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Least favorite GBA game


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Least favorite GBA Title  

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  1. 1. Which GBA era game is your least favorite?



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1 hour ago, Kasumi Yoshizawa said:

Of the three parts it offers the most replaybility for having three routes.

I would honestly say that that is not exactly true. Lynmode is not its own route, it is just a weird prologue that you can skip. And the diffrences between eliwood and hectormode and the minor routesplits the game has are less change in my eyes than the Eirika/Ephraim-split in FE8 or the routesplits in FE6.

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I think boiling Lyn Mode down to "just a tutorial" doesn't really give it its due credit. There's a pretty fair amount of content there, enough to justify it as a separate mode. It's also NOT skippable your first time playing the game, and you can remove the tutorial aspect by playing on hard difficulty.

As for the actual story and content of Lyn mode itself, I actually really like it. Other characters aside from Lyn get to shine (namely Kent, Sain, and Florina), and the story is a nice tight little package. Part of me wouldn't mind if it had been extended into a full game, ala Thracia 776.

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58 minutes ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

Part of me wouldn't mind if it had been extended into a full game, ala Thracia 776.

Oh yes. I should probably put "Split Lynmode into its own game" into my list for remake-wishes. The stattransfer of the original game could be done using the same mechanic as in tellius, just that both games would be on the same console.(Though I am getting majorly offtopic with this)

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  • 2 weeks later...

BinBla is the clear standout in both gameplay and storyline, so this comes down to whether i like BlaBla's gameplay more than SS's by more than i like SS's storyline more than BlaBla's

gameplay is the most important aspect for me but BlaBla isn't that much better (and in fact would be worse were SS not so damn easy), while SS trounces BlaBla hard in story and writing. my vote goes to BlaBla.

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On 12/11/2020 at 4:24 PM, Axie said:

SS trounces BlaBla hard in story and writing.

I hard disagree - while Blazing Blade screwed up some of its story and writing, imho Sacred Stones messed up even more, and what it messed up, it did to a greater degree. For what it's worth, I'd give Blazing Blade points for having its characters actually show emotion in instances where it'd be expected, unlike Sacred Stones (I don't think Eirika emotes much when she learns that Fado perished in the fall of Renais, whereas Eliwood cries when Elbert dies. And later, Eliwood blows up on Hellene when the latter seems to not care one whit that her son was nearly assassinated, as well as breaking down crying when he inadvertently kills Ninian. Even goddamn HECTOR shows more emotion than Eirika). It doesn't help that Sacred Stones's story just screams "rushed", which it probably was because Path of Radiance was being worked on at the same time. I mean, I'd probably spit out whatever drink I was drinking all over my Chromebook seeing a claim that SS "trounces Blazing Blade hard" in story and writing, because it really doesn't. Let's just say that they're gonna have their work cut out for them to make SS's story not suck in a remake, because as is, I have pretty much every reason to claim it's the worst of the worst in terms of story.

Edited by Shadow Mir
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19 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

I have pretty much every reason to claim it's the worst of the worst in terms of story.

What about not failing to be a prequel, not having Nergal, (Who is quite possibly the worst villain I've ever seen. And he's a ripoff of Guenchaos.) not having the Black Fang, so on and so forth? Obviously, enjoyment of a plot is subjective, but in my opinion, FE7's abysmal villain writing, Lyn mode, forgetting of plot points frequently and hilariously obscure requirements to learn anything about the villains makes it worse. I can see why people would enjoy FE7 more, but FE7 isn't exactly a paragon of good writing and leaves plot holes both in itself and in FE6 everywhere it goes.

