What FE has the best difficulty?

[Junkhead]

Without being "cheap" and poorly-designed, what FEs are the hardest? (:

I like how FE6 HM, FE9 MM and FE10 HM were made without just throwing in stupid enemies like FE11 H5 & FE13's Lunatic do (I'm not too sure on FE9 MM since I haven't beaten it, but it looked good up to that part).

I'd wager to say FE5, but apparently the difficulty itself isn't the one screwing you around (I haven't found it that hard, anyway).

[Tamanoir]

I didn't finished FE12 yet, and even less the hardest difficulties, but it seemed pretty good difficulty wise... There's the BS of having Marth needed to seize the chapters and visit every villages, but otherwise, it's pretty well done...

FE5 had a lot of unfair parts, but it gives you some clearly broken units, and the low caps allows nearly everyone to be good..

[Da Bear]

I'm going to say RD's Hard Mode but I haven't played all of them so I might be missing one.

[BrightBow]

I'm going to say RD's Hard Mode but I haven't played all of them so I might be missing one.

I would say that this mode is unfair since it takes away interface conveniences, requiring you to patiently count tiles all the time.

That gets old rather fast.

Anyway, I say FE5.

It has a very creative map design that is challenging, yet still manages to provide plenty of tools to approach them in creative ways, that go beyond trying to find a build to kill grunts in one round.

However, it's held back by the issue that you can't place your units where you want, like later games.

That feels rather cheap and unlike Monshu, you can't even rearrange how they are ordered on the list.

Since later maps have your units start all over the place, the quality of the maps takes quite a dive later on.

I would vote Tear Ring Saga for pretty much the same reason.

But while Runan's levels are all excellent, some maps on Holmes route are just awful and tedious.

I do give them credit for making opening chests occasionally a victory condition, though. That way you don't need to worry about the chapter prematurely ending and you don't need to hold back against the boss.

Edited June 13, 2013 by BrightBow

[Integrity]

I find FE13 HM to be the most enjoyable difficulty.

[MJThom_2009]

I'm still doing FE8 HM on both paths and I was pissed because of the number of tough enemies, bosses, and the worst of all, the RNG.

[Crimson Red]

I actually liked FE13's LM but I'm weird so my opinion doesn't count

[Tables]

To answer a slightly different question, I very much like FE11's six difficulty options. They grow in difficulty very nicely, starting at a good beginner point and ending at a seriously challenging difficulty, and I don't think it ever really becomes cheap or unfair - as long as you have a good idea about reinforcement locations at least.

Of the FE's I've played, I'd still probably have to give it to FE11 H5. I've played all the English FE's plus Genealogy. FE7's HHM is mostly challenging but fair, until you get to Battle Before Dawn in which you can rush to Zephiel's room as fast as possible and still lose. FE8 is too easy. FE9 is too easy. FE10 has one of the worst difficulty curves I've ever seen in a video game, being harder at the start and easier at the end for both new and experienced players alike, AND it's HM is cheap. FE13's Lunatic mode is kind of a FE10ized version of FE11H5 - even harder at the start, and easier at the end. Lunatic+ is just silly, honestly. It's a nice idea, but throwing those skills onto already insane enemies is crazy.

[ZemZem]

I find FE13 HM to be the most enjoyable difficulty.

This.

Also, I like FE6 HM, FE7 HHM, and I really want to try out FE9 MM.

EDIT: And FE5's was pretty nice.

Edited June 13, 2013 by Zeem

[Constable Reggie]

Fe5 in my opinion, level design was fantastic and actually attributed greatly to the difficulty in that game. Hector Hard mode comes second.

[RJWalker]

FE12 does it best.

[Shadow Mir]

I find FE13 HM to be the most enjoyable difficulty.

Agreed. It's enjoyable without being blatantly cheap or unfair, which is more than I can say for some difficulties in FE.

I would say that this mode is unfair since it takes away interface conveniences, requiring you to patiently count tiles all the time.

That gets old rather fast.

Which is why I never bothered playing it.

Lunatic+ is just silly, honestly. It's a nice idea, but throwing those skills onto already insane enemies is crazy.

And even worse, they distribute the skills randomly.

[Da Bear]

Which is why I never bothered playing it.

It's not that hard... It's just a matter of planning on the go.

[Shadow Mir]

It's not that hard... It's just a matter of planning on the go.

