How to improve Fire Emblem Awakening

[metalsnowman3]

The deal with Pegasus being adverse to males only is mentioned in Elibe, and FE3 Enemy PKs are male.

I believe it is either mentioned or implied with Henry and Sumia's support when he wants to fly a pegasus and has to do a body swap.

Maybe just take out galeforce and put canto back in, where fliers and horses can move after attacking. Though that makes foot units really bad compared to horses/fliers and they are already at a disadvantage.

[NinjaMonkey]

I just think it's funny that you didn't raise the same objection for the Thunder Mage > Valkyrie thing. > 3 >

Dark Fliers get Galeforce, Valkyries don't.

[Airship Canon]

I believe it is either mentioned or implied with Henry and Sumia's support when he wants to fly a pegasus and has to do a body swap.

Rather than that, the support implied that classes/etc. are genetic. [Which is seen as accurate, and a slight slap in the face of all the people who were crying for adoptions.]

[XeKr]

Have (massive) post inc eventually, but quickly re: Galeforce Bow Knight. It wouldn’t be that crazy, just would shift things around, as Chrom doesn’t have Veteran + Bow Knights don’t fly and don’t have 1-2 range (Lord/Archer also don’t). And Galeforce isn’t necessary to 1 turn a lot of the maps. Part of why it’s so good in-game is actually because it currently comes on a class that flies, has very high Spd (offense is mostly patched up by Pair Up+Tonics+80% Adept, durability doesn’t matter that much in lower difficulties or in Rescue-skips), and has 1-2 range with Lances (triangle against the high Spd/avoid bosses, Gangrel/Yen-fay), plus possibly Tomes (accurate, attack Res, possible early/buyable Celica’s, easy weapon transition for Avatar). Dark Flier is already an insane class, Galeforce just shaves a few turns.

[Potato123]

But bow knights get swords (and 1-2 range levin swords). Wouldn't it be better to give snipers galeforce because they don't have horses and are bowlocked?

[Roivann]

But bow knights get swords (and 1-2 range levin swords). Wouldn't it be better to give snipers galeforce because they don't have horses and are bowlocked?

Well, Levin Swords kind of suck, aside from a few niche uses (Tactician/Grandmaster/Dark Knight with low tome level or when they NEED to dodge axes). Also, I guess that the point was more that it fit in the style and design of Bow Knights. IMO, give Snipers Lethality instead of Hit Rate +20, because their skill is already high enough by level 5 (even if they promoted at level 10 instead of 20) that they're pretty much always hitting their target.

[XeKr]

Yeah, Levin swords are limited (though iirc you can Spotpass buy them if you want. Still expensive, though Armsthrift may help.) and they aren’t really that strong. Most units won’t have the magic necessary (Bow Knight also gives 0) and Avatar will probably have to go through Merc or Grandmaster, neither of which are mounted/flying when it’s more important to be (before buyable Rescue and the massive boss rush). Workable, but more because of Veteran than anything.

Giving Galeforce to Snipers or Villagers is probably the most “fair” (and we could argue these small changes all day), but eh?

Edited March 11, 2014 by XeKr

[Czar_Yoshi]

Levin is cheaper than C tomes. That's cheap enough for me.

They're important because they give sword users a ranged weapon, and even if your Mag is bad they'll still do good damage earlygame because enemy res (especially Barbarians, the axeguys you want to dodge) is bad and they have high mt. Also, the primary user of them is Avatar, who is likely to want them due to being in Merc and be able to use them well thanks to high Mag.

[XeKr]

Well, the 0 class base/growth is a legit problem, and will likely be the difference between one-rounding or not. Also small differences like you can lose like 4 mt (8 damage) against Lances, though you maintain some decent avoid against the earlygame Axes. It’s a bit harder to get Mag + Spd/Def Pair Up early on, as opposed to the multiple Cav/Knight pocket options. It’s mostly canceled by the Def/Res gap, but not always. If we are allowing Spotpass, there’s also a bunch of free legendary tomes, notably Naga and such. And Celica’s Gale.

Though for the most part, if trying to be efficient (which is the original context I was speaking of), you still want to use the cheapest weapons possible as they’re usually sufficient to steamroll (and you end up buying a lot), and can save money to buy Rescue Staves or forge effective weapons or something (you don’t usually need to buy higher-tier weapons, just rely on dropped ones/recruitment gifts). It’s also very relevant early, where gold comes at scarce intervals (and there are the most routs). Armthrift is actually one of the best things for it, as Chrom Pair Up gives luck too. Though again you aren’t mounted until promotion.

After actually looking at the numbers, I’ll correct my earlier statement about them sucking/being weak. Levin Swords are fairly good, but other weapon types are still generally better options.

