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[MSMrRound]

Isn´t FE: A close to or the bestselling game in the series ?

Close. The Fire Emblem series was supposed to wind up shop if Awakening had bombed. That's when the developers to go all out with it being the last title in mind. Let's hope they continue to push the boundary with the next one in the series. (Feets included, of course).

I'll like to see characters getting less restrictions for their classes, maybe something like how Valkyria Chronicles 3 made it so that you can change your character to whatever class they are?

Branching story lines would be nice too, just for replayability and stuff. E.g you are supposed to get two endings for Awakening, but it feels like it's pretty much the same stuff. If we are given a choice to select the option that we want for certain key plot points, I would like to see it being played out much more differently.

E.g

Spoiler

you were given a choice about Emmeryn. Selecting either still leads to the same old thing. Sigh.

 

[PsionBolt]

I expect much of the same. More waifu stuff, reused assets, more DLC.

In addition to all of the obvious improvements (better maps / conditions, less broken to hell units), my main desire is a more focused experience. The open structure of Awakening was fine, but not twice in a row, please. We've only had three games with that kind of structure, and they were always far apart (2, 8, and 13). I think that's the right way to do it. Go back to a linear, no-world-map style for the next one. It would make balancing paralogues and DLC chapters a lot simpler if they had a set order - Awakening has strange spikes and valleys in its difficulty curve depending on who gets married when. It needs a more rigid structure to tighten things up.

 

[Shengar]

I'm happy with Awakening's unrestricted support conversations and re-class ability, but I want the difficulty to reflect how powerful your units are, with enemy units getting better stats, weapons, and skills as your own level increases. They should look to Radiant Dawn to see how to do a story, and to Path of Radiance to show how to tell it. Those two games what I consider one of the finest, and well told, stories in any game I've played. The world is built so thoroughly, and it's really very engaging.

They actually kinda nailed how to prevent super-pair-of-units from steamrolled a chapter with Lunatic+ counter ability. No matter how much you grind, you'll eventually kill yourself if too many enemy with Counter appeared on the map, even when you employed Nosferatank strategy. This make some strategy that effective for Lunatic run rendered unusable due to enemy randomness, and forced the player to adapt with the map.

I'm not saying Lunatic+ is a good difficulty. Its unfortunately add more mess to something that already broken, Lunatic's crazy stats and hax forged weapon. If only those randomized skills are more optimized and tweaked (like a Counter+ that only work during Enemy Phase and only appeared when there is at least super unit on your army), they could make the game more challenging without cheapening itself. Heck, enemy units should have normal skills from the get go. That being said, Hard enemy stats with Lunatic enemy number and (tweaked) Lunatic+ randomized skill will be the perfect difficulty for Awakening without put too much stress on the player and L+R+Start button.

 

[Ban Puncher]

Tharja spin-off series.

 

[Shiggy]

What I want: No overpriced DLC.

What I expect: More overpriced DLC.

 

[McNum]

I think Awakening is the best selling fire Emblem Game. Can't remember what the runner-up is, though.

As for what I want in the next Fire Emblem, it depends on if it's handheld or console. I think I'd prefer a handheld one, really. I think the game lends itself better to that.

- I'd like to see the Avatar system return. Have a units that's "me" in the game was pretty fun, even if the Avatar totally stole the show from Chrom at times.
- I'd like the support system to work like in Awakening. Yes, it can give some crazy bonuses, but not having to worry about locking out anything but the S ranks by having characters talk with each other was great. Keep the marriage thing, too. It was fun to pair up everyone and see how that worked out.
- I'd like to keep the world map, skirmishes, and even grinding. They're nice safety valves in case you get stuck. Also, on a handheld, a Risen battle is the perfect length for a quick game of Fire Emblem.
- I'd like a bit more of a political edge to the story. Not TOO much, still needs to be a problem that can be solved by swords, but like Path of Radiance did it with Bengion. Still had to beat up the bad guy in the end, but the story had more layers.
- As for children and pair up, I could go either way. Keep it or let it be Awakening's gimmick and make a new gimmick for the next one.
- Archers need to be better somehow. Not exactly sure what to do. Maybe let them attack, then move? Or give them Canto?

But I trust Intelligent Systems know what they're doing. I mean, they made Awakening.

 

[Ricker]

Full fledge game on the new consoles...Awakening was great but man,those small characters and tiles made me sigh a few times...

 

[fatgamecat]

I want something like FE12, I expect something like FE13.