I still agree with BrightBow - and it's not just the fact you can't see enemy movement range. The weapon triangle was also removed for no real reason.

[BrightBow]

It's not that hard... It's just a matter of planning on the go.

Difficulty isn't the problem.

Limiting the controls like that, doesn't increase difficulty. It's just makes the game more tedious.

It's the same as if they wouldn't allow you to see the current HP or weapon durability and expect you to simply keep count for those values. Or expecting you to always calculate the Avoid and Hit values in your head or whatever.

It's not a challenge. It's just a massive pain to do.

Edit:

I still agree with BrightBow - and it's not just the fact you can't see enemy movement range. The weapon triangle was also removed for no real reason.

You know, seeing how utterly random those changes were, I always assumed that it was intended as some sort of "nostalgia mode", since neither of those things existed in the first few games.

Edited June 13, 2013 by BrightBow

[Rewjeo]

I'm also going to say FE5. While it did pull some stupid stuff (whyyy 99 hit healing) I thought it did a much better job of giving you interesting challenges than recent games. Things like map design, money, fatigue, and even dismounting created a very entertaining challenge.

[RJWalker]

Fatigue was pretty poorly implemented. And it's a stupid mechanic anyway.

[Rewjeo]

Oh, okay, I guess my opinion is wrong then? FE5 made me think about more than bumrushing the boss, and I liked that.

[RJWalker]

Oh, okay, I guess my opinion is wrong then?

I never said that. What I posted was my opinion.

[Constable Reggie]

I think it's an amazing mechanic and was implemented well enough to compliment the game.

[Redwall]

I'm liking FE12 H3 so far; it's definitely more of a team game than FE13 Lunatic, which is basically "go bananas with Fred and the Avatar earlygame, then replace Fred with Morgan lategame." Thank goodness DS games aren't region-locked.

[Djeets]

Fe 10 easy modoo~~

nope, probably RD hard mode are, you don't know just how much patience you need to accept the cruel reality from that game..

[Anouleth]

Without being "cheap" and poorly-designed, what FEs are the hardest? (:

I like how FE6 HM, FE9 MM and FE10 HM were made without just throwing in stupid enemies like FE11 H5 & FE13's Lunatic do (I'm not too sure on FE9 MM since I haven't beaten it, but it looked good up to that part).

I'd wager to say FE5, but apparently the difficulty itself isn't the one screwing you around (I haven't found it that hard, anyway).

FE6 HM has some very stupidly strong enemies. Chapter 4, 5 and 7 stick out in particular: IMO, those chapters are just as bad as FE11 H5 Chapter 1 and FE13 Lunatic Chapter 2. Or for that matter, FE10 HM 1-3.

Most hard modes have "that one chapter", usually quite early on, where the enemies are just stronger than you and outnumber you three to one. And then they all kind of get more manageable because you start to sink levels into the powerful high-tier units. Fire Emblem would probably seem a lot harder if people restricted themselves to using mid-tier units that don't grow very well.

[Refa]

No wonder FE6 HM is so hard; all of the ridiculous units don't appear until later on!

[Shadow Mir]

nope, probably RD hard mode are, you don't know just how much patience you need to accept the cruel reality from that game..

IMO, I wouldn't find RD hard mode enjoyable - I mean, normal mode in RD is challenging enough as is.

FE6 HM has some very stupidly strong enemies. Chapter 4, 5 and 7 stick out in particular: IMO, those chapters are just as bad as FE11 H5 Chapter 1 and FE13 Lunatic Chapter 2. Or for that matter, FE10 HM 1-3.

Most hard modes have "that one chapter", usually quite early on, where the enemies are just stronger than you and outnumber you three to one. And then they all kind of get more manageable because you start to sink levels into the powerful high-tier units. Fire Emblem would probably seem a lot harder if people restricted themselves to using mid-tier units that don't grow very well.

And all that's made even worse by the fact that a lot of the FE6 cast isn't very good.

I'm liking FE12 H3 so far; it's definitely more of a team game than FE13 Lunatic, which is basically "go bananas with Fred and the Avatar earlygame, then replace Fred with Morgan lategame." Thank goodness DS games aren't region-locked.

Those were among the difficulties I had in mind when I was accusing some of them of being blatantly cheap and unfair. I mean, I don't mind a challenge, but I've gotta draw the line somewhere!