Next Fire Emblem Expanding Casual Options, Dropping Breakable Weapons

[Kaimax]

Man the misconceptions about the 2 game + 1 more later sure is strong here. If not for the price it's the content people are complaining without knowledge.
It's not really like Pokemon since 2 games have different campaigns and going to the next game will make it a another different game. So if you started as Black and then White will be very different with people who chose to start as white. And it could be a whole different hing again when they releases the final campaign.
Pricing, they clearly stated very early on that if you bought 1 version, the next will cost half the price, and the last will also cost half the price.

Phoneix mode, seriously WHO fucking cares, let the people who wants to play it play, it's not like it's affecting your lunatic mode.. goddamn these difficulty elitist.

Weapon breaking. good fucking riddance. Never really liked it even in the GBA eras, where it just turns into "use it only on a boss", I rather have them balance it around unbreakable weapons, and FYI this is not the first FE to actually have unbreakable weapons.

 

[NerAnima]

Yeah, Phoenix Mode just sounds completely inane, doesn't seem to be a point to it in any way, but I won't be one of those playing the mode, still incredibly stupid and pointless.

Unbreakable weapons...yeah, no. People here are complaining about how it was a hassle to deal with, and a gold sink; perhaps it was, but I contest that it made you actually think about what you were doing with your weapons. Upgrade a weapon to the absolute limit? Fine, now use it sparingly, don't just use it on the grunts...it broke already? "You'll get no sympathy from me."

Unless they balance out the weapons, which, according to one poster in here, isn't bloody happening, this is a bad idea. Legendary and Silver weapons will become the most Overpowered shit in the game, and you'll just be able to spam Brave Swords/Lances/Axes/Bows to win. Sure, maybe your squad could take care of their weapons better, but you're the CO, you're the leader of this group, it's your job to ensure as many people make it back alive. So, either they nerf the shit out of weapons, or make it so that Unbreakable is an option, not mandatory.

As much as I love Fire Emblem, this is not what I want to hear. Not. At. All...

 

[L. Declis]

I'm 90% sure this game was popular because of the romance system.

Yeah, Phoenix Mode just sounds completely inane, doesn't seem to be a point to it in any way, but I won't be one of those playing the mode, still incredibly stupid and pointless.

Unbreakable weapons...yeah, no. People here are complaining about how it was a hassle to deal with, and a gold sink; perhaps it was, but I contest that it made you actually think about what you were doing with your weapons. Upgrade a weapon to the absolute limit? Fine, now use it sparingly, don't just use it on the grunts...it broke already? "You'll get no sympathy from me."

Yeah, I'm an utter casual, and I don't do any of that. I just pick whatever weapon isn't complete shit. All the weapon degradation did was the old Elixer Paradox in Final Fantasy; "Huh, I found this fantastic weapon, but I can only use it 10 times. Guess I'll just shove it into the deepest, darkest parts of my inventory because it's too powerful to use".

I didn't even know you can upgrade weapons, or repair them. I'd just keep picking them up and using them as I went along. Remove weapon degradation may actually make me bother to work with weapons, because I don't get 25 hits out of them before they fall apart and waste my effort.

Same with spells; my wizard has learnt a spell, but after 25 times casting it, he forgets. What?

 

[Cryselle]

My problem with the idea of unbreakable weapons is purely a balance one. Like someone else mentioned, low durability was the balance to the otherwise disgustingly high power of things like the seige tomes and brave weapons. Take it out, and one of two things will happen. Either they just don't bother, and you just throw the most OP item you have on everyone all the time, or they find another way to balance it. Which may be better than the durability (if so, yay!) but there's no guarantee that it will be until we hear more about it.

 

[ecoho]

Man the misconceptions about the 2 game + 1 more later sure is strong here. If not for the price it's the content people are complaining without knowledge.
It's not really like Pokemon since 2 games have different campaigns and going to the next game will make it a another different game. So if you started as Black and then White will be very different with people who chose to start as white. And it could be a whole different hing again when they releases the final campaign.
Pricing, they clearly stated very early on that if you bought 1 version, the next will cost half the price, and the last will also cost half the price.

Phoneix mode, seriously WHO fucking cares, let the people who wants to play it play, it's not like it's affecting your lunatic mode.. goddamn these difficulty elitist.

