As another Nintendo/Tecmo Koei joint looms on the horizon, ready to bait unsuspecting people into the musou grind with a Resetera game of the decade ™ skin, I dropped back into the last Nintendo musou
Fire Emblem Warriors was effectively one of those niche dream games in a sense, sounds silly right? but how often did the following image get around in regard to the FE series?
It was a perfect fit, but back then Musou had yet to become staple crossover fodder where they could announce "Life is Strange Warriors" and you probably wouldn't bat an eyelid, and Fire Emblem was on the brink of being sent to the Nintendo graveyard, filed away under F...Zero.
Then Fire Emblem Awakening happened, an explosive kitchen sink of anything and everything that gave the series new life. After Hyrule Warriors also happened, some dared to dream that the stars would align and Fire Emblem could get its very own 7 or 8 out of 10 spinoff, because sometimes you just want to let Ike whomp a thousand mooks to death with Ragnell.
And in 2017 it finally happened, during the E3 Direct alongside reveals such a "Metroid logo to keep them quiet" and Good Feel still unable to escape arts and crafts came a Fire Emblem trailer that basically spends a minute talking about the power of friendship and cameos.
Fire Emblem Warriors drops us into a world where two royal siblings designed by the safe as heck committee in the Awakening style, end up fighting for their kingdom with the aid of dimension hopping Fire Emblem heroes....
Whoops, wrong game
There we go, Rowan and Lianna, I'll give them one thing, they're blindingly blonde as well as blindingly bland.
And so begins a rote story campaign to give an excuse for a bunch of FE characters to drop in and join forces, and in fairness it's probably the best instance of Fates characters joining forces for those of us who played Revelations.
Though it didn't take long for the biggest problem to reveal itself, as fans waited to see which of their faves would make the cut, it began to become clear that the scope of this crossover was gonna be reigned in more than most would like.
FE Warriors chooses to draw from Shadow Dragon, Awakening and Fates almost exclusively, that makes the original FE, the series saving FE and the new hotness FE.
This is one of those decisions that makes sense in ensuring the game maintains a focus, but it was definitely a blow to not have the GBA Cube and Wii titles represented for many of us in the West.
And the roster woes didn't stop there, outside of Fates main cast being rather divisive, they took up a chunk of the roster and reveals for Sakura and Elise would showcase the next problem, copied and pasted movesets.
I don't think there's say a bow user in the game that's not using Takumi's very distinct style of archery, and that includes DLC.
Ah yes, the third strike, the DLC! After the initial roster was met with a fair bit of grumbling we then got hit with the early reveal of the season pass, one that would include some characters in the base story who were unplayable (one of which being the only grounded lance user in the game no less).
A perfect storm of momentum slowing news for some fans leading up to the release of the game, FE Warriors landed with a 74 metascore which is standard fare for the genre.
But how did FE Warriors go at adapting the Fire Emblem formula to the Warriors brawling? after spending a fair amount of time with the game over the years I think it does a pretty solid job.
While the gameplay is cut from a similar cloth to Hyrule Warriors (weak spots, the awakening meter) among the various spins on the formula, it brings in aspects like the weapon triangle and the pair up mechanic complete with supports.
In general I also feel like missions involve a bit more micromanaging of commanding units to keep on top of things in later stages. When this all flows together I find FE Warriors to be one of the better mixes of two series gameplay, a reminder of why the title was requested in the first place over numerous other Nintendo series.
Of course it also has that bloody annoying issue where the game's flow of battle messages arrive a minute later than they should, I had Leo get two shot earlier today and the following message was of the enemy general I beat up 30 seconds prior with him, eventually I got the one informing me that Leo was indeed out of action.
Speaking of getting killed, the game does allow permadeath for the true FE experience but I turned it off pretty early on because death can be so sudden and unexpected in these games that it felt like one of the series mechanics that didn't make the jump well at all.
One of the highlights of Hyrule Warriors were the maps, stages like Skyloft and Lake Hylia/Water Temple are great callbacks that give extra flavour to the title.
FE Warriors isn't so lucky as the series typically lacks distinct landmarks and areas, boilerplate castles and fields galore! I think there's one map based upon the world tree in awakening and that's about as referential as it gets. On top of this are that the map layouts lack any interesting gimmicks or dynamic elements, I'd consider them the weakest part of the package.
