This 3/10 Gamefaqs review for FE13 actually made some valid points.

[Junkhead]

Why? If I'm training a mediocre unit like Neph I'm using normal EXP not BEXP. Especially with BEXP being so scarce in Hard Mode.The fact is you miss out on a lot of stuff by 1-turning.

Forges aren't that great either, I mean they tend to bankrupt the GMs and the CRKs can't forge so you're basically saying here that massive favoritism > Training. Also Mordecai is another great unit to train up (even if his EXP gain is low) in that map.

Nephenee is one of the better units, actually. Speed is made stronger in HM, and Nephenee's offense is mediocre until she starts getting supports, forges and Adept. A Max Mt/Crit. forge with Adept makes her Mia Lite, basically. And after she gets her Str going, she can start using Javelin forges and double forever with good offense with Adept and Impale later on.

Part 2 actually gives out abundant BEXP if you're going at an optimal brisk pace. And giving it to Mordecai is even more of a waste if the only thing he's getting is...more HP/Str/Def? It's not like he's not overkill in those stats (Granted, he's a bit short of 2HKO'ing when he arrives at 3-4, but it's not something his supports aren't patching thanks to his affinity). Another reason it's a waste is because he just takes it, and he completely leeches it by leveling at a snail's pace. Not to mention that his use won't be for the long term if he'll need something like, Resolve/Speedwings and an S-rank to keep his offense going. Not to mention he needs to feeds off grass and lacks 2-range.

At last, I have to say that the GMs aren't doing as bad as you say they are. They can easily take a Red/Blue Gem and a Goddess Icon that Ilyana transported and can later sell a White Gem you get at 3-3 for 10,000G.

I must be the only foolish "debater" that thoroughly enjoys this game despite some of its (rather avoidable) downfalls.

No, you're wrong.

Edited June 11, 2013 by Soul

[Da Bear]

Nephenee is one of the better units.

No she really isn't, due to this not being the Radiant Dawn sub-forum I'm just going to have this stop however.

[Steampunk]

I always take reviews with a safe dose of salt, mostly because they only serve to justify what someone already thinks about a game more than anything else. I think this review brings up a lot of good points if you don't like the game. Honestly, there's only one metric I use when deciding whether a game is "good" or not: does it keep me amused? I can do some technical breakdown and analysis of all my thoughts on a games flaws and how it's objectively bad, but there's only one thing I really care about and that's whether or not I enjoy playing it. I do enjoy Awakening, and don't think any of the points raised hurt the game enough to make it unenjoyable for me. If you do agree with this review, I guess you should first ask yourself if you like the game in the first place.

Still, Awakening did change the breast plate from armor that just so happened to cover the chest area to formfitting metal bras, that are likely to deflect attacks right into the vital areas rather then away from it.

Lissa has a hole in her skirt that just so happens to be at the focus of the automatic camera when she uses a staff, As I mentioned already, I don't remember the PoR/RD camera doing stuff like that.

Tharja is running around in her underwear. Your above examples don't compare to tat. Nothing in the series compares to that except FE4 dancers.

Cherche is absurdly revealing from what I've seen of her. (neither her promotional art or her in-game art show her front.) But she wears a french maid headdress in exchange. Again, nothing compares to that but FE4 dancers.

Miriel does wear pants... until she promotes. After that, she gets to show of her absolute territory or whatever it's called. This is noteworthy because she is using a custom model and not the normal sage outfit.

It's a video game, not a documentary. I don't think realistic battle dress was high on their list of priorities when it came to character design. If we're going to complain about how impractical everyone's outfits are, then (in the interests of fairness) we should complain about the impracticality swords and daggers are as weapons, the massive armor-plated suits knights and generals wear and also question the wisdom of having archers attack from a very short distance by themselves (or with just one other unit) instead of from longer distances in large groups. Or we can accept that it's just a video game, and a work of fiction, and aesthetics matter more than realism in just about every other video game ever made. Just my two cents, for what its worth.

Edited June 11, 2013 by Sheik

[Junkhead]

err I mean ok 8(

Edited June 11, 2013 by Soul

[BrightBow]

It's a video game, not a documentary. I don't think realistic battle dress was high on their list of priorities when it came to character design. If we're going to complain about how impractical everyone's outfits are, then (in the interests of fairness) we should complain about the impracticality swords and daggers are as weapons, the massive armor-plated suits knights and generals wear and also question the wisdom of having archers attack from a very short distance by themselves (or with just one other unit) instead of from longer distances in large groups. Or we can accept that it's just a video game, and a work of fiction, and aesthetics matter more than realism in just about every other video game ever made. Just my two cents, for what its worth.

That wasn't actually what I was arguing in the post you quoted.