Weapon breaking. good fucking riddance. Never really liked it even in the GBA eras, where it just turns into "use it only on a boss", I rather have them balance it around unbreakable weapons, and FYI this is not the first FE to actually have unbreakable weapons.

I think its more why cant they both be on one game but be a $60 game instead of a $40 one. At least that's my problem, cause I really don't want to spend an hour waiting for my 3ds to DL the who other game.

That said im pretty sure they'll release a new 3ds with both of these games on it and when that happens it shall be MINE!

 

[Kaimax]

I think its more why cant they both be on one game but be a $60 game instead of a $40 one. At least that's my problem, cause I really don't want to spend an hour waiting for my 3ds to DL the who other game.

That said im pretty sure they'll release a new 3ds with both of these games on it and when that happens it shall be MINE!

I'm still okay with it for now (kinda used to it) as they claim that both games are very different to each other (White has the free-roaming style while Black has the Linear style), also the part where they claim that the 3rd campaign is just as thick as the first 2 versions. So, I'm just waiting for the Japanese reviews to come in first to confirm these claims.

 

[wings012]

Not too fussed about nonbreakable weapons, always thought that managing weapons was just busywork.

Ended up sticking to weaker weapons anyway, since they were lighter and allowed for two whacks. I did move on later in the game from Iron to Steel, but Silver was hardly a mainstay.

Also I don't think the goddamn Sword of Seals and other legendary weapons have any business breaking after 20 or so whacks.

 

[Guffe]

Well as long as they keep the good old normal/hard difficulty in there and doesn't make the series only easier, then it's fine. More options is never a bad thing (well unless there's too much?).
I just like the fact that losing someone actually means losing them and might be a big blow to your group in some cases. That's one of the most interesting parts of the game I think. I also like the weapon breaking system and the fact that money has to be spent on wepons and gear and can't be used forever, another great tactical aspect of said series.

 

[Kaimax]

I also like the weapon breaking system and the fact that money has to be spent on wepons and gear and can't be used forever, another great tactical aspect of said series.

It would be tactical in the more linear Fire Emblem games like the older ones, but the system is just a dead weight in a free-roaming fire emblem like awakening where grinding literally can solve all problems.

Try to level Myrrh in Fire Emblem Sacred Stones with only 50 Dragonstones available. In Awakening you can simply buy them and with the abundance of people street passing selling rare weapons the only obstacle is just money.

 

[Guffe]

I also like the weapon breaking system and the fact that money has to be spent on wepons and gear and can't be used forever, another great tactical aspect of said series.

It would be tactical in the more linear Fire Emblem games like the older ones, but the system is just a dead weight in a free-roaming fire emblem like awakening where grinding literally can solve all problems.

Try to level Myrrh in Fire Emblem Sacred Stones with only 50 Dragonstones available. In Awakening you can simply buy them and with the abundance of people street passing selling rare weapons the only obstacle is just money.

True... I haven't played any of the new ones, only the pretty linear ones, so if the new ones actually require some grinding then I can understand skipping that part of the game.
Sorry about my ignorance on the newer games

 

[Spartan448]

Honestly I'm not that upset about unbreakable weapons for two reasons: One, that will most likely only be part of the filthy Hoshido version and will not be present for the Glorious Nohr Master Race. Two... I mean lets face it, if Second Seals are back, how many characters had access to the Mercenary classpath? Get Armsthrift then promote and levelgrind until your LCK is above 50. Now no-one ever breaks their legendary weapons.

 

[DrOswald]

Kinda shitty about the two-game thing. I get that they're psyched about Awakening's sales, but christ guys, you're not Pokémon yet. They did this two-path thing in Sacred Stones and it was one cartridge.

The two paths in Sacred Stones were each only 6 missions long, about a quarter of a Fire Emblem game. These two paths are each full length campaigns with an entirely new set of characters. This is hardly comparable to sacred stones. Also, did you know that if you buy one of the games you get the second one half off?

The whole deal seems perfectly fair to me.

 

[DrOswald]

That is not exactly right. Basically, there are two paths, each the full size of a typically Fire Emblem game. The first path you get is the standard price of $40, and the second path is ~$20 dlc if you want it.

