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Little things Awakening did right


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On 03/07/2017 at 8:25 AM, TheSilentChloey said:

Personally I just enjoy Awakening for the experience that it has given me.  Up until Awakening I had never played Fire Emblem.  To me Awakening was amazing and an experience.  Then when I picked up Fates with the hope of getting that same awesome experience it just never happened, the characters were flatter and seemed...rushed.  And Corrin/Kamui was the worst part of it.  Awakening is something that I just can't put a finger on as to why it is so much fun.

Seconding this, it was literally exactly the same for me (personally I think it was just because of the characters), other than that would be the ability to see enemy range and highlight certain enemies (can't remember if awakening did this first but i don't remember it being in new mystery) that one change just makes the fire emblem games so much more playable

 

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On 7/18/2017 at 6:52 AM, Mackc2 said:

other than that would be the ability to see enemy range and highlight certain enemies

That's in SD and NMotE. It's so useful. Hell, I think some functionality was placed in the GBA titles (can someone confirm if I'm remembering this right?)

Except when you can't really tell through the fog (damm you 13x/20x!)

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Awakening to this day holds a very special place in my heart as it is the game with the longest playtime on my 3DS by far, with around 1,200 hours of total playtime since I bought my game along with my 3DS back in 2012, I think it was.
In fact, I bought the system EXCLUSIVELY so I could play Awakening. Back then, I had no idea what other awesome games would come out (SMTIV, Stella Glow, Bravely Default etc.), so I basically bought a ~300€ game. And it was worth every cent I payed for it. I still play Awakening from time to time, because, as many others have said, it has TONS of replay value, awesome and memorable characters and - I know I'm pretty alone with this, but frankly, I don't give a crap - a good story to boot. The maps were a mixed bag, I admit, though I still enjoyed most of them. Personally, I enjoyed the Valm chapters onwards the most in terms of gameplay, but the others were fine, too.
I especially like that you have a crapton of enemies on most later maps so it really feels like you're fighting an actual army, which was something I loved in Radiant Dawn, the game that got me into Fire Emblem in the first place.
All this on top of an amazing soundtrack, Fire Emblem's most badass looking villain by far, a more lighthearted approach to the writing, great voice acting in both English and Japanese, and at least a semblance of story relevance for every character you can recruit, including the children.
The only thing I don't like about Awakening isn't even the game's fault.

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On 7/2/2017 at 8:53 AM, The DanMan said:

This is a topic that's been flitting around in my mind for some time-- despite Awakening being probably the single most controversial game in the series and least popular title among veteran fans (heck, it's my personal least favorite), to say it's all bad is simply hyperbole. So, I raise the question: what are the little things you like about Awakening, even if you don't like it overall?

Yeah see that's exactly kinda attitude that made me so hesitant to associate myself with Fire Emblem fans. I know you just said to say "it's all bad is simply hyperbole" but what exactly made it so controversial to begin with?

The support system? As far I'm concern Awakening improve it on drastically especially compare to Blazing Sword. It's the whole reason why the cast is so compelling to me as it shows that none of the cast is as straight forward as they appear. I still think the reason why the majority of Echoes/Gaiden's cast never appeal to me was because of this reason.

 

The story? I won't deny the story is as straight forward as it can be, but I never understood why this is such a deal breaker? Going off once again with comparison of Blazing Sword & it's supposedly complicated politics never captivate me at least compare to Echoes' but then again I suppose that's more aligned of culture instead.

 

The villains? Validar was as generic as it get, but Gangrel & Walhart were powerful foils to Chrom. Gangrel & Chrom's personal vendetta made it incredibly engaging as one has a violent hatred towards what the previous Exalt (not Emmeryn) & Ylisse's history while the other is his driving vengeance toward his sister's murderer.