The Void was arguing that the outfits of the female characters weren't any worse then the ones from PoR/RD.

It's an entirely different discussion.

Though while I still do not understand why The Void suddenly started focusing on PK's mini skirts and pants, I figured I could address how the new PKs are different from the old ones and taking a closer look on those supposed modest characters he listed.

But if it's just about my views about metal bra's:

Yes, I do in fact think that armor looks better when it looks semi-believable that the user might actually wear it for a reason.

And it's not like there isn't anything between "perfect realism" and "running around a battlefield in a Victorian dress with pointy metal spikes dangerously close to the soft skin of your legs.".

However, personally I would rather focus on the point in the review saying that the maps are bland.

Because I think that the game's biggest flaw is that it is unbelievable boring.

I don't feel very motivated to play when every map looks just like the last one: A wide open field with an entirely random enemy placement.

Honestly, I find it difficult to believe that anybody could go through this game more then once.

Edited June 11, 2013 by BrightBow

[Raven]

It's good, but Sacred Stoners is still my favourite.

[pinkbubblegum]

Honestly, I find it difficult to believe that anybody could go through this game more then once.

But clearly that's not the case given how many people in this forum alone have had multiple playthroughs of Awakening. Is that really all that's preventing you from enjoying the game? That the maps are "all the same"?

Finishing a map while trying to keep all your units alive's pretty fun and interesting imo, regardless of having the repeating objective of clearing maps of enemies (This is usually how majority of FE maps operate anyway)

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

I actually only have one legit completed PT of this game

Which is my playlog

>_>

<_<

Blame Pedoclaw

[arvilino]

However, personally I would rather focus on the point in the review saying that the maps are bland.

Because I think that the game's biggest flaw is that it is unbelievable boring.

I don't feel very motivated to play when every map looks just like the last one: A wide open field with an entirely random enemy placement.

Honestly, I find it difficult to believe that anybody could go through this game more then once.

Those are nonsensical claims which you can't(or atleast I don't think you can) actually prove.

Even one example would shatter the claim. For example taking into account the AI scripting prove that chapter 12's enemies are randomly placed or at least describe what is random about them, their placement and their movement patterns.

Edited June 11, 2013 by arvilino

[Chiki]

He means random in the sense that it's meaningless, obviously.

And he's right. The map design is complete shit.

[Nobody]

I honestly find awakening more replayble than other FE games. I've already beaten it over 20 times, while i have no desire to replay PoR or FE7 any time soon, despite really liking them. Maybe it's because awakening is shorter and fast paced.

[Da Bear]

I honestly find awakening more replayble than other FE games. I've already beaten it over 20 times, while i have no desire to replay PoR or FE7 any time soon, despite really liking them. Maybe it's because awakening is shorter and fast paced.

I've done the same but mostly because I've gone on several road trips since the release >_>

At any rate I find RD to be a lot more re-playable than this one. I also find RD to have better story <_<

I actually only have one legit completed PT of this game

Which is my playlog

>_>

<_<

Blame Pedoclaw

Seriously? Have you only had it for like a few weeks or something?

[Tamanoir]

That wasn't actually what I was arguing in the post you quoted.

The Void was arguing that the outfits of the female characters weren't any worse then the ones from PoR/RD.

It's an entirely different discussion.

Though while I still do not understand why The Void suddenly started focusing on PK's mini skirts and pants, I figured I could address how the new PKs are different from the old ones and taking a closer look on those supposed modest characters he listed.

But if it's just about my views about metal bra's:

Yes, I do in fact think that armor looks better when it looks semi-believable that the user might actually wear it for a reason.

And it's not like there isn't anything between "perfect realism" and "running around a battlefield in a Victorian dress with pointy metal spikes dangerously close to the soft skin of your legs.".

However, personally I would rather focus on the point in the review saying that the maps are bland.

Because I think that the game's biggest flaw is that it is unbelievable boring.

I don't feel very motivated to play when every map looks just like the last one: A wide open field with an entirely random enemy placement.

Honestly, I find it difficult to believe that anybody could go through this game more then once.

Not sure how everyone could finish FE4 more than once...

Maps are different enough to makes thing interresting for me.

[BrightBow]

Those are nonsensical claims which you can't(or atleast I don't think you can) actually prove.

Even one example would shatter the claim. For example taking into account the AI scripting prove that chapter 12's enemies are randomly placed or at least describe what is random about them, their placement and their movement patterns.

You are asking for a lot here,

Even if I had the equipment for that, by the time I finished the game again, made the necessary recordings and uploaded them, the thread would have moved past the issue, making it pointless.

So yeah, I can't prove that.

Though I hope you have at least noticed that the game applies skills randomly to the enemies. Easy to tell because they are different after every reset.

