holy shit donlot mentioned Some things i would add: A good reason to not care about missing out on content is to think of it this way: If you enjoy the game a lot, you'll probably replay it and get another chance to see things you didn't get to see in your first run. If you didn't enjoy the game, why even bother trying to see everything for something you don't care about. Most FE games also give you more than enough tools, so be it units, items, etc to beat the game. People have solo'd many games with all kinds of units, so you can beat them even with a sub optimal team. Lastly this may sound a bit cheesy but i think generally you can say this for both FE and life in general: You can plan ahead for as long and as much as you want to, but once your plan makes contact with the enemy, it usually won't go exactly as you envisioned it. But that's life for ya. What's important is that you pick yourself up and just keep going if things don't work out. New plans can be made, new successes achieved, and unexpected heroes to be crowned, even in the darkest of hours. Only in very rare instances is it impossible to recover from failiure.
I don't disagree with you, I just don't have the time to replay games. a lot of my fun comes from knowing everything about the game and trivia. sometimes playing blind is fun, sometimes it is extremely frustrating. playing with a guide is definitely a crutch but sometimes it keeps me from putting the game down. min maxing is its own fun as well.
My life is already a long string of failures that I can't alter and probably won't come back from. Am I not allowed to course correct in my hobby either?
My issue is that my backlog is so massive and games already take so long to finish that I rarely ever replay games that take longer than 20 hours to beat, so I feel like I "have" to do everything possible in one playthrough. Which is a self-perpetuating problem because my backlog probably wouldn't be so big if I didn't spend so long trying to do everything in games that would take 80+ hours even if you beelined the story and did nothing else.
Couldn't agree more, I've been saying this for years. Worrying so much about tier lists and which unit is better than what is silly in a single player non competitive game. If you're having fun playing that's all that matters and fun is unique for each player.
I agree that you should use whatever units you want but I don’t have the time to replay a game multiple times. And I have a back log of other games I wanna get to.
I've loved the Fire Emblem series for 15 years, and I've never cared about how you're "supposed" to play. It's the only way to ensure that the game is fun.
I kind of like caring. Part of the fun of an Ironman is getting attached to a unit only to watch them die to a 3% crit and then having to work with whatever scrubs/meat shields that are sitting on the bench.
6: Either you Throw the Javelin, or the Javelin Throws You on the Bench. ~Lord Ephraim 7: Stop Hoarding the god damn Elixir or I'll shove YOU into an Elixir 8: As a Friend, you are, replaceable. ~War Criminal Marth
Mangs trying to justify why he's lost Marcus at the arena twice in a row. I appreciate the advice, but we play games how we want to play them. I want to give Iron Man a shot, but in casual playthroughs I wanna play the game and experience as much as I can off the cuff.
For me, the fun of FE is having units I like grow from nothing into absolute powerhouses (or whatever niche they have) and I like finding as many ways as possible to milk every bit of EXP I can (even the most time wasting, boring ways possible) and seeing how much I can break the game early on to make endgame a breeze. For example, in Chapter 6 of Andaron saga I spent over 700 turns power leveling Estelle and Lilinette to max so these otherwise niche characters could help out in the next chapters when it's really needed. That is the MOST fun I can think of. Or leveling Elise and Azura as much as possible so they can contribute more in chapter 10. You just gotta find your niche where you get the most enjoyment and go from there. Be sure to give new playstyles a chance too, as they may end up being your new favorite way to play!
Imo the problem is that the casual players only play FE once, hence you feel like you need to play optimally since losing a unit feels like a huge setback regardless if it is or not. For instance if you had a support you were really invested in at B rank and lost one of the two you can't see the support ever since you're not gonna play it again.
I think the best travel advice I’ve ever gotten is “travel as if you’ll be back someday,” because otherwise the things you miss will weigh on you more than the things you enjoyed. I think this is often good advice for playing video games, as well. Play them as if you’re coming back for a second play through.
"Don't replay the level to get the best ending, you can just replay the entire game later!" We're reaching levels of Mangs Math that shouldn't even be possible! 😱
5:50 while I do see your point it's worth considering that a lot of people play through games only once either because they don't have that much time to play games in the first place and/or because they have other games they want to play instead of replaying a game they already played. Your advise makes sense for a Fire Emblem fan, a type of person who'll replay every FE game multiple times to see more of the game and to try different strategies. However if someone will only play through an FE game once and wants to see the true/best ending then it makes perfect sense to reset if they lose a character.
"You can always replay the game later" See Mangs the issue here is that Fire emblem is not the only games I play, I'm not even done playing all of them how should I expect myself to replay the same ones several times ? If I let a character die it's over i'll probably never see his supports. It's a bit of an issue I see when taking advices from streamers, or peoples too passionate about one specific lisence, when you can afford to spend a lot more time than the usual player on a single game your vision of what's a good idea gets a bit different.
I mean, Tellius and GBA games won't let you look all supports even after several playthroughs, so point still stands: if you for some reason wanna see that random thief backstory, you replay the game. If not, don't.
That’s fair, but if you don’t have time to play fire emblem games that often, then I would consider just looking up supports that you are interested in/locked yourself out of viewing. Personally one of my favorite things about the handheld FE and pre GBA FE games are that they are very easy to emulate on a phone which means I can easily bring them with me and play if I’m waiting somewhere or have downtime between classes or at work
Difference between Donlot's lack of fear to fail and Mangs': Mangs sometimes forgot what he learned from his mistakes, so much so that he makes a documented phenomena named around him See: Mangs Math and Mangs Infantry
While I agree about all what's said about not caring that much for a random characters, stat boosters, and not desesperatly try to save them, I absolutely do not agree on the fact that you can give up on them if their death lock you out of the best ending. I say that mostly because, nowadays, we don't have the time to get back and play another FULL run of a game just to achieve something slightly different when it's not a shorter, narrative driven game (like undertale for example). I'm just a mere student, and I already don't have the motivation, or energy, to get back to 3 Houses. Despite having liked the Edelgard route alot, and immediatly started a golden deer route, I just stopped at chapter 5 of my first new game + or so because I simply had new video games coming out that I also liked alot, high school then engineering school take care of, and all that Jazz. So I can't imagine how much less time I'll have doing that with a full time job ! So sure, redoing a game to get a different ending that changes the narrative halfway through the game and makes a GOOD difference because you made some secret choices ? Of course I can do that. Doing a whole new game + with hours of grinding and newbie optimising trying to learn what's good and not to rush through the chapters until the game lets you save that unit you lost before ? I just can't, don't have the time, nor time to care, i'll just watch it on youtube at this point. So yeah that's why I just NEED to save these units, since I most likely won't be able to redo that route ever again or replay the game in a long time.
what if i have fun optimizing things though. people have fun different ways man. EDIT: I will say though, there is some good advise here. People worry way too much about really minor things like distributing a kill or two of exp. I'm still gonna reset if a unit I wanna use dies though cuz fuck that
The last time I played Sacred Stones, I lost Saleh on the last turn of Chapter 19 because I forgot to unequip his bolting tome and get got doubled. Instead of replaying the entire chapter I just kept going and it was fine. It was a very freeing experience, honestly.
