Describe your "perfect" Fire Emblem game.

[Gods]

Describe your "perfect" FE game. What has to be added? What has to be removed? What needs to be tweaked?

[ciphertul]

Sacred Stone with graphic and animation update...

Only slightly kidding, but a return to Skills being less important, no reclass option and a greater emphasis on Class and Stats. I would like a free side battle option for leveling but with a limited amount of promotion items making you really need to plan who you are promoting. Oh, and a post game where you can mess around, like SS and max your units out.

[Fabulously Olivier]

Start with Three Houses.

 

Shrink the base of operations to a fraction of its size with no loading screens.

 

Make it more enemy phase focused and add multiple Defense missions for climatic Elincia's Gambit style battles to break up the pace.

 

Decrease the number of routes - focusing on telling two well written sides of a morally gray conflict. 

 

Remove all outside actors. No magical dragon goddess. No mole people. Hinge the conflict on a natural war for resources or some other politically understandable source of conflict.

 

Stop giving the middle finger to infantry lance classes.

 

Add a lot more class options and improve the class system.

 

No gender locked classes.

 

Combine all magic types into Magic Rank and give every character one spell per Magic Rank. 

 

Restrict Auxiliary Battles to 1 per free day to improve pacing.

 

Add Tellius' Bonus Experience system. This is generated through missions, paralogues, auxiliary battles, and seminars.

 

Allow Seminar participants to be manually selected. Increase the weapon xp gained and restore some uses of all sacred weapons (combine with Rest).

 

Remove lost items and make fishing fun, with an auto fish option for players who don't want to bother with it all all.

Edited February 18, 2020 by Etheus

[Saint Rubenio]

Berwick Saga

A game with:

- DSFE's quality of life. It somewhat worsened later on, in my opinion.

- FE11's gorgeous HUD. Seriously, I know everyone hates the graphics of the DS titles, but you have to admit that at least Shadow Dragon's HUD is great.

- FE12's excellent difficulty scalling. Offensive stats greatly increase, but defensive stats do not, so turtling is 9 times out of 10 not viable - you have to focus on erasing the enemy before they erase you.

- FE6's engaging map design. Maybe make the maps a little smaller tho. You can also call this point "FE12 without the ambush reinforcements".

- FE5's capture system and easy-to-salvage cast. Sure, some people are better than others, but you can use everyone with relative ease, thanks to low caps and scrolls. True balance is hard to conceptualize and harder to reach, so let's aim for the next best thing. As for the capture system... well, I just find it fun to try and spare some bosses here and there.

- Berwick Saga's way of handling horses. You have to purchase them for pretty steep prices and they can die on you.

- An artstyle that doesn't make me hate the characters at first sight. For me personally, that would be... really, anything that isn't pre-FE5 or post-FE12. What can I say, it's just my opinion.

- Please, go back to 2D. FE has gained nothing but stiff animations, slowness and visual glitches from the jump to 3D. Let's make this more like Berwick Saga, shall we?

Those are my main points. A good story would be a great bonus, too, but even the crappiest of tales wouldn't ruin a FE game that has everything I want from FE. Story can be skipped. Gameplay, not so much, unless your name is Shadow Dragon I suppose. As for the music, I like almost all of the music in FE (except for FE7, that game has music that I hate - but even it has a few tunes that I enjoy), so I don't really have any preferences here.

[DragonFlames]

Take Three Houses. Done.

That was a joke, of course.
These are the points Three Houses was missing for me to make it actually perfect:

• make each route's Part Two equally long
• give Part Two as a whole more Chapters to tell a more complete story. This would also give the game more time to flesh out the mole people and the backstory as well as foreshadow some of the more egregious Giant Space Flea From Nowhere-esque final bosses (looking at you, Silver Snow)
• speaking of Silver Snow: make it its own story and not "Verdant Wind but without Claude".
• don't return to the monastery after Part Two hits. Have each new Chapter start you off in a small base camp near the location of the next battle and only return to the monastery if the context of the plot makes sense for us to do so.
• remove the instructing stuff from Part Two. Still having the player choose what ranks each unit should focus on and train is fine, but move away from the school system once Part Two hits to better drive home the fact that yes, this is five years later and we are at f***ing war right now.
• Add the second battle of Gronder Field to each route and give better reasoning for it to be there
• remove and and all romantic hints from the A-supports. Having those there makes getting multiple A-supports for one person and picking an S-support really awkward.
  Remember the "steal yo girl" meme? ... Yeah.
• remove ambush spawns from the highest difficulty setting. These never add anything but frustration to the game.
• in the same vein, don't just buff enemies' stats or place a million of them on a map as a way to make things more difficult. Rather create an organic and fair challenge through smart enemy placement and map design (but no bullshit gimmicks! Looking at you, Fates).
• tone down the egregious siege weapon spam in Azure Moon
• give me the following classes: an infantry class line that focuses on Lances, a female Dark Mage, a Sword-focused Master class that doesn't suck (my suggestion would be Trueblade with Shadow Dragon Swordmaster movement), a flying intermediate class that lets males go into Wyvern Rider more smoothly, a flying bow class accessible for everyone
• give infantry classes more movement in general to make them more viable options next to the mounted classes. 4 move on an Advanced class is close to unacceptable when others have 8.

