Fire Emblem: Birthright. What went wrong?

I want Fire Emblem to go away.

Immediately.

I don’t say that to be romantic and have an opinion that’s outside of the crowd. I don’t say that because I don’t enjoy Fire Emblem. It’s a wonderful series. Intelligent Systems knows what they\’re doing when it comes to turn-based strategy games. Fire Emblem has die hard fans a-plenty, and they deserve to have cool new entries in the series.

They also deserve better than this.

Fire Emblem needs to end because it’s turned into something that isn’t Fire Emblem anymore.

Fire Emblem has existed on Nintendo platforms since the early NES days, making something of an explosive debut in the US when the Game Boy Advance was popular. This was largely in part to the release of Super Smash Brothers Melee and its inclusion of popular characters from the series.

Now, I’ve always understood why people dig these games. You get to be cool anime characters with powerful swords and flying horses. You get to play fun anime-chess; swapping out pawns and knights for mages and warriors. What’s not to love? I’ve always adored this kind of turn-based strategy game; Shining Force, Final Fantasy Tactics, X-Com, and Advance Wars…

Oh, Advanced Wars. I’m sorry. This is a tender subject for me. Please give me a moment of silence for Advance Wars.

Also driven by studio Intelligent Systems, Advance Wars is a franchise strikingly similar to Fire Emblem. It has the same turn based, virtual chess system that make these games so compelling. What it does differently is swaps out the fantasy world, character driven narrative for deeply engaging unit management and solid challenge. I’ve spent thousands of hours of my young life battling for adorable world domination. If you have a Wii U, do yourself a favor and download the GBA versions on the eshop. Trust me, it’s a blast!

…It’s also dead in the water.

Having not seen a new series release since 2008, my favorite tactical franchise has taken a back seat and lived in the shadow of popularity owned by its anime story-driven sibling. It hurts. I’m probably biased because of my passion for Advanced Wars; but this isn’t a consumer report, it’s an opinion piece.

I could press on about Advance Wars for days, but that’s a different story for a different day. This is about Fire Emblem and its flashy new release; a series of games dubbed, Fire Emblem: Fates.

To avoid spoilers for fans, I won’t dive deep into the story, other than to criticize it later, but FE: Fates puts you in the shoes of a character forced to choose between heritage and legacy, and comes in three different flavors:
-Birthright, the version I’m playing, which is a very traditional experience. You’ll find it familiar if you played the last popular entry in the series, Fire Emblem: Awakening.
-Conquest, which is a more challenge driven approach, meant for more seasoned players.
-Revelation, a DLC version meant to bridge the previous versions stories and bring some closure.
Now, I’ve only played the one version. I could be totally mistaken in regards to the others. They could be great! Daney says she loves Conquest. Daney has great taste. We love Daney, we really do! But all of these versions share the same mechanics. And my problems with where Fire Emblem goes wrong exist on a mechanical level.

Don’t get me wrong, there are things I do love about this game. It features the same classic RPG elements and great turn based combat that you’ve grown to love over the year. It has great base building mechanics and multiplayer options. Beautifully animated cutscenes are a marvel to look at. Oh, by the way. If you plan on trying this game, PLAY IT WITH HEADPHONES! The sound design is wonderful, but is held back by the 3ds’ tiny speakers.

Change isn’t always a bad thing. Sequels, for the most part, have a way of making games a better, more accessible experience. Unfortunately for Fire Emblem, those changes have finally shifted too far, and turned into something that no longer feels like a game I’m supposed to love. Let’s take a look:

The Story Pt 1: Just let me play.

Somewhere along the road, someone at Nintendo thought it would be a good idea to take a great RPG and turn it into a visual novel. Story is great, but you have to balance it with your gameplay. If not, why am I not just watching a movie? The combat often feels like it takes a back seat to this narrative.

Seriously, Fire Emblem has become so story heavy and manga like, that I feel like it wants me to buy a waifu body pillow to hug at night. Let me go back to Advance Wars as another example.

