Most overhyped and Most Underappreciated FE games?

[CT075]

Disregarding absolutely everything else just to focus on enjoyment of gameplay is not how you judge games.

i dunno, gameplay is kind of the point of a game

Edited March 7, 2013 by CT075

[Constable Reggie]

Sure, but then FE4 isn't an experiment in the same way Spec Ops was an experiment. I don't think "let's make a super edgy game and deliberately retard the gameplay to make a point" is comparable to "let's try some new mechanics."

Spec Ops and Medal of Honor are sort of the extreme examples of experiment and playing it safe. Jaeger didn't intentionally dumb down the gameplay, they instead focused their time on other parts of the game (because even with above adequate shooting mechanics, it's still going to be compared to other mms'), and made their "inferior" gameplay relate to the point they were trying to get across. Looking at Fe4, from a shallow point of view you can see that they basically dumbed down the game mechanics (no simple trading, limited arena, simplified weapons, blatantly overpowered holy weapons), but these mechanics strengthen the whole idea that you're a full army fighting across countries head on against other full armies, instead of backdoor battles and skirmishes. I equate Fe6 to Warfighter because both of them played it extremely safe to the point where it's inferior. Warfighter is literally an on rails shooter, where if you take a step too far, you get a "get back into combat zone" message, even with it's enjoyable shooting gameplay and fun graphics. Fe6 took away almost all the innovative mechanics 4 and 5 introduced and dumbed down the gameplay, while also making it worse with bad maps, whilst simultaneously having a throwaway story. It's the most barebones post-nes FE game, because it played it safe.

i dunno, gameplay is kind of the point of a game

I disagree if said game has gameplay specifically meant to tailor to the story, ie Walking Dead (point and click game how boring oh wait goty), Indigo Prophecy (qte game yet highy rated), journey (all you do is walk around oh wait goty), and Fe4.

Edited March 7, 2013 by Constable Reggie

[CT075]

I disagree if said game has gameplay specifically meant to tailor to the story, ie Walking Dead (point and click game how boring oh wait goty)

i thought it was boring :/

Indigo Prophecy (qte game yet highy rated),

idgaf about highly rated

journey (all you do is walk around oh wait goty),

i have never heard of this game ever

and Fe4.

i disagree that fe4's gameplay is all bad :/

[Constable Reggie]

Of course, we're talking about a forum where 75% of the people play FE games over and over and over and over and over just to get lowest turncount or similar. I wouldn't expect many people here to care about anything other than enjoyment* of gameplay and replayability.

*Looking back at this, I would judge gameplay based on interaction (stuff like Dear Esther fails as a game because of this), and branched into two categories: enjoyment (fun factor), and experience (how it bolsters the other parts of a game). Games like CoD or Fe13 have a very high enjoyment factor, but very little experience. Games like Spec Ops: the Line, Journey, and Silent Hill have a very high experience factor, but very little enjoyment. Fe4 in this case I believe eschews some enjoyment to bolster it's experience. It's why all the huge npc vs enemy battles are done in actual combat instead of a cutscene, because it adds to the story far better as a gameplay mechanic.To someone who only cares about fun in games, all this is to them is a huge waste of time. More games tend to straight up favor enjoyment over experience, so that's why I value Fe4 over most other Fe games. I prefer video games using the medium creatively over just playing it safe.

Edited March 7, 2013 by Constable Reggie

[Rehab]

Maybe it should be called something different from a game, but as an aside, I'm fine with an interactive work on a console being or doing anything it wants, even to the point of removing puzzle elements. I don't really care what something needs in order to be considered a game, if it's on a game console or whatever.

I'm also fine with Fire Emblem trying its hand at a less arcadey, instance-focused setup. If that makes it worse at being what's traditionally considered a FE game, I'm fine with that too. FE4 could definitely have benefited from some modern design insights, but I don't think it was flawed at the core.

Cam I love ya but you're a Luddite over here seriously getouttaheah calling Walking Dead boring who does 'is character think he is

Edited March 7, 2013 by Rehab

[Wake]

Well... I think that if I post a definite opinion, i might get SHOT. however, I'll take that risk.

Overhyped: not Shadow Dragon

Underhyped: I don't really see one game placed above another... except in this forum. Therefore: FE4.

[Missile]

Overhyped : Fire Emblem 7, it's a GBA FE (no skill, horrible support system, random maps, poor music quality, etc.) and the story isn't really awesome and seems like a simple sidestory. Eliwood is horrible (character AND stat-wise) and Lyn's story is probably one the most boring part of a Fire Emblem ever. It's a Fire Emblem, so it's always a good game but not the best IMO.

Underhyped : Nothing I guess :/

[OrangeCrush980]

Overhyped: FE5. Granted it's just a vocal minority doing the hyping, but good lord.

Underhyped: FE7 because at least a quarter of the community hates it now.

[PresidentEden]

Bear in mind that overhyped and underappreciated =/= bad or good. These are observations of the relative aggregate assessment of a game's quality and not an absolute judgment of quality.