Edited February 18, 2020 by DragonFlames

[Imuabicus]

Don´t care about which setting.

Quick and clean Interface, SD or Fates style.

No more Hubs.

Add Attack Stance back into the game.

If Avatar, then with customizable growths.

More weapon variety -> effective vs Mov Types, other weapon types, more named weapons without them being personal weapons and highly specialized weapons (for example: 0 Might 100 Hit 70 Crit).

MOAR STAVES! I´ve seen so many cool effects yet they seem relegated to healing and the occasional warp.

Enemy formations and enemy AI. Make me think about how I want to break the enemy apart and make attacking them dangerous.

Maps and enemies that punish overcommitment to one class.

A wind mechanic that influences fliers and archers, both positively and negatively (more mov and attack range respectively by good weather and the reverse).

Map mechanics. Let me open/close doors, lower/rise bridges, destroy/repair obstacles. Large scale map manipulation for both player and enemy.

More Classes. I want highly specialized mono-classes as well as mixed classes. And not just healer/support classes either, but classes that allow interaction with/manipulation of the map/the enemy. Also add maritime classes etc. to the game.

Make influencing Hit/Crit/HitAvo/CritAvo possible via corresponding rallies.

 

[Solvaij]

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Berwick Saga

A game with:

- DSFE's quality of life. It somewhat worsened later on, in my opinion.

- FE11's gorgeous HUD. Seriously, I know everyone hates the graphics of the DS titles, but you have to admit that at least Shadow Dragon's HUD is great.

- FE12's excellent difficulty scalling. Offensive stats greatly increase, but defensive stats do not, so turtling is 9 times out of 10 not viable - you have to focus on erasing the enemy before they erase you.

- FE6's engaging map design. Maybe make the maps a little smaller tho. You can also call this point "FE12 without the ambush reinforcements".

- FE5's capture system and easy-to-salvage cast. Sure, some people are better than others, but you can use everyone with relative ease, thanks to low caps and scrolls. True balance is hard to conceptualize and harder to reach, so let's aim for the next best thing. As for the capture system... well, I just find it fun to try and spare some bosses here and there.

- Berwick Saga's way of handling horses. You have to purchase them for pretty steep prices and they can die on you.

- An artstyle that doesn't make me hate the characters at first sight. For me personally, that would be... really, anything that isn't pre-FE5 or post-FE12. What can I say, it's just my opinion.

- Please, go back to 2D. FE has gained nothing but stiff animations, slowness and visual glitches from the jump to 3D. Let's make this more like Berwick Saga, shall we?

I was basically just going to write this but you beat me to it, so instead I'll tack on a few story things and call it good:

Story does matter to me, but I'm okay with just a plain old classic FE plot, especially if the characters and relationships are explored a little. I think a blend between the supports from GBAFE onward and the map conversations from FE4 and FE5 would be cool. Keep the same sort of idea of as supports with a sequence of conversations, but make them event/map locked AND support locked. On that note, I think smaller casts tend to work better for this kind of thing since you can pretty much keep track of all the relationships and everyone tends to feel like they're present in the army for a reason.

Related to the story thing, bringing back full permadeath would be nice, where characters generally don't just get gravely injured when they lose a fight. I think one of the most awesome things about FE5 (and a few others) is how much variety you can have in cutscenes depending on who is alive and who is not. If Finn dies, he's dead. That's all there is to it. Just in general, an increase in character responses to other character's deaths or maybe some bigger story changes depending on who is alive or dead would make permadeath more relevant and would be a part of my ideal Fire Emblem.

The variety of map objectives in FE5 and FE9. Going with the discussion above, for me, story/gameplay integration is usually what makes me feel strongly about a game. The use of map objectives that make sense with the plot sells a game's story to you on a personal level, no matter how plain it might be, and it's not that hard to make a plot that allows for a variety of map objects. FE5 really pulls this off with the objectives shifting along with the story. Also, I just think more map objectives are fun.

That's basically it. Those story things plus the gameplay and interface stuff SR said and that's my perfect Fire Emblem.

[TheGoodHoms]

Story & World: Story should be simple, but well written. I know stopping the evil empire from resurrecting the demon dragon using the magic sword blessed by the god of justice sounds really generic, but when tropes are utilized well they can make some incredibly compelling tales, especially when paired with relatable, interesting characters(The Lord of the Rings anyone? Star Wars perhaps?). Flesh out the world by creating multiple kingdoms and factions each with their own unique identity. Not just in terms of political ideology, but visually as well. Draw inspiration from other medieval period cultures we're not used to seeing in Fire Emblem like the Byzantines or the Vikings(but not the FE:Heroes's wack Norse Mythology).