I get it and agree with this. I usually lose 1 character early on, and then further in the game I'm way too attached to the characters and start resetting when something goes wrong time to break that habit, and lose more characters!
9:50 Funny enough, when I was playing FE7 the other day : I played carefully, healed him even and Eliwood got killed. Rewinded time and played Recklessly, he dodged the attacks that would kill him. In a way, kinda true.
Me with Lissa in Awakening torn between the decision of being optimal by turning her into a Sage because of her higher Magic Stats, but I like her more as a War Cleric because seeing Lissa with an Axe looks funny. And I also have this little headcanon that she initially wanted to follow Emmeryn's footsteps by becoming a Sage, but later did her own thing by becoming a War Cleric than following in her shadow
There's always two playthroughs for me, one where I save everyone and one where I experiment with the gameplay. I love a good game for its story and memorable characters (of course this doesn't apply for every FE) but yeah, personally I prioritize story over gameplay
I think the problem with the initial idea of the abundance of characters being meant as a punishment is that players will naturally be aftraid of the game snowballing with difficulty: You already lost a strong unit so it being replaced by a worse one might lead to you using losing even more strong units in the future. It's a looming slippery slope that most players instinctively fear.
And the loss of progress sucks. Almost nobody likes having to start over from the beginning. I'll take doing a chapter again over having to rebuild a core part of the team from scratch. On a map I probably have never played or haven't memorised because I play a lot of games. It's still starting over either way in my eyes but one hurts less in the long run.
Wait, People still care about Fire Emblem? Isn't the game called "Waifu-Emblem" by now? EDIT after getting into the video: Okay I really like your points, Mangs. Iron-man is the true way to play Fire Emblem. Moving on after losing a Unit and go through the entire game even tho you cared about the unit, adds so much to this series. That is what makes Fire Emblem so fun in my opinion.
This is why your FE livestreams are amazing and prove that you streaming strategy games while making them entertaining can be amazing. Whenever streamers focus too much on the best moves, they remain awkwardly silent and they forget to interact with the audience thus making some detachment.
I like how mangs phrased it: "Care less about mistakes use characters you like and be less optimal let go and fail take risks!" this, this makes me happy, like really happy. mind you, I just wanna play them cause it's fun! fire emblem fun plain and simple. take it another way, look at a glass of water, half empty and half full! games just be like that sometimes enjoy them! I mean, I played many fire emblem games, and now I realize that holy shit; I'm accidentally and unknowingly doing what everyone else does in the community optimal stuff blah blah and not going my own way which I like to call the "blah blah" plot and macguffin nuh uh frick that! guns blazing mode engage!!!!" and just rush in. I remember doing that and laughed so hard, but it was half not worth it and half so worth it!!! that I reset, and that made me realize this is what having fun genuinely looks like from time to time when people just don't care.
Indeed, the very first time I didn't care that much was when I was doing my 1st run in Radiant Dawn, I was restarting a lot whenever I lost a unit but there was a point where I lost Leanne in the bridge map by a bogus move and decided to keep going, and while I kept restarting here and there, I slowly started to play like (kinda) intended and got a lot of fun overall, and did some challenges here and there like my first run in Fates Revelation that a friend of mine made me do a Corrin+Sakura duo run and only I was allowed to use those two for the entire game, started to experiment a lot of stuff since then, like in 2022 I played Three Houses in Maddening for the Crimson Flower route and I got a funny situation where the usual good units like Byleth ended up sucking big time and forced to rely on Bernadetta who I had on the Gremory class as I just was playing the game with experimentations and somehow I managed to clear the game on a Loop 1 run, and yeah, I got very RNG blessed to have Bernadetta maxed out by the end of the game. I honestly never cared much about tier lists, like (again) my 1st run of Radiant Dawn I used units like Leonardo, Meg, Mist and Laura in the part 4 endgames. 8:59 Yup, I have been in this situations, and when I played with my friend my 1st run of Fates Revelation, I ended up having like 40+ times situations when I just let the game decide my fate by relying in the sub-optimal Miracle proc or having FE6 bad rng situations of high %hit-rate missing me. So yeah, when you don't put too much care, you enjoy the games more (of course that if it's your first time, you probably will care too much, especially if you want to experience the story, but once you do that, let yourself be free to experiment and all that, the ironmans are a clear example of how you can enjoy the games... especially if it's one you already have completed as you have experienced the story with everyone alive and now it could be a good time to have divergences, like how in Echoes some events change like if you fail to save Mathilda how Clive is pissed with Alm's failure, or heck, create our own fictions). Edit: seeing those 5 steps near the end of the video, No.1 I hardly reset nowdays unless I actually lose the map, No.2 I hardly need to use the expensive weapons, No.3 That helped me in that Rev. run I did back when Fates was released, No.4 Again... due to how I had to deal with the challenge my friend put me in Fates Rev. I sometimes end up relying on Miracle procs or unreliable dodges (that saved me like 40+ times in Fates Rev and around 5 times in my Maddening Three Houses run), No.5 that was exactly what I did when I lost Leanne in Radiant Dawn and recenlty I have been playing the games like an Ironman to some degree, I feel that at some point I'll be confident enough to do an actual Ironman run, but what game I could do... I dunno, but I would go for any of the DS/3DS games or the Tellius games like a starting point for myself.
I like this mindset, I’m a person who likes to overthink things sometimes, and I play fire emblem to relax, so sometimes i consciously choose to play worse and take bigger risks, because there’s a certain satisfaction to clawing your way back to victory from a devastating loss or a bleak situation.
This is like the bell curve meme where the two upper and lower extremes are "lol silly unit goes swoosh" and the midlet IQs is " nooooooo you have to use high base stats and mounted units only"
First time playing Fire Emblem: I immediately reset upon any character death, wanted to complete all side objectives and character supports. Picking it up again: how do I make it harder. Reject this video. DO THE THING YOU WANT TO DO
most people dont have time to play games more than once so you probably are going to want to optimise some things a bit so you get to see as much as possible but you have to know your limits there
My Kieran died on chapter 20 PoR, last turn before winning the map. I sweared a whole bunch, said screw it. I have dragon boi now anyway, and pushed on. It was so close to a deathless run too.
See? That's why i love the Tellius games, lots of characters, hard enough to have a challenge but easy enough to use any unit you like (specially with bonus ex)
About the rules: 1. Even if i DO get new units later on, its not the same unit, like, say, Lilina is hector's daughter, nothing can replace that role, so im invested enough to let her live. and its more severe when i invest my statboosters or spoonfeed exp into them, it feels shitty to lose important items from a unit that ended up dying after eating a bunch of statboosters. 2. True, but i'd say that i prefer using expensive weapons on stronger enemies, as using mostly expensive weapons on everybody feels like itd be a money pitfall, itd be like wasting a legendary weapon on random mooks. 3. True. Personally, i use specific statboosters when an unit has a stat that feels lackluster imo. 4. Obviously, duh. Challenging yourself while playing a game is pretty fun, so i can agree on the notion of taking risks. 5. True.
