IS has asked you to design a game

[NekoKnight]

IS has asked you to design a game. They want this new game to take the very best things from each game in order to create something that all fans can enjoy. So, what will you put into this new game? The catch is, you can only take ONE story element and ONE gameplay element from each title you've played. It doesn't have to be the first instance such a thing has occurred in the series. Assume each element would be done well, even if the source game didn't do it so well.

Here is what I'd put into a new game

FE6: DRAGONS. Support conversations.
FE7: Multiple character/story arcs. Light/Dark/Anima magic.
FE8: A nuanced villain. Branching promotions.
FE9: World building. Base conversations.
FE10: Multiple perspectives and opinions on a conflict. Variety of victory conditions.
FE13: Multiple protagonists. Class skills
FE14: A story with multiple routes. Attack/Guard stance.
FE15: Use characters and the setting to explore different themes. Forging.
Heroes: This has a story? Some skills such as Obstruct and the Raven tome series.

I've played FE11 but I can't remember it well enough to comment...
 

 

Edited October 11, 2017 by NekoKnight

[DefyingFates]

From the games I've played:

FE7, FE8, FE15: the exact same things as you, but for Echoes's gameplay: the ability to build supports (and get boosts) from a unit that's two spaces away.

FE13: Multiple protagonists (I really liked Robin and their implementation here) and skills (but make their activation manual a la Echoes)

FE9 (I'm only halfway through this, so maybe I'll change my mind later): a down to earth story/ protagonist and bonus EXP.

FE10 (I haven't actually played this one, so am just going off of what I've heard): the option to have fixed EXP gains. The less control RNG has in a game, the better.

FE14 Birthright: gender-neutral classes.

FE Conquest (I'm only partway through this as well): mission variety* (FE9 does it better thus far, but I already have a gameplay mechanic from that, so...), a tenser atmosphere for the story.

FE Revelation (I haven't played this either, but needed a place to put this) Attack/ Guard stances.

FE Heroes: you know, I would actually love a full game built on Heroes' mechanics, but for now I'll say: 100% accuracy, skill activation and special rates (again, the less power RNG has, the better).

* except Chapter 19. I'm currently on Chapter 19 and I hate it so much.

[Jingle Jangle]

What I would do from the game I played:

• FE8: Able to recruit everyone.
• FE9: Bonus exp, good roster size
• FE10: Variety in objectives.
• FE11: Adding new characters if it is a remake.
• FE12: Variety in length of levels and size, side levels that tell a secondary story.
• FE13: Post game content, skills, blaze and map versions of songs, one trainee unit.
• FE14: Difficult endgame, Camp creation, sense of difficulty without feeling cheap or cryptic, attack/ guard stances, a well balance main character.
• FE15: Town visiting, postgame boss.

 

 

[MCProductions]

FE1, 3B1, 11- The basic plot structure I guess, being easy to pick up and understand is a nice thing for storytelling. Being designed with ironmanning in mind

FE2- This had a plot?. Multiple armies, TRS does this better, but it's technically not an FE game so...

FE3B2- The Show don't tell, I love shit like this and OG FE3 is bursting with it. FE3 Manaketes

FE4- The Scale. Having a legitimate home base on the map

FE5- How personal things get. Capture

FE6- The Lord's strengths and weaknesses being shown thru gameplay. It's simple structure gameplay wise despite still having legitimate and fair challenge

FE7- the characters, the rest of FE7's plot is very mixed to me, but I love me it's characters

FE8- Nuanced Villains. The World Map traveling

FE9- The attention to detail regarding character deaths, I mean, DAMN. Bonus Exp

FE10- Having the Multiple Armies fight each other. That's both my picks

FE12- ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

FE13- Multiple Arcs, Pair Up

FE14- Character's dying in the story. My Castle

FE15- The sheer amount of dialouge. Command based skills. Berwick does command based skills better, but again technically NOT a Fire Emblem Game

BONUS ROUND
TRS- Interweaving the story into the gameplay. Being able to choose who goes in what army

Berwick- Can't understand Japanese so no comment. Horses being a resource

Vestaria- See Berwick. The weapons having a Brawl Minus mentality design.



