[Why do people hate the dragon bosses so much?]

I don't think people hate having to fight a dragon as the final boss, per se. It's more people are tired of them being the final enemy you face. It gets predictable, and it doesn't help that over half the series has them as the final boss, so they have grown pretty stale at this point.

That, and most Fire Emblem bosses go down in two or more hits anyway, so it can ruin the epic feel that a final boss is supposed to have. This isn't a problem limited to just Fire Emblem, however. Many strategy games suffer from having lackluster final bosses/levels, mostly because of how the game mechanics in those games work.

[What I want for FE switch]

13 hours ago, bad touch said:

To Hawkwing, That's a long list of ideas, and for reference, rescue was far better balanced than pair up is, but I digress. I will expand on what i mean, and then edit them into the OG post

Thanks for responding. By the way, if you put the @ symbol in front of a name, you can inform them that you've responded without having to quote what they've said, like this: @bad touch.

As for your answers:

13 hours ago, bad touch said:

Basically, if positioning correctly, you always got to approach and land the first hits with shove, some characters could even shove 2 squares, with a skill. This served mostly to correct errors, Approach for free or perform hit and run tactics on a boss with a squishy mage. Rescue was in tellius and served the same function to a more defensive extent, but was either, irrelevant or unbeatable. So yeah, a little broken, but also kind of unnecessary.

I do know what shove is, I just don't know how it works in practice. I wouldn't be surprised if it does/doesn't return.

13 hours ago, bad touch said:

What i mean by Fusion of Fe4 (have you played that one?)/Echoes and some GBA, is that promotion would not; Decrease your level to level one, promoted class; Stunt exp growth; Change growth rates or lower specific stats. What it would do is; Bring your unit up to the base stats of the promo class(a la echoes); Take class group specific items to promote(a la GBA), as in, Certain classes would take a specific item for them to promote, as opposed to the universal promo of fates, as that hindered conservation of items, I felt; Would encourage the earliest promotion possible, as there would be no downside whatsoever.

I haven't played FE4 (I took one look at the prologue map and said "So THIS is what they mean by the game having ridiculously large maps! I think I'll play this when I actually have some time on my hands), but I do know that a units level remains consistent after promotion. I do think that this system could work, but I also think that they'd need to balance the game out in order for it to do so. Also, while I don't mind class specific promotion items, having a universal one saves a lot of hassle.

13 hours ago, bad touch said:

The Fe6 style larger than average seize maps are just my favorite, so I kind of have a bias towards them but, i get it, they do take a while and obviously, i don't mean make every map seize, I just mean that i want the map size to be decently large.

I don't mind having a large siege map, I just don't want them to be considered the norm of the game. I'd be fine with two or three really large maps, as long as there is some warning beforehand that the next level will be long.

13 hours ago, bad touch said:

Not sure what XCOM is or the second wave, no comment.

XCOM is a hard-as-nails tactical strategy game about defending the earth from aliens, spawning several jokes about how recruits are inaccurate as stormtroopers despite being the worlds finest.

Second Wave options can be chosen to alter the game before it starts to have a different gameplay experience, such as having recruits stats be randomized and different from each other (when they're normally static and similar), having aim and movement decreased when getting injured, not being able to retrieve soldier gear if a unit dies, increasing the cost of research, etc. It makes several aspects of the game more random and more difficult, and it's the players choice of which ones they want to have activated.

I think that this kind of system would work very well in a Fire Emblem game.

13 hours ago, bad touch said:

The thing is, i Had no idea that some of the gaiden chapters existed, and am personally a little salty, so a little bias, but i think it would be a way to help out newer players, or players that just skip the dialogue, for the gameplay. Got to disagree with you on no Gaiden menu.

Well, I basically have this site up for gaiden chapter requirements, as well as recruitment requirements and support bonuses, whenever I play FE 6 or 7 (though I do have two monitors set up, making this pretty practical), as I don't really care for spoilers in general. But I can see your point.

13 hours ago, bad touch said:

Seige weapons would be cool. But not sure if it would really fit into fire emblem.

I could see them working for castle assaults or on really large maps. They just wouldn't be common, is all.

13 hours ago, bad touch said:

Max gained bonus in echoes is a thing, to test, just send a unit into a horde of terrors on their own and see the bonus exp. ALWAYS stops at 20. or just check any early game bonus exp screen. It is 20. but whatever, mostly just trivia.

You gain less bonus experience in dungeons than in larger fights, although the bonus limit is really only present in Echoes (dungeons in the original game just consisted of a single fight, excluding the end-game ones which were more like marathon levels).

13 hours ago, bad touch said:

The world map thing? is that what you wanted expanded upon? I dunno the post is kinda hard to read y'know? Yeah, pretty much on the same boat with you, but i don't think starving the enemy out would make particularly compelling gameplay, though assassination of the enemy commander would be cool, but only with a promoted thief and should not be reliable at all, as success would be an instant win, though equipping the right weapons would help with your chances. Other dirty tricks like poisoning the supplies should probably not be allowed for the fact that, A) Would probably be really cheap, B) De-humanize the leader, damning the story and making the player feel bad, though not saying it would be Impossible, to work it into a narrative. If the leader used it as a last resort against horrific murderers then it might add some nice moral grey.

A lot of my ideas are short in though or speech, but long on paper, so I apologize if it is a little difficult to read. I think that staving out the enemy could work gameplaywise if you had multiple commanders to control (while one is attacking the castle, another could be attacking an enemy army) and if it was occasionally broken up by fights with those trying to bring supplies into the sieged castle.

Admittedly, the poisoning Idea came from the Scout class from Eador: Genesis (it's an obscure game, so I don't blame you for not knowing about it), where you have the option before a fight to raise a false alarm (which reduces the enemies stamina at the start of the fight, meaning they must rest more often), poison the water (which makes all your enemies start the battle poisoned) or raise a panic (which reduces the enemies morale). If the protagonist/commander was already morally grey to begin with, this wouldn't be to out of place.

