Favorite Path & Why

[Slyfox]

Conquest, as I've stated many times before, is my favorite. The gameplay is fantastic. The music, while not necessarily better than the other paths, is more enjoyable for me. Perhaps the characters are at their dumbest in this route, but it's the only story in Fates that I thought was more or less interesting. I enjoyed the overall more somber dialogue. I like the Nohrian aesthetics, though I wish we could have explored the Nohrian capital city in detail. That city looks rad!

 

Birthright comes second. I don't remember much from it, which I guess means it wasn't bad. However, it also means I don't think it's good either. Best part was the Zola arc, the rest was flat.

However, I completely disagree with people who say that Birthright has a story on par with or better than Awakening (which is a fairly low bar to begin with).

We almost never see Nohr doing anything besides stand in our way in their own country, which means we practically have no stakes (Mikoto dies in all paths, so she doesn't count). Emmeryn being captured and the Fire Emblem being coveted are an easy couple of stakes to mention for the first arc of Awakening alone, let alone the threat from the future.

There are few surprises in Birthright or foreshadowing. Ryoma being in disguise, Zola betraying us have very little payoff because their reveals are simply anti-climactic, with no story-changing consequences. Takumi being mind controlled is hinted at soooo often, but we never get any new details surrounding the situation until we face Iago. You can try to bait the horse with a picture of a carrot, but it will only take notice of an actual carrot. Don't hint at things if you don't have anything new to show. In Awakening, we have Lucina and Grima, forshadowing multiple things before we reach the end. Each time, we learn something new. We saved Emmeryn from assassination? Let's throw her off a cliff, you can't change fate that easily. That's a surprise thrown in for ya.

Birthright doesn't focus much on it's main cast, besides Corrin and possibly the Nohrian royals. Also, where is the inner conflict? Where is the self-doubt? Even Corrin lacks it in this route. Meanwhile, Chrom, despite his general "I'll do what needs to be done" attitude, is constantly doubting his actions. Basilio and Flavia, who play a HUGE role in the story, who aren't even playable until the end, and yet receive a lot of development.

And lastly, for now, because I'm too tired to think straight, is that Birthright lacks any cohesiveness. Fates as whole has that as a problem, really. Anyway, most chapters have almost no consequence on the next, and are barely related to the previous ones. In Awakening, despite the three arc problem, the chapters are heavily related to each other. This is perhaps too hard for me to explain in my current state, but Awakening is a lot more cohesive.

 

I think Revelation is a sad little pile of garbage.

 

I hope my poorly written rant didn't tread on anyone's toes.

Goodnight!

Edited February 14, 2017 by Slyfox

[maninbluejumpsuit]

Conquest. A legit challenge that kicks my arse that doesn't feel like a tedious slog outside of the ninja rape cave chapter, and fuuga's wild ride.

[NekoKnight]

32 minutes ago, Slyfox said:

*Snip*

I think when people compare Birthright to Awakening, they are simplifying it to "bad guys invade, drive them back and stomp their evil king", a common Fire Emblem plot. Birthright is guilty of a lot of writing flaws, it's just not as frustrating as Conquest nor as hollow as Revelation. A low point in the series, but not the worst because of the other routes.

[Thane]

2 hours ago, NekoKnight said:

I think when people compare Birthright to Awakening, they are simplifying it to "bad guys invade, drive them back and stomp their evil king", a common Fire Emblem plot. Birthright is guilty of a lot of writing flaws, it's just not as frustrating as Conquest nor as hollow as Revelation. A low point in the series, but not the worst because of the other routes.

I think they're simplifying it to "bad guys invade, drive them back and stomp their evil king...on the 3DS and on a similar difficulty to that of the last game". 

One of my major gripes with Birthright aside from it being dull is how Corrin's heritage is not brought up unless you want to bang your siblings. The complete lack of anything of emotional value just makes it such a forgettable experience to me; I don't think I can remember anything any of the siblings do or say aside from Ryouma dressing up as a general and sucker punching Leo, but that's hardly the epitome of writing. 

[AlexArtsHere]

Contest, no Conquest.

Er, that is to say "Conquest, no contest.". Anyway, I really, really love the map design and objective variety in Conquest (though I wish the "Defend" objective was used more than once) and, while Birthright has some very interesting and fun classes (Kinshi Knight, Basara and Master of Arms, anyone?), I love Conquest's characters so much more for the most part (the wandering trio and Niles certainly help there), with the story being much better than Birthright's "kill the obviously bad invading kingdom", even if the idiot ball was going around like a hot potato. While the entirety of Fates' OST is great, Dusk Falls is standout, and Conquest has the best underwear textures, both male and female. That last one doesn't affect my gameplay experience at all, just thought I'd point it out. :D

Above all though, Conquest actually challenged me, and I don't just mean in the way that I lost my character to a silly mistake or under-levelling and had to restart the whole map. Chapter 10 actually had me thinking on my feet in terms of what my priorities should be and how best to utilise each choke point on the map, and with how many units for each, as well as where my healers would be needed most. My only irk is that defeating Takumi is a pain, but you don't even need to do it because the beauty of this map is its diversity in being a game of survival and defense.

