Return of Casual

[Crysta]

You keep Casual + implement new things to make it more accessible newcomers. You can do both. You should do both.

Removing Casual in the next installment doesn't make much sense when it's popular with the players you've attracted with it. Unless the fans who prefer Classic are going to boycott the games or something equally ridiculous.

Making it Casual-But-Not-Too-Casual is dumb, too. If it's too easy for someone, they simply switch to Classic or to a higher difficulty. That suggestion is trying to please people who are not even intending to play it. I would much rather have Lunatic mode modified, because the difficulty leap is steep.

I really didn't expect to read the word 'rape' in this topic, either. The surprises keep coming.

[Jagged Jagen]

The difficulty of Dark Souls is far more tied to the identity of the game than permadeath is Fire Emblem. The tagline of the game is "Prepare to Die". It's expected that the game will be difficult and including an easy mode would fly directly in the face of that. I do think permadeath is part of what makes Fire Emblem what it is, which is why I always play classic, but casual mode is hardly contrary to the very spirit of the game. If someone asked you to explain, in one sentence, what is the core of the Fire Emblem experience, would you really say 'permadeath'? I would describe it as gathering a large diversified cast and strategically using different unit types to defeat the enemy.

I think it's a matter of taste, but in my opinion, this is my one sentence summary of Classic Fire Emblem: "Join a Lord on an adventure where you grow closer with comrades, and where the stakes are larger than imaginable when it becomes apparent that life or death has a hole new meaning."

Modern: "Join a lord and bond with Comrades in new, unseen ways whilst going on a grand adventure."

I am fond in many regards of new FE, but Permadeath has been the one and only for 12 of 14 released games (Including satellite) and become synonymous with it in the long run. If Dark Souls 3-13 had Easy/Casual mode, than the difficulty would take a back seat. Since permadeath has been in every game, and exclusively in 12, I feel its reached the point that it has become synonymous. Again, this is just my opinion.

Edited April 24, 2015 by DeoGame

[Irysa]

Okay for everyone jumping down my throat on the rape thing, I'm not comparing playing casual mode to rape. I'm saying that you can care about things even if they don't affect you, and used a powerful example to demonstrate how. The argument of "it doesn't affect you" is bogus as a result, we have individual values and preferences that reflect our values.

I'm editing in responses to other things atm but I need to get that clear right now...

The difficulty of Dark Souls is far more tied to the identity of the game than permadeath is for Fire Emblem. The tagline of the game is "Prepare to Die". It's expected that the game will be difficult and including an easy mode would fly directly in the face of that. I do think permadeath is part of what makes Fire Emblem what it is, which is why I always play classic, but casual mode is hardly contrary to the very spirit of the game. If someone asked you to explain, in one sentence, what is the core of the Fire Emblem experience, would you really say 'permadeath'? I would describe it as gathering a large diversified cast and strategically using different unit types to defeat the enemy.

There is no more merit to an argument about the importance of difficulty to Dark Souls than there is to permadeath to Fire Emblem. There are players out there who just want to explore the game world and not have to get stressed out about fighting enemies, in the same way there are players who want to just experience the story and characters of Fire Emblem without being stressed out about units dying.

Also, yes, I would mention permadeath in my summary of the series, because it adds a degree of finality and importance to every decision the player takes. Interviews with the developers also frequently bring up it up, even right to the "what is the essence of Fire Emblem?" question.

Maeda's literal response to the question is.

Maeda: I think it's the fact that when your comrades fall in battle, they never rise again.

I'm curious what methods you are thinking of currently, would you mind sharing?

While I agree with it being pure folly to try to appease everyone, it's not like they changed the genre or anything though. They simply added another option to make it more accessible.

First point - Are you asking for the ones I imagine you'd disagree with? Or just general ways to expand.

Second point - Sure, but what's the particular reasoning for being more accessible? What's neccessarily good about that?

You keep Casual + implement new things to make it more accessible newcomers. You can do both. You should do both.

