Jump to content

Buying a Switch just for Fire Emblem?


Reffy
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hello.

I've played almost all Fire Emblem games. Since the introduction of the avatar in Fire Emblem Awakening, I can't go back. I don't want to play as Ike or someone like it. Ike is just the worst.

I've heard the new Fire Emblem has an avatar mode. The character is a "professor"? That sounds really lame. Can anyone tell me more about that without spoiling too much?

They bring back weapon durability. This is awful gameplay. I don't want to walk around with 5 4/30 weapons, since anyone of them might break. In Fates, they didn't have durability. But all the upgraded weapons had increased damage. It turned the game into rock-paper-scissors. It has tactics, but it wasn't fun. I don't mind the weapon triangle, but with those weapons it was a bit of a mess.

I'm not interested in any Switch games actually, besides Three Houses. But to pay €325 for the console and €56 for the game is too much. I can afford it, but it doesn't seem worth it. Fire Emblem usually has generic characters anyway. This person is a farmer, so he talks about farming FOREVER.
I heard about a Switch Light, which is basically an emulator. But it's not available yet and I don't know the prices. 

Can someone tell me more about what the Avatar does in this game, and talk a bit about the gameplay. What is different compared to Fates?

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The avatar is a professor at a military academy; i.e. they train students for war rather than simply teaching, say, history or theology or something like that. However, the avatar is not customizable besides name, gender, and birthday. 

Weapon durability is the norm in most FE games. However, you will be able to repair weapons, so you can walk around with full 30/30 uses if you have enough gold to do so. There's no weapon triangle in this game, so that's something interesting. 

Switch Lite is not an emulator; rather it's just the mobile version of the switch, rather than including the docked mode compatibility. I believe it's about a hundred euro less in cost than the Switch proper. 

The gameplay is most reminiscent of Genealogy of the Holy War: i.e. large map sizes, reparable weapons, canto for mounted units, open terrain. The most interesting feature is the introduction of the monastery, where you can tutor your students in what you think they would work best as. For example, if you want a unit to be a Bow Knight, you can train them in lance, bow, and riding to make them more effective at those skills than they would be if they only trained them on the battlefield. There are other things you can do at the monastery, such as build bonds with your students or fish, but that is the real meat of the area. 

As for what's different compared to Fates... it would be easier to list what's the same. Personal skills are returning, and that's essentially the only thing I can think of that's not already a Fire Emblem staple. There's no pair-up, class skills are learned by time in the class rather than level, a great deal of the classes are different, period, et cetera. It would probably behoove you to look up some reviews of the game to learn more about it rather than just the things I listed. 

Also, most of the characters don't seem to be as generic as Fateswakening's. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, link16hit said:

well, I don't know if you can Dump the Rom of three houses on a computer then playing on a emulator...

There's no Switch emulator that exists so far. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally, i wouldnt buy a Switch just for FE. Maybe get it second handed?

There are some great games on the console tho, you could try others and see if its worth it. You can also get a hacked Switch (grey area here) and play them.

5 minutes ago, 0 Def Cleric said:

There's no Switch emulator that exists so far.

There is, but is not in a good state right now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't buy a console just to play a single game! In my opinion, grab Breath of the Wild as well if you get a Switch. That is the one game that justifies a Switch purchase in a way other titles won't. If JRPGs are your thing, you can also grab Octopath TravelerXenoblade Chronicles 2 (personally not my favorite, but still a good game), or if you can wait until Fall, Dragon Quest XI.

Anyway, the Avatar, Byleth, is less Robin, Corrin, Kris, and Mark, and more Persona's Ren Amamiya, Minato/Minako Arisato, and Yu Narukami.

Whereas past Fire Emblem avatars (Robin, Corrin, and Kris, in particular) engaged in dialogue within the story, Byleth is in line with Persona's player protagonists: mostly silent with dialogue choices and the occasional thought bubble or two. Most talking in this game is done by other characters, and the most Byleth will speak will be during battles and in combat, otherwise he/she is generally mute. Like Persona's protagonists, Byleth is not customizable except with names, though like Persona 3: Portable, you can select the gender of the player protagonist.

The general story: Byleth takes up a job as a teacher at the Officer's Academy, a leading military institution on the continent of Fodlan where some of the best and brightest of Fodlan's three countries, the Adrestian Empire, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the Leicester Alliance,  attend school, including their future leaders: Edelgard of the Adrestia, Dimitri of Faerghus, and Claude of Leicester. Each one of them leads a certain academic house within the Officer's Academy, Edelgard with the Black Eagles, Dimitri with the Blue Lions, and Claude with the Golden Deers. The decision to choose which house you'll teach will greatly impact the story as a series of events will accumulate into a full blown war between the three countries after a five year timeskip. 