[Thunderstar]

Honestly I don't know.

I prefer CQ's gameplay and maps overall and it also has a few good characters but the story was trash and the worst of the 3 in my opinion.
Even though I like the units' designs of both nations), I prefer the Nohrians' (except for some of the females of course).

I prefer BR's story. Though it is not saying much, I like how BR has a bit worldbuilding because of chapter 22 which reveals a few things about Nohrians and Garon. I could be wrong but I feel like chapter 22 was one of the only moments in Fates (if not the only one) where they explain things about Fateslandia.
I also prefer BR's characters and music though CQ's music worked as well for what it tries. I also prefer BR's classes (especially Swordsmasters, Ninjas, Diviners/Anima Mage and Snipers). And yes, Scarlet deserved better in the other routes.

I could say maybe CQ because gameplay wise it got intense and more memorable moments but honestly I also enjoy BR as well and better overall.

RV is the worst route. Most of the maps suck especially the ones which reuse the maps of the 2 other routes (except RV chapter 19 which was better than CQ chapter 15) and RV chapter 10 and chapter 24 were also awful.
Most of the non-royal units are useless and there is no point to use most of them. The story is also pretty bad and boring.
The only thing I like about RV, are the exclusive supports.

RV is also the only FE that I dislike overall.

[Pixelman]

Conquest because the gameplay is extremely well done, and the character designs are cool.

Story is not good (more wasted potential than anything), but is very entertaining, unlike BR (which is boring) or Rev (which is interesting until you go into Valla). At least I was actually looking forward to the next chapter.

[Finian]

On 2/13/2017 at 0:39 AM, Res said:

This is tough; most of my favourite characters are on the Hoshidan side, but Conquest has the best gameplay by far. Revelation especially is just very boring to play. However, I feel as if the inter-country supports in Revelation are some of the best examples of writing in the game. 

So I would answer Conquest, although on re-plays I skip all the cut-scenes and pay zero attention to the story. 

Interesting. I actually found Conquest to have more interesting, or at least more likable, characters. I loved Arthur and Leo and Elise, in particular. However, Birthrights story overall was far better.

In the end, though, I have to say Conquest was my favorite path. I definitely agree with you that the gameplay is far better. I haven't played Revelations, so I can't speak to that, but Birthright never really challenged me. I only lost one unit the entire game and didn't bother resetting, since the levels are such a bore for the most part. Conquest on the other hand has levels that feel new and exciting each time for the most part. While there are definitely some bummer chapters  like the Opera House and the Kitsune Hamlet, the vast majority of chapters are genuinely challenging with unique objectives.

[Zack2564]

   I've only played Revelation and Birthright, but overall Birthright was best. Here are the important things for me when it came to choosing:

   Characters. Birthright. They weren't all very compelling but all my favorites, Ryoma, Saizo, and Takumi are from Hoshido. Also I'm absolutely terrified of Camilla.

   Story: All. Birthright was a cliche but I'm okay with it. Conquest seems interesting but it means I have to join the side I don't like. Revelation was hollow but explained why Garon was evil rather than, he's evil so the story has a villain.

   Gameplay: Birthright. I actually liked the simplicity of Birthright. I didn't have to mess around difficult objectives, I could just focus on eliminating my opponents one by one. Which is more my style anyway.

   Weapons: Conquest. I haven't played but I've seen the dusk armory's gear through Revelation. I like longswords over katanas and also giving Blazing Yato a D-guard was a mistake. It looked like a cutlass not a katana.

   Common Sense: Birthright. If Garon is evil you don't join his side, you fight against him. Also who sides with the people who lied to you your whole life, locked you in a tower, killed your father, and killed your mother with no regard for the fact you might be killed too.

   Ability to Level Grind: Birthright. You can't grind in Conquest.

   Music: Birthright. I just like it best, but I love the song Lost in Thoughts All Alone and I really like how each path has different lyrics for it. So each path gets credit for great music.

   Awesome Final Battle: Revelation. Overall it is a hollow game but give the final battle credit. You fight an enormous dragon, in space, with awesome background music, using a MAGICAL, FLAMING, CHAINSAW SWORD.

   A Happy Ending: Revelation. Normally this isn't a requirement but I recently finished multiple television shows and video games with sad and depressing endings. Revelation is the only path where a: you don't have to kill any of your siblings (adopted or true) and b: my avatar's wife survives. Only two characters died and it's unfortunate but I can live with that.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Zack2564
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