Removing Casual in the next installment doesn't make much sense when it's popular with the players you've attracted with it. Unless the fans who prefer Classic are going to boycott the games or something equally ridiculous.

Making it Casual-But-Not-Too-Casual is dumb, too. If it's too easy for someone, they simply switch to Classic or to a higher difficulty. That suggestion is trying to please people who are not even intending to play it. I would much rather have Lunatic mode modified, because the difficulty leap is steep.

I've already said that given it's been added, it would be a mistake to remove it. I simply think it should never have been added in the first place.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Irysa

[Jedi]

Okay for everyone jumping down my throat on the rape thing, I'm not comparing playing casual mode to rape. I'm saying that you can care about things even if they don't affect you, and used a powerful example to demonstrate how. The argument of "it doesn't affect you" is bogus as a result, we have individual values and preferences that reflect our values.

I'm editing in responses to other things atm but I need to get that clear right now...

It honestly just caught me completely off guard. For the most part I'm enjoying our discussion of this, its just that may have been a bit.. much in my mind.

[Crysta]

I'm not sure how it's bogus. You can choose to care about things other people do with no relevance to your own experience, but that's on you. No one is obligated to listen to you, appease you, and you are not above criticism for voicing your reservations.

Then there's the whole thing where it does affect you, because the playerbase needs to grow in order for the franchise to continue being profitable, because the current fanbase will eventually grow up/get careers/have kids and playing Fire Emblem will take a back seat. Casual mode, as it is, is currently training wheels for newcomers, and ultimately a good idea for everyone.

So, tl;dr version, you're wrong.

[Jedi]

First point - Are you asking for the ones I imagine you'd disagree with? Or just general ways to expand.

Second point - Sure, but what's the particular reasoning for being more accessible? What's neccessarily good about that?

Both honestly would be interesting to see.

It's good for the growth of the franchise, more support, means more funding, more funding means they can try to do more with Fire Emblem. Like Awakening has allowed us to get a "crossover" and even more stuff shown in Smash Brothers.

[NekoKnight]

I think it's a matter of taste, but in my opinion, this is my one sentence summary of Classic Fire Emblem: "Join a Lord on an adventure where you grow closer with comrades, and where the stakes are larger than imaginable when it becomes apparent that life or death has a hole new meaning."

Modern: "Join a lord and bond with Comrades in new, unseen ways whilst going on a grand adventure."

Haha, oh come now! This is a response tailor made to represent your specific views in this thread and not how anyone should describe Fire Emblem. Are you not going to mention strategy for this strategy game?

FE14 is already setting itself up as having to make some heart rending choices. But maybe it's just a "grand adventure"for Kamui and friends, because casual is a thing now, right?

Edited April 24, 2015 by NekoKnight

[Irysa]

I'm not sure how it's bogus. You can choose to care about things other people do with no relevance to your own experience, but that's on you. No one is obligated to listen to you, appease you, and you are not above criticism for voicing your reservations.

And I haven't claimed as such? I'm merely pointing out that one cannot dismiss someone else's position because of the topic of concern not affecting them. It's a meaningless argument. You have to add more nuance. For example, I don't drive, but I can be pro or against a petrol price freeze.

Then there's the whole thing where it does affect you, because the playerbase needs to grow in order for the franchise to continue being profitable, because the current fanbase will eventually grow up/get careers/have kids and playing Fire Emblem will take a back seat. Casual mode, as it is, is currently training wheels for newcomers, and ultimately a good idea for everyone.

The playerbase doesn't need to neccessarily grow for the series to continue, it merely has to remain stable. There is no numerical data to indicate the series would have not remained profitable without casual mode, merely that it likely would be less profitable. And besides, I've already said before that personally, I'm not going to be really bummed if the series ends either. I would actually rather it ended than say, get turned into a really bad MOBA or something.