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47 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

I hard disagree - while Blazing Blade screwed up some of its story and writing, imho Sacred Stones messed up even more, and what it messed up, it did to a greater degree. For what it's worth, I'd give Blazing Blade points for having its characters actually show emotion in instances where it'd be expected, unlike Sacred Stones (I don't think Eirika emotes much when she learns that Fado perished in the fall of Renais, whereas Eliwood cries when Elbert dies. And later, Eliwood blows up on Hellene when the latter seems to not care one whit that her son was nearly assassinated, as well as breaking down crying when he inadvertently kills Ninian. Even goddamn HECTOR shows more emotion than Eirika). It doesn't help that Sacred Stones's story just screams "rushed", which it probably was because Path of Radiance was being worked on at the same time. I mean, I'd probably spit out whatever drink I was drinking all over my Chromebook seeing a claim that SS "trounces Blazing Blade hard" in story and writing, because it really doesn't. Let's just say that they're gonna have their work cut out for them to make SS's story not suck in a remake, because as is, I have pretty much every reason to claim it's the worst of the worst in terms of story.

i actually think how they characterised eirika's struggles with emoting is, while not the best writing in the franchise, better characterisation than any of the three BlaBla lords, who have mostly static characterisation and do not develop much at all. tears?

i like how they wrote SS and it's a self-contained story that while not free of holes, doesn't have nearly as many as BlaBla, which also does a disservice to a much superior game which had a good world build set up for it. but to each their own! i understand the appeal of BlaBla's story and i actually greatly enjoygoing through the story of the game in MST3000 style.

Edited by Axie
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3 hours ago, Shadow Mir said:

I'd probably spit out whatever drink I was drinking all over my Chromebook seeing a claim that SS "trounces Blazing Blade hard" in story and writing,

You already saw it, so I hope you didn't damage your Chrombook. Also make sure you aren't drinking anything when you read the rest of this sentence, because yeah I think SS has quite easily better writing than Blazing as well. I basically agree with @Benice's comments.

Personally I quite liked the Eirika/Ephraim/Lyon relationship and how those characters are obviously affected by each other, but to each their own. Though I will say that the idea that Eirika doesn't emote seems really weird to me given that I've more than once seen the character criticized for being too emotional (which is a silly complaint IMO, but still!).

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8 minutes ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

Though I will say that the idea that Eirika doesn't emote seems really weird to me given that I've more than once seen the character criticized for being too emotional (which is a silly complaint IMO, but still!).

Different people say different things of the same character. In Eirika's case of a lack of displayed emotion, here is what @Alastor15243 said once:

"So of course, Eirika decides to head off on a rescue mission to bring Ephraim back, despite having never actually been in a real battle before in her life.

Now.

On one hand, I can totally imagine a character doing this. It's a rash, stupid, but entirely understandable emotional decision. She's just lost her father. She only has her brother left, and he could die any day now. She would rather risk almost certain death than simply leave her brother to die, leaving her without any family left at all. I totally get that.

...Or I could, if she displayed even the slightest bit of emotional motivation here. But she's just so... reserved.

Calm.

Polite.

It makes it feel like this is a decision she's made calmly and rationally, which feels... utterly surreal."

 

Not saying I agree, I'm simply offering you another opinion on the matter.

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9 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Different people say different things of the same character. In Eirika's case of a lack of displayed emotion, here is what @Alastor15243 said once:

"So of course, Eirika decides to head off on a rescue mission to bring Ephraim back, despite having never actually been in a real battle before in her life.

Now.

On one hand, I can totally imagine a character doing this. It's a rash, stupid, but entirely understandable emotional decision. She's just lost her father. She only has her brother left, and he could die any day now. She would rather risk almost certain death than simply leave her brother to die, leaving her without any family left at all. I totally get that.

...Or I could, if she displayed even the slightest bit of emotional motivation here. But she's just so... reserved.

Calm.

Polite.

It makes it feel like this is a decision she's made calmly and rationally, which feels... utterly surreal."

 

Not saying I agree, I'm simply offering you another opinion on the matter.

Yeah, one phrase I used a lot to describe my issue with Eirika is that she's a character ruled by emotions that we aren't allowed to see. To me, she's simultaneously over and under emotional in different and incredibly frustrating ways.

Edited by Alastor15243
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Believe it or not people often do put on determined masks when acting emotionally. I don't really see the contradiction at all. It'd be bad writing if we couldn't glean Eirika's emotions, but you and I apparently both agree about the emotions going through her head in that sequence, so that's obviously not the case here.

