Can somebody justify Fire Emblem to me?

[LordBongo]

So I've recently been introduced to Fire Emblem by my girlfriend. I started playing Sacred Stones, and I love it. I've been having a blast so far.

However, I let a character die. I knew beforehand that it's a huge deal to let somebody die, or at least that's what I've been told by a few people. I was right at the end of a chapter and I didn't feel like starting over. I decided to just take the hit. Seemed like a very minor character to me.

A few chapters later, my girlfriend finds out I let someone die. Apparently I now have to start over either now or later when it becomes unplayable or something. I tried to argue that it can't be THAT big of a deal, but she's convinced. It just seems strange to design a game where it's incredibly easy for a character to die, yet it ruins the rest of the game in turn. I wouldn't mind it if the game just said "WHOOPS, YOU F**KED UP" and gave me a Game Over as soon as it happened, but it just lets you keep on playing without so much as a warning. What's worse is if you spend hours and hours progressing, only to reach a complete standstill. If you're a first-time player without somebody else to help you along, you'll get screwed. I can't quite wrap my head around the logic here.

So I ask the seasoned Fire Emblem players: Why is the game designed like this? I've been having so much fun playing so far, but the thought of having to restart is seriously putting me off playing anymore. I just want this strange game-ruining permanent death thing to at least make sense or be justified in some way.

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

Snip

Just as a matter of interest, who did you let die?

OT: By letting a character die you are missing out on that character's development with whoever you set them to get friendship with (which you should do, it makes them stronger). You're possibly also missing out on either potentially strong units or a unique unit. You're also weakening your force - characters are a large but finite resource and you definitely don't want to face the final levels with a too-small team.

However, having a character die DOES NOT make the game unplayable by any stretch of the imagination (with the exception of your Lords, but you get a Game Over for that). The game is not designed to fuck you over if you have a character die - it is merely to enhance the strategy and difficulty of the game, to make you think like a general. If you wanted to get philosophical and moralistic, you could argue it lets you find out if you're a 'father to your men' type general or if you're an 'ends justifies the means, victory demands sacrifice' type general. Unless you're spectacularly bad or woefully under-prepared (which definitely shouldn't happen in Sacred Stones) you should never be brought to a standstill.

So, in short. The game isn't designed how you seem to argue or been made to believe. You will not be brought to a standstill; instead it just means you no longer have the unit available to you. It may make things tougher, it may force you to rethink your approach to some levels. No more, no less.

 

[sage42]

Much like EscapeGoat said, it doesn't matter in the long run. You CAN move on without said character but it does make it harder in some situations like say for example you just lost...ohhh I dunno let's say Ross. He's one of the best characters in the game simply because he get's ten extra levels. More levels mean more stats means a better character. Usually. But you can still go on. Garcia makes an excellent stand in. Franz is a little easier to deal with should you let him die, you get two other cavaliers plus Seth, plus a possible fourth one later on. Honestly for me, it's just because I don't wanna lose someone I feel insulted when someone dies in a game and no matter how far I have to start over.

It's a little easier to deal with in Path of Radience or Radient Dawn, the FE games for Gamecube and the Wii respectively. You have a battle save instead of suspend, so if you lose someone near the end of a map if you've saved somewhere before hand you can save it by going back a few minutes.

 

[Jodah]

Yeah, she's wrong unless it was a Lord in which case it would be game over anyways. It doesn't make the game unplayable. It will change the ending slightly but that's about it. Hell, the newest one (Shadow Dragon) rewards you with extra levels if you kill off surplus characters.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

It depends on who dies, certainly losing a character won't prevent you from finishing the game, but you may miss out on support relationships, extra story content and most importantly, awesome units that can only be recruited with the help of the character you let die.

In general, it's not a good idea to let any characters die for those reasons, I'll reset the chapter, but if you're too far into the game to make that a reasonable decision, than move on and don't worry about it. It's a harsh lesson many people new to the franchise learn.

You'll also find yourself benching characters you don't like in favor of characters that you want to use endgame. If the character in question was someone who had no endgame potential than you really shouldn't worry.

Judging by her reaction though, it sounds like you got some potentially godly character killed...

snip

Just out of curiosity, what character was it?

 

[MrCollins]

One of the reasons that I particularly like the Fire Emblem series is that I, as a general can't stand seeing any of my troops die, no matter how faceless. Seriously, that's why I avoid all RTSes and the Strategy games I do play, are FF Tactics Advance, X-Com and Fire Emblem where you not have anyone die ~(if you are willing to restart).

The character that died in your game will at no point stop you from finishing the game but It may cost you learning more about his story or the backstory of others.

