Should I get Fates or Awakening?

[MCProductions]

Uhhh.. I said I UNDERSTAND those that don't, in other words I see why people may dislike the new triangle even if I myself like it

[Darros]

Chalk another one up for Awakening. The point about "if you're getting both eventually" is a good one. It's friendlier too and pair up is nicer in that game I find. Also the weapons aren't fucked.

As for the weapons themselves: Knives and shuriken were a great addition but they can be really overpowered if you use them right. But the system is just awful in general. The legendary weapons are practically useless and the silver weapons aren't great either. The entire weapon system just needs a rehaul at this point. Going back to FE9/11 ((#TeamBringBackWeaponWeight)) would be fine but hopefully they come up with something new that isn't bad.

[Quintessence]

Uhhh.. I said I UNDERSTAND those that don't, in other words I see why people may dislike the new triangle even if I myself like it

For some reason I misread it! Whoops, my apologies.

[eclipse]

Oh okay. I think I can get behind that.

The only reason why this isn't an actual warning is because it's right on the page break. Don't post twice in a row. If you want to respond to multiple people, use MultiQuote. If you want to add stuff to your most recent post, use the Edit button.

[shadowofchaos]

Or why don't they do a triple triangle:

T1: Swords > Axes > Lances > Swords

T2: Bows > Knives > New Weapon > Bows

T3: Anima > Light > Dark > Anima

And finally T1 > T2 > T3 > T1

The weapon triangle has so much of an effect with weapon rank bonus negation on the losing side.

Radiant Dawn's implementation isn't really a good answer when tome variety if you split it up is crap in fates. There really only is one "real" wind tome... and that's excalibur. Robber/Disrobing Gale doesn't even have effective bonus against fliers.

Edited November 24, 2016 by shadowofchaos

[Locke087]

Heads up's Best Buy is selling Fates both versions for 15$ off (25$) along with a couple other games this is rare so get on this!

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/promo/black-friday-video-game-virtual-reality-deals-2?cp=1&searchType=promo&st=black-friday-video-game-virtual-reality-deals-2&qp=platform_facet%3DPlatform~Nintendo%203DS

Edited November 24, 2016 by Locke087

[Quintessence]

The weapon triangle has so much of an effect with weapon rank bonus negation on the losing side.

Radiant Dawn's implementation isn't really a good answer when tome variety if you split it up is crap in fates. There really only is one "real" wind tome... and that's excalibur. Robber/Disrobing Gale doesn't even have effective bonus against fliers.

I meant a rearrangement for a new iteration. There's a lack of variety and weapon balance in all of FE. Radiant Dawn did it less worse in this aspect but the magi population was around 10 or 15% of enemies in the game. CoD (FE7) was a good example of making an army full of magic users, but that's just one chapter, so yeah.

Fe has always given priority to infantry units and physical weapons. Not that I'm mad, but I think it'd be nice approach if they take the risk of augmenting the volume of chapters, enemies and triggering more weapon variety and balance. This means more classes, more tomes, more worlds and kingdoms, perhaps. There's still so much to explore for IS to not restrict themeselves to a safe zone.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Quintessence

[The Geek]

I don't care too much about separating the magic types since the separation of the different types seemed mostly aesthetic compared to gameplay wise. There wasn't much that really distinguished the different kinds of magic even when they had different weapon ranks and all it really seemed to serve was make one kind obviously better than the others (like how in FE4 Fire magic is completely overshadowed by every other kind of magic).

[Hagakure]

The only reason why this isn't an actual warning is because it's right on the page break. Don't post twice in a row. If you want to respond to multiple people, use MultiQuote. If you want to add stuff to your most recent post, use the Edit button.

Kay.

Edited November 25, 2016 by Hagakure

[BANRYU]

I'm gonna throw my vote in for Fates. I like Awakening slightly better in terms of story, but it made so many strange gameplay decisions even before Fates spoiled me by streamlining / balancing lots of things way better that I've never been big on it for gameplay. It's so easy to get weirdly skewed in levels/stats compared to enemies, and optimization of anything takes SO long. Fates is much better about balancing both of those IMO.

