Some ideas for concepts in future games

[Florete]

Hey everyone! I've got some questions for you regarding what you'd like to see in a future FE or FE-like game. Answer whichever questions you want to, but above all, when making responses, please remember to think outside the FE box! Don't think that just because something was done one way in the series means that it would have to be done that way again. Let's begin:

1. What would you think of an avatar-like character that was closer to a defined character but you could customize their appearance and name? For example, imagine being able to customize Ike like Robin/Corrin, but otherwise the character is just the same.

2. What would you think of a weapon system that combines aspects from all the eras like so: weapons have a limited number of uses, but repair after every chapter. So, a steel sword weapon might have 20 uses, and if you use them all up in one chapter you can't use it anymore, but after that chapter all 20 uses come back.

3. What if perma-death were removed entirely but there were other incentives to not lose any units in a battle? For example, units who fall in battle may have a permanent stat penalty going forward to simulate being injured. On the flip side, not letting any units fall in a battle could reward the player in some way.

4. What if weather came back, but was more significant and could possibly be controlled? Instead of a flat movement reduction, different weather effects could buff some classes and debuff others, and the player may have a way to activate or deactivate it (of course, the enemy may also have this ability).

5. Armor as a unit type in current FEs comes with no practical benefits, so why don't we give it something? For example, what if armored units could not be damaged by ranged swords, axes, and lances?

6. Would you like to see rankings (Tactics/Experience, etc.) from FE 4-7 come back? How could they be changed for the better?

7. Would you like to see weapon weight return? Which system would you prefer if it did? Or do you have a better idea in mind?

8. Would you be okay with S rank supports returning if it didn't lead straight to marriage (but might in paired endings), didn't create a playable 2nd generation, and each character had a limited and relatively equal amount of support options (no everyoneXeveryone)?

That's all for now!

[Magical Glace]

1. What would you think of an avatar-like character that was closer to a defined character but you could customize their appearance and name? For example, imagine being able to customize Ike like Robin/Corrin, but otherwise the character is just the same.

The problem with Avatars is mostly the way the other characters treat them. The over-worship is the big problem.

2. What would you think of a weapon system that combines aspects from all the eras like so: weapons have a limited number of uses, but repair after every chapter. So, a steel sword weapon might have 20 uses, and if you use them all up in one chapter you can't use it anymore, but after that chapter all 20 uses come back.

That actually sounds cool.

3. What if perma-death were removed entirely but there were other incentives to not lose any units in a battle? For example, units who fall in battle may have a permanent stat penalty going forward to simulate being injured. On the flip side, not letting any units fall in a battle could reward the player in some way.

Ehhh, this just doesn't appeal to me... I'd rather keep perma-death on, period.

4. What if weather came back, but was more significant and could possibly be controlled? Instead of a flat movement reduction, different weather effects could buff some classes and debuff others, and the player may have a way to activate or deactivate it (of course, the enemy may also have this ability).

So... sorta like a fusion of FE7 weather and Dragon veins? I'm vaguely interested.

5. Armor as a unit type in current FEs comes with no practical benefits, so why don't we give it something? For example, what if armored units could not be damaged by ranged swords, axes, and lances?

This would be a good buff.

6. Would you like to see rankings (Tactics/Experience, etc.) from FE 4-7 come back? How could they be changed for the better?

Make it clearer what conditions are. For example, I wouldn't guess the buying price of all my items factored into Funds. Fine otherwise.

7. Would you like to see weapon weight return? Which system would you prefer if it did? Or do you have a better idea in mind?

It's never been balanced properly. Jules once suggested Skill as a buffer, which not only would make it more valuable as a stat, something it hasn't really enjoyed since FE6, but doesn't horribly shaft Females or Mages like Con/Str, And doesn't horribly nerf axes and Fire like 4.

8. Would you be okay with S rank supports returning if it didn't lead straight to marriage (but might in paired endings), didn't create a playable 2nd generation, and each character had a limited and relatively equal amount of support options (no everyoneXeveryone)?

I wouldn't mind this. My biggest problems with the 3DS supports are addressed. I still prefer C-A 5 per run, but this is a good alternative.

[NJ7009]

1.) I don't really like this idea. I think, if you wanted to maintain creativity, you could add accessories to the lord but otherwise I would prefer a set appearance. I also prefer set names but maybe that is just me being boring ;p

2.) I don't like this idea either as it seems a little pointless? Also, it is very difficult to use up an entire weapon in a single chapter in most of the games (unless if they have like fifteen uses). I actually quite like Fates system where weapons have unlimited durability but have debuffs on the stronger weapons.

