How good is FE 4?

[CatManThree]

I am planning on playing FE 4 and I honestly am not sure

what to expect. I have heard the game is very good but

I really dont know too much about the game's appeal

and feel.

Also, I tried playing FE 3 but it felt VERY clunky. I honestly hope that FE 4 isn't like this.

either.

I just want to gather info on what other people think about the game

before I actually play it.

[Punished Dayni]

I definitely think FE4 is worth playing, and certainly less clunky than 3 in all ways but trading (i.e. trading items without selling them is not in this game). Though I have to say that if you know what you're doing, it can be a bit too easy except for in certain moments.

Avoid reading on the story, and as for pairing, you can ask around if you want and while certain pairs are better than others, you are able to beat the game with any arguably.

[BrightBow]

FE4 is the game that massively improved the controls, so they very much feel like you'd expect from the later games. It's also the first game that has a ton of options to customize the interface and controls.

[Shadow Mir]

I'm not gonna beat around the bush - if you can't stand obnoxiously bloated maps, stay away from FE4. Personally, I think the maps and mechanics make it feel clunky, too.

Edited October 11, 2016 by Levant Mir Celestia

[CatManThree]

I'm not gonna beat around the bush - if you can't stand obnoxiously bloated maps, stay away from FE4. Personally, I think the maps and mechanics make it feel clunky, too.

I actually would prefer wide open feeling maps over smaller ones.

Unless they are WAY to big. Then there is a problem.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

The maps in FE4 are large® because they included 3-4 segments.

You can count each single map as 3-4 own chapters. Therefore this game has less chapters in total than other parts.

Before you finish a segment by seizing, you have enough time to bring your entire group together to prepare for the next segment.

Anyways I recommend to play it because it features lots of new and unique stuff like introducing of skills, managing money of each unit, etc...

Also the story is very well made.

[CatManThree]

The maps in FE4 are large® because they included 3-4 segments.

You can count each single map as 3-4 own chapters. Therefore this game has less chapters in total than other parts.

Before you finish a segment by seizing, you have enough time to bring your entire group together to prepare for the next segment.

Anyways I recommend to play it because it features lots of new and unique stuff like introducing of skills, managing money of each unit, etc...

Also the story is very well made.

That is interesting. I might actually like this game a lot!

The less chapters as a whole might be bothersome tho.

[Shadow Mir]

I actually would prefer wide open feeling maps over smaller ones.

Unless they are WAY to big. Then there is a problem.

Ehhh, personally, I think there's a fine line between "wide open" and "obnoxiously bloated". Having to constantly slow down because your non-mounted units are falling behind gets really old really quickly.

[Lantairu]

As far as gameplay goes, FE4 shines in some areas and fails in others. For instance, there are some very poor decisions when it comes to map design. There are some maps that are just so tedious and boring to get through and for no reason at all except for raising your turn count. On the other hand, the maps are great in the sense that they all interconnect and tell a story. And that's where I think FE4 really shines, its story. It's personally my favorite story of any FE game, and the way it all comes full circle is just so awesome. Also, it's storytelling is much more mature than the other games in the series, dealing with some pretty touchy subjects, which I think was a ballsy risk that really paid off in the end. And that's where FE4 is really amazing in my opinion. Everything ties into the story somehow. Every map, every gameplay element, almost everything ties into the story in some way. It also feels like an epic story, instead of "Go to map, kill the bad guy, finish story, YAY!" There's weight to everything and you really feel like you've traversed the entire continent. In addition, it added some cool gameplay mechanics.

[eclipse]

The good:

- A marriage/child system that makes sense

- Story does a decent job of justifying gameplay

- No deployment limit

- Free arena

The bad:

- Unit balance is worse than FE12 Lunatic+

- Weapon levels are locked

- Skills range from godly to godawful

- Weapon uses/trading is handled poorly IMO

- Lots of hidden things that exist for no apparent reason

However, it was the way the maps were handled that made the game unfun for me. Most of the time was spent moving my units, which was extremely tedious. It wasn't my cup of tea, but I recommend giving it a shot anyway.

Edited October 11, 2016 by eggclipse

[Refa]

What skills are god awful?

[General Horace]

the unit balance is also nowhere near as bad as FE12's, and set weapon levels help balance the classes (unfourtunately Holy Blood usually nullifies this though). When you think about bad/useless units in FE4, you think of Ardan, Tiltyu and Hannibal, while you could name nearly half the cast in FE12.

As for the actual question, FE4's pretty quirky when compared to the rest of the series, and in my opinion, the map issues (while still present in some maps, mainly chapter 1 and to some extent chapter 7) are largely overstated. I'd recommend giving at least the prologue a shot, and if it's not your cup of tea such is life.

Edited October 11, 2016 by General Horace

[Darros]

What skills are god awful?

Big Shield. Nihil is also fairly unhelpful in general and critical is meh. But even then they're no detriment.

I'd recommend FE4. It's my favorite Fire Emblem game and it's not comparable to FE3 in terms of UI. It has a few issues but it's certainly not horrible to play and while I can think of a few segments that seem long, the game doesn't stretch on as much as people give it criticism for. Also, as far as people say that your unmounted units get stuck behind, unless you're playing for low turn counts that's really a nonissue, and even if you are it's not as bad as people say.

Edited October 11, 2016 by Darros

[Refa]

Big Shield prevents all damage from being done to you. I don't see how that's god awful by any stretch of the imagination? Unless you're talking about enemy bosses having it, fuck those guys.

