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[NeonZ]

Also I'm not sure how much of the story was the fault of the guest writer. IIRC they just had them draft the main story and then adjusted it to fit their vision for the game. And that involved cutting it to pieces to fit the three game thing.

The draft was already made with the three routes in mind though. And we know for certain some of the worst ideas, like the magical throne and the curse, came from Shin Kibayashi.

There's also how Hinoka, one of the confirmed IS additions to the story, has very little active participation in the plot compared to the other royals. And that probably happened to avoid changing the original story flow.

 

[Bronetta]

Fire Emblem Awakening was my first FE and my favorite 3DS game so I was pretty excited for Fates. Even got the Collectors Edition.


I couldnt even make it half way through Birthright. The writing is so bad, I couldnt force myself to play any more and dropped it.

 

[Griss]

Late to this thread but yes, yes it is.

It's "If you don't skip the dialogue you will be angry at the game" level bad.

 

[Golnei]

You could probably have salvaged the plot if the two main characters straight up didn't exist and it was just Hoshido vs Nohr played straight. I know that's a huge change, but we talking about the two of the worst protagonists you can find in a successful game. I can't believe Corin is in Smash now and will probably be retroactively brought back like Roy, who's also a shitty character.

Azura is just a void, but it's remarkable how much worse Corrin's existence makes even the basic relationship dynamics and interactions of the rest of the cast. Camilla, for example, would be improved tenfold if Corrin just didn't exist.

Also, I just remembered that Lilith was a thing.

 

[CazTGG]

What about RD's storytelling did you dislike? Sure it's pretty wordy but the content is really interesting, I'd put it above every story in the series besides FE4 and FE5

Putting aside my issues with the Jugdral entries, a higher word count does not a good story make. The characters were either paper-thin and new or pale imitations of their Path of Radiance counterparts, the plot is poorly structured while trudging along at a snail's pace, the retcons that follow create massive problems for both Tellius games as well as marring some of its predecessor's best moments, and everything in Part 4 is pretentious dreck that made an already brainless bit of storytelling mind-rottingly insulting with its delusional, pseudo-philosophical ramblings.

 

[Akhe]

Well, some games that people said are bad turns out good for me so I don't know what to say lol

 

[Kevdo]

I can't help but feel like this is one of those things that people waaay overreact to, but I also can't tell you what to like or not like, so to each their own, I guess.

For my part, I don't think the story is bad. It's just...there. It's an excuse to make people fight shit. Fire Emblem is more about the strategy and combat anyway, so I can look past the story and writing, which are essentially forgettable.

I just can't understand or relate to the idea of quitting Fates because of the story. I don't get what's so "offensive" about it.

 

[KO Traveling Hobo]

Putting aside my issues with the Jugdral entries, a higher word count does not a good story make. The characters were either paper-thin and new or pale imitations of their Path of Radiance counterparts, the plot is poorly structured while trudging along at a snail's pace, the retcons that follow create massive problems for both Tellius games as well as marring some of its predecessor's best moments, and everything in Part 4 is pretentious dreck that made an already brainless bit of storytelling mind-rottingly insulting with its delusional, pseudo-philosophical ramblings.

I don't remember any pretentious pseudo-philosophical rambling in Radiant Dawn. Are you just talking about how they mistook Yune for an evil god?

 

[Hazmat]

They wanted to do this thing where two of the versions put your character on opposite sides of a war. Tactics Ogre sort of does this with a political conspiracy plotline with various shenanigans where neither side is "right" but here there is clearly one massively evil side. Rather than just let you be a bastard in the evil version they do some flimsy bullshit to explain it and it just doesn't work.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

.

Give me good worldbuilding and a plot that involves more than two countries.

The worst part of Fates is that the worldbuilding (which is normally the best part of the storytelling in Fire Emblem) is AWFUL. Awakening didn't have great world building either, but Fates is so much worse. The setting in Fates doesn't feel like a real place, they never really establish the setting, you have no concept of where your army is or why that matters, nor the different people's and cultures that inhabit the world...it makes me so sad. Most Fire Emblem games create a unique and interesting world, even if the plot is pretty standard, and fill that world with interesting and endearing characters. Fates does none of that.

 

[watershed]

Yes it's bad. Everything is rushed from the very start of the game. No relationships feel earned. I never got pulled into the world either.

