So, what missed chances would you say this game has? (SPOILERS)

[The Void]

After thinking about it, here's something.

I noticed the game doesn't really explain that much about what happens to Plegia after Grima!Robin is beaten. This happens even if Grima!Robin is sealed away instead of being killed, which does leave Robin walking around with her brand and what comes with it. I thought about Robin maybe having the option to become the ruler of Plegia, but I guess that wouldn't go with Robin being "mysterious".

[shadowofchaos]

I guess... that might have some dynamics with it.

Depending on male or female Robin, and who they marry... that might have had some interesting possibilities.

However, that would again... depend on condition checks. Like if Male Robin were to marry Flavia... Ferox and Plegia (I'm dying typing that name out in English) would have some sort of alliance in marriage like Europe has had I guess?

What about if Female Robin married Gangrel? Or if Female Robin married Chrom, what would Ylisse do in terms of mending the relationships between the people?

Etc.

Condition checks for marriage partners... Which they didn't even BOTHER to do for "my significant other should be the one that brings me back from the abyss in the Final Chapter, not Chrom [barring FeMU married to Chrom option]" conditions.

[Agro]

a better story for one

[Ema Skye]

The story.

Chrom kinda forgets all about Emmeryn after Ch11. IMO he should be trying to spend his time as the exalt to be as good of an exalt as she was, thinking "What would Emm do in a situation like this?". The game's story is near-perfect until Ch11, then it falls off a cliff.

There's also the "dead characters should stay dead", as much as I love Emmeryn.

[shadowofchaos]

There's also the "dead characters should stay dead", as much as I love Emmeryn.

That part right there.

So, where's my Philein/Phila recruitment if pretty much the dead characters survive?

[47948201]

There's also the "dead characters should stay dead", as much as I love Emmeryn.

Emmeryn IS dead, though. But an Emmeryn from another timeline made it to ours and heard of the events in Plegia, and now she's just trolling Chrom and the others while watching how her brother rules.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

The story... After Chapter 11, kinda went downhill, felt rushed. And Emmeryn shouldn't have become playable, she should have stayed dead.

[Perlia]

Watch as this comes off as pairing... bias? Anti bias? Whatever.

I do wish whatever you married whose name wasn't Chrom or Lucina had an effect on the plot a bit more... Like if they could talk to you before the big fight with Grima, because when you're so important to them and likely was there on Mount Prism, they'd probably know about the option to seal Grima or sacrifice yourself.

I also wish you could gain some more info on the Avatar's past/childhood. Mommy Grimleal must have been a BAMF to keep you safe from her cuckoo husband for so long.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

I missed a Killer Lance strike at 98% rate while the boss at Kjelle's Paralogue succesfully Vengeanced Sumia twice at 40% rate

WAAAAIIT a second

Wasted potential map design flier bias etc

[algae]

The kids (aside from Lucina) could have been integrated into the plot a bit better, rather than all coming from completely unrelated side-stories.

[Mighty Kamina]

The kids (aside from Lucina) could have been integrated into the plot a bit better, rather than all coming from completely unrelated side-stories.

I think it would have been nice if the Avatar's childre got a plot role.

I do wish whatever you married whose name wasn't Chrom or Lucina had an effect on the plot a bit more... Like if they could talk to you before the big fight with Grima, because when you're so important to them and likely was there on Mount Prism, they'd probably know about the option to seal Grima or sacrifice yourself.

This. I think it would have added to the plot to have given the Avatar's spouse a speaking role.

[Knight]

I wish there were more corrupt lords to be killed off, or kind-of-nice corrupt lords to betrayed by the bad guys and left clinging to life only to dispense plot information. Ah, the good ol' days. Also, I wish it could have explained some more of the connectivity between Jugdral and Archanea, and explain how a group of teenagers can believably make up the whole of Ylisse's standing army.

[Tamanoir]

I wished they did more with Mustapha. They try to build a character in one chapter, then he's killed and none of that matters anymore. He should have appeared before trying to reason Gangrel...

I would also have liked Raimi to be recruitable... Why bothering making a different character if it is to give him basically zero role ?

[paladin21]

I agree with Raimi being recruitable and Phila coming back from the death like all the others. I also miss the true soldier class with its upgrade.

[Renne]

I guess... that might have some dynamics with it.

Depending on male or female Robin, and who they marry... that might have had some interesting possibilities.