I can understand the feelings in this video, though I find plenty of satisfaction in trying to get that perfect strategy and execution to get everyone through, alive and well (especially if you come up with creative solutions to accomplish it). That's a way I enjoy Fire Emblem. Your suggested way is definitely a lot more fun to watch though I'll admit, haha. I think the "optimal" ways to play the game are usually lame and I don't watch or pay much attention to trash like tier lists, I use the units/characters I care about and personally like. I don't think most people play optimally. I think they play some level of "trying your best from a casual perspective", myself probably included. Honestly, I also think that going through without resetting in most FE games would make the games too easy if I'm being honest. There's a reason Donlot does so many unusual challenge runs on his channel. Fire Emblem games aren't usually hard if your only goal is to get across the finish line (unless you make a careless mistake with your lord, which is honestly one of the most frustrating ways possible to lose all that progress). Most of the time you can just make a few juggernauts handle everything, especially if you use all resources available to you liberally. The games give you so much its crazy. If you don't care about things like side objectives it becomes even easier since most of the time those aren't worth the investment to bother with them. Plus, the idea of wasting an *entire* run in an ironman for literally nothing sounds way worse to me than just spending more time per chapter. 20 hours of progress that leads nowhere vs 20 hours of progress towards an inevitable completion. I don't have much time to spend on playing games, so just "losing" video games sounds like a waste. I don't have a stream of people to entertain with my failures, its just me staring at a screen. I've beat nu-XCOM ironman runs before and its a little painful to lose (strong) units you've built up in that game, but that's part of the experience and it also has no story consequences (plus the story doesn't matter). With Fire Emblem, losing units just feels like you're making things worse for no real reason. Also, in general I usually don't replay games that often. When I do its usually very rare and the game has to be *extremely* fun and also have unique replay value. I prefer to try new experiences when I can, so a game really has to wow me on my first playthrough to get me to replay it and even still its usually after some time passes. If Its a game I haven't played before, I intend to get the true ending on my first playthrough if that's an option because I want to see the best the game has to offer so I don't waste my time with some weak nonsense. FE7 was one of those rare games where I did replay it many times, but I can't say the same for the other FE games I've finished so far. Maybe its because I feel the characters of most FE games are weak/middling, writing-wise, and so I feel little attachment to them (and thus less reason to care about a game where things like story are a prominent aspect of the game). Maybe I'm just attached to my way of playing the game, I know I've gone through that tunnel vision. Ironmans are frustrating and annoying to me to play through in the past, but I might give it a shot. The message at the end of the video is well-taken :^) Oh, and since I didn't get a chance to say it after you came back: Congratulations again on getting married Mangs, when's the wedding video coming out? =p
I respectfully disagree. My fun is saving everyone. It is the pain you feel when a unit dies that is the joy you feel when you succeed. I am a completely opposite player, if a unit dies - no matter how useless, no matter how expendable, even if it was a unit I captured in Fire Emblem Fates, I will restart - even if it's Fuga's Wild Ride, even if it's Takumi's Nightmare Play House On Max Difficulty, I will restart for that unit. I play Roguelikes. It's one and done for me. If I play ToME and I die? Doesn't matter that I have 7 more lives, that character is dead. I die once on Elona? That character is dead. That's how I play, and without that stipulation I don't get the same level of excitement.
I also play like this. I can't accept the fact of losing units I trained and cared about. If I lose someone, it's because I made a mistake and my enjoyment about FE is to be able to clear a map without making any fatal mistake.
Sounds like neither of you 2 have ever tried doing ironman runs then if you reset every time someone dies. Ironmans are fun. Games give you a million characters. It's a fun different play experience to randomly have to use worse/ untrained units.
I've had this thought for quite some time, but after ± 10 chapters I always get too invested and start resetting when someone dies. Thank you for making a video about this Mangs, now surely I will succeed next time.
I designed my FE romhack under the sort of similar Kaga guidelines and told people to play it Ironman with a lot of mechanical facilitation for that (Near 50+ characters and items go to convoy when the character dies) - I wonder how many people did that? In playtesting I did it both ways (ironman vs. whatever some dude died I'm moving on) and the ironman run was actually way breezier.
thank you mangs. for a long time i was afraid to play fire emblem because i watched a lot of "professionals" or just long-time fans and was intimidated by the depth of their knowledge and didn't think i could match up, or that i had to be amazing with strats to play. but i learned that fire emblem is a game, it's meant to be played, and you can play however you want. and since then i've just been playing and enjoying them, even trying pre-awakening titles. this video is an important reminder not to take it so seriously and just have fun lol❤thank you
I can confirm, i made no attempts in my first FE7 run to save units who died on maps that were like multiple hours long when I first played on GBA. I was still able to complete the game on top of a pile of dead bodies (especially on that last level) because spoiler alert: they want you to finish! They literally give you athos so you can't lose! That first dumbplay is WHY you love the franchise. It punishes you, you accept the punishment and adapt. Obsessing over maxxing just makes runs trivial. And yet... I'm addicted to it =p
Alright, so I should just my stats boosters to the main lord since I'm going to stick with them, alright I'll give them to Baudimon .... This is why I have trust issues
Just started FE awakening the other day and had to restart last night to save a character. I'm still really enjoying it but this is good to keep in mind that having fun is most important in my play through
I played an awesome chapter in FE Awakening last night.. I didn’t lose anyone except my fav character! Maybe I’ll try casual hard for the first time being my ocd is killing me
Part of my enjoyment with games I play is being a completionist, finding and doing the most stuff I can do in a single run. I like to keep all characters alive and doing the most of the game I can do. This is one of the reasons of why I abuse of savestates and resets in my runs, I like to experience everything a game can give me. The other reason is that I like playing games that makes my brain work. I hate to just press a button to win (like most games), the reason why I love Fire Emblem and other franchises of the same genre is because I can do just that. It is not that I care with bullshit like stats or growths, rather I would play a TRPG game because of the puzzles in the chapters, the strategy I need to do to overcome them and the rewards I get while doing that (character backstories, world lore, rare items, etc). Playing these hard games and challenging myself to best it in a "perfect way" helps me to release my stress, putting my emotions and brains to do something I know will reward me in the end, so it is never truly stressful, because I just need to hone my skills and do better next day.
I hate how spot on this video is. This sort of thing is the EXACT reason I haven't finished an emblem game since Awakening. Despite being essentially end game in Conquest.
There are many people that role-play as commanders or generals, either consciously or subconsciously, and many of those people can’t stomach losing men. On the other hand, there are generals who don’t care about their men.
