First hands-on Impressions?

[SpearOfLies]

Love! I don't feel the game force you to grind. So if you are grinding because you can't beat a map, it mean just no so good at fire emblem. I'm playing in hard/classic. The only grinding so far I'm doing is from moving through the map for subquest because of spawn unit and a shield skill grind for the pegasus sisters against arcanist's zombies.

[SuperIb]

I'm enjoying it quite a bit so far, or dare I say I'm loving it? For me, this is easily one of my favorite FE games, though I'm still trying to work out it's placing compared to my other faves.

Thoughts on maps/gameplay/voice acting/music/art/characters/story/writing/forging/villages/dungeons/complaints/fatigue/additional thoughts. WARNING: LONG.

Spoiler

 

Unlike a lot of people, I really like the maps. While they may be really empty or bland to some people, I like them for that. They just feel so natural. Like, if I'm fighting in a forest then it feels like I'm fighting in a forest, ya know? Same with the deserts, plains, etc. etc. I definitely am using terrain a lot more than I have in the past as well, which is nice.

I'm enjoying the actual gameplay a lot as well. The items are a very nice touch that I'm definitely taking advantage of. The skills/arts are very handy (notably for archers) when you just need that extra hit to finish off an enemy. I feel like if these additions weren't in the game, I wouldn't like the combat as much. Anyways, the grinding really doesn't bother me, since I'm so used to grinding in other RPGs, for Apotheosis in Awakening and for online in Fates. As for random encounters? When the enemy initiates them I'm just like, "Ehhhhhhh okay" but I don't mind too much. Also call me weird but I like the more BS enemies/maps where everything's just out to get you. I find it entertaining and fun. Also the difficulty spikes were nice. Forced me to actually grind my units, which was probably for the best.

The voice acting is very well done. I was sort of worried at first, but then after hearing all the characters I was fine. The conversations feel really natural and flow well. All in all the voice acting is really good and I'm glad that it's fully voiced. Oh and as for the voiceless villagers? Some people said they thought the quests were more last-minute or rushed, but I feel like it's intentional. Dunno why, but the NPCs that offer quests seem to fit in well without voices. Maybe it's because I played other RPGs where random quest-offering characters didn't have voices but idk. I don't mind it at all.

The music is excellent and my personal favorite in the series. My friend and I came to a general consensus that a big reason why it's so good is because in NES games, since they had lacked a lot of freedom in terms of making music (like notes, sounds and storage space), they had to make most if not every song as memorable as they could, which translated very well into full-orchestrated versions. Anyways, music is 10/10 would listen to again.

The art is fantastic, absolutely gorgeous. Definitely one of the high points in the game. It reminds me a lot of Radiant Dawn art which I liked a lot, but I like this even more. Hidari's art is just so well done and pretty. I like it so much ;-;

The characters so far are also rather enjoyable. Like most people, I think Faye's sort of a dick, but I just laugh off her crap calling her thirsty so that doesn't bother me too much lmao. (Faye carried through Act 1 for me due to having really high defense and just nosferatu). Anyways, I really like all the characters in this game and I actually feel like I know them. Awakening and Fates was weird, because you'd be introduced to the characters but then you wouldn't learn anything about them except from supports. But in this game, you can randomly talk to them where they reveal more about themselves and the supports are especially good... for the most part *COUGH*Faye*COUGH*. I dunno. The characters just feel like they have depth this time around. (Not that other FE characters didn't have depth, but it's really noticeable in this game)

The story is good. It's pretty typical FE but I think having duel-protagonists help out. I really am enjoying it so far, even though I've seen most things coming haha.

The writing is so much better ohmygod. I honestly hated the majority of the writing in Fates, so this was a welcomed step up. But seriously, it feels like they got an actual human to write stuff and not a meme (@ NOA). Everything feels natural and well in place.

The forging system is nice and I don't feel like the weapons I'm making are totally broken, but I do feel their impact quite a bit.

I find the villages (and places that navigate similarly) quite nice so far. Navigating is easy, examining is quick and the NPCs are fun. I enjoy them quite a bit.