However, that would again... depend on condition checks. Like if Male Robin were to marry Flavia... Ferox and Plegia (I'm dying typing that name out in English) would have some sort of alliance in marriage like Europe has had I guess?

What about if Female Robin married Gangrel? Or if Female Robin married Chrom, what would Ylisse do in terms of mending the relationships between the people?

Etc.

Condition checks for marriage partners... Which they didn't even BOTHER to do for "my significant other should be the one that brings me back from the abyss in the Final Chapter, not Chrom [barring FeMU married to Chrom option]" conditions.

Yes, this, especially the last part, though I probably wouldn't know other endings, BUT... the last part would definitely be interesting. Because it'd be kinda weird to see Chrom and Lissa finding a clean slate Robin if both of them are married to someone else...

The story.

Chrom kinda forgets all about Emmeryn after Ch11. IMO he should be trying to spend his time as the exalt to be as good of an exalt as she was, thinking "What would Emm do in a situation like this?". The game's story is near-perfect until Ch11, then it falls off a cliff.

There's also the "dead characters should stay dead", as much as I love Emmeryn.

The bolded parts, except I did not love Emm. I rather have her stay dead. I think Yen'fay is the ONLY one that actually states he came from another timeline / even future? Maybe he crossed over from the Outrealm, not sure if he actually specifically stated that. The others may not be as braindead but they referenced something about being dead in one way or another.

[SmallPox]

I apologize for my bad writing, I wrote this post on a mood swings.

I wish the support conversation would be a bit more "plot relevant" that they actually are. I kinda tired to have support convo about laundry or language level... I think it's really depreciating the character's past. It's the same for the enemies boss.

I wish there were more different objectif than "kill them all and comme back alone".
I wish there were no such plot-holes. Maybe fewer event but more elaborate one. In my opinion we don't care about Emmeryn as much as we cared about leila... and I get tired really quickly of the "AHA you think he was bad but NO, he knew that you knew that he knew..."

I wish the game were not so grind-based and more equilibrated.

And of course when you're dead, you're dead.

[PKLucas531]

The map design not being "giant square with a buncha dudes slapped around"

because everyone mentioned the story already

[BrightBow]

Mustapha is really only one example.
Earlier there was a traitor who was litterally introduced to us 30 seconds before he turns out to be a traitor. There is no explanation given why this longtime family friend would betray them.

He is simply killed by the boss and is never mentioned again.

Compare that to PoR.
Nasir didn't just appear in chapter 20 to steal the Fire Emblem.
Nasir was around ever since chapter 11 and had been a valuable ally and advisor. When he betrayed the group, it had an actual impact.

And he still stays a main character after that. His betrayal is a mystery that accompanies the story until the end of the game.

And the obligatory sympathetic antagonist was also foreshadowed, seeing how Shihiram was Jill's father.
Jill got plenty of screen time and can't shut up about him, so all of this falls back on Shihiram to varying degree.
Not to mention that knowing that his death hurts one of the characters we care about is reason enough to get invested.

And Shihiram himself got enough screen time before the battle... and even afterwards.
We see how devastated the survivors of his army and the locals are... and of course Jill.
And his death stays relevant as Haar joins later on. It stays relevant in Jill's supports. It stays relevant as Jill tracks down Ashnard and attacks him in a blind rage.


I am still in the "good" part of the story and I could already write for hours about the story's shortcomings. Take chapter 4 for example.

The battle makes absolutely no sense.

Why would Chrom have to risk his life in a tournament, so that Flavia can take charge and forge an alliance... when her rival isn't even opposed to an alliance in the first place.
The only way for this to make sense, is if Flavia tricked Chrom into this. Nobody brings this perspective up, so I would assume that I am not supposed to see Flavia this way.

Also, it's irritating how easy Chrom takes it, that he has to risk the live of his men in a pointless fight... but the mere fact that Flavia is female is enough to leave him shocked.

The script has the unpleasant habit to set it's priorities wrong.

Any why is Chrom so clueless about the Feroxi leadership in the first place? You would think that they would brief their diplomats about something so basic.

And if the Feroxi value strength so much that they decide that someone must speak the truth just because they happen to be strong... then how come the leader herself doesn't actually need to prove her combat abilities?
The explanation given is that this would cause blood feuds... but that just shows how pointless the whole thing is to begin with.
And apparently killing foreign diplomats doesn't cause blood feuds...

