Unpopular FE opinions

[Magical Glace]

Roy is good for two things:

Early fighters

Steamrolling the last two chapters

That's about it.

[Tessie Spoon]

- You should never trust IS when they promise a good story; they implicitly did the same for RD, so it shouldn't be a surprise that they failed to deliver on Conquest (though I personally somewhat enjoyed RD's story).

- Tiki's, Camilla's, and Charlotte's breasts aren't as unrealistically-big as some people say. In fact, Charlotte's are a good deal smaller than they look; they just look big due to her outfit and pose pushing them up. She'd be at most a B-cup if it weren't for that.

[Jayvee94]

I guess you could include archetype divergent evolutions in unpopular opinions

• Splitting Merric into: the studious loner like Lute, and a very social "I'm not a child (anymore)" determinator like Ewan
• Splitting Minerva into: Hot Blooded Red Armored Milady, and Calm and Dark Armored Zeiss

[NekoKnight]

I don't really know how unpopular some of these are, but..

• This may not be so much unpopular as something I don't see a whole lot of people pointing out, but I really don't like the series' increasing divorce between gameplay permadeath and in-story death. This is noticeable in Awakening and Fates which I'm pretty sure have the highest percentage in the entire series of party members who just retreat upon "death" even in Classic mode, and especially when Fates started having party members die in the main story. I get that it was sorta to give the incidental party members a feeling of being more plot-relevant, but I felt like there would've been tons of better ways to do that, and permadeath as a gameplay element already represents the "anyone can die" aspect of the war, so Intelligent Systems didn't really need to double up on that.
• I really don't like that in-map facilities (i.e. shops, armories, arenas, etc.) have basically stopped being a thing at this point, because I felt that they were a really interesting way to add a little additional splash of character and memorability to each individual map. Granted, I do approve of IntSys getting bolder and more creative with map premises; I'd just like to see in-map facilities make a return.
• I don't know how many people even have much familiarity with Fire Emblem's original implementation of sidequests since as far as I know only four games (two of which are pretty obscure) in the now-fourteen-installment-strong series used it, but I vastly prefer plot-relevant, earned sidequests to the utterly pointless and uninteresting (from a plot perspective, at least) excuse-for-reward chapters we're given in Awakening and Fates.
• Make the nonhuman races plot-relevant again. Make Manaketes actually exist as a race in the story again and give them back that sense of power and scarcity and mystique that made them so cool back in Archanea.
• And lastly, I really don't like how Intelligent Systems has been basically just giving nine characters out of ten, if not more, to the player with basically no effort required on the player's part to actually get them. Having a chapter where the entire point is to recruit a certain character (Donnel, Anna, Mozu, and the kids' and Awakening SpotPass characters' paralogues) isn't any better, because recruiting that character is clearly the real point of the chapter and almost nobody is going to accept clearing the chapter without recruiting them; heck, in Fates, there are some chapters, like Percy's, where it's not even possible to clear the chapter and not get the character! To make it clear, I understand why they made this shift. They decided they wanted to emphasize having a lovable and charming cast as a writing priority, and, however well you may think they succeeded at that (or not) aside, that's almost certainly the reason they made so many characters really easy to recruit or even literally unmissable; they didn't want anybody to miss encountering the characters they were trying to sell the game with. Nonetheless, I want more characters who the game doesn't just hand to you or make so easy to recruit that it might has well have. I want there to be characters who you actually have to make some sort of conscious effort to recruit within their own joining chapter, so it actually feels cool to have them on your team instead of having them being nothing more than an indicator of the latest story chapter you've reached in your current playthrough.

I agree with these points and they are things I appreciated in earlier titles, especially the GBA titles. Gaidens having actual story relevance, character recruitment being varied and interesting, and characters actually dying when they're killed are things I'd like to see come back.

[Gradivus.]

- All the manster escape chapters in FE5 are great maps.

- Manfroy is a really good villain and my favorite manipulator in FE. In gen1 when you suddenly see him in the cutscenes with Batou, Chagall and Alvis, you know shit is going to happen (the lopto theme helps).

- Veld being so weak makes a lot of sense because most of the lopto sect's power (in gameplay, FE5's "difficulty") comes from tricks and manipulation (in gameplay, status staves, the sealed door in final and such), but once those are out of the way, the lopto sect have no more tools or manipulated allies at their disposal and fail horribly.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Gradivus.