Gameplay: Focus in on the core turn based combat at the heart of the series. Give every class clear strengths and weaknesses that encourages a diverse roster with every unit fulfilling a particular role in your army's composition. Keep unit micromanaging to a minimum, the less time spent scrolling through menus to equip the things you need for the next battle the better. Make the dating sim elements affinity and support systems secondary to the core gameplay, these sorts of side actives should short, simple, and never overshadow the tactical grid-based combat.

[Yexin]

in no particular order

 

1) 2D graphics with sprites and so on just like pre-Tellius games
I don't know, i just feel 2D graphics and animations fit Fire Emblem so much more, and i'd love to see what they could do with modern technologies.
I mean look at Octopath Traveler, that game's damn gorgeous, and it really shows how a bunch of pixels can convey emotions just as (if not more than) 3D models

2) No avatar (nor the main character being just an avatar except not advertised as such)
Just stop, i had enough, i want an actually compelling main character, not a bland representation of myandeveryoneelse'sself, because I AM NOT compelling.
When i play a Fire Emblem game, i want to be inspired by its characters and story, but if the main character is empty, the whole point of playing it becomes empty as well.

3) No child units, unless actually relevant to the plot, à la Genealogy
Luckily 3H got rid of them, but i fear they might return someday.

4) Good amount of support converations, but not Fates level -> No excessive focus on romantic relations of any sort; background informations or interesting topics discussed instead
Self explanatory, i want good supports, and if a conversation wouldn't be interesting, just cut it from the final game, there's no need for oversaturation or filler conversations for the pure sake of quantity.

5) Base is back, with Bonus Exp, Info conversations and Forge (with customizable weapons) as well
They were simply amazing, why did they even scrap them in the first place.

6) Linear story, no multiple routes, no "your choices matter" stuff
Imo branching stories hurt writing and consistency so much, FE shoud just forget about them.

7) No World Map, no farming -> Limited resources -> Good difficulty even when playing Normal
I hate it in every FE game except for Gaiden and Echoes, it allows you to farm exp and/or items and annihilates any sense of tension, when the situation requires it.
"Yeah, we're about to take on the final boss, but WAIT, a random encounter popped up so let's go clear it, then we should have a look around every shop in the continent just in case."

8 ) Return to %-based skills
I doubt many will agree with this, but maybe i'll create a thread where i talk about difficulty in FE games and ask for other opinions; for now, let's just reduce it to "for me, %-based skills are great for SRPG, which FE should technically be".

9) Good map design: most of the maps, if not every map, must be memorable -> No gimmick mechanics such as dragon veins or stuff like that
PoR and RD have amazing map design, they're all so diverse, and thanks to this, i can easily remember the majority of their maps (i'll never EVER forget RD's first 10 chapters, they're engraved on my mind). About gimmick mechanics, they add nothing relevant to the game, they're basically a "use me to unlock this chapter's 'easy mode' and clear it" button, and don't make me feel like i achieved anything from beating that chapter, i just wish they never come back.

10) Just a high quality game in general, filled with love
When i play Echoes, i can feel all the love those who worked on it put in that game, despite its many flaws. I just wish this was possible with more FE games.

Edited February 18, 2020 by Yexin

[eclipse]

Story - Let's NOT end it with an evil dragon/religion, shall we?  Would like a bit more gray morality - 3H tried, but the Slithers ruined it.  Definitely want more politics, though~!

Characters - FE6 had the right idea, when it comes to "everyone's included".  Old, young, pretty, ugly, male, female, if you're willing to fight, welcome to the army.  Would also prefer it if the Big Bad was average-looking, like his/her mooks.  As well as the playable characters.  Outfits needs to be practical on both genders - I'm not going to fault light sword infantry for wearing loose clothing, but stuff like thigh windows and boob armor need to be unisex.  Mounted units are expected to wear some form of pants (even if it's under the skirt).

Various things that affect gameplay - I still think FE11 had the best reclass system, though the gender split needs to go poof.  Bring back FE12's prep arena, too.  Bows should NOT be part of the weapon triangle, and magic can have its own light/anima/dark thingy (anima having its own triangle isn't my idea of fun).  Stat bonuses based on following the weapon triangle and rank were a good idea.  Base stuff like AS off of Strength and weapon weight.  I liked rescue-dropping, and using CON for that is acceptable (but none of this "mounted women lose 5 CON because we hate you").  I like affinities, and supports that gain bonus based on affinities, AND a limit on how many supports one can get.  Mounts get canto for non-combat things.  FE4's roads were a good idea, but I think they should've given a movement bonus to infantry/armors only.  Keep classes to two tiers, and put a damper on stat inflation - the core of FE is math, and bigger numbers doesn't necessarily mean harder game.

Maps - GBA FEs had a decent variety when it came to objectives, so let's bring some of them back (multiple seize points, kill off a specific unit, the usual route/seize, etc.).  Ambush spawns should be on a small number of specific maps only, and must make sense in terms of the story (namely, Our Heroes are invading somewhere, and the enemy knows the best hiding spots or something).  Gimmicks shouldn't force the map to take too much longer (FE12 chapter 3 I am looking at you).

