The next FE?

[Magical Glace]

Don't include any method whatsoever for increasing the total amount of level-ups a character can get. Once a character reaches level 20 in a promoted-tier class, that should be that and you should just have to work with however they ended up.

While Second Seals were problematic, they were infinite. What's wrong with something like the item in the GBA games that lowers the level by a few? You only ever got one of it iirc. Edited August 27, 2016 by Glaceon Mage

[Jotari]

While Second Seals were problematic, they were infinite. What's wrong with something like the item in the GBA games that lowers the level by a few? You only ever got one of it iirc.

I'm pretty sure you couldn't get it at all in normal gameplay. It was like some kind of promotional event or game link that wasn't released in the west like the Emblem Lance. Which would put it on the basic equivalent of DLC in the modern games.

[Magical Glace]

I'm pretty sure you couldn't get it at all in normal gameplay. It was like some kind of promotional event or game link that wasn't released in the west like the Emblem Lance. Which would put it on the basic equivalent of DLC in the modern games.

Ah, that's right. If it was a single copy item in normal gameplay though (like the Afa's Drops), would it be fine? I guess that's my point.

[Gradivus.]

^It's totally unnecessary and the main purpose it would serve is down-leveling a level 20 promoted unit so they can keep getting exp -> snowballing (which detracts from the need for teamwork)

It's not like high-level promoted units are going to need a lot of exp to be good, so I don't like the idea.

Imo Eternal Seals should be postgame-only items that would mainly be there to allow the player to DLC grind infinitely if they want to play PvP or postgame maps. During the main story, there's no good reason to add items that increase the level cap because level 20 promoted already takes a lot of training to reach and units are going to be good at that point.

@Stealing, my idea would be the following:

- Your unit must have a higher or equal level to steal an enemy's equipment.

- The weapon to be stolen mustn't be equipped. Staves and items are never equipped, so they are stealable regardless.

- There's a Stealing proficiency akin to weapon ranks. It starts out at E and you need to steal 5 times to reach the next rank. You can steal a weapon or staff so long as the required weapon rank for them is equal to or lower than your Stealing rank. Stealing rank is increased by Arms Scrolls.

I think reintroducing weight would be a regressive approach to this because Fates' weapon system trumps every implementation of weight, since the drawbacks are more varied than "This weapon gives -4 Spd. This one gives -2. This one gives -6". I find it more logical to connect it to weapon ranks, because more valuable weapons should inherently be harder to steal, and more valuable weapons naturally have higher weapon rank requirements. Enemies who can steal would be difficult to implement fairly, but IS could probably do it, considering they succeeded at programming stuff like enemy Attack and Guard Stance (which I used to be skeptical towards, initially).

I'll just cover gameplay changes I want to see in the future since story doesn't have a high priority to me. Just put more effort into it and triple check if it's actually logical (some examples for totally illogical chapters are Birthright 17 and Conquest 17/18)

On topic:

- Remove statues, they only serve to increase stat cap inflation for no good reason

- Remove forging because it disrupts weapon balance now that weapon durability is removed

- Tone down enemy-only skills. Inevitable End and Staff Savant were unfair not necessarily because of the concept to them, but because of how much they buffed the enemies. For example, Inevitable End could've been a lot less overwhelming had it halved the debuffs while stacking them, and Staff Savant could've been fine had it not increased the staff range.

- Make stuff like Enfeeble and Entrap more useful for the player

- Don't give enemies Counter skills en masse. That just punishes units without good 2-range options.

- Remove the Raider weapon effect, wtf.

- Possibly replace the "5 skills" limitation with a capacity system. For example, every unit has 60 Capacity (this shouldn't be different between classes, don't throw away consistency for a weird sense of realism); level 1 skills cost 5 Cap, level 10 skills 10, level 5 (promoted) skills 15 and level 15 (promoted) skills cost 20. This would make the earlier-gained skills take up less space, because they are generally weaker than the higher-level ones. I'm not discontent with the 5 skills limitation, but this could balance them a bit better since some skills like *Stat*+2 are usually just fillers that get dismissed once you need space for better skills.

- Make statboosters less expensive. 5000G (same as Fates' Arms Scrolls) for every statbooster type seems like a fairer price - I rarely consider buying them in Fates, with the exception of Arms Scrolls.

