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Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright Discussion (Nintendo 3DS) [game]
 
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright on the 3DS
7.69/10 from 8 user ratings

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06/17/15, 18:26    Edited: 06/17/15, 18:30
 
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Destructoid reviews all three versions.

Birthright and Conquest review
Revelations review


Scores:
Birthright: 8.5/10
Conquest: 9.5/10
Revelations: 9.0/10


I've really come around on the three-versions thing, it sounds cool and worth the money. I don't really have the time though, and probably shouldn't be spending the money either...
02/17/16, 19:46   
@nate38 the review kind of solidifies my choice. I'll go birthright at launch and buy revelations when t releases.
02/17/16, 20:12   
It's going to be interesting seeing the sales of Birthright versus Conquest. I sort of feel like Birthright will sell a ton more if people understand what the differences are?
02/18/16, 19:45   
@Zero

I plan to get all three...but Birthright seems to be the easier entry into the series of the three, right?
02/18/16, 19:50   
@Zero Now that you mention it, this could be Nintendo's way of figuring out which version of Fire Emblem has wider appeal: the lighthearted kooky anime relationship simulator with strategy gameplay or the hardcore permadeath tactics game with romance elements.

Personally if I were only playing one of them, I'd be all over Conquest over Birthright. Everything about it sounds more appealing to me.
02/18/16, 19:54   
Edited: 02/18/16, 19:55
@nate38 I dunno. Because between those two, I'd say I prefer "hardcore permadeath" but... with a choice of two and thinking I *might* play them both eventually, I'd probably start with the more accessible of the two? And then I may or may not even get around to the other one?

I feel like doing it this way would sort of lead most people down towards "starting" with Birthright, whether or not they end up eventually buying into the whole experience.
02/18/16, 19:56   
Edited: 02/18/16, 19:57
@Zero Yeah it's more complicated if one choice doesn't exclude the other. If I'm planning to play both or all three, I'd start with Birthright myself.
02/18/16, 19:59   
I'm definitely going to get all three and have Birthright pre-loaded. I can't wait to get home from work tomorrow morning and start digging into the game.
02/19/16, 00:29   
Edited: 02/19/16, 00:32
@ludist210

Yes, Birthright is the easiest of the three. Conquest is the hard one, and I believe the other is in between, last I heard.

If I can manage to find the Special Edition, I will likely pick it up. Been a long time since I bought a FE game (instead of renting) but this seems like one to take that plunge on.
02/19/16, 00:45   
Hmm, considering that I probably WON'T play all of them and Conquest seems to be reviewing slightly better and I like "hardcore" Fire Emblem more, maybe I should go with that one after all?

But don't you play as the "bad" side in Conquest? I don't like playing as the bad side.

Decisions.
02/19/16, 00:49   
@Zero Apparently Conquest is more shades of gray than Birthright, but the details I've read make it seem like your characters are still pretty much good guys, even if you're fighting for the country that is the aggressor in the war. It's not a Light Side vs. Dark Side thing where you're either snuggling with puppies or eating them.

Kotaku has a pretty good writeup contrasting them.
02/19/16, 01:10   
Edited: 02/19/16, 01:17
Very excited to get home and play this. I have to do some work at my new house before finally being able to relax and open this game, but I'm looking forward to it.
02/19/16, 20:44   
How is dis
02/19/16, 20:46   
Sadly I discovered (on launch day) Nintendo made the Special Edition a super limited, pretty much only-online release.

I went out launch day to buy it, but no stores have it. And online is totally sold out. So it's either pay $300 on eBay (screw you, scalpers!) or just buy them separately. I'm going to get them digitally instead now, but the thing is I no longer feel the need to rush. Instead of a Day 1 purchase, I might as well wait for a sale, which is pretty likely at some point! So... I dunno. Kind of a bad move on Nintendo's part to make the SE so, so limited maybe? For me, anyway. Resulted in -1 Sale for the time being.

Back to Yoshi's Woolly World, I guess!
02/21/16, 01:23   
@J.K. Riki
This is exactly what happened with me.
I knew it was going to be hard to get though, because that's what Nintendo does nowadays.
02/21/16, 04:11   
@ploot

I guess this is the first time I ever considered a Nintendo Special Edition! Lesson learned...?

I do remember those component cables for the GameCube (I think it was?) were almost impossible for a very long time to get a hold of! Didn't know it applied to games.
02/21/16, 04:50   
Getting the special edition in Canada was ridiculous. Not only did ours go up at a much later date but it was practically unannounced when it went up at Amazon. Best Buy and EB thankfully did announce when they'd put it up but EB's website crashed hard for nearly an hour. Thankfully I lucked out with Best Buy but it seems their website also crashed or gave people lots of errors. It's insane when they make these so limited that they sell out within about 5 minutes of going up.
02/21/16, 05:01   
I was told that my special edition was one of only 2 preorders that weren't cancelled. Jeez, that sucks for the people who had theirs cancelled.

I started out with Conquest. The introductory missions were kind of slow and simple, but not bad. Then after the paths split, the difficulty spikes. I've beaten every English Fire Emblem game plus the Japan-only GBA title on the middle difficulty, and this might be the hardest yet- and not always in a fair way.

I'm only on chapter 10, but several chapters have caused me to reset repeatedly. Your units are so fragile and there are just so many enemies. It's kind of ridiculous. And I've beaten Radiant Dawn on the middle difficulty without losing a single unit. That game is notorious for being hard, but the dreaded first act was actually my favorite. The kind of stuff I've encountered in Conquest reminds me of how people talk about Thracia 776, a Fire Emblem game known for being incredibly unforgiving. I got a bit frustrated after losing on the final turn to a group of paired up enemy units and started the Birthright path, but only did the first mission.

One thing that has stuck out to me is how much this game panders to the player character. It's somehow worse than Awakening. Seemingly everybody except for the Nohrian king and his accomplice loves the player unit. Even initially cold characters open up to your character when they don't initially intend to. You have two families each with a handful of siblings and you are their undying favorite across the board. The avatar is a paragon of righteousness, who is immediately loved by all and is the only one who can see the true path to peace. I get that they're trying to convey that the character is part of a closely nit family, but it comes across as pandering when every single sibling is so concerned about you and your maids work so hard to please you. If feels kind of icky. When I see stuff like this, or the option to dress up your units in beach towels or the face petting minigame, it really makes me wonder what happened to this series.

I also don't like how characters are introduced. It seems like every chapter you just get to more people who say "oh hey, your sibling, ____, sent me to help. Let's go." Maybe that changes later on, but it makes things less interesting when nearly every playable character so far have all served the same royal family. And the one-note personalities seemed to have returned from Awakening from the support conversations I've seen.

I'm hoping things get more positive with time. There are some silver linings, such as the mixup to the classes and the eastern inspired architecture and clothes. Maybe I just have to get acclimated to the changes or something. Right now I'm kind of mixed on the whole thing, but I hope something clicks with me in the future.
02/21/16, 21:01   
Edited: 02/21/16, 21:07
Seven chapters (and one paralogue) in and I like this game. The aesthetics of the region's differing weapons are a nice touch. I'm not as drawn to the characters in this game as I was in previous entries yet, but that may change by the end of it.
02/22/16, 16:55   
@Hero_Of_Hyrule

Thanks for the write-up. What did you think of Awakening compared to the rest of the series?
02/22/16, 19:18   
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