First time!

[Jhedin]

Tellius veteran here; just finished Awakening for the first time, now moving onto Fates.

I just started - plowed through to "the choice" last night.  Given that it's my first playthrough, I'm starting with Birthright, but I plan to do all three stories.

Coming from Awakening, I can clearly see the increased production value - not just the movies, but there's just a larger scale feel and vibrancy to the game.  This game feels big, and it throws you into some deep stuff right away.  Whereas Awakening's story never really grabbed me by the throat and yanked on my attention, Fates has already achieved that - Chapter 5 is one of the most intense story chapters I've seen in any Fire Emblem, and ending it with basically having to choose between Hoshido and Nohr is brutal, even if the game is pushing you hard to Hoshido - while Nohr may seem "bad", your siblings don't, and that difference is well-crafted - Xander et al seem to genuinely care about the avatar, regardless of Garon's intentions.

Also, and I apologize if this counts as a spoiler, but seeing Gunter get thrown off a bridge in Chapter 2 and that being it for our typical Jagen/Titania/Frederick character was a swerve I did not see coming.  

The castle thing seems neat, too, but I'm pretty interested in how this story is going to go.

[Shadow Mir]

Since it's your first time, I must say - and I know this is a spoiler, but this is important nonetheless - you'll need to get an A support between your avatar and Kaze, else he will die after a certain point in the middle of the game. That said, this only applies to Birthright.

[coldhand25]

57 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

Since it's your first time, I must say - and I know this is a spoiler, but this is important nonetheless - you'll need to get an A support between your avatar and Kaze, else he will die after a certain point in the middle of the game. That said, this only applies to Birthright.

Should've put that in a spolier-box anyways, even though it's an information that is good to know, some might still choose the play said game blind.

[Shadow Mir]

1 hour ago, coldhand25 said:

Should've put that in a spolier-box anyways, even though it's an information that is good to know, some might still choose the play said game blind.

I guess I could've, but I consider it too important for that, especially since there's the chance they ignore it and wind up losing him as a result (there's practically no warning that the event in question happens).

[SniperGYS]

Enjoy your game!

I feel the Fates games more vibrant than Awakening yes, Fates is very colorful and I liked it a lot, also the contrast between the kingdoms colors and stuffs is good too. Hope you have a good experience playing the 3 routes, the best way to enjoy this game is just ignoring what people complain and get your own conclusion about them

[𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥]

there's almost double the depth of gameplay mechanics that there was in Awakening, so you'll have plenty of stuff to work with. not only skills-wise, but also weapon-wise.

the gameplay of the Nohr route is usually more familiar to old-timers and newcomers, while Hoshido can be a bit more strict in terms of learning curve sometimes, but also gives more freedom later on.

Revelation, on the other hand, is a masterpiece for me, since it takes the best of both routes and mix them together.

 

overall, it's an awesome game that deserves to be played at least once. hopefully, you'll have lots of fun with it.

[MyLuckyHaiku]

16 hours ago, Shadow Mir said:

I guess I could've, but I consider it too important for that, especially since there's the chance they ignore it and wind up losing him as a result (there's practically no warning that the event in question happens).

I lost Kaze on my first playthrough, I was so confused.

[Jhedin]

On 9/17/2018 at 5:35 PM, Fenreir said:

Revelation, on the other hand, is a masterpiece for me, since it takes the best of both routes and mix them together.

Honestly, I'm stoked to get to Revelation - based on what they did with the whole choice thing (which I think is great), having a neutral option sounds amazing and that just seems like the exact kind of thing I'd expect IS to go all out on.  So really, I'm playing Birthright and Conquest in order to fully inform my playing of Revelation, which is really the entree that brought me to the table.

I've gone down a grinding rabbit hole in my Hoshido run so far, but I'm on Chapter 10.  I figure I won't be able to grind out the Nohr run quite the same, so I might as well kick back and do it this go-round so I know what I'm getting into with Conquest and later Revelation.

[𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥]

18 hours ago, Jhedin said:

Honestly, I'm stoked to get to Revelation - based on what they did with the whole choice thing (which I think is great), having a neutral option sounds amazing and that just seems like the exact kind of thing I'd expect IS to go all out on.  So really, I'm playing Birthright and Conquest in order to fully inform my playing of Revelation, which is really the entree that brought me to the table.

I've gone down a grinding rabbit hole in my Hoshido run so far, but I'm on Chapter 10.  I figure I won't be able to grind out the Nohr run quite the same, so I might as well kick back and do it this go-round so I know what I'm getting into with Conquest and later Revelation.

thing is: Nohr is basicly using the "old school" route, wich means unlike Hoshido it's supposed to be played in one go with no grinding and actual planning on who to use from early to late game. you can pretty much think about it like an alternative version of Shadow Dragon progression-wise, but with Awakening's mechanics.

that's also why some people didn't really like Nohr's limitations, since those who bought the Hoshido version of the game back at the time had more character development options similar to Awakening, because it gave players the ability to build characters even further after the main class promotion.

then again, you can always purchase the DLCs if you really want to go beyond that, but it wouldn't be the same experience.

 

if you plan to play them all without getting burned out in the long run, it would probably be better to start with Nohr to get familiar with the game, then move to Hoshido to improve tactics, and finally move to Revelation to enjoy the best of both worlds. mine is just a suggestion thou, the choice is yours.

i managed to get myself the limited edition when it launched in europe with all 3 games in one cartridge, and i can guarantee you i've never been so much satisfied with a strategic game( except for "Final Fantasy Tactics: the War of the Lions". that's another jewel as well ).