- Rebalance weapons:

• Make Irons and 1-2 range weapons E rank; make bronze weapons grant double WEXP when used because being forced to grind through bronze is silly; this way, you won't dismiss them (aside from niche uses like +10 Ddg and hitrate on a Berserker) after grinding through E.
• Make Steels D rank to follow the standard progression that was common in the past FEs and worked well
• Make killers and effectives C rank, remove the 4x damage effect on killer crits; effectives are through the roof when hitting the right target (that's a good thing, they just should be a bit less easily accessible) and killers are really good for their crit bonus, even with the low Mt and -10 Avo. x4 damage effect should be removed because killer weapons didn't need that to be good for crit shenanigans, and it creates luck-based situations when enemies use them.
• Make Tomahawk-type weapons and Spy's weapons less terrible by allowing them to double with -3 attack Spd, like Steel weapons. Make them C rank because the lack of 1-range (or even 2-range, in the case of Spy's weapons) is already a major drawback and in Fates, there are few situations where I'd even consider using them. Reduce their price to 3000G.
• Keep Silvers and Braves the same as in Fates, but make Braves cheaper. Brave weapon drawbacks are pretty well done, since they prevent cheesing the game with Vantage/Brave builds and generally make them risky on EP, but it's often hard to justify spending 8000G on them (I could buy 3 effectives, 2 silvers or 2 killers for that price), so reducing the price to 6000G is probably a good idea. Silvers and Braves can remain B and A rank respectively.
• Remove S rank; getting to S is just grindy. The increased WTA bonuses (+/-2 damage, +/-15 hit) could be attached to A rank while still making it take distinctly long to reach (e.g. E rank takes 1 WEXP, D 21, C 51, B 91 and A 151). Make regalia weapons A rank.
• Remove class-specific weapon rank caps. They didn't contribute much to class balance because all they did was locking some classes away from Brave weapons, and making regalia extremely restricted in their usability.

Overall, this looks a lot like the DSFE weapon ranks, which imo is a good thing because I found the DSFE weapon system to be the least grindy one, while also creating a progression of strength. Thoughts?

Edited September 17, 2016 by Gradivus.

[eclipse]

I support having the Raider +3 follow-up speed, but that's about it.

What's your view on the specialty weapons (Guard Naginata/Levin Sword/other stuff like that)?

EDIT: Right, capacity versus when a skill is learned. Skill progression will need to be balanced out, because Darting Blow/Duelist's Blow are pretty powerful in their own right.

Edited August 28, 2016 by eggclipse

[Gradivus.]

Weapons with special effects are cool because they add a lot of variety to your tools and I think the drawbacks they got in Fates were pretty spot on so they work pretty well for the most part. C is also the right weapon rank for them aswell. Nothing to change, really.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Gradivus.

[Jotari]

I don't think special weapons are going to leave any time soon. They've been around for pretty much forever.

[Omegaprism]

- I'd really like to see another shot taken at a manakete MU, but better than in Fates. My disappointment was so bitter when I saw how hard dragonstones got hit with the nerf bat. After around chapter 8 I don't even have one in MU's inventory, because I'd rather keep effective weapons, weapon triangle coverage, and different range options at my fingertips. I thought we were going to get some cool options, like in Marth's games, but nope! 1-range locked, no doubling, and stat penalties besides. Ugh! Why even have a dragonstone rank if there are only two kinds? That's another thing I'd like to see in the next FE: Varied dragonstones.

- I actually liked the class-based max weapon ranks. They gave the single-weapon locked classes a nice niche in that they could use some weapons that no one else could. Now we have another reason to look at an infantry class instead of a mounted one: All the classes with S-rank capacity are on-foot: Trueblade, Spear Master, Berserker, Sniper, Sorcerer, Master Ninja, Maid/Butler, and the shapeshifters. In a series where mounted units are constantly lauded for their inherent superiority it's nice to have a reason, even a small one, to make a player look at these specialists instead of the usual, "Anything the infantry can do the cavalry can do better," school of strategy.

- As for specialty weapons: Love them. Bring them back too. I'd like it if the magic weapons had cooler 2-range animations and elements other than lightning.