I think that assassination could work either as an RNG thing or it could be a gameplay one, where you have to avoid the guards and reach the target in a modified turn-based style similar to, but still different from, the Fire Emblem norm. Having several ways to assassinate the enemy leader and having each thief having a different perk from each other (such as being able to pass by some guards without raising an alarm, or you can get money after the ordeal is over because your thief, you know, stole stuff on the job).

It would also be cool if your decisions here affected the storyline. For instance, attacking a castle immediately without any preparations beforehand and succeeding would gain you a reputation of being a mighty warrior who defies odds, but as an unreliable strategist. Repeatedly using underhanded tactics would cause many problems down the line, as your allies trust you less and less, etc.

13 hours ago, bad touch said:

Light magic having reliable 1-3 range, would be its niche, and if other mages had the same niche, with HIGHER might, then light would be worthless again. So yeah. If other classes got 1-3 range there would have to be significant drawbacks, opposed to light, such as, lower accuracy, High weapon rank, expensive, but all in all, leaning towards inaccuracy

I get your idea, I just don't want light mages to be better archers, and vice versa.

13 hours ago, bad touch said:

Onto the things that you said.

• I disagree on a new game+, because i don't see it working with fire emblem, mostly due to how the system traditionally works. If new game plus happened to exist, it would not be a very standard new game +. Randomizers aren't my thing, so gonna have to say that i wouldn't really use it.
• Archers, right, forgot about them. I think that they should have 2-5 range on their phase, and counter melee with a dagger. Same with clerics. If attacked at melee they would use standard, weak, and inaccurate daggers due to having little training in combat.
• Mentioned siege stuff earlier, probably would be neat, though I honestly doubt it would work as amazingly as i would hope.
• Faction differences seem cool, and probably would help with identifying what your up against as actual people, not just soldiers with the same face.
• Random enemies might be  a little clunky but overall, if it wasn't to ridiculously randomized then I would be behind it all the way. Maybe some lookalikes to other bosses from the series as random enemies. That would be interesting.
• The stats affecting animations and equipment would be freaking awesome.
• Characters should have 6 inventory slots. This could be for weapons, shields, rings, heal items, promo items and other accessories and could be divided up at will. So yeah. That would be really cool.
• I loved the ending system that echoes had, like python dying sending forsyth to his dark ending. That was so heartfelt. 
• The choices throughout the story being that massively impactful, would lead to having things behind multiple playthroughs, and there should be different endings, but only via fulfilling certain supports, and should all be possible to change late enough on in the game. 

All in all, The suggestions were awesome.

 

• Fair enough. I have several ideas for new game+, as I've had the idea for a while, but I understand and respect your opinion.
• I think it would be cool if an archer got a shot in first, then switched to their dagger, even if the difference is just cosmetic. Depending on their personality and background, healers would use hand-to-hand combat or staffs to fight, as historically, monks weren't allowed to wield bladed weapons, and instead used blunt weaponry such as maces to fight.
• I really like the game Stronghold, so I admittedly just want to see the siege contraptions/tactics from that game used in Fire Emblem.
• I actually created a thread about cosmetic ideas I had for the Switch game a few moths back. It was one of the first topics I made, in fact.
• I may have not been as clear in the original post. I just want the appearance to be randomized, not their stats.
• If programmed/designed correctly, it wouldn't even be that complex to insert. It would also be cool to see every weapon a unit is wielding, instead of it being there in hammerspace. That being said, I worry that it would be among the first things to be cut if they had to make any.
• I just suggested a single inventory slot (the unit could still wield multiple weapons) so that their isn't the conundrum of a unit wielding multiple shields.
• Exactly the reason why it should return.
• I'm not asking for a thousand page script or anything like that, but I do think that Fire Emblem is a series that could use them very well.

Thanks for the compliment.

[Most boring/obnoxious/badly-designed maps from any game?]

I could probably say half of the recruitment chapters for the child characters in Awakening, but to be more specific:

-Kjelle: The only saving graces about this map is that Kjelle is unlikely to die and that this level is accessible pretty early on. Other than that, it's a crowded indoor map filled with tough enemies that never lets up on the reinforcements, meaning that this level lasts loads longer than it needs to, and if you're playing on hard difficult or above, the reinforcements move on the turn they are spawned.

-Yarne: The fact that you choose which army you wish to fight and which one you wish to protect, or you can decide to fight both for the combined reward, is a cool idea. The fact that the game doesn't show you the full army beforehand, is not as cool. You basically have to have a strong enough army that you can split into two if you want the full reward, and the enemies of this level aren't weak by any means (the reason why they gave you the decision to fight only one side in the first place rears its ugly head before long). That, and Yarne himself will either be a balanced powerhouse or pitiful weakling depending on how kind the child mechanics are to him, meaning it's difficult to predict beforehand whether or not doing the level is worthwhile in the first place

-Severa's: The enemy class balance in this level is a pain for the player, as they're too varied to fully prepare for. You have sages who are physically weak but are magical powerhouses, weak but accurate and speedy assassins and tricksters, and warriors/berserkers who are inaccurate has heck but hit like a truck. That, and the level has reinforcements, as well as green npc that you have to protect (which granted, I never found to be that hard, but you do have to spend a few turns waiting for her to reach the villager) before she can be recruited. The only saving grace of this level is that Severa herself is pretty versatile.

-Nah's: The wall gimmick is definitely a "sounds good on paper, not so much in practice" idea. You can easily have a path blocked for your stronger units to continue, have a wall crumble right when you though your injured unit would be safe from the battle, and have a path of retreat blocked right when a unit may have needed it. This level is an exercise in frustration, as it's very hard to predict what areas are safe and what aren't, and having to backtrack because a wall appear right when you just got a unit next to unit, just adds to the frustration.