I would say it is closer to 2 separate games, like Zelda's Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, that are closely linked, with the addition bonus that you get the second one half off.

The third path will come later, and also be the length of a full fire emblem campaign and cost ~$20 again.

So, basically 3 full length Campaigns for $80. I think that is fair, since they are not charging the full price for the second and third campaign. It is basically a second full game, but there will be no new mechanics (as far as I understand) so half the normal price seems fair.

Oh, if that is the case, It's far more reasonable than I first thought. If they manage to deliver good quality I won't complain about paying for 20$ DLC.

Yeah, Nintendo has historically been very good about their use of DLC. There have been one or two questionable cases, but those were all quite a while ago when they were first trying it out.

I don't really like the looks of having non-breakable weapons, especially after the removal of weapon weight in Awakening. At this point, there is no reason to use anything other than things like Silver and especially Brave weapons.

I think that is giving way too little credit to the dev team. They are not going to just strip the mechanic and leave everything else the same. They are not morons.

I really cannot see why so many people are making this assumption, it is so completely obvious that this wont be the case.

As for Phoenix mode... that just sounds completely unnecessary....

I know that it's totally optional and I don't need to use it, and that's fine; I don't intend to. I also fully understand that it's aimed at casual players, but wasn't that what Casual mode was for?

Casual mode was not casual enough for many people. We don't see it because we are super experienced gamers, but Fire Emblem, even on easy/casual, is a hard game. I personally see absolutely no reason for it to not be in there, so I am glad it is. It is basically a built in cheat mode that you don't have to cheat code for. I wont use it normally, but I might turn it on for fun or to skip a mission I don't like in replays.

 

[ecoho]

I think its more why cant they both be on one game but be a $60 game instead of a $40 one. At least that's my problem, cause I really don't want to spend an hour waiting for my 3ds to DL the who other game.

That said im pretty sure they'll release a new 3ds with both of these games on it and when that happens it shall be MINE!

I'm still okay with it for now (kinda used to it) as they claim that both games are very different to each other (White has the free-roaming style while Black has the Linear style), also the part where they claim that the 3rd campaign is just as thick as the first 2 versions. So, I'm just waiting for the Japanese reviews to come in first to confirm these claims.

oh make no mistake I have no problem with paying for another game merely the time it will take to DL said game, my time is worth more then the extra $20 they could just slap on one game cartridge.

 

[conmag9]

If it's optional, no problem, have at it. I prefer the classic need to be very careful with your characters (plus, I'm pretty sure my reflexes are now permanently wired to restart missions where my characters die), but as long as it doesn't take anything away from regular mode, go nuts. I seriously, SERIOUSLY doubt that was the source of Awakening's success (I'd call that a win for the shippers as well as having fun characters and the ability to make your own custom unit), but whatever. Casual if you want it. Hope the Pheonix thing is kept separate from both Casual and Class though. That'd make the game super, super easy and some people might prefer the reduced tension of Casual without going quite so far.

Lack of breakable weapons...Well, that'll shift priorities. You'd just use your best toys all the time.

Honestly though, the only thing I don't like is the splitting of the game into the Pokemon style dual games. That's just blatant money grubbing. Even Pokemon could at least be partially excused as a means of enforcing multiplayer (which is something FE is emphatically NOT all about).

 

[SupahEwok]

YOU ARE SO WONDERFUL. EVERYONE LOVES YOU. YOU ARE SO SMART. EVERYONE WANTS TO HAVE YOUR CHILDREN.

Uh huh. I'll have you know that my character was female. Therefore, she wanted to have everyone elses children. Don't you just feel silly now?

Honestly, FE never had a powerful plot, and the side characters have always been pretty flat. At least the ones in Awakening were quirky and memorable, if not deep. I was particularly fond of Lucina. Overall, I thought it was a desperately needed improvement in the series.

But these new changes are ridiculous. It's like they're drunk on their new found success, so they're changing everything to see what works. As a long time fan, some of these new changes are starting a disturbing precedent.

I too, had a female avatar, because the male just looked like such a damn dork. But most folks I've heard from had a male avatar, and frankly, the game seemed much more geared towards male wish-fulfillment with the likes of Tharja and Nowi. (Seriously, why Nowi. Why.)

