What makes an FE game Enemy or Player Phase oriented, and why?

[Alistair]

So it maybe me being a thundering dumbass, but it recently dawned on me how Player-phase oriented FE Heroes is, at least on the meta level, so that got me thinking which games were Enemy and Player-Phase oriented, and for what reason?

 

For FE Heroes, the reasons I think it's so Player-phase oriented is because it's so offense-biased, due to omission of weapon durability and RNG (hit/crit rates) removing costs/consequences to being hyper-aggressive in playstyle. 

[Icelerate]

If enemy units are weak compared to your own, then the game is more enemy phase-oriented. Since on enemy phase, you can send a powerful unit to one shot everyone that attacks. On the other hand, on player phase, you can only kill a few of them, since you will most likely not have too many units that can one shot each enemy they attack. 

Also the more enemies with 1-2 range, the more you are forced to use handaxes and javelins on EP. However, these are weak weapons so to maximize your damage output, you'll have to make good use of player phase. 

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Enemy density and enemy power relative to your units is the obvious factor. Theres also map design i guess

 

FE12 for example had low enemy density and high enemy power. Thats why its extremely player phase focused. Thats not to say the game is always player phase based, Sanctuary of Sorcery and Anris Way is Enemy Phase based

[Jedi]

Theres also the question of how powerful 1-2 weapons are in a game and if the enemies are weak or strong ontop of it. 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Conquest throws very strong enemies in small packs, making an environment in which baiting the enemy with a sturdy unit like Corrin or Effie was the most safe way to engage enemies as you finish them off in the following player phase. In fact, Corrin's dragonstone, which he uses to tank, cannot double enemies, ensuring he leaves the kill for somebody else and you can spread the exp. So altogether I would describe that as a very enemy phase focused game, even if 1-2 range weapons like tomes and javelins aren't quite as strong as they used to be.

Echoes by contrast I would call much more player phase oriented. In that game, the non passive skills take the form of Combat Arts and Spells. You can only use Combat Arts on player phase. Same goes for any black magic spell besides Fire or Nosferatu, which are what you're stuck with on enemy phase. Furthermore, enemy variety in Echoes made the player's decisions more key to victory. A summoner will never willingly attack your units on player phase, they will get a lot more done if they just keep summoning and bogging down the player. Plus the presence of witches prompts the player to not leave any low res units out in the open where they could get sniped.

The way I see it, Fire Emblem games in general appear to be more enemy phase focused, at least they were before Echoes and Heroes when enemies had virtually no skills, and GBA era + Tellius had especially pathetic enemies in terms of stats. Most of the player-phase decisions were just "how can I best make use of my healer and refresh units?", and "how am I going to catch that thief before he reaches the chest?". Maybe FE4 and 5 are player phase focused since a lot of the skills were 100% activation rate, letting you make more crafty moves that the player can be sure will work.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Glennstavos