(I also suspect the type of fan who loves to whine about Eirika being too emotional would probably have even more issue with her if she was tearing out her hair in tears constantly. Her determination and ability to put a brave face on her dreadful situation is one of more endearing traits, and it also makes the scene later in the game where this gets shaken more effective.)

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5 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

Believe it or not people often do put on determined masks when acting emotionally. I don't really see the contradiction at all.

Can't really agree this is acceptable writing, especially when it has such a terrible "payoff". Don't forget the immortal scene where after her infamous decision to give "Lyon" the Renais Sacred Stone, Eirika is in a near-catatonic state, and Ephraim tells her that she doesn't need to bottle her emotions up, and she finally has a good long cry... completely offscreen, and then she's all better and acts like literally nothing happened in the very next scene, and she goes back to acting exactly like she did before for the rest of the game.

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I'm surprised Sacred Stones has so few votes. I thought it was generally considered to be the lesser of the three GBA games.

I appreciated that it tried to do something slightly different from the linear resource/unit management focus of the previous two games, but it didn't take the emphasis on character growth far enough if you ask me.

Not that it's an important argument, as all three games are great, granted.

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10 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

Believe it or not people often do put on determined masks when acting emotionally. I don't really see the contradiction at all. It'd be bad writing if we couldn't glean Eirika's emotions, but you and I apparently both agree about the emotions going through her head in that sequence, so that's obviously not the case here.

i agree! eirika keeping it bottled in despite acting (increasingly) emotionally is acrually compelling, and the only time that writing lets me down is when they imply she finally breaks down and doesn't show us that on screen. we should have seen her finally cry. it doesn't ruin her entire characterisation, though, and it's still so much more than the three BlaBla lords. how does eliwood get almost no emotional development despite all of his struggles with loss? BinBla does more with roy in a more simplistic script, even.

Edited by Axie
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10 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

Believe it or not people often do put on determined masks when acting emotionally. I don't really see the contradiction at all. It'd be bad writing if we couldn't glean Eirika's emotions, but you and I apparently both agree about the emotions going through her head in that sequence, so that's obviously not the case here.

I completely agree. As someone who reacts similarly in emotional situations, I found Eirika's reactions to be relatable/understandable.

10 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

(I also suspect the type of fan who loves to whine about Eirika being too emotional would probably have even more issue with her if she was tearing out her hair in tears constantly. Her determination and ability to put a brave face on her dreadful situation is one of more endearing traits, and it also makes the scene later in the game where this gets shaken more effective.)

This is also very true. Tbh, it seems to me that FE fans tend to have double standards when judging the MCs. Female characters in general are more harshly criticized than their male counterparts for expressing similar emotions or possessing similar character traits overall. But I'm nobody to tell people how they should or shouldn't judge characters. Just an observation.

Edited by twilitfalchion
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Blazing Blade and Sacred Stones have the best stories among GBA era titles.

And for me, the most interesting chracters (specially villains like Black Fang or Lyon cant be ignored). 

So I just choose Binding Blade even when I really love all GBA titles (for me the best of the franchise so far), I think its plot is pretty meh and its lord is soooo bored in my opinion. So so bored. 

 

SS > FE7 > FE6

Edited by Aethernal LUX
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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Definitely Binding Blade, though I still like it. Blazing Sword came out when I was 12-13, and considering its proximity to The Return of the King in 2003 there's just no way I can disavow it. Sacred Stones offered up a lot at the time with branching classes and nonlinear grinding. I think Sacred Stones is actually the first game I ever imported, ca. 2004 or so. FE6 has a banger of a soundtrack, at least.