Routes - Sacred Stones had the right idea, but overall it was too short.  Would've liked the route split to take up something like 8-9 chapters, then have the characters reunite for the next 10 or so.  Or attempt to do it 3H style, except the Big Decision is on Chapter 6, and the route plays out differently depending on how you treated the three lords during the school phase.

[Ottservia]

For me basically take awakening and 3H’s character writing, the game mechanics and design philosophy of fates, children units from awakening and fates, the bonus exp system from echoes, and SoV quality voice acting. Then throw all that into a pot with a simple linear yet effective story and that’s about all I could really ask for

Edited February 18, 2020 by Ottservia

[Flere210]

Story: i am fine whit both linearity and a route system, but in the latter case should be something that change the story almost entirely. Similarly, if there is an avatar, they need an actual dialogue tree that matter. 

Gameplay: i think Conquest whit the handling of stats between Thracia and New mystery. Getting several caps shoul be the norm of everyone that is not a jeigan, but those caps should be class speciphic. This way the player can really get ahead of the curve in mid-lategame. Reclassing imo should work similarly to fates, but with some extra options. And i would nerf into the ground every mounted class. The weapon system would include the options of two handed weapons, shield or dual wield/gauntlet. Two handed weapons smash shields and got quadded by dual wield, wich don't do damage to shields. 

Base: imo it should be like a Suikoden castle: some characters you recruit are not fighters but instead add features to the base: new ways to spend BEXP such as unlocking reclassing options or buying profociencies, new shops and forges, maybe even decorations and minigames, and there should be a system to habe PC support whit those people.

Maps: i like dragon veins, expecially when the opponent can use them too, so i would integrate them. In general i would limit Kill boss/Conquest maps to the bare minimum, that is, big climatic fights againist bosses stronger than what is achievable by the player, because those battles are those that end up getting cheesed by warp and the like most of the time. Instead i would make most chapters either "kill every last one of them", defend, or a special objective.

Classes: every class get a special move that define them, for example i would give PCC to swordmasters and HoMM style charge to cavaliers. Ballistician in the fe10 style would be a thing because i love them a lot and there would be much more magic classes, in particular as red units. Other than that i would try to limit the bloat as much as possible.

 

[Glennstavos]

Oh boy, let's see if I don't forget anything.

Spoiler

Story

• No customizable Avatar. The story is told from the Lord's point of view, but there are two, brother and sister, Lords the player may choose to experience the game through. The Lord you don't pick still remains important in terms of narrative, but defers the hard decisions ultimately to you even if they have their own opinions. Altogether the Lord decision affects very little besides dialogue, as the two characters are always presented with the same information and their disposition/personality will be tailored to the player's decision making.
• No multiple games/route splits. It's one story with one set of protagonists/antagonists, and the story molds based on the cumulative choices of the player. The Reputation system (see first point of Gameplay section) also shifts the attitude of the main Lord and influences what decisions are even available to the player later on.
  • There are multiple endings, but attempting a "good path" isn't going to invalidate the other endings, just change the outcomes for characters in a way that is nuanced. There is no version of the story where everybody survives, no matter how badly the Lord (and player) may want it.
• A total of 40-45 playable characters, but ten are locked to certain reputation thresholds and story decisions throughout the game. 
• Go hard on CG artwork for important scenes. Minimize the "character models standing around" scenes so that there's some visual variety as the plot is presented to the player.
• No S supports or expectation everybody can support everybody else. Shrink it down to 5-10 support chains per unit. But there will be multiple character support conversations if all of them have the required amount of points with each other, leading to even greater support bonuses.
• Include a bunch of base conversations between characters who are not the Lord and may not even have supports to unlock. Because sometimes you just want to write an interesting moment between two characters but can't flesh out a full support chain.
• Divine Pulse/Turnwheel returns. It is tied to a relic that the Lord owns that must be upgraded and recharged with obtainable items. Casual mode will give it infinite uses and replace all upgrades and recharges with premium items. The narrative is very careful on the relic's portrayal and rules - only turning back time a few seconds, and the wielder returns to where they were at that point in time, rather than being able to teleport in front of a blade plunging into a friend's back.

