacotus]

I don't think its as bad as people say it is. It kept me entertained and to want to keep playing the game and thats all I ever ask for. Its not meant to Bioshock or anything like that.

[Slyfox]

I think it is a solid story.

Maybe it isn't very original, and it is filled with cliches, but the key here is that they used what they had very well. Maybe it's cheesy, but they still made me care for a bunch of the characters.

Think of it like a gift you've seen everywhere, one that is commonplace, yet it was crafted with love. Like a small, simple wood carving. It is not as complex as the big carvings, yet you know that the simplicity involved in the carving looks just as good, because it wasn't a throwaway thought.

I'm not making much sense, even to myself...

Oh well, I really like Awakening, even if it isn't a great story. I recognize the flaws in the story, but they are harmless enough that my thoughts don't turn to hate, unlike Fates.

[DarkDestr0yer61]

I feel like it's mainly the Valm arc that really screws up the pacing. The game probably would have done better as three different games as opposed to trying to cram all of them into one game. Condensing it ruins what could have been fleshed out well

[JasonMendez]

The story could have been done so much better. As many have said Awakening felt rushed after chapter 11. The deaths that should have affected the story are paralogues and kills off any significance that the scene where said character dies. The Plegia arc could have been most of the game with Valm playing a small role while adding to the war with Gangrel. Plegia is the only redeeming part of the story for me.

I felt Awakening's story was very much in line with past entries. It's certainly better than anything pre-GBA era, and I would say on par with most of the games since then. There are a few better stories - 7 and Path of Radiance come to mind - but Awakening fits very well into the Fire Emblem mythos and creates an emotional, character-driven tale showcasing the pain and hardship of war, but also the hope and fervor of heroes.

I really hope you're joking about it being better than half the games in the past. For example FE4 deaths actually had an effect on the future and the kids weren't just shoehorned into the story for the sake of it.

Binding Blade is superior to 7 in terms of story. We know the villain from the start and everything is set into motion from chapter 3 onwards. It's supposed to be a prequel yet it contradicts the events of Binding Blade. Some of the story has no bearing on the rest of the plot (Lyn's story). There is no significant event that makes you think the odds are against them. In Binding Blade you immediately feel the impact in Chapter 3 when a certain character dies and when Etruria joins Bern to fight against aa crumpled Lycia. There was no overwhelming odds in FE7 until endgame when they faced Dragons.

Sure Awakening doesn't have an awful story, but by no means is it certainly better than pre-GBA games. I hope you played those games before saying something like that. Care to say exactly what makes Awakening certainly better than pre-GBA games? Not trying to be rude, just curious.

[The Geek]

Awakening's story starts out fine with the Gangrel arc feeling like a pretty average Fire Emblem plotline, but then the Valm (Filler) Arc happens where we're suddenly introduced to this whole other conflict and it kind of goes off on a tangent, and then we're suddenly brought back into the main plotline with lots of plot twists and plot holes revolving around Grima's resurrection, after which we get an okay ending.

Overall, I'd probably give Awakening's story a 5/10.

I honestly feel like Awakening's story would be way better if the Valm Arc were either completely removed or placed at the beginning of the story, before Gangrel's arc. Like maybe the war between Ylisse and Plegia is suddenly interrupted by the Valmese invasion and then the two nations have to team up (along with Ferox) to defeat them, and then while Chrom and Co. are off finishing the war in Valm is when Gangrel captures Emmeryn and then that happens, eventually leading into the rest of the game's story.

[Sunwoo]

The biggest problem I have with Awakening's story is how it has a protagonist-centered morality focus, which as a result makes the motivations and moralities of characters in that world really … shallow.

Awakening doesn't treat its rulers the same way as previous games did. Emmeryn does virtually nothing as a ruler while she's alive, walks right back into danger after a squadron of pegasus knights sacrificed themselves so she could escape, and then she jumps off a rock and commits suicide. She is the very definition of a weak and naive ruler, and yet is hailed as a martyr. Do you know who else was a weak and naive ruler? RD Elincia -- and she had an entire part dedicated to her in which she learned from her weakness and naivety and became a better ruler. Eirika, while she never was and never will be queen, is also naive and in her route she is tricked into handing over the sacred stone of Renais. She's not excused for this. So why is this okay for Emmeryn?

Going back to the Elincia example, though, she was willing to sacrifice someone who was essentially her sister to keep a power hungry lord off her throne, a lord that she knows would be an awful king because he cares nothing for the people. She is willing to sacrifice someone important to her for the good of many, which is something a ruler needs to be able to do. Chrom? Nope, he can't let go of Robin to save the entire world. And if you choose to let Chrom land the finishing blow on Grima, everyone is quick to reassure Robin that it doesn't matter if Grima may one day come back, Robin is too important and is worth putting the world at risk one day. And this is considered to be a good thing? Same logic with Lucina if Robin is her mother or husband: suddenly, the life of her loved one is more important than the mission she traveled through time to complete.

It's not just the characters that are affected by this protagonist-centered morality, though. Plegia is more one-dimensionally evil compared to other antagonist nations such as Bern, Grado, and Daein. You just don't hear much about the plight of the common people, and not even the playable Plegians (Henry and Tharja) seem to really talk about it. While Plegia and Ylisse have lore, it is very barebones. Where did Grima come from? If the world is Archaenea 3000 years in the future, is Grima related to the Earth Dragons? How did the Grima cult start? Why did Chrom's father wage war against the Plegians? Why does Falchion look different and since when could women wield it? What happened to the Aum staff? How is Ylisse related to Archaenea other than the Exalts being from Marth's line? I have so many questions, and it doesn't help that so many of the locations in this world are lacking in a lot of detail and even proper names. The game can't even be arsed to delve more into Validar being Robin's father. It thinks we don't care about world building, and therefore it makes the world feel less real. Really, it doesn't encourage us to think beyond a surface level depth about war and your enemy, like the other games at least tried to do. Awakening just wants you to strike down the "bad guys" and feel good about doing it.