NOTE: Juste remembered that the death of a character in the early missions could cost 2 units, the one that dies and the one that he can recruit into your army.

Also, @LordBongo Which character was it?

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Your girlfriend sounds like me: If I let anyone die, I immediately stop the game and restart the chapter. When I loaned the game to a friend and found out that he had let several people die, I was horrified. How could he let that happen and be okay with that? Doesn't he care about these characters like I do?

No, he doesn't. And apparently neither do you. SHAME! SHAME UNTO THEE!
Just kidding. It's no big deal if you let a character die. In The Sacred Stones, I believe there are only two characters who can't die, and they are the siblings. If either one of them is killed, you get a 'Game Over' screen and the chapter restarts. Everyone else is fair game. No one is is vital to the story, though if you keep losing people, eventually you're going to start running out of soldiers, which will make it impossible. There's also the fact that, for every character that survives the game, you get an ending for them. Some are ever able to have shared endings if you get their support maxed out, which I find really sweet. Your call.

A word of warning: There are dungeons in Sacred Stones that allow you to constantly level up your characters until they are ALL evolved and max level. This makes the game super easy, so if you want a challenge, don't abuse the dungeons. Personally, I do because I don't want my people to die.
HOWEVER, if you do do the dungeons, one of them I was never able to beat. When you get the final floor, there are I believe six or seven undead dragons. These things have insane movement and attack range, and will decimate your party. At the very least you're going to lose two people. So, when you hit this floor, just choose the option to withdraw from the dungeon. Or take a swing and it and watch your party go down fighting.

 

[Techsmart07]

Technically, some characters/levels can only be unlocked by letting characters die, so no, you dont HAVE to let characters live, especially if you want to see some of the secret stuffs. However, having all characters survive makes things easier, since you aren't losing exp you invested into that character, and you will lose out on some of the characters' endings. I usually try to keep all my characters alive more because I just don't like the idea that I screwed up enough for that to happen. I think a lot of fire emblem players are afraid of losing their characters for the same reason why some people are pack-rats. "What if I need it down the road? Well, he's not totally useless, I shouldn't let him die now. I'll make use of him later, but not right now."

Long story short - your friend is overreacting. You won't "OMGFAILZ" if you keep going, you just might miss out on a couple opportunities later at most.

 

[sextus the crazy]

So I ask the seasoned Fire Emblem players: Why is the game designed like this? I've been having so much fun playing so far, but the thought of having to restart is seriously putting me off playing anymore. I just want this strange game-ruining permanent death thing to at least make sense or be justified in some way.

You fucking bet I can! Being a hardcore FE enthusiast I don't think I've let someone die (and not restarted) since my first playthrough in 2003. It's a badge of honor and somewhat of an entrance test amongst the more exclusionary fans. Not to mention, we hate seeing our units die because they're characterized enough. Pro-tip about FE: FE fans are super hardcore about the game. I rarely play the hardmode, but even then I always reset, and often have done limited character runs. (mages and lords only is pretty common, but I also did a horsemen only run of FE 2003)

Also, don't feel pressured to play the way Teh Hardcorez do. If you have fun one way, feel free to play that way. I'd rather have more fans, even if they play differently than I do. Our community is too small to exclude.

Hey since you're getting into FE:

1. Have you seen any of the support conversations ingame? If you have units stand next to each other enough, a support option will come up and the two units will talk with each other. You can do this up to three times with the same characters and 5 times in total. In game you can check which characters are compatable. some characters will have paired endings if they reach an A support and sometimes get married (adding a fun ingame shipping element).

2. If you like SS, check out Fire Emblem (GBA 2003), Path of radiance (for the gamecube), and the soon to be released Fire emblem: awakening. If you really like FE and want a challange, check out Genealogy of the holy war and its inquel thracia 776 for the SNES. They're really hard, but Genealogy's story is the best in the series.

3. Sacred Stones is by far the easiest game in the series because you can grind the Tower of Vahti. For a true FE experience, try hard mode (or any of the other games).

 

[LordBongo]

Thanks guys, I think I get how it works now! It doesn't seem nearly as bad as I was told. And for those who were curious, I believe the character's name was Vanessa who I let die. The pegasus rider girl.

 

[sextus the crazy]

Thanks guys, I think I get how it works now! It doesn't seem nearly as bad as I was told. And for those who were curious, I believe the character's name was Vanessa who I let die. The pegasus rider girl.

don't worry, she's not necessary. Outside of being an early game flying unit, she's not terribly useful. The only character she can recruit is recruit-able by multiple characters and isn't that great in the first place. Honestly, you should level up tana in the tower if you want a good flyer.

Also, if you need any help, serenesforest.net has some wonderful guides to pretty much everything fire emblem related.