And of course, I do not have access into the games coding either, but would anybody really argue that the chapter 12 AI goes beyond the usual "Attack the unit who takes the most damage" routine?

I do grand that 12 is a good example. I don't have access to screenshots and I obviously can't just replay it but I believe that the map had a theme towards cavalry. Which is frankly more then I would say about most maps.

And chapter 21 has the unreachable mages to force you to drive forward instead of sitting on the stairs for all eternity, taking your time getting to the chests.

So that was nice, I guess.

I also liked chapter 13, since it was easy to use the terrain to my advantage.

It was literally the only time in the game where I felt accomplished. That victory was a result of my cunning and not just because the game simply decided to let me win. For once I actually felt like I deserved victory.

Edited June 11, 2013 by BrightBow

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Seriously? Have you only had it for like a few weeks or something?

2 -3 months

The playlog is the only one where I saved over the course of several periods, and no grind. Everything else is pretty much a speedruns, or a file made for grinding. My first file is full of grinding too >_>

[Da Bear]

2 -3 months

The playlog is the only one where I saved over the course of several periods, and no grind. Everything else is pretty much a speedruns, or a file made for grinding. My first file is full of grinding too >_>

I decided to try grinding recently... it's boring and lame.

[Steampunk]

That wasn't actually what I was arguing in the post you quoted.

The Void was arguing that the outfits of the female characters weren't any worse then the ones from PoR/RD.

It's an entirely different discussion.

I apologize for jumping on you then.

And it's not like there isn't anything between "perfect realism" and "running around a battlefield in a Victorian dress with pointy metal spikes dangerously close to the soft skin of your legs."

Sure. You wouldn't want to expose yourself to enemy weapons IRL, though historic armies also didn't have magic staves that completely healed a person's injuries. Regardless, I misunderstood what you were saying, so sorry for cracking down on you. I just think character design and graphics are stupid things to complain about when rating a video game. Not saying you are, just saying that sort of thing gets my hackles up.

[Blademaster!]

This review, like so many other negative reviews of the game I see, just seem like they are written by people who have no idea what they are talking about and just know absolutely nothing about the franchise. It's like they are just finding things to complain about now because of how popular Awakening has become when the same issues had existed in past games, such as whinning about lack of chapter goals or "open field maps" (what the fuck does this even mean?). Sure there are legitimate complaints like lack of FoW, status staves, and normal/hard mode being too easy for experienced players, but most of the points this review makes are either showing plain ignorance, finding things to complain about(they removed terrain height, something only featured in one game and was missing from the last 2, what a disaster this s all of a sudden in this game but not before! Same with weapon weight, which was almost always a terrible feature) or completely subjective. I mean, at least there was more reason and benefit to use pair up in this game when compared to rescue.

[Da Bear]

"Same with weapon weight, which was almost always a terrible feature"

I always thought that weapon weight was a great balancing feature. I wish it was in this game to balance out nostanking.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Rescue Canto are the best thing about GBA FE, so IMO Rescue > pair up

[Blademaster!]

"Same with weapon weight, which was almost always a terrible feature"

I always thought that weapon weight was a great balancing feature. I wish it was in this game to balance out nostanking.

Nostanking isn't broken because of no weapon weight, but the units who can use it have better defensive stats when compared to past games, vengeance, and more opportunities to actually get the weapon itself. The strategy still existed in past titles, and was just as, if not more broken since you recovered all the damage you dealt. Weapon weight was a terrible balancing mechanic that just made certain weapons completely undesirable to use, such as Axes in any game before FE5 (with the only notable exception being the hero axe in FE4, and personally axes being so useless is IMO why they don't exist in FE2 and Book 2), steel weapons in FE6, and fire magic in the jugdral games. There's a reason why every game since FE9 has been phasing out the mechanic entirely.

Rescue Canto are the best thing about GBA FE, so IMO Rescue > pair up

It's a fairly useless feature that adds no where near the level of strategic play/desire to use when compared to pair up. I never used the feature when it existed except as a last resort to save a unit when I would blatently mess up, and I certainly have never found any time in the series where I ever actually missed it. My first thought on seeing pair up in awakening was "Not only is this feature really neat and cool, but it's rescue done right, especially when you consider how moving around the pocket unit you have between units can act as a boon to the active unit!" If anything, after playing Awakening, if I go back and play the older FE's I might even have slightly more insentive to use it for whatever reason.

[Airship Canon]

"Same with weapon weight, which was almost always a terrible feature"

I always thought that weapon weight was a great balancing feature. I wish it was in this game to balance out nostanking.

Balancing?! WEIGHT? REALLY!?

HAHAAHA!