3.) Hmm... I both like and dislike this concept. The idea of commending good play sounds good on paper, but this system would quite severely punish players who don't care to restart after every loss, as - not only are they getting a seriously debuffed unit who would be inferior to the other members of their team to the point that they might as well be dead - but they are also losing out on rewards.

4.) That sounds pretty cool! Or maybe the weather could change naturally as the battle goes on. Maybe even the time of day could progress as the turns pass and this could affect battle in some way.

5.) That sounds stupid broken :p I say give them more movement, at least five, and continue from what Fates did (give them a skill to prevent doubling). If they are a good armour, though, most weapons shouldn't hurt them anyway.

6.) I personally wouldn't really care for a ranking much but I can see that some people would be interested in seeing that return.

7.) The problem with weapon weight is that it penalises units who have naturally low con/strength like mages. This isn't necessarily fair to these units. Its like penalising myrmidons because their magic is bad. Mages have low con/Strength as that isn't their area of expertise so it doesn't make sense that they are limited by these stats when other units aren't by their magic.

I prefer the system we have in place now.

8.) I think support options should be limited to help with quality. I also think S supporting could be expanded to involve really deep friendships as S supports only involving two people getting married gets old fast. Think old school Fire Emblem where friends were able to get A supports as well as romantic partners and these could result in endings in some cases.

Edited September 1, 2016 by NJ7009

[Yedknowsall]

1. Robin and Corrin are pretty much defined characters. We had very minimal input on Robin outside of his appearance and name, and we only had the one choice with Corrin. Customizing a character like Ike would also take away some of their character. Many characters were meant to look like they fit their personality, and in some cases, their appearance is their personality. I personally don't think there should be any customizable characters at all in the main story. Maybe for online battles, though.

2. That's interesting, and I wouldn't be completely opposed to it.

3. I like permadeath, but this should be casual hard or lunatic mode. It would introduce "casuals" to something more similar to what was intended for the series. Though it might be too much of a debuff if they were permanently debuffed, so maybe it would only be for a few chapters, or until a special staff exclusive to the gamemode was aquired (like the Bifröst).

4. Maybe special staffs? I'm not too big of a fan of Dragon Veins, but I could see the concept returning. Direct nerfs to everyone was annoying in FE7, but if some classes got a buff, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

5. This actually makes sense. It'd be pretty difficult to hit through the armor with a throwing weapon. But not full damage reduction, it seems like too much. Maybe half damage? If they wanna buff Generals though, they should just add more defense chapters...

6. Yes. I have been wanting to attempt a ranking run for a while now in FE7. It seems fun, and it doesn't harm the normal game in my opinion. They could also have maybe special unlockables for getting certain ranks, like maybe extra trial maps if they brought back something like the Creature Campaign (FE8) or actual Trial Maps (FE9)

7. Yes. I don't like Constitution that much since it can greatly limit a lot of characters, especially Lance and Axe users. Strength was too much in Radiant Dawn though, since every character capped all of their stats anyway. Maybe some sort of combination of Strength and Skill to determine what a unit can carry? That way it can level up at a reasonable pace for most classes, with the only ones who would be able to wield stronger weapons early in the game are classes like Wyvern Knights and Generals, since they tend to have higher Strength and Skill (and Con in the GBA games), and Swordmasters/Pegasus Knights wouldn't be permanently screwed by their low Con.

8. If they can balance the bonuses more. Fire Emblem has always had marriage post-game with A ranks, so that shouldn't be a problem. I'd love more conversations between characters, as long as they're not cringy confessions of love. But even the 5 supports from pre-3DS were strong, so if they give bonuses with this system, they'd have to balance it more. Maybe less bonuses? They really shouldn't keep it at 5 supports with this system, it would be boring having two characters only talk with each other in a playthrough.

Edited September 1, 2016 by Yedknowsall

[X-Naut]

1. Meh, the avatars are all pretty defined characters as is. The important connotation here is severing the association between you, the player and you, the character.

2. Don't replenish full uses and we may be on to something. Perhaps have the repair rate vary with weapons, and maybe add a feature to the base where you can pay to have it fully repaired early. Still, you would need to be careful with staves unless they follow the Fates exception principle. But if status and Warp/Rescue staves had very few uses (no more than 3) and <1 per chapter repair rate? That might be okay.

3. I don't think rewards need exist beyond a bragging rights gold star, but it would certainly make writing easier and would give the developers more elbow rooms to be dicks without making the game unplayable or repulsive.

4. Weather would be significantly better if the automatic movement penalties were exclusive to flying units. On some terrain types a movement penalty makes sense, but rain turning the map into a pseudo-desert is so tedious and painful. Having a means to control it would be neat; heck you could probably tack that onto high-level Wind magic to give magic types more variety!

