Do you think this game will be overly depressing?

[euklyd]

I could see Hoshidans joining Nohr being justified from a "help me overthrow that warmonger, and we can end the fighting" angle, but I agree that as far as our current info goes, there shouldn't be much reason to interact with Hoshido in the first place...

She's a being of pure malice, defined by her narcissism and contempt for others. She also murdered the family of one of your playable characters so I don't think any amount of writing could turn that character from bad to good. The thing about recruitable characters on the enemy side is that they are usually not too happy about being with the bad guys to begin with. They are either misguided or desperate.

Reading Gangrel's dialogue post recruitment was just cringe-inducing. They give him some flimsy excuse of trying to unite the continent against the threat of Valm but it was never even once hinted that Gangrel had any benign purpose or redeeming qualities during the main storyline. It's totally made up characterization to justifying having that cooky, mad tyrant as your new friend.

I mean yeah

I agree that it's complete bullshit

I said as much in my post

My nitpick about concocting a lame, flimsy excuse for Sonia joining you (rather than not even trying) was entirely separate from my point about siblings joining you not being awful. And in fact you back me up on that:

The thing about recruitable characters on the enemy side is that they are usually not too happy about being with the bad guys to begin with. They are either misguided or desperate.

[FrostyFireMage]

FE13 didn't even try to make sense and is just Shipping: The Game so it feels pointless to show everything that it did wrong.

[TigerKatt]

FE13 didn't even try to make sense and is just Shipping: The Game so it feels pointless to show everything that it did wrong.

I feel like this just turned into FE13 hate though? I mean as a comparison towards what they could do better in If, or hopefully they won't put anything that was perceived as bad in If, that would be okay. There could definitely be areas where they could improve a lot in FE13, but If is another case so perhaps they'll survey criticism and improve? They are developers famous for the series :) Personally I enjoyed Awakening for its quirky humor and cute dialogue scenes although I enjoyed shipping too. :P

[MCProductions]

Oliver returns in RD, after CLEARLY dying in POR with no real plot justifacation, everyones okay with that. Awakening does the same thing with OPTIONAL pseudo trial maps, OMG WTF WHY DID THEY DO THIS. Moral: the FE fanbase is full of hypocrites.

[FrostyFireMage]

I feel like this just turned into FE13 hate though? I mean as a comparison towards what they could do better in If, or hopefully they won't put anything that was perceived as bad in If, that would be okay. There could definitely be areas where they could improve a lot in FE13, but If is another case so perhaps they'll survey criticism and improve? They are developers famous for the series :) Personally I enjoyed Awakening for its quirky humor and cute dialogue scenes although I enjoyed shipping too. :P

Fair enough.

I just don't think Awakening is a very good game even without comparing it to previous entries

[TigerKatt]

Fair enough.

I just don't think Awakening is a very good game even without comparing it to previous entries

That's alright :D since after that it's just opinion based for enjoying it or not! :) Back to FE14 though, having the warring context (introducing war-politics/alliance-politics) could be rid of the unjustified revival that seems to be generally disliked and still make way for recruitment! Gahhh waiting till 2016 is an awful long time to see how it goes though....

[MasterJP28]

Aren't all FEs dark and humorous? The remakes of the first and third game add the humor to their originals but other then those and FE 5, everything else is balanced out.

So if you were Altenna would you choose Leaf's side or Arion's side? You know the whole Travant vs Cuan conflict. Chapter 5 period is depressing yet very satisfying.

Either side is hard. The theme of this game (or games) seem to be taken straight from Jugdral.

Edited April 18, 2015 by MasterJP28

[BlueLore]

Gangrel and Emmeryn returning as recruitable characters is ridiculous. Would the cackling mad villain who wanted every Ylissean to die really feel regret over the death of one person? And Emmeryn returning completely defeated the point of her (admittedly stupid) sacrifice.

Uhm I dunno why Emmeryns sacrifice was stupid(she would have most certainly been killed by Gangrel anyway even if chrom handed over the fire emblem.And she extremely demoralised the plegian army with this,which basically caused their army to fall apart),but yeah it was still kinda stupid that she survived.