[General Horace]

- All the manster escape chapters in FE5 are great maps.

- Manfroy is a really good villain and my favorite manipulator in FE. In gen1 when you suddenly see him in the cutscenes with Batou, Chagall and Alvis, you know shit is going to happen (the lopto theme helps).

- Veld being so weak makes a lot of sense because most of the lopto sect's power (in gameplay, FE5's "difficulty") comes from tricks and manipulation (in gameplay, status staves, the sealed door in final and such), but once those are out of the way, the lopto sect have no more tools or manipulated allies at their disposal and fail horribly.

That bit about Veld is actually pretty cool, I never thought about it that way.

Nobody can say 4x is a good map, though. Even without the bullshit on the first turn, it's just like a random excuse to recruit Asvel. The other ones are pretty good though, Chapter 7 isn't particularly noteworthy either.

Oh, I should post a few I guess too. The Yied Desert really isn't much of a slog (in Chapter 7, not Chapter 5) and FE10 is a bad game.

Edited April 21, 2016 by General Horace

[Gradivus.]

As far as I recall, I still found it fun to deal with because I knew of the getting captured trick to gimp enemies and Leaf with life ring and light sword does pretty well against the enemies (he doesn't ORKO nor double but it's some meaty and accurate chip). The torch allowed me to see enough enemies to avoid overexposing myself, fighting all the 4 mages at once with that team is just horrible, but I only pulled like 2 on turn 1 which makes it a lot more manageable.

I can see why people dislike it, probably mainly due to the turn 1 clusterfuck, but I personally don't find it to be the brainless/cheap type of clusterfuck.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Gradivus.

[General Horace]

It's really really stupid the first time you play it. Thankfully it's on turn 1 and not like Dalshin's stupid room the chapter before, but for most players once they see all the enemies, it's just like, "welp, reset" And the mages can still randomly crit someone because thunder has crit. Thanks Thracia.

Even without it I just don't think it's a very engaging chapter anyway. You release some kids that are literally right next to the spawn point, and run away. Not compared to the rest of manster anyway.

[Loki Laufeyson]

I don't like Severa very much. Other than that, I can't really think of much.

This is not an unpopular opinion. Severa's actual popularity is in Japan. Out west, shes not as divisive as someone like Tharja, but shes not everyone's favorite either.

They want to marry Lyn.

Hook, Lyn, and sinker.

I'm serious. I think a lot of bias for the game comes from it being their first FE.

I can tell you why i love FE7 and its story really isnt too much a part of that. At least its plot, anyway. Nor is it really nostalgia. I did enjoy the first chapters that were all about Laus and Pharae, and Lyn's little battle with Lundgren. After they find Eliwood's dad, i stop caring about the plot. What i like, is the characters and how they interact with each other. I like how Hector has his own mode and we see his POV of things. I like how you can unlock hella freaking chapters on Hector mode and get stuff exclusive to that. I like who we get to recruit and how we recruit them. (like Karla is batshit to recruit, but hell if i dont love it) I like how the game plays. I like trying to use different guys. I like Rath. That game has my favorite Lord and character in the series and they happen to be my OTP of all FE. Who cares about that plot. I like the game.

- I don't give a fuck about the quality of story in fire emblem games. I'd take a FE game with great gameplay and absolutely terrible story over a FE game with great story and good gameplay without thinking twice (think Conquest x Path of Radiance).

Yoooo i share this opinion. I'll salt a wee bit about a story, but it doesnt mean im gonna hate that game. Awakening's story pisses me off a lot, but i dont hold it against the game. The game itself is fucking fun to play and ill keep playing it. Fates, same deal. I love how it plays so im gonna keep playing it. Start button exists to skip junk that annoys me storywise.

While im not a huge fan of battle panties, i dont care THAT much about fanservice. And i like that my tastes are getting catered to. You lot have no idea how long ive waited for any game to cater to my tastes visually and in terms of characters. I like hot, morally ambiguous dudes that i could marry in my files. I like how my male characters have tiddy windows. I like how Odin runs around in that spangly ass outfit. While we could do without Peri's lack of trousers when she promotes to Paladin, Camilla's cleavage doesnt bother me in the least.