Gameplay

• A Subdue command, where the player reduces their stats to try and incapacitate the target without killing them. The game will keep track of how many enemies you kill in maps when fighting your own countrymen or other innocents. This creates a Reputation system leading to you getting support from different factions and totally different recruitable units later on.
  • There will also be a specific training class of weapons meant for subduing that make it so your stats don't reduce and you're able to subdue enemies on enemy phase.  
    • There will also be some combat arts pertaining to subduing that can be used with any weapon.
  • In order to keep the Steal command relevant, you cannot take a subdued enemy's inventory. 
• Complete revamp of green units and better map design when they're around. Controllable green unit soldiers are more common, while civilian green units can be directed by the Lord similar to Tellius.
• Complete revamp of fog of war. You can now see enemies within eight spaces of you, just not their class or other info. You can also attack their figures, though you won't get a battle forecast and your hit will be reduced. Torches exist, as well as a torch spell that can be fired off into the distance like a flare to reveal enemies. Enemy AI is no longer omnicient on these maps, but using a torch item reveals your stats to them and will adjust their targeting accordingly.
• Mage classes use tomes, rather than exclusively learned spells, but there will still be one or two unique spells for units.
• Combat Arts that expend durability and occasionally health at the same time.
  • Combat Arts are learned from consumable scrolls, including the repositional combat arts. Generic combat arts can be bought in infinite quantity while the exotic stuff is limited or found within chests. Units will also have one or two combat arts unique to them upon reaching certain skill ranks.
• Class customization is no longer totally free, but branched promotions return and every unit has at least one classline to reclass into at the start. Sometimes earning more by completing certain support chains, paralogues or story events.
  • Promoting to the next tier of class requires both a certain level threshold and skill ranks, but no more RNG class exams. Reclassing to a previous class is free and I want players to try to customize builds on units to fit different map situations.
• Classes go back to only equipping a few types of weapons, but it's not terribly restrictive and there will be more hybrid mage fighter options. In particular, sectioning off white and black magic, like having a war monk class that only uses white but not black magic.
• Class skills and equippable skills like in Three Houses. But weapon prowess should be a passive bonus tied to that weapon rank rather than being an equippable skill. Possibly some other passive bonuses to unlock as well.
• Bonus exp returns and is entirely earned by bonus objectives and turn count. The objectives are clearly labeled for the player on the battle conditions screen, as are the rewards.
• Battalions, gambits, authority and charm return.
• Linked attack bonuses, but no longer tied to support and only with melee weapons at the start of the game so it's a bit closer to DnD flanking. Archers can be able to provide bonuses only with a high bow rank.
• Weapon triangle returns. Breaker skills now provide bonuses to damage taken and received rather than hit/avoid.
• Monsters, both the old kind and the giant ones of three houses. I also want large squadrons of soldiers banded together as an enemy type that is fought the same way as those large monsters with the armor break system.
• Deployment slots start at 8 and can be as high as 16 as the game goes on. Undeployed units still gain a fixed amount of experience and skill ranks based on goals you set for them. No motivation or teacher gimmicks though. I also like the idea of character-focused paralogues where you only have four or five specific units or mounted classes are not allowed because you're fighting inside of buildings, alleyways, and corridors.
• No explorable base. Everything is accessed from menus.
• I also want a memorial where the player can be reminded of fallen units on Classic mode.
• No calendar system. But certain paralogues will lock out if you don't do them or meet their pre-requisites before certain story chapters. If the player finishes a chapter and wants to immediately do the next, they can do so. The requirements for unlocking paralogues are labeled for the player.
• Weapon repairs just cost gold. Not ore, not even on unique weapons. But I like the idea of collecting ore from specific chests to forge some unique weapons you can't otherwise get. 
• Avoid reusing maps unless the story calls for it.
• Make stat growths visible to the player.
  • And in general don't hide any information or calculations whenever the player is looking for them with the "explain this thing" button.
• Strength should absolutely affect Attack speed, just never to the degree it did in Tellius.
• Remove the Luck stat and add its typical effects to Dexterity
• Remove dismounting for mounted classes.
• Make canto a selectable option under attack for mounted units. Choosing to canto removes your ability to double or combat art.
• No auxilliary/grinding maps. But when you beat the game, there will be a post-game mode similar to FE8's creature campaign where you can tackle super hard content and have access to grinding maps and multi-map dungeons. The level cap is higher than you'd reach in a regular playthrough.
• Try not to design a game where Divine Pulse is necessary. Reinforcements can move on the same turn they arrive, but entry points must always be clearly labeled before they arrive. 
• The Ranking system returns, and it grades you on turn count, optional objectives, and how many Divine pulses you used. Earning high ranks unlocks concept art galleries and maybe some other small bonuses that you could look up on youtube.
• Bonus battles accessible from the main menu after your beat the game. You have preset units and enemies and just have to try to beat the map with what you're given. The battles also let you play with some villain characters as there is no plot involved.
  • They get pretty hard and reward the player with bonus options for new games. The hardest difficulty mode, options such as increasing or removing experience gain. Increasing or removing stat growths, and a mode that randomizes unit stats, growths, and class options.

 

 

[AvatarofDiscord]

Units: Avatar that you can customize but can't S support everyone, maybe like 5 options for each but do not make them the main lord, otherwise have a cast like FE7 but have them be in the story like in FE TH, Bring back Taguel/Manaketes

Maps: The Fates maps were good, refine them better with something to make each map stand out like a fun terrain gimmick

Paralouges: Take a lesson out of Caesar's book from wargroove, have the Avatar be the star of these paralouges without the help of the Lord, but also have certain units pickable for these missions

Classes: Nothing too complex, FE7 class system, but give out FE13 reclass options

Other: Some kind of fun minigames such as the tactic puzzles from Heroes, or even some kind of stupid RPG type of game

[X-Naut]

