NekoKnight

I don't know about suicidal thoughts before the war but if you side with Hoshido, he implies that he was holding back in the fight with Kamui, so he was basically doing suicide-by-cop. Understandable considering who he just killed, and his options by that point would be to either kill his father or adoptive sister/brother.

Kyaa, senpai noticed me! Okie dokie, let's get into it. Concerning Kamui and the story reading like shonen manga There is nothing really wrong with a shonen style protagonist, and I wouldn't describe them as unpopular in the west. It's really about how the story handles them. Fates' implementation of those tropes was lacking because Kamui doesn't develop enough as a character. A friendly, merciful guy who fights for his friends is a decent place to start, but he needs to change as the plot throws new things at him. People don't dislike shonen characters, they dislike static characters. Concerning not having everything explained Minimalism is a respectable direction to take a work, but that does need to be the intention. I love Shadow of the Colossus for (occasionally 'despite') its extremely minimalist setting. Who is Mono to Wander and how did she die? Is Dormin an evil being or was he legitimately trying to help wander? How did the colossi come to be, and was killing them an immoral thing? The story has charm because you can speculate and wonder how this world and characters all came together. Fates isn't that kind of story. Fates, like most Fire Emblem games TRIES to tell a complete world but then leaves out major sections which leads to plot holes and contrivances. For a plot driven game, you can't meet the exposition halfway. Things like antagonist motivations and key events (such as Kamui's kidnapping) need to be discussed to make us care. Concerning the reason people don't like Hydra Well, the thing is, most people are going to want him to have more nuanced motivations. "I want to make humanity suffer and destroy the world because I'm evil and crazy" is about as boring and cliche as it gets. Let's look at some of the other villains in the series. Zephiel (FE6) grows to hate humanity because of his extremely abusive father and ultimately decides the world would be in better hands with the dragons. Nergal (FE7) was originally a decent human being but his pursuit for power corrupted him and he eventually forgot his reasons for seeking power in the first place. Lyon (FE8) foresaw a great disaster and his reckless efforts to save his people led him to being possessed by the Demon King. These villains have a human element that gets people interested. Hydra is just crazy. As far as Hydra being integral to the plot, he only matters because the writers shoehorned him into the other routes to build up the DLC 3rd route. Everything Hydra does could easily be merged with other characters and nothing would change. Concerning time loop shenanigans I...don't think there is anything in the canon to suggest time loops but that's an interesting direction you could take it. Aqua having incomplete knowledge (like Rika in Higurashi) would solve the problem of her not doing the right thing the first time around. A Higurashi style retelling of the Fates story could be really compelling. It could be like the Big Bad of Higurashi but with Hanyuu's powers. I suggest you go through your post again and reorganize your thoughts so they are easier to discuss.

Seconding this. Awakening's gameplay was a solid base, but not without flaws. Fates did a lot to balance the game and expand upon its features in a way few games have tried. The inclusion of hidden weapons, the attack/guard stance, and the reworking of durability/weapons pros and cons are all things that will make Fates stand out in the future as being a particularly innovative title in the series.

Still, the Yatogami looks nothing like a traditional Japanese sword so it could be said to be more western in design, albeit with a Japanese name.

Naming conventions are a little hard to settle on.(at least for Nohr). You have Scottish names like Macbeth, Germanic names like Marx and Brunhilde, French names like Garon... It feels lazy to just pick names from all across European culture/lore but the game already does this. Hachiman sounds like a cool name for Hinoka's weapon but if you want to stick with the naming theme they have already, Suijin and Tenjin are probably a better fit. Other Japanese names you could have are the Imperial Regalia, Kusanagi (sword), Yato (mirror) and Yasakani (magatama). Susanoo is the name of the wall outside the capital, btw.

I might play on my sister's copy but I probably won't purchase another copy myself. I already have the gameplay for my Japanese version and the story is best left unsaid.

Anything can be accomplished with good writing but to answer question one, the only thing Aqua adds to the story is some really dodgy strategy tips, moral support and exposition dropping. Considering all the other characters who could fill in for these roles (the royal siblings, Kamui's household staff), Aqua only serves to be needlessly mysterious and (as we find out by the existence of Touma) ineffectual. So what can be done? This will depend on whether or not you want to include the 3rd route. Without the 3rd route, we can safely reduce Aqua to a minor character. Kamui already has four siblings to play off of so we don't need any more main characters diluting each others' screen time. With the 3rd route it becomes more tricky. A writer would need to come up with a reason for why she can't or won't pursue her agenda in the first two routes. I think it would take a dramatic restructuring of the plot.

I think buffs/debuffs and status effects are in a pretty good place right now. Hidden weapons and debuffing skills enhance strategies by allowing units to support even if they aren't the best combat units themselves. It encourages cooperation, as others have mentioned. Things I'd change would be be to add back sleep/berserk/poison statuses and to turn rallies into passive auras.

Oh, I forgot. I'd make Support ranks, Relationship markers and class information (such as "Armored" "Flying") visible in the interface. I don't know why they took that out.