Other issues I have, include the lack of explanation for Marth's participation. How does this aid her task in any way? And if she doesn't want to be recognized, then why is she using the Falchion as a weapon?

Also, nobody is ever given a reason to assume that the feminine figure with the feminine voice is actually male, yet they do it anyway.

I would also like to nitpick the scene were we learn that Marth defeated Lon'qu.
Giving his fear of girls, this could have been a subtle hint towards Marth's identity. But that's not the Awakening way.

Instead Basillo says that he still can't believe that Marth could defeat Lon'qu.
Even Lissa is surprised to hear that Marth beat him and she is the one who gushed over her at the beginning of this chapter.
Marth was already established as a powerful swordfighter. And she has a legendary sword. There is no further explanation necessary for her victory.
But they just had to beat you over the head with the "Lon'qu lost because his enemy was a girl" thing.

Edited May 19, 2013 by BrightBow

[Tamanoir]

Mustapha is really only one example.

Earlier there was a traitor who was litterally introduced to us 30 seconds before he turns out to be a traitor. There is no explanation given why this longtime family friend would betray them.

He is simply killed by the boss and is never mentioned again.

Compare that to PoR.

Nasir didn't just appear in chapter 20 to steal the Fire Emblem.

Nasir was around ever since chapter 11 and had been a valuable ally and advisor. When he betrayed the group, it had an actual impact.

And he still stays a main character after that. His betrayal is a mystery that accompanies the story until the end of the game.

And the obligatory sympathetic antagonist was also foreshadowed, seeing how Shihiram was Jill's father.

Jill got plenty of screen time and can't shut up about him, so all of this falls back on Shihiram to varying degree.

Not to mention that knowing that his death hurts one of the characters we care about is reason enough to get invested.

And Shihiram himself got enough screen time before the battle... and even afterwards.

We see how devastated the survivors of his army and the locals are... and of course Jill.

And his death stays relevant as Haar joins later on. It stays relevant in Jill's supports. It stays relevant as Jill tracks down Ashnard and attacks him in a blind rage.

I am still in the "good" part of the story and I could already write for hours about the story's shortcomings. Take chapter 4 for example.

The battle makes absolutely no sense.

Why would Chrom have to risk his life in a tournament, so that Flavia can take charge and forge an alliance... when her rival isn't even opposed to an alliance in the first place.

The only way for this to make sense, is if Flavia tricked Chrom into this. Nobody brings this perspective up, so I would assume that I am not supposed to see Flavia this way.

Also, it's irritating how easy Chrom takes it, that he has to risk the live of his men in a pointless fight... but the mere fact that Flavia is female is enough to leave him shocked.

The script has the unpleasant habit to set it's priorities wrong.

Any why is Chrom so clueless about the Feroxi leadership in the first place? You would think that they would brief their diplomats about something so basic.

And if the Feroxi value strength so much that they decide that someone must speak the truth just because they happen to be strong... then how come the leader herself doesn't actually need to prove her combat abilities?

The explanation given is that this would cause blood feuds... but that just shows how pointless the whole thing is to begin with.

And apparently killing foreign diplomats doesn't cause blood feuds...

Other issues I have, include the lack of explanation for Marth's participation. How does this aid her task in any way? And if she doesn't want to be recognized, then why is she using the Falchion as a weapon?

Also, nobody is ever given a reason to assume that the feminine figure with the feminine voice is actually male, yet they do it anyway.

I would also like to nitpick the scene were we learn that Marth defeated Lon'qu.

Giving his fear of girls, this could have been a subtle hint towards Marth's identity. But that's not the Awakening way.

Instead Basillo says that he still can't believe that Marth could defeat Lon'qu.

Even Lissa is surprised to hear that Marth beat him and she is the one who gushed over her at the beginning of this chapter.

Marth was already established as a powerful swordfighter. And she has a legendary sword. There is no further explanation necessary for her victory.

But they just had to beat you over the head with the "Lon'qu lost because his enemy was a girl" thing.

I forgot this priest guy. He didn't even have a name.

I didn't saw Lon'zu's defeat that way, in fact... And he wasn't supposed to know anyway...

Also, Chrom's cluelessness can be attribuated to the fact that Emmeryn takes care of absolutely anything.

EDIT : And his reaction to Flavia makes absolutely no sense when he's a close friend to Friggin' Sully ! It isn't even about priority, it just have no reason to be here.