Overhyped: FE13, FE10, FE4 in that order.

Underappreciated: FE8, FE9, FE5 in order.

Rationale: For me, the jury's still out on FE13. It's reminding me a lot of The Dark Knight Rises, in that it's clearly a solid work of art and worthy of praise, but the massive overflow of praise for it caused a lot of people to overlook that it tried to do too many things at once and didn't balance them all well. It's still a good game but it's being praised as the savior of the franchise and quite honestly, I don't see it. FE10 killed the Tellius arc for me when it seems to be rather popularly viewed as a satisfying conclusion of it, better than FE9 and top-3 in the series before 13 came out. (How still escapes me, but it does.) FE7 would previously have filled the #3 spot, but there's been quite the backlash against it of late; while I'm not sure what spurred it on, I welcome it to an extent, because I don't think it deserved all the praise it got. It's now more or less understood to be good-but-not-great within the franchise, which is where it ought to be. FE4 takes the #3 spot less because it's unworthy of the hype and more because it's clearly the only game left that could be overhyped (the base just doesn't like the Akaneia arc, Mk. I or II, nor does it like FE5, FE6 or FE8).

As for underappreciated, FE8 was the black sheep of the FE family prior to the release of Shadow Dragon; quite a few people seemed to place it as the worst game in the franchise, and quite a few still do. In reality, FE8 is contending -- losing, but contending -- with FE7 as "best on the GBA," sporting a cleaner aesthetic, better character development and satisfying innovation than its predecessor. It does lose out, to be clear, but it's not far behind, and it's a respectable product in its own right. I personally believe that FE9 is the best game in the franchise, so naturally the fact that I'm virtually alone in this opinion basically necessitates that it make the "underappreciated" list. I don't think anyone thinks it's bad, or even not good, but I think the game is much more than simply good. Finally, FE5 is underappreciated in my mind because it's relatively obscure and difficult; it was released at entirely the wrong time/on the wrong console -- can you imagine this being delayed until the N64 came out and becoming the signature FE game of that console? -- and wasn't as accessible due to difficulty. Fact is that it's still a wonderful game (neither of the reasons I listed are actual flaws, just observations about why it's not as popular as I think it deserves to be) and deserves more credit and praise than it gets.

[Rehab]

The really funny thing is that the N64 was already out for over 2 years by the time fe5 was released, so shit basically makes even less sense.

Personally, FE9 is the first game to which I'd direct somebody new to the series assuming they had a machine that could play it, I think it's the most polished self-contained experience in the series. Or at least that's what I'd have said before Awakening, which I haven't gotten to judge yet but have heard all the things about, dropped.

Edited March 14, 2013 by Rehab

[Guy Starwind]

Overhyped: FE8, FE5, and FE13

Underhyped: FE6

[Momo]

I think a problem with this could be inside the fandom and out. Inside, I don't think any particular game is that hyped anymore. Obviously we have 13 hype, but that game only just came out and it's like Fire Emblem's big break. Outside, I would say FE7 is the most overhyped. People hate the DS games just because they aren't FE7.

As for underappreciated, FE11.

[Fala]

Overhyped: FE 6 and FE 10.

Sword of Seals is the worst in the franchise hands down. The maps are ugly and huge, the character portraits are downright hideous to look at. Not to mention the official art where almost every one looks like a dwarf. The music is the only good thing about this piece of shit. Gameplay wise, it just falls flat on it's ass because Roybot can't defend itself worth crap because it has shitty growths so bad FE5!Leif would be laughing his ass off. The RNG is laughably bad. I thought that the game was blatantly cheating at times.

[Rapier]

Overhyped: FE8

Actually, I find it to be the game that is most white knighted than any other. I have lots of motives to dislike that game, some of them being the goddamn awful story that makes little sense (yes, I know FE doesn't have that great stories, but hey), the bland characters (with the exception of Lyon, who is a nice villain) that I couldn't bring myself to like, and the extremely easy difficulty setting even in Hard. The only good point of it was the class branch choices, but that's it.

Underappreciated: FE12. It's an old game, but it needs more love, in my opinion.

[F0X]

Ah, this kind of thread is entertaining. Good thing the FE fanbase (from what I've seen) is not so divided or even vitriolic as some other fanbases of long-running franchises.

Overrated: FE13. Don't get me wrong - Awakening is my new favorite handheld game and I think the critical acclaim is deserved. However, there are a handful of flaws that keep me from calling it "the definitive Fire Emblem game" like some (not necessarily around here) say. A potential successor might be hard to overhype. And there's the whole "because it's new and therefore other Fire Emblem games are comparatively innocuous" aspect.

Underrated: FE8. I believe that this game is a better introduction to the series than FE7 was, and the impact of its changes can be felt and will continue to be felt in Awakening and future Fire Emblem titles.

Edited April 3, 2013 by F0X

[Rehab]

Ah, this kind of thread is entertaining. Good thing the FE fanbase (from what I've seen) is not so divided or even vitriolic as some other fanbases of long-running franchises.

Don't worry, we're just way more passive-aggressive about it