Nihil is generally mediocre but it's still situationally useful. It's not good but like everyone who has it can make use of it except like Ayra and her kids.

Critical is fantastic, bro.

[Moblin Major General]

Big Shield. Nihil is also fairly unhelpful in general and critical is meh. But even then they're no detriment.

Critical and maybe Nihil I can see as not very good, but Pavise? It might have shit for proc rate, but it is good for Arden and Hannibal because they could be taking a lot of hits.

[sirmola]

That is interesting. I might actually like this game a lot!

The less chapters as a whole might be bothersome tho.

FYI, you ca save every turn in this game, as long as no one has moved that turn. (however, that means that its possible to save yourself into a position where someone always dies on the next turn, so overwright one save between encounters, and one every turn.

[CatManThree]

FYI, you ca save every turn in this game, as long as no one has moved that turn. (however, that means that its possible to save yourself into a position where someone always dies on the next turn, so overwright one save between encounters, and one every turn.

Thanks dude, that is pretty interesting.

[BrightBow]

Almost all skills in this game have some use. Even the ones that activate randomly like Sol/Luna/Astra have at least some use in the arena.

Awareness would be useful in theory if enemies would actually use skills regulary. It is worth noting that it also protects the user against critical hits and effective damage but that stuff doesn't come up much either.

Edit:

Critical and maybe Nihil I can see as not very good, but Pavise? It might have shit for proc rate, but it is good for Arden and Hannibal because they could be taking a lot of hits.

I suppose Critical would at least be more useful than Luna since critical hits double attack power, so it will deal more damage in the vast majority of situations. The activation rate is identical as well, except that there are various ways to raise the activation rate for Critical Hits.

Edited October 11, 2016 by BrightBow

[Darros]

Critical and maybe Nihil I can see as not very good, but Pavise? It might have shit for proc rate, but it is good for Arden and Hannibal because they could be taking a lot of hits.

The problem with Great Shield is it actually involves seriously using Arden or Hannibal. But let's say we are. For physicals they really couldn't care less since they won't be taking a ton of damage and shouldn't be facing enemies that have pursuit anyway. Magic? Sure I can see Great Shield being useful there but even its proc rate is just not that great. Unless you're fighting one of the 93209223 general enemies in the game for whom it seems to activate every single round for some reason.

Edit:

I suppose Critical would at least be more useful than Luna since critical hits double attack power, so it will deal more damage in the vast majority of situations. The activation rate is identical as well, except that there are various ways to raise the activation rate for Critical Hits.

I forgot about Luna. I don't think it's a very good skill either. I almost never pass it down.

[Jedi]

FE4 is a quirky blacksheep of the franchise, but I think it has alot to offer someone looking for a different style of FE or just something fresh compared to the rest.

I personally like it quite a bit myself, and I still need to do more lolsy pairings.

[Jave]

I overall like FE4, but I have some problems with it. Two maps in particular are slooooooow to the point where you spend several turns just moving around without any battles. And then there's the significant lack of map variety. This is the only game in the series where all the maps are outdoors, and the fact that all of them use the same layout (outside of snowy Silesia) gets old real fast. That's the one aspect in which I can safely say FE4 is the worst in the series. It's such a boring game to LOOK at. Too much green and brown.

Also, don't expect much of the writing. The first half is great, but the second half is almost non-existant in terms of story. It really feels like nothing is happening.

The game is still worth playing, though. It has some good aspects like the huge playable roster and the marriage system which leads to some interesting results in the second half. Play it if you want, but don't go in expecting a Chrono Trigger-level of masterpiece. It's a good game, but its flaws are quite notorious.

[Tetragrammaton]

FE4 is a quirky blacksheep of the franchise, but I think it has alot to offer someone looking for a different style of FE or just something fresh compared to the rest.

I personally like it quite a bit myself, and I still need to do more lolsy pairings.

It became like that for a reason.

Kaga left IS after FE5, since FE6, IS tried to reject most of Kaga's legacy, until they couldn't help it and had to remake FE1/3.

I like FE4 maps, it's more like an all-out-war than some mission completed tasks.

[Darros]

Two maps in particular are slooooooow to the point where you spend several turns just moving around without any battles.

I know one of them is Chapter 2 but I can't piece which the other one is. 9 or 10?

[Shadow Mir]

the unit balance is also nowhere near as bad as FE12's, and set weapon levels help balance the classes (unfourtunately Holy Blood usually nullifies this though). When you think about bad/useless units in FE4, you think of Ardan, Tiltyu and Hannibal, while you could name nearly half the cast in FE12.

As for the actual question, FE4's pretty quirky when compared to the rest of the series, and in my opinion, the map issues (while still present in some maps, mainly chapter 1 and to some extent chapter 7) are largely overstated. I'd recommend giving at least the prologue a shot, and if it's not your cup of tea such is life.

I'm more inclined to agree with eclipse - even if FE4 doesn't have as many useless units, that doesn't make its unit balance better, especially with fixed weapon ranks, Holy Blood, and the godawful weapon balance that plagues it. Edited October 12, 2016 by Levant Mir Celestia

[Jedi]

I'm more inclined to agree with eclipse - even if FE4 doesn't have as many useless units, that doesn't make its unit balance better, especially with fixed weapon ranks, Holy Blood, and the godawful weapon balance that plagues it.

Maybe, but you can still use the entire cast in FE4 without much trouble, in FE12 you'll be hard pressed to use 2/3rds of the cast ever in your entire life.