I love the dungeons. A lot of the dungeons look REALLY nice texture/mesh wise and the atmospheres are great. I like the "persona-esque" dungeon crawling with random monsters here and there. Definitely a high point for me.

Fatigue hasn't bothered me so far, and I don't think it'll become a problem until post-game. It doesn't seem to difficult to cure and there's a lot of food items around and they seems to drop rather frequently in some of the dungeons so that's good. I am glad it's only in dungeons though, lol.

I think my main complaint may be the fact that some characters have a 0% RES growth (w/o DLC) and that you can't reset everyone back to their original classes (save for Dread Fighters) to continue to gain stats (Granted there's the villager's fork, but there's only one). I mean, not that you need to but I like to have that one "perfect" file where characters are just complete gods. You know, for fun?

As for other thoughts, I though Leon's character was handled very well. If you didn't know, he's gay. But Nintendo actually handled him well which was very nice to see. It's not all in-your-face like "I'M GAY B*TCHES" but it's subtle and well written. It' for sure is a f*cking step up from Niles and Rhajat who were just like... why? It was way too forced. Not them proposing to be gay in their S-support but the fact that they're gay (or bi rather) in the first place. It was just... weird. It felt like it was put in "just-cause." So I dunno, as a gay person it makes me glad that Leon was well done in his portrayal and that him being gay isn't the only part of his personality. The world building is a nice touch. I've been looking over it for the most part but I'm glad it's there. Moving on to the weapon triangle, I don't care that it's not in this game and it's good that it isn't, otherwise lances would be broken. I like the "infinite weapon" system a lot more in this game than Fates and wouldn't mind seeing it return. Oh and about the DLC? I don't really care too much about the price or how quickly it was released. I feel like the only odd thing is the story DLC stuff, which seems like something that maybe should've been in the base game maybe as an interactive memory prism? But besides that, the DLC is very much-so optional, so again, I don't care too much about it's sudden release or price.

Given everything, I really do like this game. I love how different it is yet it still feels more like a Fire Emblem game to me than Fates did. (Sorry Fates, lol) I'm just glad how it turned out, especially given some of the complaints I heard on Reddit when the JP version was released. I really am not bothered by anything most people have mentioned and in fact I'm enjoying all that stuff. It's just a very good, memorable game for me. I can totally see myself replaying this in the future.

Just to note, I am in Act 4 at the moment, about halfway through it.

 

Anyways I have to say, Saber has honestly been a godsend so far. My Saber has been getting great stat growths and he has carried/saved me countless times on Celica's route. Without him I think I'd have a lot more trouble lmao. Faye in Alm's route is a friggin' god as well. Not as much anymore, but during the first Act she got tons of defense and wouldn't take damage from anybody. That mixed in with Nosferatu and her oddly high success with it made her that much better. Too bad she's thirsty af. Est is also amazing as always, same with Catria. And I find it extremely satisfying on maps with Cantors because of all the kills that appear when you finish the map. Verrrrrrry satisfying.

10/10 would echo again. I hope for more remakes in the future. :p

[Slumber]

While I won't say this game completely redeems the franchise after Awakening and Fates, I will say this it has washed away a lot of the doubt I had that IS could capture the FE magic that did make me fall in love with the franchise. It makes me a lot more excited for FE: Switch than I was previously. 

A lot of the modern bells and whistles that come with modern game design has made the Gaiden-ness of this game a lot easier to swallow. Random map encounters are less of a drag when I can just hit the "charge" tactic, hold the L button, and mash start. These unnecessary encounters that could take upwards of 10 minutes in the old game end up taking only 1 or 2.

The writing(For both the characters and the plot) are consistently solid throughout the whole game, and it doesn't have the last arc fatigue that every FE since RD has had. 

Dungeons are even fun to run around in and explore, and it actually made the idea of a SS remake seem appealing to me, since the idea of running around the Valni Tower or Lagdou Ruins would make those games segments a lot more bearable. I would be totally fine if FES had dungeons like this and expanded. 