[What I want for FE switch]

9 hours ago, bad touch said:

GAMEPLAY

• Distinct difficulty levels, for replayability and accessibility, standard, hard, no lunatic, though, as i think FE7 did the difficulty gap between hector normal, and hector hard mode better that conquest did, and, to be honest, it was a little daunting seeing lunatic on the start screen, first playthrough, for some reason. 
• Rescue, not pair up. pair up is unbalanced to use and unbalanced to play against in the few instances that you do (Conquest, 17/18 cant remember , General bros being a fine example.)
• I don't really want shove back unless the enemies also use it on hard, as it was a little broken.
• Promotion to work kind of like a fusion between FE4 and Gaiden/ Echoes plus a little of the Gba norm. As in like that, promotions would only get you up to the promoted classes bases, never over, but promotion would not reset your level, or stunt exp growth. But also some three tier classes for good measure, not all classes though. but so that it was generally rewarding to see happen i would probably have the class bases for promoted classes be like, 40% stronger than the un-promoted variants. Third tier would, stat wise be less significant, but grant some gnarly skills. Also branching promotion would be cool, but only for first to second, not second to third, as that would be confusing. Second to third would join back together in one super class that combines the strengths of both lines together. Promotions, finally, would take items, like the riders whip, for mounts not just fliers, or the training guide for some standard infantry. etc
• Level cap 40
• Skills would be linked to the class, not the level of the class, like fates did it. So Gamble would be innate of fighters and Sol would be innate of heroes ETC. Proc skills would replace crits for their classes, so if a hero crits he deals triple damage and heals half the damage dealt. Sword-master crit would be weird in that, instead of doing three times five hits doing half damage, it would be five hits doing half damage with a mini luna (25% less def on hit) at base might. Killer weapons would be low might and rare but still have high crit to compensate. 
• I want dungeon crawling like echoes did. Not like FE8s attempt, oh no no no. Lots of cool loot, not too much though.
• Weapons unbreakable, but no shops, only forges, enemy, and dungeons.
• I want more echoes, but with cherries on top. 
• Fe6 style rush for the throne based map design; Gives the player more control without feeling overwhelming to figure out . Also map size similar to fe6 would be fun as I think it hits a nice sweet spot. Large but not overwhelming.
• Gaiden chapters. I would prefer if the pause menu told you in advance the conditions for unlocking the Gaiden, At the very least, on a second play through.
• NOTHING locked behind multiple playthroughs. Ever. Hard mode would be just a harder version of the same game. maybe some new gimmicks on certain maps but nothing crazy like enemies dropping new items on hard. NO characters you have to choose between, like Sonya or Deen, or Bartre and Echidna. Playthrough differences would be formed by a close balance of the cast to chose from.
• Echoes/Gaiden/FE8 style world map, grinding possible, but slow and unnecessary.
• Echoes style bonus exp, but max gained per battle is 30 instead of 20, otherwise, identical. 
• Trinity of magic RETURNS! anima>light>dark>anima.
• Light magic would actually be useful, having slightly higher range than other magic(1-3), but heavy-ish.
• Weapon weight would be a thing, With a con stat as well, to calculate rescues

Visuals would just be HD sprites. GBA style animations

Prepare for a long post, as I'm going to give an answer to every suggestion you made:

• I don't mind if the hardest difficulty has to be unlocked first (even though you have to beat Lunatic anyway to get Lunatic+). Just don't force me into playing on the easiest setting first.
• I haven't gotten to far into the GBA games, so I don't know how useful rescue is. I wouldn't mind pair-up returning, but I also won't miss it if it doesn't.
• Haven't played Tellius, so I can't comment.
• I wouldn't mind this system, as long as the game is properly balanced around it. It brings up the question of whether or not one would be wasting levels by stalling promotions, or if there's anyway to circumvent hitting the level cap.
• Again, I wouldn't mind if the game was built with this in mind.
• I'm fine with skills being linked to classes, as that's how they were before Awakening and it worked just fine. I don't think that critical hit's should be different between classes, however, and I think killer weapons should remain as they were pre-fates.
• As long as the game has a good in-universe reason for why I should be exploring dungeons, sure.
• If the game had second wave options like in XCOM, I wouldn't mind this system as long as it was optional. Or if it was modeled after Echoes. However, I don't mind weapon durability returning as long as certain weapons have unlimited uses (with the necessary drawbacks).
• What exactly do you mean by this?
• I've only just started playing FE6, so I can't comment on the map quality in that game. However, I wouldn't mind if the game had a few large maps siege maps, but by no means would I want them to be the norm.
• Sure, but I do think there are more creative ways to hint at the gaiden chapter requirements that just the pause menu. Making the turn limit obvious, having different victory conditions, or making it VERY clear that X unit needs to survive could do. I also wouldn't mind a system that Battle for Wesnoth occasionally applies with it's branching paths, where you have a limit on how many turns you can take before loosing the map, with multiple enemy commanders to battle. Depending on which one you take out before the time limit, you're forced to go on a certain path. If you manage to defeat both ahead of time, you get to choose which path you wish to take. This would force the player to prioritize, especially on harder difficulties, while still having providing the opportunity to plan ahead far enough to knock out both bosses.
• It would be nice if it was possible to gain certain characters later, or to go through a much harder level to unlock both at the same time. That being said, as long as the character differences makes the choice
• Agreed, although I think that they could expand upon this system greatly, such as offering multiple options of how to seige a castle (such as starving them out, attacking immediately, resorting to poisoning the food supply or hiring assassins, etc.) or how to approach certain levels beforehand (such as attacking at night, setting up an ambush/trap, building defenses, etc.), and choosing which of your commanders moves on a turn and which ones defend, etc.
• Agreed, although I don't think there is a max gained in echoes.
• Not in it's current state, as magic users tend to have to high of a resistance stat for the magic triangle to have much use. However, it could return if there was more to differentiate between each magic class, such as dark magic gaining some extremely damaging spells and some classes being able to summon animals or the dead, light magic having some positive side effects on allies that make them good as a support class, and anima magic having some creative and versatile uses, such as using fire magic to damage defensive walls, or to set fire to a forest, or using wind magic to shove enemies off cliffs. Follow on this train of thought, and magic can become surprisingly more versatile that it currently is (do note that these are just ideas, however, and obviously playtesting would need to take place to make sure whether they are any good or not).
• Agreed on light magic not getting the short end of the stick, although I would like for specific spells to be able to attack from three range, not just light magic.
• As long as it's limited to simple speed reductions, sure. I haven't played the GBA games enough to say whether or not I like the con system yet, though.