[Czar_Yoshi]

Poor +Mag/Spd options? Trickster!Gaius, Dark Flier!Sumia/Cordelia, Tactician!Avatar and Anna are all obtainable earlygame and raise Mag and Spd. For +Mag/Def, Miriel, Ricken, Tharja and Henry can all promote to Dark Knight (the latter two also give good +Mag/Def unpromoted or as Sorcerer), Nowi gives it as well (and can even reclass to DK if you like). All of those options also give +Res except the Dark Mages.

[XeKr]

I’m thinking we have different definitions of earlygame and efficient. >_>

Consider that Rescue Staves become buyable after Chapter 12, and the only necessary routs after are C15, C23, C24.

[TheBattyOne]

How I would have improved Fire Emblem: Awakening...

1. Spend more time on writing the supports.

Yes, I get it. It was probably very difficult and a pain in the ass to write more than 200 romantic supports, plus the parent/child and buddy supports on top of that. Trust me, I get it! Having said that, though, a lot of these convos are just one conversation split into three, and quite a few of them could have been trimmed down to just C or C and B, and then moved on to something else. Robin/Frederick was fun to read, but a missed opportunity because they could have discussed, say, how much he distrusted Robin at first and how and when that changed. Or Ricken/Olivia "You like stories? Me too! Let's get hitched!". I don't know, some of them are great as they are, but many could use a rewrite.

2. Trim the cast and/or the support pool.

Alright, here's something that might have helped to solve the support issue in the first place: have fewer characters to begin with. Yeah, that means fewer Gen 2 units (or does it?) and fewer options for marriage, but quality over quantity, says I. Alternately, just reduce the number of support conversations for each character. If everybody in Gen 1 had, say, six to eight potential romantic partners instead of twelve, that would probably balance variety with quality.

3. Have children dependent on both parents.

Now, I'm not thinking we make a unique Gen 2 unit for each potential Gen 1 pairing. That would get ridiculous fast. So how about this: have a Gen 2 unit dependent on each Gen 1 unit (or most of them). So, for example, let's get Tharja and Henry married. Noire would be Tharja's daughter, but Henry also has his own kid. I'm gonna make one up off the top of my head: Henry has a daughter named Phoebe who inherits her mother's hair color. She is younger than most of the other Gen 2 units, short, and smiles and giggles a lot. She also loves playing pranks, but never knows when she's going too far. Phoebe is actually severely traumatized by the loss of her parents, but she has no idea how to express herself and mistakenly thinks that nobody will talk to her if she seems depressed.

Okay, so we have Henry's kid. Just a thrown-together example. Henry and Tharja get married, and now Noire and Phoebe are siblings. They each get a support conversation with their parents and with their sibling. Since each Gen 1 pairing creates a unique pair of siblings, the most obvious but tedious approach would be to write support convos between every pair of siblings. Alternatively, have the "C" conversation be dependent on the mother-dependent kid, the "B" dependent on the father-dependent kid, and a unique "A" for each pair. This would cut down on the sheer amount of writing, but it would arguably be more difficult as it would have to work out for every possible pair of siblings without introducing pairing-induced plot holes and inconsistencies. Speaking of which...

4. Get rid of the pairing-induced plot holes and inconsistencies. (SPOILERS!)

Robin couldn't have saved Owain in the future because Robin would have become Grima by then. Henry and Ricken would both be able to cast curses of their own, so neither of them would be scared of touching cursing tools as Noire says. Gregor does not look barely older than Severa; he still looks old enough to be her dad. Morgan does not remember anything, including his potential sister Lucina. There should be checks for this to fix the inconsistencies.

5. Give the characters feet.

And now I'm officially nitpicking.

If I had to cut this list down, I'd go with #4 and #1. And #5, because come on.

[Shamison]

MOAR MONSTERS! HELLHOUNDS CYCLOPS ENIMIES WITH LAZARS

Better difficulty scaling. Basically not such a big jump between hard and lunatic.

[BANRYU]

Oh man, I was really hoping for monsters myself when I saw the Sacred Stones-style map. ;o; It was a bit disappointing to get nothing but the Revenants/Entombed and have the Risen just be generic soldier classes.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

1. Weapon triangle, how it works in FE9 + 10

2. Weapon weight, which in influences your attacking speed like in FE9 - 11. If the unit´s strength is lower than the weight of the weapon, it will lose speed.

3. Magic weapon triangle

4. More different missions: Defense, escape, seize etc.

5. Feet for the characters

6. More tactial options like in previous FE games: shove, rescue, take, drop etc.

7. More staves: sleep, silence etc.

8. Anima long range weapons: meteor, bolting, blizzard

In FE13 and in the DS-games there are some tactial options and weapons missing, which exist in previous FE games.

Edited March 23, 2014 by MisterIceTeaPeach

[BANRYU]

Jesus what is it with you guys and feet

I mean honestly who cares? No one complains about the people in Wind Waker not having feet

Other than that, I agree with everything else MITP said except the long-range anima magic. If Magic works the way it did in PoR/RD, then presumably other types of units will be weak to other types of anima magic-- and if Light magic isn't included (which I'm actually okay with because it would kind of require retooling the entire class system), then that means that Dark isn't effective against anything, and thus needs unique tomes like Mire to set itself apart and not be completely outclassed. So... lack of long-range Anima I am okay with.