 

[Thane]

Gaiden/Echoes

Unique spell lists and different spell system. Town exploration.

Sacred Stones

Branching promotions. A nuanced villain that has a genuine connection with the protagonists.

Path of Radiance

Biorhythm Base conversations and more characters involved in the overall narrative.

Radiant Dawn

I absolutely adore how you split up towards the end, so I'm going to say, in addition to the previously mentioned suggestion with more characters thrown into the overall story, that I want to see unusual character interactions. Skrimir talking to Naesala is one of my favorite scenes in the series.

Awakening

Multiple protagonists, eventual avatar in a tactician role. Class skills. 

Fates

Branching paths, though preferably on a smaller scale but more numerous. Attack and Guard Stance.

Heroes

Timed activation skills, though I'm unsure if they should substitute the chance-based ones. 

[X-Naut]

Story, then gameplay.

FE4: More normal villains rather than evil dragons or demons or gods. Base castle with an arena.
FE5: Morally grey bandits and other small-time enemies. Weapon stealing.
FE6: Multiple nations with a distinct blend of cultures. Smart usage of same-turn and walk-on reinforcements.
FE7: Side characters with a bit more presence than their join chapter. Rescue command.
FE8: Multiple lords with a distinct path split. Branching promotions with class-innate skills.
FE11: Being more open about things that were fair for their day (slavery, child soldiers, etc.). Weapon rank bonuses.
FE12: Cheating a bit here, but two-part overarching story where friends and foes get shuffled between them. Promoted classes having a base weapon rank when reclassing.

And then there are a few games I haven't played but want certain gameplay elements...

FE9: Light magic being a class-specific type that runs off staff rank.
FE10: Indoor movement penalties for mounted and flying units.
FE13: Dark magic being a class-specific type that runs off tome rank.
FE14: The debuff system.
FE15: Combat Arts.

[NinjaMonkey]

PoR: Base conversations

RD: Double Magic Triangle, Height Bonus, Third tiers, Mastery Skills, Guaranteed 1 stat increase per level-up, Anyone can support anyone support system.

Awakening: Avatar, Second Seals

Edited October 11, 2017 by NinjaMonkey

[DarkDestr0yer61]

4 hours ago, MCProductions said:

Berwick- Can't understand Japanese so no comment. Horses being a resource

Yo, how does that work? Also, is Berwick good? I haven't heard anything about it.

 

Anywhos,

FE 1, Xane's class

FE 2, Magic System

4, Having morally gray characters5,

5, Dismount. I like mounted units getting a nerf

6, Getting legendary weapons throughout your journey

7, Mission variety

8, Split Routes

9, This support system

10, Base Conversations

11, The overall faster gameplay

12, Anti-turtling incentives (Astram squad, Hardin, etc)

13, Branched Promotions

14, Every character having personal skills

15, This forge system

Heroes. Skill activation being a tangible thing to calculate, instead of RNG

[Magical Glace]

Do I have to do the story elements?  From a plot standpoint, I'd rather the game be on its own feet, rather than a random mishmash of stuff from the other games.

Though for gameplay, putting together mechanically extremely similar games...:

Binding Blade/Blazing Blade: supports

Sacred Stones: Tower of Valni

Path of Radiance: Bonus EXP

Radiant Dawn: Ledges

Shadow Dragon/New Mystery of the Emblem: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Awakening: Staff EXP formula

Fates: unlimited durability

Shadows of Valentia: villages

Heroes: Integrated Weapon/Magic triangle

[MCProductions]

1 hour ago, DarkDestr0yer61 said:

Yo, how does that work? Also, is Berwick good? I haven't heard anything about it.

 

 

 

 

Horses for mounts have HP and thus can die if exposed to too much combat. You buy new horses with gold in the stable for mounts inbetween maps. As for Berwick's game quality, it's basically Kaga Tellius, the plot is very reminiscent of FE9, and while the game's mechanics try REALLY hard to not be FE after Nintendo's reaction to TRS, it still feels like FE at it's core. It's really ahead of it's time in a lot of ways, doing things FE wouldn't attempt until 3DS FE like it's skill system or My Castle Berwick's thing isn't called My Castle, but it's the same idea. The big thing that makes me unable to recommend it at present is that if you can't read Japanese STAY AS FAR AWAY FROM BERWICK AS POSSIBLE. It is NOT friendly to someone who doesn't understand the language unlike TRS or Vestaria where basic FE knowledge can get you thru it in Japanese. Thankfully, the guy who did TRS's English Patch is making a translation for Berwick now, so if you're patient, you should be able to have a good time with it.