I've got a long-winded block of text for gameplay so I'm putting it in spoilers
 

Spoiler

 

Here we go

• There is no weapon triangle, and in fact no axe category. Melee weapons are now Blades and Polearms, with the former getting swords and shorter axes while the latter receives spears, lances and poleaxes.
• Generic bows have 2-3 range, with lighter bows and the more unique ones (Killer, Brave) having 2-range only. Longbows are 3-4 range. No more Bowrange +whatever horsefoolery.
• Magic combines the learned system and the tome-&-staff system. Having the learned spell and the tome gives you the "forged" spell and allows you to unconditionally use that tome or staff (within magic-using classes). Some magic, like Elfire and Mend, will exist only in tome/staff form.
• The equippable item slot is back and can be used for stuff like skill rings, shields, and the boots.
• Shields have durability and grant %-based damage reduction against physical and/or magic attacks. If facing effective damage durability loss is also multiplied and the damage reduction is halved. Armored classes have a constant 30% physical damage reduction.
• There is a lot more variety among weapon subclasses, between additional effects and needing to be mounted or dismounted to use them. Shields can only be equipped alongside certain weapon subtypes.

 

• Three tiers, FE10-ish stat scaling. Branching promotions exist in the first tier only. Promotion via Master Seals (tier 2) and Master Crowns (tier 3).
• Three Houses style reclassing, with an instruction system being available for units not being deployed, with a few down time points in the game where everyone can brush up on something. Armor, Cavalry, and Flight now operate on a 3-rank system (max rank goes up with tier), and Magic is added as a ranked proficiency. Certain accessories will require a certain rank to use (i.e. Armor for shields).  Arms Scroll goes in favor of individual skill manuals.
• Dismounting is in, and will be made relevant by indoor maps penalizing mounts harshly. Think stairs slowing horses, fliers having a global 1.5 terrain cost, narrow passages and doorways having huge costs... you get it. It's also now a one-way deal, you get off your horse you stay off.
• Canto is cavalry-only and is limited to attacking when you don't take damage. Fliers receive Overpass, which lets them pass through any non-fliers. If Rescue is in it's limited to mounts carrying non-mounts, but the passenger can now initiate so you can have one-turn rescue-drops.
• Movement range for all classes is between 5 and 9, and there will be a global movement cap (of 10-12).

 

• Critical hits only deal double damage, but the extra damage they do is unaffected by shielding.
• Class skills are tied to the classes themselves. Learned skills go back to being more personally learned and level-up with the unit's tier.
• Multiple copies of the same skill won't stack, so say a skill has a buff aura? It won't count multiple times.
• Combat Arts return as the game's special attacks, and now carry a fixed number of uses per map.
• Effective Combat Arts multiply weapon Might and stack with effective weapons to give a x5 boost. The effect of effectiveness multipliers is also cut in half, so x2 if it would be x3, or x3 if it would be x5.

See what I mean? I could elaborate on the weapon differences more but maybe later.

 

Story: Your Lord is a Troubadour Lord and she is the sole protagonist. There are a few supporting characters but there's no avatar. The game has three arcs.

• Arc 1 sees a coup instigated while the prince is away helping the neighboring kingdom in a war against the enemy kingdom. Main character wants to prove herself so that father will declare her his heir (she has a younger brother) and volunteers to aid the resistance. The two have a tense yet caring relationship: he allows her to go out on vigilante missions but forbids her from picking up a weapon. The other houses call it strange. The coup was instigated by moles from the enemy kingdom.
• Arc 2 sees main character volunteer to join the war effort after a spat with her father. He still won't name her the heir and insists that she start looking into marriage, so she loses her temper and disowns her family. She auto-promotes to Tier 2 and can finally use a weapon at the start of the act, and in the latter half her father sends her the Tier 3 promotion item as a sign of wanting to make amends. (She's keeping in touch with her mother and brother discretely, but he eventually catches on.) She works alongside the allied country to take the war to enemy soil, but is unnerved by some of their rhetoric... there is a lot of bad blood between the two kingdoms from past disputes. Still, she'll fight on to represent her own kingdom.
• Arc 3 begins right after they take the capitol and wipe out the crown. During "peace negotiations" which she is not a part of she witnesses a group of allied kingdom soldiers ransacking the fallen kingdom's citizens and routs them. She is then branded a traitor and arrested, but her co-captain from the allied kingdom sneaks them out and tells her to run, while he covers her escape. Her army flees back to her country and her father meets her at the border, where they reunite and reconcile. With their atrocities clear and relationships soured, their kingdom goes to war with their former ally.
• The game ends with one kingdom in ruin, another crippled but purged of its war hawks, and her home kingdom lightly damaged. Main character's relationship with her father has been repaired and he offers her the house, but she declines. Instead, she wants to atone for her mistakes by helping with the reconstruction of what was once the enemy kingdom.

[Topaz Light]

Okay so since this is my perfect Fire Emblem game I am taking that as a license to just be self-indulgent as all hell with it, so I am going to do so and nobody can stop me.