[Rollertoasteur]

Is the grinding that tedious compared to Fates?

It's important to note that you never need to grind in either game. If you want super optimal postgame stuff, yeah, you'll need to grind, but if you're playing either game normally you'll never need to grind for anything.

[NekoKnight]

It's important to note that you never need to grind in either game. If you want super optimal postgame stuff, yeah, you'll need to grind, but if you're playing either game normally you'll never need to grind for anything.

You don't need to grind to beat the game but if you want to use reclassing, yes, you will need to grind.

[shadowofchaos]

You don't need to grind to beat the game but if you want to use reclassing, yes, you will need to grind.

Reclassing doesn't require grinding either.

[NekoKnight]

Reclassing doesn't require grinding either.

I assume the purpose of reclassing is getting skills, no?

[shadowofchaos]

I assume the purpose of reclassing is getting skills, no?

And you don't need to grind to get them. You never need or require grinding to beat the game even with reclassing.

The only maps that aren't balanced for that is post-game DLC in Awakening.

Edited December 7, 2016 by shadowofchaos

[Harvey]

Ughh...so much of discouragement when both games are great in their own right.

Ok here's what I would suggest.

Get Awakening first and then Fates later. As much as I love Fates, Awakening still does a lot of things right for a newcomer.

You get a decent challenge that doesn't feel too frustrating while at the same time isn't too easy either and there's plenty of chance to grind if that's you thing. And second of all, there's a price drop I think for it.

I can safely say to play Birthright only after you beated Awakening first and then Conquest. The reason? Its not harder than Awakening as many claim it to be even on Normal.

Conquest as much as I love the game is NOT designed to appeal to newcomers(ok well since there's handholding options it technically is appealing to them but it won't appeal all of them still!) but to those who want a challenge. Any of these guys who recommends you to get Conquest just for the gameplay is being idiotic for not realizing that not everyone would like to spend hours and hours for just one bloody map and I'm sorry for saying that but its what it is. And while you have Casual Mode, it still will frighten you a bit because the game is even hard on Normal.

To be frank, why does it matter really? You are still getting one of the great games that the 3DS has to offer. I would say Awakening cause well I love it and all but its your choice.

Edited December 7, 2016 by Harvey

[Hagakure]

To be frank, why does it matter really?

Because I heard mixed things about both and I don't want to buy a game and go "well shit this wasn't as good as I thought it'd be"

[Hagakure]

Lag pls

Edited December 9, 2016 by Hagakure

[BANRYU]

So did you wind up settling on your choice? (sorry if you said and I missed it, I don't feel like trolling the thread haha sorry.)

[Hagakure]

So did you wind up settling on your choice? (sorry if you said and I missed it, I don't feel like trolling the thread haha sorry.)

It's okay. The overwhelming majority says Fates so it should be obvious, but then other people say Awakening lasts longer and they got bored of the latter fast. I'm leaning towards Fates somewhat, though.

[BANRYU]

Ahh right gotcha.

A grain of salt with this comment since I'm pretty firmly in the Fates camp myself, but I'd say that Awakening's length is... less of a good thing...? IMO anyway. A lot of its length comes from the fact that units' levels reset whenever they reclass, which slows down exp gain a LOT after a few reclassings and makes it really time-consuming and grindy to optimize, if that's your thing (not necessarily in a fun way either, since substantial EXP gain is really only possible through the relevant DLC once you get through all the story chapters). Some people don't like it, but IMO Fates' reclassing system is a helluva lot more fluid and doesn't drag the course of gameplay down.

