[I hope this game is influenced a lot by FE Heroes]

The only things I want to keep from heroes is the reliability of skills. Some changes would have to be made to fit with a mainline game, sure, but I like the idea of a build-up, cool-down system with skills so they're more strategically viable than "hope luna activates this fight." Anything else I can think of (the weapon triangle being relevant, the ease of leveling up healers, fanservice done right.. for the most part) are things that the series could do anyway if the developers put their mind to it.

Fire Emblem is built around its RNG system. Units with high dodge and/or high crit rates have just as much relevance as units with solid stats, and knowing how to use them, and in the enemies hands, counter them, is the key to victory. Why in the world should such an integral part of the strategy be removed?

[What Weapons Should Fliers Wield?]

29 minutes ago, SavageVolug said:

One thing that has always bugged me is it's a FLYING HORSE! How on earth is this a weak class? And in mythology this steed was used to allow heroes to fight things like dragons. Essentially I would like to see them made more similar to cavaliers in stats and growths.

I can understand them not being powerhouses for balancing reasons, to prevent them from blitzing maps and flying circles around the other classes (pun intended). That being said, I do agree that they need a boost in power. I barely used them in Awakening, as Sumia could dodge and double anything, but couldn't put a dent in anything without more powerful weaponry, and Cordelia was useful, but never a top performer for me. I always ended up using (ironically reclassed, as Cherche was an average unit, and Gerome never ended up good for me, no matter who the father was) wyvern riders over them because their focus on strength and defense made up for their short comings. The only time I really used them was in Shadows of Valentia, where on normal difficulty they don't need to worry about their weakness to bows because their never common until the end of the game,  and even on hard, when enemy bows are common, they're still useful by being a highly mobile class. You just have to be more cautious using them.

I honestly wish for dismounting to return, just so that a pegasus rider could fight within the range of an archer without worry at the cost of their signature mobility. That, and it would make indoor maps interesting again.

[Things you don't like about your favorite games.]

Are we allowed to answer the question twice? I forgot a few games that I wanted to talk about.

Anyway...

Spiderman-2:

• The first time you play the game, it's hard. The second time you play the game, its short. The third time, it's ridiculously easy since you know whats coming, and it's even shorter!
• Web swinging is a joy in this game, and its both impressive and sad that no other game came close to matching its feel. Until you try any of the challenges, and realize that it's a pain in the butt to actually exploit this mechanic. Its fun to swing around and do a loop-de-loop by complete accident. It's not so fun to try to do so on purpose within a time limit.
• The boat missions are such a pain with the chance to instantly fail if you mess up a jump that I actually avoided helping any citizens if I was anywhere near the water when I was younger. Also, the never once was fighting those mechs ever fun. Especially when they only appear AFTER you've beaten the game and are trying to complete everything.
• The games plot and the original movie seem to alternate between doing certain aspects better or worse than the original. Seeing Spiderman actually fighting crime and cracking jokes (Toby Maguire embracing the wisecracking side of Spiderman works surprisingly well, and its a joy to listen to) and him not losing his powers for unexplained reasons (seriously, why was he loosing his powers in the movies) where things I wish the movies took note on. However, the way Doc Ock talks about his wife before becoming a villain makes it obvious she's going to die, while I found their relationship a bit more natural in the movies, and the train scene goes from one of the movies highlights to an anticlimactic joke in the game.

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia:

• Even if I don't think the plot is by any means bad, its flaws are really obvious, and a few too many important moments feel forced. I also wish that they could have expanded upon things that the original game wanted to but couldn't due to hardware limitations, such as how Sage Halcyon could have showed the positive sides of Duma's philosophy, and I wished the "total war" part of Rudolfs plan was expanded upon.
• As much as I like Alm, I wish his flaws were bit more relevant. I also would have liked to see his give his opinion about people thinking he would take over as king, as well as his thoughts on technically being a "broken aesop." Those would have been great opportunities to explore Alms character, and address some common complaints towards the story.
• Contrary to popular opinion, I actually like the desert maps, even if its only because I found beating them to be cathartic (seeing any of the Grieth, or any of the bosses for that matter, bitting the dust for the trouble they gave me was worth the trouble alone). The swamp maps on the other hand...
• I don't mind that they reused a few of gaidens more generic maps, as they weren't badly designed, just bland. However, I do wish that instead of using the same maps twice, like in gaiden, the added at least a few more original maps.

Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks:

• I don't mind using the microphone to play the spirit flute, but really I wish there was an option to use a button press to compensate for playing in a noisy environment. The fact that some of the songs require you to skip over notes make this problem even more obvious. Anyone who knows just how finicky the microphone on a DS knowns just how painful and frustrating these moments cam be.
• The sidequests are a double edged sword to me. On the one hand, they're simple, you're actually given time during the plot to do so, and they bring back memories of playing with to toy trains as a kid. On the other hand, they're simple, don't offer much in terms of rewards, and don't feel very "Zelda"-like.
• I like the bunny capturi.. I mean "rescuing,"  side quest, because you have to observe the environment to find them, which helps pass the time when getting to point A to Point B. However, why in the world am I shooting a cannon at a bunny so that I can capture them in a net, one they are obviously struggling to excape from, and giving them to some random guy asked in a bunny suit? I don't mind that you're asking me to do ridiculous things game, just give me an explanation!