6:05 There is probably some life advice here, and not just for games. I mean, you probably don't want to accept _certain_ risks. But most of our daily decisions are not life or death. If we can keep perspective on what is actually life or death (like keeping in mind that FE is not life or death, because we can always play again if we so chose), we can probably enjoy life a little more.
No videogame can be designed around people watching guides, being optimal and knowing stuff beforehand Anyway, I'm going to replay sacred stones and train my wife L'arachel to max level again
I have two modes: reset and Ironman. Reset allows me to do suboptimal things like prioritizing low tier characters because I like them since I can reset of it all blows up in my face. I don’t worry as much about any individual decision because I can always try the chapter again. Meanwhile on Ironman I am far Morse guarded. I read guides I train and equip characters based on utility because if I don’t it will cost me long term and then I’ll have to play the whole game over which imo is far more stressful than replaying one measly chapter.
Good advice and great video. I hate grinding or tainting to be optimal, and I enjoy focusing on the more enjoyable parts of the gameplay, so this really speaks to me in terms of encouraging playing FE. I think my biggest difficulty comes from trying to find motivation to play when you're otherwise spent from the grind of daily life. When you're tired and frustrated is also when it's most difficult to accept and swallow failure. I think in those circumstances it's good to allow yourself to return to the game with renewed energy and that acceptance in mind.
I think the best thing to do is remember, at the end of the day, Fire Emblem is still a Nintendo game. It's allowed to be fun and colourful and you're allowed to play it for fun. Like Zelda or Pokémon there are challenges and completionism involved, but it's not the entire point of the game. Pokémon has always been best played by using the Pokémon you like the most, and Zelda you can play without fussing over getting absolutely everything to beat the game. The only game in the series I'd say you have to complete it 100% is Majora's Mask, and that's only because it really is that big a part of the experience. Either way, I've been wanting to get back into the series for a long time now, but I've been jaded by the absolutely horrendous fanbase ever since 2020, for you know what reason. But I think this gave me the push to finally try it again for real. Tusind tak :)
I have a very fond memory of one of my first ever playthroughs of Path of Radiance. I lost oscar, boyd, mia, rhys and soren by the time the defense chapter rolled around. All I had was Titania and Ike. Somehow I managed to recruit ilyana, keep her alive, and complete the chapter. It was that playthrough that I used lots of funky units like mordecai, rolf, and mist because i didn't have anyone else. That was easily one of my favorite times playing fire emblem ever.
I recently started my first run of FE6. The games I've played are primarily 7 and onward, so I'm used to the modern style, but I've watched a run of FE1 and took notes to shape my thinking on what this series is really meant to be. I know I can't play FE6 the same way I played FE7 when it was new. I lost a favorite unit or two to arena shenanigans, but I know I can carry on without them. I'm still resetting if I do something REALLY dumb, like losing a unit the chapter they're recruited, but all things considered it's a relaxed stroll to experience it and finally see what this one's all about. And I tell you, there's _no way_ I would've made it through with my sanity intact if I was trying to be completionist about it in my first run!
Basically games should give you a good time, don't stress out over it. If you don't have a good time playing it, you should reconsider your way of playing or just go find something else.
Thank you! I’ve recently found your hack and I’m trying my first ever Ironman blind on it and it’s a blast! Not worrying about keeping everyone or making mistakes is so freeing
The first time I had massive losses in FE and continued on was surprisingly 3 Houses. The fight with Rhea at the end of the Church route had me reset twice. I was frustrated so much that when I realized I just couldn't beat it I considered stopping the run and just going through the other routes. For context, it was my first play through so I did my entire run blind as that's generally how I like to play games. At some point after using another handful of pulses, I decided that because I already spent so much time I'd just try my best, only resetting for strategic reasons or to save Petra because I was dead-set on marrying her 😂😂😂 and it's good for me that Petra is one of the few characters that rarely died. I ended that run with like 11 units (that includes the benched ones). In hindsight, it's a great and funny memory but recalling that with this video here leads me to believe you're right entirely Also, it reminds me that I never finished Revelations because I reset on one of the last few maps and never continued on. I should definitely work on finishing that once and for all with this ideology in mind
I find a lot of small niche and obscure players usually come up with their own strategies that the bigger players don't even realize exist because of the que-sera-sera attitude. The stuff you said about the "optimal solution" made me remember this. In FE7 I used Lucius a lot because I thought he was cool, though but all my friends said he was weak and oft died cause of his low con/stuff. That said, however.... I did an iron man of the o.g. Fire Emblem: Gaiden, so that ended horribly because there are few in terms of 'extra units' ... haaa.......... Shadows of Valentia where are youuu........... Ahem! I guess the tldr version is just; have fun!
TBH this applies to almost every game lol I been playing Helldivers 2, a game where you play in a meatgrinder - you have several lives, and there's players that get butthurt if they die once. There's an obsession with meta and strats when you can play carelessly and still complete the missions. You can lose all your lives and still complete missions. It's pretty crazy how certain gamers want to feel so special and perfect in their non competitive games instead of, you know, have fun.
Ha ha, good video. _Continues to wait until units hit level 20 before promoting them (which admittedly wasn't mentioned in this video) and hoarding stat boosters until my main army is level capped_
But Mannnnngs, i like pain and suffering that is my Kagetsuless/Pandreoless Ringless Fixed Growth Maddening Ironman runs. Oh and the fact that it is Engage. It shall fuel me till the end of my dayssss.
Honestly reminds me of my binding blade ironman where I lost marcus and a lot of other top tier units on chapter 9 replaced them with "worse units " like zelot trec and oiger and all 3 became amazing units and its by far my favourite ironman experience to date. Love this video keep up good work.
Ah yes. The good old Jobber Insurance of Kaga Emblems. Yeah. It is something I never realized why they are like that till recently. I can see why later games don't really have Jeigans as well as not have as huge of a roster as it once did.
I remember finding a tier list of all of the FE8 units and seeing Amelia and Neimi, two of the absolute all stars of my hard mode team, ranked as unusable trash. I understand that some units might be inherently 'better' than others. But I don't think that viability should be the defining factor in why you choose to field a unit. I think that a truly great fire emblem player can take the suboptimal units and make maximal use of them, undertaking an ultimate test of creativity. It's why I love Three Houses so much, if you can conceptualize it, you can probably build it, and making unconventional strategies work (some of my favorites being swordmaster Marianne, AK Annette, and mage Felix) is why I hold the game so dear.
I've played Fire Emblem (7 mainly) with my brother since we were kids. Honestly, I get this. Unfortunately, it wasn't until a few years ago (3 Houses, I think) I started to follow some of these rules, funny enough. I use stat boosters on my faves, shake my head when I make a little mistake and try to move on. I still reset if I lose a unit and I still hoard expensive weapons, but I do find it easier to play Fire Emblem and come up with new strategies and have fun. So, I agree with this, but I don't think I can completely follow the rules on this. XD
This is something I'm struggling so hard to do, but I think it's ingrained into some form of OCD to me due to years of Pokemon EV and IV stuff, and strategy games like FE, Final Fantasy Tactics and so on, to the point I have massive decision paralysis when squadbuilding with games like Unicorn overlord. One day I hope I can break out of this mindset, I'm trying to figure out squads on my own but my brain keeps telling me to look up stuff for ideas to help. It sucks really XD It's not really fear of failure I feel, but that I want to maximize my units potential and I think that leads to overall enjoyment when it actually doesn't.