Valm arc was also very filler-y and it always felt like such a slog to get through. It should've either been cut out or incorporated into the game differently so that the main focus of the game could've been Plegia.

[Etrurian emperor]

Awakening has some decent stand alone moments in its story but taken as a whole I found the story to fall flat because absolutely nothing is developed.

In short the problem is a mix between bad, very shortlived antagonist and barely existent world building.

No villain lasts more then about five chapters after directly challenging the Shepherds and as a result the conflict is to short to really get invested in or to give the player any detail. Gangrel goes down in about five chapters which is the lengt of the slavery subplot in Begnion. In this plotline we learn everything we need to know about Begnion and the relationship between the Beorc and the Laguz. In this same timespawn in Awakening we learn practically nothing about Plegia other then that it is evil and that Chrom's dad invaded them one. That's about all the development Ylisse gets as well.

The short time the game spends on individual persons or events makes it quite hard to be impressed by them. Yenfrey is hyped up quite a bit by the way others talk about him but than he shows up one single time and dies. Walhart is presented as very interesting and dangerous but his empire falls far to quickly for me to be impressed by anything he says and does. As with Plegia we also learn nothing about Valm.

Panne's backstory is a bit of a laugh because of the short focus it gets as well. I get why the Laguz are so angry about the Serenes genocide but Panne brings the Tagual genocide up once, suffers absolutely no discrimination from anyone and yet still thinks the player cares enough to give her a free pass on all that ''manspawn'' drivel.

[TadpoleSuperHero]

I really hope you're joking about it being better than half the games in the past. For example FE4 deaths actually had an effect on the future and the kids weren't just shoehorned into the story for the sake of it.

Binding Blade is superior to 7 in terms of story. We know the villain from the start and everything is set into motion from chapter 3 onwards. It's supposed to be a prequel yet it contradicts the events of Binding Blade. Some of the story has no bearing on the rest of the plot (Lyn's story). There is no significant event that makes you think the odds are against them. In Binding Blade you immediately feel the impact in Chapter 3 when a certain character dies and when Etruria joins Bern to fight against aa crumpled Lycia. There was no overwhelming odds in FE7 until endgame when they faced Dragons.

Sure Awakening doesn't have an awful story, but by no means is it certainly better than pre-GBA games. I hope you played those games before saying something like that. Care to say exactly what makes Awakening certainly better than pre-GBA games? Not trying to be rude, just curious.

FE 4 has, conceptually, a stronger story and setup than just about any Fire Emblem game in the series, but it suffers from 90's era video game storytelling quirks, namely that it's not terribly well-written, relies on melodrama and cliches in its characterizations. The kids are wonderfully integrated and death matters, yeah, and that's awesome! But the story as a whole, in its execution is not what makes FE 4 a great game (that lies in the gameplay, level design, and the generational mechanic).

We're gonna have to agree to disagree on FE 6 vs. 7. 6 to me is similar to 4 in that it has a great premise and concept, but is not as well written as it should be and the best parts of the story are shown, rather than told. You can FEEL the stakes and the overpowering nature of your enemy because of constant dragon threats, frightening bosses, and freaking Zephiel's a monster. But the writing is not the greatest and many of the emotional moments and major dramatic moments are rushed to and poorly executed. When it lets the player FEEL the weight of the world and the conflict, though, it's freaking fantastic.

7, on the other hand, while not as epic of a situation and conflict, I think that's not a bad thing, as it opted for a more character-driven storyline, and in that it succeeded in spades. So it's really going to depend on how much the player enjoys the characters and their stories. As far as its contradictions of 6, to me that's not a huge issues, as I feel the games should be taken each on their own merits, and even as 7 contradicts certain things of 6 or focuses on plotlines that have zero bearing on 6, it does give more dramatic weight to the proceedings in 6 - you care far more about Hector and his death after playing through Hector's storyline in 7, and Zephiel is a far more tragic villain after seeing him as a child.

7 is where the writing for Fire Emblem took a strong turn for the better - lots of great, and even better, ideas preceded 7, but 7 executed so well on its ideas. For me, execution trumps ideas when it comes to storytelling. Some of the greatest ideas for stories were poorly executed and squandered, so I love seeing great writing and strong pacing and resolution far more than a really great idea.

So it really comes down to what you value in a story and what resonates with you. For me, games pre-7 in Fire Emblem are far stronger games on their gameplay merits than on their storytelling merits (at least when it comes to writing - those games fare much better when the player is able to infer things about the world and story from the gameplay and level design, and they do that very well). 7 and beyond really took the writing and story structure to another level, though not all of them are equal (Radiant Dawn is similar to Fates in the way that it has far too many ideas and doesn't quite know what to do with all of them).

[kittenrobotarmy]

The Gangrel and Validar arcs were fine in my opinion, but the whole Valm-conquering arc was just so boring and pointless. I'm playing through Awakening on Hard/Classic right now, and I dread that arc mostly because it just doesn't really add to the story. That entire arc could've been cut out and I would've enjoyed the game just the same. Awakening is my favorite FE game currently, but the Valm arc is just.. ugh.