Considering the how high quality some sprites are nowadays, I wouldn't be against this. I found the GBA animates to be extremely well animated, but repetitive, so having multiple variations on a single attack would be an easy solution to this (and not having units walk back and forth for every attack). That being said, I really love the animations from Echoes, and I would love to see them upgraded.

As for my short list of ideas:

• Have New Game+, and include a built-in randomizer so the hackers don't have all the fun.
• Have archers keep the 3-5 range from echoes, and allow them to counterattack, but with a penalty of some sort.
• For magic, I would add runes, which have monstrous might but can only attack at 1 range, and staffs, which can attack at 3 range but are woefully inaccurate so mages don't replace archers (again). Also, some characters should have a personal spell list that can be cast with hp, but they can wield magical weapons regardless.
• Each nation/faction should have unique armor, instead of having a universal design. The knights of Nation A would look very different from the knights of Nation B, and bandits should look like normal civilians who grabbed a weapon and whatever could qualify as "armor." This helps differentiate the enemy nations from each other, something that previous Fire Emblem games don't tend to do well.
• Related to the above, the face, race, and gender should be randomized, so that you aren't fighting the same-haired soldiers all the time.
• Having the ability to build and use siege contraptions for certain levels would be cool.
• Having stats affect equipment would also be neat (a character with moderate defense would wear leather armor, while a character with higher defense would be wearing chainmail. Similarly, a character with low skill would use very obvious, broad, and impractical movements in their attack animations, while one with high skill would be subtle, direct, and efficient), though I can see the troubles in implementing such a system.
• Have items be a separate category, so that shield, rings, and healing items from echoes can return, but you can only wield one at a time. This way, a unit can have a shield while also fighting with an actual weapon, instead of the "either or" situation SoV had.
• Combine the paired-ending system of previous titles with the "one characters death affects another characters ending" system from echoes.
• Also, have the choices made during the story matter, and have multiple endings.

[Do you think full voice acting should return?]

Of course. As other's have already stated, it would be a step backwards if they didn't use it. It still astonishes me how much it added to the characters in echoes,  and I especially want the comments during battle to return.

The only thing that I wonder if voice acting will return for is supports, and that's only because the amount of them can range from reasonable to ridiculous depending on the game. I don't know how much money IS is willing to put into the voice acting, but considering how much dialogue is fully voiced in much larger games, I wouldn't be surprised either way.

[Games that need a remaster/remake?]

Remake FE 4-6, although 7 and 8 would be a nice bonus, and remaster the Tellius games. There, I've gotten the obvious ones out of the way.

Sword of the Samurai

One of my favorite Sid Meier games, and for good reason; They did their research on the time period and on Samurai, to the point that I joke that the best game made about the Japanese was made by the Canadians. The game manages to make a one-man army fight seem grounded and realistic while still being awesome, and it's interesting seeing the values dissonance without it being shoved in my face. It also has some really good pixel art for an early 90's dos game.

Really, though, the reason I want this game remade is that all of the flaws of the original are both minor and easy to fix. Speed up the gameplay of the sword fighting and military battle minigames, and make the distance of sword swings more clear for the former. Make it so being attacked from different angles isn't a certain death when doing the one vs many minigame, and make the stealth segments it's own minigame instead of combining it with the before aforementioned minigame. Also, make it so the low honor samurai don't commit crimes every turn trying to claw their way to the top, as those messages get annoying.

The Elder Scrolls: Battlespire

A case of "an excellent idea that was poorly executed." Seriously, who thought that using Daggerfalls combat system (where you have to swing the mouse, say, right to swing right, or forward to stab, etc.. It's a lot clunkier than it sounds) while the camera was controlled with the mouse was a good idea (try to swing the the right, and you'll miss your enemy by a large margin. Try to stab the enemy, and suddenly you're attacking the air)?

I mostly want the game remade because I love the idea so much: An Elder Scrolls rougelike where there is no money, no shops, and no NPC's. You'll have to scavenge all your gear from your dead enemies and the rare chest, all while traversing through a randomly generated dungeon. The magic system is fairly complex, but not very useful during combat, so having the system keep it's complexity while streamlining the casting process would be neat. The thing that interests me the most, though, is the fact that you can talk to your enemies. You can threaten and scare smaller enemies into fighting for you, you have to resist the temptations of succumbi, and you can try and talk your way out of fighting some monsters (either by boasting of how you've beaten tougher foes than them and survived, provoking them into attacking blindly, or by simply stating that you've already killed their kind before and it's better if they don't waste your time). Put some thought into it, and you can see how many ideas Bethesda can work with.

[The FE Nonsense Story Thread - Now in Act V!]

...doing the tutorial with Cecila, wondering what the heck a cursor was, and why these soldiers were so wiling to let him win their practice fights.

Afterwords, he decided that his growth rates were too low for the lord class, so he decided to go to the gym. He had planned to study while working out, but what actually happened...

[What Next?]

If you're looking for a game similar to Fates, I'd suggest Awakening. Pair up is more broken in that game, and the maps aren't as good, but it's still an overall solid game. The characters are less one-note than they are in Fates, and the story is better (though that's not saying much).

As for Echoes, I suggest doing your research on the game before you buy it, as it's very different from other Fire Emblem games. You'll either love the gameplay, hate it, or think it's a nice deviation from the norm. The story and characters are the best of the 3DS games, and so are the animations. That being said, it's not the best Fire Emblem game if you aim to see what older Fire Emblem games played like.

Warriors is a spin-off, so I only suggest you buy the game if you're interested.

[The FE Nonsense Story Thread - Now in Act V!]

...Bantu, when he was in his fire dragon form. Furious, he breathed such devastating fire upon the mech that it melted immediately, killing the minion inside it. Still filled with rage, Bantu charged up his super attack, and aimed it at...

[What is your unpopular Fire Emblem opinion?]