[Jotari]

- I'd really like to see another shot taken at a manakete MU, but better than in Fates. My disappointment was so bitter when I saw how hard dragonstones got hit with the nerf bat. After around chapter 8 I don't even have one in MU's inventory, because I'd rather keep effective weapons, weapon triangle coverage, and different range options at my fingertips. I thought we were going to get some cool options, like in Marth's games, but nope! 1-range locked, no doubling, and stat penalties besides. Ugh! Why even have a dragonstone rank if there are only two kinds? That's another thing I'd like to see in the next FE: Varied dragonstones.

- I actually liked the class-based max weapon ranks. They gave the single-weapon locked classes a nice niche in that they could use some weapons that no one else could. Now we have another reason to look at an infantry class instead of a mounted one: All the classes with S-rank capacity are on-foot: Trueblade, Spear Master, Berserker, Sniper, Sorcerer, Master Ninja, Maid/Butler, and the shapeshifters. In a series where mounted units are constantly lauded for their inherent superiority it's nice to have a reason, even a small one, to make a player look at these specialists instead of the usual, "Anything the infantry can do the cavalry can do better," school of strategy.

- As for specialty weapons: Love them. Bring them back too. I'd like it if the magic weapons had cooler 2-range animations and elements other than lightning.

I was actually hoping for a Manakete Lord for quite a long time before Corrin showed up. However I was expecting the dragon stone to be a late game weapon you receive that was the equivalent of a legendary weapon (though the kind with durability so more like the Sword of Seals than the Yato).

[IfAwakened]

I was actually hoping for a Manakete Lord for quite a long time before Corrin showed up. However I was expecting the dragon stone to be a late game weapon you receive that was the equivalent of a legendary weapon (though the kind with durability so more like the Sword of Seals than the Yato).

- I'd really like to see another shot taken at a manakete MU, but better than in Fates. My disappointment was so bitter when I saw how hard dragonstones got hit with the nerf bat. After around chapter 8 I don't even have one in MU's inventory, because I'd rather keep effective weapons, weapon triangle coverage, and different range options at my fingertips. I thought we were going to get some cool options, like in Marth's games, but nope! 1-range locked, no doubling, and stat penalties besides. Ugh! Why even have a dragonstone rank if there are only two kinds? That's another thing I'd like to see in the next FE: Varied dragonstones.

- I actually liked the class-based max weapon ranks. They gave the single-weapon locked classes a nice niche in that they could use some weapons that no one else could. Now we have another reason to look at an infantry class instead of a mounted one: All the classes with S-rank capacity are on-foot: Trueblade, Spear Master, Berserker, Sniper, Sorcerer, Master Ninja, Maid/Butler, and the shapeshifters. In a series where mounted units are constantly lauded for their inherent superiority it's nice to have a reason, even a small one, to make a player look at these specialists instead of the usual, "Anything the infantry can do the cavalry can do better," school of strategy.

- As for specialty weapons: Love them. Bring them back too. I'd like it if the magic weapons had cooler 2-range animations and elements other than lightning.

I'd love for a Manakete Lord to just purely have a Dragonstone, but as they go on their adventure (maybe trying to make sure their race doesn't die out) they collect more and more dragonstones for more weapons. (y'know, of Manaketes that have passed) I would rather they be Dragonstone locked, as well.

Dragonstone imbued with Wind Effectiveness, Flame Burst Dragonstone (2-3 range but weak damage), more defensive Dragonstone, ETC

But yes, weapon-locked units, with the exception of mounts (if any in the past or future) should always have something that makes them "better" or gives them an advantage over the mounted ones. Odds are, if a Swordmaster and Paladin fight, the Paladin would probably win, right? Well, that critical rate AND speed Swordmasters often get (or swordusers in general) could make them "better".

As a series enforces rules and constants in the community (such as winged units weak to bows, swords "better" than axes, typically wanting to hit mages with physical weapons and vice versa), it becomes harder to have any more differences, or units to serve different niches.

