Fire Emblem 5: THE GAME IS DONE! IT'S FUCKING DONE! I completed it technically yesterday but whatever, I FINALLY FINISHED IT. I had to do massive save state scumming too because seriously, THIS GAME HAD A MAP THAT TOOK 93 TURNS. There are people who actually watched me play this too...
That said, I dunno how to rate this game. I had more fun with it than I expected BUT I did cheat the system with saved states, and I know I would have found the game exceedingly annoying and frustrating without that. Guess I have to rate it based off what it was like playing without saved states, and it's...not good. I still probably respect it more than FE4 because it's far more traditional style and it did invent a lot of ideas that later FE games would use or modify. Honestly, that's the game's big problem is that it's rough around the edges across the board. If they were to make an FE11/12 style remake for the game, it could be really good. Note that the base game FE5 has more to work with than FE11/12 so keeping things the same but adding in modern mechanics might actually be enough.
Things the game added on near as I can tell that later games incorporated/modified/etc. that started here:
-Legitimate Speed Threshold for doubling (4 points)
-Con stat to deal with weight (hey, Axes aren't laughable now!)
-Rescue Mechanics (WHY DID FE11/12 NOT ADD THIS IN AT ALL!? True, FE13 didn't have this, but it had Pair Up instead so I view that as a lateral extension)
-Conventional item trading. FE1/3 might have had this, I don't know, but FE4 did not.
-Weapon Ranks based upon usage of said weapon
Probably others but yeah, at least the game took steps in the right direction. Skill System helped keep some diversity for cast members other than stats, though ALL STATS CAP AT 20 (but HP) was a very poor decision. The only good thing that comes from it is that understatted Prepromos can keep up with legitimately raised units better but meh. Fatigue System...is overhated. It's not a GOOD system, but I don't feel it ruined the game and it does have work arounds if you need a crucial unit for a specific map (just make sure you have S Drinks and you're fine.)
Dismounting was neat but god damn did they fuck it up for indoors when they made a grand total of TWO PCs capable of using Lances on foot and they both have an E in them (one of them only gets it on promotion to boot), and there's a ton of PCs who use ONLY Lances when mounted and can only use Swords when unmounted, so you need to go out of your way to dismount them just to get some sword levels (and there's at least 2 Axe Knights that can't use Axes on Foot, despite there being on-foot Axe users throughout the game)
Capturing was a cool mechanic. Could be really good if it was fine tuned at that!
Anyway,thoughts on characters I used throughout the game for significant enough time; due to Fatigue, there's a lot more than normal:
Leaf: Sucky Lord Syndrom. Not particularly strong, hits a level cap and can't promote for a while (though nowhere near Roy level), relies heavily on his Prf Weapon (which is good but one of the lesser Prf weapons), and his promotion SUCKS. How much so? +1 to most stats (most people get at least a few +2s), no boost to Con, no new weapons or skills. At least Roy had legitimate stat bonuses and got a Super Sword to go with it! Especially insulting because he had like the best promotion ever in FE4, and apparently THAT'S IN THEG AME'S DATA. He does get the Blaggi Sword but there are other arguably better users of it (Fergus mostly)
Finn: Really damned good. His Prf Brave Lance is amazing, he's got good stats, and mounted. The one issue is the Sword thing I mentioned earlier but he joins early enough that usage of him in early indoor maps will probably get his Sword Ranking good for end game.
Othin/Halvan: The Fighter Duo AND THEY'RE ACTUALLY GOOD. Othin's Pugi is ridiculous, Halvan gets a Brave Axe early, both have good skills and stats, high build makes them good at capturing, etc. How did later Fighter duos fuck this up so much?
Saphy: I used her a decent amount early on because she was one of the only staff users (Fatigue system and all that), and she's the only one who can use Hammerene. She got an A in Staves early too, which was damned handy, though stopped being significant...until the final chapter where I realized I needed as many Staff users as possible to make it sane and several of my staff users were Fatigued, so yay! Never promoted though.
Dagda: Jeigan Warrior! He's about what you expect. To his credit, he makes a theoretically good unit to bait out Ballistaes due to usually being able to survive 2 shots and Duel will make them fire twice at him, s they run out of charges faster. Did I mention the only sane way to deal with distant ballistaes is that way?
Fergus: Being a Sword Knight, he never has to worry about Mounted vs. Unmounted for weapon purposes which is a nice boon. Beyond that, just a solid overall unit who can use the Beo Sword for a nice late game boost and can even wield the Blaggi Sword. Additionally, he gets the least penalties unmounted, only losing 1 Str and Def (and that Strength loss disappears after promotion).
Lara: Because I missed Lifis, she was my only Thief for a while. This made her automatically useful for most indoor maps so she never was used outdoors just to keep her Fatigue down. Then she became a Dancer out of nowhere and...became useful as a Dancer because seriously, getting extra turns on your staff users is a HUGE deal in this game. She could still steal from enemies as a dancer but AHAHAHAH no to that. Awesome when she'd get a Double Action. ONly reason to keep her with a Sword on I felt was to avoid an enemy instantly capturing her; otherwise she's free inventory space on the map or something.