5:30 Honestly, I get that. Much like my "Tin Man Run" Hard Mode With Engage. After losing like 7 units on a boring Tide Chapter, I took a short break. By short I mean 6-7 months on it after grinding any remaining units I had left. After that break I continued and got to the end and got an ending. I got the bad ending cutscene, but an ending I'm okay with. Because 6 V 100 is not a fun time or possible. If I turned down the difficulty, it would feel like a cop out to me. 6:20 I remember saying this on a stream back in the day : "At least you get that unit back when Roy Dies" Then a response of "No, it's an ironman. I can't do that" I just went "oh" in my mind and left. That was a funny time. Now I enjoy watching the Ironmans. 10:40 I can agree with having more money in the end. In FE1 I kept track of how much gold was accumulated and Spent. Spent 104930, while still having 32000 left over. Even then, not every bit of gold you spent will be used since said units with weapons you spent money on will die with them anyway. 11:14 RIP LILINA! LOL! 2:23 I've heard this story, I respect it the vision Kaga had. After hearing that, I kinda stopped resetting manually. And really only reset when a lord died. That last time I ever did it was Fire Emblem : Three Houses with Lysithea. After that reset, I urged myself to never reset again. Funny enough, no one died, had some close calls with Raphael and Leonie at a couple points. But I made it through. 3:02 Well the Knight on the left is better than Draug.
Hey hey, Memes are the best part of fire emblem who could take this game seriously when my 10 year old Dragon that's actually 200 year old and could solo people wheeze
I never understood sitting on stat boosters because... that's free damage/hit-rate/double attacks/etc the earlier you use them on a unit. Using it at the earliest possible moment reaps the greatest overall rewards because it compounds over time. Raising a unit's Str by 2 means you are dealing 2 addtional damage for EVERY SINGLE (weapon) ATTACK that unit performs.
I’ll tell you right now, the last FE game I ever bought was Shadows of Valentia and I still own it too. When I lose units I just let it go and see it as “things happen for a reason” situation.
For me, my first game was three houses. My second was the hoshido one, and my last was engage. I didnt even complete the hoshido one, and I played engage through twice and dropped it. Three houses? I havent stopped playing it. I dont really argue online about it or partake in community stuff, I just genuinely enjoy the game and the units in it. Mind you, I also play on baby mode with no perma deaths. I still enjoy it though
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
holy shit donlot mentioned
Some things i would add:
A good reason to not care about missing out on content is to think of it this way:
If you enjoy the game a lot, you'll probably replay it and get another chance to see things you didn't get to see in your first run.
If you didn't enjoy the game, why even bother trying to see everything for something you don't care about.
Most FE games also give you more than enough tools, so be it units, items, etc to beat the game. People have solo'd many games with all kinds of units, so you can beat them even with a sub optimal team.
Lastly this may sound a bit cheesy but i think generally you can say this for both FE and life in general:
You can plan ahead for as long and as much as you want to, but once your plan makes contact with the enemy, it usually won't go exactly as you envisioned it. But that's life for ya. What's important is that you pick yourself up and just keep going if things don't work out. New plans can be made, new successes achieved, and unexpected heroes to be crowned, even in the darkest of hours. Only in very rare instances is it impossible to recover from failiure.
Donlot doesn't exist He's a PNG
@@Pogma776 so trve...
I don't disagree with you, I just don't have the time to replay games. a lot of my fun comes from knowing everything about the game and trivia. sometimes playing blind is fun, sometimes it is extremely frustrating. playing with a guide is definitely a crutch but sometimes it keeps me from putting the game down. min maxing is its own fun as well.
My life is already a long string of failures that I can't alter and probably won't come back from. Am I not allowed to course correct in my hobby either?
My issue is that my backlog is so massive and games already take so long to finish that I rarely ever replay games that take longer than 20 hours to beat, so I feel like I "have" to do everything possible in one playthrough. Which is a self-perpetuating problem because my backlog probably wouldn't be so big if I didn't spend so long trying to do everything in games that would take 80+ hours even if you beelined the story and did nothing else.
TLDR: Donlot is the ideal FE player.
Common Donlot W
Mangs: "Just use units you like."
Thea: "I am literally a joke to you."
The units I like is all the units I first recruited most of the time lol
Or story important ones
Thea is my favorite Andaron Saga unit to use.😂
Noooooo I must keep arguing online with strangers about my pixelated girls
I love your pfp
@@acedelta12 thanks :)!
Couldn't agree more, I've been saying this for years. Worrying so much about tier lists and which unit is better than what is silly in a single player non competitive game. If you're having fun playing that's all that matters and fun is unique for each player.
I agree that you should use whatever units you want but I don’t have the time to replay a game multiple times. And I have a back log of other games I wanna get to.
For a moment I was like "Is this a King of Skill video?" for a second.
Yeah, that smiling Reinhardt caught me slightly off guard.
I've loved the Fire Emblem series for 15 years, and I've never cared about how you're "supposed" to play. It's the only way to ensure that the game is fun.
But the characters aren't that interesting.
I kind of like caring. Part of the fun of an Ironman is getting attached to a unit only to watch them die to a 3% crit and then having to work with whatever scrubs/meat shields that are sitting on the bench.
6: Either you Throw the Javelin, or the Javelin Throws You on the Bench. ~Lord Ephraim
7: Stop Hoarding the god damn Elixir or I'll shove YOU into an Elixir
8: As a Friend, you are, replaceable. ~War Criminal Marth
Mangs trying to justify why he's lost Marcus at the arena twice in a row.
I appreciate the advice, but we play games how we want to play them. I want to give Iron Man a shot, but in casual playthroughs I wanna play the game and experience as much as I can off the cuff.
For me, the fun of FE is having units I like grow from nothing into absolute powerhouses (or whatever niche they have) and I like finding as many ways as possible to milk every bit of EXP I can (even the most time wasting, boring ways possible) and seeing how much I can break the game early on to make endgame a breeze. For example, in Chapter 6 of Andaron saga I spent over 700 turns power leveling Estelle and Lilinette to max so these otherwise niche characters could help out in the next chapters when it's really needed. That is the MOST fun I can think of. Or leveling Elise and Azura as much as possible so they can contribute more in chapter 10. You just gotta find your niche where you get the most enjoyment and go from there. Be sure to give new playstyles a chance too, as they may end up being your new favorite way to play!
Imo the problem is that the casual players only play FE once, hence you feel like you need to play optimally since losing a unit feels like a huge setback regardless if it is or not. For instance if you had a support you were really invested in at B rank and lost one of the two you can't see the support ever since you're not gonna play it again.