All around a very positive experience with the game. I'm in the post-game, and got to near the end of the dungeon before Alm took some Dragon Breath to the face and I got a game over, which pissed me off. But yeah, game's like a 9/10 for me. It's got a lot of fundamental issues that are just inherent to Gaiden, but they're really mitigated and easy to accept. Only occasionally do I stop and go "Right, this is a Gaiden remake. Of course this aspect sucks."

Weird how this year's been. Resident Evil 7, SoV and Breath of the Wild have rekindled my love for three of my favorite franchises, after years and games of disappointment. I now realize I can get excited for new projects in these series again. Mass Effect: Andromeda, however, makes me never want to see Mass Effect ever again, after giving BioWare/EA benefit of the doubt and consistently enjoying the original ME trilogy... Aside from the last 30 minutes. 

[Vorena]

I feel like this is the best presented FE story to date. Maybe not the best of plot, but it tells a story damn well.

[Orson]

I'm in love. Characters, maps, weapons, voices... there may be some minor flaws here and there but nothing really annoying. Amazing game.

I lost it on my first Triangle Attack. A thing of beauty.

[Mell]

4 hours ago, Vorena said:

I feel like this is the best presented FE story to date. Maybe not the best of plot, but it tells a story damn well.

Exactly my thoughts. And I love all the characters dialogues too. This game is kinda hard for me to play, but the story is worth the trouble.

[Carnation]

I feel conflicted.

I'm nearing the end of Act 3, and I have to say SoV's not going to be one of my favorites. Presentation-wise it's a lovely thing: the cast is nicely fleshed out (although I wish there were juuust a bit more interactions between them), the story is told compellingly, the voice acting is wonderful and Hidari's art is for the most part nice and fitting for this kind of title...

But the problems I had with Gaiden's gameplay and maps are still present in this remake. Too spacious and empty and tedious. When it comes to FE, I seem to value gameplay over story, so SoV has been kinda tough to enjoy at times.

I'll probably play this game again once the Cipher DLC characters are out, but for me there's not much replay value here otherwise.

[Thinks Their Own Way]

23 hours ago, I'm a Spheal said:

So far the good news is that even on my older system (2DS) it does run well, no lagging so I'm happy, I just recruited Clair so as of now... I like it better than Awakening. When I say I don't care about story in video games, I really don't care about story in video games... characters are fine, not spectacular... I like them enough, no L'Arachel's so far (my least favourite FE character ever). My only problem from a gameplay perspective is that it's really easy if you know anything about Fire Emblem (especially normal mode). If I had to rank it so far it's:

1. Fates
2. Sacred Stones
3. Shadows of Valentia
4. Awakening 
5. Blazing Sword

Update:

I retract that better than Awakening statement, summoner spamming alone is making me down grade my opinion of Echoes; they just drag this shit out for no reason; it's not fun to battle against and it's adds nothing in terms of difficulty. 

[Carter]

On 5/19/2017 at 9:48 PM, Carter said:

I haven't played much of the game so far, just the very first two battles, but I am really loving it!

The animations are very, very solid. They're so fluid, even watching the animations when a character misses is fun to watch! I also really like how the bottom screen mostly comprises of showing just the characters faces. Yeah, it has the stats and inventory and all that, like Awakening and Fates did, but the art for Echoes was extraordinary, so simply seeing their faces enlarged on the bottom screen made me really happy.

Anyways, I can't wait to play through more of the game! I'll probably try and get through the Thieves' Shrine as the last thing I play in Echoes before I go to sleep.

In addition to my main post (above), I wanted to point out that this is the first Fire Emblem game I played where I actually liked most of the male characters. In most Fire Emblem games, I never find their designs interesting, which stops me from caring about them because I think they seem uninteresting.

And actually, I pretty much like 90% of the Echoes cast. I've come to the conclusion that it's because everyone in Echoes is hot, everyone is good looking. I adore the art style in Echoes; I think it's phenomenal.

[Tenzen12]

So today FE echoes were delivered to me, I also bought N3DS just so I can play newer games starting with this one. So what are my first impressions? 

I don't have any. Instead of happily playing game I was looking forward for months I had to order $&!%ing console charger and wait for it another week. -break down crying-

Sorry for not saying anything productive I will join later for real so pls forgive me for bit complaining.