Then there's the whole Walhart & Chrom where they're incredibly similar but couldn't be any more different. Walhart is man who believed that those with overwhelming power should be the one to rule & lead therefore he unites the nation by force while Chrom leads by having faith in his (Robin/Avatar) friend & tries to unite the nation through diplomacy & their consensus. Hell, even their battle strategy are different with Quanity (Walhart) VS Quality (Chrom). Granted it's still mostly Robin/Avatar that's doing the actual strategy.

Grima on other hand was just a generic doomsday villain with his design being his only saving grace. If we actually seen him fight Naga that might've been give him depth to his hatred toward her but I seriously doubt it. Honestly, I'm more surprise that he didn't have an evil mustache to twirl.

 

So as far I'm concern I really don't see how the negatives outweigh the positive here that makes it a controversial game & really don't see how don't see how it's only saving graces are the critical hit portrait cut-in & the FMV cutscenes

 

TLDR; Why is it a controversial game even though the supports are fine & the villain are serviceable.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Awakening is my first FE game and im playing it now. 

I really enjoy most of it but then again i dont have a basis for comparison. 

I really love the gameplay and story. They also did a really good job on most characters imo. 

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2 hours ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Gangrel's motive was to defend against Walhart, the war wasn't a factor except as something for him to use as anti Ylissean propaganda.

Gangrel himself is a character that needs a tweak, I think.

While probably true, I think you're in the wrong thread.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I liked the design and layout of Awakening more than Fates. Awakening isn't that great of a story, but compared to Fates' plot I think it's a miracle. Awakening is my favorite game in the series specifically because it was my first FE game, and all the little details and legendary weapons/characters in the game got me interested into the rest of the series. I actually did feel a little saddened when Emmeryn died, whereas compared to Mikoto I felt nothing because we barely see anything about her sense of character. Emmeryn at least follows you through a fifth of the journey in the game. The borders and design patterns with the text in Awakening I just found much more appealing than the one they used in Fates. Awakening's soundtrack also has songs that almost perfectly fit their themes, whereas Fates has some amazing tracks that can better represent other aspects of the game, than what it actually plays on, and of course compared to previous games before Awakening, Awakening curb-stomps them in animation (but not character design though ;)). Those are the little things I think Awakening did right.

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On 7/20/2017 at 10:36 PM, Zangetsu said:

Yeah see that's exactly kinda attitude that made me so hesitant to associate myself with Fire Emblem fans. I know you just said to say "it's all bad is simply hyperbole" but what exactly made it so controversial to begin with?

The support system? As far I'm concern Awakening improve it on drastically especially compare to Blazing Sword. It's the whole reason why the cast is so compelling to me as it shows that none of the cast is as straight forward as they appear. I still think the reason why the majority of Echoes/Gaiden's cast never appeal to me was because of this reason.

 

The story? I won't deny the story is as straight forward as it can be, but I never understood why this is such a deal breaker? Going off once again with comparison of Blazing Sword & it's supposedly complicated politics never captivate me at least compare to Echoes' but then again I suppose that's more aligned of culture instead.

 

The villains? Validar was as generic as it get, but Gangrel & Walhart were powerful foils to Chrom. Gangrel & Chrom's personal vendetta made it incredibly engaging as one has a violent hatred towards what the previous Exalt (not Emmeryn) & Ylisse's history while the other is his driving vengeance toward his sister's murderer.

Then there's the whole Walhart & Chrom where they're incredibly similar but couldn't be any more different. Walhart is man who believed that those with overwhelming power should be the one to rule & lead therefore he unites the nation by force while Chrom leads by having faith in his (Robin/Avatar) friend & tries to unite the nation through diplomacy & their consensus. Hell, even their battle strategy are different with Quanity (Walhart) VS Quality (Chrom). Granted it's still mostly Robin/Avatar that's doing the actual strategy.

Grima on other hand was just a generic doomsday villain with his design being his only saving grace. If we actually seen him fight Naga that might've been give him depth to his hatred toward her but I seriously doubt it. Honestly, I'm more surprise that he didn't have an evil mustache to twirl.