I really like the Tanas chapters in Path of Radiance and the revisit in Radiant Dawn.

I think people make too much of a stink about things like Phoenix mode.

Soleil doesnt irritate me.

I can take or leave child units. If the next FE doesnt have them, i wont be arsed. If it does, i also will not be arsed.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Loki Laufeyson

[Dragrath]

Proc skills are my favorite type of skills as they are fun to use by allowing abilities that strength wise would otherwise be locked to enemies only. Plus they add a sense of tension once they are in enemy hands.

FE10 had great mechanics even if its story sucked. Particularly the height advantages/disadvantages

Fe games can work with or without world maps but The story has the right to force events in fact certain chapters should be forced. Money and resources should however should be limited.

Unexpected recruitment of characters is a fun mechanic. I love the idea of Oliver's recruitment in FE10 even if he is a terrible unit that only serves to give you another copy of Nosferatu.

Ashnard is best FE villain. Fe needs more human antagonists(monsters/undead are still fine though especially if being used by particular factions.)

Capture and stealing should be in more if not every FE game and should serve as a players primary source of funds.

Light Fire Wind Thunder and Dark and their respective triangles were all fun elements and should return even if they stay under the same tome category. would be a very attacker suporting combat system.

Magic should not win against Bows as archers used to be an effective counter to mages.

Siege tomes should return one for each magic subtype limited to maybe one or some other small number of uses per chapter

Pair up/guard stance need to go away for good attack stance is fine though

Nihil, Resolve Wrath Canto Stun Disarm are all skills that absolutely need to return as opposed to skills providing simple stat boosts/ modifications(cough Speed +2, Heavy Blade)

Enemies should be more likely to spawn with skills

Durability with repairable weapons/uses per chapter rather than infinite durability or permanently breakable weapons is a system that should be implemented to better utilize maintenance costs. In exchange repairing/replacing weapons in chapter should be a thing

Weapon weight should return as a character inventory /rescue limiter. Mounts would have their own weight limit as well this would prevent characters from carrying to many items while not placing a hard limit

The "armor" designer for FE 13 and FE 14 needs to get fired and receive major psychiatric help. The stupid levels fan service has gone way beyond the acceptable limit and the designs are way overdone. Simplicity in design is a higher art. (Fan service through DLC however is a perfectly legal method of extorting fools from their money however)

Children have been overdone I agree with the posters before who suggest recruits/trainee units. Perfect compromise honestly.

Forging should return to making a weapon instead with stats being able to be raised and lowered again. Forging options would require the player to permanently deconstruct weapons to glean their use.

Stun Sleep Berserk Poison, as well as fates status modifications and hp percentage drops should all return primarily in enemy hands

Captured enemy units with enemy only skills should be able to keep their skills as they are counterbalanced by being generic units. (Though some might need scaled down versions I will admit)

Generic enemies/bosses should have a chance to spawn with supports with another generic unit/boss on the map.

Enemy only skills/weapons should be able to be obtained though only with great difficulty primarily serving as trophies (they wouldn't be as useful against massive swarms of enemies anyway)

[eclipse]

You forget, you can only speak for yourself when it comes to that specifically. I realize that many of the things I defend FE6 from... was simply due to Nostalgia. It is a real factor and you can really only dismiss it for yourself, because I've seen people defend their favorite FE games to a fault, not just FE7. And much of that is attributed to it being their first FE game.

Here's my take on FE7, 13, and 14.

FE7 - There's some extremely idiotic things in there (I don't like Ninian, bite me), but I can understand the reasons why the main guys do A, B, and C (the bad guys are another story altogether, but I'm not playing as them). The plot moves with the maps, with mixed results.

FE13 - The story is segmented into three, and the transitions are really rough. Had Awakening done each arc as a separate game, it would've been amazing. The bad guys would've had more development, and the game would've had time to build upon the history of the world, how things changed ever since Marth/Alm's time, etc.

FE14 - At least the game takes on different perspectives and separates them out into different full-length games, so they got that right from Awakening! However. . .

I don't think Hoshido/Nohr should've been mirrors to each other. And then there's Revelations, which I felt was handled extremely poorly. Like, both Eliwood and Hector fuck up, and the game acknowledges it without demonizing them.

It's great that Fates wanted to be complex. But it needs to fill in the subtle shades that make a complex story good.

