Hooooo boy am I in for a ride with this one right here.

Intro

So, I’m a big fan of the Fire Emblem franchise. It’s been a part of two of my previous blogs (fanservice and villains), and also the subject of a full one when I talked about Fire Emblem Heroes. So, it’s safe to say I am a very credible source on this subject. So let’s do some time traveling back to February of 2016. Us Fire Emblem fans have waited just about a year for Fire Emblem: Fates to release. They pulled a Pokemon on us, giving us 2 (3) different versions, but with 2 (3) separate stories to explore! Everyone was so excited. Then the games came out and

They were okay. Some loved them, some hated, but everyone agreed it was Missed Potential: The Game. So, I am going to explore all 3 routes (Birthright, Conquest, and Revelation) and just figure out: what’s up with these games. Just explore them and see what I can find out. And if the name of this blog is any indication, we’re starting with Birthright. Also spoilers. Be warned!

You are the Ocean’s Gray Waves

Sorry I just cannot go one second talking about Fates without referencing the main theme. I’ll link it at the end. Anyway, the main point of this game is making a choice. Corrin, the main character, was taken away from his birth home of Hoshido by King Garon of Nohr, and raised there for as long as he can remember. So you play through the first part of the game, stuff happens, your Hoshido Mom dies, and then you get to Chapter 6, and you have to make a choice.

So for the sake of this, we’re defending Hoshido. Cool. So you pick Hoshido and get to hang out with them.

Story Stuff

Now, the story of Birthright is… standard Fire Emblem all things considered. You side with the ‘good’ nation to fight against the ‘bad’ nation. And dragons. That’s basically it really. Throw in one or two possessed Takumi scenes (younger brother of Hoshido) to get people hype for Revelations I guess, a character you need an A support with before a certain point or they just die, and a character you could recruit if you chose Nohr setting fire to herself for betraying both Corrin and her Ice Tribe. Now, you might be asking “What is this Ice Tribe?” Well… that’s the first problem with Fates. The world building is absolute trash.

You have Nohr/Hoshido as the countries, a bunch of other places with names where battles take place, and the Fire/Ice/Wind Tribe, as well as Kitsune and Wolfskin. And that’s all. There’s actually no map for anything. The continent doesn’t even have a name, hence most people giving it the lovely name of Fateslandia. Mystical truly. But no world-building is decent enough here, it’s just cookie-cutter Fire Emblem at this point, so it’s whatever.

Main Issues

Now, story aside, I don’t really have any big or controversial problems with the Birthright side of things. It’s just.. basic. And maybe that’s the issue. Gameplay is just… really easy because of

This guy, Ryoma, the older brother and HIGH PRINCE of Hoshido. He just breaks the game in half. He has a 1-2 range weapon that never breaks, which is basically all he needs to win. Couple this with Birthright being the easiest path by far, yeah that’s it. It just makes the game way too easy. And honestly… that’s the only big issue with this path as a whole.

But…

Just because by far this is the path with least complaints, does that make it the best? From a story standpoint sure it has the least “Why” moments but that doesn’t make it the best. I’ll go more in depth with the other 2 routes because I have more to say with them but, just because something is the least-worse, doesn’t make it the best.

Anyway I also promised I’d link the main theme of Fates so here you go

 

See ya next time