Sometimes, same turn reinforcements are disgusting.

[Lord Glenn]

Awakening, considering how it saved the series. Hey, it had to do something right to be so successful.

While your example may technically be worth considering, within the series it's pretty uncommon anyway. How often do you get mid-map allied reinforcements? If you get a new unit that joins you immediately, it's usually right at the start of the map. Otherwise, you're recruiting from another team.

I don't exactly think gameplay design is the big reason (or really any reason at all) that Awakening sold so well. The lack of RPGs for the system at the time and the more "common denominator" approach (along with actual advertising) is probably a much better indicator for that one.

It is uncommon yes, though, honestly, I don't understand why it isn't used more frequently. But that's a different matter altogether.

From basic research:

FE6: Chapters 2, 8, 13

FE7: Chapters 3, 6 (Conditional on both only if you don't manually recruit before), 11, 12 (Mode Dependent for both)

FE8: Chapters 1, 8, 15

FE9: Chapter 24

FE10: Chapters 1-P, 1-2, 4-2 (Second Playthrough+)

FE11: None

FE12: Chapters P-5, 6 (Not going to count Extra stuff)

FE13: Chapters 1, 2, 6, 7

Out of the sample size, very small. But, since the question is hypothetical anyway, let's throw the hypothetical situation in where more of these types of recruitments are found in the game in general - let's make the question actually matter to some extent.

[XeKr]

I don't exactly think gameplay design is the big reason (or really any reason at all) that Awakening sold so well. The lack of RPGs for the system at the time and the more "common denominator" approach (along with actual advertising) is probably a much better indicator for that one.

We’re all just speculating here, but probably also because Awakening is well-polished aesthetically (looks/sounds nice, plays smoothly, numerous little amusing bits), giving rise to universal critical acclaim from professional reviewers (for what that’s worth) as well as giving a strong initial impression to most players. I’ve seen several cases of later detractors who started enamoured.

And I think replayability is often cited as a strong point, so I assume gameplay is indeed a reason why many bought and liked it.(perhaps?)

Re: ambush spawns: The way I see it is: reinforcements that are not same turn are basically not threatening at all. The issue is twofold, the enemy gets their whole movement range to threaten, and you don’t know exactly when/where they come, adding a bit of tension/excitement as well as forcing the player to adapt.

Certainly, the best way to do it is give some advance warning and obvious spots. When it’s completely blind and you have no information, it can feel frustrating. If done properly with partial information, it can test the player’s tactical ability positively (encouraging cautious play around suspicious spots, rushing to finish maps before reinforcements come, the precise timing of the enemy threat as part of map/difficulty design, etc).

Edited March 22, 2014 by XeKr

[Tables]

I agree that if you have some kind of idea of what will spawn and when, it's mostly quite fair, but I disagree that delayed reinforcements aren't threatening. They can easily do things like spawning out of the way from where you are, or in large quantities, and other things. It does mean you can walk around the map and know you won't get reinforcement ambushed, but it doesn't make you immune to large groups arriving at once. Good examples of this I think are FE8's chapter 10 Eir, where once you recruit Marisa, a bunch of Pegasii and a small army in the south arrive. They're not same turn reinforcements, but they're still pretty tricky to deal with, especially if you're out of position. Or the Pegasii reinforcements in chapter 15. It's just like 2-4 Pegasus Knights per turn, but since they spawn over water/cliffs, they manage to be threatening. Things like, two Cavaliers from a fort in front of you, though, is rarely a big deal.

Edit: On chapter 17 of FE12 now. Just discovered that three Dracoknights spawn right next to your starting position on turn 2. That's pretty ridiculous. It's early enough that I don't care much about restarting, but, wow, this is going to be hell to plan for.

Edit 2: I looked up a guide to see the reinforcements, apparently that group only spawns when you cross a certain line, which basically means if you go for the Nosferatu thief. That's just cruel as a trap.

Edited March 22, 2014 by Tables

[Paperblade]

The main gameplay draw, from what I've seen, of Awakening outside of people that already like FE is the parent/child system, because lots of people like grinding to make overpowered units or whatever. But I think that waifus were also a huge draw.

Ch. 2 of FE9 also has player reinforcements (Titania comes in late), as does Ch. 7 (Shinon+Gatrie).

[NinjaMonkey]

Ch. 2 of FE9 also has player reinforcements (Titania comes in late), as does Ch. 7 (Shinon+Gatrie).

So does Radiant Dawn's 2-E.