That is the same as saying 3+2 = 6 is an "unpopular" opinion.

It is not unpopular, it is simply wrong.

Depends on the game mode and the pace. On Normal, and a very casual pace, Roy's usable. Having a Fire affinity with a fast-growing support with someone who's Light affinity boosts his offense to almost acceptable levels.

He's not going to be overkilling everything he touches on EP, but I don't think he's awful.

- Tiki's, Camilla's, and Charlotte's breasts aren't as unrealistically-big as some people say. In fact, Charlotte's are a good deal smaller than they look; they just look big due to her outfit and pose pushing them up. She'd be at most a B-cup if it weren't for that.

You're. . .really, really wrong about how breast sizes/underwire/pose work. No, I'm not going to go into any more detail, because that's IRL creepy.

Signed,

Someone with boobs

So, my take on things. . .

- Shadow Dragon did characterization right. No, we don't need to know the tragic backstory of Caesar/Radd, they're not the reason why Marth is marching all over Archanea. The game's focus is on Marth, where it should be.

- Archetypes exist for those who want to go "hey I played a past FE game, look at me", because they do nothing for the gameplay/story (the ONLY exception I'll acknowledge is Sully/Stahl, since it comes up in their support).

- Resetting a million times in a draft to get a 0.05% chance to go through does not make someone good at drafting.

- The FE fandom deserves a minimal plot with equally minimal characterization, especially after the reception of Fates. After all, didn't Kaga do that in the original FE? Let Square-Enix handle the sprawling stories with far too many twists.

- I like the GBA idea of limiting supports, and providing a small bonus via affinities.

- Speaking of, GBA affinities > Tellius affinities. Combine that with how support points worked in Awakening, and that would be a support system I'd put my money on.

- Of the three versions of Fates, Conquest had the best story/characters.

- Midir is amazing. He goes from bleeding out on the floor of a castle to joining your army at full health. And he's cute.

- Despite my dislike of FE4, it did time scale right. Instead of feeling like your army's being ported from point A to point B, years pass between the first time you see Sigurd and the last time he's on-screen.

- Infinite Regalia was the best way to handle infinite legendary weapons. Museum Melee's weapon distribution mechanic is awful.

[maybe]

- Shadow Dragon did characterization right. No, we don't need to know the tragic backstory of Caesar/Radd, they're not the reason why Marth is marching all over Archanea. The game's focus is on Marth, where it should be.

- Midir is amazing. He goes from bleeding out on the floor of a castle to joining your army at full health. And he's cute.

i always thought it was supposed to imply that he was just pretending to dead?

like, it even has the death animation and scream

maybe I'm just not remembering right

although I feel the same on the part about shadow dragon

it's nice to have some backstory and character for the other members of your army, but it should take a backseat to the main cast and story

my only real gripe with it is that marth is pretty much the only character who does anything significant in the story, aside from maybe Nyna

i'd like it if we could get something like that again but with at least a slightly larger cast of characters who actually do things in the story

it seems like they tried in fates, but the involvement of the other royals and characters wasn't usually used very well (which is one of the bigger reasons I felt that way)

Edited April 23, 2016 by maybe

[Gradivus.]

- Resetting a million times in a draft to get a 0.05% chance to go through does not make someone good at drafting.

I think that's the general opinion, people only tend to rig iffy (and that's only like single digit to low double digit% iffy) things against bosses with batshit avoid (FE6 and 8 thrones say hi) and usually don't go for scenarios with bad chances in general. Right now anyway, that is, I recall reading that stuff like growth rigging was more common in the past.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Gradivus.

[Pixelman]

Is liking Tharja's/Rhajat's designs an unpopular opinion

[NekoKnight]

- Shadow Dragon did characterization right. No, we don't need to know the tragic backstory of Caesar/Radd, they're not the reason why Marth is marching all over Archanea. The game's focus is on Marth, where it should be.

- The FE fandom deserves a minimal plot with equally minimal characterization, especially after the reception of Fates. After all, didn't Kaga do that in the original FE? Let Square-Enix handle the sprawling stories with far too many twists.

