Personal Impressions

[Dark Holy Elf]

I'm near the end of the story mode now, enough to post here. Overall the game is enjoyable.

The story is bad, but I went in expecting bad: FE is a mixed bag writing-wise at best and crossover plot is almost invariably terrible. But even so, scenes like Frederick's "hey I don't trust you guys so please fight 2000 of my soldiers" is such utter nonsense that I'm unable to take the game's plot remotely seriously thereafter. Otherwise, the game is giving me what I want in letting me use a bunch of characters I like (I'm in the camp that is really likes the roster) and having them play around in a fun battle system while looking cool and spouting cheesy-fun one-liners.

The only other Warriors game I've played extensively is Hyrule Warriors. Compared to that one, I like how this game lets you order around, and switch between, allies. It plays up the strategy element nicely, and cuts down on time you spend running from one location to another.

The interactions of the weapon triangle are much more intuitive, and also generally more powerful, than HW's system involving elemental weaknesses that the game didn't tell you about.

However, there are some disadvantages too. The game feels generally easier. In HW, I had to learn how enemy captains and characters fought in order to defeat them. I learned how to dodge their nastier attacks and punish them when they showed their weak points. In FEW, you... don't really need to do this, you can just rush in and do the right combo and poof, there's your weak point. Since you can tie your enemy up this way you'll see much less of their attacks, and those I have seen are generally easier to dodge. This is amplified in fights against plot-important opponents; fighting Darios had none of the satisfying feeling that fighting Wizzro, Volga, and Cia had, for instance.

It's also dramatically easier to protect a base now because you can just heal your fort commander, as well as the fact that you can leave one of your PCs there. Tough maps in HW put real pressure on completing objectives while not letting your base fall; I haven't really felt that yet in FEW, despite playing on Hard. Maybe it's coming in later History Mode maps? I really hope so.

I really like that the game has full voice-acting in cutscenes and battle. I have no idea why they decided they needed to voice act the menu, and am annoyed that you can't turn this off (without also turning off the voice acting I like).

[Jedi]

20 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

I'm near the end of the story mode now, enough to post here. Overall the game is enjoyable.

The story is bad, but I went in expecting bad: FE is a mixed bag writing-wise at best and crossover plot is almost invariably terrible. But even so, scenes like Frederick's "hey I don't trust you guys so please fight 2000 of my soldiers" is such utter nonsense that I'm unable to take the game's plot remotely seriously thereafter. Otherwise, the game is giving me what I want in letting me use a bunch of characters I like (I'm in the camp that is really likes the roster) and having them play around in a fun battle system while looking cool and spouting cheesy-fun one-liners.

The only other Warriors game I've played extensively is Hyrule Warriors. Compared to that one, I like how this game lets you order around, and switch between, allies. It plays up the strategy element nicely, and cuts down on time you spend running from one location to another.

The interactions of the weapon triangle are much more intuitive, and also generally more powerful, than HW's system involving elemental weaknesses that the game didn't tell you about.

However, there are some disadvantages too. The game feels generally easier. In HW, I had to learn how enemy captains and characters fought in order to defeat them. I learned how to dodge their nastier attacks and punish them when they showed their weak points. In FEW, you... don't really need to do this, you can just rush in and do the right combo and poof, there's your weak point. Since you can tie your enemy up this way you'll see much less of their attacks, and those I have seen are generally easier to dodge. This is amplified in fights against plot-important opponents; fighting Darios had none of the satisfying feeling that fighting Wizzro, Volga, and Cia had, for instance.

It's also dramatically easier to protect a base now because you can just heal your fort commander, as well as the fact that you can leave one of your PCs there. Tough maps in HW put real pressure on completing objectives while not letting your base fall; I haven't really felt that yet in FEW, despite playing on Hard. Maybe it's coming in later History Mode maps? I really hope so.

I really like that the game has full voice-acting in cutscenes and battle. I have no idea why they decided they needed to voice act the menu, and am annoyed that you can't turn this off (without also turning off the voice acting I like).

The history mode maps pressure you much harder then the story maps ever manage to do. Just a general FYI. They actually use the fact that you can cover multiple locations against you in that they'll make you be in nearly 5 places at once in a fair number of them.

[Folt]

Speaking of personal impressions, Anna might have a higher priority to level up and make stronger over Lyn and Celica due to how Deploy Limits work (particularly the story-based ones). She'll always be awailable for boss missions and the Anna missions which are two advantages that neither Lyn or Celica are guaranteed to get.

[Arthur97]

10 hours ago, Folt said:

Speaking of personal impressions, Anna might have a higher priority to level up and make stronger over Lyn and Celica due to how Deploy Limits work (particularly the story-based ones). She'll always be awailable for boss missions and the Anna missions which are two advantages that neither Lyn or Celica are guaranteed to get.

Spoiler

Ironically, Celica can't even be used in the mission that gives her weapon's scroll and maybe even the last Anna mission.

