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Will a FE game ever get this big again?


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Now Awakening isn't my favorite FE game, but it certainly is one of my favorites because of how big they went. It has heavy connections to some of the other games and some more minor connections with others. It did a great way of making what seemed sort of an ultimate Fire Emblem game. On top of that, they added so much with the SpotPass and the renown rewards were ridiculous and awesome. DLC hasn't been topped since this game and they did a lot with the avatar. There're some things of course I wish they did, but they did a lot. Probably the most disappointing thing about Fates is how it falls short of all of this. Awakening saved the franchise and I think they were lucky to not receive more negativity for Fates. Three Houses was a step up again, but not a step up from Awakening. I feel like they put all of their effort into Awakening and more, but every game since has lacked that. Is a FE game ever going to be this big again?

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I mean, Awakening was supposed to be everything that was great about Fire Emblem, in order to save the franchise. And it did succeed. Now, if you were to ask me if I think Three Houses or Awakening was the better game, I would have to say Three Houses, no matter how much I liked Awakening. See, the only new thing in terms of gameplay that Awakening introduced was the pair-up mechanic (which I actually didn't like...). If there is anything other than that, do correct me, I can't really remember anything else to be honest... Three Houses introduced the academy, with all of it's features, battalions and gambits, just to name a few.

In terms of story, to each their own, but I like Three Houses' story better, as it was more serious than Awakening's. I do like Awakening, I'm just much more into serious stuff when it's about war, with little to no comic relief - like Blue Lions post timeskip.

The thing I can't argue about is the number of people these games has gotten into the franchise, because I have no idea about it. I really started paying attention towards the community just a few years ago, so I really don't know what was the situation like in the days of Awakening's release, the only thing I know is that Three Houses is still going strong.

Don't get me wrong, I like Awakening, heck, Lucina is probably still my favourite lord in the series. I liked the story as well, I like the artworks that was inspired by it, I like the music, the cutscenes, it's fair to say that it's one of my most liked video games (and I'll probably replay it as I got into the mood writing this). I just don't think it's fair saying that Three Houses wasn't as big as Awakening. The franchise was saved by Awakening back then, and it was still going strong when Three Houses released, so Three Houses really didn't even had the chance to save it, as it wasn't in the need of saving. Do I think Three Houses could've saved the franchise if it would've had to? I'm 100% sure. Do I think Three Houses was bigger than Awakening? I do think so, but it really comes down to personal preferences. Do I think the achievements of Three Houses make Awakening any less good? Hell no.

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As long as you see Awakening as the standard for every FE to live up to, no.  Part of accepting another favorite is letting go of the old one.

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I got to this thread from the forum main page and just assumed that it would be on the Three Houses board! I guess that lets you know my reaction to your question. Whether you're measuring by the amount of content in the game or by the general public reaction and reception to the game, Awakening has been surpassed in size and scope IMO.

I also disagree with most of what you said re Fates but I don't think this is the thread for that discussion, so I'll just leave it at that.

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4 hours ago, coldhand25 said:

Awakening was supposed to be everything that was great about Fire Emblem, in order to save the franchise.

Waifus and self-inserts?

Quote

Whether you're measuring by the amount of content in the game or by the general public reaction and reception to the game, Awakening has been surpassed in size and scope IMO.

Certainly not by Three Houses, going by the amount of content that was re-used between routes.

Edited by NinjaMonkey
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1 hour ago, NinjaMonkey said:

Waifus and self-inserts?

Previous games had "waifus", the art style change just made the game look more like the mainstream anime of the time. And before, we had Mark, who is probably the best handled but still intended to be a self insert, and Kris, probably the worst example of a self insert being forced into a game. Robin is one of the few better handled avatars, for the early game at least. They're along for the ride with Chrom, and its made clear they're not the main character. Then the whole Grima thing happens and yeah, it does feel a little dumb. And I think that what was meant by, "everything the franchise was about" was referring to the numerous refferences to past games and the fact that the game really feels most like an end to the franchise, as IS feared it would be.

 

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I was pleasantly surprised to find this was about Awakening, I always felt the game aspired to something way bigger than any of its successors and people ramping up 3H kind of just bugged me, though my opinion there has limited effectiveness as I've yet to find any part of the game worth my money bar Cindered Shadows which...well...anyways.