Fates WAS a minimal plot with equally minimal characterization. It just pretended to be something much grander, which got everyone's knickers in a twist. I don't know what "the FE fandom deserves" is supposed to mean but I think you'd be mistaken if you think a game with minimalism will be more appreciated. Shadow Dragon is the least favorite FE game for a lot of people, probably in part because people found the story and characters boring.

Somewhere there is a happy middle-ground between "Every Fire Emblem you ever played" and Square-Enix levels of convoluted.

[AnnetheCatDetective]

Definitely agree on the 'more gay characters'-- and with being able to pair whatever two units have the best chemistry, not just 'here's one same-sex relationship possible for your avatar'. But then, that's been what I've wanted since PoR...

I've noticed that while sometimes I do ship something that, yeah, definitely other fans are seeing, I also have at least one 'literally no one else is into this' ship... so my emotions on the 'anyone can support anyone' are mixed. Because I do recall the heartache of shipping something based on a really early cutscene interaction only to learn that those two characters had no supports, like, I get different people want to throw different units together, but... in practice, yeah, I can also see the downside.

[Iridium]

Mmm, a lot of these might not count as unpopular since I don't spend a whole lot of time with the fanbase, but I'm seeing a lot of people use the thread as a "voice opinions you otherwise don't get to talk about often, regardless of their popularity" thread so I'll try not to mind that too much. I'll try to keep stuff I know is popular (remove avatars, never do the fates split again) out though.

• Elibe as a whole is extremely whatever and probably the worst 'world'. Almost anything it tried to do, Archanea did better and earlier. Fates's is close, though.
• Path of Radiance is boring as hell, and Radiant Dawn singlehandedly saves Tellius for me. It's easier than Sacred Stones, so the additional restrictions it has compared to it contribute nothing.
• Every Fire Emblem fan owes it to themselves to at least give Gaiden a chance -- and although it has its flaws, certainly, it's actually quite enjoyable and has perhaps the best set of lords in the series. This was called out as not unpopular earlier in the thread, but I believe in it strongly enough to say it again.
• The World Map is an excellent feature that should be a staple in all future games, and singlehandedly makes me more invested in Valentia, Magvel, and Ylisse than most other territories because I know where everything is and have a better idea of what progress I'm fighting to make. (FE4 did a surprisingly good job of this too for a game without a map.) As previously mentioned, though, it does need some refining (such as limiting access to certain parts at certain times, or outright disallowing it during tense situations.)
• Light magic is worthless and should never return unless it's handled like FE9 (where it's an extension of Staff rank.)
• There is nothing inherently wrong with sexy outfits, and although the 3DS games go overboard with them, it's not inherently the sexuality that's the problem so much as the poor use of it. I don't care if Berserkers and Sorcerers (of either gender) are half nude, since it sort of works okay, but that doesn't mean Cavaliers need a panty window too. Classes that are clearly fanservice (maid, bride) are hilarious and I have absolutely zero objection to them, all-maid/all-bride armies are one of the best gifts the 3DS FEs have given us. Please give me grooms in FE15. Or at least let me put cute guys in the Bride dress.
• Lyn is the worst female lord in the series and does not deserve even a quarter of the legacy she currently has. Conversely, Micaiah is very overhated despite being not a whole lot worse than any other lead(-ish) character -- ironically, she's one of the most flawed ones we have.
• There are no bad Fire Emblem games unless BS Fire Emblem is counted as its own experience. (BSFE, although an extremely interesting concept, is very unenjoyable to play even accounting for how harmed it is by half of its content being gone. As for its piecemeal-esque storytelling style, Radiant Dawn did it better. None of this necessarily? is an unpopular opinion, but that's only because I almost never see people who have opinions about the game at all.)
• This ties in with the above, but most non-4/7/9 games are overhated to at least some degree. Post-Tellius games especially suffer from this, and Shadow Dragon (and seemingly Awakening within the fanbase? though this seems to change depending on where i go) especially especially. Shadow Dragon is a great game.
• Emmeryn's ultimate fate in Awakening is honestly more tragic than death, and in general the Spotpass characters from that game don't bother me too much.
• On another Awakening-related note, Walhart is accidentally the best villain in the game. Given Awakening's spotty attention to FE1/2/3, I assume it is a complete coincidence that Walhart is basically King Rudolf II -- in which case, he would not only be the descendant of Alm, but also by proxy the perfect rival to Chrom.
• Skills suck. Plain and simple. Every game that has them would be improved by removing them or drastically altering them. The GBA games (esp. SS) did them the best by using them sparingly and making the few that did exist stand out.

there are probably others but it's 6am so ta ta

I wont call Shara Rhajat because I find that to be the worst localized name, and hate it. The name itself isnt bad, but it doesnt fit at all since it is an Indian Male name.