Ironically, one does beat the game much faster when they don't reset all the time.
Which to every JRPG game that you had to keep your healer alive otherwise you have to get through healing items you hope to had enough
Cope for bad math
I´m so bad at math, it would double my play time if I calculated every battle. I just have to...FEEL the stats.
lol 😂👍
Bugmen cant have fun without watching numbers go up.
Was gonna say: this is Mangs making peace with the god of numbers for dying continuously in hilariously preventable ways
I think the best travel advice I’ve ever gotten is “travel as if you’ll be back someday,” because otherwise the things you miss will weigh on you more than the things you enjoyed.
I think this is often good advice for playing video games, as well. Play them as if you’re coming back for a second play through.
"Don't replay the level to get the best ending, you can just replay the entire game later!" We're reaching levels of Mangs Math that shouldn't even be possible! 😱
Exactly, i agree with the rest, but where the hell do I find the time to replay a whole game for a single ending ? In THIS ECONOMY.
That's how I do it, that's how I've always done it
Also what if we get a stat screwed lord and lose the only unit who can actually fight?
@@TrueBladeSoul *laughs in Phoenix Mode*
@@TrueBladeSoul if the guy can actually fight, you should not lose him.
Like Nintendo has already done?
So true, Fire Emblem is dead. Buy Skyrim.
@@iLegaultElder Scrolls 6 is going to be soooooo bad.
@@TheNuts1225 There is no doubt. It will be a buggy un-inspired shitshow like all other Triple A games (or quadruple A's lmao)
Best comment.
So true, Fire Emblem is a dead series same as Xenoblade Chronicles and Splatoon
RUclipsr just said to stop caring about 90% of his content lol
Jk.
To this day I never care about tier list or growth units. If I like that character I will make it work no matter how bad thier stats are.
Thank you!
Nothing is fun when you turn it into a chore.
tell that to factorio players LMAO
5:50 while I do see your point it's worth considering that a lot of people play through games only once either because they don't have that much time to play games in the first place and/or because they have other games they want to play instead of replaying a game they already played. Your advise makes sense for a Fire Emblem fan, a type of person who'll replay every FE game multiple times to see more of the game and to try different strategies. However if someone will only play through an FE game once and wants to see the true/best ending then it makes perfect sense to reset if they lose a character.
But Mangs, playing sweaty is part of my health routine. It helps my skin glow.
Xcom nation rise up
So true
Terminator bros do not fear Advent counter
Xcom kicks your butt until you like it
Shining Force gang reviving units for cheap after every battle
:)
"You can always replay the game later"
See Mangs the issue here is that Fire emblem is not the only games I play, I'm not even done playing all of them how should I expect myself to replay the same ones several times ?
If I let a character die it's over i'll probably never see his supports.
It's a bit of an issue I see when taking advices from streamers, or peoples too passionate about one specific lisence, when you can afford to spend a lot more time than the usual player on a single game your vision of what's a good idea gets a bit different.
I mean, Tellius and GBA games won't let you look all supports even after several playthroughs, so point still stands: if you for some reason wanna see that random thief backstory, you replay the game. If not, don't.
Who cares they are not lords.
Only lords lives matter.
There's also wiki too if you care about support
@@birdbig6852 you take that back, Peri is the best waifu!
That’s fair, but if you don’t have time to play fire emblem games that often, then I would consider just looking up supports that you are interested in/locked yourself out of viewing. Personally one of my favorite things about the handheld FE and pre GBA FE games are that they are very easy to emulate on a phone which means I can easily bring them with me and play if I’m waiting somewhere or have downtime between classes or at work
Difference between Donlot's lack of fear to fail and Mangs':
Mangs sometimes forgot what he learned from his mistakes, so much so that he makes a documented phenomena named around him
See: Mangs Math and Mangs Infantry
Impossible. If any unit dies I must restart the whole game.
As Sonic says in that one song "It doesn't matter"
now what happens
I will never give up the fight
long as the voice inside me drives me to run and fight
it doesn’t matter who is wrong and who is right
While I agree about all what's said about not caring that much for a random characters, stat boosters, and not desesperatly try to save them, I absolutely do not agree on the fact that you can give up on them if their death lock you out of the best ending.
I say that mostly because, nowadays, we don't have the time to get back and play another FULL run of a game just to achieve something slightly different when it's not a shorter, narrative driven game (like undertale for example). I'm just a mere student, and I already don't have the motivation, or energy, to get back to 3 Houses. Despite having liked the Edelgard route alot, and immediatly started a golden deer route, I just stopped at chapter 5 of my first new game + or so because I simply had new video games coming out that I also liked alot, high school then engineering school take care of, and all that Jazz. So I can't imagine how much less time I'll have doing that with a full time job !
So sure, redoing a game to get a different ending that changes the narrative halfway through the game and makes a GOOD difference because you made some secret choices ? Of course I can do that.
Doing a whole new game + with hours of grinding and newbie optimising trying to learn what's good and not to rush through the chapters until the game lets you save that unit you lost before ? I just can't, don't have the time, nor time to care, i'll just watch it on youtube at this point. So yeah that's why I just NEED to save these units, since I most likely won't be able to redo that route ever again or replay the game in a long time.
"Let them die!" - Captain Kirk, letting people know how to play Fire Emblem
what if i have fun optimizing things though. people have fun different ways man.
EDIT: I will say though, there is some good advise here. People worry way too much about really minor things like distributing a kill or two of exp. I'm still gonna reset if a unit I wanna use dies though cuz fuck that
The last time I played Sacred Stones, I lost Saleh on the last turn of Chapter 19 because I forgot to unequip his bolting tome and get got doubled. Instead of replaying the entire chapter I just kept going and it was fine. It was a very freeing experience, honestly.
Here I thought this was going to be about how the series peaked with the Tellius games and is never getting back to that point.
Fates clears I'm afraid
Nah engage has the best story wdym?
3 houses is good
Sacred Stones is better, sorry
I get it and agree with this.
I usually lose 1 character early on, and then further in the game I'm way too attached to the characters and start resetting when something goes wrong
time to break that habit, and lose more characters!
I guess I'll keep throwing all the stat boosters onto my S rank Sword General Amelia
Good boy!
9:50 Funny enough, when I was playing FE7 the other day : I played carefully, healed him even and Eliwood got killed. Rewinded time and played Recklessly, he dodged the attacks that would kill him. In a way, kinda true.
Me with Lissa in Awakening torn between the decision of being optimal by turning her into a Sage because of her higher Magic Stats, but I like her more as a War Cleric because seeing Lissa with an Axe looks funny. And I also have this little headcanon that she initially wanted to follow Emmeryn's footsteps by becoming a Sage, but later did her own thing by becoming a War Cleric than following in her shadow
There's always two playthroughs for me, one where I save everyone and one where I experiment with the gameplay. I love a good game for its story and memorable characters (of course this doesn't apply for every FE) but yeah, personally I prioritize story over gameplay
I think the problem with the initial idea of the abundance of characters being meant as a punishment is that players will naturally be aftraid of the game snowballing with difficulty:
You already lost a strong unit so it being replaced by a worse one might lead to you using losing even more strong units in the future. It's a looming slippery slope that most players instinctively fear.
