Awakening and Fates Appreciation Thread

[This Is A Whatever]

Alright, so I know they're not the best FE games in the series, but they're not bad. I wanna set up this thread to appreciate those 2 games for how they are since they're always bashed by everyone all the time. 

Personally, I think Awakening had a not to shabby story. Dig deep enough and you can get a pretty nice plot out of it. Alongside now knowing Grima's "birth" from the backstory in SoV, we actually can get a better view of the main villain within the story. Also, the children system in the game was very well placed in the game. The children actually had a purpose in the plot and were relevant as the whole time travel thing makes sense due to why they are time traveling in the first place. 

Fates wasn't all too bad either. It actually fixed most of the things Awakening was missing and/or needing fixing. The main one, the battle mechanics, was something Awakening was solely needing a fix on seeing as how it was pretty easy when you can pair up but the enemy can't. Nerfing it slightly and giving that feature to the enemy was a much needed fix while also allowing for people playing the game to strategize more on the battlefield instead of just throwing out their strongest tank. And even though Fates kinda didn't have the good things that Awakening had (which we will not discuss, not here anyway), it's still a pretty neat game overall.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Well, none of the game had a good story for sure but that's not why I play FE.

At least Conquest has a very interesting and challenging gameplay. Mission objectives from previous parts returned with a few modified ones. It was the hardest FE game on the lowest difficulty for me because the ressources to train and boost your allies were limited. The reason why I had to ignore lots of units to focus on very few (like in FE10 HM).

Revelations has interesting gimmick ideas but they don't work in FE. Picking one door and hoping that your choice won't be punishes is just pure gambling and has no spot in FE. Even Wheel of Fortune offers more strategy than this. Also the elevator chapters just slow down the game. However I have to admit the design of the final boss was by far the best (and only good one) in Fates.

Birthright has just slightly better Awakening gameplay and difficulty even if also a few more mission objectives exist. I prefer Hoshido's cast over Nohr's but that's not enough to say it was a great FE game for me.

Awakening is my least favorite FE game simply because the map design is boring and it features nothing else than rout enemy and defeat boss missions. Two pseudo defend chapters exist but that's not enough in FE for me. It went like two steps back after FE10 (I don't count the Archanea remakes). Pair-up was a neat idea but only helped the player.

[Magical Glace]

CQ was good in the gameplay department.  The story was... a thing, but there's nothing quite like, say, Chapter 21 gameplaywise.  While my favorite chapter in the series is still FE6 Chapter 22, Conquest does offer some competition.  And I did like the Nohrians more than the Hoshidans in general, so.

Haven't played Birthright or Revelations because not really interested.

I have very little good to say about Awakening due to finding it incredibly boring and not having good difficulty balance (Hard - > Lunatic jump is too big), but I did like a few of the characters at least.  And infinite convoy is nice.

[Ronnie]

I love Awakening! The characters, 75% of the story, the soundtrack, and all the emotions I felt playing the game. I love how unlimited it feels with class/skill options and I just find it incredibly fun and flexible. Played on Hard/Classic.

Birthright was pretty good. I really enjoyed the characters and although the story was basic I did enjoy it. The gameplay was more challenging than Awakening but I had a good time with it overall. I loved the soundtrack too. Played on Hard/Classic.

Conquest was a whole other beast. I did like the game but it was by no means a cakewalk. I struggled and cursed and sweated anxiously playing the game even on Normal. The story was meh, the characters were great, same good soundtrack as Birthright but I was burnt out half-way through CQ so it felt like a chore to finish. Played on Hard/Classic and dropped to Normal/Classic around Ch 9.

[Ertrick36]

Fates spawned some of the best supporting characters in the series, and I'm eternally grateful for that.  Seriously, I'm glad we got the likes of Mozu, Charlotte, and Oboro.  Apart from that, the story (for all its flaws) has its charms, the soundtrack is great, and gameplay helped to bring the series ever forward.  Of course CQ is challenging as balls, but BR and Revelation have their fair share of challenges for newer players and can be made more challenging through PMUs and whatnot.

Awakening gave us two powerful female leads (one which is optional, the other which outright usurped Marth's place as the face of FE), saved the franchise, and introduced me to what's now one of my favorite gaming franchises.  Good soundtrack as well, a story that's made all the more engaging with the support system and likable characters, and even in spite of not being the most challenging FE game, is still quite a bit more challenging than the average game.

 

While they may not be the most respected by series vets, I love them a lot, and I'm glad for what they've done for the series as a whole.  Of course I'm not all that keen on "waifu/husbandu wars", but that's a negligible issue for me.

[Jamalex]

dunno if I'm just looking back on it with rose-colored glasses because it was the first one I played, but I really enjoyed (and still enjoy) Awakening. Sure, the story and overall gameplay may be nothing to write home about in comparison to other games, but I still get a kick out of playing Chrom and Robin's adventures in Ylisse. 

Fates: Conquest is my favorite FE game, even though the story is not great. The gameplay and characters really did wonders for me. Behind SoV, I think Conquest might have one of my favorite character casts. The other two games I've only played through once, but I did enjoy them a lot when I played them.

If Nintendo and IS ever decide to do a remaster of Fates on Switch (to fix the story), I would be right there in line to buy it.

[Jingle Jangle]

What I appreciated in Awakening was the game acknowledging the different pairings. There are hundreds different ending for all the couples. Even more with the DLC support  conversations. It really is impressive how much a person's play through can differ from another. With leads me to my next point of the supports themselves.  The support conversations in Awakening and Fates rely more on understand on character building by seeing that character interact with other characters. It is much some subtle compared to other games in the series, which  I appreciated.

As for Fates I enjoyed how much effort came to the game. Over sixty maps, characters, three different what if tales. A lot of effort came in to the project. Next is the world. In most Fire Emblem game most of the countries looked the same. In Fates there is  a massive gap between Hoshido and Nohr. From the visual appearences to how most of the classes played. There is as well, the usual  positives points: the  maps, the calm/ blaze soundtrack, certain points in both game stories (after Emmeryn's fall, the choice Corrin has to make) , and Kozaki expressive style. That are my two cents.