And Bows. Stupid bow missions.

[FoxyGrandpa]

Impressions. I'm mostly done with the story mode and have only completed the Awakening mode history map. 

Story

• Good at introducing the player to most of the characters, but really does nothing more
• Missions are pretty satisfying to complete
• Character interactions are nice, but feel short
• Moments focusing on the twins and their personality feel like wasted time
• Shadow Dragon feels like it got shafted hard, focusing more on the twins that Marth and his adventures

Gameplay

• Feels like a mix between a standard hack and slash and Fire Emblem
• To complete maps efficiently, keeping track of the mini-map is very important
• Weapon Triangle adds a lot of strategy to the game
• Combos are very flashy and contain a lot of references to the character in game (I.e. Robin using El Wind, El Fire, and Thoron, Marth's Dancing Blade and Dolphin Slash)
• Heros that you deal neutral damage or even super effective damage towards feel like they soak up too many hits before actually dying

Inventory

• As you get more crest, its satisfying to see your hero get stronger
• Most weapons feel like skill fodder since they are usually worse than a character's exclusive weapon
• Weapons with very good skills (i.e Topsy Turvy, Horse Slayer) seem to be only pop up once or twice (could be wrong on this)
• Crest for skills requires a lot of grinding
• Master Seals feel too limited

Supports

• Takes WAY too much effort to grind
• Actual conversations are nice once you do get the chance to see them, almost all of them feel well written and have some good references / humor in them

Roster

• I'm satisfied, though disappointed by the lack of some picks, like Eliwood and Roy
• Each character feels extremely fun to play
• Personally not too bothered by the clones, each still feels different and fun to play due to different stat focus, Awakening attacks, and dialogue
• Promoted outfits look nice
• Lack of more costume options for most characters hurts
• NPC characters not being playable in base game is disappointing

Presentation

• Game looks good in motion, closer examination shows a few more issues popping up
• Character don't actually voice some of their lines they say during their attacks
• Some structures vanish and reappear
• Pretty much every combo looks really good and well animated
• Some character's dresses (bride lucina, Lissa) and mounts (Camilla) clip through walls and weapons
• Voice acting is ok, though not amazing. Japanese voice acting has way more emotion IMO
• Lighting in this game is super inconsistent and can make some characters look hideous

History Mode

• Good variety of challenges
• Neat unlockable content
• Dialogue during these maps has some cool references to other games in the series
• Substituting Characters to fill the roles of other characters who aren't in the game makes to plot sometimes feel confusing
• Number of History mode maps feels short

Overall, I really like this game for the most part, though there are some obvious issues. Looking forward to the DLC

[eclipse]

Finished Story Mode, currently chewing through History Mode.

The story was, to put it bluntly, bad.  But I wasn't expecting a literary work, so eh.  More specifically. . .

Spoiler

it cranked "but my friends" up so high that the dial broke.  The entire mess could've been avoided by listening to Darios' last words. . .and that's just lame.

But for MY game, the final boss was tickled to death by Takumi, with Camilla behind him.

Since I'm picky about my Corrins, I did everything I could to unlock the male one.  The home stretch on that one was something else.  Currently doing the unlocked History Mode maps.  I can safely say that I despise Arena maps, and have a fondness for Timed Onslaughts.  Unlocking weapon skills is gonna suck, though.

Overall, was well worth my money.  I barely have the coordination to play this game, so I'm not sure if I'd be able to do any of the other Musou games.

[Etrurian emperor]

Overall its a solid game and I definitely have my fun with it. On the other hand the game does absolutely nothing to shake me out of the belief that it could have been so much more had they just gone the extra mile.

The playable characters seem a little bit weaker then in Hyrule Warriors but that's actually a point in the game's favor. It forces you to be a tad more strategic and it encourages you regularly switch characters, which is something I always loved in the SW chronicles series. The base captains also seem to be buffed somewhat. In Hyrule Warriors they were glorified mooks who sometimes died to the very same attack that made them spawn in the first place but here they act more like enemy officers instead of mooks. 

Special praise must go to the horse units. This is the best horse combat there has ever been in a Warriors game. Okay, part of the reason is that horse combat hardly existed before this game but Xander and Frederick are unique and fun to play as. I hope the main line games pick up on this. 

I'm not going to judge the concept of the story that much. Its a crossover so an excuse plot is all that's really needed. The game provides a reason for the characters to meet up and that's enough. What I am going to judge the story on is that it feels hollow because there aren't any villains which ensures barely anything happens and you generally don't fight interesting people either. Its so bad that the last opponent you fight in the chapter where you rescue Ryoma is the epic general known as ''fort captain''. The Jin faction has the same problem in the DW games but its alleviated somewhat by having the best story of the kingdoms. That doesn't apply here. 