And the loss of progress sucks. Almost nobody likes having to start over from the beginning. I'll take doing a chapter again over having to rebuild a core part of the team from scratch. On a map I probably have never played or haven't memorised because I play a lot of games.
It's still starting over either way in my eyes but one hurts less in the long run.
Playing FE1 and Shadow Dragon is the best way to not be afraid of losing units, most of the time you won't be arsed to reset for anyone
8:19
Mangs, you are married, you can’t say this so casually anymore.
Wait, People still care about Fire Emblem? Isn't the game called "Waifu-Emblem" by now?
EDIT after getting into the video:
Okay I really like your points, Mangs. Iron-man is the true way to play Fire Emblem. Moving on after losing a Unit and go through the entire game even tho you cared about the unit,
adds so much to this series. That is what makes Fire Emblem so fun in my opinion.
No. I don't think I will.
Any unit dies: Meh, it is what it is
My shaman dies: Bullshit death, i'm resetting
Video ending on the RIP Lilina moment is peak content.
So play like exemblem? Got it
This is why your FE livestreams are amazing and prove that you streaming strategy games while making them entertaining can be amazing.
Whenever streamers focus too much on the best moves, they remain awkwardly silent and they forget to interact with the audience thus making some detachment.
I like how mangs phrased it: "Care less about mistakes use characters you like and be less optimal let go and fail take risks!"
this, this makes me happy, like really happy. mind you, I just wanna play them cause it's fun! fire emblem fun plain and simple. take it another way, look at a glass of water, half empty and half full! games just be like that sometimes enjoy them!
I mean, I played many fire emblem games, and now I realize that holy shit; I'm accidentally and unknowingly doing what everyone else does in the community optimal stuff blah blah and not going my own way
which I like to call the "blah blah" plot and macguffin nuh uh frick that! guns blazing mode engage!!!!" and just rush in.
I remember doing that and laughed so hard, but it was half not worth it and half so worth it!!! that I reset, and that made me realize this is what having fun genuinely looks like from time to time when people just don't care.
To quote Draco from the Rocky movies: "If he dies, he dies." Resigning to the cruel whims of RNG is the way to go in Fire Emblem.
Indeed, the very first time I didn't care that much was when I was doing my 1st run in Radiant Dawn, I was restarting a lot whenever I lost a unit but there was a point where I lost Leanne in the bridge map by a bogus move and decided to keep going, and while I kept restarting here and there, I slowly started to play like (kinda) intended and got a lot of fun overall, and did some challenges here and there like my first run in Fates Revelation that a friend of mine made me do a Corrin+Sakura duo run and only I was allowed to use those two for the entire game, started to experiment a lot of stuff since then, like in 2022 I played Three Houses in Maddening for the Crimson Flower route and I got a funny situation where the usual good units like Byleth ended up sucking big time and forced to rely on Bernadetta who I had on the Gremory class as I just was playing the game with experimentations and somehow I managed to clear the game on a Loop 1 run, and yeah, I got very RNG blessed to have Bernadetta maxed out by the end of the game.
I honestly never cared much about tier lists, like (again) my 1st run of Radiant Dawn I used units like Leonardo, Meg, Mist and Laura in the part 4 endgames.
8:59 Yup, I have been in this situations, and when I played with my friend my 1st run of Fates Revelation, I ended up having like 40+ times situations when I just let the game decide my fate by relying in the sub-optimal Miracle proc or having FE6 bad rng situations of high %hit-rate missing me.
So yeah, when you don't put too much care, you enjoy the games more (of course that if it's your first time, you probably will care too much, especially if you want to experience the story, but once you do that, let yourself be free to experiment and all that, the ironmans are a clear example of how you can enjoy the games... especially if it's one you already have completed as you have experienced the story with everyone alive and now it could be a good time to have divergences, like how in Echoes some events change like if you fail to save Mathilda how Clive is pissed with Alm's failure, or heck, create our own fictions).
Edit: seeing those 5 steps near the end of the video, No.1 I hardly reset nowdays unless I actually lose the map, No.2 I hardly need to use the expensive weapons, No.3 That helped me in that Rev. run I did back when Fates was released, No.4 Again... due to how I had to deal with the challenge my friend put me in Fates Rev. I sometimes end up relying on Miracle procs or unreliable dodges (that saved me like 40+ times in Fates Rev and around 5 times in my Maddening Three Houses run), No.5 that was exactly what I did when I lost Leanne in Radiant Dawn and recenlty I have been playing the games like an Ironman to some degree, I feel that at some point I'll be confident enough to do an actual Ironman run, but what game I could do... I dunno, but I would go for any of the DS/3DS games or the Tellius games like a starting point for myself.
I like this mindset, I’m a person who likes to overthink things sometimes, and I play fire emblem to relax, so sometimes i consciously choose to play worse and take bigger risks, because there’s a certain satisfaction to clawing your way back to victory from a devastating loss or a bleak situation.
This is like the bell curve meme where the two upper and lower extremes are "lol silly unit goes swoosh" and the midlet IQs is " nooooooo you have to use high base stats and mounted units only"
First time playing Fire Emblem: I immediately reset upon any character death, wanted to complete all side objectives and character supports.
Picking it up again: how do I make it harder. Reject this video. DO THE THING YOU WANT TO DO
most people dont have time to play games more than once so you probably are going to want to optimise some things a bit so you get to see as much as possible but you have to know your limits there
My Kieran died on chapter 20 PoR, last turn before winning the map. I sweared a whole bunch, said screw it. I have dragon boi now anyway, and pushed on. It was so close to a deathless run too.
See? That's why i love the Tellius games, lots of characters, hard enough to have a challenge but easy enough to use any unit you like (specially with bonus ex)
About the rules:
1. Even if i DO get new units later on, its not the same unit, like, say, Lilina is hector's daughter, nothing can replace that role, so im invested enough to let her live. and its more severe when i invest my statboosters or spoonfeed exp into them, it feels shitty to lose important items from a unit that ended up dying after eating a bunch of statboosters.
2. True, but i'd say that i prefer using expensive weapons on stronger enemies, as using mostly expensive weapons on everybody feels like itd be a money pitfall, itd be like wasting a legendary weapon on random mooks.
3. True. Personally, i use specific statboosters when an unit has a stat that feels lackluster imo.
4. Obviously, duh. Challenging yourself while playing a game is pretty fun, so i can agree on the notion of taking risks.