If the series ends, it geninuely does not affect me except in a purely "well you won't get to play a game that might have existed" sense, and that's so vague and hypothetical that I can't assign a positive or negative value to it.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Irysa

[Crysta]

More profitable is naturally better than less profitable.

And this is a forum for people who are fans of the series and likely wish it to continue. I'm sure they can live without it, but they may prefer not to, and may care more about it than you do since it does affect what they may do on an idle Tuesday.

This is not difficult to understand...

[MoonlitSonata]

The idea I read about giving perks to trying out classic mode is a good idea. The idea I read about making the "true" ending classic-only is not. I feel as if the perks to trying classic mode should be along the lines of, like, the main story giving out extra weapons or something. Like have a chapter where you can get a few bonus Braves or something cool like that, or somewhere midgame if you're playing on classic you can obtain the Afa's Drops/Metis's Tome or whatever the devs want to call it, and that item is classic mode ONLY until the ROM hackers can put it in casual mode.

So what if people who joined in for Awakening don't want to play the older games because they say it's too hard for them due to forced-classic mode? Those games are in the past and if IS were to want to make more money off of them via remake it'll likely include casual mode as well. Yes, they may not get the same lorebuilding that those of us who have played most of the series have gotten, but it doesn't change their love of Awakening if they've opted not to play the older games. It just means they won't appreciate the cameos in spotpass and DLC like the veterans can.

However completely removing casual mode is a bit extreme. What other people play does not directly affect what you play. Let's just accept new Fire Emblem fans into the fandom with open arms, since new blood means that the series will be able to continue for a long time.

[Cysx]

One of my worries about the franchise "growing" would be the Wii symptom. In other words, what if Awakening brought in a very volatile new fanbase, and most are gone by the time If releases, putting the series in a Wii U type of bad spot(so specifically trying to cater to people that are gone already, losing some of their previous consumers in the process)? A lot of people didn't seem happy to see that If wouldn't star Chrom, Lucina or Robin...

I don't honestly believe that will happen, but I feel like we may be getting ahead of ourselves about the benefits of casual mode.

Edit: I'd like to point out that this is purely hypothetical and in no way meant to insult anyone.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Cysx

[NekoKnight]

More profitable is naturally better than less profitable.

And this is a forum for people who are fans of the series and likely wish it to continue. I'm sure they can live without it, but they may prefer not to, and may care more about it than you do since it does affect what they may do on an idle Tuesday.

This is not difficult to understand...

To add onto this, even if Fire Emblem would survive without casual mode, who knows how much better it could do with it? Wouldn't people love to see another console Fire Emblem game? If Fire Emblem remained a super niche series, you'd never get one. Awakening's popularity (probably boosted considerably by casual gamers) evidently lead to FE14 having a much more ambitious design. We got 4 characters in Smash, guys! Who could even imagine such a thing before?

Edited April 24, 2015 by NekoKnight

[Asoleos]

The idea I read about giving perks to trying out classic mode is a good idea. The idea I read about making the "true" ending classic-only is not. I feel as if the perks to trying classic mode should be along the lines of, like, the main story giving out extra weapons or something. Like have a chapter where you can get a few bonus Braves or something cool like that, or somewhere midgame if you're playing on classic you can obtain the Afa's Drops/Metis's Tome or whatever the devs want to call it, and that item is classic mode ONLY until the ROM hackers can put it in casual mode.

So what if people who joined in for Awakening don't want to play the older games because they say it's too hard for them due to forced-classic mode? Those games are in the past and if IS were to want to make more money off of them via remake it'll likely include casual mode as well. Yes, they may not get the same lorebuilding that those of us who have played most of the series have gotten, but it doesn't change their love of Awakening if they've opted not to play the older games. It just means they won't appreciate the cameos in spotpass and DLC like the veterans can.

However completely removing casual mode is a bit extreme. What other people play does not directly affect what you play. Let's just accept new Fire Emblem fans into the fandom with open arms, since new blood means that the series will be able to continue for a long time.

