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What FE game compelled/coerced/forced you to pay attention the most?


henrymidfields
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So in an opposite to What FE game is the most chill for you?, what FE game made you pay the most attention to during the game? Aka, what was the least chill?

Was it the dark and heavy tragedy of Jugdral? Was it the complex politics and the constant pro/ant-agonist switch of Tellius? Or was it the abundant world building (at least I think) and the borderline alternate history story of Fodlan?
Or was it the mixup of objectives and stave-fest of Thracia 776? Was it the constant number-crunching of Binding Blade? Was it the generally improved AIs, strategies and buffs/nerfs of Fates Conquest?

As for me, out of the games I played:

Gameplay:

  • The gameplay that was least chill is probably Binding Blade. It was one that really forced me to think of my next action, because of the lack of strong units, especially at the start of the game. It also did not help that strategy outside of stat numbers is nigh-non-existent unlike Fates Conquest. The other challenge was the turn limits imposed if you want to go through the entire story.
  • Fates Conquest is a close second, but several things mitigate the difficulty (or the unfairness) compared to Binding Blade. Firstly, there is actual gameplay synergy between units through Pair Ups, Attack stances, and skills (and esp Rally skills). Buffs/nerfs alongside the aforementioned pair ups and attack stances with support and skill bonuses can also help if any of your units have screwed stats. Finally, the Pokemon BW-style experience payout scaling also helps in raising low-level units (and forces you to actually fight with numbers).
  • Three Houses might come third, but that is more to do with the slice of life activities you can do in the Monastery/Academy and the sheer choices you have, instead of actual difficulty in the game.

Story:

  • Of the FE games that I played, there weren't many with stories that constantly grabbed my attention - though part of it is also due to me not playing anything from Tellius or Jugdral yet. However, Three Houses is set to become a major exception. I mean, good Naga, how heartwrenching this game is! You have to make some tough choices in who to side, who to recruit and save, and who to kill. And unlike Fates Conquest and its cartoonish villains and weak story justifications, I actually love the 3H characters on the whole (yes, I include both Rhea and Edelgard), the worldbuilding is quite detailed, and the moral of each story are understandable if not 100% justifiable. A bit too compelling to ignore and chill-out.
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Gameplay: FE12 lunatic reverse can go screw off. Seriously If you don't pay attention to ANYTHING it will bite you in the ass later on. The enemies are strong as hell, reverse makes the enemies attack first in combat regardless of  if it's your turn or not because that's fun right right!? About 3/4 of the entire cast is trash, resources are limited as hell, overall lunatic reverse FE12 was just the biggest nightmare I have ever had to endure in fire emblem. I do like new mystery as a game on the lower settings but lunatic reverse was just to much for me. 

 

Edited by The Moon Mage
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Radiant Dawn is somewhere on here for the golden trifecta of engaging as hell story + NA hard mode genuinely being hard + characters actions that actually give something akin to feelings.  Disabling the enemy map range was an evil genius move as far as removing a crutch that I'd guess we all use on the regular.

Three Houses VW Maddening is currently kicking my ass (I'm sort of stuck on the Hubert chapter), but it's slightly more gimmicky what with those damn reinforcements. I'll also throw in FE:H Abyssal maps when you first start and don't have a truly optimized squad yet - it was nice(?) to feel that enraged by a cheap as hell placement for a cleric lol. 

 

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At this point, I would choose Three Houses in both respects (may or may not be biased having just finished VW Maddening last night, but we won't talk about that).

Story is the category in which I would definitely consider TH to be at the top of the list in terms of complexity. Between 4 different routes + DLC, all of which have some highly complex characters and a splendidly crafted world, there is plenty to go around here. And although there are plenty of flaws with the game's story overall, I would say that it deserves some props for making me want more in certain areas.

As far as gameplay, I probably have a more skewed picture of this because of my recent run. I've only completed four FE games on the hardest difficulty (SS, FE:A, BR, and now TH), though I'd like to do more at some point. Of those four, I would consider TH-Maddening to be the most difficult of those modes, and the general standard of play throughout the game is more involved than any of the others with the monastery, combat arts, battalions, etc. So, overall TH is the most involved I've played to this point.

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Shadow Dragon (DS), for being the only game in the series that has ever tempted me to play ironman style. I generally like to play games somewhat close to the developer intended way, and Shadow Dragon really beats you over the head with "hey, you really should be ironmanning this". I don't doubt it'd need even more attention to ironman Radiant Dawn or Three Houses (maddening), for example, but since they both include features that work against ironaman (unlimitted battle saves and divine pulse respectively), I've never played them that way.

In terms of story, I'd agree with Three Houses. It's the only game in the series that's inspired me to research its mythological and literary inspirations.

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obviously all three fates games, with radiant dawn a close second (fourth?). the gameplay is challenging, each unit performs a different role even with reclassing involved, the maps are not very enemy phase-heavy, be it for good reasons (conquest, to a lesser extent also birthright) or bad reasons (revelation and its gimmicks), and the storyline is so bad you can't just tune it out because you are always staring at your 3DS going "WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIIIIIIIS".

radiant dawn also requires your constant attention with its constantly changing rosters, healthy difficulty, and also complex storyline, but at least that one is mostly good.

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16 hours ago, Axie said:

obviously all three fates games, with radiant dawn a close second (fourth?). the gameplay is challenging, each unit performs a different role even with reclassing involved, the maps are not very enemy phase-heavy, be it for good reasons (conquest, to a lesser extent also birthright) or bad reasons (revelation and its gimmicks), and the storyline is so bad you can't just tune it out because you are always staring at your 3DS going "WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIIIIIIIS".

Yeah, I ended up writing my own story when I did a lets play for Conquest. I converted the story into a WW2 campaign on the Pacific Theatre, with Corrin siding with the Americans against Japan. Kind of stange saying this, but it was way better for my (and a couple of viewers) sanity.

Edited by henrymidfields
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Radiant Dawn normal (JP hard). No difficulty in FE has made me keep attention as much or try to plan out my strategy as much as possible than RD did. It's the most challenging, yet fair difficulty I experienced in an FE game. Map design is some of the best and most interesting in FE.

I'd also mention Three Houses hard mode. It's the most enjoyable difficulty curve to play through in any FE game, IMO. I like how enemy quality was handled in particular. They hit hard, but aren't too difficult to actually defeat. The way it should be. Excessive enemy bulk is never fun to deal with, for me at least.

Edited by twilitfalchion
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Gameplay...probably either Path of Radiance or FE7 as a kid. Three Houses for the first half is a distant second due to new features. 

Story...I tend to play attention to the story pretty heavily until replays. Maybe Radiant Dawn or Fates Revelation, but I can't think of a first playthrough where I didn't care about the story. 

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The final prolouge map of FE 12 on Hard Mode caught me of guard when I first played. I was so used to just having Kris tank on the enemy phase that the amount of damage the enemies did surprised me. It forced me to play in a different way.

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  • 2 weeks later...

In general, I tend to pay attention in gameplay no matter the game, because a lapse in judgment can lead to making a serious mistake. Even in easier titles like Blazing Blade and Path of Radiance.

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