Echoes or Fates?

[DisobeyedCargo]

So after finishing Awakening for the second time, I have decided to start looking for the next Fire Emblem game for me to play. Since I have a 3ds, I decided to look for what's on the 3ds. I have narrowed it down to Fates and Echoes. Both games look great, but which one would you recommend more to someone new to the series? 

[Etrurian emperor]

This depends on what you think of Awakening and its mechanics.

If you would be disappointed if a game moved away from the mechanics introduced in Awakening or want to see those ideas refined then I would advice you to go for Fates.

If you're feeling more adventures and are up for some experimentation in the framework Awakening provided you with then I'd say Echoes. 

It also depends on how you value your stories and characters. If you want a good story and more nuanced character then Echoes is the better game but if the charm of a more wacky cast like Awakening appeals to you then you might enjoy the Fates cast more.  

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

If you've already experienced Awakening, I'd say give Echoes a shot. Fates, gameplay wise, is a more polished and balanced Awakening in a lot of places imo. Echoes is a remake of an old game, which means it's vastly different from what Awakening and Fates have to offer. It has very strange design choices overall; some of them work and are really fun, some of them not so much. The presentation is a major step up in Echoes though, as it's the first game to be fully voiced.

[Nobody]

Conquest is my favorite among those games, BUT it's because of its fantastic map design and fun, challenging difficulty, which I expect not to be the main appeals of the series to someone new to it. While Birthright is like Awakening but with more polished gameplay, IMO other than gameplay in itself it's way less interesting than Awakening and maybe a bit soulless. Echoes is quite different from Awakening (and also the older Fire Emblem games except Gaiden), but it's a very charming game, and it's fun to play. 

I think I'd recommend Echoes first, unless you are able to find Fates for cheap.

Edited May 31, 2017 by Nobody

[DisobeyedCargo]

1 minute ago, SatsumaFSoysoy said:

If you've already experienced Awakening, I'd say give Echoes a shot. Fates, gameplay wise, is a more polished and balanced Awakening in a lot of places imo. Echoes is a remake of an old game, which means it's vastly different from what Awakening and Fates have to offer. It has very strange design choices overall; some of them work and are really fun, some of them not so much. The presentation is a major step up in Echoes though, as it's the first game to be fully voiced.

I would like to try something new, and full voice acting is very nice. So Echoes it is!

[Thane]

Fates has literally the worst story of any game I've ever played, but it has far superior gameplay, especially Conquest. Echoes has an amazing presentation and has a much more grounded story and cast, but its archaic gameplay shows in too many areas. It all depends on what you're looking to get out of your experience.

[DisobeyedCargo]

2 minutes ago, Thane said:

Fates has literally the worst story of any game I've ever played, but it has far superior gameplay, especially Conquest. Echoes has an amazing presentation and has a much more grounded story and cast, but its archaic gameplay shows in too many areas. It all depends on what you're looking to get out of your experience.

I don't mind slightly unpolished gameplay if it means I'm getting a good story and great cast. Plus I would get a taste of what some of the older Fire emblems were like, so I think I'm gonna go for Echoes!

[Slumber]

As far as gameplay is concerned, Fates beats out Echoes by quite a bit, especially if you're coming off of Awakening. Fates basically smooths all of the rough edges of off Awakening, making it a much more balanced, satisfying experience. 

Fates is subpar at best in just about every other regard, though. To the point where, for many(Here, at least), it actively detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game. Echoes doesn't have this problem, and most seem to think it has the best presentation in the franchise, along with the best writing for story and characters that we've gotten since Path of Radiance 12 years ago. 

So go with whatever sounds better. If you just want gameplay, Fates will be your game. If you want the whole package to be solid and not just one aspect, Echoes is for you. 

Edited May 31, 2017 by Slumber

[Carter]

When Echoes first came out, I would have said I preferred Echoes. But now that the hype has died, I think I prefer Fates. In terms of gameplay, Echoes seems a bit old fashioned to me. But don't get me wrong, I still love the game so far. What do I prefer in Echoes over Fates is the characters.