• A variety of different chapter objectives and types of map structure, with fun and meaningful side objectives within them like recruiting allies, reaching tough-to-get-to treasures, protecting NPCs, etc.
• Firstly,  the game would return to the game progression setup used in Fire Emblems 1, 3, 5 ~ 7, and 9 ~ 12, with good-sized but not overly-large maps one after another with no overworld or hub area in-between. As a part of this, shops, arenas, houses, villages, etc. would be moved back onto battle maps, as would character recruitment.
• On that note, recruitable characters who aren't always affiliated with the main characters from the get-go, and who you meet and recruit (in a variety of different ways!) as you go through the game. This is one of the biggest things I really miss in Fire Emblem that's been drastically cut back since Awakening.
• A return to the class and leveling system used in... most of the series, really? With two "promotion" tiers and levels capping at 20 and resetting to 1 when a unit promotes. Also, reducing stat scaling back down to where having 30 in a non-HP stat is ridiculously high, like in the GBAFE games.
• Adding onto this, though, I do like "trainee"-type classes like Journeymen, Recruits, Pupils, and Valentian Villagers, so I'd love to have classes like those in a sort of "Tier 0".
• Branching promotions are fun, but make them work Sacred Stones-style so there's no backing out; you gotta commit to your choice!
• A return to the skill system used in the Jugdral and Tellius games, where skills are built into specific classes and characters innately and there's no class proficiency or learning skills by leveling up. Use skills to express the uniqueness of characters, and be another way of differentiating them!
• An Avatar who works like Byleth in dialogue scenes, but factors into the plot more like Mark or Kris, being just an assistant or retainer to the actual main character of the plot. I'd love a return to New Mystery's way of handling the gameplay side of customizing the Avatar, letting you choose their base class and assign stats via the character's past, present, and future, perhaps with the latter in this case being contextualized as their aspirations and affecting their endings.
  As for appearance stuff, you'd be able to choose the Avatar's hairstyle, face type, hair color, etc. just like in Awakening and Fates, but you'd also be able to choose skin color and eye color. For hair and eye color, you'd be able to get really granular about it and even input your own color hex code for them if you wanted, although presets would also be available for convenience's sake. Build customization options would also be broadened significantly, and you'd be able to choose your character's outfit from selections perhaps somewhat limited by your choice of class. They'd be split into categories like heavy armor, light armor, robes, and... whatever you'd classify stuff like Nils' bard outfit as? Regular-ish clothes?
  Gender would be a completely separate selection from your character's appearance, with support for nonbinary characters as well as male and female.
• On that note, I would want there to be good diversity in the cast, and have the characters be written well and treated compassionately. And this is in addition to the types of diversity Fire Emblem normally has, not instead of it. If absolutely nothing else, Fire Emblem games have massive casts and stories taking place on international scales! It's unrealistic for their casts not to be diverse, frankly.
• I could go either way on a second generation, but if there is one, it should... well, it should let you name the kid(s) attached to the Avatar for one thing, but more importantly, it should factor into the story the way Genealogy of the Holy War's second generation does. That is, a timeskip and a full-on shift in focus to the second generation, with no more returning playable characters from the first generation than you can count on one hand. And you know what? Sure, let the Avatar be one of them. Something needs to be done to keep them from coming in as a gamebreaker, but I don't really see a problem with them being playable in the second generation as well just in itself.

[Interdimensional Observer]

Perfection cannot be defined, it cannot be expected, perfection will come when it will, as it will.

What I may currently desire, I may not desire a few weeks from now. And if I knew what perfection was, then it'd be a little boring when it comes perhaps. And if it's boring, then is it perfect?

 

[Zan Partizanne]

Being Radiant Dawn and adding magical weapons and all staves from Thracia 776 and adding weapon triangle in hard mode.

[Glennstavos]

4 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Perfection cannot be defined, it cannot be expected, perfection will come when it will, as it will.

What I may currently desire, I may not desire a few weeks from now. And if I knew what perfection was, then it'd be a little boring when it comes perhaps. And if it's boring, then is it perfect?

 

You don't have to beat around the bush. Nobody would object to Oliver as the protagonist of a perfect fire emblem game. It's a splendid idea.

Edited February 19, 2020 by Glennstavos

[Shrimperor]

FE16 but with conquest gameplay and less map repitition and no Agartha

[The Roger The Paladin]

Multiple routes and hidden dialogue,
No avatar, so the spotlight is not hogged.
A lord who is older and already king.
These are a few of the things I am wanting.

Villains that have got a clear motivation,
Levels that challenge so each win brings elation,
A final boss who is actually daunting.
These are a few of the things I am wanting.

Dialogue not too quirky but also not plain,
And maybe a Dragon villain who isn't insane,
And please throw in an official Iron-man setting.
These are a few of the things I am wanting.

As I'm saying,
While replaying,
The games I've had,
I look at a few of my most wanted things.
Then I realize my chances are bad.

Give me a game with well balanced classes.
One I can call perfect without rose-tinted glasses.
And a soundtrack rendition epic and haunting.
These are a few of the things I am wanting.

