What about Fire Emblem do you like?

[Fruity Insanity]

So, what do you guys think?

Personally, I like the gameplay. It's the gameplay that got me hooked.

The graphics I could care less about.

Good music is a big plus, but I could do without that, too. (Unless the music was totally crappy, in which case... meh.)

The characters... As long as they look nice, I don't care who they are. (Actually, I enjoy characterization in-game, but that's not all too common in FE games. Not until FE13, at least.)

The story... I haven't played Awakening, PoR, or RD yet, so I can't speak for myself on those games, but the other ones... are nothing spectacular. It's that same thing over and over (and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over) again. "Save the world from the reincarnation of some demon/dragon king/monster!"

Edited February 19, 2013 by fireemblemfan4ever

[Gone2Ground]

Dude, the gameplay is great but it's all about the characters. As seen in Shadow Dragon you just don't give a shit about the permadeath because you don't care about the characters.

[S_Cero]

Yeah, I have to go with the characters too. The permadeath is a cool mechanic but it's the characters and their personalities which makes you want to keep them alive makes that feature work.

[Tamanoir]

Yeah, It's also the characters here.

I really liked the Support System in FE7...

Even if I played the game 2-3 times before I discovered how supports works...

[Doga]

I'm disappointed that no poll option specifically said "The Fire Emblem makes Fire Emblem Fire Emblem". So I said characters instead.

[Fruity Insanity]

I'm disappointed that no poll option specifically said "The Fire Emblem makes Fire Emblem Fire Emblem". So I said characters instead.

Good... idea?

EDIT:

Yeah, I have to go with the characters too. The permadeath is a cool mechanic but it's the characters and their personalities which makes you want to keep them alive makes that feature work.

Oh... I never really cared for personalities... but that's just me.

For me, if a unit has good growths, I'm all, like, "Welcome to the team, brother (or sister)!"

Which is why I like FE12 and FE13.

A lot of units have good growths. (Tiki~)

Edited February 19, 2013 by fireemblemfan4ever

[Junkhead]

I voted for "Other" because there isn't an "All the above" option.

I think what's most important about FE- What makes FE, is the gameplay and characters. The story tends to be decent, and pretty good in the case of FE9/10, but it's not something that I am fascinated about either.

[Anacybele]

I can't vote because the poll isn't multiple choice. I would've voted characters, gameplay, music, and story. They are ALL amazing.

[Lord Sage]

The first thing i liked with FE was the great storyline of the games

and the fact your characters unlike any other strategy games

have personalities and are not faceless pawns

and unlike any other rpg games you get not about 4 to 8

playable characters but over 30!

but what made me a fan and kept me in the series is the gameplay.

Hidden numbers that determine character growth?

What were they thinking?

[The Envoy of the Beginning]

The characters and the gameplay/mechanics. I love both aspects of the series.

Also, why isn't this poll multiple select?

Edited February 19, 2013 by BLS

[BrightBow]

Multiply choices would indeed be very nice.

I voted characters but... well, by itself they really don't mean much. It really depends on how much everything works together.

Anyway, I love that the characters feel usually really human and as such are easy to empathize with.

This is partly because of the writing but also because they posses the most human attribute there is but which nevertheless is very rare in video games: Mortality.

Which is good for the story, because I wouldn't care about a story unless I also care about the people that are affected by it.

And I really like the series' relatively mature approach to war.

It not only gives it a face to your common grunt but also shows that the same applies to the enemy. It shows that the banner of "Enemy" hides tons of good people that will inevitable fall victim to the war.

The series doesn't say that war should never be waged but it raises awareness to the consequences that one should be aware of before taking that step.

Edited February 19, 2013 by BrightBow

[Firespark Faerie]

If I could only pick one aspect (which in this case is true), I'd go with the characters. What sets Fire Emblem apart from other titles in the SRPG genre is the detail and attention given to each and eveery playable character. In most strategy RPGs like FF Tactics and Disgaea (I'm not dissing either of those), there's a handful of characters with relevance to the plot, but everyone else in your group are generic units, identital in ability and appearance to other members of their class. These "characters" have no bearing on the story and for some reason blindly follow you to the gates lf Hell or wherever the story is taking you. FE handles things quite differenty. Every character who joins your army is unique. They have their own backstory, their own motives for helping your cause, and a part to play in the overarching story. Even many enemy bosses receive this type of treatment, which makes them more than just walls of HP standing on the gate you need to seize.

[Prax]

The gameplay.

The characters are part of the gameplay!

Breeding and supports and permadeath (with no replacement units, dammit FE11!) and all that become part of the gameplay.

Even if another game had the same characters, but played just like a normal RPG or some other tactics game, I probably would not like it as much. The gameplay elements of Fire Emblem MAKE the characterization of the characters important.

Edited February 20, 2013 by Prax

[Nice]

1. gameplay - FE make me know turn-based strategy RPG and it's my favourite genre of all time (and of course FE is my fav series of all time)

2. characters - compare to FFT/Tactics Ogre which feauture generic characters - I really really hate that. even though FE 11 DS almost have no personality/development, it's still better than generic characters.

3. graphic - I can't stand FE1-3 I'm not sure the graphic or the gameplay that turn me off, probably the first because I don't like FE11/12 graphic too but I manage to finish them.

4. good story is a plus, but FE never feauture epic story/plot twist compare to other series?

[Fruity Insanity]

Well, I could do multiple choices (or "all the above"), but I wanted to know what was the most important thing for people.

Making the poll multiple choice would probably make all the choices super high, in which case it would be hard to say which choice was the moving factor to whether a person bought an FE game or not.

[Tamanoir]

Well, there's a difference between what I prefer, and what makes Fire Emblem Fire Emblem.

For example, I like more the characters, but I think that the gameplay is more defining.

My favourite part of the gameplay is how easy it is to figure out.

You can look at an ennemy and know exactly your chances of surviving or of killing him.

And with things such as Permadeath, this really is needed.

Being able to plan on advance what you're doing to do is a big part of a strategy game, after all. And this really is satisfying.

[sunshineYON]

The most significant thing about FE that I like would be the elegant use of numbers. There are no bullshit equations, every point of Strength will deal one extra damage, every point of Speed will grant 2 avoid etc. Not only is it simple but it makes sense on a flavorful level. Luck will give you the ability to dodge and strike the enemy, while skill will give you criticals and also assist in hitting the enemy etc. No other game lets me sit down and analyze numbers as deep as FE. Most RPGs have random stats like Intelligence, blah blah and I never care for them during the game, I just plow through it. FE makes me pay attention to every number every level up, which can be a good or bad thing. The bad thing would be that I rage at my DS and throw it somewhere when someone get a 0+ level up.

Other than that, characters and the story. (Obligatory) The music is okay, but I never like an entire soundtrack of an FE game, bar Path of Radiance. I only like certain songs of an OST unlike other games like Zelda, etc. where I might actually like the entire OST.