 

[Theosmeo]

Putting aside my issues with the Jugdral entries, a higher word count does not a good story make. The characters were either paper-thin and new or pale imitations of their Path of Radiance counterparts, the plot is poorly structured while trudging along at a snail's pace, the retcons that follow create massive problems for both Tellius games as well as marring some of its predecessor's best moments, and everything in Part 4 is pretentious dreck that made an already brainless bit of storytelling mind-rottingly insulting with its delusional, pseudo-philosophical ramblings.

I agree that it's poorly paced, however people praise Sacred Stone's story to high heaven and it suffers from similar issues in its opening. Very little about RD struck me as attempting to be philosophical, the closest thing was Yune/Ashera riding the coattails of SMT's chaos/order decisions. Every character had understandable motivations and made reasonable decisions with the exception of Lekain and Izuka because they're villains and have to be evil. The pretower maps in part 4 can be a drag and slow that point of the game to a complete halt but none of that compares to some of the mind boggling absurdity of Conquest. Such as Corrin using

Spoiler

"non lethal?" tactics

or moments like this https://youtu.be/-yxdTnxaxhA where you get a reward and some royal cock sucking for doing something so unabashedly evil

 

[CazTGG]

I don't remember any pretentious pseudo-philosophical rambling in Radiant Dawn. Are you just talking about how they mistook Yune for an evil god?

No, it's (mostly) in Part 4...although that was pretty stupid of them.

I agree that it's poorly paced, however people praise Sacred Stone's story to high heaven and it suffers from similar issues in its opening. Very little about RD struck me as attempting to be philosophical, the closest thing was Yune/Ashera riding the coattails of SMT's chaos/order decisions. Every character had understandable motivations and made reasonable decisions with the exception of Lekain and Izuka because they're villains and have to be evil. The pretower maps in part 4 can be a drag and slow that point of the game to a complete halt but none of that compares to some of the mind boggling absurdity of Conquest. Such as Corrin using

Spoiler

"non lethal?" tactics

or moments like this https://youtu.be/-yxdTnxaxhA where you get a reward and some royal cock sucking for doing something so unabashedly evil

I don't recall many people praising Sacred Stones, mainly due to it suffering from a dry translation. Its villain is among the most tragic in Fire Emblem but it's no standout among the series' narratives.

 

[Kraq]

Also, I just remembered that Lilith was a thing.

And so did I now that you mentioned it. I watched a video of one of the Fates DLC's and couldn't help but laugh at

Spoiler

Lilith being Corrin's sister and being somewhat in league with the Big Bad of the entire plot.

That's on top of her

Spoiler

forced deaths in Birthright and Conquest that came out of nowhere and made me burst out laughing uncontrollably after seeing it happen for the second time in almost the exact same scenario.

What a terrible character, but thinking of her now gave me a good chuckle, so that's that.

 

[CronoShot]

I loved Awakening, but the plot/characters in Birthright really, really, turned me off of it. Never finished it.

The terrible base building/random online stuff didn't help either.

 

[SapphiCine]

Yes it's bad. Everything is rushed from the very start of the game. No relationships feel earned. I never got pulled into the world either.

Yep, that was their first big mistake by rushing to the "choice."

 

[rucury]

Despite this, I'd still recommend Fates to anyone and call it one of the very best games on the 3DS. The rest of the game is THAT good.

It's a game where you can literally mash SKIP on every line of dialogue and its still a 10/10 turn based strategy game. (I'm talking about Conquest. Birthright is for babies).

I didn't much enjoy the gameplay compared to other FE games, but I second your idea.

Skip absolutely every cinematic and dialogue. Just use the following if you feel a need to justify your killing of enemies: "Me good, they bad bad". Still a better game story than Fates.

I loved Awakening, but the plot/characters in Birthright really, really, turned me off of it. Never finished it.

The terrible base building/random online stuff didn't help either.

I'm also a huge fan of Awakening. The only reason I beat FE Fates was because I had literally no other games to play at the time and also the fact I could skip the story scenes. Turning the difficulty to baby mode was also crucial since I basically just blew past some very boring encounters.

 

[Adam Prime]

I can't help but feel like this is one of those things that people waaay overreact to, but I also can't tell you what to like or not like, so to each their own, I guess.

For my part, I don't think the story is bad. It's just...there. It's an excuse to make people fight shit. Fire Emblem is more about the strategy and combat anyway, so I can look past the story and writing, which are essentially forgettable.

I just can't understand or relate to the idea of quitting Fates because of the story. I don't get what's so "offensive" about it.

I agree. It's not offensive, and why are you playing Fire Emblem for the story?

 

[AnkiRendan]

I enjoyed Awakening's story and I bought Birthright because I remembered enjoying the GetBackers series as a teen.