Are you trying to kill me via laughter?!

A feature that explicitly makes units and weapons useless improves Balance?!

Once again here's what Weight Does:

Unrestricted (I.E. SPD - WGT = AS):

Swords are Scissors. Axes are paper. Lances are Rock. Swords beats Paper. Swords also happen to beat Rock.

Same deal with Wind and other types of magic.

In short, Swords and Wind beat everything. Weapon Triangle? What is that?

It's pretty damn dumb when facing WTD that your Hit and Avo go UP from when you've got WTA.

Characters and classes that can't use those types of weapons are basically inferior to anything that can, plain and simple.

Con: SPD - (WT-CON; 0 if Negative) = AS

Units with Good Con > Units that don't have Good Con. Con is a non-growing stat. (The BLD system was alright, but the growth rate on BLD was actually quite pathetic, and had the same damning effect as Con Does)

If you can't see how this destroys any form of unit balance, you're pretty blind. Also, most of the time it was blatantly sexist but that's neither here nor there.

WeTr matters, but if you're fighting things that blatantly don't have the Con for their weapon, it doesn't, and then there's dumb moments like how Eliwood can't really use -his- Legendary.

STR = Con: SPD - (WT- STR; 0 if Negative) = AS.

Better than the Con System by far, but pretty much is "**** MAGIC", and directly moves in the direction of phasing out WT for physical units as once a unit hits a certain STR value, WT is phased out for that unit.

Still extremely lopsided and made most magic unusable.

WeTr got a bit stronger.

WT = 0: SPD = AS.

Basically, units are balanced by their stats instead of by an arbitrary value. Any unit has potential to be as good as or better than any other unit. Basically, it's balanced as you're getting nothing is useless.

As far as Nosferatu goes, it's just as broken in previous games. (Hello, FE4, which had Nosferatu as one of the most beatstick weapons in the game. (Basically, do what you do with a Sorc in Awakening using Julia with Nos? GET SAME RESULTS. It also laughs at Great Shield) But self-healing tanks will always be broken. Nos probably should've been B or A rank in Awakening, and AN shouldn't exist.

The weapon triangle is better at balancing things than WT ever was or will be-- mostly because WT doesn't balance. WT unbalances.

Edited June 14, 2013 by Airship Canon

[arvilino]

STR = Con: SPD - (WT- STR; 0 if Negative) = AS.

Better than the Con System by far, but pretty much is "**** MAGIC", and directly moves in the direction of phasing out WT for physical units as once a unit hits a certain STR value, WT is phased out for that unit.

Still extremely lopsided and made most magic unusable.

WT got a bit stronger.

Even for physical units it's not a very good system, a good example here is Shadow Dragon's Abel vs. Vyland

Where level 1 Abel has 6 STR 7 SPD (with 6 skill) and Level 1 Vyland has 5 STR and 6 SPD (also only 3 skill), their other stats are roughly similar but Abels growths are almost all around better(and specifically in speed and strength) and has 4 chapters beforehand to widen the gap.

Not only is Abel stronger and faster than Vyland when both aren't weighed down(so an Iron Lance or Iron Sword), giving Vyland a stronger weapon(Steel Lance for example since Vyland starts with D-lances) to try and make up for it penalizes Vyland(4AS) more than Abel(3AS), which mean not only is it a greater penalty to offense it is to defense(since more enemies can double him).

It's a system that adds insult to injury because not only does a weaker unit deal less damage(as expected) they're penalized more because they are weak.

[IceBrand]

I honestly find awakening more replayble than other FE games. I've already beaten it over 20 times, while i have no desire to replay PoR or FE7 any time soon, despite really liking them. Maybe it's because awakening is shorter and fast paced.

I feel the exact opposite of this. I found POR and RD to be more replayable then Awakening. That's mostly because those games were more straight forward.

[Shengar]

The review is not good, although it does address some of the right issues within the game.

Design is pretty subjective, but something worse is exist out there. The only thing about design that detract me is the excessive amount of absolute zone the female character get, and how they design is really horrendous compared to their male counterpart (great knight is one of the example, and only Sully that have enough common sense to wear pants down her armor). Skirt is slightly acceptable but loincloth? The design is pretty inconsistent, while generic sage wear full outfit with no revealing part, Emmeryn's outfit did not since there is some strange "opening" that shows her left leg (complete with stocking and of course, absolute zone). It is the inconsistency that irks me, not singular unit design.

The story is convuluted, terribly directed mess. They should just thrown out that Grima and time travel thing out of the window, make Plegian War and Valm Conquest have more emphasis with normal timeskip. The side story which the character interact each other os more interesting to follow, although not all of them is well written, but it still more enjoyable overall than the main story that only cringe worthy.