Edited by Fox
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FE6 > FE7 > FE8

FE6 has the best map design of the three, it does suffer from the worst balance issues of the three (Using some of the characters with low bases in Hard Mode is outright torture, at least at the start) and some pretty bad design choices (Sacae sucks, all of it) but overall it's a game that does a good job at having varied maps with a good balance of interesting combat situations, anti-turtling incentives and map-specific gimmicks. Writing-wise it's a mixed bag, some of the cast is great like Rutger, Igrene or Niime. Then you have people like Oogier and Gwendolyn who are so bland they almost feel like joke characters, the core story is fine and serviceable, i actually do appreciate a lot of the ideas and conflicts that the story attempts to explore, but it is all delivered through the blandest scripts ever, the story has cool theming and parallels going for it but so much of it is just delivered through Roy listening to exposition from Merlinus, Elfin or Guinivere, if there's one wish i have more than anything else that i have for a possible remake is for the story to remain the same but for the scripts to be different.

FE7's map design is more mixed, it has some great maps but overall they tend to lend themselves more on the gimmicky side, which works in some instances and not in others (*cough*Kishuna*cough*), character balance is better, certain characters are way worse than others but using the Low-Tiers won't be agonizing, but the low enemy quality means it's pretty easy to juggernaut with 1-2 physical weapons, a mixed bag overall. Writing-wise i really love a lot of the cast, Lucius, Renault, Nino, Legault, Canas, Harken, Pent, Serra, Oswin and so many others, when it comes to the main script i really enjoy the character arcs for Eliwood and Hector (It is what makes Eliwood one of my favorite characters in the series) but it is a shame that Lyn is pretty much completely irrelevant, it also suffers quite a bit from Nergal being pretty incompetent and not as a deliberate choice by the writers like say, Narcian, but overall i enjoy it for having some of the best theming of the series and great thematic conflict.

FE8 is fun and relaxing, but it is also kind of milquetoast, the gameplay just does the bare minimum to remain interesting but not much more beyond that, i do give it credit for having what i consider one of the best Rout maps in the series (The one with the Gorgon eggs). Writing-wise it has a great cast, i really love a lot of the Support Conversations in this game, but the main story... just kind of goes? It feels like the war with Grado lasted a few weeks at most due to how quickly everything goes by, not helped in part due to how Grado is the only core enemy faction in the game, most other enemy groups lasting one single chapter at most, and oh boy Eirika and Ephraim, they're fine enough characters in their Support Conversations, and while i appreciate what the writers were going for in their conflict and arcs in the main story, it all just kind of falls flat, they're some of my least favorite Lords in the series due to me not even disliking them but just really preferring the other Lords way more (Really only Alm, Celica and Corrin are below them now that i think about it), the part i most enjoy about Sacred Stones' story really are the villains, they all for the most part serve their role well enough, specially Lyon, who i would consider one of the best characters in the series, but given how short and underbaked most of the conflict in the main story is they can't really carry it on their own.

Edited by Murozaki
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For me it's FE7, which I haven't finished yet. FE6 was my first GBA game and ended up being my favorite FE. Then I tried FE7 and had to put it down at Ch.19. At first I thought it was GBA fatigue, but I enjoyed playing through FE8 afterwards, so its something about FE7 that doesn't click with me. I find the map design to be a really big downgrade from FE6 and each map just ends up feeling like a slog despite being smaller than FE6 maps. I somehow found the FE8 maps more memorable as well.

The first fog map in each game kinda illustrates my problem with FE7. In FE6 its Ch9 where you have villages on opposite ends of the map, so you gotta break up your forces and that creates a tension, but you also have Shin and Fir running around in the fog so you're anxious to recruit them and not kill them. In FE8 its Ch6 where youre trying to get to the kids in time, but also trying to find the boss, but there's also cavalry reinforcements coming from the fog from behind you so you also have this sense of being stretched thin that you do in FE6. It's easy, but I still had Joshua die to one of the fog reinforcements because I overstretched, and then the map creates that internal tension where you realize that Joshua died for an Orion's Bolt and now you feel bad about wondering if you should've just let those pixel children die. In FE7 the first fog map is 13x and its like, ok theres a village, you just send Marcus to pick it up, everybody else can just hunker down. Or you can go push out a bit and kill the brigands instead of waiting for them to come to you, it really doesn't matter. Maybe hector mode makes things more interesting? But even then you still have to slog through Eliwood mode to unlock it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Looking at this thread, I like that a good number of people appreciate Sacred Stones. Or at least they don't think it's that bad.

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