I don't mind some fanservice if the gameplay is good. I don't want eugenics required to optimize my party/strategy. No 1000 year old dragon fanservice either, please.

It's ok if a SRPG has grinding if there's a scoring system that rewards skilled play (aka not grinding). Some FEs have scoring, not all of them.

 

[HawthorneKitty]

Tharja spin-off series.

I second this.

 

[Riposte]

Less Awakening, more Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn. I've lowered my expectations though; I think the series and its fans interests no longer align with mine.

 

[fatgamecat]

Less Awakening, more Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn. I've lowered my expectations though; I think the series and its fans interests no longer align with mine.

Unfortunately it's a general trend of JRPG/SRPGs to either stop being produced or turn into NIS/Idea Factory/Awakening type games. Or mobages.

 

[Midou]

Pair up, grinding and class changing was something that screwed with the setup for me. I like FE being a game where I can play with each unit to see what I like, avoiding jeigans and all that jazz.

Basically if the systems are like FE7 or FE9, with new characters, stages, etc, then I am satisfied 100%.

Also, the entire story of Awakening became super meaningless and boring after moving to the 2nd island. Not like I expect insanely good stories in Fire Emblem, but FE9/FE10 combined story was something like a 1000 times better, with no exaggeration.

I am afraid Awakening's success will make future FE more like it than past ones though, but oh well, there is other stuff to play.

 

[Laughing Banana]

I just hope that whatever they do, they will stay away from the abomination that is Radiant Dawn's support system. All I ask is a decent/great support/conversation/pairing system and I will be happy.

Speaking off, if a Fire Emblem game is announced for the WiiU and it's getting an English release, I will buy the system no questions asked.

 

[Bundy]

Being on the WiiU :'(

 

[Tenki]

Tharja spin-off series.

I'll be sad if this doesn't happen.

 

[Boney]

The idea of helpnesless against a giant empire, where all you can do is keep running and use guerrilla tactics to survive.

Something akin to FE8 where there's two routes, where you have to separate your army in half, making you have to use more characters, a time skip would also work if they intend to keep children.

And of course a major return o strategy.

 

[injurai]

feet

 

[Rad-]

Keep Main Unit but remove children.

 

[HawthorneKitty]

Wii U
Most all mechanics from the Tellius Saga (- biorhythm/affinity)
Support rankings style from Awakening
Politics

Keep all the casual stuff on the 3DS

 

[ZeroX03]

Children were an amazing addition. Felt like an actual choice you could make through gameplay (who to marry) that would affect gameplay (inheritance to children). Combined with Main Unit's open class, this felt like an RPG where my decisions were meaningful and changed the game. Compared to the flow chart style of Mass Effect, I really loved.

Would be completely up for lessening the MU's role in the main story though. I have no issue with the story being self contained and straightforward. Just give us options in our gameplay.

remove your avatar, revert how supports work to how they worked in older games, remove grinding, no customization and add more map variety (fog of war).

I want the exact opposite of this post. Awakening turned the series from something I found mildly enjoyable to one of my favorite games in recent memory. I'd like to see that thread continued.

 

[NeonZ]

Also, the entire story of Awakening became super meaningless and boring after moving to the 2nd island. Not like I expect insanely good stories in Fire Emblem, but FE9/FE10 combined story was something like a 1000 times better, with no exaggeration.

It was also 1000 times longer though. Something that I don't see mentioned much in regards to Awakening story is that they seemingly tried to minimize it. No narration, story scenes before and after each chapter get very short after the first "arc" of the game. I don't think that was due to the game being rushed, but a deliberate move to minimize something they might have thought was seen as a problem for accessibility with Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, which likely had the longest story sequences in the franchise.

Of course, they could still have a more interesting storyline with a smaller presentation, like Genealogy shows, but even that one relied heavily on narration, something that they almost completely eliminated in Awakening, only leaving the epilogue narration.

 

[Bilix]

ctrl+f -> feet

You people!

The only thing that I didn't like in the game was getting the children. It caused me to stop progressing in the game and mindlessly grind out relationships to get all the characters, which wasn't very fun. I would expect the next game to be pretty similar to Awakening with some minor changes.

 

[Basileus777]

It was also 1000 times longer though. Something that I don't see mentioned much in regards to Awakening story is that they seemingly tried to minimize it. No narration, story scenes before and after each chapter get very short a few the first "arc" of the game. I don't think that was due to the game being rushed, but a deliberate move to minimize something they might have thought was seen as a problem for acessibility with Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, which likely had the longest story sequences in the franchise.

