Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest (2015)

I just finished Conquest in Hard Mode and d*mn, that was HARD. HARD HARD HARD. It was one of the toughest experiences I ever had with a Fire Emblem game, especially the final stage(s).

Anyway, dialogues are still stupid, but I was so focused on the gameplay difficult I didn't mind, really. And having a reduced cast in comparison to Birthright really helped.

I will add some final comments when I finish the final route.

Time to get into Revelation DLC.

I hit CH 19, the story still is super bland, though I am enjoying some of the character moments that happen.

Maps have continued to be mediocre, and I find myself missing the refined class progression from Three Houses. I'm far enough along that i'll be beating this, but I think it will take the slot for my least favorite Fir Emblem I have played.

After playing Three Houses, Conquest really comes across as a bit shallow. The story is ok, if stereotypical. I do like a few of the characters and classes. I'm going to see it all the way thru, but I can't help but feel that Awakening does this style of Fire Emblem better.

Conquest's castle feels particularly pointless since I have no interest in the multiplayer stuff.

Currently this is rating a solid 3/5 - Ok but not great

I've been slowly replaying both Conquest and Birthright with the Gay Fates mod, and my opinion on them mostly hasn't changed. The presentation layer is excellent, the unit balance is abysmal, the story and supports are dull as dirt, and Conquest is elevated by a few all-time classic maps.

Coming back to these after Three Houses has really highlighted how tactically uninteresting the Pair Up system is, though. From the beginning of the game till the end, the right move is always to stick two strong units together and use Dual Guards to mitigate damage. Little thought ever needs to be paid to positioning or support bonuses, so combat quickly becomes rote on regular maps.

Conquest tries to skirt this problem through its creative map design, and some of its gimmicks do succeed in shaking up the boring combat basics. But just as many are tedious nonsense, and none of them addresses the core issues with Pair Up.

I still really appreciate how experimental these games are, but I'm glad IntSys seems to have retired most of their mechanics in favor of new ideas.

So, I tried to like Fates, and I wanted to play some Fire Emblem while I waited for Three Houses, but... No, just... There's too much crap cluttering up the game. All the random crap weapons, the child system that absolutely should not have returned, the arbitrary return of 4 of the child characters from Awakening just plugged in as if they were new characters... I just... For every thing I liked about the game (mostly just being a Fire Emblem game, which I generally do enjoy), there was something I disliked.

And ultimately, the idea of slogging through Birthright, and then Conquest, and then Revelations, I needed to cut my losses before the Sunk Cost Fallacy got worse and dragged me kicking and screaming through all three games. So... I guess I just have to wait a couple more weeks for my Fire Emblem fix... Oh man, I hope it lives up to the hype.

I bought the Birthright side first (undecided if I want to play Conquest - it sounds SO HARD but also the story??? hnggg!!)

I'm already in love with this. Some of the sibling relationships are, uh, very friendly for siblings. But I love how the Hoshido side is full of Japanese culture! It's surprising that there are dozens of jrpgs but yet you don't actually see them delve into their own culture a lot? (Maybe I'm just playing the wrong games) It's also really nice to get to explore that, knowing it was made by people from that culture, and not having to worry the portrayals are grossly racist.

But anyway, that aside, I love this so much. The castle is great. The plot is trippy weird but I'm on board. The actual complex questions being asked of the MC about like, the definition of family, etc. are great. I think they could've done a better job portraying the Nohr side as actually grey/neutral instead of casting them as villains. Even before the split. Like... why are they dressed in all black if they're not supposed to be the "bad guys"? lol.

I'm mostly here for character relationships and storyline, so I'm waiting to fall for some of these chars/pairings. None have hit me quite yet. Hana's cute, Hinoka is voiced by Buttercup from Powerpuff Girls so I automatically love her. Azura is intriguing. Clive's got something Going On with him and I'm waiting for more info, haha.