It's kinda what I've been feeling with Pokemon. I mean, I have nothing against the new ones (most of them, except the uglies, are fine or awesome), but they will eventually run out of type combinations. And then what? Keep introducing more types? I guess... but eventually there will be Pokemon who already fill their bulky or speedy Fire type niche, and other with the slow and strong Ghost type niche and the slow and strong Ghost/X other type. There are only so many variables, in both Pokemon and Fire Emblem, and other series, before they run out of "characters" to fill out new niches, until it becomes obvious there is simply a better option, IE: Sandslash and Donphan apparently for Pokemon. The two are the same pure Ground type, yet Donphan is superior to Sandslash in just about every possible statistical way, except by speed slightly. So what, you want a slightly faster Pokemon, but it wouldn't be able to take hits or dish out as much damage? Sure, pick your favourite, but...

There is only so much Fire Emblem can do to try to change, and I hope they execute it well in the next game.

[Omegaprism]

I was actually hoping for a Manakete Lord for quite a long time before Corrin showed up. However I was expecting the dragon stone to be a late game weapon you receive that was the equivalent of a legendary weapon (though the kind with durability so more like the Sword of Seals than the Yato).

I'd love for a Manakete Lord to just purely have a Dragonstone, but as they go on their adventure (maybe trying to make sure their race doesn't die out) they collect more and more dragonstones for more weapons. (y'know, of Manaketes that have passed) I would rather they be Dragonstone locked, as well.

You are both speaking my language right now. I thought Cornmui was going to have to wait a long time for a proper dragonstone, or hell, what if instead if getting the Yato as their special weapon that powered up over time they had a special dragonstone? I really feel like they wasted an opportunity to have a manakete lord, both in gameplay terms and in the story.

[NekoKnight]

You are both speaking my language right now. I thought Cornmui was going to have to wait a long time for a proper dragonstone, or hell, what if instead if getting the Yato as their special weapon that powered up over time they had a special dragonstone? I really feel like they wasted an opportunity to have a manakete lord, both in gameplay terms and in the story.

Same here. The gameplay was underwhelming but tolerable. What really disappointed me was the story. You get the exclusive ability to turn into a flippin' dragon and the game treats it with total indifference. Um, you guys? I'm a dragon? Does anyone want to talk about this? No? Are we even related?

I'd like another manakete lord in the future (not necessarily the next game) to actually be involved with their world. Manaketes as a faction instead of the "you're the last of your kind" cliches. Were I to make a custom manakete lord class, they would use Dragonstone + Tome.

[KoimanZX]

I just had this really stupid idea that might work. I noticed how many here were disappointed by (1) how most of the characters in Fates are just handed to the player and (2) how capturing was limited to only two characters. I figured that expanding on the concept of capturing unique enemies to use as playable characters by having characters, who have supports and personal skills, be recruited only by capturing them and coercing convincing to fight for the player. The capturing would work sort of like the Jugdral games (i.e. units can be captured when they have no weapon equipped). To remove enemy weapons, some characters would have the Disarm skill, which would give the character a "Disarm" command that would allow the character to perform an attack (that does not kill and has no follow-up) that would disarm the target. Characters would also need to be able to do enough damage to defeat the enemy in order to capture them. I know this sounds convoluted and broken, but would be interesting... I guess (I suppose it would be less broken if enemies could capture too, but it would be difficult to implement within this system).

[NekoKnight]

I just had this really stupid idea that might work. I noticed how many here were disappointed by (1) how most of the characters in Fates are just handed to the player and (2) how capturing was limited to only two characters. I figured that expanding on the concept of capturing unique enemies to use as playable characters by having characters, who have supports and personal skills, be recruited only by capturing them and coercing convincing to fight for the player. The capturing would work sort of like the Jugdral games (i.e. units can be captured when they have no weapon equipped). To remove enemy weapons, some characters would have the Disarm skill, which would give the character a "Disarm" command that would allow the character to perform an attack (that does not kill and has no follow-up) that would disarm the target. Characters would also need to be able to do enough damage to defeat the enemy in order to capture them. I know this sounds convoluted and broken, but would be interesting... I guess (I suppose it would be less broken if enemies could capture too, but it would be difficult to implement within this system).

I'd simply it to everyone having a "Capture" command to do less damage and be able to capture a defeated enemy (you wouldn't get their equipment, for balance purposes). Another thing they could try is letting you get all of their equipment BUT the capturing unit has to quit the field in order to guard the prisoner.

[KoimanZX]

I'd simply it to everyone having a "Capture" command to do less damage and be able to capture a defeated enemy (you wouldn't get their equipment, for balance purposes). Another thing they could try is letting you get all of their equipment BUT the capturing unit has to quit the field in order to guard the prisoner.

