Why can't I get into Fates? A Fire Emblem Monologue

[Crimson Mors]

Good Evening to those that clicked on my uninspired title card; I really couldn't think of anything else to title this.

To start off I want to make clear the intentions of this post, or rather what inspired it -- I'll make it short and sweet before I get into my thoughts:

1) I've been a long time fan of the FE series.
2) My interest in the series has been waning with the years.

3) I struggled to pin down why I was feeling the way I was.

There will be no spoilers posted in this first post for those who have not played any of the FE games -- I don't think it should be an issue, but just making that clear up here that no worries if you haven't played any of them. I only reference mechanics pertaining to a few.

And now into the long winded monologue you were promised! My intentions are for this to spark some conversation about the preferences of the fans,

So as I started above I've been torn over the fact that Fates hasn't been interesting me the way the series did when I was first introduced to it in 2004 with the introduction of Blazing Sword to the West (I know it was released in 2003, but I didn't find it until 2004). This could be attributed to a number of things, of course like age, or the fact it's not "new" anymore, but I just didn't think that could be the reason as I still enjoy the old games a lot -- which also could be added up to nostalgic value. So I decided to pick it apart by comparing Fates and Blazing Sword; what are these two games to me as a Fire Emblem fan, exactly?

My internal investigate began with Fates -- my initial conclusion was it must be something wrong with the game in terms of Fire Emblem-ness. This was simply false, however. The game(s) have a decent story of kingdoms torn by war and differing ideals as is customary for the series, they sported fully realized characters with distinct tastes and cliches which is also typical of what we've seen through the years, and plenty of waifus; can't forget those. You've got the mystical stuff about dragons, on their own they're pretty good games. Drawing a blank I looked to Blazing Sword instead.

And my analysis was basically the same type of deal; good story, realized characters, epic battles, etc. I even replayed the game to try to get a handle on this whole ordeal -- if you could call it that. I came to a conclusion about what I felt made this game more Fire Emblem to me than Fates. It comes down to the role of the player in the world of the story. Just how much power did I hold over the events unfolding before.

This is kind of an awkward gripe to have, when the main gimmick of Fates was that you had full control over the (initial) outcome of the story. Birthright or Conquest. Let's back pedal for a second, though. The Role of the Player in Blazing Sword is that of the ally army's tactician -- You make only sprite appearances and are spoken to by the characters of the game but outside of this your only role is to command the army. On paper it sounds rather, well, boring right. Maybe, but I feel it sells the game to its audience quite impressively. The events of the game are unfolding before you as opposed to happening to you and so you are able to suspend your disbelief. I feel that Blazing Sword has a high immersion factor in this regard.

So Fates has a branching path, so what? Well that's were things get a bit dicey. I'm going to reference, instead, Sacred Stones and why I had no problems with the branching paths featured in that installation of the series. It goes back to what I mentioned about events unfolding before you. In Sacred Stones the events are already laid out, go with Eirika or Ephraim, you simply have to choose which events you wish to observe. This differs from Fates since the events in Fates are happening to you, the avatar or MU. Why is this such an issue? We've always wanted to be the main protagonist of a Fire Emblem game after all, right?! For me, this event broke my immersion and I couldn't regain it and here's why:

The decision brought to us in Fates gives us 2 options from the beginning. Hoshido or Nohr. But it's more than that. For me, my decision was torn between "What story do i want to play now?" and "What would this character ACTUALLY do in this situation?" and by extension, "What would I actually do in this situation?" Up until this point in the story I am capable of being immersed in the narrative being delivered to me by the game, MU has a personality of its own, more or less and the story is caring on like a typical game. Being the main protagonist didn't affect the story in that right. As soon as the narrative pulled me aside and thrust the weight of what my character would actually do onto me it became a bit of a stretch.

This isn't the first case of FE using these "weight of the world" decisions to throw the player for a loop. The best example of which comes from Awakening after what I would describe as the beginning segment of the game. Chrom is faced with a devastating choice and it is the players job, as Chrom's friend Robin, to urge him one way or another. How is this any different from what Fates did? Simply, the choice is made in spite of Chrom and it exudes the powerlessness of the situation and the player to prevent events from occurring in the narrative. When I first played the game this moment through me for a loop and it did pull me out of my immersion -- I actually spent about 10 minutes considering each of the options only to be mocked by the game in a twist of fates (pun intended) by my presumptuousness and my immersion was restored because, Yes, this is exactly what would have occurred regardless.

By now I hope I'm shedding light on the dilemma that Fates branching paths affects immersion. In the end I decided that Conquest was the route the MU would most likely take, but it isn't the path that I would most likely take and so playing through the story I broke the immersion for myself essentially. Playing through Birthright, which was what I would have done, felt a bit forced for the MU. It's a bit of a me problem to be honest.


Soooo, discussion?

Did you have any problems with immersion regarding Fates?
What do you think the MU would most likely have chosen (between Hoshido and Nohr)?
Who's your all time waifu? (cause why not.)

[eclipse]

The biggest problem is that you posted this in the wrong subforum.

Also, this would be better suited as a blog post, so do that next time you want to stand on a soapbox.

EDIT: And to everyone responding, don't be overly negative for the sake of bashing Fates again. Pokemon Go is out, and will be out for more countries in a few days, so go catch a Rattata or twenty if the discussion turns into "beating a dead horse".

Edited July 12, 2016 by eclipse

[Crimson Mors]

The biggest problem is that you posted this in the wrong subforum.

Also, this would be better suited as a blog post, so do that next time you want to stand on a soapbox.

EDIT: And to everyone responding, don't be overly negative for the sake of bashing Fates again. Pokemon Go is out, and will be out for more countries in a few days, so go catch a Rattata or twenty if the discussion turns into "beating a dead horse".

Aye aye Captain. It was meant to be a general discussion on immersion in Fire Emblem so I saw "general" and posted here. My apologies.

As for beating a dead horse, I didn't realize Fates had gotten that much flak since I haven't been on the forums in a while. I think it's a pretty good game, but wanted to rationalize why I wasn't getting into it.

[eclipse]

I STRONGLY suggest reading through the Fates subforum before posting stuff like this.