Karin: Unimpressive Peg Knight. She has that Unmounted Issue and joins during several indoor chapters with an E Rank in Lances so she can't even get a good weapon when she finally can be a flier. Runs risk of being killed by Bows, etc. To be fair, she is mounted so good at capturing, and she's mobile so good for rescues and just reaching certain areas. More of a utility than a combat unit.
Asvel: I used a lot of Grahf Calibur early on, his Prf Wind Tome with high Might and 50% Crit, but managed to hold onto it just long enough that he could fry a scary Wyvern Boss. Took him a while to get that A in Wind for Tornado too. There was a time where I was afraid I was running out of legitimate Magic though found a spot with a lot of Thunder Mages, so he at least had that much, and later shelled out a lot of cash on Wind when it was storebought. Good Mage in any event.
Nanna: Mounted Healer outdoors, indoors she's basically a healer who isn't auto-captured because she can use Swords. The Earth Sword is really good to be fair, and made a lot of use out of it in a pinch and kept her alive. She has a rough beginning in any event, especially due to low Staff levels, but she works her way into a competent unit. The most important thing she has, though, is Charisma. Adding 10% Hit/Evade to all units near-bye is a godsend in a game like this, especially since after a point, Evade Tanking is the only thing that works as your defense doesn't get high enough to deal with raw damage.
Shiva: The game's Navarre. He's about what you expect, which is to say, good at the fast, evasive swordsmen thing. He also has Sol so he's a little more durable, and even capped Defense without me realizing at one point (might have been the scroll I used on him); since I gave him the King Sword, he was another Charisma user, but that's not him so much as the weapon, so doesn't count. Still, extremely good and reliable unit.
Selfin: Mounted Archer who has Duel...ok, that works. The only problem is duel can bite her in the ass against people she can't counter giving them extra turns. Nothing special outside of the early Brave Bow she gets, and hey, being a Bow Knight means she keeps her weapon ranks on foot because they're functionally Archers indoors. That's SOMETHING at least.
Pahn: Lara turned into a Dancer, I lost my Thief...but I gained this guy at the exact same time, whose a Thief Fighter, so he basically filled in for her role. He was basically Thief Lara who didn't feel like a complete liability in combat, so he could occasionally sneak in a kill, or bait out a hit or something. Again, mostly a utility, but he worked.
Eda: The game's Minerva! She has a shaky start, being basically Karin who can do damage but less evasive. Her main problem, however, is her god awful sword levels from start; she starts with a D, and joins a little too late to salvage that so she's pretty much a pure Outdoor unit. I did do some Elite Sword abuse with her late, and she actually capped Defense without me noticing (due to Mounted gains), and ended up being a solid late game unit. she's also a flying mounted unit, so she's good for capturing, rescues and general mobility.
Dean: BEST MALE WYVERN EVER! ...ok, that's a blatant lie because FE10 Haar exists, but he's still pretty damn good. He's a Prepromo with passable stats for his level, so he's strong out of the gate, and they even give him a good Prf Weapon. Good Attack, Brave Effect, and Ambush, so he can legitimately tank out enemy swarms. Also has Movement stars so he randomly gets extra turns, making him great for covering ground. To top it all off, he joins with an A in Swords, so he can work for indoor missions too, though Wyverns take a significant stat penalty on foot unlike most. One thing I learned late was that he and Eda get a Hit and Avoid bonus when next to each other, which would have been nice to know. The Dragon Lance is a pain in the ass to get granted, but it's also extremely important. Naturally, usual Flying Unit utilities go here.
Linoan: Resire Tank, can use staves (and decent rank to start with), free Promotion later in the game so she doesn't steal a Knight's Crest, Lightning is a good spell...yeah, solid unit.
Mareeta: She's the game's token Female Myrmidon (ala Marisa,Fir, Mia, etc.) and she's...arguably the best ever? How you may ask? Well, let me explain all her benefits. First off, a movement star, albeit only one, she can still get random double turns. Secondly, Pursuit Critical ratio of 5...which means the second hit on her attacks is almost always a critical hit. She starts with Luna, which is 100% ITD in this game and can stack with Crits. She also joins with the Mareeta Sword, which is a nice broken weapon, and has good stats. If that wasn't enough, she can learn Astra later in the game...which can stack with LUna and crits...yes, she can randomly hit a guy 5 times for ITD damage, each hit making a separate check. THIS HAPPENED ON THE FINAL BOSS TOO. I literally warped her to the final boss, threw her at him with the Mareeta Sword, and well, hilarity ensued. Excellent unit, in any event.
Fred: Sort of just used him as a sub if I had free space, because he had the stats to not totally fail mid-game. Not much to say about him, other than I guess he could use Magic swords better than most fighters but meh.
