One change to ruin the gameplay.

[joeygreedy]

If you were assigned to make the gameplay horrible in a way it might be something IS did in another darker timeline, that would have completely ruined the gameplay of this game, what would it be?
Whether minor mechanical changes, or one large mechanical change, how would you just completely butcher the general gameplay of Fire Emblem Engage, or it's replayability, mechanics, or even the systems like weapon triangle, Emblems, forging or balance. 

[Armchair General]

Introduce an all-party AoE spell that's enemy-exclusive?

[lenticular]

All maps now have fog of war.

or

The ability to chain attack is moved from backup units to flying units.

or

You must max out donations to all regions before you're allowed to enter the final map.

[Anathaco]

All emblems now work the way they do in chapter 22.

[indigoasis]

You're only allowed to bring in a set number of Emblems per map.

[Mavi251]

Enemies that aren't defeated in one round are returned to full HP after combat. 

[Scaramuccia]

Make lore really deep - you have 5 minutes supports all of which are about world history, there is logic and sense in every chapter, there are many mini bosses that you see only in a single map, but all of them have backstories you are forced to learn in dialogs during chapter.

[SSJDennis]

Give all weapons durability, even the ones from the emblems. Lodestar Rush won't be as abusive anymore if all hits costs uses. Same for Override, each unit hit is a use from the weapon.

And/or make each Emblem so, that they can only pass down a skill once. No more Canter armies.

What can I say? Really love this game. Outside of personal preferences, I wouldn't change a think.

Edited March 25, 2023 by SSJDennis

[Dark Holy Elf]

First thing that comes to mind is ambush spawns.

Honourable mention: getting rid of rewinds entirely.

For a bonus to make the game incredibly stupid, combine the two.

[67chrome]

Uhh...how about taking a que from Everquest?

 

All story chapters involve reading the text and typing in a key-word to progress dialogue along.

[BloodRonin]

12 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

Honourable mention: getting rid of rewinds entirely.

I personally feel this would add to the game. It would make maddening truly fun then and feel more like old school games.

[Zanarkin]

6 minutes ago, BloodRonin said:

I personally feel this would add to the game. It would make maddening truly fun then and feel more like old school games.

Eh, I don't know how to feel about that. On one hand, having the time crystal helped me not restart a battle from the very beginning over and over again. Maddening can be so punishing, even if you are ready... But on the other, it does take a lot of the surprise and oh shit factor. Honestly, the chapter 21(?), I activated the reinforcements behind me, then went nope because i wasn't ready. Set up all my units near by and realized it was because I went past some line in the map. Cleaned up house and then the reinforcements were not an issue. Maybe give me battle saves from RD instead?

Enemy generals can't be doubled and their resistance is high enough that 2 or three mages can't consistently kill them. Give enemy mages with thunder forged thunder + and dire thunder (or fuck it just let them double with thoron).

[Dark Holy Elf]

8 hours ago, BloodRonin said:

I personally feel this would add to the game. It would make maddening truly fun then and feel more like old school games.

Then by all means, play the game without using it; nothing is stopping you.

Personally I don't find redoing an hour of a map (is it just me, or does Engage have some of the longest maps in a while?) because of a stupid mistake/misclick or an overtuned reinforcement pattern is something I find fun.

[Alastor15243]

12 hours ago, BloodRonin said:

I personally feel this would add to the game. It would make maddening truly fun then and feel more like old school games.

It would certainly make the story slightly less stupid, eliminating the infinite questions of "why the hell wouldn't you rewind here" in cutscenes. I hope they eventually realize they don't have to make the damned thing a canon part of the story, and can just make it a mechanic, maybe with the number being a difficulty setting like casual and classic.

But it's certainly far more forgivable and easier to pretend doesn't exist here than it was in Three Houses due to the map design no longer being full of bullshit and mind games seemingly designed to force it to be relevant to how you play. In fact it's got some of the fairest map design in the series, to my pleasant surprise, with a few exceptions.

Which brings me to my change:

Bring back ambush spawns.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Alastor15243

[Fabulously Olivier]

If a unit dies with an Embling Ring equipped, the Emblem dies as well. Also, rewinds are now tied to Emblem Byleth, and he can't rewind his own death.

[joeygreedy]

Also, for me, my personal thought is locking every Emblem to their initial user, meaning you are permanently locked to
Marth-Alear, Vandar-Sigurd, Ivy-Lyn, Rosado-Eirika, Seadall-Corrin ( Biggest troll move there IS ), Celine-Celica, Diamant-Roy, Timerra-Ike, etc. 

Oops, all Royals ( And Yunaka, Vandar and Seadall )

 

It won't make the game as horrible to play as Ambush Spawns, but it will sure as hell make the game hellishly bland and go against the whole design philosophy of the Emblems to begin with. 

[joeygreedy]

9 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

Personally I don't find redoing an hour of a map (is it just me, or does Engage have some of the longest maps in a while?) because of a stupid mistake/misclick or an overtuned reinforcement pattern is something I find fun.

Personally, I think it just feels like that because of the enemy quality and density, you can't rush forward because Enemy Phasing is near suicide in this game without a specific build. Even Micaiah-mass warpskipping requires planning and calculations to make the kill work, or else your entire team will die to the boss and the enemies around them in the following Enemy Phase, and multiple bosses with 2-3 health bars each mean even a LTC strategy takes 30 minutes of planning. So a lot of time is spent on player phase planning every move, at least, that's how I felt when playing the game. 

[Keikyushi]

Emblem is not full at the start of battle, and no Emblem refill spot

Not as bad of a change as some of the ones listed here, but it will make the game a lot less interesting to play when you can't Engage as frequently

[Zanarkin]

Oh I have another. cut the gold income by half or more...

Honestly, I am so poor on my first maddening run. Almost at the end, and I struggle to buy a mend staff :<

[Speedy]

Make all maps just an empty square. 🙂