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Is this the most radically different FE game we've had (for a while)?


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 - very high number of exclusive character depending on route/house chosen

 - way more reclassing than usual, even compared to the Fates games

 - weapons being usable in any class, meaning you can technically have an axe cleric, a bow dancer, and a limitless combination of all. 

 - weapon skill working differently from before

 - invaluable lessons learnt from FF Heroes, like giving Close Counter to ranged units. 

 - far more action going on outside of the battlefield; cooking, fishing...

 

What do you think? Is this the most different FE of all? If not, which one is it?

Which changes seem the most radical to you? 

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5 minutes ago, Llorona said:

They're definitely trying a lot of new things in this one. Some feel like a natural evolution of things and some do feel completely new to me, like the school phase.

The school phase is an evolution of My Castle from Fates, but with actual plot significance and a few more mechanics like skill training on top. Most of the other activities like farming, dining and tea time originated from My Castle.

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I am going out on a limb and saying yes. 

 

While a good number of these mechanics are reworks or extensions of traditional ones, the addition of Persona-esque social mechanics is quite possibly the most radical change to the formula yet and will have an effect on the game's pacing (for good or ill) that cannot be overstated.

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1 minute ago, Nickdos said:

The school phase is an evolution of My Castle from Fates, but with actual plot significance and a few more mechanics like skill training on top. Most of the other activities like farming, dining and tea time originated from My Castle.

It seems different enough from My Castle, or expanded enough, I guess, that I have a hard time thinking of it like that, but you're not wrong.

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Just now, Etheus said:

I am going out on a limb and saying yes. 

 

While a good number of these mechanics are reworks or extensions of traditional ones, the addition of Persona-esque social mechanics is quite possibly the most radical change to the formula yet and will have an effect on the game's pacing (for good or ill) that cannot be overstated.

Like what exactly? I really hate this unfounded meme about Persona.

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Just now, Llorona said:

It seems different enough from My Castle, or expanded enough, I guess, that I have a hard time thinking of it like that, but you're not wrong.

I have to disagree with the assertion that this is My Castle entirely. My Castle was such a barebones, crap feature that it basically had more in common with Farmville (with social features) than with what we're seeing here.

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2 minutes ago, Etheus said:

I have to disagree with the assertion that this is My Castle entirely. My Castle was such a barebones, crap feature that it basically had more in common with Farmville (with social features) than with what we're seeing here.

Whether it appealed to you or not is not an argument. Features like fishing and gardening are traced back to the crop fields and mine, the ingredient collection to their respective food and gem collectibles, the cafeteria to the same building in My Castle, the shauna that was seen in a screenshot to the hot springs, tea time to skinship, walking and seeing your units active in the monastery just like you could do so in mycastle and etc etc etc

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7 minutes ago, Nickdos said:

Like what exactly? I really hate this unfounded meme about Persona.

You mean other than this being structured exactly like a Persona - a calendar driven game in which an overarching objective is presented to the player with a time limit in ingame days to achieve that objective, but with the rest of that time allowing for exploration of combat or social activities at the player's leisure, each of which takes a set amount of ingame time?

 

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. And this duck happens to sing Rivers in the Desert.

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2 minutes ago, Etheus said:

You mean other than this being structured exactly like a Persona - a calendar driven game in which an overarching objective is presented to the player with a time limit in ingame days to achieve that objective, but with the rest of that time allowing for exploration of combat or social activities at the player's leisure, each of which takes a set amount of ingame time?

 

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. And this duck happens to sing Rivers in the Desert.

Just one detail about the calendar and time isn't much and anyway, similar things be found in other JRPGs too, it's not exclusive to Persona. But whatever, you already compared My Castle to fucking Farmville which is ridiculous, so you obviously aren't being serious here .

Edited by Nickdos
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This is the first time a school/academy setting is playing an instrumental role in the game, however when taking Kusakihara's comments about regarding its inspiration, namely the academic backgrounds of Sigurd, Quan, and Eldigan and how that tied together in "Genealogy of the Holy War", the setting is very much an extension of that idea. Everything else gameplay-wise comes together nicely. The Calendar and Social-Link esque supports are new additions, but they feel natural when taking the setting and story into consideration.

In short, is it radical at a glance? Yes. 

In reality? Not really, in my opinion.

Edited by BZL8
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I like the idea of canon classes for FE characters so I won't probably use the class diversity much, if I can avoid doing so.

I've never reclassed in FE. I find the idea absurd and immersion-breaking. 



 

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I feel like the most "radically different" things about this game are the battalions and gambits and the fact that most of your army is front-loaded recruits at the beginning.  I guess weapon availability too, but that's got limits and without a system that emphasizes their differences there really isn't much of a difference between the weapon classes aside from bows and those with limited access.

Apart from that, everything else is borrowed from a previous FE game in some respect.

