fe7 is an incredible example of doing more with less.
full credit should go to fe6 for all the gorgeous sprite work that this uses -- just an absolute masterpiece of pixel art. however, in all other ways this is simply a complete improvement on 6. maps are shorter, more interesting, less grindy and with more varied objectives; your lords (yes, even poor wretched eliwood) are both mechanically and personality-wise better than roy; characters are (i think) fewer, but more fleshed out and play off of each other better, and even the ones that you have no earthly reason to use add a ton of colour and detail to the world if you go out of your way looking for it.
writing-wise, it's truly fantastic. the limited text boxes enforce a precise style, character voices are distinct and interesting, and their portraits add a ton of life and expressiveness. the story, although it looks like by-the-numbers medieval fantasy, has a degree of thematic cohesion and thoughtfulness that you rarely see in any game to this day; as with the entire series, ideas of "family" and "history/memory" are central and treated with a degree of thought and care that i feel both 6 and 8 kind of lack.
unfortunalely, yes, this one has the "funny" gay bandits bit too. can't win em all.
7 was my favourite before three houses, and maybe it still is? i'm not sure. it's one of my top two anyway.
full credit should go to fe6 for all the gorgeous sprite work that this uses -- just an absolute masterpiece of pixel art. however, in all other ways this is simply a complete improvement on 6. maps are shorter, more interesting, less grindy and with more varied objectives; your lords (yes, even poor wretched eliwood) are both mechanically and personality-wise better than roy; characters are (i think) fewer, but more fleshed out and play off of each other better, and even the ones that you have no earthly reason to use add a ton of colour and detail to the world if you go out of your way looking for it.
writing-wise, it's truly fantastic. the limited text boxes enforce a precise style, character voices are distinct and interesting, and their portraits add a ton of life and expressiveness. the story, although it looks like by-the-numbers medieval fantasy, has a degree of thematic cohesion and thoughtfulness that you rarely see in any game to this day; as with the entire series, ideas of "family" and "history/memory" are central and treated with a degree of thought and care that i feel both 6 and 8 kind of lack.
unfortunalely, yes, this one has the "funny" gay bandits bit too. can't win em all.
7 was my favourite before three houses, and maybe it still is? i'm not sure. it's one of my top two anyway.