Having finished the first chapter, I feel that the new things introduced in Echoes are held back by being introduced in a Gaiden remake of all things. For example, the new weapon skill system. By the end of the first chapter, I had five swordsmen but only two non-basic swords to pass around to make use of weapon skills and make my units more than just stats; had two non-basic swords because that's what the original Gaiden apparently gave you by the end of the first chapter. Also had four lancers, but again only two non-basic lances to pass around. The...strange adherence to Gaiden stops the mechanic from shining as well as, say, Awakening's Pair Up did in its debut. Having to grind out a weapon's skills before being able to use them and, far as I can tell, having to keep said weapon to be able to use it aren't exactly making it shine any better. Gets in the way of the RPG Echoes seems to be trying to be.
On a separate note, diving just a tiny bit into the next chapter before I call it a day, I have to say I find Celica's starting group far more interesting. They're all fragile mages that play with Gaiden's magic system which only brings them even closer to death. First fight might've been easy regardless and the next couple probably won't be much harder, but I like it.
I was hoping the remake would at least improve to some degree in this regard.