As nitpicky as I can get, if I was allowed to say everything I liked about these games, we would be here all day =).

[What Weapons Should Fliers Wield?]

Pegasus knights should keep the lances, but I do find it difficult to decide what their second weapon should be after promotion. Swords would help them counter their weakness to axes, similarly to how wyvren lords gain lances to defend against swords, but pegasus knights aren't famed for their strength, so it might be wasted on them. By the time you gave them magic, you probably already have enough well trained magic users that it would become redundant. I've heard (because I've never actually played fates) that Kinshi knights make good hit-and-run units, but are especially risky to use. I see staves as the most useful secondary item you can give pegasus knights (since any amount of healing is welcome), but they risk the chance of never being used, as they'll spend more time fighting that healing, and  again, you probably already have dedicated healers anyway.

Wyvren riders should keep their axes, and I like wvyren lords, so I want them to stay. I don't know other weapon to give them upon promotion, as long as we don't get Griffin riders again (they looked cool, but thats about it).

I know this isn't an original idea, but can we have sword weilding Griffin riders? It would complete the weapon triangle for flying units, and they could have an efficiency with defence and balance, while pegs focus on speed and resistance, while wyvern's are focused on strength.

[Things you don't like about your favorite games.]

6 hours ago, ping said:

And it's really jarring how little the different empires care about each other. The fact that you can just punch an empire that you've signed a non-aggression pact with and noone gives a shit makes diplomacy a rather choice-free game, just do all the trade deals and backstab them later.

Yeah, I remember quite a few games where I made friends with everyone (except the Silicons. Seriously, I find it so easy to exploit their "repulsive" trait to thus utterly crush them that I've actually developed a fear of picking the trait for myself during custom race creation, no matter how many bonuses you can get to compensate) and used the research and trade treaties to build up a nigh unstoppable fleet and then steamroll them.

Still, if there is something I do like about the AI, its that on harder difficulties, they avert the cheap "team up against the player" strategy thats usually used in 4x games. Sure, they're programmed to hate you with a burning passion from the start, but they can also step over each others toes. This means that a clever player can survive by exploiting the constant wars the AI will get into to calm relations and perhaps even make a friend. I've always found reading/watching a successful playthrough of Impossible difficulty to be fascinating.

[I've finally decided to join!]

40 minutes ago, Slumber said:

If you've been lurking for almost a year, hopefully you won't be too intimidated to post about stuffs

Yeah, I've seen a few debates, and some of the toxicity that the Fire Emblem fanbase is infamous for. Still, I seen quite a number of topics that I would like to have a say in, as well as a few observations I would like to bring up. 

[Would you like to see a Male Songstress/Dancer?]

I honestly wouldn't care, but a change of pace would be nice. I think a bard class would be more fitting, thought, and has more combat potential. Heck maybe even have both a bard and a dancer class available, but have different roles and stats. As an idea, a bard can only sing/dance/play for only one unit, but could handle themselves in a fight, while a dancer can refersh everyone around them like in Judgral while serving more of a support role (and both could only use their dance ability only once a turn, to prevent the game from being snapped in half). This could also apply to skills, as they would both be more focused on rally skills and increasing an allies stats during pair-up or while in support range.

[Which Game Handled Permadeath the Best?]

Its no secret that permadeath has been a major part of Fire Emblem since its inception. Indeed, it took at least 12 games before casual mode was even conceived. There is, however, the question of whether or not the series has always incorporated it well.

For this poll, I am asking which Fire Emblem game did you think handled the permadeath aspect of the series the best. As a mechanic, which game, both in theory and in practice, did you think simultaneously punished the player for losing a unit while allowing them the chance to still compensate for the loss in some form.

For the personal side, I am asking when permadeath actually enhanced a gameplay session. Whether choosing which game was the most fun to ironman through, or when you having to choose between resenting a good run or continuing on without the lost unit was a high point of your playthough. As long as permadeath played a factor, the reasoning can be as broad as you want.

I personally believe that Mystery of the Emblem handled permadeath the best both personally and as a mechanic. Although I can play through Awakening on classic without worry, they feel more like perfectionist runs, as I can't get the thought out of my head that every first generation female is technically two units, you spend a minimum of half the game to get the children, and you can only spare 1 to 3 first-gen males (depending on your avatar), and who would those be? Although I love that the smaller cast in Echoes means that nobody is completely useless and everyone has the potential to shine, if the turnwheel uses run out, the amount of units I can continue without could be counted on one hand.

In contrast, Mystery of the Emblem gives more units that you would probably need, with quite a few cavaliers, mercenaries, and even an extra thief. However these later units tend to have more average growths and bases. This both means that the player is not at a loss of units if someone dies, but they may have to work with a less remarkable character to compensate. It actually brought up the thought of whether or not to bring in my more powerful units to ease the difficulty on a more challenging level, but risk them dying, or to bring in a less powerful, but expendable unit in case things go awry.