I originally suggested a true end for classic to one of the people who asked for incentives because True Ends usually have requirements that require the player to do extra objectives and trigger certain flags. Perhaps an entire ending is a little too regards for an incentive and more of mandatory route to take if you want the full story. So special drops may be a better solution. Personally, despite Awakening being one of my first Fire Emblems, only used Casual when I was filling out the support logs and didn't want to put too much effort into actual game play.

To me casual ends up as choice in the beginning and if that is infuriating to you so be it, but to attack people who prefer it is not acceptable if you want to be taken seriously and not turn away potential fans.

[Thane]

The only thing that would scare newcomers like me away, who are experienced gamers but who hadn't simply touched a Fire Emblem game before would be either an incredible decrease in quality or if the Fire Emblem community kept making threads and discussions like these all across the internet.

Guess which one is more probable.

As it stands, this toxicity is far more dangerous to the survivability of the franchise than things like casual mode could ever hope to be. I'm genuinely surprised this thread hasn't been locked down yet due to people's inability to conduct a proper debate.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Thane

[Jagged Jagen]

Ok guys, I'd like to propose a completely different argument and one that represents some of my thoughts towards Casual Mode as a whole, How much of the hatred of Casual Mode is our hatred to give people a free pass? I'm genuinely curious. As a whole, those of us who started with the older installments (I personally started with Sacred Stones) were subjected to Classic Mode. I was rather young when I first played, and I will be honest in admitting that I got my ass handed to me, on a silver platter. By Chapter 15, Only a level 2 Eirika and a level 20 Seth remained. I'm putting this out there, I was fucking awful But I didn't let that get in my way. I played the older installments, I played the series and I acknowledged that how I played lead to my downfall.

Now compare this to someone who started on Casual, because I'll be honest, I played Casual on Awakening because I was sick of classic because of the challenges it gave me. It wasn't until I grew older that I fully appreciated the scope of what IS was doing. I'll be honest, Normal/Casual can allow for a 1 unit experience and everyone else unless it's the lord. Casual doesn't teach the consequences of death in the game. All of us vets were subjected to challenges involving permadeath in one way or another and we got to view them as learning experience. Whether we completed the game or not, we still by the end of our playthrough had some grasp o the concept and if we liked the game, and inclination to return and to strive to play better. Casual mode removes this feature that to a lot of us got us continuously playing in the first place.

When we see the Casual arguments taken to the extreme, we are naturally going to be upset as it was PermaDeath that gave us a first taste of the series as a whole. And by taking that staple feature and making it optional, we're preventing others from experiencing, learning and growing as tacticians. Add in grinding, and it removes the tactical polish in many regards. I think the best way to put this metaphorically is to compare a textbook on tactics and a wikipedia article on Tactics. Sure both are correct, both cover similar grounds, but one is a lot more enriched and detailed. The amount of content spans 11x more than the page.

Now, I don't fully hate Casual Mode and I think it's good for blowing off steam, but I will admit that I do get bothered by being rewarded with a good ending for newcomer poor play when I had to strive and replay to earn it, and a part of me thinks I may not be alone, but I'm not certain.

[Irysa]

More profitable is naturally better than less profitable.

For IS, yes. For me, no.

And this is a forum for people who are fans of the series and likely wish it to continue. I'm sure they can live without it, but they may prefer not to, and may care more about it than you do since it does affect what they may do on an idle Tuesday.

Oh I've spent many idle tuesdays playing Fire Emblem. But the company ceasing to exist doesn't mean their old games stop existing. I can still play them.

This is not difficult to understand...

I have no difficulty in understanding why people want the series to succeed. It's simply that the reasons for wanting it to succeed seem to generally stem around "So I get more things of what I like", which is not really any different to the position of someone who doesn't like casual mode. They're both equally petty, unless you take a patronage stance like integrity. What I find difficult to understand is why having an opposing stance seems to be equated to being a douche, elitist, unsympathetic, and all sorts of other nasty things.