 

9 hours ago, Slumber said:

Tricksters and War Monks still make no goddamn sense to me, and they're the first signs to me that IS was just throwing in hybrids for the hell of it. 

War monks are probably a reference to the Crusades, where monks were forbidden from wielding bladed weapons, and instead used maces or other blunt weapons. Considering the hammer is really the only blunt weapon in the Fire Emblem series, they had to settle with axes (I got this information from this page from TV Tropes). As for Tricksters, I don't know. Maybe it's going along with the trope that trickster characters are as helpful in as many stories as they are problematic?

 

I've actually have had an idea for a while on handling hybrid classes, but it requires the magic triangle to return (and potentially third tier classes and/or branching promotions). Upon promotion, dark magic users could gain a sword, Anima users gain a lance, and light magic users get an axe. In this way, these classes cover the magics weakness (dark magic is powerful, but inaccurate, while swords are the weakest physical weapon, but have the highest chance to hit. Similarly Light magic is accurate but weak, while axes are the opposite. Anima users get the short end of the stick as both weapons are balanced) while also countering their previous disadvantage with the magic triangle (dark mages can know counter light mages in the weapon triangle, light mage users have the advantage against anima users, so on and so forth). As nice as this idea is, I have no idea how well it would work in practice.

[Games you love and love to make fun of?]

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

There's this old, rather obscure game called Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb. When I was a kid, I used to joke with a cousin of mine, saying he looked like his father, and we started to call him "Indiana James". I also loved to take advantage of the game's many funny minor glitches, like the fact that doing an action right before pulling a level made it look like he was pulling it with his crotch. Sending Indy into one of the boss fights and laugh as I watched him be flung all over the place like a ragdoll by the boss was also great fun. The animations and sound effects in that game were so great, even losing was fun. For the longest time, I just replayed the same three/four levels over and over, beating everyone up because the fighting was (and is) absolutely amazing, and then killing myself in order to do it again.

I'm not sure if it counts, but it's the closest thing to a game "I love to mock" I can think of, and, hey, I just wanted to talk about this game, because it's my dang childhood, and with all its quirks, I don't think it's aged badly at all. It's still a blast all the way through.

YOU DARE CALL THAT GAME OLD!!!

Just kidding, but on a serious note, I really do think that "Emperors Tomb" and "Fate of Atlantis" are tied for best Indiana Jones game, as they both nail the feeling of the movies in different ways.

For my own answer, I'd have to say the Super Smash Bros series. I have no need to describe how awesome the gameplay is, or how how epic it is to have a crossover with most of the beloved Nintendo characters. Despite not playing on online matches, however, I know that these games can get janky, and that's not getting started over how ridiculous the whole concept is if you really sit down and think about it. That, and any time I pause the game, I just have to take a picture the situation. It's a game where anything and everything can happen, and that's were a large part of it's charm comes from.

I would also put Star Wars: The Force Unleashed here, simply because of how ludicrously overpowered the main character is, despite being an apprentice, and how all the DLC missions are What if? scenarios that you'll either enjoy because it derails the original trilogy, or you'll utterly despise because you have to kill every main character in the series (which, given the reception of the Last Jedi, is probably more of the latter than the former). However, I've only started playing the game recently, and I don't think I've formed a solid enough opinion of the game to say whether or not I enjoyed playing it.

[FE switch story predictions & hopes]

7 hours ago, Glennstavos said:

I believe you are mistaken. Echoes was given the go ahead because it was still too early to begin development on a Switch game back in 2015. This is the interview

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Mr. Hitoshi Yamagami (from now on: Yamagami): After the completion of Fire Emblem: Fates (from now on, just Fates)’s development, I started thinking of a game for the Nintendo Switch. However, it was still too early to begin development of titles for that system. While thinking of what to do, several people from Intelligent Systems approached me saying: “There are many things we could not do in Fates[that we wish we could have]. We wish to implement them in a remake for Gaiden.” Gaiden had not been featured much up until now, and I figured if we got started on development at that time, we would be able to release the game before the new Nintendo Switch would come out. So, we began development.

Q: To be more specific, around when are we talking?

Mr. Masahiro Higuchi (from now on, Higuchi): This is back in 2015.

Yamagami: Back then, we thought: “Okay, let’s do this in a year and release it September 2016.”

Higuchi: But there was no way I could meet that deadline while ensuring ultimate player satisfaction. (Laughs awkwardly).

 

This interview also worries me, because I assume their development team was split between Echoes and Heroes for all of 2016. So FE Switch may have only begun real development as late as early 2017. And I don't think I want to play a game that took less than two years to make. Echoes can do that because it's a remake of an existing game that has years of assets on the same hardware to reuse.

I've read and reread the first part of that interview, and I'm curious if they mean that they didn't start any development on the switch game until Echoes was far into production, or if the Switch game was beginning the ideas/development phase (creating the story and characters, designing the maps, making concept art, etc.), but they couldn't actually get work done on building the game itself until the switch was ready. Because if it was the latter then it would have made sense why they announced the game a year ago but couldn't provide us with any news on the game itself.

Anyway, I don't think Fire Emblem games take too long to create, so it not taking a full two years doesn't worry me too much. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised it the release date is revealed to be on the latter part of the year, both to give themselves more production time and/or the game will be huge and requires the extra time.

[FE: Switch Asks?]

A better balanced Mila's Turnwheel, as it prevents the annoyance of reseting over a small mistake that may have been out of the players control, while still encouraging the player to play smartly and to not abuse this mechanic. 

