Gameplay: The gameplay of Fates is easily among my absolute favourite in the series, rivalling Radiant Dawn.
- Pair up as it in this game is a very interesting way of changing up the gameplay and is really fun. It also makes for some really great battle scenes, seeing four fighters at once, sometimes attacking together, other times defending one another.
- The addition of a large number of Japan based classes was a plus too.
- The simplified RGB triangle was alright and probably necessary to make sense of the large number of weapon classes in this game. (I just wish the magic triangle returned. rip).
- The removal of limit on supports is a huge plus, as it really lets people grind for supports and get a much better picture of the character in just their first run.
- The removal of weapon durability... didn't take away that much from the game. Although it did prevent the "Too awesome to use" dilemma that players earlier sometimes had.
- My Castle is neat. It is quite useful to see your characters taking on different job in the various buildings, which adds to the immersion.
- The... *ahem* Bonding feature is tacky. While some people may appreciate it, I don't think it adds anything worthwhile. Then again, this exists, so I can't complain.
So, overall, I have no complaints with the gameplay. I wouldn't have sunk 150 hours into the game otherwise.
Level Design: Conquest and Revelations hit it out of the park. They are by
far the most innovative maps I've seen in any Fire Emblem game, which is saying a lot. Dragon veins feel like a lame excuse to add changes at first, but they seriously do run with it in some really fun ways.
Characters: This is really subjective territory, but in general, the character designs are pretty par for the course of the series. Generally likeable personalities and designs, with a personal quirk or two. No complaints there. While the addition of child characters was kind of pointless for the story, they are quite well designed, so I'm not complaining there either. As
Erureido
's poll shows, people in general like the characters.
Music: Oh god, the music.The music in Fire Emblem Fates is absolutely phenomenal. Fire Emblem had always had top notch music, and Fates even managed to surpass that. Absolutely incredible. It knows how to get the player pumped up for any battle. Rena Strober did a wonderful job with Azura's song too, and the endgame battle theme is fan-tas-tic.