[MCProductions]

Uhm I dunno why Emmeryns sacrifice was stupid(she would have most certainly been killed by Gangrel anyway even if chrom handed over the fire emblem.And she extremely demoralised the plegian army with this,which basically caused their army to fall apart),but yeah it was still kinda stupid that she survived.

Spotpass maps are just TRIAL MAPS, there is no reason to think that are canon, except MAYBE Priam's, and even tho, I was joking earier, why is there NO HATE towards RD for doing the SAME THING, except it's actually part of the plot there.

[NekoKnight]

Spotpass maps are just TRIAL MAPS, there is no reason to think that are canon, except MAYBE Priam's, and even tho, I was joking earier, why is there NO HATE towards RD for doing the SAME THING, except it's actually part of the plot there.

I thought it was a tremendously stupid thing in RD. Are people really okay with that? Or was it so lulzy that no one even cares?

[HF Makalov Fanboy Kai]

I thought it was a tremendously stupid thing in RD. Are people really okay with that? Or was it so lulzy that no one even cares?

i'm not too thrilled about it, but his defection was atleast in character for him and oliver acted the same as he did, with bit more insanity i suppose.

which is more then i can say about someone like grangel.

Edited April 18, 2015 by HF Makalov Fanboy Kai

[Ayra]

I also consider the spotpass characters joining to be "non-canon". I just see them as an opportunity for fans of those characters to use them, ala FE8, and offer new maps for people to have fun with once they are done with the game.

Regarding the actual topic's question... I'm not sure. It might be. The setup definitively has potential to be extremely dark, and Ryouma's scene in the latest trailer (where he is on his knees surrounded by fire while he blames Kamui) seems to indicate it won't be sunshine and rainbows.

But Awakening's setup is also extremely dark. Hopeless future and end of the human race... But the majority of the writing is actually very light-hearted and comedic. That's mainly due to the support conversations which makes for a huge amount of the total script.

The main reason Awakening is my favorite FE game is due to all the humorous supports, and I think it was an aspect that helped Awakening's success.

My guess is that IF will have the following:

- Main storyline of Nohr and Hoshido will be really dark.

- Supports will be mostly light-hearted.

- Third storyline is going to be less dark. So people that are sad that they had to kill some of the characters they like in the other two paths will buy the new happy path.

[Jedi]

I'm still under the opinion the third path will be the darkest and make you face both factions. But I could be wrong.

[blah the Prussian]

If it means anything, I could definitely see people like Marx or Rouyama joining better than the likes of Gangrel.

[BrightBow]

Spotpass maps are just TRIAL MAPS, there is no reason to think that are canon, except MAYBE Priam's, and even tho, I was joking earier, why is there NO HATE towards RD for doing the SAME THING, except it's actually part of the plot there.

Since RD has no Trial Maps, do you mean Oliver? Because personally I tend to complain about this quite a lot. Like two weeks for example ago:

Then there is RD Oliver. PoR Oliver was a monster who represented everything wrong with Begnion aristocracy. Sure, he was a fool but he was still a serious villain because as Soren put it: "Letting madness rule the day is the prerogative of nobility." I can't comprehend why they taught reducing him to a comic relief was a good idea.

Edited April 18, 2015 by BrightBow

[MCProductions]

Since RD has no Trial Maps, do you mean Oliver? Because personally I tend to complain about this quite a lot. Like two weeks for example ago:

Yes, I was referring to Oliver, but you're literally the only person I've ever seen complain about his reappearence whereas Gangrel and Emm, you can't speak their names without it turning it into the spotpas revival hatred thread.

obvious reference to "Don't Speak Her Name" is obvious

[Book Bro]

Yes, I was referring to Oliver, but you're literally the only person I've ever seen complain about his reappearence whereas Gangrel and Emm, you can't speak their names without it turning it into the spotpas revival hatred thread.

obvious reference to "Don't Speak Her Name" is obvious

Probably another case of Awakening being more recent and seeming to get more criticism. I also didn't like that about RD for the record. Edited April 18, 2015 by Owain Dark

[Radiant head]

Spotpass maps are just TRIAL MAPS, there is no reason to think that are canon, except MAYBE Priam's, and even tho, I was joking earier, why is there NO HATE towards RD for doing the SAME THING, except it's actually part of the plot there.