Lucina was pretty much the only character I liked. But her Supports with Chrom and her mother are infuriating. They're not that much older than her, yet seem perfectly capable of being Grade-A parents with her doubts and insecurities. There was potential to explore what would happen when a mid-twenties person suddenly become a parent to a late teenage daughter but... well, the wasted ptoential there bugs me.

Agreed about the series never having a deep plot; some games (Blazing Sword, Path of Radiance) come closer than others (Sacred Stones, Awakening) though. And I just replayed Blazing Sword last week, and I'm telling you, there's a world of difference between its characters and Awakening's. FE7's characters had histories, goals, flaws, and connections between each other, and each different support relationship showed different facets of each character. Awakening's characters, on the other hand, only have one facet that is ever explored. This character is a Shrinking Violet! This character likes candy! This one is never noticed! This one is a perfectionist! This one is a dumb meathead! This one is apathetic! Which I think is caused by the fact that so much emphasis was put on mating. Everybody has to be simple because they have to be compatible with so many other people. Also, all relationships with the opposite sex HAVE to be romances, as opposed to FE7 where most relationships where simply friendships.

 

[hickwarrior]

Snipped for brevity

I think it also has to do with supports actually having ranks, being more easily identifiable. If you just want more platonic stuff, you'd probably have to write it into the story, make the system more complex or any other thing I can't think of right now. Basically, even more work to make it work right. Maybe.

 

[MazokuRanma]

Honestly I think casual mode is fine the way it is but Pheonix mode just seen unnecessary. What? You don't want to do another mission or skirmish to level up your character who was killed in the last mission thus missing out the experienced it would had earn if it had stayed alived longer?

Making the weapon unbreakable is a turn off for me since I kind of like that mechanic since it kind of make it realistic (weapon do get worn down if left uncheck). What else can we spend on our money on how? The stats increase items? They become useless once your characters can't used them anymore!

Yeah, weapon durability as thing does make sense, but it's also worth noting that people don't generally just use up weapons the way they do in Fire Emblem games. I feel like adding a blacksmith that would simply repair your weapons for a cost would have made more sense.

 

[KenAri]

Kinda shitty about the two-game thing. I get that they're psyched about Awakening's sales, but christ guys, you're not Pokémon yet. They did this two-path thing in Sacred Stones and it was one cartridge.

The two paths in Sacred Stones were each only 6 missions long, about a quarter of a Fire Emblem game. These two paths are each full length campaigns with an entirely new set of characters. This is hardly comparable to sacred stones. Also, did you know that if you buy one of the games you get the second one half off?

The whole deal seems perfectly fair to me.

That's a fair point. I'd forgotten how short the Sacred Stones paths were (Haven't played it since launch), although a part of that was probably down to chip capacity.

We don't know how big 'full length' is at this point though, do we? Awakening had I think 26 main chapters with around 20 side missions; if we're calling ~45 chapters 'full length' and the IFs give us a total of 80+ chapters, that'd be awesome. I'm concerned that 'full length' might just mean ~25 chapters per game, is why there's a sour taste in my mouth about the whole thing. The whole 'More than one purchase at launch' concept has been tainted by Day1 DLC and shit like that in the current gaming world, is all.

But hopefully IS will come through for us.

 

[NerAnima]

Honestly I think casual mode is fine the way it is but Pheonix mode just seen unnecessary. What? You don't want to do another mission or skirmish to level up your character who was killed in the last mission thus missing out the experienced it would had earn if it had stayed alived longer?

Making the weapon unbreakable is a turn off for me since I kind of like that mechanic since it kind of make it realistic (weapon do get worn down if left uncheck). What else can we spend on our money on how? The stats increase items? They become useless once your characters can't used them anymore!

Yeah, weapon durability as thing does make sense, but it's also worth noting that people don't generally just use up weapons the way they do in Fire Emblem games. I feel like adding a blacksmith that would simply repair your weapons for a cost would have made more sense.

I actually kind of like that idea, and it would give the blacksmith something else to do besides just sell armour and weapons, which would be just perfect. Honestly, I just wish that they keep weapon durability in the game, even on just the harder difficulties, just so that you had to think about what to bring with, and when to use it. Take it out of Casual, fine, but let me pay for abusing my weapons, damnit!