[Captain Karnage]

FE 5: leadership for older Jagens

FE 6: supports

FE 8:world map

FE 9: Bring back the furries

FE 14: Dual Strike and Guard, but no pair up

FE 15: Learn spells that cost HP, and superflexible reclassing

[Rapier]

So, basically, FE13 the second coming?

FE4: [Story] Polish the politicking and scheming of the main characters in the story, as well as their backgrounds and Houses. [Gameplay] Find a way to field all characters in a map and not screw up with the gameplay.

FE5: [Story] Explore further the regions where the story takes place, its characteristics and issues. [Gameplay] Add a Capture system.

FE6: [Story/Gameplay] Add different routes. Have the player choose them than force him into an option.

FE7: [Story] Have multiple protagonists, like Eliwood and Hector (Lyn, as much as I like her, was a wasted potential) or Ephraim/Eirika. [Gameplay] Add gaiden chapters.

FE8: [Story/Gameplay] Add branched routes for each protagonist, but have they converge later.

FE9: [Story] Add Base Conversations. [Gameplay] Add Bonus EXP.

FE10: [Story] Separate the game into parts. Have those parts convey the passing of time (please no "999th day of [Season]" from SoV, which is silly), the consequences of the characters' actions, as well as changes to the environment they interacted with. [Gameplay] The unit stat balancing should be similar (but without the ridiculous unexistance issues for some  units).

FE11: [Gameplay] Add the same difficulty settings of FE11. It was perfect for any skill level.

FE12: [Story] Add "side villains" who are linked to the main characters in a way, like Catarina. [Gameplay] Add conditions where you have to do something specific and story related to recruit a character/get an item, like sparing the lives of Gra's soldiers to recruit Sheena and collecting all the Starspheres to recruit Tiki.

FE13: [Story/Gameplay] Allow characters to have multiple supports without such a rigid limit as in older FEs, where you could only have 3 Supports and that was it.

FE14: [Story] Let's take the story branching idea and make it into routes. Making different choices during the game results in going to different routes. Depending on the route, you get a different ending. There is no canon or perfect ending, and that's how it is supposed to be - Fire Emblem is about war and consequences and lame pop anime tropes, and success is paved through sacrifices.

 

[Ae†her]

The only game it should take story elements from is Genealogy, and only some of it, and that's it. As for everything else...

- I would like to see dismounting, and full movement use for cavalry units after an action (perhaps maybe all units?) from a lot of older games.

- Good map variety like in Fates.

- Recruitable and trainable legendary heroes from the older games like they had in Awakening. Except I think it would be more fun if they rewarded you with these heroes after you've done some PvP/multiplayer challenges.

- A return of Halberds (sometimes referred to as Poleaxes) from the older games, but with a new purpose such that it grants bonus damage for having more Skill than the opponent.

- Blood types, and different kinds of magic from the older games were also pretty nice, and I wouldn't mind seeing a return of that.

- Keep the infinite reuse of weapons, but perhaps change it so that after a certain number of battles the weapons may need to be repaired/sharpened requiring money to make efficient again. Perhaps even cause the weapons Mt/Hit/Crit to deteriorate if the weapon is not taken care of.

- I think this is sort of a mechanic in Shadows, where you sacrifice inventory slots for items that grant additional effects, but of course it costs one inventory space, and is not perfectly beneficial, but helps with certain effects.

- The medieval Houses, and families sort of thing like they used to have in the older games could be reintroduced. 

- And just as a general rule don't do stupid things like people being able to see Alm's brand through his armor because you know it just doesn't make sense, or the random Rudolf wanted you to kill him plot twist to save the world sort of thing; it's not sensible.