I suppose your system would work much better (there is a reason why I am not a game designer).

[Jotari]

I really don't see any issue with how it was mechanically implemented in Thracia. Capturing reduces

[vanguard333]

I have read a lot of great ideas so I am not going to repeat all of them. I would really like the next FE game to be on the NX since we have not had a console FE game since Radiant Dawn, and we already have had two games for the DS and two/three games for the 3DS (depending on whether one considers the different versions of Fates as one game or two). I also agree they should bring back the artist who did the artwork for Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. Finally, I agree they should bring back light magic and halberdiers!

A couple smaller ideas I had for the next FE game:

- Instead of the armorslayer being a huge sword that looks like the sword Darknuts use in Twilight Princess, instead have it be a sword that the unit holds by the blade and strikes with the guard/pommel. There is a genuine technique in medieval swordsmanship (Google "mordhau stroke" or search "half-swording" on Youtube) where, for use against plate armour, one grabs the sword by the blade and strikes with the guard or pommel of the sword. It's something I thought would be really cool to see in a Fire Emblem game.

- 1-2 range swords that aren't magic. Funny enough, throwing a sword straight and overhand (like Amatsu and Ragnell in Awakening) is a genuine technique that I think would be cool to continue to see used for a sword version of a javelin/hand axe.

Edited August 30, 2016 by vanguard333

[Etrurian emperor]

I think the new game should try to strike a balance between the newer games and the older ones. Its strikes me as bad business not to do it. Keeping certain things well established now like the pair up mechanic and romantic pairings may not be to the taste of some veterans but it may just be a price to pay for the series surviving. Similarly addressing the undeniably weaker aspects like the world building and story aren't going to hurt the new game or chase people away, its just improving a flaw that even those that entered with the newbie boom are likely to consider a flaw.

Keep the slightly more wacky cast(but don't go overboard with it), the room to customize certain experiences, even my castle could stay under some strict conditions. But also give the new continent more world building, if not to the extend of Tellius then at least more in the vein of Elibe where every nation did get some information on it and all did get their own amount of flair. I think its high time the story get a bit more attention in the new game. I'm not expecting to see anything like Tellius but again, they could take a good look at Elibe. The story of 7 gets some complaints but it being bare bones generally isn't one of them. The biggest criticism that needs to be resolved in the newer games is that the story is to bare boned to justify sticking up for. I can swallow the mistakes of Tellius because they were mistakes made in order to serve an epic story while the mistakes of the newer style seem to come more from the writers just not putting the effort in.

I'm fine with my castle returning. Its a fun little feature. The thing they need to fix is that its unnecessarily contrived and therefore immersion breaking. The main character will inevitably be a lord who has every reason to own and manage a castle. There isn't a need to bring in pocket dimensions, if anything that just makes you wonder why the lord just goes to hide in the pocket dimension a bit every time a bigger army shoes up.

A second generation need not be the bad inclusion it was it fates and it might even be beneficial. Pairing characters up has proven to be a draw for many people and being a parent does add something new to certain characters. But this feature should be used very carefully. Either kill the original cast off or do a time skip. They should NOT come up with contrived reasons to have teenagers have children(Or children have teenagers) because those reasons aren't there anymore. Justified reasons for that stopped being there after Awakening and still having every parent be below 30 was a bad influence on the game and a pretty good cast of second gens.

The Hoshido aesthetic can return if up to me. I think it did well enough in Fates to justify a game carrying it as the main aesthetic. Or they can pick another culture to focus on. They certainly do have to make the Roman inspired nation that the trailers implied Norh would be.

[Jotari]

I'm fine with my castle returning. Its a fun little feature. The thing they need to fix is that its unnecessarily contrived and therefore immersion breaking. The main character will inevitably be a lord who has every reason to own and manage a castle. There isn't a need to bring in pocket dimensions, if anything that just makes you wonder why the lord just goes to hide in the pocket dimension a bit every time a bigger army shoes up.

It's definitely not going to happen but i reckon it'd be pretty cool if they did another game like Genaology of Holy War and made My Castle a part of the active battle. And then give a different aesthetic design (but overall the same arrangement) to the castle based on where the lord currently is in the plot.