In that franchise, your story conversations are brief. Conversations take a few moments, and you’re back on the battlefield. It has a nice balance for a genre like this. Don’t shelf my gameplay time because you want to force a discount-aisle story down my throat.

Gross.

The Story Pt 2: This seems familar.

Have you ever been browsing through Netflix and come across one of those budget, B-movie ripoffs of popular films?

(This is a real movie. You can watch it. Just don\’t actually watch it.)

FE: Fates is like one of those, but worse because it’s taking itself seriously.

FE is all about the story telling. Narrative and character development are important. There’s nothing wrong with that. RPG’s are supposed to be story heavy. I want to feel engaged with my characters, but I also want things to be fresh. You wouldn’t go to a supermarket and buy a magazine you’ve already read, would you? This series’ story tries to appeal to all audiences, and has become stale with anime storytelling cliche. I’d read through almost every character arc and think, “I’ve definitely seen this on Adult Swim.”

It probably wouldn\’t be so bad if the story at least tried to depart from the familiar at some point, but it never does. In fact, it’s almost comical how predictable the story becomes, almost from the beginning. I want to care about at least one of these characters, but they\’re so cliche that it’s really hard to latch onto anyone in my party.

Permadeath: Why I’m probably a sociopath

Character development is important in this game. It’s everywhere. Lengthy cutscenes and dialogue conversation happen between battles. These are important not only for the narrative they drive, but for the stat boosts characters gain from these moments. You’re also meant to care for these characters because, assuming you’re playing the way Nintendo intended, a character\’s death is permanent.

That’s supposed to be a deep experience.

It’s no secret that most Fire Emblem players game the system by resetting their game if characters die. I’m no different here. It happened a few times on the more difficult modes, and I didn\’t feel bad about doing it. But it’s not because I care about the characters. They’re so poorly written, I feel so unattached to a single person, I’m only resetting because I care about the loss of stats I would suffer if they were gone. Seeing the characters I would be left with because their numbers are lower makes me feel like some sort of Weeaboo Rainman. I don’t know what this says about me as a person, but as a player, it speaks worlds to the way this game has changed.

The Combat: Purple Pain

This is the biggest disappointment to this game. It’s taken one of my favorite colors and turned it into a feeling of contempt. Just see for yourself.

LOOK AT THIS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME FIRE EMBLEM? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

At ANY time during your turn, you can mash your pre-arthritic thumb on the X button and see your enemy team’s entire range of attack. It’s a feature meant to allow you to strategize around your opponent to effectively survive and attack with efficiency.

It also completely breaks the game.

This genre is at its best when there’s tension. When you feel overwhelmed and clueless how to proceed. It forces you to think outside the box and use whatever is in your surroundings to your advantage. Assuming you are cunning and clever enough, you will pull out on top.

One of Advance Wars coolest features was a “Fog of War” effect.

Terrifying.

This cool feature makes all units on the map invisible outside of your unit’s range of vision. What this does is instill a sense of fear and tension, preventing predictability. Throwing a purple border around where the danger lies completely kills this sense of tension. Instead of feeling like I’m struggling to survive, I’m encouraged to sit directly outside the area of attack and funnel my strongest characters in to draw the AI to attack. And trust me, as soon as a unit enters the purple area, the AI will charge full force.

When my thought process in battle shifts from “How do I get out of this situation?” To “Which of my characters can draw these guys in the easiest?” Something has gone horribly wrong. It’s a poor decision for the series, makes already shrinking gameplay less interesting, and frankly, just a bad idea.

Nintendo. Hear my plea. Bring Advance Wars back. Give Fire Emblem a break before you go too far and ruin something great.

I talked about Daney earlier. She’s having a wildly different experience than mine. She’s also playing a different game. I hope she has better things to say about the series. I can’t wait to read what her impressions were once she finishes. But like I said before, this is deeper than story decisions; and the choices Nintendo and Intelligent Systems have made this time around have left a sour taste in my mouth that’s going to make me think hard before returning for more.