 

 

[henrymidfields]

Binding Blade:
Story: A more human-centric worldbuilding showing how humans can be the real villains.
Gameplay: Actually having to rely on the Luck and Skill stats to figuratively stay afloat at times.

Sacred Stones:
Story: Have at least one country be a republic.
Gameplay: Actually being able to re-supply at the local stores after clearing a chapter.

Tellius Series:
Story: Multiple perspectives on a major conflict.
Gameplay: Growth being accumulated on a decimal basis instead of being tied to percentage chance.

Awakening:
Story: Not sure to be honest...
Gameplay: Rally skills

Fates Conquest:
Story: One of the nations being Japanese-inspired.
Gameplay: Attack stance, debuffing, better enemy positioning etc...basically anything...and...everything that discouraged a one-man army playstyle and essentially forced you to use teamwork! Up to, and, including, encouraging everyone to do their part to defeat the last boss.

Something from myself:
Story: For once, have the female protagonist become the top leader (all in terms of story, spotlight, and gameplay) and actually run full-steam with it. (And no, Corrin doesn't really count.)
Gameplay: Distrust penalties. It is basically the opposite of support bonuses and leadership stars where distrust between units leads to loss of bonuses and even incursions of stat penalties. A gameplay translation of how former enemies still carries their resentment against their new allies. (eg the majority of playable units against FE6!Milady/Zeiss or FE8!Cormag/Dussel, Oboro vs any Nohrians etc) Implemented to former enemy soldiers with above-average stats for better gameplay balance. Penalties between individual units can be erased by having C+ support with that pairing.

Edited October 18, 2017 by henrymidfields

[FRZNHeir]

FE7- Magic Triangle. Prologue chapters.
FE8- Branching promotes. Well-written villain.
FE9- World building. Biorhythms. 
FE10- Large-scale Conflict. BEXP
FE13- Support system (to clarify, I mean the removal of a limit on support convos), Multiple arcs.
Fates- My Castle, Countries with different influences.

[vanguard333]

Story:

Path of Radiance: A story that is ultimately about people, rather than kill this monster to save the world, and a hero and villain that reflect this difference.

Radiant Dawn: The way we saw the perspective of all the different kingdoms: their history, their political structure, what's going on inside them, etc. Path of Radiance also did this well, but Radiant Dawn really expanded on it.

Shadow Dragon: (Doesn't really have much of a story; this'll be tricky...) The evil dragons in this game weren't evil because of madness, but because they are hardly tolerated, when they used to be the dominant race in the continent. 

Awakening: (Does have a plot, but is there much good in it?) The fact that the hero's kingdom wasn't perfect, and in fact did have a dark past with Chrom's father. No kingdom is perfect; no kingdom that I know of had nothing but good kings. It doesn't have to be the hero's father, but a sub-plot driven by the kingdom's dark past coming back to haunt it might be good.

Fates (Oh no... Do I really need to pick a story element from this game!!?): Um... I guess... The hero being adopted, perhaps? That could perhaps be interesting, if the hero was adopted... 

Shadows of Valentia: Oh no, did I already use the hero's kingdom not being perfect? Drat. Um... Two protagonists, maybe? No; wait, I have it: after regaining their kingdom's freedom, the heroes do try to negotiate for peace, but it either goes unanswered or is responded with another invasion.

Gameplay:

Path of Radiance: all the good parts of path of radiance's base: base conversations, forging, etc.

Radiant Dawn: ledges.

Shadow Dragon: mercenaries being good units. Multiple types of manaketes. Mage Dragon, Earth Dragon, Wyvern, etc.

Awakening: Um... 1-2 ranged swords.

Fates: (Conquest) variety of chapter objectives (though Path of Radiance did this best).

SoV: dungeons, or archers having 1-5 range.

Edited October 20, 2017 by vanguard333

[Tolvir]

Interesting.  For simplicity I am going to just go with the games I have personally played.

Path of Radiance: Ledge and Height mechanics. Something that has been sorely missing from the 3d map designs Fates, Awakening, and SoV. Story Wise, grounded villains with actual motivations.