Of course, they could still have a more interesting storyline with a smaller presentation, like Genealogy shows, but even that one relied heavily on narration, something that they almost completely eliminated in Awakening, only leaving the epilogue narration.

And I appreciated this change. Awakening's story wasn't very good, but it at least spent less time boring me than POR/RD. But I don't think these things are mutually exclusive. Simply use the story time you have better than devoting more time to it.

 

[-Horizon-]

All of you wanting to get rid of waifus...

Its a sad day.

 

[Waylon Drums]

There's a lot of "remove the ability to grind" as if the game holds a gun to your head about it. I'm the type of weirdo who likes to grind so I wouldn't be happy with that development.

 

[FLAguy954]

Yeah, no world maps, no grinding, no waifus, etc. would be ideal for me. Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn are my two favorite FE games so building on those would be preferable to building on Awakening. But Awakening probably outsold the last three or four FE games combined, so we're probably getting something that is effectively Awakening 2.



Awakening was the most full-featured FE game yet, I don't think the optional DLC that was completely unrelated to the main game/story was a problem.

I totally disagree. Your are probably one of those people who enjoyed infinite sleep/poison/berserk and the fatigue system of Thracia 776 (although FE 5 is my favorite entry next to Awakening).

I think what they need to do is limit the amount of times one could re-class a unit. Three re-classing opportunities would suffice. They could also allow enemy units to pair up for balance. But other than that leave the grinding (and other improvements) because you can always choose not to grind.

There's a lot of "remove the ability to grind" as if the game holds a gun to your head about it. I'm the type of weirdo who likes to grind so I wouldn't be happy with that development.

This.

 

[Basileus777]

There's a lot of "remove the ability to grind" as if the game holds a gun to your head about it. I'm the type of weirdo who likes to grind so I wouldn't be happy with that development.

The game locks content behind grinding.

 

[Shengar]

The game locks content behind grinding.

What content to be exact? The main one or the optional?

 

[Enduin]

I hope they keep the Marriage and Kids angle, but sans time travel like Geneology did it. A healthy well developed story would be great for this. A meaty first half with the parents and then a strong second half with the offspring. I wouldn't mind some more narration coming back too to help build things out. Though if it's handheld again, which I hope it is, I doubt they'll want to make the story too heavy since I imagine the desire is the keeps things light and fast paced for handhelds.

Other than that the gameplay is really solid, the new additions to FEA were awesome. Reclassing and grinding were a bit over the top, at least for me, but that's more of a situation where I need to stop wasting time fighting random battles and just focus on the missions because I don't have the time or patience to grind perfect characters or offspring so I should stop bothering.

Though it's hard to not want to grind a ton. The number of people I've street passed that have entire parties with nearly every character almost at or over a 300 rating is ridiculous when my best are like 192 or like 208.

 

[Basileus777]

What content to be exact? The main one or the optional?

12 missions and as many characters via one of the game's most notable features.

 

[mihon]

This will be a long rant...

What I expect: Awakening Part 2
What I want: The complete opposite

Let me elaborate. FE: Awakening was probably my biggest dissapointment with the series until today (even bigger than FE: Shadow Dragon, if such a thing is possible).

As other people have said, it seems that the series is turning in just another run of the mill SRPG that doesn't require strategy and instead only focus on fan-service and bigger numbers.

Awakening had terrible, terrible level design. It's likely the worst in the series together with Gaiden. The skill system was terrible. Pair-up was the worst mechanic ever introduced in the series since Reclassing. The game is broken beyond belief balance-wise and it was grindy as hell. I could go on and on, but let's just say that gameplay wise the game was a mess in pretty much all aspects. Oh, and Lunatic+ (and to an extent Lunatic) are the worst difficult settings ever made in the series from a design standpoint.

The only good point was the OST. The transition between map music an its battle version is long overdue and should be a staple for all future installments.

If the next game is a continuation of the trends set by Awakening, I can say for sure that I will not be buying it.