5. My take on this is a fixed 20% physical damage reduction. Javelins will be doing dick to them if we factor in the Fates nerfs anyway.

6. Oh they could definitely be improved. Make Survival into FE5 Recruitment, Funds only subtracts when you sell non-vendor trash or discard items, and ditch Combat entirely for being brick dumb. I wouldn't mind seeing certain rank parameters be mutually exclusive, such as the addition of a super-tight S Tactics that pushes you to LTC the game at the cost of the other requirements.

7. I wouldn't mind it coming back under the Con system, but do not want to see the Iron<Silver<Steel problem return. If you can grow it I'd prefer fixed growth per character or simply more Body Rings over a Con growth; and either way you can "fix" mounted Aid problems by giving each mounted class a fixed Aid value.

8. THIS WOULD BE A PERFECT SOLUTION.

[Florete]

Thanks for the responses so far!

2.) I don't like this idea either as it seems a little pointless? Also, it is very difficult to use up an entire weapon in a single chapter in most of the games (unless if they have like fifteen uses).

Keep in mind that the game would be made with the mechanic in mind, so weapon uses would be balanced around it.

5.) That sounds stupid broken :p I say give them more movement, at least five, and continue from what Fates did (give them a skill to prevent doubling). If they are a good armour, though, most weapons shouldn't hurt them anyway.

The idea is to give the actual unit type, armor, a practical benefit. Flying unit types have their flight, and horses can be argued that their movement is due to their unit type. Giving armored units the same movement as everyone else just...makes them more like everyone else. It's not a unique benefit for having the unit type.

7.) The problem with weapon weight is that it penalises units who have naturally low con/strength like mages. This isn't necessarily fair to these units. Its like penalising myrmidons because their magic is bad. Mages have low con/Strength as that isn't their area of expertise so it doesn't make sense that they are limited by these stats when other units aren't by their magic.

Don't forget: think outside the FE box! Yeah, it was done these ways before, but it doesn't have to be in the future, especially with the CON system.

[twice]

1. I wouldn't mind, but things are alright right now how they are.

2. Sounds interesting, I'd be alright with this.

3. I like permadeath, but this idea is pretty cool. It'd probably end up pissing me off though.

4. Drastic weather effects sounds logical and a nice feature.

5. Sure.

6. Yes, I'd be open to this.

7. Not really sure..

8. Yeah, that seems fine to me. Even if children are included I hope it makes better sense.

[Quintessence]

Hi Red Fox! Long time no see! Nice to see you here again! Or I'm terribly unaware of my surroundings

Hey everyone! I've got some questions for you regarding what you'd like to see in a future FE or FE-like game. Answer whichever questions you want to, but above all, when making responses, please remember to think outside the FE box! Don't think that just because something was done one way in the series means that it would have to be done that way again. Let's begin:

1. What would you think of an avatar-like character that was closer to a defined character but you could customize their appearance and name? For example, imagine being able to customize Ike like Robin/Corrin, but otherwise the character is just the same.

I don't have issues with customizable or avatar characters. I think it'd be great if one could customize appearance and classes among a limited pool. For instance, I think the Exile in KOTOR II is a good example, you decide the class, appearance, and the destiny of the character, it can choose whether to be of the light side or the dark side, and all the journey molds upon your choices. I expected to have a similar experience with Fates but I was terribly disappointed. I think an avatar ala star wars would've worked much better than Corrin.

2. What would you think of a weapon system that combines aspects from all the eras like so: weapons have a limited number of uses, but repair after every chapter. So, a steel sword weapon might have 20 uses, and if you use them all up in one chapter you can't use it anymore, but after that chapter all 20 uses come back.

I'm fine with this idea, it is basically FE4 weapon durability system. Maaaaybe the Regalia/Legendary weapons might have infinite durability due to its special trait.

3. What if perma-death were removed entirely but there were other incentives to not lose any units in a battle? For example, units who fall in battle may have a permanent stat penalty going forward to simulate being injured. On the flip side, not letting any units fall in a battle could reward the player in some way.

This idea looks good, it would be a 'retreat' option and leave perma-death as a story element. The next chapter might give some negative bonus to the character that retreated, like -2 or -3.

4. What if weather came back, but was more significant and could possibly be controlled? Instead of a flat movement reduction, different weather effects could buff some classes and debuff others, and the player may have a way to activate or deactivate it (of course, the enemy may also have this ability).