Both honestly would be interesting to see.

I think given the responses in that old "mobile strategy thread" it's pretty indicative most people don't want Fire Emblem to turn into a dumbed down mobile app or something along those lines, but I'm willing to bet that the input output ratio for stuff like that would be a lot more lucrative. Or just make it a browser game like Kancolle. Or if we don't got that far, you could always just change the setting to a high school, since everything sells better in the otaku market if you fufill at least that criteria!

But seriously. Better targeted advertising is the main thing, and is a no brainer. But when it comes to mechanics, I think having a rewind feature or something along those lines would be pretty helpful for new players. Kind of like savestates but more intuitive I guess? I think it's better to facilitate ways for the player to fix their mistakes rather than simply handwaving them, since that's lets players actually apply themselves to get better at the game without it being quite as punishing in forcing a restart. I also would kind of like to see ranked systems come back, and more multiplayer (at least, balanced multiplayer) since that tends to also do a good job of drawing in different players.

It's good for the growth of the franchise, more support, means more funding, more funding means they can try to do more with Fire Emblem. Like Awakening has allowed us to get a "crossover" and even more stuff shown in Smash Brothers.

It's not neccessarily "good" that that occurs though. I mean, we're arguing on the basis of said hypothetical game and said representation being neccessarily a positive thing, when we don't know if it will be or not! There's a side argument that can be made that a more stable, niche series may result in better games, but I can't prove that, it's all just hypothetical.

One of my worries about the franchise "growing" would be the Wii symptom. In other words, what if Awakening brought in a very volatile new fanbase, and most are gone by the time If releases, putting the series in a Wii U type of bad spot(so specifically trying to cater to people that are gone already, losing some of their previous consumers in the process)? A lot of people didn't seem happy to see that If wouldn't star Chrom, Lucina or Robin...

I don't honestly believe that will happen, but I feel like we may be getting ahead of ourselves about the benefits of casual mode.

Interesting points.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Irysa

[Dark Holy Elf]

I don't care for Casual mode (I generally don't feel the game is balanced around it) and I don't intend to play it, but I see no harm in it continuing to exist. Some people like it, thus it brings in more fans to the series, thus more FE games get made for me to enjoy in the future. Seems pretty straightforward.

Games having more options and respecting their players' ability to make choices in regard to their experience is pretty much uniformly a good thing.

[Awakener_]

One of my worries about the franchise "growing" would be the Wii symptom. In other words, what if Awakening brought in a very volatile new fanbase, and most are gone by the time If releases, putting the series in a Wii U type of bad spot(so specifically trying to cater to people that are gone already, losing some of their previous consumers in the process)? A lot of people didn't seem happy to see that If wouldn't star Chrom, Lucina or Robin...

I don't honestly believe that will happen, but I feel like we may be getting ahead of ourselves about the benefits of casual mode.

Why will they be gone? The 3DS is one of the most hardcore Nintendo audience, Monster Hunter for example a once niche series has now sold over one million units in the west. The Apiril trailer video on Youtube has over 330k views near matching the numbers of views from the like of Mario Kart whereas others isn't even close to it. I will too preferred a game starring Lucina but I am definitely getting IF too similarly to many fans that brought by Awakening.

If anything there will be new fans coming to the franchise, I could see IF outsold Awakening given the bigger population of 3ds owners.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Awakener_

[Jagged Jagen]

Why will they be gone? The 3DS is one of the most hardcore Nintendo audience, Monster Hunter for example a once niche series has now sold over one million units in the west. The Apiril trailer video on Youtube has over 330k views near matching the numbers of views from the like of Mario Kart whereas others isn't even close to it. I will too preferred a game starring Lucina but I am definitely getting IF too similarly to many fans that brought by Awakening.