A return to form for the series would need these changes (it's basically Thracia 776 Part 2):

- First, take as a base Thracia 776, the best game in the series.
- Multiple objectives (escape, defense, escort maps, etc) and superb level design, with interesting map layout and enemy composition.
- Drop Pair-up and add rescue and capture again.
- Bring back mount and dismount (but gimp mounted units less when they dismount).
- Make the stat cap level low, with low growths. Downplay as much as possible the influence of stats and the RPG elements. Make strategy a priority.
- Rework the skill system and make it like Thracia 776. Each character should have a unique skill set and they should not be linked to a unit's class.
- Drop reclassing. Each unit promotes to a single class that is tied to the character, not the base class. Do not reset the unit level upon promotion. Instead, use the system from Genealogy of the Holy War. All units have a max level cap of 30 and they can promote from level 10 or 15.
- Bring back status inducing weapons and staves back with 100% hit rate. Where's my sleep, berserk, poison status effects? Staves should have a range limit though, like in FE 7.
- Bring back Fog of War.
- Bring back Fixed Mode from Path of Radiance. It was the best mechanic introduced by IS since Shozou Kaga left, and they dropped it.
- Bring back Canto/Re-Move for mounted units.
- Drop free world map. Add a hub city system like Berwick Saga.
- Bring back multiple routes, a la Thracia 776 and FE 6.
- Bring back Gaiden chapters, with interesting, challenging requirements.
- Allow thiefs to steal any equipment with some kind of requirement.
- Drop forge system.
- All skills should have 100% activation rates. They should either be passive or be active via a command. Command skills should be balanced with a turn limit usage (i.e. only usable every 5 turns for example). That or use an AP system of sorts.
- Use the support system from FE 9 (chapter based progression) or the one for Thracia 776 (pre-made supports).
- Drop marriage/child system. It was very grindy.
- Make gameplay that rewards team work, not the opposite.
- Reward the usage of multiple units and punish low deployment. This is a problem in all FEs except Thracia 776, but Awakening took it to a new level. When the best "strategy" in the game is to pair up two units and solo the map, you know you've did something terrible wrong in your game design.
- Better, more mature plot. At least something on the level of PoR or Genealogy of the Holy War.

Well, that's what's coming to my mind right now. As I said, I pretty much expect Awakening Part 2, with more RPG/waifu elements and less strategy. I would love to eat crow though.

If anyone is looking for SRPG games that are deep and have a real focus on strategy, play Thracia 776 (SNES) and Berwick Saga (PS2). Both were made by Shozou Kaga, the original creator of FE. Unfortunately, they are only available in Japanese. But they are totally worth of your time and there are resources on Serenes Forest that will allow you to at least play and complete them.

 

[FanFan]

Less punishing, unpredictable events.

I mean, reinforcement from your flank without warning? And they can move at the same turn they spawn? IN A PERMADEATH GAME!?

 

[KaOTiK]

feet

 

[FSLink]

I'd honestly want them to go back and remake FE4 and FE5. Would be pretty neat to have a FE5 that most players can actually beat, and would be a good way to give these classics another opportunity to be localized. Use the Awakening engine as a base and fix the weird balancing that they had going on, and utilize the better maps. Perhaps take some systems they used in other entries that they didn't in Awakening like Bonus EXP and incorporate them into FE4 and FE5.

If not a new entry would be fine. I would also like the world map grinding to be minimal or non existent until post game.

Also add feet, yes.

 

[jgmo870]

Be more like 7 in terms of balance, plot and story telling, be more like 9 in map design, graphics (3D models for the maps especially) and character design.

 

[vagabondarts]

I would rather them release advance wars with online and adhoc multiplayer and let fire emblem rest for a bit. Loved the game though

 

[Asd202]

Wow this thread shows how diverse the FE fanbase is.Some what a hardcore game with relationships and support convos kept to the minimum and others what that do stay. IMO the relationships and skills need to stay they add another layer to the game as a whole. They also need to work on better map design and get rid of reinforcements. World map should stay but the game should be balanced it such a way that if you want to go from story sequence to another it's perfectly playable. Next FE will end in disappointment for many that's for sure.

 

[Briarios]

If you were disappointed with FE: Awakening, you'll be disappointed with the sequel. Come on, it was the highest rates, best selling FE ever in the US. They're going to build on it, but you'll not see a lot of changes.

It's really hard when a series you love makes changes to embrace a wider audience, but I still thought Awakening was a great game. But, we have to remember, Nintendo was about to cancel the series - Awakening is what saved it.

What I would love to see in the sequel is to have a variety of stories you can take on in any order - almost open world in a way, but not like the single map side missions in the last games ... More like multiple campaigns.

 

[Asd202]

If you were disappointed with FE: Awakening, you'll be disappointed with the sequel. Come on, it was the highest rates, best selling FE ever in the US.

Forget about US it's the best selling one in Japan.

 

[jackal27]

More of the same with some different kinds of maps and some new classes. Just take the Awakening engine and build like 2 or 3 more games off of it and I'll be happy.