[FE switch story predictions & hopes]

I believe we've already had quite a few story threads before, but I'll give my general (and optimistic) expectations anyway:

• They'll put more effort into the world-building.
• The characters will be less one-note/gimmicky and instead be more grounded and likable. Essentially less like Fates and to a lesser extent Awakening and more like Echoes.
• The character's will also have legitimate reasons for joining the conflict, will have the war take a toll on them, and their quirkiness will never get to the point where you wonder how they're still in the military. The cast will also be older and/or the age range between characters will be more varied.
• We'll see a combination of paired endings with the "X characters death affects Y's ending" from Gaiden/Echoes.
• The lord class won't be exclusive to the main character: It will be reserved for characters who are legitimately lords in the story (with obvious variances between them, of course).
• If the game doesn't have an avatar, a character with their own personality will still fill their role in regards to world-building.
• If the game does have an avatar, they'll be a minor lord in a much larger conflict, being important enough to have a reason to be in the story, but not important enough to be a main character. It will also be the player's choice about how involved they wish to be in the plot (from being as unremarkable as FE1 and 2's entire cast to forcefully supplanting the role of the actual protagonist to being the hidden mastermind of the entire plot to being a minor player that is nothing more than a sidenote in the world's history)
• The main villain/final boss won't be a dragon, but one may be one of the last bosses you face, and will probably serve the role of the dragon (I can't tell whether or not that pun was intentional or accidental on my part).
• The villains will be more morally grey than obviously evil, and/or most of them are fighting you because it's their job. That, and bandits will have understandable, if not always sympathetic, reasons, for robbing others. Similarly, not all the heroes will squeaky-clean, but neither will the ones who are virtuous (without being mary stu's) be ineffective.
• We'll see old and middle-aged looking Manakete's of both genders. If there one is a little girl, it'll be the only one in the story and only there for traditions sake.
• The fanservice will be optional and/or downplayed, and it won't have any place in the story itself.
• There won't be any plot armor, and all deaths will be final.
• Memory Prisms will return, and a select few will be playable.
• It'll be a deconstruction/reconstruction.
• The game may have multiple endings, but it won't be the "make a choice at the last second" kind. How you handle certain objectives and some choices made during the story will. The differences can be subtle, but I'm not asking for (nor am I expecting) a hundred page script for every action you take.

I'm not expecting all of these to take place, but I tried to be as optimistic yet realistic as I could.

[The FE Nonsense Story Thread - Now in Act V!]

...piloting a mech made out of lego's, fitted with weaponry that was powered by yodeling. Upon seeing this...

[Do you sell your games and/or systems?]

Consoles, no, as if I'm going to spend a few hundred bucks on a gaming system, I'm also going to buy enough games to make the purchase worthwhile.

Videogames, rarely, as I've only sold four games as of the time of writing, and each one had a good reason for it (Shadow the Hedgehog because I found the game to be okay, but the constant swearing annoyed me to the point I gave it back. A Bionical game because I beat it in a day. A Pirates of the Carribean game because I kept thinking "it would be more fun to play Pirates!" so I did. And finally a lego game because I simply lost interest).

 

[overrated and underrated units in Awakening]

I'm speaking from personal experience, and not from whether or not a unit is good statistically.

Overrated:

• Tharja: As much as I like that she's a mage that can take a hit, she's a bit too inaccurate for my liking. Not to mention that Robin, Miriel, and Ricken (and later Laurent) all surpass her magical ability by the time she joins.
• Nowi & Nah: I would like them... if their stats didn't start out in the single digits and they had to rely soley on their Manakete bonuses to be viable in combat. This makes reclassing them a pain when they fall behind due to not being able to gain any promotion bonuses in their default class.
• Sumia: She can dodge and double anything. Damaging (or heck, even scratching) something is another story entirely (I occasionally have the same problem with Cynthia. Key Word: Occasionally).
• Gerome: Even when Cherche is paired up with someone with high skill, I can never get him to hit anything reliably, and is strength was always suppar. I blame Cherche's late (well, compared to every other first generation parent besides Henry, that is) appearance and my lack of skill in building up support points between two units quickly.

Underrated:

• Panne: She can dodge reliably on normal and to a lesser degree hard difficulty, and the fact that she has no place in the weapon triangle is a double-edged sword. However, she really shines in reclassing, as she doesn't rely as strongly on the Taugel bonuses as the Manates are, and she can easily cap strength as a wvyren rider (and really, having three weaknesses isn't that huge of a drawback if you play prudently).
• Chrom: It may be just because he's forced to be in every level, but I make sure to use in in the front lines in every battle. The result is that he could probably legitimately solo the game after a certain point (which, granted, is nothing special in Awakening, but still), and that Aether is the only skill he actually needs.
• Ricken: He's not stellar, but he's not bad either. He was always an average yet useful unit for me in every playthrough.
• Laurent: I find Miriel easy to pair up, so he always appears early when child units start appearing with an extremely high magic stat, and I personally find him very easy to support with Lucina (to the point that LaurentXLucina is the only ship in the game I personally declare canon (or the only thing I ship, period)).

[Favorite animations in the series]

Considering my hype doubled when I saw them and I was eagerly waiting for every update just to see a new combat animation... I have to go with Echoes. They're dynamic, fluid, and fast, and it seems as if the attacks have an actual punch to them. Honestly, the only problem I have with them is the clipping and how the Dread Fighters only have one crit animation, as IS seems to have underestimated many times they do so.

Runner-up is the GBA games, as they have among the best, if not the best, animations on the system. They're interesting to watch, pretty varied between units, and the quality still holds up to this day. About the only problems I have with them is that they can get really repetitive and some are a little too over-the-top, although whether or not those complains hold weight depends on which day you ask me

[Transforming units?]

I would personally like to see porcupines so we can finally get characters with spiky hair and quill mustaches/beards as I'd think they would make excellent defense units. Snakes would also be cool to see.

I wouldn't mind seeing the Taguel returning, as they were the only part of Awakening where I actually cared about the worldbuilding and I wish we got more details about. That, an I enjoy that I can unironically love something as ridiculous as a warrior race of shapeshifting killer bunnies. I'm not holding my breath, however.

Gameplay-wise, I haven't played the Tellius games (yet) so I can't give an informed opinion about how I would like transformation to work. I do, however want shapeshifting units to use weapons upon promotion. I would also like to see separate classes so the difference between each unit is greater than "they can transform into a bird and are really fast" or "they can transform into a cat and are a nice tank." They wouldn't need to go overboard, as I wouldn't mind if they had something like fighter (focus on sterength and defence), skirmisher (focus on speed and later ranged weapons), and/or rouge (basically thieves, but a bit more varied in their uses), along with some unique classes (such as bombardier for flying units, or perhaps a circus performer).