[Czar_Yoshi]

I mean honestly who cares? No one complains about the people in Wind Waker not having feet

That's because the tiny feet fit in with TWW's artstyle, so the people who would complain if they didn't like them complain about the artstyle as a whole instead (I happen to like TWW, btw). FE13's artstyle is (somewhat) realistic, so the lack of feet sticks out like a sore thumb (particularly on Fighter/Warrior).

[Airship Canon]

4. Get rid of the pairing-induced plot holes and inconsistencies. (SPOILERS!)

Henry and Ricken would both be able to cast curses of their own, so neither of them would be scared of touching cursing tools as Noire says.

That's not even remotely a plothole.

...Umm... yeah, they're not afraid of the implements.

The implication is they'd be afraid of Tharja.

Everything else points at her being frightening, and that she's got her husband whipped and wimpy.

Now that in and of itself doesn't make sense for other reasons, depending on who she married.

[BANRYU]

That's because the tiny feet fit in with TWW's artstyle, so the people who would complain if they didn't like them complain about the artstyle as a whole instead (I happen to like TWW, btw). FE13's artstyle is (somewhat) realistic, so the lack of feet sticks out like a sore thumb (particularly on Fighter/Warrior).

I guess I just think there are bigger concerns that could be dealt with first and foremost to improve the gameplay and the visuals. Making the feet more realistically proportioned seems pretty bottom-of-the-barrel as far as improvements to the game go, even aesthetically speaking. I've no love for the tiny feets myself, but I'd rather see more dynamic, improved battle animations.

[TheBattyOne]

That's not even remotely a plothole.

...Umm... yeah, they're not afraid of the implements.

The implication is they'd be afraid of Tharja.

Everything else points at her being frightening, and that she's got her husband whipped and wimpy.

Now that in and of itself doesn't make sense for other reasons, depending on who she married.

More of a nitpick than a plot hole, I suppose. And Henry if anything wishes for harm to come to him, so why would he be scared of Tharja? But thanks for putting it in a better way than I could. Still something to fix, right?

[arvilino]

1. Weapon triangle, how it works in FE9 + 10

3. Magic weapon triangle

Wouldn't you want FE13's weapon triangle mechanics if you wanted the magic weapon triangle back in? Since you lose 3 points of might and 25 hit from WTD in Awakening due to cancelling the weapon rank bonus. In FE9 and FE10 the +/- 1 might +/- 10 hit bonus is equal or even less than the difference in stats between tome types and in FE9 for example makes using any thunder tome against thunder tome users better than the equivalent wind(WTA) against thunder .

[ASR]

About the story:

1) A great more longevity for the main story. I'd like a lot if it takes about 50-60 hours.

2) (SPOILER)

A better written plot, with new ideas than the usally big & bad dragon/demon hidden behind a dark cult.

(Imho In previous Fe like 4 or 9/10 the story was awesome, but in Fe:A they repeat the cliché again, and narration and dialogues get worse for me).

3) More deeper supports.

About the gameplay:

1) Reintroduction of the third tiers.

2) Magic triangle.

3) Tactical options like someone previously mentioned.

4) Different types of missions.

[PKL]

1. Weapon triangle, how it works in FE9 + 10

2. Weapon weight, which in influences your attacking speed like in FE9 - 11. If the unit´s strength is lower than the weight of the weapon, it will lose speed.

3. Magic weapon triangle

4. More different missions: Defense, escape, seize etc.

5. Feet for the characters

6. More tactial options like in previous FE games: shove, rescue, take, drop etc.

7. More staves: sleep, silence etc.

8. Anima long range weapons: meteor, bolting, blizzard

In FE13 and in the DS-games there are some tactial options and weapons missing, which exist in previous FE games.

1. The weapon triangle system in Tellius is a lot worse than the DS games weapon triangle that Awakening uses.

2. Wouldn't do anything but hurt mages and mostly be annoying and then not matter at all. Weight is bad really.

3. Magic weapon triangle is useless if its like Tellius. And would mostly be irrelevant even with DS triangle because tomes have so much hit anyway.

4. I agree.

6. Rescue drop take was replaced by pair up. It probably can't be implemented in the regular Awakening to improve it. Shove Smite wouldnt work without some sort of con system.

7. So, basically, bring back one of the most annoying things about past Fire Emblems? Those staves are usually insta-game over when they hit, so that wouldnt really improve the game or make it more "tactical".

[Gaia]

1) A great more longevity for the main story. I'd like a lot if it takes about 50-60 hours.

I'd rather not see the game's story artificially extended. They put in enough filler as is.

[ASR]

I'd rather not see the game's story artificially extended. They put in enough filler as is.

You're right for sure, however i start from the idea that the story was mostly different (and well written, possibly)