I view Cysx's comments in a different light. A newcomer fanbase can be great, but what's to ensure migration from one thing to another. The Wii U ttempted in many regards to cater to a market that didn't accept it in the long run and it took the Big N a while to realize this. If FE14 decides to cater primarily to the casual audience, it will go one of 2 ways: It will be successful, or a failure. A new shifting marketplace and fanbase can be exciting, but it can also be risky. IS (hopefully) knows it has a certain # of gamers who have played since Rekka, or Sacred Stones, or what have you that will play FE:14 and they need to cater to them. The sales in the series declined until the mainstays were left leading to a healthy hold (No Difference in Shadow Dragon and NMOTE sales in Japan) that carved out a niche big enough to pass the 250 000 threshold. This is a niche market that will support them and they should be given priority in that they KNOW they have a sell. A sell is better than a sell on paper. And while I'm not saying that IF shouldn't be accessible, hell Hoshido is designed for that purpose, IS needs to cater to the mainstays so they can remain mainstays. Because if a series with a following from the older titles shifts focus more and more as installments go by, they can be losing a big potential market. So from a business standpoint, they should allow accessibilty, but it should be a 50/50 split with appeasing the older mainstays in my opinion.

[NekoKnight]

I have no difficulty in understanding why people want the series to succeed. It's simply that the reasons for wanting it to succeed seem to generally stem around "So I get more things of what I like", which is not really any different to the position of someone who doesn't like casual mode. They're both equally petty, unless you take a patronage stance like integrity. What I find difficult to understand is why having an opposing stance seems to be equated to being a douche, elitist, unsympathetic, and all sorts of other nasty things.

Your argument would be valid if casual replaced classic but since it's optional, everyone has the chance to get something they want, if the series continues. What you're saying is like going to a party and saying "I've had enough cake. No one should get any more cake unless it's the kind of cake I like, because I don't care if the party ends and there is no more cake." That does sound douche-y and unsympathetic

Now compare this to someone who started on Casual, because I'll be honest, I played Casual on Awakening because I was sick of classic because of the challenges it gave me. It wasn't until I grew older that I fully appreciated the scope of what IS was doing. I'll be honest, Normal/Casual can allow for a 1 unit experience and everyone else unless it's the lord. Casual doesn't teach the consequences of death in the game. All of us vets were subjected to challenges involving permadeath in one way or another and we got to view them as learning experience. Whether we completed the game or not, we still by the end of our playthrough had some grasp o the concept and if we liked the game, and inclination to return and to strive to play better. Casual mode removes this feature that to a lot of us got us continuously playing in the first place.

When we see the Casual arguments taken to the extreme, we are naturally going to be upset as it was PermaDeath that gave us a first taste of the series as a whole. And by taking that staple feature and making it optional, we're preventing others from experiencing, learning and growing as tacticians. Add in grinding, and it removes the tactical polish in many regards.

By your own admission, you got sick of classic and switched to casual for Awakening. And then you switched back to classic when you understood the value it gave to the game. But later you say "we're preventing others from experiencing, learning and growing as tacticians". Huh? That didn't stop you, apparently. How exactly is someone prevented from becoming a better player by an optional mode?

And stop talking about grinding. That is not at all intrinsic to the inclusion of casual.

[Irysa]

Your argument would be valid if casual replaced classic but since it's optional, everyone has the chance to get something they want, if the series continues. What you're saying is like going to a party and saying "I've had enough cake. No one should get any more cake unless it's the kind of cake I like, because I don't care if the party ends and there is no more cake." That does sound douche-y and unsympathetic

That's a terrible analogy. People can play Fire Emblem (eat cake) even if they don't like the cake (like Fire Emblem). There is no inherant blockade going on other than themselves.

