currently on chapter 20, less than 10 chapters away from finishing, and i am really enjoying it so far. don't wanna be absolute right now since you can never be too sure if a game is going to dramatically nosedive in quality (or even get much better), but yeah from what i've seen so far, this is a keeper.
it's on the easy side, and it's pretty easy to juice up units to send to the wolves and delete half the map on enemy phase (though, perhaps in future playthroughs i'll seek higher difficulties). however, it feels cozy in a way. it has a lot of fundamental features you'd expect in a fire emblem without any crazy frills--just as solid of a fire emblem game as you can get.
the story isn't exactly a selling-point to me for fe at all, but i do like the story and especially the worldbuilding of this game. it does help you stay motivated to keep playing through the game more than usual once you get invested. ike is also a really cool protagonist.
the way the "base" is handled, or the place you go to in between battles, is something i wish would return in future fire emblems. namely, the "info" conversations between ike and other characters in the army, often relating to current events in the story. they differ from supports in that way, and i think these kinds of "filler" conversations help flesh out the fodder cast by having them weigh in on what's happening in the story rather than have their characterization isolated in select supports--a thing modern fire emblem kind of struggles with (plus, these are much easier to access than supports, so the cast is likely to leave a good impression through these in your first playthrough, whereas relying on supports for characterization means you have to hope you see "the right support" that actually expands the character).
its easiness and commitment to basic fe mechanics makes it pretty beginner friendly. definitely a great starter game for those new to fe--it's such a shame that this game is so hard to access nowadays without emulation (this game is almost 20 years old and no rerelease! wow!).
it's on the easy side, and it's pretty easy to juice up units to send to the wolves and delete half the map on enemy phase (though, perhaps in future playthroughs i'll seek higher difficulties). however, it feels cozy in a way. it has a lot of fundamental features you'd expect in a fire emblem without any crazy frills--just as solid of a fire emblem game as you can get.
the story isn't exactly a selling-point to me for fe at all, but i do like the story and especially the worldbuilding of this game. it does help you stay motivated to keep playing through the game more than usual once you get invested. ike is also a really cool protagonist.
the way the "base" is handled, or the place you go to in between battles, is something i wish would return in future fire emblems. namely, the "info" conversations between ike and other characters in the army, often relating to current events in the story. they differ from supports in that way, and i think these kinds of "filler" conversations help flesh out the fodder cast by having them weigh in on what's happening in the story rather than have their characterization isolated in select supports--a thing modern fire emblem kind of struggles with (plus, these are much easier to access than supports, so the cast is likely to leave a good impression through these in your first playthrough, whereas relying on supports for characterization means you have to hope you see "the right support" that actually expands the character).
its easiness and commitment to basic fe mechanics makes it pretty beginner friendly. definitely a great starter game for those new to fe--it's such a shame that this game is so hard to access nowadays without emulation (this game is almost 20 years old and no rerelease! wow!).