As for the Xane unit, I honestly wouldn't mind if they used transformations similar to the MS-DOS game ShadowCaster, and instead of simply copying a class, the unit would transform into a creature that would serve said classes basic function, but with an extra purpose. For example, copying a myrmidon would turn the xane unit into a Kapha (see spoiler), which would hit fast and hard, but they would also have the ability to swim in water tiles without trouble and use electricity attacks, or copying a healer or thief would turn them into a Cuan, serving the function of both and having excellent speed but having downright bad health. Using an example not from the game, copying a knight could turn them into a walking suit of armor for example, increasing both defense and resistance. Of course, they wouldn't blatantly plagiarize this game, but it would be nice if they used this train of thought. 

For an example (best I could find, since the game is so damn obscure):

Spoiler

Screen Shot 2018-02-05 at 10.50.31 AM

(I really like shapeshifters in fiction, so I really want IS to get creative with them.)

[Grima and degeneration]

55 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

Based on Awakening, Mila and Duma's religion seemed to have had a falling out and Duma is now condemned as a wicked spirit. 

In a bit of irony, to quote Tv Tropes:

Spoiler

• During the final battle most of the Zofian-born party members (Excluding Celica and Nomah), Tatiana, and the Whitewings dismiss and insult Duma and his beliefs, showing themselves to be lacking in Mila's love. The Rigel-descended Conrad and Silque, on the other hand, show the compassion that they lacked.
• Alm's speech in the final battle has him declare that Duma had tainted Mila with his power, never learning that Mila was actually corrupted by her own power.
• Despite the insistence on not depending on gods, it was a prophecy from the gods that told of how Alm and Celica would save Valentia. It was likewise the interference of Mila that allowed Celica to be restored from being a witch and for her friends to join up and help mercy kill Duma.

Considering the large time gap between the games, it wouldn't surprise me if the united religion started out fairly balancing both beliefs, but started drifting towards Mila as Alm and Celica's story became more and more fantasized, and Duma and Rigel became more and more villainous in it (which would also be ironic as Desaix and Slayde are more despicable than the Rigelian enemies, as the army is just doing its job and the Faithful, though evil, are acting out of genuine faith). That, and the people probably liked the message of "live with compassion and love" more than "hardship builds character."

(I still don't understand why IS never expanded upon the DLC, as it would have been interesting to see what Duma and the Faithful were like before the former went mad and the latter became nothing more than a cult.)

[The FE Nonsense Story Thread - Now in Act V!]

...a giant Koopa Troopa sprite, in block form! Then Donnel revealed that he was a master builder in Minecraft, and that he loved the game with all of his heart, even after it had lost much of its popularity. Apparently, he made a deal with Plegia itself to build a wall decorated with sprites of the Super Mario series.

When the Royals and Kiran heard of this, they...

[what u DONT want to see in FE Switch]

29 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

• Well I admit that it would be rather interesting. Perhaps they should consider giving you a different kind of unit. Who knows, this might actually allow you a special kind of thing. Where if you choose to have your Jagen early, they will be strong in the beginning and make it easier to get through chapters, but not too useful at the end. But if you choose to go with a different, weaker unit, you can get the Jagen later on, and they will have much high bases that they will be very useful endgame. 
• Oh it is, especially since we have three of the five legendaries be swords, when they could easily have been a lance, axe, or even dagger. Hell, even a stave. But nope. Had to make is so that the blue colored weapons are the most underwhelming, while the red just dominates. And poor Takumi, having the only unit legendary, but because its green, disadvantage to all the others. 

• I take it you didn't read my second reply, as I gave a similar suggestion. I do like the unit coming back stronger idea, though.
• All legendary staves in the series have so few uses that they fall under the "too awesome to use" category (understandably so too, as they raise the dead and basically fully heal everyone around them). I still don't understand why they have bows and magic as part of the weapon triangle in Fates, though.

33 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

But that's just it. Manaketes mentally age slowly as others. They explained it as much in Morgan and Nah's conversation in Harvest Festival. Manaketes age mentally the same as they do physically. So despite how much they've seen, if they do not have the mental capacity to understand it, they won't get some of the stuff. Though in Nowi's situations... I sometimes feel she should be different, since based on what she said, she's been a slave for a very long time, and potentially have gotten raped. Look at how she dresses. She had to have grown up only knowing how to wear those types of clothing. Very dark and disturbing when you think about it.

 

30 minutes ago, Von Ithipathachai said:

When I first saw her I was always suspicious that she was being treated as something even worse than just some circus animal.

 

27 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

Mhm. Despite how some people mock Awakening for being so kid friendly, when you start to really dissect it, or actually pay more attention to it, it has some of the darkest things in Fire Emblem history. Yes, even darker than the Holy Grail that is Genealogy.

Fire Emblem is one of Nintendo's darkest franchises, period.

Heck, bandit attacks, despite being experience fodder, are never treated as a complete joke. Racism of all kinds is a common theme. Regicide, patricide, and genocide are also commonplace. Swearing is not unusual, and neither are innuendos. Hell, the second game had CHILD MURDER, and Genealogy infamously has incense.

Honestly, the only reason the games aren't rated higher is that most of this is told, not shown, and they don't delve on any of these topics more than they need to.

(On a side note, I've always wondered why Nowi didn't put on a normal looking shirt when she had the chance. Then again, we aren't told what the clothing rules are for transformation. Nah is wearing a normal dress and can transform fine, yet both Panne and Yarne aren't wearing pants. Don't think about that too much. I've already regretted doing so.)