Generic enemies at least your equal,
A well fleshed out world that could do with a sequel,
And a choice or two with impacts lasting.
These are a few of the things I'm wanting.

Varied objectives that don't slow gameplay,
Bring back monsters, more things to slay.
And keep that whole bit with weapon repairing.
These are a few of the things I'm wanting.

As I'm saying,
While replaying,
The games I've had,
I look at a few of my most wanted things.
Then I realize my chances are still bad.

[AnonymousSpeed]

18 hours ago, Glennstavos said:

Nobody would object to Oliver as the protagonist of a perfect fire emblem game. It's a splendid idea.

Oliver is the Protagonist of Fire Emblem Finale.

Fire Emblem Finale is an absolute typhoon of insanity. It's like a troll game with a Quadruple-A budget. Despite being based off a meme that a decade old, FEF just won't stop turning up the absurdity. Oliver's quest to assert his beauty and T-pose on every Fire Emblem universe ever creates such absolute, off-the-wall nonsense that he's using his balding head to reflect suns at people in the middle of the game. It's like every episode / chapter of Bobobo compressed into a 25 chapter experience where the Fire Emblem multiverse is reduced to leaving nothing but societies dedicated to the glorification of Oliver's beauty. Hence "finale" because there is no where to go after this. The series ends.

That is my perfect Fire Emblem game. A hyper-compact shonen anime about Oliver.

[fiveri]

Shadow Dragon with less warp abuse, more balance (fucking hell Matthis and Vyland), Thracia style Skills and Scrolls, and the artstyle of SNES fire emblem (but since it's on the DS, PoR's artstyle does the job too.) Also, give the akaneian characters RD styled supports and base convos to flesh out their characters (not New Mystery's pathetic excuse of a support system)

[Captain Karnage]

Well time for my little essay 

If anything out of all the games in the series Fates had my favorite combat system, and Conquest is one of my favorite games to play. For me I would take the combat system from fates and revise it, I would remove daggers ability to debuff (and the amount of enemies who use them), remove both bows and daggers from the weapon triangle, I would split the magic system into 3 categories and do what they did with tomes in Heroes and have 1 type of magic go along side a weapon in the triangle. 

NO AMBUSH SPAWNS

A healthy variety of map objectives. I love defense maps and I wish they weren't so rare in the series, the thing I love about them is that they really change your play style as most maps require you to be on the aggressive side pushing forward, while defense maps break that style of play, where you have to more carefully consider your unit placement and resources. I want a few chapters like the defense map in fates where instead of a fort, you have a semi open field with flying units coming in and a lot of ground to cover. I'd throw in atleast 2 escape maps, cause risk reward design is so much fun if it's imbalanced. 

[starburst]

8 hours ago, Captain Karnage said:

If anything out of all the games in the series Fates had my favorite combat system, and Conquest is one of my favorite games to play. For me I would take the combat system from fates and revise it, I would remove daggers ability to debuff (and the amount of enemies who use them), remove both bows and daggers from the weapon triangle, I would split the magic system into 3 categories and do what they did with tomes in Heroes and have 1 type of magic go along side a weapon in the triangle.

I actually like that daggers de-buff you. It was an interesting take on this weapon type, and it suits both classes who can use them. And the number of concurrent de-buffers is irrelevant in the immense majority of maps, both on Hard and Lunatic, because the de-buffs are not cumulative. If you got -4 Defence, you will always have -4 Def on that turn, regardless of how many times you are hit. (The obvious exception to this is enemies with the Inevitable End skill, but it only exists on three [four?] maps, and only on Lunatic, and only on selected units.)

If anything, daggers should have less might (a 10 might Silver Dagger on a unit that doubles every other unit, and which lowers Strength, Speed and Defence by -4 is broken as fuck) and they should only add +1 might when forged.
What breaks the game is a +Strength Cornflakes who surpasses the Strength cap of any dagger-wielding enemy by a large margin. Or a Master Ninja Silas with Sol, with bulk that no wielder of daggers should have (or a Master Ninja Xander with Siegfried, but he was broken anyway.) To counter this, lower the caps or restrict the access to this class.

 

I am fine with the inclusion of all weapons (bar Stones) in the Weapon Triangle because it makes all units vulnerable and strong to at least one weapon type. It is fairer than indiscriminately allowing mages to target Resistance (the lowest of the two defensive statistics on the great majority of enemies) or archers, Defence. Specially in a game where bow wielders actually have a niche: high Speed and high might weapons with advantage over lances (wielded by the strongest and bulkiest enemies) and daggers (the strongest bow-wielding class in Nohr even gets Shuriken Breaker to further stress its niche.) Mages, on the other hand, get 34-39 Magic by late game, which easily surpasses any physical damage output, they are awarded brave-tomes usage at dead-easy-to-achieve weapon-proficiency C, their Level 1 skill reduces the enemy Avoid by -20, and they are granted more Speed and +10 % Critical Hit upon promotion. If they were not part of the Weapon Triangle, they would simply be more broken.