With the games chosen the villains were never going to be all that good. There were many ways to try to make the most of it regardless but barely even trying certainly wasn't one of those ways. Hyrule Warriors had Cia drive the events until Ganon and his epic mane came along but this game doesn't have anyone. There are also many units that feel rather redundant which leaves to a set of unit I don't bother to use because I don't feel a reason to do so. 

 

Edited November 10, 2017 by Etrurian emperor

[DragonFlames]

I played this game with a friend (he got both Switch and 3DS versions of it and gave me the 3DS one for reasons unknown). Here are some of my thoughts:

Story and characters:

• It was better than I thought it would be. Maybe it was because I didn't have any expectations, but I honestly enjoyed it unironically. It could be because I viewed it as a parody of Fire Emblem tropes and events that happened in past games.
• They stayed true to most characters, but they did manage to improve some of them (Corrin, Chrom and Robin especially). Hinoka, Camilla, Leo and Takumi being as stupid as they are in OG Fates felt refreshing, to be honest. All the more fun smacking their stupid faces into the dirt
• The two newbies aren't THAT bad. Sure, Rowan can get annoying, but I like Lianna a lot.
• Darios is... generic, but nothing too offensive.
• The final boss is a giant disappointment. I wish they picked Medeus, Grima or even Anankos, since all three look WAY more threatening than this thing...

Gameplay:

• Pure fun. This is what I expected FE Warriors to be.
• Every character is fun to play to a degree, which is more than can be said about Hyrule Warriors, where I wouldn't even touch some characters because they felt so clunky and weak.
• With that said, there are some that I like more than the others.
• Tiki takes some time getting used to, but playing as her is still tons of fun.
• My favourites so far are: Lianna, Chrom, Marth, Lyn, Lissa, Sakura, Robin, Corrin, Shiida and Tiki.

Other stuff:

• The voice acting in this game is mixed. For the most part, it's top notch (Tiki, Shiida, Chrom, Marth, Lissa, Lianna, Darios, Sakura, Leo, Takumi), decent in places (Elise, Rowan, Frederick, Robin (both genders)) and sadly, also sometimes bad (Hinoka, Corrin (both genders), Camilla, Xander, the villain sorcerers), it covers the whole spectrum, really.
• The Japanese voice acting is also mixed. Tiki's battle noises get annoying really fast, Leo and Takumi sound the way they look - gloriously punchable, on the other hand you have female Corrin, who has the cutest voice in the existence of everything, Miyuki Sawashiro just crushing it as female Robin and Camilla and Xander finally sounding like the badass he's supposed to be. Everyone else is just... generic, sort of. All in all, I THINK I prefer the English dub this time around, though the Japanese one has some highlights. It might just be that I am biased towards certain voice actors since they are just that good (*cough*Shiida's, Chrom's and Lianna's*cough*), but I think most of them managed to portray their characters better than the Japanese counterpart (Leo, Takumi and Ryoma come to mind, as well).
• I like that you can switch back to the unpromoted outfits if you like. I mostly prefer the standard class outfits to their promoted ones, but at least they keep the stats.
• Speaking of stats: Holy crap, promotion gains are busted in this game. No wonder other characters are so hard to kill.
• The music in this game is GORGEOUS!

Negatives:

• One gripe I have is - as is the case with every Warriors game I played - that you have to be in 50 billion places at the same time or it's mission failed. This is especially jarring in those stupid Shadow missions and the Ryoma VS Xander chapter.
• Also, fighting other character's isn't very fun when you're on a time limit to kill 2,000 enemies and they just refuse to freaking die already! They are just bloated HP bars that don't really hit back and if they do, their attacks are so telegraphed that it's easy to dodge them, so they're pretty much only there to waste your time.
• The hitboxes in this game feel off, sometimes. Especially on Archers. I sometimes get hit by that arrow rain move even when my character is nowhere near where the attack supposedly hits.
• Supports take AGES to grind
• The roster is a little disappointing, but I'll say no more, since the characters I wanted to be in this game will never be in this or any sequel, since most of them are not exactly popular with the fans (#Miaisstillbestgirl)
• Locking existing characters behind paywalls instead of delaying the game a bit to finish their movesets and supports is just something we have to live with in the modern game industry. I guess we should be thankful they didn't add microtransactions or lootboxes. Wonder how long it'll take for the big N to jump onto that trainwreck...
• Fliers and mounts sometimes just overshoot the enemy while attacking them, thus making it hard to chain combos. They are also very big targets and thus take damage easily.
• Arena battles aren't fun. S-ranking them is hell itself. Playing as Tiki or Corrin in Arena battles is just asking for death, because there always will be either Marth, Lucina or Chrom to wipe the floor with your decapitated head, which brings me to...
• Effective damage in a Warriors game is a mixed bag. I can deal with it, but... if it prevents me from using the characters that I want, we have a little problem on our hands, game...
• The final boss is a cop-out, as stated above. It's a walking, giant HP bar that takes forever to deplete and nothing more. There's nothing hard about this fight.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2017 by DragonFlames