Radiant Dawn: The entire end game idea from both a gameplay and story standpoint. Say what you will about the story of the games and the balance, one of my favorite parts of Radiant Dawn was the end game tower you have to go through. Having a gauntlet of 4-5 maps each with an actual boss was a lot of fun. It both had an epic feel to it due to having to choose the best of the best you had available, and from a story standpoint of this being the final fight you had been gearing up for. Great concept that should return.

Awakening: Avatar system. Albeit with some big changes in customization. Likewise, story standpoint, Avatar again. While the 2nd half of Awakening overdid Robin, the 1st few chapters handled it quite well by having the Avatar be the tactician/dual protagonist/lesser figure to the main lord. That is what needs to happen, but without hijacking the story from the main lord.

Fates: Balanced reclassing/branching promotions. Story wise, getting you engaged in the characters. Regardless of the fact that Fates was a bad story, it got a few things right. And one of those was being able to get you invested in the emotions of the story, in particular with Chapter 6. Fire Emblem has been lacking that for the most part, Fates did a good job of doing that.

SoV: Dungeons. I really liked dungeons and would love for them to return. They add both a bit of world building through allowing you to actually explore a location, and with a few additions they could make it pretty engaging. Story wise, full voice acting.

[SoulWeaver]

We'll just go with what I've played for now, maybe bypassing one or two if they didn't have anything that jumped out at me as special.

Story: The main Protagonist is a somewhat close relative of a legendary hero(Shadow Dragon, there being only 68 years between Anri[who?T_T] and Marth), and as such has much expected of them. The game features a secondary Protagonist with their own story arc(SoV, Celica being ultimately a secondary Protag despite IS's assurances that she and Alm would share the spotlight), and you must choose which Protagonist to play as after a certain point(Sacred Stones, as you must select either Ephraim or Eirika to use as your main Lord). The primary Protag's Story revolves around the mysterious disappearance of {insert important character here}, eventually leading into the token dark-cult-of-nefariousness(Blazing Sword, since Eliwood's Story begins with his father's disappearance and leads into the Black Fang thing), while the secondary Protag's Story involves obtaining powerful artifacts to halt an invasion(Binding Blade, since Roy's party decides to obtain as many of the legendary weapons as possible to prevent Bern from using them). After you finish one storyline, there will be a short timeskip, then you will play through the other Protagonist's Story(Awakening, as it has multiple story arcs), with enemy levels scaled of course.

Gameplay: Mages will have a short list of spells they can cast without needing a Tome, but will lose HP to do so(SoV). One Protagonist's Story will feature more advanced gameplay, with varied objectives, LOTS of Fog of War,  more map hazards, etc.(Conquest), while the other Protagonist's Story will be a more basic playthrough, with more of a lean towards simple Rout or Seize objectives, fewer map hazards, etc.(Birthright) There will be an area where the player may level grind to make the game easier(Sacred Stones), but there will be limitations placed on it. There will also be optional Paralogues(Awakening), but they will only unlock if certain conditions are met during a corresponding Chapter, making them more like Gaiden Chapters(Blazing Sword/Binding Blade) than the Paralogues you may be used to.

[Florina's #1 Fan]

FE4- A dark story that feels like it has weight to it. Can't choose on gameplay between weapon repair, character exclusive skills, or holy blood...

FE6- Sympathetic villain. Gameplay-wise, secret shops.

FE7- Multiple protagonists. Magic triangle (bring monks back pleaaaaaaaaaassssssseeeeee)

FE8- Story-wise, not a big fan. Gameplay-wise, Branching promotions.

FE9- Kidnap Kita Senri  The worldbuilding in FE9 was great. And for gameplay, bonus experience.

FE10- Don't let Kita Senri leave Multiple perspectives on conflict is awesome. And for gameplay, different victory conditions is cool.

FE13- Story-wise, I liked having the avatar around. Supports were my favorite in this game, but I also like the length of the campaign and the constant spotpass updates, as well as the streetpass stuff that Awakening had and the avatar, so I can't really choose on gameplay.

FE14- I don't really like a whole lot of Fates, but the branching paths thing was cool. Gameplay? Probably the fact that luck actually mattered.

FE15- I did not like Echoes' story at all. Gameplay-wise, I liked how villagers worked in that game.