Olwen: So the FAQ said to not get her (or let her die) and use the alternative guy instead. That FAQ gets RoR'd because yes, Olwen's stats are iffy for her level, but hand her a decent scroll (Fala works well I found), and she'll even out well enough, and stats is all that guy had. What does Olwen have? Divine Thunder, a Brave Spell with high Attack. This was such a nice trump card I can't stress it enough. That's not all she has though; when that was running out, the game hands her the Holy Sword, a SECOND Prf Weapon that is pretty much the best Sword in the game.
How good is that weapon? Here are stats:
Holy Sword: 17 Might, 65 Hit, 20 Crit, Hits Twice, Effective vs. Mounted Units, grants Prayer, +10 Magic, 60 Uses, 11 Weight
Brave Sword: 15 Might, 75 Hit, Hits Twice, 60 Uses, 14 Weight
I was tempted to show off a few others, but you can Serenes Forest that crap if you're really curious. In any event, that weapon is amazing and she can use it on foot too, making her great at slaughtering mages. So between having 2 great Prf Weapons, joining earlier and the game gives tools to offset the stat edge, I can't imagine the other guy is better. Ok, his immediate stat edge is significant, but frankly, Divine Thunder is such a huge boon, and later the Holy Sword. Stat differences can be made up for, unique weapons like that cannot.
Sleuf: Pure Staff Bot. He kind of completely replaced Saffy later on due to the Movement stars and all that, whenever I needed a pure staff both, and he's good for that reason alone. No seriously; joining with A in Staves is immediately a character worth considering. I can't stress this enough; Status Staves, Warp Staves, Restore, etc. are a HUGE deal in this game.
Sarah: What the hell is wrong with her? I recruited her, saw the FAQ hype her to hell, was going "She can't be that good" then next thing I know she's constantly double acting, murdering things on counters with Critical hits, and STILL capable of using Staves. I look into why and well, the reasons? 5 Movement Stars, has Prayer, Wrath AND Elite so she's very good at getting levels, weapon levels...kind of suck, but this was after I farmed a number of Thunder Tomes and she can use Light Magic too. Sarah's an absolute Monster who can use staves, and is the only character who can use the Kia staff (...really, fan-translators? Couldn't call it Cure?) to get Evayle in your team. Great character, etc.
Amalda: Sort just a character I subbed in when I had characters who were fatigued, because she's mounted and could use staves. She worked passably enough for this role. Not-amazing, but she was never a primary character.
Delmud: He joins late and is a worse Fergus who has Charisma. This is strangely more useful than it sounds because Charisma is great. Mostly used him for late game filler but he got the job done.
Sety: So...the overpowered Wind Mage God of Death that Luc only DREAMS he could be on this remote level of amazingness returns from FE4 in this game...and he's still broken. First off, A in Staves, see the usual things about that. Secondly, decent stats out of the gate for his level. Most importantly?
Holsety: 20 Might, 90 Hit, 30 Crit, 1-2 Range, 6 Weight, 50 Uses, Effective vs. Fliers, +20 Speed, +20 Skill
Yep, his broken weapon of "no, fuck YOU Fire Emblem 4" returns in this game. Fatigue meant I couldn't use him in the last map (sadness...), but he more than pulled his weight in the chapters I deployed him. I guess he's comparable to Athos because he's ludicrously overpowered but gained late enough that he almost feels fair.
Galzus: As if Mareeta wasn't good enough, she's also the only one capable of recruiting this guy, whose really good. At first glance, he looks like a normal Prepromo Hero who joins late...ok, whatever...
Then you look closer at him, and see he's got legitimately very good stats, notably caps 3 stats, high build, good HP, and A in both Swords and Axes. Then yo look again and see he has both Astra and Luna just like Mareeta. To top it off, he also joins with actually good weapons, so you can literally use him the instant he's recruited and he'll pull his weight. He's kind of like FE6 Karel, only in a game where you're more likely to use him due to the Fatigue system.
And there you have it, FE5 is done and I don't think I'll ever touch it again! I think I respect this game more than FE11/12 because it at least tried to take the series in the right direction and the following games definitely followed suit just fine tuning what FE5 up with, while FE11/12 sort of conveniently ignored a lot of the good ideas FE5 established that other games incorporated (like, oh, rescuing), but at the same time, I can't claim it is a better game, because, well, it's not. It's a 1999 game that has the polish of a 1992 game, and it has aged about as well as you expected (ie not at all), and I don't think I could have played it if not for saved state abuse. The game's difficulty is not an exaggeration; it's basically Rom Hack level hard, and as snow said, DEMANDS THAT YOU ARE PSYCHIC to play it.
Unsure what i give it, kneejerk says 4/10, but might be too generous, though I do think the game deserves serious props for at least trying to fix a lot of the issues of the earlier games, even if it didn't quite pull it off.