[Jagged Jagen]

Your argument would be valid if casual replaced classic but since it's optional, everyone has the chance to get something they want, if the series continues. What you're saying is like going to a party and saying "I've had enough cake. No one should get any more cake unless it's the kind of cake I like, because I don't care if the party ends and there is no more cake." That does sound douche-y and unsympathetic

By your own admission, you got sick of classic and switched to casual for Awakening. And then you switched back to classic when you understood the value it gave to the game. But later you say "we're preventing others from experiencing, learning and growing as tacticians". Huh? That didn't stop you, apparently. How exactly is someone prevented from becoming a better player by an optional mode?

And stop talking about grinding. That is not at all intrinsic to the inclusion of casual.

Yes, I got sick of classic after multiple playthroughs. I grew as a tactician, I approached the game differently, etc. I think Casual should be unlockable to allow people to take a breather. It should not put the idea in one's mind that this is how FE was meant to be played. As a whole, Classic is how it was MEANT to be played because that's how it's been played since game 1. Also, my issue with Casual + Grinding is it creates even less consequences for grinding leading to more stupidly overpowered streetpass teams that put pure brawn over brain. Casual is good for a break and good to progress a story. It is not good for giving a full picture of the series, and it accentuates negative aspects such as grinding.

And people are prevented from being a better FE player through Casual as it doesn't paint a proper picture of the previous installments. Also, I don't like the stigma Casual can create. I've played through it and I bloody regretted it. I will tell you what I and many others on sites and forums have experienced, what I like to call the Casual Mode Stigma. There's so much handholding that going into Classic mode is difficult due to the I dn't have to worry about my units mentality. It can come naturally. Casual can be soothing, calming and tell you there's no need to worry. Classic has you on the edge of your seat scared shitless your unit is going to die. Let's just say, the former is more impressionable than the latter.

Edited April 25, 2015 by DeoGame

[Junk]

I'd prefer it to be back since I prefer casual over classic. I'd still buy the game though even without casual definitely.

[Refa]

Do you think Permadeath will be optional, a la FE13? Do you think it'll be version-exclusive (like, only available in the "easier" Hoshido)? What's your opinion?

SHOULD it come back?

Yes, no, don't like it, yes.

I suppose it might give that encouragement, but its not quite as strong as some are putting it.

Awakening encourages grinding like crazy, especially if you plan to actually unlock all of the characters and USE THEM (which you're more obligated to do, because it took you no mean effort to unlock all of the children in the first place, not to mention most of them being way better than their parents...with grinding) to any significant extent. Kind of telling how your team size is probably the smallest on the hardest difficulty of any game in the series and it's practically impossible to beat the game on HM in 0% growths.

[NekoKnight]

Yes, I got sick of classic after multiple playthroughs. I grew as a tactician, I approached the game differently, etc. I think Casual should be unlockable to allow people to take a breather. It should not put the idea in one's mind that this is how FE was meant to be played. As a whole, Classic is how it was MEANT to be played because that's how it's been played since game 1. Also, my issue with Casual + Grinding is it creates even less consequences for grinding leading to more stupidly overpowered streetpass teams that put pure brawn over brain. Casual is good for a break and good to progress a story. It is not good for giving a full picture of the series, and it accentuates negative aspects such as grinding.

And people are prevented from being a better FE player through Casual as it doesn't paint a proper picture of the previous installments. Also, I don't like the stigma Casual can create. I've played through it and I bloody regretted it. I will tell you what I and many others on sites and forums have experienced, what I like to call the Casual Mode Stigma. There's so much handholding that going into Classic mode is difficult due to the I dn't have to worry about my units mentality. It can come naturally. Casual can be soothing, calming and tell you there's no need to worry. Classic has you on the edge of your seat scared shitless your unit is going to die. Let's just say, the former is more impressionable than the latter.

Your idea of Casual mode being unlockable is absurd. Make the easier difficulty setting unlockable? Now your stance is "Okay, casual mode can be included BUT it has to be used the way I used it!"

Maybe some people will develop this "Casual Mode Stigma" and never play classic. So what? Maybe a lot of people with fringe interest in the genre will start with casual and level up to classic. The point is, they are all playing and enjoying Fire Emblem.