If they were acquirable somehow in game, I wouldn't mind, but as it stands you need DLC which is unfair, in my opinion. Charging extra to get all the weapons in the game and to make forging possible is bad game design.

I just mean the ability to buy Nohr and Hoshido exclusive weapons besides the basics. They give us interaction between different versions of the game and then they make it pointless by locking out all the items worth buying (staves are an exception).

Here's a sneak peak at some of the script that I'm working on. The game itself doesn't give us a strong reason for why Marx supports Garon so I'm hoping to fix that and give some perspective on Garon and Marx's values. This dialogue would take place before the start of Chapter 15, where the invasion of Hoshido is nearly complete. [spoiler=Story] <flashback from Marx's childhood years> Garon: Marx, when you look upon the people of Nohr, what do you see? Marx: ...I see farmers in their fields, knights and lords in their castles and bandits on the road. Garon: That's right. And all of those people, the lowborn and the highborn, desire the same thing; wealth and power. But these things are limited so they scheme, and they covet, and they fight. They would take it all away from us if we let them. They are loyal to nothing but their own advancement. Marx: The people will be loyal if we protect them. Garon: They will be loyal when they want for nothing, but that's not the Nohr we live in. Hoshido, with its verdant fields and clear sky... I would take it all if it could pacify this country of cut-throats and liars. Marx: I will give it to you, Father! I swear on my sword! Garon: Haha, I'm sure you will! I've seen your swordsmanship and you have a natural talent for leadership. I'm very proud of you. Marx: I want you to be proud of me, Father. <end of flashback> Marx: Father... we've come farther into Hoshido than any Nohrian has for hundreds of years. Soon we will lay siege to the capital and take what is ours by right. I will give you the throne of Hoshido. Perhaps I'll paint Garon as a (previously) well-meaning leader but the difficulties of preserving Nohr made him cynical and misanthropic. He becomes obsessed with conquering Hoshido, becoming more and more brutal to those who stand between him and his goal, be they Hoshidans or Nohrians. What most people regard as a war-mongering tyrant, Marx remembers as a kind father and pragmatic leader.

-Non-generic weapon icons. -Allow the player to buy limited stock equipment in other players' My Castle (keep the "limited" part though) -Give unique color pallets for the natural promotion paths if not all promotions. -Give the royal sisters unique weapons. -Nerf the other royal weapons a bit. Raijin Katana and Fuujin Bow are the best weapons 90% of the time. -Remove gratuitous fan-service to female class outfits -More Dark tomes and Light Magic -Make it so attacks that would deal zero damage don't activate a Guard Stance block I have other changes I would add (such as the story) but these points are probably the best I could hope for out of a patch. And these. Rather than locking the skills completely, I think it would be cooler if the skills had an additional effect if on its native class. Skill triggers could activate more often, certain skills getting stronger stat buffs, etc.

I think there is lots of room to explore how Hoshido keeps its peace. Tokugawa Japan had a fascinating system called Sankin Kotai, where the families of the regional lords were kept in the capital as hostages, and the lords would spend half their time in the capital and half in their provinces. This kept the lords loyal to the central government and rapidly grew the size of the capital. Where Nohr keeps itself together with military conquest, Hoshido could be unified and kept 'peaceful' by hostages and loyalty indoctrination. The differences and consequences of a society of individualists vs a group oriented society could be examined as well. If I end up writing Hoshido, I'd want a portion of Kamui's character development to be devoted to coping with culture shock, enough to where he misses and sometimes regrets leaving Nohr.

Hm? I was just talking about how I think the story should be, based on the depictions of Nohr/Hoshido and what real life cultures and circumstances they are inspired by. Everyone knows that in the story proper that Nohr is improbably evil and Hoshido improbably good. This is a thread for story rewrites so speculating and adding further details to justify why things work is part of what we do.

I'm going to side on JupiterKnight on the matter of Nohr/Hoshido relations. If Nohr had a history of conquest (remember all that pre-release speculation about them being based on the Romans?), it would make sense that they wouldn't/couldn't just ask Hoshido for the resources they need. Likewise, Hoshido is a very different culture than Nohr so they probably don't want to give anything to them. (Assuming, of course that the cultures are indeed more than an eastern/western paint job.)

I'm thinking a combination of the bolded. Marx is a prince and heir-apparent of a nation that has long been accustomed to pragmatism in order to survive (Kamui is the weirdo for advocating so much mercy). Considering his upbringing and role in society, he's probably as patriotic as one can get. Garon may be brutal at times but his rule is effective enough to hold together a chaotic country like Nohr. Marx is also the only child of Garon who wasn't born from a mistress so perhaps he was treated the kindest amongst his siblings. I can imagine Marx being a paragon of Nohrian values (strength, courage, loyalty), so he's treated well by his father. Basically, Marx is looking at his father through rose-colored glasses, so even if Garon starts to become increasingly brutal, Marx won't acknowledge it. It could even be his pride preventing him from admitting that a man he respected and tried to emulate all his life isn't such a good person after all. People talk about "My Country, Right or Wrong" characters (like Camus) but loyalty is too simple and impersonal a motive, for my tastes. It would be more interesting to write Marx as a tragic character who can't realize the mistake of following his father until it's too late (ultimately leading to Elise's and his own death in the Hoshido route).