I've never played Gaiden, so I'm not really sure of how faithful Echoes was to the original. Attack Stance and Guard Stance probably would've heavily altered the gameplay, so I wouldn't want them to put that in. But some of the classes that were many of the other games, like Fighter or Dark Mage/Shaman could've been brought into the game. Every time I see Atlas or Luthier, I keep imagining them as these two classes, because that's what they seem like they would be. Hell, even branching promotions maybe could've worked. It definitely would've helped with the variety of classes, since we're already missing basic first-tier classes like Fighter, Troubadour, and Dark Mage.

Also, I was disappointed to see gender-locked classes brought back. Fates already tore it down, why bring it back? Since Heroes, I was looking forward to make my Faye an archer :(

Edited May 31, 2017 by Carter
Faye

[Slumber]

12 minutes ago, DisobeyedCargo said:

I don't mind slightly unpolished gameplay if it means I'm getting a good story and great cast. Plus I would get a taste of what some of the older Fire emblems were like, so I think I'm gonna go for Echoes!

If it helps, which I've seen many people say it does, go into Echoes with the mentality that you're playing a more traditional Japanese RPG than a strictly strategy RPG. It's still got the grid, and you're still moving/positioning your units carefully, but it's a lot more straightforward in many ways, and there are dungeons and towns to explore.

[DisobeyedCargo]

8 minutes ago, Slumber said:

If it helps, which I've seen many people say it does, go into Echoes with the mentality that you're playing a more traditional Japanese RPG than a strictly strategy RPG. It's still got the grid, and you're still moving/positioning your units carefully, but it's a lot more straightforward in many ways, and there are dungeons and towns to explore.

That's good to know. I had read about the exploration of dungeons and it sounded pretty neat. Thank you all for your suggestions

[Nobody]

37 minutes ago, DisobeyedCargo said:

Plus I would get a taste of what some of the older Fire emblems were like, so I think I'm gonna go for Echoes!

You wouldn't really, Echoes is quite different from older fire emblem games, except gaiden, which it's a remake of. I'd honestly say that in many areas, Awakening and Fates are more like "classical" fire emblem than it.

I definitely recommend the game, but it won't really tell you how fire emblem games were before awakening.

[DisobeyedCargo]

7 minutes ago, Nobody said:

You wouldn't really, Echoes is quite different from older fire emblem games, except gaiden, which it's a remake of. I'd honestly say that in many areas, Awakening and Fates are more like "classical" fire emblem than it.

I definitely recommend the game, but it won't really tell you how fire emblem games were before awakening.

Okay, nice to know. I had heard that gaiden was quite different from the rest, it still seems quite good though. I will make sure to go in the game with that mindset

[Dandy Druid]

41 minutes ago, Carter said:

When Echoes first came out, I would have said I preferred Echoes. But now that the hype has died, I think I prefer Fates. In terms of gameplay, Echoes seems a bit old fashioned to me. But don't get me wrong, I still love the game so far. What do I prefer in Echoes over Fates is the characters.

I've never played Gaiden, so I'm not really sure of how faithful Echoes was to the original. Attack Stance and Guard Stance probably would've heavily altered the gameplay, so I wouldn't want them to put that in. But some of the classes that were many of the other games, like Fighter or Dark Mage/Shaman could've been brought into the game. Every time I see Atlas or Luthier, I keep imagining them as these two classes, because that's what they seem like they would be. Hell, even branching promotions maybe could've worked. It definitely would've helped with the variety of classes, since we're already missing basic first-tier classes like Fighter, Troubadour, and Dark Mage.

Also, I was disappointed to see gender-locked classes brought back. Fates already tore it down, why bring it back? Since Heroes, I was looking forward to make my Faye an archer :(

Archer was never really a gender-specific class, and the first female archer was introduced in FE4. But it is true that Echoes pretty much contained the majority of its female cast to magic roles + pegasus knights (with Mathilda, and sometimes Faye, being the exception).

The main reason why Faye wasn't given an archer path in Echoes was because IS cheaped out because they didn't feel like making a female model for archer if Faye was going to be the only one to use it, and it wasn't even mandatory so it may not get used at all.