Unlike past titles, you are introduced to ALL the characters in the beginning of the game, thanks in part to the school setting.

Three Houses has more in vein with Echoes and Genealogy of the Holy War gameplay-wise, while taking story beats from Genealogy, which the directors of the game have cited as being the single most influential title on this game. I would go into details, but I believe other users can offer explanations better than I can. 

Edited by BZL8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Didint read your post just the title and YES. ive done that before but ive always found a couple other games. Switch has Breath of the Wild, Pokemon, Octopath travelers, smash ultimate, three houses and more. I literally bought the switch when it first came out cause i was like fire emblem.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently got a Switch because one of the conditions that I set myself was if Fire Emblem or the BokuMono series have a NA release date but this is me knowing that some of my favorite series will going to make an appearance somewhere down in the Switch's life. But if solely for one game, I wouldn't advise it or get the console second hand instead since there will be a new Switch model coming out, I'm sure a lot of people will be selling their Switch to get the new one. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm hoping that this game is the one that finally makes my Switch purchase worthwhile. I can't actually remember when I bought it - probably around a year-and-a-half ago, but in truth I've barely used it and so it's been pretty poor value thus far.

However I don't blame the Switch as such - I'm primarily a PC gamer so the idea of using consoles as a primary gaming machine is pretty alien to me and I'm most definitely not a living-room gamer. I've tried the staples - Odyssey, BoTW, Smash, Mario Kart, Octopath, etc, but what I find is that it's just something I wheel out when I have guests over and just ignore otherwise. As a result I've probably used it for 50 hours at most over those ~18 months. Still, better than the PS4 Pro I bought about a year ago and have barely used for 10 hours since then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought the switch a year ago for Octopath and especially in anticipation for Pokemon.

Turns out Octopath bored me to no end (dropped it half way through), and I definitely won't buy Pokemon. On the other hand I'm almost at 200 hours on BOTW (what a game) and this Fire Emblem looks very promising, so I guess it was worth it after all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's the problem? Buy a Switch with Fire Emblem, enjoy the game, sell both the console and the game when you are "full". Nintendo products rarely go down much in price over time, so you will still get back most of the money you spent. 

Alternatively think about other games you might enjoy. If you are into turn based strategy games (so, similar to FE) there is a lot to choose from on Switch. Valkyria Chronicles, Into the Breach, Wargroove, the upcoming Mutant: Year Zero to name a few.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why would you want to buy a console for one game?

You can't be in a situation where you a) have to think about spending your ressources and b) not having better places to spend them.

Do not buy a Switch for a single game, that is kinda pointless. Save the money, buy the Dishwasher you rather need or buy yourself something you can enjoy longer.

That said, there are some very good recommendations for the switch in this thread already, if you would inform yourself and consider that you could have more enjoy other games on the console, it is well worth a purchase.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Buying an expensive system for one game would just be silly. What if you end up not liking the game? Then you would have spend a lot of money for nothing. 

But fortunately you don't have to buy a Switch or any system for just one game. There's always at least something on it to catch your fancy. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to buy Switch mainly for the FE experience. This is the only reason why I haven't got a Switch yet. It also helps that Nintendo have some great exclusives so the Switch is a great companion if you are a PC gamer. 

Although I'll agree with the rest don't buy a console for 1 game especially if you're unsure you'll like it. If you can find 3 to 5 games then you can at least justify buying a console imo. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought a Switch just for Fire Emblem Three Houses. I did the same for Awakening with the 3DS and ended up playing 400+ hours on it. Then I probably played 200+ hours on Fates and 150+ hours on Echoes. Fire Emblem makes any console buying worthwhile.

I might pick up Trials of Mana remastered when it comes out, but I'm not too worried, Three Houses will probably take me 200 to 300 hours, and since I bought my Switch second hand, by then it'll be like 1€ per playing hour, which is a lot cheaper than, I don't know, an Escape game, or going to the pub.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the replies.

I did bought a 3DS for awakening, but that's a handheld console, so it was cheaper.

Buying a Switch second handed, like Nio suggested, is a good idea.
And there are some other games I like besides Fire Emblem, but it isn't that much. I got bored with Nintendo during the Wii-u era. But the Switch seems to be good.

And not being able to customize the avatar might be a big no for me. I'll look into it. Thanks again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...