...I bought it digitally and the story was such trash. I can't even get money for it. One of the worst mistakes of my life. What the hell happened with the author?

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

This thread is bumming me out. I have an unopened copy of Conquest that I was hoping to dive into soon. Guess I'll just skip it and go with Echoes.

 

[Xbro]

Putting aside my issues with the Jugdral entries, a higher word count does not a good story make. The characters were either paper-thin and new or pale imitations of their Path of Radiance counterparts, the plot is poorly structured while trudging along at a snail's pace, the retcons that follow create massive problems for both Tellius games as well as marring some of its predecessor's best moments, and everything in Part 4 is pretentious dreck that made an already brainless bit of storytelling mind-rottingly insulting with its delusional, pseudo-philosophical ramblings.

I actually believe the tellius series as a whole nailed the characters more than any other game in the series.

Take Soren for example.

 

[Leafhopper]

Yep:

Hilarious to be honest.

 

[Golnei]

This thread is bumming me out. I have an unopened copy of Conquest that I was hoping to dive into soon. Guess I'll just skip it and go with Echoes.

Conquest is well worth playing if you find any part of the series' gameplay remotely enjoyable.

 

[Astral Dog]

Candidate for worst FE story.

 

[SalvaPot]

Awakening was tolerable, even ok, because it was innovative in its time travel plot for a FE game and it excused the gameplay. It also worked that the characters are mostly innofensive.

Fates took it waaay too far with its samey characters, oniichan/oneechan bullshit that was just there for fanservice and just teeerrible writing that felt forced and just not fun.

Just boring, really. I shoul sell my limited edition.

 

[Xbro]

Leading Candidate for worst FE story.

And it isn't close.

What's ironic is that I somehow remember them hyping up the story as they had hired a renowned writer or something like that. Am I imagining that?

Earlier in the page.

 

[rucury]

What's ironic is that I somehow remember them hyping up the story as they had hired a renowned writer or something like that. Am I imagining that?

 

[Lord of Ostia]

No, it's (mostly) in Part 4...although that was pretty stupid of them.



I don't recall many people praising Sacred Stones, mainly due to it suffering from a dry translation. Its villain is among the most tragic in Fire Emblem but it's no standout among the series' narratives.

People praise Sacred Stones for the characters more than the plot. Ephraim and Erika are meh but lots of the other characters are quite nice. Duessel being a standout, and some of the villains are pretty interesting, like Lyon and Caellach. Some good scenarios in there too, like the assault on Renvall.

 

[rucury]

And it isn't close.




Earlier in the page.

Oops! Thank you I clicked on the Iwata Asks link from the replies and thought it was about something else, but didn't follow through to the original question by Piers.

 

[watershed]

Yep, that was their first big mistake by rushing to the "choice."

Yeah, it was so poorly planned out. It was like "we have to get the player to this moment as fast as possible." A baffling introduction to the game.

 

[Xbro]

Yeah, it was so poorly planned out. It was like "we have to get the player to this moment as fast as possible." A baffling introduction to the game.

I think it's more due to them making it into separate games, instead of just having one game that splits off.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

Yeah, it was so poorly planned out. It was like "we have to get the player to this moment as fast as possible." A baffling introduction to the game.

Having the game split into two versions was a dumb move in general, there is basically no choice in the game to begin with unless you have the LE.

 

[Lynx_7]

Birthright is boring as hell, Conquest is contrived as fuck, and I still haven't gotten around to playing Revelations. I still enjoyed Conquest's narrative more than Birthright if only because trainwrecks are more fun than utter mediocrity, and the characters were more endearing. They're definitely not meant to be played for their stories, but I had a blast with Conquest's gameplay.

Since thev've been de-emphasizing world building in favor of more character driven experiences, I wish they would actually put in the work to tell a more meaningful, intimate narrative to match the tone. Take advantage of supports and really go out of your way to show the camaderie, hardships and consequences of war on a smaller scale. That way they can focus on delivering a more personal story rather than their failed recent arrempts at grand conflicts without the proper backbone to make it work.

 

[ZombiePlatypus]

This thread is bumming me out. I have an unopened copy of Conquest that I was hoping to dive into soon. Guess I'll just skip it and go with Echoes.

From what I gather, the gameplay in all three games is still supposed to be stellar.

 

[SalvaPot]

Having the game split into two versions was a dumb move in general, there is basically no choice in the game to begin with unless you have the LE.

