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Fire Emblem: Awakening

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Relying on the promoted character they always give you at the start these games is one of the worst mistakes to make in a Fire Emblem game. Frederick has sub-average growths and gains levels more slowly because he starts promoted, he's just eating up exp better earned elsewhere. (Additionally, by the standards of where you'll end up with everybody else, he has terrible stats for a promoted character.)

Relying on him to get you through the early game will just end up making the mid and late game magnitudes worse. (There's a big difficulty jump at around chapter 12 too.) That all said, you do kind of need to use him to shepherd your characters along in the early goings. Give him bronze or iron weapons and use him to soften up targets for other characters to finish off, or use him as a partner in pairs to buff up the other characters.

Additionally, given that this is one of the Fire Emblem games with random battles showing up on the world map, it's not like you can't make up ground later in the game, but it's going to be a lot of tedious grinding.

You definitely don't want to give up on Donnel, the unique skill that improves his growths will eventually make him one of your best units. (When his kid shows up, you'll want to make sure that is the skill they inherit from him. Inherited skills are selected from whichever skill is in the last occupied skill slot for the character, and inheritance happens at the start of the child's recruitment mission, so you have plenty of time to sort it out.)

Really though, hard in this game is hard. Only six chapters in, you shouldn't feel too committed to the game to bail and start over. I'd advise normal classic for a first playthrough. (Or hard casual, but casual can make for a much more reckless game that is very unlike Fire Emblem. Granted, hard casual is how i'm playing, so take that for what you will.)

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I will discourage playing the DLC maps, you're basically paying for cheats. Wildly overpowered items and game-breaking resource allotments as rewards.

It's unfortunate that it's been handled that way, because many of the DLC missions themselves seem interesting and well made, but i think they would completely ruin the game if exploited.

Hell, but if you're committed to your playthrough, maybe that's what you need to keep going.

Christ though, it just seems so wrong. I can't advise that course, i've looked through the DLC and it's tons of serious game-changing stuff. It's gross, it's a very improper exploitation of the DLC model. There are missions that exist for the sole purpose of farming gold, exp, and legendary weapons. (In amounts that would make literally everything else in the game seem like a waste of time.)

You know, but in there, there is some stuff that looks alright, it's not a complete shit show. (Only a few maps are available right now, but there's going to be a lot of stuff, judging by what came out for the japanese version of the game.)

Let's say be careful about which of those packs you choose to buy, and how you use the rewards you reap.

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Well, as it turns out, the DLC maps were harder than the mission I was on anyway, so I abandoned those right quick and went back to the story mission.  Some judicious use of "pair up" seems to have done the trick and gotten me through it.  This is definitely a lot harder than I remember Fire Emblem being, though.

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The new pairing system ends up being a pretty big part of how you need to play Awakening, yeah. Putting everybody in pairs will prevent you from doing the amount of damage you need to do in a single turn, but used sparingly, it's an excellent way to bolster and protect some weaker units while building supports. (Or to use the another unit as an intermediary for longer travel distances in a single turn.)

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I keeping sinking a some time into the game, mainly playing random battles that keep popping up, and not always advancing the story in large chunks.  Normally when I do attempt to go for a story mission there is something stupid that happenes like I move a unit too far in and they get swamped with guys who get a series of lucky hit.  I really like the game but I refuse to lose anyone. 

 

I think the only person that I have "lost" was "Marth(?)" in one of the few battles that they join you.  Now I am wondering if that is why they haven't joined or if there is a story reason.

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I don't think it matters if "Marth" dies as an NPC in one of those earlier story missions, you should be fine. That is very much an exception and not the rule though.

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Yeah it was one of the earlier ones.  They have already appeared later in some story scenes and used the language of "retreated from battle" or something like that.  I have noticed that if the game doesn't want you losing someone it is game over though, which is nice I think.

 

One complaint, though, is that people will randomly appear in battle to join with almost no explaination.  Paine is a great example.  I really like her dialog with most people outside of battle but she is just kind of there at one point.

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The early missions just kind of throw characters at you with little rhyme or reason, yeah. Awakening doesn't have a very strong narrative.

Also, it's actually just Chrom and your Avatar that will result in a game over, everybody else can die.

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This launched in EU on Friday. I played Sacred Stones so I went for Hard mode (which is). Fantastic game. I'm quickly discovering the total playtime displayed on my file bears no resemblance to my actual playtime.

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FEA is still the best thing i've played this year.

I don't know if the spotpass stuff is going to be rolled out on a different schedule for the European version, but all of it will be available for the North American version in just another week.

That includes six additional story paralogues with new story characters to recruit.

The DLC stuff should also all be up for the North American version, if anybody is so inclined. (Again, i don't know about the European version.)

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Still haven't gotten my pre-ordered copy. Is there a shortage or something? It seems sold out everywhere I look. :reggie:

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There was quite a shortage for the North American release as well.

Nintendo tends to ship its RPG's in ridiculously small quantities.

Xenoblade's NA version had such a bad supply/demand problem that NA copies are now selling for hundreds of dollars.

Awakening's at least available on the eShop.

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The Euro version is having Spotpass and DLC stuff rolled out at the same rate as NA did but starting now.

 

Just married Sully. We're perfectly matched - she likes it quick and dirty, which is how I deliver it!

 

Well, quick at least.

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File says 14 hrs 51 mins. Activity Log says 31hrs 28 mins... 

 

I wasn't expecting it but this has some of the best use of 3D I've seen as it actually aids the player in understanding the terrain. It's the only game I've played with it nudged on at all times. The character art and dialogue bubbles all pop out nicely, but the battlefields are enhanced no-end. Breakneck Pass looks incredible as the cliff falls away to the water below but the battle grid flies out over the edge.

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