I will never understand some of people who don't dig Awakening. I've been playing and loving Fire Emblem games for the past decade and Awakening is my favorite by far. Possibly even my favorite SRPG overall.

 

[NeonZ]

Forget about US it's the best selling one in Japan. It sold over a million there.

Eh... no. FE3 still was the best selling game in the end, if we go only with Japan. Awakening ended around 500k there. Still, worldwide Awakening now is the best selling game.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

Gregor.

 

[Timeless]

A simplified inventory system:

-Two "optimize" buttons, optimize best items and optimize thrifty use of items. In FEA I feel like it's scared to optimize elixers into certain party members because they only have 40 HP.
-All regular stores carry the same items, and variety increases as the story progresses. Don't make me walk around in the hopes of finding an item.
-Two weapon decay warnings: a re-purchasable weapon down to 10 uses or less, and a non-re-purchasable weapon down to ~15 or ~20 uses left.
-Button to restock decaying weapons. Displays a list of decayed weapons, the cost of a new one, and a toggle for whether you want to purchase it or not. Then a button to buy every item in the list toggled to "yes".
-Weapon ratings. The formula would be something like:

WR=
[ 1 + (0.1*{maximum range-1}) ] * (hit ratio) * (typical damage done)
+ [ 1 + (0.1*{maximum range-1}) ] * (hit ratio) * (critical hit ratio) * (typical crit damage done)
+ (typical health gained back)*(1/2)
+ (chance of dropping an item) * (typical value of dropped item) * (1/200)

With this formula I just made, range makes a weapon rating slightly better, health gained back is added at half the health gain (compared to adding at around the full value for damage done), and item values are added at 1/200th of their market value. I based the 1/200th figure on how FEA has an item that drops a 1000 gold small bullion. It never seemed worth that much to me, so I figure that adding 5 to the weapon rating is fair.

The important thing isn't my formula, it's that the next game has a rating. It's too hard to compare different godlike weapons.

An undo button:
-Any movement / waiting for a unit / dancing (?) that does not attack, heal, rally, wait on sparkly squares, visit villages, open a chest, etc., can be undone up to the last unit action that was an attack, heal, etc. Basically for when you mispress where you want a unit to move to.

 

[astrogamer]

I want:
A less generic art style
More objectives
Less content behind a grind wall.
Harder to grind

I'm expecting something more like Awakening 2

 

[Shengar]

12 missions and as many characters.

Children units minus Lucina are optional, and you can complete the game without them in the first place on Hard difficulty. They don't affect story in anyway, even Lucina's sibling. You can play it in the old traditional way without grinding. Pick a female unit, pair her with male unit of your choice, and make sure they together in every main and optional (not DLC) chapter. Viola, they will be married at some later point between chapter 11-13. The number of the enemy on Hard mode is enough for 3 pairs of unit in order to have them have a child unit without resorting to grind. When you like to see other children, you can start a new playthrough and choose or experience with different strategy with different pairs.

I can see the criticism on Awakening like bad map design (hello Chapter 19), lack of variation in mission objective (basically kill everything/commander even on retreating chapter), broken pair-up system, bad story, flanderized characters, and unlimited reclassing. But being grindy is not one of them that I can accept. Not when you can approach Awakening in many way without grinding unless you count all optional stuffs as a must get in one go.

 

[Principate]

12 missions and as many characters via one of the game's most notable features.

Err what that's bullshit, it doesn't lock them out at all, (weirdest jump in logic I've seen). You can play and complete those characters and missions without grinding at all.

A true block would be level requirements. FE:A doesn't have that so any talking of blocking out content is factually incorrect.

Your talking about support requirements

The game is designed with multiple playrthoughs in mind, it's not designed with grinding your characters in mind.

 

[Basileus777]

Children units minus Lucina are optional, and you can complete the game without them in the first place on Hard difficulty.

This is not really relevant to anything I said.

They don't affect story in anyway, even Lucina's sibling. You can play it in the old traditional way without grinding. Pick a female unit, pair her with male unit of your choice, and make sure they together in every main and optional (not DLC) chapter. Viola, they will be married at some later point between chapter 11-13. The number of the enemy on Hard mode is enough for 3 pairs of unit in order to have them have a child unit without resorting to grind. When you like to see other children, you can start a new playthrough and choose or experience with different strategy with different pairs.

3 pairs on hard mode, that's still a lot of content locked behind grinds. And if you want the children to inherit useful stuff from their parents, well, grinding becomes a necessity.

