Best and Worst Map Gimmick

[Oshimos]

The only gimmick I've hit so far that didn't detract from my experience was the debris that you could pick up in Revelation 13. Most of the other ones are pretty awful.

I guess if you count dragon veins that just kind of change the terrain a bit as gimmicks they're fine too, but not something I'd rather have than not.

[Kyea]

I actually thought that Conquest 15 was quite interesting. It didn't really make things all that more difficult, but it did make it more think things through a little more.

The shared HP pool for each character made me think a little more about each turn.

As far as bad ones go, I did not like the fox illusions or the wind. They were completely biased against the player and they essentially just extended the turn count on the maps, without adding much back in. They didn't require a lot of extra thought for me. I just had to run back and forth a lot more to keep everyone safe.

I haven't quite beat the game(s) yet though, so I may find something more annoying later.

[B.Leu]

The gimmick I hated the most was... the wind... temple... thingy.

I don't remember the chapter, but man, this wind that place units I-dunno-were was a pain in the butt to dealt with.

[Kanethedragon]

I haven't beaten all the games yet, but so far I don't really have a worst gimmick. I like how all the ones out there added a little more thought to how to approach the map. My lowest rated imo would be Conquest 20's though simply because it was annoying and I almost lost my successful run because all the units I brought nearby Fuga aside of my main got blown downwards and reinforcements came in everywhere at the end of that turn. If it wasn't for me having an upwards wind the next turn and one of the rightmost dragon veins still open I would have lost that run, but it was still fun because I almost conceded that run of the map until I took the time to assess every little detail before I reset. And as for Conquest 19, imo the illusions weren't bad at all like everyone says they are. All it really took was a few tries of just whiffing turns to learn how the pattern worked and play around to it. Granted, in my successful run I did have many of my units pull back throughout the entirety of the map in order to let my MU paired with Belka tanking all the damage and then have my other units come in when they can attack for killing the group. All the other gimmicks imo were pretty fun, Chapter 10 being taking the cake with the added layer of difficulty. As for the Dragon Vein Wars thing, I have yet to get to that point, but I'm right there on Conquest 22 and I feel like I'm really going to enjoy the levee flattening vs. whatever Sakura's got for better or worse as I'm playing a no death lunatic classic run with resets.

[Elieson]

Soleil's paralogue had a neat gimmick where you could pick up rocks and block alleyways with them, minimizing enemy entry points and creating your own Choke points. That was fun.

Hands Down favorite though was Conquest Ch15. I'm surprised there's not as much love for it and the replicant trio system, since you're constantly jumbling inventory and healing up on one side so your other side can attack with a weapon that will end the phase as being beneficial for enemies approaching from the top and bottom ravines.

Honorable Mention to Conquest Chapter 10 for being ballbustingly hard, but yet so, so satisfying when finally completed. It's basically a puzzle that requires heavy heavy thought to maximize success and you just gotta figure out what to use your pieces for. There's not much interchangability at this point..you either do it right or don't.

screw those fox illusions though that shit will never be fun.

[Thor Odinson]

I thoroughly enjoyed the pots in Conquest 12 and Birthright 23's Camilla DVing made it feel like an actual Lunatic chapter, whereas I was mostly just cruising though BR Luna otherwise, and I really appreciated that.

Really didn't like the wind. I figured out how to deal with it if I don't want the chests, but I ended up just cheesing it after realising the chests I was missing contains $$$ (which I need) and rescue staff (which I also need). I beat it, but it didn't feel rewarding to beat like chapter 10 did.

Edited March 11, 2016 by Thor Odinson

[Loki Laufeyson]

Uhh i cant remember the chapter but i think its 16 or 17 revelation chapter. The one with the warpy points and DVs to bust that stone thing. I dug it.

I also liked the Conquest one with Hinoka.

I really hated the Fox Illusion thing a lot. Its just dumb.

A Revelation chapter (13??? i think) the one with the ships, SUCKS. And its all because you have to burn way too many turns for the DVs to show up. Ugh

[Weanus]

Like Thane, I liked the freezing gimmick of Conquest 21. I brought a full team, and getting them all through while killing only what was necessary and making perfect use of DVs was great fun. I also enjoyed Conquest 15's replica gimmick. The rest of the maps I liked was more due to good design than gimmicks.