Case in point: I'm currently partway through a postgame playthrough of Awakening, trying to level enough to be able to do all the DLC (except apotheosis because I'm not a masochist but w/e). My current status is basically bogged down grinding my weaker characters so that my approximately-30 character cast is all roughly equal strength (minus most of the non-marriage-capable characters, though it's still a lot), which is extremely time-consuming and boring, but also something that I personally feel obligated to do by virtue of the free-grinding gameplay model (and, admittedly, the fun characters to an extent). At some point, I'll probably limit myself to a more practical cast choice simply because the grinding itself takes so long so I can ACTUALLY finally play the DLC-- a lot of which I've never actually done yet for the aforementioned reason. Not saying the game is making me do this, admittedly it's the way I personally feel obligated to play, but if you're taking a more involved and optimized approach to it, then the highly-lengthy grinding is a necessary part of the game that may or may not bog down the experience depending on how you feel about it.

And don't get me wrong, I actually do really like Awakening; the characters made a WAY bigger impact on me than Fates' did, honestly, and though its story isn't without its problems, the same can easily be said of Fates. (Personally, I just feel there's a lot of lost potential... in both cases, honestly...) And again, some will disagree (and to each their own, people enjoy what they enjoy and I've got no problem with that lol), but the gameplay in Fates is a LOT more solid and well-developed (without the need for lengthy grinding, even in Birthright which allows it freely), which is the deciding factor to me.

[Hagakure]

Ahh right gotcha.

A grain of salt with this comment since I'm pretty firmly in the Fates camp myself, but I'd say that Awakening's length is... less of a good thing...? IMO anyway. A lot of its length comes from the fact that units' levels reset whenever they reclass, which slows down exp gain a LOT after a few reclassings and makes it really time-consuming and grindy to optimize, if that's your thing (not necessarily in a fun way either, since substantial EXP gain is really only possible through the relevant DLC once you get through all the story chapters). Some people don't like it, but IMO Fates' reclassing system is a helluva lot more fluid and doesn't drag the course of gameplay down.

Case in point: I'm currently partway through a postgame playthrough of Awakening, trying to level enough to be able to do all the DLC (except apotheosis because I'm not a masochist but w/e). My current status is basically bogged down grinding my weaker characters so that my approximately-30 character cast is all roughly equal strength (minus most of the non-marriage-capable characters, though it's still a lot), which is extremely time-consuming and boring, but also something that I personally feel obligated to do by virtue of the free-grinding gameplay model (and, admittedly, the fun characters to an extent). At some point, I'll probably limit myself to a more practical cast choice simply because the grinding itself takes so long so I can ACTUALLY finally play the DLC-- a lot of which I've never actually done yet for the aforementioned reason. Not saying the game is making me do this, admittedly it's the way I personally feel obligated to play, but if you're taking a more involved and optimized approach to it, then the highly-lengthy grinding is a necessary part of the game that may or may not bog down the experience depending on how you feel about it.

And don't get me wrong, I actually do really like Awakening; the characters made a WAY bigger impact on me than Fates' did, honestly, and though its story isn't without its problems, the same can easily be said of Fates. (Personally, I just feel there's a lot of lost potential... in both cases, honestly...) And again, some will disagree (and to each their own, people enjoy what they enjoy and I've got no problem with that lol), but the gameplay in Fates is a LOT more solid and well-developed (without the need for lengthy grinding, even in Birthright which allows it freely), which is the deciding factor to me.

Thanks. I think I'll just get Fates, then.

[Radiant head]

if you can afford to buy three games, Fates is a much better experience.

but if you can only get one, then awakening as one game is more coherent than any single route of Fates. and if you eventually plan to play all of them, definitely start with awakening, because that one will be hard to come back to after fates's vast gameplay improvements, and not to mention the three nohr characters are more fun if you're familiar with them.

[BANRYU]

if you can afford to buy three games, Fates is a much better experience.

but if you can only get one, then awakening as one game is more coherent than any single route of Fates. and if you eventually plan to play all of them, definitely start with awakening, because that one will be hard to come back to after fates's vast gameplay improvements, and not to mention the three nohr characters are more fun if you're familiar with them.

This, esp. the bold part, merits mentioning as a counterpoint to all the stuff I said haha. If you play to play Awakening eventually, playing it before Fates will probably make it a lot easier to stomach.

[DarkWind]

.

Edited January 9, 2017 by DarkWind