Nah, it was brilliant, all that $$$$$$

 

[ASaiyan]

I'm always shocked by this massive amount of hate. I loved Fates, and I thought the story was great and beautiful, in Birthright in particular. Conquest had a bit of a silly plot-driver midway through (

Spoiler

"let's just conquer Hoshido anyway since we need dat throne", lol

), but overall I really liked the story and characters in that game too. Revelation is the only one where I'd say it wasn't that great, but it was written by the freaking Senran Kagura guy, lol.

Combined Fates is my favorite game in the whole series, and an amazing 90-hr work. I'd love it if future games were like this one - though maybe I'm the only one! Lol.

 

[pgharavi]

Question for you all:

FE Fates was the first tactical JRPG I've been able to get into. The sub-genre finally clicked for me, which is great. And ya, that narrative was horrific. I've always loved standard JRPGs (FFVI and Chrono Trigger are my two fav games of all-time).

Would trying the newest versions of all-time greats like FFT (iOS) and Tactics Ogre (PSP version on VITA) be a good idea?

 

[NeonZ]

From what I gather, the gameplay in all three games is still supposed to be stellar.

Conquest has great overall gameplay. Although it's heavily based on unique features for enemies or maps, rather than just overall positioning and stat balancing, which seems to annoy some people.

Birthright and Revelation have the same engine and overall gameplay as Conquest, but the map design is much blander (in Birthright's case) or just done with little regards to balancing, which renders many characters useless unless you grind them while others become game breaking easily (Revelation).

 

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

the rule since awakening came out was only to ever bother with 7,8,9,10

at least now we're getting fe gaiden which is one of the best ones with more punishing game mechanics

What? Having beaten it, Gaiden is the worst game in the series by miles. I honestly don't think there's any way someone could call it one of the best Fire Emblem games unless they really like being able to physically walk around towns.

 

[ryseing]

People praise Sacred Stones for the characters more than the plot. Ephraim and Erika are meh but lots of the other characters are quite nice. Duessel being a standout, and some of the villains are pretty interesting, like Lyon and Caellach. Some good scenarios in there too, like the assault on Renvall.

Innes is a top 10 all time FE character.

 

[TriForce Hero]

The only part that I realy felt that they could do better is: not treat Corrin as an always right person.

A side from that, I realy liked Conquest in a sense that felt real.

People suffering from parents bullshit and think he is right or just misinterpret (just look at Trumps daughter)

Other point is how real is to try to start a revolution and how powerless you actually are in the great picture.

 

[Dad]

The way they shoehorned children into the game might be one of the most egregiously bad plot contrivances I've ever seen in a video game

 

[Gestahl]

What? Having beaten it, Gaiden is the worst game in the series by miles. I honestly don't think there's any way someone could call it one of the best Fire Emblem games unless they really like being able to physically walk around towns.

I flipped through one of a Japanese LPer's videos on Echoes and it seems to retain the garbage map and encounter design of the original.

 

[jungomitis]

I was super excited coming from Awakening but I couldn't stand Birthright so I sold my Special Edition 2 months later. Just couldn't care at all about the characters.

 

[Riposte]

Just do this, IntSys. Doesn't have to have a slice of originality - just do this.

Spoiler

Left plays like CQ, right is structured like FE5 🤤

 

[Tinfoilhatsron]

Awakening is like fine art compared to Fates. You have to be in it for the (pandering) character designs and still addictive combat system. I liked Fates for what it was but man is it awful in a ton of aspects. If you dislike that sort of thing then you should skip it.

 

[canedaddy]

As with all things, GAF reaction is extreme. It's mediocre/forgettable but I've seen a lot worse.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

Nah, it was brilliant, all that $$$$$$

From a consumer/fan/quality of the product view, it was dumb. Yes it probably made them more money, but it negatively affected the experience. Splitting the game into two versions isn't even close to the biggest problem with Fates though.

 

[Ezalc]

I still think that the villain in FE4 is one of the biggest assholes ever. Also, I thought the Tellius games had a pretty good story, the world in them was fantastically built. And Nephenee is best girl.

 

[kewlmyc]

Birthright: Okay. Some sad twists and what not, but it's your standard "rise against the evil enemy country".

Conquest: Trash. Complete trash. You play as the clear bad guys in the war, but they didn't want to actually commit to that, so the story makes you do the dumbest things for the dumbest reasons to keep the Nohr side outside of the King looking somewhat noble. It doesn't work.

Revelations: It's alright. The reason as to why key plot elements being kept from you in the first two routes is baffling bad. Having the Nohr and Hoshido side interact with each other peacefully is cool though.

Also the way they incorporate children into this game is hilariously stupid and makes all the potential parents look like huge pieces of shit.