 

[kswiston]

Those wanting the series to revert to the setup of the older titles should prepare to be disappointed. You don't follow up the best selling entry in series history by going back to the features that were pushing the series into obscurity.

What I would like to see is more variety in the game missions. Less "Route all enemies/kill the boss" maps and more alternative mission objectives. I liked the relationship mechanism, but I'm not sure how they could do it again and still keep it fresh.

 

[Principate]

This is not really relevant to anything I said.

3 pairs on hard mode, that's still a lot of content locked behind grinds.

You can play with more than 3 pairs in hardmode. Your mixing up grinding and replay ability. There's more than enough content either way, there's dozens of spot pass, teams, spot pass maps and those pralogues themselves to unlock those support ranks.

Grinding is forcing you to do the same thing other and over. Fire Emblem doesn't force you to do that to obtain the children, there's more than enough different content your just choosing not to do it.

 

[decoyplatypus]

This will be a long rant...

What I expect: Awakening Part 2
What I want: The complete opposite

Let me elaborate. FE: Awakening was probably my biggest dissapointment with the series until today (even bigger than FE: Shadow Dragon, if such a thing is possible).

As other people have said, it seems that the series is turning in just another run of the mill SRPG that doesn't require strategy and instead only focus on fan-service and bigger numbers.

Awakening had terrible, terrible level design. It's likely the worst in the series together with Gaiden. The skill system was terrible. Pair-up was the worst mechanic ever introduced in the series since Reclassing. The game is broken beyond belief balance-wise and it was grindy as hell. I could go on and on, but let's just say that gameplay wise the game was a mess in pretty much all aspects. Oh, and Lunatic+ (and to an extent Lunatic) are the worst difficult settings ever made in the series from a design standpoint.

The only good point was the OST. The transition between map music an its battle version is long overdue and should be a staple for all future installments.

If the next game is a continuation of the trends set by Awakening, I can say for sure that I will not be buying it.

A return to form for the series would need these changes (it's basically Thracia 776 Part 2):

- First, take as a base Thracia 776, the best game in the series.
- Multiple objectives (escape, defense, escort maps, etc) and superb level design, with interesting map layout and enemy composition.
- Drop Pair-up and add rescue and capture again.
- Bring back mount and dismount (but gimp mounted units less when they dismount).
- Make the stat cap level low, with low growths. Downplay as much as possible the influence of stats and the RPG elements. Make strategy a priority.
- Rework the skill system and make it like Thracia 776. Each character should have a unique skill set and they should not be linked to a unit's class.
- Drop reclassing. Each unit promotes to a single class that is tied to the character, not the base class. Do not reset the unit level upon promotion. Instead, use the system from Genealogy of the Holy War. All units have a max level cap of 30 and they can promote from level 10 or 15.
- Bring back status inducing weapons and staves back with 100% hit rate. Where's my sleep, berserk, poison status effects? Staves should have a range limit though, like in FE 7.
- Bring back Fog of War.
- Bring back Fixed Mode from Path of Radiance. It was the best mechanic introduced by IS since Shozou Kaga left, and they dropped it.
- Bring back Canto/Re-Move for mounted units.
- Drop free world map. Add a hub city system like Berwick Saga.
- Bring back multiple routes, a la Thracia 776 and FE 6.
- Bring back Gaiden chapters, with interesting, challenging requirements.
- Allow thiefs to steal any equipment with some kind of requirement.
- Drop forge system.
- All skills should have 100% activation rates. They should either be passive or be active via a command. Command skills should be balanced with a turn limit usage (i.e. only usable every 5 turns for example). That or use an AP system of sorts.
- Use the support system from FE 9 (chapter based progression) or the one for Thracia 776 (pre-made supports).
- Drop marriage/child system. It was very grindy.
- Make gameplay that rewards team work, not the opposite.
- Reward the usage of multiple units and punish low deployment. This is a problem in all FEs except Thracia 776, but Awakening took it to a new level. When the best "strategy" in the game is to pair up two units and solo the map, you know you've did something terrible wrong in your game design.
- Better, more mature plot. At least something on the level of PoR or Genealogy of the Holy War.

I agree with almost all of this. I don't think there's one "best" design for the series (many gameplay tweaks--from hexes to fatigue to route selection--might improve one FE even if you wouldn't miss them in a different installment)*, but I would dearly like to see another FE built along these lines.

*Varied mission objectives is not one of these tweaks: every FE should have them.