 

So as far I'm concern I really don't see how the negatives outweigh the positive here that makes it a controversial game & really don't see how don't see how it's only saving graces are the critical hit portrait cut-in & the FMV cutscenes

 

TLDR; Why is it a controversial game even though the supports are fine & the villain are serviceable.

You and I share a lot of the same views. I agree with the majority of your opinion. I also have a hard time seeing why this game is getting bashed around since I can look up any Awakening video on Youtube and see a lot of people praising the game or how it's a must have 3DS game. It's a little jarring to me since I've played this game 3 times and enjoyed every single run only to look up other people's opinions on forums and see a complete 180 to what I experienced.

Edited by Ronnie
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6 hours ago, Ronnie said:

You and I share a lot of the same views. I agree with the majority of your opinion. I also have a hard time seeing why this game is getting bashed around since I can look up any Awakening video on Youtube and see a lot of people praising the game or how it's a must have 3DS game. It's a little jarring to me since I've played this game 3 times and enjoyed every single run only to look up other people's opinions on forums and see a complete 180 to what I experienced.

SereneForest is strange like that. Even if you disagree with someone they would least take the time to explain why they feel this way. If the person I had trouble with the most is actually making a sincere attempt to improve themselves.

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What I enjoyed was the small attention to detail.

  • The spotpass teams reference the friend/ allies that character has.
  • Cherche have the Troubadour and Cleric lines? She was originally training to be a cleric before she met Minerva. 
  • Sumia and Cordelia having opposite personalities and playstyles. Cordelia is a frontline physical unit. Sumia is a magical support unit.
  • In Tharja's S support with Fredrick, she saids " I don't care about a sound body, and I don't WANT a sound mind. Mages need to stay a little crazy, or we lose our edge" Most of the people that can re-class to a dark mage are a bit strange. 
  • The reason Robin so powerful.He was specifically bred to be Grima's host, it makes sense that they'd try to make him a strong vessel.
  •  Cordelia's by reclassing  she can use every weapon type in the game.  She really is a skilled fighter. 
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23 minutes ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Legitimate criticism of Awakening is fine, all games are open to critique. 

We need more of this and less of "this game suck because it just does" (an opinion that I would be doubtless be labeled with because I don't like FE Fates)

Also people need to understand that Awakening is a very personal experience type of game; it essentially comes down to the player and how they interpret everything.  The same could be said of any and all Fire Emblem games.

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3 minutes ago, TheSilentChloey said:

We need more of this and less of "this game suck because it just does" (an opinion that I would be doubtless be labeled with because I don't like FE Fates)

Also people need to understand that Awakening is a very personal experience type of game; it essentially comes down to the player and how they interpret everything.  The same could be said of any and all Fire Emblem games.

Criticism should be elaborated on, I agree with that.

There is truth to that. But even if you like a game, I think being open to critiques of it is always on the table.

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You have a point. You either go all 2D animation or 3D models. You can't do both. Personally I would like to a Fire Emblem game completely animated in 2D, but then it could look to anime. 

Edited by Zepler
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  • 1 month later...

Realized after playing PoR that Awakening's portraits actually reflected changes in mood. Made the characters feel more alive. Everytime I play PoR, I can help but feel Ike is a bit unemotional to be the protag, and I'm pretty sure a good part of that is his portrait.

I also like how Awakening removed the support limit, though that's canceled out by having too many supports combined with how S-rank works that makes it quite hard for any relationships that come out of it to feel natural.

Edited by RedRob
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32 minutes ago, RedRob said:

Realized after playing PoR that Awakening's portraits actually reflected changes in mood. Made the characters feel more alive. Everytime I play PoR, I can help but feel Ike is a bit unemotional to be the protag, and I'm pretty sure a good part of that is his portrait.

I can't handle the empty death stares particularly in the GBA games or Shadow Dragon; they clash completely with the mood they're going for far too frequently.

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