Just finished Fire Emblem Warriors, or at least the main story. I chose hard mode for mine first playthrough. Takumi, in mine opinion, is easily the most unique character in the game.
Yes, I was surprised Ike wasn't in the game. But whom knows? We might just get a Tellius DLC pack. If that happens, I'm betting on Ike, Soren, and Micaiah. Also, I wouldn't mind seeing Sigurd as a Xander clone.
Review time:
Mine biggest disappointment with Fire Emblem Warriors is the badly-written story. Honestly, portals leading to other worlds? Talk about clichéd. The Fire Emblem series is known for its deep, heart-wrenching plots--so in that regard, this spinoff is a disgrace. Even before the game came out, I thought the tone was way too damn sugary. Really, I felt like I was watching a Saturday morning show. I would have preferred something MUCH more dark and character driven. Throughout most of the story, there was no major villain that really got in the way, and really affected the protagonists, emotionally. That said, for me things didn't get all that interesting until towards the end--and even that interest was short-lived. I absolutely cannot stand the twins, Rowan and Lianna. They are so two-dimensional, I was afraid I would be cut down by their cringe-worthy dialogue. Among the original cast, the one I found mineself caring for the most was Darios. That said, it's a shame that he was a mere tag-along. I honestly would rather have had him as the main character, with the story focusing primarily on his inner turmoils, divided loyalties, and whatnot.
On to the gameplay: the controls are sharp, and the game has a very diverse roster, with the exception of a few clones. And thanks to the pair-up system, there are many different fighting styles you can experiment with. Mine personal favourites are Takumi & Leo, Robin & Xander. However, the levels, in mine opinion, weren't as strategic as they could have been. For the most part, it's a mindless hack-and-slash that doesn't take full advantage of the Fire Emblem formula. The weapon triangle makes things interesting, but after a few character upgrades, brute power is pretty much everything. Furthermore, the AI is at times unreliable. There were many times when I would order a unit to conquer a fort, or have them all gang up on a big boss--only to have them stand there doing nothing. As a result, I found mineself multitasking like crazy. Also, I really wish there were more terrain effects, other than the occasional fog. For instance, there could have been tall-grass areas that would slow down horseback units, and bushes that would provide cover for both the enemy's units and yours. Lastly, I was disappointed in the Classic Mode; instead of perma-death, it's pay-per-Aum.
Mine personal favourite level was the Orchestrated Battle, because more than any other chapter, it pushed you to flex your mental muscle. First, you're having to balance out the forts you conquer--but once you think things are going smoothly, spies and reinforcements pop up back and forth, trying to take back the forts you conquered; thus throwing things off-balance. And to top it all off, you have to get the job done before one of the sides destroyes the other. It was the only chapter that I actually failed multiple times.
TL;DR: Fire Emblem Warriors isn't a bad game, but there was just so much untapped potential that would have made it surpass its Hylian predecessor. If you liked Hyrule Warriors and are a Fire Emblem fan, go ahead and give it a shot--but don't expect much of a challenge.