It wasn't implemented perfectly, however. If Caeda dies early on, you've just locked out a crap ton of recruitable units. Draug is also the only knight for quite a long time, and if he dies, you've just lost one of the few tanks in a gamewhere they actually have there uses, and where everyone units have middling to low defense stats.

So that was my opinion on the matter. What are your thoughtsr?

[Favorite + Least Favorite FE meme?]

Favorite: Anything by Awkward Zombie. Spinning increasing damage by 200% (or is it 300%?). "We need disguises." "Perfect!"

Least Favorite: I don't see them often, but as everyone else has said, thot memes. I've only laughed at two, and one was only because of funny photoshopping of Alm and Mycen. The other was someone renaming the falchion "thotslayer 3000" and again, that's because I find it funny that you have the possibility to give such a powerful weapon any ridiculous name of your choosing.

I'm also not fond of memes that bash Awakening and those who play it. I actually wanted to start with Blazing Sword or Sacred Stones, but got Awakening because of convenience, and greatly enjoyed it. I also believe the game is overhated as it is, even if it does have many legitimate problems.

[Things you don't like about your favorite games.]

Star Wars Republic Commando:

• The lack of loading screens in the PC version. Although it might sound odd that having near-instantaneous loading be a bad thing, but you would miss gameplay information, tidbits about your squad, and some backstory, all delivered in-character by your squadmates. If you were a blind player, you might not know that enemy weapons aren't as effective when used against them, the functions of your grenades, or what the squad commands beside "search-and-destroy" do. You also wouldn't know that Scorch earned his nickname because he burned off his eyebrows during flamethrower training or that Fixer isn't allowed on the main computer out of fear that he'd hack the whole place during his freetime.
• I like that on hard difficulty your enemies can deal and take more damage without feeling like they're overpowered or damage sponges. It made the tougher enemies even scarier, and I actually had to look for cover that I would have passed by in the easier difficulties. It made working with your team and making tactical decisions even more important. Except during the moments when you're alone. Now the enemies are more accurate with painful weapons, and you don't have anyone to help you if you go down.
• Sadly, in the PC version, sound clips tend to play over each other. A lot. And you can miss great jokes and dialogue, or even mission critical information because of it.
• The electricity attack of scav droids in general are a little to powerful. Not helping is the fact that they're tiny, blend well with the environment, and have a weak kamikaze attack that nevertheless hurt your situation.

Master of Orion 2

• The AI seems to jump between being pretty dang clever balancing their political, military, and economic goals, and catching you off guard if you're not careful, to thinking that colonizing a toxic, one population, mineral poor planet was a good idea, or that researching Xeno psycology (which theoretically make diplomacy easier, when talking to an AI) was a better choice than Alien Management Centers (which eliminate the chance of a captured alien population rebelling, as well as the moral penalty for mixed-population colonies).
• Colony ships take way to many turns to create in the early stages of the game, which is much more noticeable considering how important they are... especially in the early stages of the game.

FTL: Faster Than Light:

• The final boss is almost to difficult for its own good, and requires quite a bit of luck to have a chance to beat it.
• The fact that unlocking many of the ships is also luck based. Especially annoying when you screw up the requirements when you get the chance to unlocking, especially if it was due to factors outside your control.
• It was inevitable, but some of the events do get tiring once you've seen them for the 200th time.

[I've finally decided to join!]

Hello everyone! Just a normal guy who's been viewing this website since January, and I've finally decided to sign up.

I first came here to find whatever information I could about Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. After some time reading articles from the main site, I ventured into the forums and found even more data. I tended to view other topics as time went on, seeing the various opinions about various topics, and eventually decided that I had my own thoughts on many of these matters and decided to join.

Now for my experience with the series. About two years ago, youtubers GreenScorpion and ComicFoil started a Lets Play on Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword. Even thought the Lets Play took over a year to complete and I only watched them go through Lyn's story, I liked what I saw, and decided to get into the series. I actually aimed to have Blazing Sword or Sacred Stones be my first Fire Emblem games, but I didn't know how to work an emulator at the time. Seeing as that plan came to no fruition, I downloaded the demo for Awakening. Since I greatly enjoyed its gameplay, I decided to buy the full game. I consciously took a more analytical view of the game, which I've found has lead me see both positives and negative in areas I don't see much talked about. I skipped out on Fates, as that was a wait-and-see kind of game for me (I don't plan on getting the game(s) anytime soon until a price drop happens, which will unfortunately take some time).

When Echoes was announced, I was greatly excited to play an older game in the series. I read an online playthough of the game twice, ate up any information I could, leading me to this site, and once I found an online emulator, even tried the game (long story short with emulators; I only use online emulators, and I don't save, as if I'm going to beat the game, I'm going to buy it. The only exception is Fire Emblem, and that's only because the games are long, and half the series was in Japan). Currently, I plan on replaying the third game, as I started the game over the summer, but didn't finish it, as since I got a new computer, I will have to start over.

I have quite a few topics planned to add, so expect to see me soon!