Edited May 19, 2013 by TendaSlime

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Hierophant

Also nice post there BrightBow

[Renall]

Moreover, what's the point of dressing like Marth in-universe? If her goal is merely to conceal her identity, she could just wear a mask and be anybody because it's not like she has a driver's license or something that can tell anyone who she is. There's no point in pretending to be male (pretty much every society in the game has no issue with this that we know of), and there's no point in pretending to be Marth; no one actually believes she's the Hero King anyway, even as she waves the Falchion around (which of course is a massive attention draw, yet nobody seems to care).

But like... why would anyone recognize that she's supposed to be Marth anyway other than telling people so? I get that Marth is a legendary figure, but it's been thousands of years. We recognize Marth's outfit because we've actually played his games. I have trouble believing anyone in this future just happens to know exactly how the Hero King dressed (because you know, Marth only ever wore one outfit, right?) and wouldn't just assume a person dressing substantially similar to him wasn't doing it by sheer coincidence. I mean wow, blue tunic, how many thousands of times must that outfit be worn in a week? Okay, so she also has matching hair, but this is a world where blue-haired people exist so it's not like that can't be a coincidence either. If she just said "Hi, I'm Susan" people would just brush it off as a coincidence and it'd never be mentioned again. She might as well, because there is no point at which she genuinely needs to convince anybody she's actually Marth, despite having the necessary appearance and Falchion to "prove" it. Hell, the instant her mask gets cut off she's like "Oh well, not important #yourfuturebaby #swag #yolo"

Also where the hell was she for two years between Ch11 and Ch13? Seriously, nothing appears to have happened. She accomplished jack squat that whole time. Shouldn't she have... I dunno... looked for her friends who came back with her? She couldn't find a single one but Chrom could find all of them by apparently wandering randomly? Maybe go looking for the stones that you knew Chrom was going to need at some point? Go shank Validar before he gets too much of a power base in Plegia? Anybody? Bueller?

[Sunwoo]

Aside from a better story (which has already been discussed in detail) ...

It'd be cool if Chrom's and Robin's families at least had a little bit more plot relevance. I don't know how much of a nightmare this would be in terms of coding and stuff, but surely there are SOME things that could have been altered? Like when everyone speaks to Robin after he has been absorbed into Grima, it would have been nice to see your spouse and/or non-Morgan kid say something different from their "default" quote. For example, does no one else find it weird that Lucina still refers to her mother as "milady"? And Laurent's quote about "rollicking adventures" makes me want to facepalm when Robin is his father.

Making Lucina's mother and sibling (if s/he exists) more plot relevant would have been cool as well, although I'm not sure how feasible it would have been. I mean ... I'm not saying they have to be in EVERY cutscene, but it would be nice if Lucina's sibling was eavesdropping with her or in cutscenes at least. Does no one else find it a little odd that despite the fact that Chrom can have two kids 5/6 of the time, only Lucina is like SUPER worried about him?

Also, non-generic father supports and less ridiculous support conversation topics.

[Nintendan]

I would've loved some kind of versus multiplayer. I don't care how unbalanced the game is, I just wanna beat the shit outta my friend's units.

StreetPass teams just aren't the same ;_;

[Book Bro]

I agree with everyone who mentioned plot and map design. I won't go into plot, but as for maps after a certain point they started feeling very half-assed. The first one I can think of is the Ferox arena. Also the map in which you first fight Walhart and the map against Gangrel. The Dragon's Table unfortunately was pretty boring (outside and inside) as was the mountain near endgame (always forget its name). The last map itself while possibly the coolest ever conceptually was so straightforward it hurt. The desert chapters were alright but nowhere near as fun to do as their counterparts in other FEs. I can think of one obvious reason: no hidden items. In general Awakening's maps look pretty but are not on par with what I expect from FE.

I miss having more complicated maps/missions. Awakening only had a few that really did something different like factor in defensive strategy or split up your group, which is why I love Tiki's and Severa's paralogues, the map with Pheros (I'm bad with names, sue me), Ylisstol, inside Plegia castle (even if that plot point was terribly executed), etc...

Edited May 19, 2013 by Owain Dark

[Jediabiwan]

As already stated the entire story was a miss. There is very little value to any of it and the only thing I get out of it is all the references to past FE games. Those memories of past FE games was what made most of it bearable, although i have to admit there were like 2-3 good moments. But that's mostly what awakening was to me, a tribute to the older fire emblem games. It wasn't totally a bad thing and in a low of ways it works out, but the story was not one of those areas.