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1st Gen Story vs 2nd Gen Story


Jingle Jangle
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Please note that I have not played Genealogy yet.

That being said, in the various Fire Emblem websites that I visited, there is much appreciation for the story in FE4. But most of the praise seems to be focused on the first generation of Sigurd's tale. With the second generation feeling like it is glossed over. Why is that? When does the first half have so much admiration, while the the second half has few mentions? This question has been bothering me for some time.

Edited by Jingle Jangle
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44 minutes ago, Jingle Jangle said:

Please note that I have not played Genealogy yet.

That being said, in the various Fire Emblem websites that I visited, there is much appreciation for the story in FE4. But most of the praise seems to be focused on the first generation of Sigurd's tale. With the second generation feeling like it is glossed over. Why is that? When does the first half have so much admiration, while the the second half has few mentions? This question has been bothering me for some time.

Basically because the 1st gen's story is better.  The second generation has several flaws, I still enjoy it, but I think it can be summed up in three parts.  First, it isn't very unique (obvious spoilers coming), it basically has a generic FE plot.  A prince(Seliph) has been disposed from his kingdom, his parents have been killed and he sets out on an adventure to reclaim his rightful throne, there are some twists, but it's basically Marth's FE1 quest  2.0. Second, characterization is pretty weak for everyone gen 2 minus Leaf, Seliph and Julia, this is partly due to the generic lines of the character due to the necessity because subs basically share lines with the kid characters and because every kid has to have lines not unique to fathers, basically unlike the first gen where all the men and women have flushed out relationships with both allies and enemies due to their station or birth gen 2 characters aren't really set in stone in how they relate to the world or each other.  And lastly, the villains in gen 2 while  still interesting aren't as well fleshed out.  Arcs like Thracia, which feel like they could be a whole game (evidenced by Thracia 776) is really only one chapter and great characters like King Travant aren't blown through quickly because of that.

You can basically contrast all those points with Gen. 1 where gen 1's story is unique for FE, Sigurd is basically the bad gays pawn for 3ish chapters and then traitors, the characters are well fleshed out, if sparse, due to their established relationships within the world, and the villains feel well fleshed out, like Chagall, or Eltoshan or even Langbolt.

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FE4 Gen 1 story has an amazing build up, leading to the absolute peak of the game at the end of Chapter 5.

Fe4 Gen 2 story feels like barely anything is happening, and it ends with the most stupid villain moment in the entire series.

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I would also like to point out that Generation 1 also has more popular characters, which can be seen in Heroes: 6 Gen 1 characters with only Seliph and Julia repping Gen 2. And the reason for this was that Gen 1 has a more enticing plot. While it's a bit messy, it's where the majority of the drama unfolds and where the most creative writing risks were being made. The majority of the Gen 1 cast were invested into the plot, and their agency was quite clear. Their relationships with the antagonists were also defined, and you see how it affected the characters that knew the opponent. Out of the 24 playable characters, I would say less than 5 had a weaker/forgetful characterization, with the others having clear personality and connection to the story. And their half ends very dramatically, and gives them a martyr-like legacy.

On the other hand, Gen 2 felt rushed, and the main story was very standard Fire Emblem. Not that this is a bad thing per se, but compared to the first gen, it doesn't give the same satisfaction. Even though Gen 2 is cleaning up the mistakes of Gen 1, it turns out making mistakes is more entertaining then cleaning them up. Out of the 25 (counting the originals and subs as 1, since they have almost identical personalities) playable characters, I would say only 5 of them were well defined at their first gen counterparts, and 12 of them were close, but something was just missing. There was a lot less character dialogue too, so some characterizations felt incomplete and some characters' potential was hindered. Also, the villains weren't given a lot of screentime, and central villains weren't given any screentime when certain big events are happening. Like, hello, Seliph just had the massive accomplishment, what's your reaction, you should know this happening?

A possible theory about why this is is that Kaga originally intended Genealogy to be a 3 part game, but due to deadlines, scrapped a bunch of ideas and combined parts 2 and 3 into a somewhat cohesive. The alleged Part 3 could've built upon the kids, but it's unknown if that was the plan. Overall, it just seems like IS was running short on time; they took a long time on Gen 1 but then had to rush Gen 2.

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3 hours ago, Jingle Jangle said:

Oh, I see, if there is a remake, the second generation should receive the most attention for it to be polished. Ironing out the story and characters to make it more distinguish compared to other entries. 

Yep pretty much. It has a lot of potential to be good though, it's just up to IS to make that potential realized.

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From what I can tell the 1st Gen is where all the story is. It's where all the developed game was before they crushed 2 into one, this leaves the second half been a lot of "there is a problem" you never see said problem and then it's solved when you do the chapter.

I personally didn't actually like the story of FE 4. I found it very rushed and under developed so I'm not one to ask on it, Either way the actual gameplay and classes of the game are great fun to play around with and even the non mounted ones if your not too rushed on turn count.

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In addition to gen 2's story being kind of generic, I t also has more moments where intelegent people make uncharicteristic mistakes. There are stupid mistakes aplenty in gen 1, but they are all very in character for the people who make them. In gen two, the main villan could do something obvious to keep the heroes from winning, but he does something needlessly convoluted instead, which allows you to win. He does convoluted things, sure, but he isn't the joker. He can do simple but effective things when necessary. There is also a blatantly obvious inference that is staring the good guys in the face for half the gen, but no one makes it until the dramatically optimal moment, despite the fact that not making the inference is out of character.

Edited by sirmola
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  • 3 weeks later...

The first half's story is generally considered to be better than the second half. The second half is more standard than the first half but it's still one of the better stories imo. It also contains some pretty good villains like Ishtar and Travant. Julius worked pretty well too because he's just such a piece of shit and the game really makes you want to kill him. Same with Bloom. The battle with Arvis was pretty cool too. The second half also has a lot to live up to as well, with the first half being so good and the climax of the game really being at the end of the first generation. 

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