[Gradivus.]

- 1-2 range swords that aren't magic. Funny enough, throwing a sword straight and overhand (like Amatsu and Ragnell in Awakening) is a genuine technique that I think would be cool to see used for a sword version of a javelin/hand axe.

Fates has Kodachi, it's the same as Javelins and Hand Axes except it's a sword.

[Brand_Of_The_Exalt]

I'd really like to have a feature that allows you to rewatch ALL cutscenes, not just the "animated" ones, but even dialogues at the beginning/end of each chapter. It would be really useful if you missed something or take a break during a playthrough. And why not a possibility to replay a chapter with the exact same team and convoy you had at the moment.

Concerning the story and gameplay I'd like something quite similar to Conquest. The game balance and level design were very good, there may be still a few adjustements to do, but I think IS went on the right way with it. I'd like a similar story but better. I'd like them to keep a more human Lord (Semi-gods heroes were getting annoying after 13 games), a story with more feels and more dramatic, but in ONE longer game, to avoid repetition and predictability, and of course a better story-telling (like Radiant Dawn's). I would not be against a home-computer realease for better graphics as long as there's still a second tactile screen, that really revolutionized the ergonomics. I do not say that it would be a bad thing to keep one screen, I played like that for many years, but it would be a regression.

Anyway, I expect something really different. Fire Emblem is now one of the few Nintendo series that keeps reinventing itself, and that's a great thing in my humble opinion: I think IS understood that they were heading to the disaster if they kept the same system over and over.

Edited August 30, 2016 by Brand_Of_The_Exalt

[vanguard333]

Fates does have the kodachi. I just didn't use it as an example (mainly because I haven't played Fates in a while and I forgot the Kodachi). Thanks for reminding me.

Edited August 30, 2016 by vanguard333

[Briver]

Characters who aren't centered around a single quirk, being on NX, having a less important avatar, and revival of the old weapon triangle and trinity of magic as well as durability.

[valieruswanderer]

I feel like they should just bring back the magic triangle. Best as i could really tell there were no limits on the Nosferatu tomes so you ended up with really overpowered mages, plus i ended up just relying on Nyx for all my magical needs and used Elise for healing mostly. Also i like what they did with the mu being the main character but he should have been less perfect(and yes i know others have voiced this same opinion but that doesn't make it any less true.)

I also feel they nerfed the spear WAY too much. at this point its hardly worth using. The lack of weapon durability was a plus as far as i'm concerned, its so annoying to have to send money on new weapons every other map and made me rely mostly on one or two units in previous games in order to combat that.

There was also no reason to really rush through the conquest maps (don't know if this is true for the other two games) so i basically turtled my way through most of the maps. There also weren't many high crit units until you got the killer weapons. I remember playing sacred stone and binding blade and having mymridons ( especially Joshua) with exceptionally high crit rates.

I won't say much on the story since its already been thoroughly discussed. On the subject of children and marriages however i feel like they should have a post main story line where the children show up and they age the main characters by a few years, or give you a whole new team, but thats just my opinion and i a m open to criticism. Also the whole hero worship for the MU. I know i said i wouldn't address this but i have to. It was alright for the first few chapters but by the Izana chapter it should have disappeared. except maybe for the side you chose.

I hate how they looped Valla into conquest, i basically had to ignore it whenever they mentioned it to avoid putting my foot through the screen. enough said.

[Tolvir]

A better customization system. I don't want the Avatar to be the main Lord. They could be a lord from a nearby kingdom, that is fine, but not the main. I think that would allow the player to really customize them how they want. Everything from body size, hairstyle, facial hair, class, and even personality ( which would determine what characters your character could s rank, and how they respond on dialogue.)

I would also like to see a more expanded on weapon system. One of the things fates did well imo was its weapons. Getting rid of the durability and using buffs and debuffs on each type gives it more strategy rather than loading up on 50 silver swords and throwing a new one at a unit when one breaks. That can be expanded on to allow for new weapons, a better forge system, etc.

I would also like to see fire arms. Nothing too big, no cannons, nothing too advanced, but some flintlocks and muskets would be cool to see.

Some new hybrid classes. I love the idea of a hybrid class, and would like to see more of them. I also hope light magic makes a return.