Not only is this not really unpopular, but I'm still going to argue about it: on the contrary, the anagrams were probably some of the most faithful localized names Fates gave us. While they're of somewhat questionably quality (Rhajat is male and I'm pretty sure Caeldori is straight-up made-up), I give them credit for doing the best they could have with the cards they were dealt. Their Japanese names were also anagrams ("Shara" was actually "Syalla", though pronounced as Shara, to match Sallya. Likewise for Gurei/Guire and Matoi/Tiamo.)

While it's an extremely popular opinion to say that these three characters have dumb names, probably shouldn't exist, and would probably be better off ignoring the anagram thing entirely, Rhajat is an entirely faithful localization to the intended meaning of her Japanese name -- far more so, in fact, than Shara.

The worst localized name is very clearly Arthur, considering that Awakening established Arthur as Jugdral Arthur's English name just one game ago. As a Gaiden fanboy I'm entirely used to my characters being overwritten (thank you noa for saving gray and kamui, too bad you killed robin and leo anyway) but I don't like seeing that happen to other playable characters.

[Sentacotus]

- I don't give a fuck about the quality of story in fire emblem games. I'd take a FE game with great gameplay and absolutely terrible story over a FE game with great story and good gameplay without thinking twice (think Conquest x Path of Radiance)

Yoooo i share this opinion. I'll salt a wee bit about a story, but it doesnt mean im gonna hate that game. Awakening's story pisses me off a lot, but i dont hold it against the game. The game itself is fucking fun to play and ill keep playing it. Fates, same deal. I love how it plays so im gonna keep playing it. Start button exists to skip junk that annoys me storywise.

Glad I'm not alone on this. While the stories have their flaws I don't think they are the worst thing ever and it doesn't prevent me from enjoying the hell out of the games.

Edited April 24, 2016 by LordTaco42

[ZemZem]

FE8 is the best game in the series.

Distant Travels from FE7 is the best theme in the series.

FE13 is vastly underrated on SF.

Also, FE11 is a good game.

Hector/Lyn is an overrated pairing and pales in comparison to Hector/Farina.

FE8's cast is underrated.

FE6's supports are actually quite enjoyable to read and deserve much more attention than they get.

FE4 Gen II is superior to Gen I, the latter only being enjoyable when you use wacky pairings such as Lewyn/Raquesis.

FE9 is the best written game in the series.

Ike/Marcia should've been a thing.

Adding on to above, Ike/Lethe would've been interesting, too.

Speaking of Ike pairings, how come all the build-up Ike and Elincia had in FE9 was just thrown away in FE10? ...Eh, it's fine that way. :3

Micaiah is one of the better main characters of the series and is vastly underrated.

FE4, FE5, FE8, and FE9 have the best soundtracks.

Priscilla is the best healer in the series.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Zeems

[MagicIsOP]

Makalov is a well-written character.

[Jedi]

Fates WAS a minimal plot with equally minimal characterization. It just pretended to be something much grander, which got everyone's knickers in a twist. I don't know what "the FE fandom deserves" is supposed to mean but I think you'd be mistaken if you think a game with minimalism will be more appreciated. Shadow Dragon is the least favorite FE game for a lot of people, probably in part because people found the story and characters boring.

It was more that people weren't a fan of how the mechanics worked, despite them being fairly good. Usually people praise the small amount of writing there was, even if they disliked how the game played.

I've seen it on quite a number of peoples lists of "Best written" FE, not as many as FE9 or FE8's but still. It was a fairly common opinion, and the fact that these 3 simplistic stories are oft called the best written FE stories, it goes to show. FE plots are much better when kept simple.

Genealogy and Thracia may be the stand out examples of our more complex plots working, but I'm sure plenty of people have nitpicked Genealogy, and we still lack a proper translation of Thracia.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Jedi

[eclipse]

I think that's the general opinion, people only tend to rig iffy (and that's only like single digit to low double digit% iffy) things against bosses with batshit avoid (FE6 and 8 thrones say hi) and usually don't go for scenarios with bad chances in general. Right now anyway, that is, I recall reading that stuff like growth rigging was more common in the past.