Edited September 19, 2018 by Fenreir

[starburst]

17 hours ago, Fenreir said:

if you plan to play them all without getting burned out in the long run, it would probably be better to start with Nohr to get familiar with the game, then move to Hoshido to improve tactics, and finally move to Revelation to enjoy the best of both worlds. mine is just a suggestion thou, the choice is yours.

Did you not mean to say that they should play Birthright first (to get familiar with the mechanics) and then Conquest? For you wrote the opposite. And I am not 'defending' Birthright, I am just pointing out a common recommendation. (Personally, I think that if they play Conquest first, Birthright feels boring as hell.)
And stating that Revelation transmits 'the best of both worlds' is a rather bold statement. Do not give them false hopes. He, he.

[𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥]

5 hours ago, starburst said:

Did you not mean to say that they should play Birthright first (to get familiar with the mechanics) and then Conquest? For you wrote the opposite. And I am not 'defending' Birthright, I am just pointing out a common recommendation. (Personally, I think that if they play Conquest first, Birthright feels boring as hell.)
And stating that Revelation transmits 'the best of both worlds' is a rather bold statement. Do not give them false hopes. He, he.

nope, i exactly meant what i wrote.

every route has its pros and cons, the main differences are how game progression has been setup for a specific route, and wich classes/skills/weapons can be used in that route.

the Nohr route was meant to be played like a classic FE game, with a "traditional" gameplay easy to learn and to get used to, while focusing mainly on story progression and choosing wisely wich characters to develop until their promotion. it wasn't meant to let you boost characters beyond their promotions like in Awakening, and that's why there's no extra grinding available in it, because there's no need for it. you just play the game, learn the basics, and move on.

people who liked Awakening will probably prefer Hoshido, since it gives more freedom with character development, but also has different classes, skills and weapons compared to the Nohr route. i'm not saying it's harder or easier, it's just a different way to approach the game.

in Revelation you have access to all classes, skills and weapons from both routes, hence why you can mix them all up and create something unique.

 

also, just to be clear: i was speaking only in terms of gameplay. story-wise, everyone has always his/her own preferences, of course.

Edited September 20, 2018 by Fenreir

[starburst]

16 hours ago, Fenreir said:

the Nohr route was meant to be played like a classic FE game, with a "traditional" gameplay easy to learn and to get used to, while focusing mainly on story progression and choosing wisely wich characters to develop until their promotion. it wasn't meant to let you boost characters beyond their promotions like in Awakening, and that's why there's no extra grinding available in it, because there's no need for it. you just play the game, learn the basics, and move on.

Ah! I see your point now. I agree with you.

And now that I think about it, even if one can argue that Fates (as a whole) was poorly executed, I may be expressing my disliking of Birthright and Revelation for the wrong reasons. That is, I prefer a more straightforward traditional gameplay (more similar to what Conquest offers), but the other two paths most likely never claimed to offer such experience.

I have played Conquest multiple times (twenty?), but I have never finished Birthright or Revelation. They do not appeal to me.
At first, because I preferred choosing the family who raised you over your biological family, specially when this adoptive family has a dark halo. And then, because I find the map design and difficulty of Conquest way more entertaining.

[𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥]

12 hours ago, starburst said:

And now that I think about it, even if one can argue that Fates (as a whole) was poorly executed, I may be expressing my disliking of Birthright and Revelation for the wrong reasons. That is, I prefer a more straightforward traditional gameplay (more similar to what Conquest offers), but the other two paths most likely never claimed to offer such experience.

well, that's pretty much the main difference between Conquest and Hoshido/Revelation: one plays like classic FE titles( up to early GBA era, so to say ) with certain gameplay limitations, hence why it's considered more challenging. the others two play just like Awakening.

12 hours ago, starburst said:

I have played Conquest multiple times (twenty?), but I have never finished Birthright or Revelation. They do not appeal to me.
At first, because I preferred choosing the family who raised you over your biological family, specially when this adoptive family has a dark halo. And then, because I find the map design and difficulty of Conquest way more entertaining.

i played and completed all three routes for about 4~5 times each on hard/classic mode, and overall i liked them all.

i still prefer Revelation gameplay-wise thou, mostly because i like building characters beyond promotion and see how far they can go( and how broken they can become ), and also because i could do things that the other routes didn't allow me to.

[Errorik]

Conquest >>> Birthright >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Revelations Imo. Birthright: make 2 EP blenders and get Ryoma. The game unofficially ends after that. Revelations: grind because most units are useless, spend 30+ turns on map mechanics, and bad dating sim. Conquest: difficult (but not actually resource scarce like it says), lots of options for unit building/usability, and replayability.

 

Have fun with all of them, though! Fates is a great addition to the FE series. It's my favorite of all the titles.

[Shadow Mir]

On 9/24/2018 at 1:27 PM, Centh said:

Conquest >>> Birthright >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Revelations Imo. Birthright: make 2 EP blenders and get Ryoma. The game unofficially ends after that. Revelations: grind because most units are useless, spend 30+ turns on map mechanics, and bad dating sim. Conquest: difficult (but not actually resource scarce like it says), lots of options for unit building/usability, and replayability.

 

Have fun with all of them, though! Fates is a great addition to the FE series. It's my favorite of all the titles.

Bold: You mean the stuff that tends to be virtually nonexistent, other than a certain overrated lightning sword using prince whose name shall not be mentioned because you did so?? Most Hoshidan units break way too easy for that.

Edited September 27, 2018 by Shadow Mir