 

[what u DONT want to see in FE Switch]

4 hours ago, omegaxis1 said:

• Well, it could depend. In normal difficulties, I feel that Jagens are not that necessary. But on harder difficulties, they are invaluable. It all depends on how the game is actually set up. Personally, to make more sense as to why the Jagens should be used as opposed to the other units, the enemies that we first fight should in fact be some really strong and trained fighters, who are much more skilled than the other units we have, so the seasoned pro we have will naturally be more useful. 
• Yeah, but the case is that we really should actually earn our legendary weapons. I mean, look at how Fates treated them. You just get them handed to you. No trials or tribulations. And worse when you have cases of how Ryoma with Raijinto is just absurdly broken. Like... seriously. You can pretty much solo maps with just Ryoma in Birthright and Revelations. Also, maybe also give some Legendary Weapons some unique functions. Like they are all powerful, but while some are like Falchion and are effective to dragons, antoher is powerful against beasts, another is powerful against fliers, and another performs a thing where it can halve damage, or null damage, etc. Give more variety. 
• We have to also remember that Manaketes not only age slowly, they mature slowly as well. Nowi is over 1000 years old, but she matures the same pace as she looks. She looks like a little girl, and her acting like a little girl is because mentally, she is a little girl. Tiki only showed her maturity in Awakening, and that's because she's now 3000 years old with the appearance of someone that's in their mid 20s.

• Well, Awakening Lunatic is called "Fredrick Emblem" for a reason! But yeah, I do know that their usefulness does depend on the difficulty, and as I said, I know how people can get a use out of this archetype. I just think that if they player knows they don't get a use out of the archetype, they could have the choice to continue the game with a different unit type.
• Agreed that the legendary weapons should be earned, though I think the ease at which you got the legendary weapons in fates was just another of its writing problems. I also think that unlimited uses should only apply to legendary weapons too, so that the normal weapons would be gimmick free. Overall though, I just want to be able to use said legendary weapons without fear that they'll break by the end of the level. (I haven't played Fates ("yet"), but I have sworn that if I ever got Birthright, I would legitimately do a Ryoma-only run (with Corrin if he/she is forced in every level) just to see if he really is that overpowered.)
• Perhaps, but Nowi is show to have moments of maturity and insight, she just chooses to act young so she doesn't grow cynical, depressed, and/or crazy over outliving everyone she meets.

16 minutes ago, Slumber said:

I still don't know why they never brought back the FE4 forge system. I liked that you could repair any weapon whenever you were at the base for a price.

The only reason I could think of is that you bought weapons solely from armories in the GBA games, and the developers thought that having specific areas to repair weapons would be a tedious and unwieldy process (you could just send someone to the shop to buy the weapons and then send them to the convoy. Having to drag a specific weapon to a forgery, would be more of a hassle than it's worth).

That still doesn't excuse why the mechanic hasn't reappeared in later games, though.

[what u DONT want to see in FE Switch]

3 hours ago, omegaxis1 said:

• I personally don't see the issue with Jaigans really. They are meant to be great for early units, and will either not be useful at all late game, or still have some uses at the end. 
• I don't think Legendaries shouldn't have downsides at all. They are legendary weapons after all. However, I think what should be done is that Legendary Weapons must be earned. If anything, depending on when they are attained, they oughta be either very useful or gamebreaking. For example, Marth's Falchion in his games. He gets it pretty much at the endgame. But it's really just a stronger Silver Sword if anything. if you ask me, Falchion should have been incredibly powerful. Or make the Shield of Seals be gamebreaking even. 
• I am not against this really. I would not mind seeing Manaketes that are teen or young adults more often. For example, if we had a game about the First Exalt, I would want the Manakete that we get to be Nowi's parents. 

• It's more of a personal thing, but I know that I'm not alone in this train of thought. Usually, I never use the Jeigan except for mundane tasks such as visiting villages and trading, as I have my own units pull their own weight and earn their experience, even if they get scratched up in the process. That being said, I do understand how people get a use out of this archetype, and that they become much more vital on higher difficulties, so I don't want to remove it entirely. I think that in the early part of the game the player should have the choice whether they want to play the rest of the game with the Jeigan character they've been using up to this point, replace them with a distinctively average unit in every way, or gain a trainee character instead (without having to kill them off). It would be neat if the people who didn't choose reappeared later in the story for a cameo, such as the Jeigan retiring and becoming an ambassador/diplomat, the average unit is part of a different division in the army, and the trainee has gone on their own, unrelated adventure.
• Admittedly, I kind of rushed this post, so I didn't go into great detail about my ideas, but the up/downsides don't have to be static "weapon can't crit" or "you can attack twice but -4 speed." They can be subtle. Chrom's Falchion, for example, is just a glorified iron sword with a bonus against dragons, but it remains useful throughout the entire game simply because it cannot break, even though it's usefulness can waver in the midgame due to it's subpar strength at that point of the game. I also agree that the later legendary weapons should be stronger than the earlier ones, though game-balancing would need to take place, of course (it would be fun if you could mess around with the later weapons in New Game+). Overall, though, I just don't want them to have durability, because then super-resourceful me won't touch these weapons until the endgame, missing out on the fun.
• Honestly, I'd just think it'd be cool to see a being with thousands of years worth of experience actually put their savviness to use, playing all sides of the conflict to their advantage, while still having the war being a human one and without said character becoming the final boss. That, and I want to see a Manakete with a sage beard that transfers over to their dragon form, a mercenary dragon, and my Kreia expy.

[what u DONT want to see in FE Switch]

I thought of a few more:

• No Jeigans: Or at least, make them optional. Some people know how to use them efficiently, while others know how to train units without their help. Although I fit into the latter category, I wish that having this arechetype was a choice on behalf of the player instead of being forced upon them in several of the games.
• Legendary Weapons Should Not Have Durability: So I can actually use them for more that 10 fights. I would say give them downsides to counter their strengths, to make them more situational but still useful. (Stuff like not being able to crit or double or attack on the enemy/player phrase, or having reducing one stat significantly while increasing another one. Basically, Fates system done right, but only with a select few weapons.)
• No Child Manaketes: Mostly to have more variety, but can we please have old male and female manaketes, as well as ones that look middle-aged or in their early-mid-late 20's instead of having the majority be little girls? This could also make to their purpose for being in the war be more varied, such as ones who wished to remain neutral but were forced to fight, some who are fanatically for one side or the other, or ones that are playing both sides (which could get especially interesting considering their long lifespans). Just, no more little girls, as we have too may of them.