Simply playing through the main story of FE Warriors isn't much to write home about, much like Hyrule Warriors the meat of the game is in the main side mode, History mode is where those map references are hiding with clever mission select menus based upon notable chapters of previous FE games.
When you can start mixing and matching your character, applying master seals and falling into the REAL musou experience alongside the varied types of mission structure, FE Warriors really steps up.
Yet I imagine that much like me initially, most played through the main story and not much else.
I ended up picking up the DLC at half price and it certainly helps fill out some gaps in the roster, Linde, Azura and Olivia are to my recollection the only fully new movesets of the lot though so as fun as they are, it's not that appealing a proposition and doesn't move the roster beyond Shadow Dragon, Awakening and Fates.
Though history mode tucks in Lyn and Celica from FE7 and 2/Echoes respectively, to this day I still don't have Celica, and I've certainly tried! (but apparently she's a Marth moveset clone of all things, which is certainly something considering she's more mage than anything else).
For all the poo-pooing on characters and movesets, I'd be remiss to not mention which ones I enjoyed
Fire Emblem Warriors straight up elevates Lissa and Frederik in my book, Lissa has a very fun axe moveset with all of the quirky animations you'd expect from a dinky war cleric.
Frederik meanwhile is constantly adding levity to the menu tropes of reminding you to take a break and maintains his uncanny lowkey meme factor while he also carries over both his Awakening crit line "Pick a God and pray!"
Despite Dancers not being a combat class, the DLC combo of Azura and Olivia are great fun, assuming you can get past Olivia's grunting and groaning of course. Azura in particular bring s a much needed lance moveset imbued with water magic, it's the most fantastical a moveset in here gets.
Music remixes don't hit as high as Hyrule Warriors but it's still fun to hear Fates and Awakening tunes get the butt rock makeover. The amount of menu voice overs for every character, class change costume changes and the support conversations are appreciated as well.
For all the game's many flaws, it's grown on me over time, it still has the feeling of missed potential, but they gave it a good swing.
Now maybe in the future they'll give me a sequel based upon Three Houses and the Radiant Duology
What are Era's thoughts on this one?
Fire Emblem Warriors was effectively one of those niche dream games in a sense, sounds silly right? but how often did the following image get around in regard to the FE series?
It was a perfect fit, but back then Musou had yet to become staple crossover fodder where they could announce "Life is Strange Warriors" and you probably wouldn't bat an eyelid, and Fire Emblem was on the brink of being sent to the Nintendo graveyard, filed away under F...Zero.
Then Fire Emblem Awakening happened, an explosive kitchen sink of anything and everything that gave the series new life. After Hyrule Warriors also happened, some dared to dream that the stars would align and Fire Emblem could get its very own 7 or 8 out of 10 spinoff, because sometimes you just want to let Ike whomp a thousand mooks to death with Ragnell.
And in 2017 it finally happened, during the E3 Direct alongside reveals such a "Metroid logo to keep them quiet" and Good Feel still unable to escape arts and crafts came a Fire Emblem trailer that basically spends a minute talking about the power of friendship and cameos.
Fire Emblem Warriors drops us into a world where two royal siblings designed by the safe as heck committee in the Awakening style, end up fighting for their kingdom with the aid of dimension hopping Fire Emblem heroes....
Whoops, wrong game
There we go, Rowan and Lianna, I'll give them one thing, they're blindingly blonde as well as blindingly bland.
And so begins a rote story campaign to give an excuse for a bunch of FE characters to drop in and join forces, and in fairness it's probably the best instance of Fates characters joining forces for those of us who played Revelations.
Though it didn't take long for the biggest problem to reveal itself, as fans waited to see which of their faves would make the cut, it began to become clear that the scope of this crossover was gonna be reigned in more than most would like.
FE Warriors chooses to draw from Shadow Dragon, Awakening and Fates almost exclusively, that makes the original FE, the series saving FE and the new hotness FE.
This is one of those decisions that makes sense in ensuring the game maintains a focus, but it was definitely a blow to not have the GBA Cube and Wii titles represented for many of us in the West.