I'm thinking of helping mages. Like, days with a harsh sun boosts fire tomes and grant them a pierce/luna effect, like reducing the enemy's str/def; heavy rain can buff thunder tomes and boost their hit and crt by +10 or something; deep fog or hurricanes might boost wind tomes by adding move reduction, extra damage or something; pitch-black areas can buff dark and light tomes, by giving them a secondary effect of silence, hit reduction (blind status for light), poison or something.

Regarding physical units idk honestly.

5. Armor as a unit type in current FEs comes with no practical benefits, so why don't we give it something? For example, what if armored units could not be damaged by ranged swords, axes, and lances?

Maybe make them immune to some arrows? Or make every unit wearing a shield be resistant to bows. Or just make them receive half dmg from the weapon's might (not enemy's total attack).

6. Would you like to see rankings (Tactics/Experience, etc.) from FE 4-7 come back? How could they be changed for the better?

Yes. It can include elements like Item completion, Units recruited, BEXP conditions, Turn limit, strategy used, etc.

7. Would you like to see weapon weight return? Which system would you prefer if it did? Or do you have a better idea in mind?

I'm fine with it and think Tellius system is the less worse. But the system should be consistent throughout all the game. Else, I'm fine with it not staying.

8. Would you be okay with S rank supports returning if it didn't lead straight to marriage (but might in paired endings), didn't create a playable 2nd generation, and each character had a limited and relatively equal amount of support options (no everyoneXeveryone)?

Yes, a limited pool like PoR and GBA, with added bonuses. If 2nd Gen is coming then it needs to be in a huge game, else get out.

That's all for now!

Responses in bold! Hope it helps!

[NekoKnight]

1. What would you think of an avatar-like character that was closer to a defined character but you could customize their appearance and name? For example, imagine being able to customize Ike like Robin/Corrin, but otherwise the character is just the same.

Absolutely. Give me a defined and nuanced character over a bland everyman any day. Being able to adjust their growths and class options would be nice, however.

2. What would you think of a weapon system that combines aspects from all the eras like so: weapons have a limited number of uses, but repair after every chapter. So, a steel sword weapon might have 20 uses, and if you use them all up in one chapter you can't use it anymore, but after that chapter all 20 uses come back.

Hm, I think that would be difficult to balance well. If the numbers are too low, it's too punishing. If the numbers are too high, the limits are meaningless. Rather than add game balance, it would constrict the player's play-style. What they could do is keep the Fates weapon system but make your staff and certain tomes (think siege tomes) have limited uses that recharge after battle.

3. What if perma-death were removed entirely but there were other incentives to not lose any units in a battle? For example, units who fall in battle may have a permanent stat penalty going forward to simulate being injured. On the flip side, not letting any units fall in a battle could reward the player in some way.

Permanent stat drops will probably just convince most people to never reset as they already do. I think "anyone can die" is an integral part of the franchise so I wouldn't want to see it go. Unlocking bonus levels/items/characters for casualty free-runs would be nice, however. Anna refuses to hang out with casual scrubs.

4. What if weather came back, but was more significant and could possibly be controlled? Instead of a flat movement reduction, different weather effects could buff some classes and debuff others, and the player may have a way to activate or deactivate it (of course, the enemy may also have this ability).

I wouldn't mind weather back as long as it served a tactical purpose instead of a "make the chapter take longer" thing. A good example is the Conquest level where you fight Hinoka outside Shirasagi castle. The weather there made fliers have huge range and everyone else slower. It made the map interesting and challenging instead of just "slow".

5. Armor as a unit type in current FEs comes with no practical benefits, so why don't we give it something? For example, what if armored units could not be damaged by ranged swords, axes, and lances?

Give Armored units Wary Fighter as a natural skill.

6. Would you like to see rankings (Tactics/Experience, etc.) from FE 4-7 come back? How could they be changed for the better?

No, not really. Beating the chapter without casualties is enough acknowledgement for me.

7. Would you like to see weapon weight return? Which system would you prefer if it did? Or do you have a better idea in mind?

I like the Fates system of lowering (or boosting) attack speed better than past models of weapon weight.

8. Would you be okay with S rank supports returning if it didn't lead straight to marriage (but might in paired endings), didn't create a playable 2nd generation, and each character had a limited and relatively equal amount of support options (no everyoneXeveryone)?

This is what I want. S ranks are just markers for paired endings. I don't think characters need to have the same amount of support partners, however. If a character is naturally asocial, they won't have as many people to talk to as say, the main lord.

This goes back to personal avatars, but if marriage is actually applicable to the story in game (such as a political marriage), I wouldn't mind pre-epilogue marriage being a thing. It could actually be interesting for gameplay and story. That said, I'm going to put my foot down against 1st and 2nd gen co-existing.

Edited September 2, 2016 by NekoKnight