I think for most people the biggest complaints are more about how the story uses characters rather than the characters themselves. Some characters care so much about Kamui that their own character become more shallow. Characters should have their own motivations, philosophies and values that aren't trumped just because someone with "Protagonist" pinned to their shirt walks into the room. Much like real (socially adjusted) people, characters are defined by their own values and the wishes of others are considered second. The only character I had a (non-Kamui related) problem with was Marx. His devotion to Garon seems misplaced and poorly justified so the showdown with him felt like forced drama. Fierce loyalty to a brutal king can work, but we need to hear the reasons for it. Obviously the villains need more work. A lot of people seem to be taking them in a sympathetic direction but personally, I'm okay with characters being completely unsympathetic, provided they have reasons for doing the things they do. For example, my Ganz is a former criminal who gained his rank through his ferociousness and willingness to chop people up. He acts partially in fear of what Garon would do to him if disobeyed, but he's still a rotten person at the end of the day. Let villains be vile, I say!

Maybe people who have played the 3rd route can tell me but I wondering what kind of character development Kamui can go through when they don't side with Nohr or Hoshido. For my rewrite at least, the theme for Nohr is choosing your loved ones over your blood relations. The theme of Hoshido is choosing to do the moral thing rather than what you want to do. But what would a third route be about? Is there much of a personal ultimatum for Kamui if he doesn't need to choose one side of his family?

The changes are mostly good but it still has problems concerning the 3rd route. -Why doesn't Aqua do anything in the routes you choose Hoshido or Nohr? Is the world-ending threat not important enough for her to act? -Why doesn't the world ending monster attack if you don't choose the 3rd route? Was it only a threat to Touma? -If the monster is only a threat to Touma, why would Hoshido and Nohr go as far as teaming up to stop it? These problems could be alleviated by the monster not being an immediate threat (in other words, the events of the 3rd route will happen eventually, whether you side with Touma initially or not) but it would have to be brought up in the epilogue of the first two routes (Aqua's inaction would still require a better explanation than hesitation).

It will depend on the rewrite and which direction each person wants to take the story. The power balance definitely won't remain the same, however. I think it would be lazy to just end it with "And then the continent was consolidated under a single power" because even if one side wins, Hoshido and Nohr are too different culturally for them to both be ruled by a single faction. If Nohr wins, I could see part of Hoshido being annexed but just enough to get the resources they need. It's hard to say what the Hoshidans would do if they won since they have most of the things they need already. Maybe some forced political marriages will happen to join the Hoshido and Nohrian royal lines. Another idea is a peaceful resolution but you could note in the epilogue that the peace could only last so long and the seeds of conflict were already growing. I like mixed endings so an ending like "Everyone goes home and has ice cream" wouldn't be satisfying. It should be optimistic but still feel the weight of what has happened and what will happen in the future.

Ugh... multiverse tie-ins... How would Tsubaki even know about Pegasus and Tenma being "totally different species" unless they also existed in the world of Fates? "I read it in a strategy book or something". I don't think it really matters for the naming convention at any rate. As far as I'm aware Tenma in Fates don't take significant cues from eastern mythology that would really distinguish them from what we understand to be a Pegasus.

Why would it matter if they changed Tenma to Pegasus? Unless they make in game references to how Tenma are different than Pegasus (there aren't any "Pegasus" in Fates to compare to), they are indistinguishable and might as well be called what westerners are familiar with. The only difference I've heard about them is allowing men to ride them (iirc, this is only mentioned in promotional materials to explain a retcon), but considering Pegasus in Greek mythology were ridden by men, Fire Emblem chooses its own lore. tl:dr Everything got renamed in Hoshido for flavor. Bowmen are still Archers and Tenma are still Pegasus.

My impression is that while some people don't like the children mechanic (or the children characters themselves) in terms of writing, a majority like it for gameplay and shipping reasons. The next game could have children be spawned by pixie dust and delivered by storks and people would still be for it because people who care about writing quality are a minority. I'm sure that's why people can marry their siblings, because they don't care about Kamui as a character and just want to pair characters with whomever they please. As much as I want to blame IS for their writing/gameplay priorities, the fans are almost as much to blame. Nonsense. Everyone can bond over farming. Mozume has chemistry with everyone.

(For OakTree) The Meiji period (1868-1912) is when (under international pressure and following a revolution) Japan opened up its borders to other countries and began a rapid period of industrialization and adoption of foreign institutions and culture. Immediately before that, in the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868), Japan was a significantly different culture. Japan had over two and a half centuries of relative peace but it accomplished this with strict authoritarian rule. Many foreign things were banned (and with only a few exceptions, foreigners were killed if they entered the country), Christianity and peasant rebellions were brutally suppressed and Japan had a caste system. Japan was a largely agrarian society in the past and the laws allowing only people in the samurai caste to hold swords made it so Japan could only muster a portion of its fighting men (compared to a conscript army). As Alazen said, if you had Hoshido mimic Tokugawa Japan, they would have plenty of negative traits to highlight.