Fire Emblem addiction

[MattF]

Something happened to me since I started playing Three Houses. I have put more than 700 hours in the game, and I still crave for more. Right now I am doing a BL run with only BL students plus the four ashen wolves. I played through the game on normal first, and then did three runs on hard, then four runs on maddening, then another church run with the Kinghts of Seiros, and now doing the BL/AW.

There is something addicting about this game. When I started playing, I was grinding like hell and ended up OP and basically going through the motions. It slowly dawned on me that I did not need to grind so much, and subsequently tried to make myself playing the game like it was chess, or a puzzle: looking at characters strengths and weaknesses, and thinking of ways to maximise them in play.

Let me make an example. The Ingrid/Dorothea paralogue on maddening is notoriously difficult when you first get access to it. My first few times through it on maddening I resorted to cheese it, by making Ingrid a Pegasus knight and flying her to safety in the middle on the lava pool where archers can’t reach her. It’s a solution, but it’s really cheesy as I wasn’t really engaging with the game ruleset. Yesterday I was doing the paralogue and I had a great idea: I made Dedude a tank and gave him a shield (this run I am not using renown to buy professor levels or skills/masteries). I just went with what I had. Surprise, Dedude was so tanky that enemies' attacks just bounced off his shield lol. I was so surprised. Basically my strategy revolved on sending him first, heal him when needed, and just inch my way to the priest that spawns enemies.

I was so proud when I cleared the paralogue. I just used what the game gave me and made it. I felt like I was finally playing the game as it was intended. One of the reasons why I could finally understand this is thanks to the Ashen Wolves DLC: it made me understand better how to use Eldegard as a tank, a class that until yesterday I barely even acknowledged.

So to recap, after playing the game for more than six months I still seem to find out new things and ways to play. I am truly impressed by the game. Now I want to go and get a 3DS to play the older titles (awakening, fates, shadow of valentia). It’s a bit scary when I think about how much time I have sunk on this game, and it still fells fresh to me!

Edited March 2, 2020 by MattF

[Quillmonger]

I don't really think this sounds all that bad,. I love this game a lot and for a long time I was playing it all of the time, I kind of got back into Smash and have been writing more, but I still have one more route I have to do (which I am slowly working my way through right now). Finding a game you enjoy like this is kind of a rare thing. I would say as long as it's not interrupting your life or keeping you from doing other things. 

[eclipse]

If you really want to question your sanity - draft this game.  Convince three other people to participate, set down some basic rules (everyone plays a certain route, Byleth/house leader/second-in-command are free, certain units are free under certain circumstances, etc.), everyone picks units out of the pool snake style, and aim for the lowest turn counts possible.  Which is a lot harder than it sounds, since grinding will shank your turn count, and the DLC grind maps are forbidden.

I could probably draw up a rule set if this interests you, though I'm most likely going to forget which maps require some sort of exception.

[MattF]

 

Eclipse, sorry, I dont get it? like a competition to see who can finish a map the fastest?

Are you taking about real friends or online? 

 

[eclipse]

3 minutes ago, MattF said:

 

Eclipse, sorry, I dont get it? like a competition to see who can finish a map the fastest?

Are you taking about real friends or online? 

 

Basically, it's golf - least turns taken through the entire game.

You can use RL friends, or attempt to start something on the boards.  That's what the drafting subforum's for, though I'd get someone who knows about the ins and outs of drafting to make the rules.

[MattF]

3 minutes ago, eclipse said:

Basically, it's golf - least turns taken through the entire game.

You can use RL friends, or attempt to start something on the boards.  That's what the drafting subforum's for, though I'd get someone who knows about the ins and outs of drafting to make the rules.

 

I must admit that I dont think I am that good at the game to be able to finish some maps with random characters. I can clearly see that enemies have strengths and weaknesses (flying enemies weak to bow, armoured enemies weak to magic, etc.). This for me means that without the proper tools, you cant really beat the game. At least on maddening. I like it because if you dont grind and dont recruit, you can find a use for every character in your house. 