And the roster woes didn't stop there, outside of Fates main cast being rather divisive, they took up a chunk of the roster and reveals for Sakura and Elise would showcase the next problem, copied and pasted movesets.
I don't think there's say a bow user in the game that's not using Takumi's very distinct style of archery, and that includes DLC.
Ah yes, the third strike, the DLC! After the initial roster was met with a fair bit of grumbling we then got hit with the early reveal of the season pass, one that would include some characters in the base story who were unplayable (one of which being the only grounded lance user in the game no less).
A perfect storm of momentum slowing news for some fans leading up to the release of the game, FE Warriors landed with a 74 metascore which is standard fare for the genre.
But how did FE Warriors go at adapting the Fire Emblem formula to the Warriors brawling? after spending a fair amount of time with the game over the years I think it does a pretty solid job.
While the gameplay is cut from a similar cloth to Hyrule Warriors (weak spots, the awakening meter) among the various spins on the formula, it brings in aspects like the weapon triangle and the pair up mechanic complete with supports.
In general I also feel like missions involve a bit more micromanaging of commanding units to keep on top of things in later stages. When this all flows together I find FE Warriors to be one of the better mixes of two series gameplay, a reminder of why the title was requested in the first place over numerous other Nintendo series.
Of course it also has that bloody annoying issue where the game's flow of battle messages arrive a minute later than they should, I had Leo get two shot earlier today and the following message was of the enemy general I beat up 30 seconds prior with him, eventually I got the one informing me that Leo was indeed out of action.
Speaking of getting killed, the game does allow permadeath for the true FE experience but I turned it off pretty early on because death can be so sudden and unexpected in these games that it felt like one of the series mechanics that didn't make the jump well at all.
One of the highlights of Hyrule Warriors were the maps, stages like Skyloft and Lake Hylia/Water Temple are great callbacks that give extra flavour to the title.
FE Warriors isn't so lucky as the series typically lacks distinct landmarks and areas, boilerplate castles and fields galore! I think there's one map based upon the world tree in awakening and that's about as referential as it gets. On top of this are that the map layouts lack any interesting gimmicks or dynamic elements, I'd consider them the weakest part of the package.
Simply playing through the main story of FE Warriors isn't much to write home about, much like Hyrule Warriors the meat of the game is in the main side mode, History mode is where those map references are hiding with clever mission select menus based upon notable chapters of previous FE games.
When you can start mixing and matching your character, applying master seals and falling into the REAL musou experience alongside the varied types of mission structure, FE Warriors really steps up.
Yet I imagine that much like me initially, most played through the main story and not much else.
I ended up picking up the DLC at half price and it certainly helps fill out some gaps in the roster, Linde, Azura and Olivia are to my recollection the only fully new movesets of the lot though so as fun as they are, it's not that appealing a proposition and doesn't move the roster beyond Shadow Dragon, Awakening and Fates.
Though history mode tucks in Lyn and Celica from FE7 and 2/Echoes respectively, to this day I still don't have Celica, and I've certainly tried! (but apparently she's a Marth moveset clone of all things, which is certainly something considering she's more mage than anything else).
For all the poo-pooing on characters and movesets, I'd be remiss to not mention which ones I enjoyed
Fire Emblem Warriors straight up elevates Lissa and Frederik in my book, Lissa has a very fun axe moveset with all of the quirky animations you'd expect from a dinky war cleric.
Frederik meanwhile is constantly adding levity to the menu tropes of reminding you to take a break and maintains his uncanny lowkey meme factor while he also carries over both his Awakening crit line "Pick a God and pray!"
Despite Dancers not being a combat class, the DLC combo of Azura and Olivia are great fun, assuming you can get past Olivia's grunting and groaning of course. Azura in particular bring s a much needed lance moveset imbued with water magic, it's the most fantastical a moveset in here gets.
Music remixes don't hit as high as Hyrule Warriors but it's still fun to hear Fates and Awakening tunes get the butt rock makeover. The amount of menu voice overs for every character, class change costume changes and the support conversations are appreciated as well.
For all the game's many flaws, it's grown on me over time, it still has the feeling of missed potential, but they gave it a good swing.
Now maybe in the future they'll give me a sequel based upon Three Houses and the Radiant Duology
What are Era's thoughts on this one?