It's all good because he came with Silence and Nosferatu.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Radiant head

[Dark Holy Elf]

*spoilers for FE10, 12, and 13*

Oliver is, while black comedy, a joke character. I kinda took his reappearance in RD with stride due to that.

Also, that sort of random revival is the type of thing you can overuse pretty easily. Oliver coming back alone wasn't too big a deal. Nor is Renning surviving. The combination of both (and the revelations coming in back to back chapters, at that!) I did find a bit cheesy though. And still much worse is FE12/FE3, which literally brings back four villains from FE11, including the most important ones.

At least Awakening's are in paralogues, and I refuse to accept them as canon... but weirdly I do think it was worse to try and come up with excuse while they were alive. Nobody checked Emmeryn's or Gangrel's bodies? Give me a break. And again, the more you do this, the cheesier it gets, and FE13 did it a whole bunch.

[Rapier]

I'm fairly comfortable with the Yggdra Union method being applied to Fire Emblem: If. For the early/midgame, plot important enemy characters that die are not killed, they merely retreat. Then, during lategame, people start truly dying after being killed.

But for all intents and purposes, if the writer is going through this path, I hope he makes it possible to spare plot important characters or kill them for good. I think I'll take the latter path first, because videogames are meant to be a catalyst to my evilness.

Actually, Yggdra Union is a great example of a war setting where it is lighthearted in the beginning, then becomes darker and darker as it approaches the end. I wish FE: If goes through the same path.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Rapier

[blah the Prussian]

I hope you can MAKE it depressing.

[NinjaMonkey]

I also consider the spotpass characters joining to be "non-canon". I just see them as an opportunity for fans of those characters to use them, ala FE8, and offer new maps for people to have fun with once they are done with the game.

Then why do the Spotpass characters get character endings (unlike the characters in Sacred Stones)?

Nobody checked Emmeryn's or Gangrel's bodies? Give me a break.

So what? Walhart never checked Basilio's body to see if he was dead either, but I don't see you getting your panties in a bunch about that.

Anyway, the fact there are two versions of the game is depressing enough for me. Also, I don't see the Hoshido path getting a depressing ending, although the Nohr path might.

Edited April 18, 2015 by NinjaMonkey

[NekoKnight]

I'm fairly comfortable with the Yggdra Union method being applied to Fire Emblem: If. For the early/midgame, plot important enemy characters that die are not killed, they merely retreat. Then, during lategame, people start truly dying after being killed.

The natural order has been disturbed.

So what? Walhart never checked Basilio's body to see if he was dead either, but I don't see you getting your panties in a bunch about that.

Anyway, the fact there are two versions of the game is depressing enough for me. Also, I don't see the Hoshido path getting a depressing ending, although the Nohr path might.

Ah, another case of "I don't see you complaining about_______" You know, Awakening has one of the most criticized plots of the entire series. I'm sure in a more relevant thread, people would comment about the specific stupidities of Awakening. (for the record, any unexplained survival is worthy of criticism, including Basilio's)

At least with Basilio, you can imagine Walhart simply not caring about him enough to confirm the kill. The people who were revived through spotpass maps? You can bet that PEOPLE WILL CHECK if the leader of the country they were hoping to kill is truly dead. Even assuming the heroes/villains somehow had more pressing matters, you still have to answer how the character survived their wounds.

[Rxmonste]

Yeah, I see what you're trying to say. All FE games, at least all of what I've seen (I only played Blazing Sword and Awakening.) have some dark themes with the occasional character deaths, but they mix them in with some light hearted elements here and there to cool off the intensity.

But this game looks like a special case since half of the cast will be against you. So yeah, it'll probably be depressing. Though we won't fully know until it''s out.

[Dark Holy Elf]

So what? Walhart never checked Basilio's body to see if he was dead either, but I don't see you getting your panties in a bunch about that.

Actually I think that's pretty silly too. But as I noted in my previous post, it gets considerably more silly each time you add one of those unexplained survivals. Had Basilio been the only one it would bother me less.

(I also legitimately think Walhart had less reason to care about whether Basilio was still alive compared to the examples I gave, but we're splitting hairs at this point.)