Basically the way I see it in the game there are three types of units: characters who are supposed to stay upfront, those who are better at magic/bow support, and finally the glass cannons in the back, able to one round enemies but vulnerable (Lysithea or Vengeance build Bernadetta). Any of these units on their own cannot single-handedly break the game, unless you grind. I dont really know how I would beat some maps with a team of Linhardt/Mercedes/Flayn lol.

 

 

 

[eclipse]

24 minutes ago, MattF said:

 

I must admit that I dont think I am that good at the game to be able to finish some maps with random characters. I can clearly see that enemies have strengths and weaknesses (flying enemies weak to bow, armoured enemies weak to magic, etc.). This for me means that without the proper tools, you cant really beat the game. At least on maddening. I like it because if you dont grind and dont recruit, you can find a use for every character in your house. 

Basically the way I see it in the game there are three types of units: characters who are supposed to stay upfront, those who are better at magic/bow support, and finally the glass cannons in the back, able to one round enemies but vulnerable (Lysithea or Vengeance build Bernadetta). Any of these units on their own cannot single-handedly break the game, unless you grind. I dont really know how I would beat some maps with a team of Linhardt/Mercedes/Flayn lol.

 

 

 

That's why you draft!  For example, if you're doing a Blue Lions run, you know that Dimitri's a physically offensive powerhouse, while Dedue's good at tanking physical hits.  Thus, someone like Mercedes has high value due to her ability to take magic hits and heal.  But if you can't get her, then Linhardt can attempt to fill that niche.  Or you can go for Annette so she can heal and rally.  By paying close attention to what a unit excels at, picking your team wisely, and learning how to get the most out of who you have, you have a lot of options.  The limit is your imagination.  Really.

[CatManThree]

Yeah the replayability of Three Houses is incredible. The only real specific issue with it in this regard is the really really slow early game. Like, I usually have trouble playing the same FE game twice, preferring to jump from one installment to another in order to keep my experiences fresh. However outside of the painful experience that is trudging through the early game again, I actually rather enjoy playing Three Houses multiple times in a row. Which says a lot, at least to me. Anyway there's nothing wrong with getting sucked into constantly replaying the same game over and over, if anything that just means its probably a pretty great game.

 

Oh, and not to go off topic at all, but if you are interested in trying out past games, be it the 3DS titles or the older games from before Awakening, be sure to keep in mind that majority of Fire Emblem games are quite different from one another in terms of writing, gameplay, and overall experience. Three Houses in particular is a good example of this as it is very much its own thing due to how it modified different mechanics and brought back various elements from past games. Based on what you've said on your experience with Three Houses, I suggest looking into Fates Conquest and New Mystery of the Emblem. To keep it brief: Conquest has challenging but rewarding gameplay and New Mystery has huge replay value due to its reclass system as well as amazingly scaled difficulties.

[MattF]

7 minutes ago, CatManThree said:

Yeah the replayability of Three Houses is incredible. The only real specific issue with it in this regard is the really really slow early game. Like, I usually have trouble playing the same FE game twice, preferring to jump from one installment to another in order to keep my experiences fresh. However outside of the painful experience that is trudging through the early game again, I actually rather enjoy playing Three Houses multiple times in a row. Which says a lot, at least to me. Anyway there's nothing wrong with getting sucked into constantly replaying the same game over and over, if anything that just means its probably a pretty great game.

 

Oh, and not to go off topic at all, but if you are interested in trying out past games, be it the 3DS titles or the older games from before Awakening, be sure to keep in mind that majority of Fire Emblem games are quite different from one another in terms of writing, gameplay, and overall experience. Three Houses in particular is a good example of this as it is very much its own thing due to how it modified different mechanics and brought back various elements from past games. Based on what you've said on your experience with Three Houses, I suggest looking into Fates Conquest and New Mystery of the Emblem. To keep it brief: Conquest has challenging but rewarding gameplay and New Mystery has huge replay value due to its reclass system as well as amazingly scaled difficulties.

 

Thanks, I will look into both of those. I have a DS, but no 3DS yet. And yes, I agree maybe there is nothing wrong with my obsession with the game, its just that I am surprised as I never really experience this before... there are so many games I still haven't played because I am just replaying three houses!