Honestly? FEH looked like it was going to give its darnedest to try...and then kind of fell off. Cipher absolutely managed to outsize Awakening...but it's ending in a couple months, and counting a TCG that gets new stuff every three months comparing to a 3DS game that's clearly not going to get anything added to it is kind of cheating anyways. Frankly, I doubt they're ever going to be willing to go as big as Awakening's list, which off the top of my head includes:

  • Having at least ten characters from every previous game recruitable through free DLC(though you can't get Eldigan free lol), albeit in a fashion limited by the game's capacity - this, I think, will never be seen in a mainline FE game again, since FEH offers this same basic idea but more fleshed out(unique VAs for every character + unique models/sprites instead of just using Robin over and over again) and they probably won't be interested in doing it on a more effort-required scale like a mainline FE game with say all the Lords and major villains recruitable as free downloads(coughmissedopportunityFEWcough)
  • Intentionally including references to all previous mainline games in varied places, from the 12 Deadlords randomly belonging to Aversa and Validar to virtually every Lord from a previous game getting some kind of weapon included for them to Chrom mysteriously knowing the lore behind every other game despite there not being a unified timeline or worldframe for the series to Ike randomly getting a bloodline descendent who appears to still have his scarf to freaking ANRI getting an honorable, if anonymous, mention.
  • Allowing you to go duke it out in essentially FE's closest equivalent to Super Smash Bros as paid DLC, which also grants you alts of characters from previous games, again sadly limited by the game's capacity and again probably not happening again due to FEH. This also includes special interactions between your base game cast and said heroes of yore, such as Inigo trying to hit on Mia in Smash Brethren 2 or Caeda trying to recruit Kellam a la Roger in Champions of Yore...1? I think it's 1, you get the idea.
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16 hours ago, Sir Gerwald of Vallora said:

Previous games had "waifus"

Not ones that you could marry in-game, they didn't. You can say that Nephenee's your waifu as much as you want, but it'll amount to nothing. Meanwhile, in Awakening, you can have your self-insert marry any woman you deem to be your waifu.

Edited by NinjaMonkey
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2 hours ago, NinjaMonkey said:

Not ones that you could marry in-game, they didn't. You can say that Nephenee's your waifu as much as you want, but it'll amount to nothing. Meanwhile, in Awakening, you can have your self-insert marry any woman you deem to be your waifu.

I suppose so, but it's a game based around marriage and children. It would have been the same if genealogy had a Avatar. You could argue any game with supports has, "waifus" so long as there's a character you're supposed to relate to. I personally don't see anything wrong with it in the context of Awakening's core idea of bonds and love. Fates has more issues.

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2 hours ago, NinjaMonkey said:

Not ones that you could marry in-game, they didn't. You can say that Nephenee's your waifu as much as you want, but it'll amount to nothing. Meanwhile, in Awakening, you can have your self-insert marry any woman you deem to be your waifu.

I suppose so, but it's a game based around marriage and children. It would have been the same if genealogy had a Avatar. You could argue any game with supports has, "waifus" so long as there's a character you're supposed to relate to. I personally don't see anything wrong with it in the context of Awakening's core idea of bonds and love. Fates has more issues.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Personal tastes aside, as it's subjective, commercially Three Houses is bigger than Awakening though.

Awakening had a way better post game/dlcs, and thats it. I have a soft spot for FE13 since it made me come back to the franchise after years though. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 6/11/2020 at 12:31 PM, SSbardock84 said:

Probably the most disappointing thing about Fates is how it falls short of all of this. Awakening saved the franchise and I think they were lucky to not receive more negativity for Fates. Three Houses was a step up again, but not a step up from Awakening. I feel like they put all of their effort into Awakening and more, but every game since has lacked that. Is a FE game ever going to be this big again?

What negativity are you talking about?

Fates’ gameplay is objectively better than Awakening’s. There are varied maps and goals (not just “rout the map” and “defeat the boss”), terrain can be altered in battle in various ways, pair-up is more balanced and relies on strategy more than luck, magic isn’t overpowered, units and classes are more balanced; fairer, Hard and Lunatic modes are less luck and RNG-dependent, the reclassing system is far less cumbersome and adds an incredible amount of replay value. Many fans agree that Fates (especially Conquest) has some of the best maps and gameplay on the series.

Say what you will about Fates’ story, but I’ve heard all the same criticisms and more about Awakening’s story and characters.

Fates is the bigger game (3 full-length games in one). Conquest alone took me 100 hours to clear, including DLC maps, recruiting all 2nd-generation characters, spending time in My Castle, and getting skills online. Awakening took me about 70 hours to beat, including level grinding, support grinding,  DLC maps and recruiting all 2nd-generation characters. 

I have to agree that I like how Awakening had so many callbacks to earlier FE games and so many recruitable units from them. Although I collected some characters I like from past games (like Caeda and Athena,) I almost never used them because they were too underleveled to be useful when I recruited them. I also didn’t want them stealing EXP from units that can support and have dialogue.

Edited by Magenta Fantasies
Typo
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