Having played through all of Birthright and Conquest, as well as half of Revelations, I was only really bothered by the pot chapter in Conquest (forgot the number). They only served as annoying time-wasters to me in a map where you already have to rush, with an unappreciated element of unpredictability added on because you can't tell what the effect actually is, only if it's good or bad. Even the fox illusions and snow shoveling chapters were leagues better for me because I could just play them safe.

[lazydoggamer]

How has no one said Revelation ch 10 yet. It's not hard, it's not fun, and it takes forever if you want to get all the statboosters and weapons

Edited March 12, 2016 by lazydoggamer

[eclipse]

Isn't Birthright 22 the one with Shura? What was so bad about that map? The second one with Camilla was the worst for me, that map felt so unfair.

Multiple resets due to 1% crits hitting. Only on that map, too. Next map was irritating, but it's possible to do a bit of AI exploiting to minimize the headache.

[Crimean Archivist]

I actually thought that Conquest 15 was quite interesting. It didn't really make things all that more difficult, but it did make it more think things through a little more.

The shared HP pool for each character made me think a little more about each turn.

This is actually my favorite gimmick so far. I'm not a fan of Conquest 24. The saving grace of that chapter is that Setsuna doesn't have a proc.

I agree that many map gimmicks just extend the turn count, without really changing much about how you go about it. I didn't struggle much with the foxes, I just wanted them to get out of the way. One thing that helped there was that I noticed that each unit will only remain an illusion for one turn at a time (at least when they're within range) so that sped things up a bit.

Most gimmicks only got me once, or I played with them for a bit to figure them out and then reset so I could exploit my new knowledge. It took me a while to learn the wind and it's still throwing me off a bit in Revelation 9, but I'm getting there. The overwhelming majority of the gimmicks don't even matter much if you remember the fundamentals.

[Lemui]

Either revelation 10 or 23.

I found that ice annoying if anything, and a waste of my turns due to me wanting all of the stat boosters

23 just seems boring, honestly. Every time I do the map I end up trying not to fall asleep I end up doing it during the map anyways and it feels like the platforms are just there to make the whole thing longer. It's an easy map for me but the whole length is what kills me more often than not.

[cgRIPPER]

I've finished Birthright, but I'm only on ch18 Conquest, and yet to start Revelations.

With that in mind, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Birthright 12 (xander in the opera house).

You have the option to play the map in 2 and a half different ways. Technically you can ignore the DV alltogether by pairing Corrin with a flyer (but that's no fun). If you're one of the cool kids that is willing to actually play the map instead of using above strat then you can choose to either use the DV asap or save it till you're ready rush corrin to the exit. The sooner you use the DV, the faster Xander comes to wreck your booty lol (because he can then cut across the ice as well).

Conquest 10 gives a similar "oh sh!t" feeling with its DV, but I think it could have been much better if Takumi was running around hitting 1-use DVs to dry the water and you could run around filling it back up. Who doesn't like a nice wet game of tug'o war with a pineapple head?

My least favorite is probably an odd choice for an odd reason. Birthright 21 because it's an insult to my intelligence and does nearly nothing for the map if you just take the time to look at things. No offense to whoever made the thread, but I got my best laugh of the year when I saw a thread here asking if the DV effects were random.

[Radiant Dragon]

I don't even remember Ch.21 Birthright, was that the one with the lava? That one was pretty unintuitive. Like, I understand exactly how the chapter works now after playing it but I wouldn't blame someone at all for not knowing what to do their first run through.

Oddly enough, I seem to be one of the few who didn't hate Ch.10 or Ch.12 Revelation. I'm not a fan of the back-to-back chapters without being able to save, though. I'm fine with not being able to go back to My Castle in between them (which makes a lot of sense), and I understand that IS probably didn't want to have players overwrite their save only to be stuck with no way to leave the chapter in case they can't beat it for some reason, but it still bothers me.

[cgRIPPER]

Yeah 21B was the lava one with stoneborns. When my friend got to that chapter and started asking me about it I just told him to look at it till he figured it out. Took him maybe ~70 seconds to figure it out. I didn't even know what the DVs would do if you got it wrong till I went back for a ruffian challenge lol.

Also, Conquest's Ice Tribe map was really nice (I believe it was 8C?). I liked it for similar reasons that I like 12B. Using the DV there is completely optional, and it can either do almost nothing or it could save someone's hide depending on how you use it. It's simple, but it works well with the map's other gimmick (racing enemies to villages before a large number of enemies vomit out).