  • Class change is like a mix between the DS games and the Fates DLC options, except you have to also meet qualifications.  The only really new thing here are the qualifications, as before there was only ever a level (and gender) requirement.
  • Route-exclusive characters happen in Gaiden/Echoes and Fates.  Also somewhat a thing in Sacred Stones, but there's only really a difference of maybe 3-5 units and they all converge for a good portion of the game anyway.
  • As far as I can tell, weapon skill doesn't work all that differently, the only thing different is there's a new primary method for raising it (tutoring) and it's one of the qualifications for changing class.
  • "Close Counter for ranged units" is just code for "1-2 range physical weapons", and honestly that was a thing in Gaiden/Echoes.  Fire Emblem Heroes just turned it into a skill.
  • Fates had an almost stupid amount of focus on stuff outside of combat.  And Echoes had a lot of traversing out of combat, between the dungeon crawling and mingling with NPCs who gave you rewards for completing minor tasks.

I will give it that it's a unique concoction of features that have appeared throughout the series, and I will also say that battalions are quite the novel concept for this series.  These elements are probably what make the game stand out the most, along with the fact that they're yet again trying to be ambitious with the story by basing it off of one of the most beloved FE stories and once again going for moral ambiguity.  However, when you boil it down, there isn't a whole lot that's "new", per se.

I'm gonna say the most "radically different" Fire Emblem game is probably Gaiden/Echoes.  It's so different that it practically isn't even of the same genre.  Fates was also fairly different, to the point where if it wasn't for the strategy, weapon triangle, amiibo characters, and the characters that carried over/are expies of characters from Awakening, it wouldn't even be a FE game.  And yeah, I say that as someone who gushes over one of its minor characters more than I do for practically any other character in the series. RGaYS2c.pngRGaYS2c.pngRGaYS2c.png

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32 minutes ago, Vince777 said:

I like the idea of canon classes for FE characters so I won't probably use the class diversity much, if I can avoid doing so.

I've never reclassed in FE. I find the idea absurd and immersion-breaking. 



 

Fates had reclasses that had unique outfits and are mentioned even in supports like Odin, Takumi and Midori

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I'm inclined to agree with Nickdos that Three Houses isn't the most radically different game and that Fates introduces more new things, at least based on first impression.

Most elements of the game, such as the permanent route split, time skip, voice acting, etc. are featured in other Fire Emblem games like FE4, Fates, and Echoes. I will admit, that the combination of all these elements borrowed from other games will give Three Houses a unique flair to it since most of these things appeared exclusively in a few game, but I don't think its fair to call it the most radically different entry because its borrowing these elements from other games in the series.

While 3H doesn't appear to be too different from other games in the series, I do think it'll but some interesting  twist on mechanics featured in other games. Weapon arts being tied to durability is something that skews the risk / reward in using them, since the durability loss impacts your units in later battles and possibly your funds rather than just in the current battle. Similarly, the my castle system from Fates is being used as a basis for the school in 3H, but backstory behind it makes it less immersion breaking than in Fates and from what I can see, it seems more fully featured with more minigames and a wider array of interactions with your units.

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4 hours ago, Ertrick36 said:

Fates was also fairly different, to the point where if it wasn't for the strategy, weapon triangle, amiibo characters, and the characters that carried over/are expies of characters from Awakening, it wouldn't even be a FE game.

"If it wasn't for the thing that makes FE what it is, Fates wouldn't be an FE game"

Image result for thinking emoji

______________________________________________________________

Anyway, to anwser the question, while i don't think Three Houses is the most radically different FE, it's certainly one of the more different ones and it's because of that that i'm getting a feeling that it won't be one of the best starting points for newcomers. 

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I suppose it comes down to what better constitutes a "radical difference". A lot of things changing by a little bit, or a few things changing by a lot. Attack Stance in Fates was the freshest thing added to the series for a long time, and I haven't yet seen anything as deeply impactful to the "standard" FE gameplay as that in 3H.

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5 hours ago, Etheus said:

You mean other than this being structured exactly like a Persona - a calendar driven game in which an overarching objective is presented to the player with a time limit in ingame days to achieve that objective, but with the rest of that time allowing for exploration of combat or social activities at the player's leisure, each of which takes a set amount of ingame time?

 

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. And this duck happens to sing Rivers in the Desert.

That's a really surface level comparison. You should look at this article as it does a good job of explaining why comparing Three Houses to Persona is doing the game a disservice. It's spoiler free too so there's nothing to worry about in reading it.

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Why are people suddenly claiming that Fates is more radical than Three Houses? Fates' gameplay is almost a carbon copy of Awakening. I have a hard time thinking of  a single feature besides minor things like My Castle and Dragon Veins that make it stand out. They added daggers, but Three Houses has fists so no difference there. The weapon triangle is somewhat different, but there has been a lot of diffrent kinds of weapon triangles throughout the series, like the weird magic-focused ones.

Three Houses by comparison changes how you build your units, how you're introduced to your units, the number of units (compared to the length of the game), how magic works, how unlocking classes work, lets every class use most weapon types, adds battalions, adds a new skill system, and oh yeah, completely changes the gameplay flow of the entire game by tying it to the monastery and the calendar system (My castle in comparison was more like Awakening's barracks except you couldd walk around in it).

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Fates being radically different? I think the complete opposite. I'd sooner say Fates' gameplay was the most natural extension to where the series had been going for a while.

I'll have to play Three Houses first, but at a glance I feel like SoV was probably more radically different.

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