It took a lot of bitching for the low percent thing to sort-of go away (otherwise known as "stop drafting Radiant Dawn, because max speed Micaiah is stupid"). It still crops up, but at least the drafters are more honest about the hit rates it took for certain things to happen.

Fates WAS a minimal plot with equally minimal characterization. It just pretended to be something much grander, which got everyone's knickers in a twist. I don't know what "the FE fandom deserves" is supposed to mean but I think you'd be mistaken if you think a game with minimalism will be more appreciated. Shadow Dragon is the least favorite FE game for a lot of people, probably in part because people found the story and characters boring.

Somewhere there is a happy middle-ground between "Every Fire Emblem you ever played" and Square-Enix levels of convoluted.

The people who like the game are part of the fandom. So do the people who bitch about the story. Nonstop. And shit up the boards, because the Start button doesn't seem to exist. Furthermore, take your favorite story in a video game. . .and you don't have to look very far before you find people complaining about it. Thus, remove the story, and make the griefers complain about things that affect gameplay, like reclassing/graphics/map design/items/unit balance/other stuff like that.

So, for everyone else - go ahead and like/dislike whatever about anything. But don't make it a habit, because serial complainers only bring a fandom down.

[Sweet_Basil]

1. I find the unpopular lords way more likable than their popular counterparts (Eliwood > Hector, Eirika > Ephraim, Micaiah > Ike).
2. The Dawn Brigade is unappreciated and should have had more spotlight than the Greil Mercs. In-fact I believe that FE10 would have been a better game and better written if the focus was entirely on the new cast (DB) rather than the Greil Mercs.
3. I don't see anything wrong with fan service if it matches the character, but ridiculous if it doesn't.
4. Fates/Awakening are great games.
5. My Castle is a fun addition to the series but the capture system has flaws because the capturable enemies don't bring much to the table, unless you want to sacrifice them. I believe the capture system should allow the player to steal items and that some recruitable characters could enhance the system.
6. I don't mind keeping children, they could even add characterization for a future MyCastle. However I would rather have them be reduced to NPCs and actually be children rather than adults.

7. I'd like both griffin rider and the bride class to return.
8. FE4 is not that good.

9. FE8 in general is underrated and a much better game than FE6/7.

10. If they kept capture as is I'd like capturable enemies to not be mute in battle, I don't know why they're not allowed to have a voice when they're on your side :(
11. I hate that shield thing in the character map sprite for capturable enemies when they're on your side. It ruins my illusion that they're part of my army.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Rosemary

[The DanMan]

-I'm not quite as enthused as a lot of other people are with Fates' soundtrack. It over-relies on the game's main theme as a leitmotif, with half the songs having some passage or another from it. What the game should've done is give each kingdom it's own leitmotif, reserving the main theme for important moments and songs.

Edited April 24, 2016 by The DanMan

[NekoKnight]

It was more that people weren't a fan of how the mechanics worked, despite them being fairly good. Usually people praise the small amount of writing there was, even if they disliked how the game played.

I've seen it on quite a number of peoples lists of "Best written" FE, not as many as FE9 or FE8's but still. It was a fairly common opinion, and the fact that these 3 simplistic stories are oft called the best written FE stories, it goes to show. FE plots are much better when kept simple.

Genealogy and Thracia may be the stand out examples of our more complex plots working, but I'm sure plenty of people have nitpicked Genealogy, and we still lack a proper translation of Thracia.

I haven't seen anyone praise Shadow Dragon for its story so I'll have to take your word for it. In regards to FE8 and FE9 being praised, there is more to a game's "story" than just the plot. Sacred Stones had an interesting set of villains and Path of Radiance (+Radiant Dawn) did A LOT of world-building. On the flip-side, Awakening and Birthright also had basic plots but they don't enjoy any praise for their writing. A game with a simple plot can be enjoyable but it needs skillful work in at least one area (characterization, worldbuilding etc.) to get people interested.

Making a good (ie 'enjoyable') story can't be simplified down to it being simple or complex.

I like good stories but if people prefer to talk exclusively about gameplay, that's their prerogative.