5. True.
I can understand the feelings in this video, though I find plenty of satisfaction in trying to get that perfect strategy and execution to get everyone through, alive and well (especially if you come up with creative solutions to accomplish it). That's a way I enjoy Fire Emblem. Your suggested way is definitely a lot more fun to watch though I'll admit, haha. I think the "optimal" ways to play the game are usually lame and I don't watch or pay much attention to trash like tier lists, I use the units/characters I care about and personally like. I don't think most people play optimally. I think they play some level of "trying your best from a casual perspective", myself probably included.
Honestly, I also think that going through without resetting in most FE games would make the games too easy if I'm being honest. There's a reason Donlot does so many unusual challenge runs on his channel. Fire Emblem games aren't usually hard if your only goal is to get across the finish line (unless you make a careless mistake with your lord, which is honestly one of the most frustrating ways possible to lose all that progress). Most of the time you can just make a few juggernauts handle everything, especially if you use all resources available to you liberally. The games give you so much its crazy. If you don't care about things like side objectives it becomes even easier since most of the time those aren't worth the investment to bother with them.
Plus, the idea of wasting an *entire* run in an ironman for literally nothing sounds way worse to me than just spending more time per chapter. 20 hours of progress that leads nowhere vs 20 hours of progress towards an inevitable completion. I don't have much time to spend on playing games, so just "losing" video games sounds like a waste. I don't have a stream of people to entertain with my failures, its just me staring at a screen.
I've beat nu-XCOM ironman runs before and its a little painful to lose (strong) units you've built up in that game, but that's part of the experience and it also has no story consequences (plus the story doesn't matter). With Fire Emblem, losing units just feels like you're making things worse for no real reason.
Also, in general I usually don't replay games that often. When I do its usually very rare and the game has to be *extremely* fun and also have unique replay value. I prefer to try new experiences when I can, so a game really has to wow me on my first playthrough to get me to replay it and even still its usually after some time passes. If Its a game I haven't played before, I intend to get the true ending on my first playthrough if that's an option because I want to see the best the game has to offer so I don't waste my time with some weak nonsense. FE7 was one of those rare games where I did replay it many times, but I can't say the same for the other FE games I've finished so far. Maybe its because I feel the characters of most FE games are weak/middling, writing-wise, and so I feel little attachment to them (and thus less reason to care about a game where things like story are a prominent aspect of the game).
Maybe I'm just attached to my way of playing the game, I know I've gone through that tunnel vision. Ironmans are frustrating and annoying to me to play through in the past, but I might give it a shot. The message at the end of the video is well-taken :^)
Oh, and since I didn't get a chance to say it after you came back: Congratulations again on getting married Mangs, when's the wedding video coming out? =p
Soon TM
I respectfully disagree. My fun is saving everyone. It is the pain you feel when a unit dies that is the joy you feel when you succeed.
I am a completely opposite player, if a unit dies - no matter how useless, no matter how expendable, even if it was a unit I captured in Fire Emblem Fates, I will restart - even if it's Fuga's Wild Ride, even if it's Takumi's Nightmare Play House On Max Difficulty, I will restart for that unit.
I play Roguelikes. It's one and done for me. If I play ToME and I die? Doesn't matter that I have 7 more lives, that character is dead. I die once on Elona? That character is dead. That's how I play, and without that stipulation I don't get the same level of excitement.
I also play like this. I can't accept the fact of losing units I trained and cared about. If I lose someone, it's because I made a mistake and my enjoyment about FE is to be able to clear a map without making any fatal mistake.
Sounds like neither of you 2 have ever tried doing ironman runs then if you reset every time someone dies. Ironmans are fun. Games give you a million characters. It's a fun different play experience to randomly have to use worse/ untrained units.
This is why Casual Mode exists, for people like you and me (who get upset if units die)
I've had this thought for quite some time, but after ± 10 chapters I always get too invested and start resetting when someone dies. Thank you for making a video about this Mangs, now surely I will succeed next time.
I designed my FE romhack under the sort of similar Kaga guidelines and told people to play it Ironman with a lot of mechanical facilitation for that (Near 50+ characters and items go to convoy when the character dies) - I wonder how many people did that?
In playtesting I did it both ways (ironman vs. whatever some dude died I'm moving on) and the ironman run was actually way breezier.
thank you mangs. for a long time i was afraid to play fire emblem because i watched a lot of "professionals" or just long-time fans and was intimidated by the depth of their knowledge and didn't think i could match up, or that i had to be amazing with strats to play. but i learned that fire emblem is a game, it's meant to be played, and you can play however you want. and since then i've just been playing and enjoying them, even trying pre-awakening titles. this video is an important reminder not to take it so seriously and just have fun lol❤thank you
I can confirm, i made no attempts in my first FE7 run to save units who died on maps that were like multiple hours long when I first played on GBA.
I was still able to complete the game on top of a pile of dead bodies (especially on that last level) because spoiler alert: they want you to finish! They literally give you athos so you can't lose!
That first dumbplay is WHY you love the franchise. It punishes you, you accept the punishment and adapt.
Obsessing over maxxing just makes runs trivial. And yet... I'm addicted to it =p
Alright, so I should just my stats boosters to the main lord since I'm going to stick with them, alright I'll give them to Baudimon .... This is why I have trust issues
Although I do agree with most of the things Mangs said this video, I just couldn't resist poking a little fun at him though
Just started FE awakening the other day and had to restart last night to save a character. I'm still really enjoying it but this is good to keep in mind that having fun is most important in my play through
I played an awesome chapter in FE Awakening last night.. I didn’t lose anyone except my fav character!
Maybe I’ll try casual hard for the first time being my ocd is killing me
Part of my enjoyment with games I play is being a completionist, finding and doing the most stuff I can do in a single run. I like to keep all characters alive and doing the most of the game I can do.
This is one of the reasons of why I abuse of savestates and resets in my runs, I like to experience everything a game can give me.
The other reason is that I like playing games that makes my brain work. I hate to just press a button to win (like most games), the reason why I love Fire Emblem and other franchises of the same genre is because I can do just that.
It is not that I care with bullshit like stats or growths, rather I would play a TRPG game because of the puzzles in the chapters, the strategy I need to do to overcome them and the rewards I get while doing that (character backstories, world lore, rare items, etc).
Playing these hard games and challenging myself to best it in a "perfect way" helps me to release my stress, putting my emotions and brains to do something I know will reward me in the end, so it is never truly stressful, because I just need to hone my skills and do better next day.
I hate how spot on this video is. This sort of thing is the EXACT reason I haven't finished an emblem game since Awakening. Despite being essentially end game in Conquest.
ahh yes the Waifu> Meta argument!
besides I usually just pick units based on their design and personalities!
There are many people that role-play as commanders or generals, either consciously or subconsciously, and many of those people can’t stomach losing men. On the other hand, there are generals who don’t care about their men.
6:05 There is probably some life advice here, and not just for games.
I mean, you probably don't want to accept _certain_ risks. But most of our daily decisions are not life or death. If we can keep perspective on what is actually life or death (like keeping in mind that FE is not life or death, because we can always play again if we so chose), we can probably enjoy life a little more.
No videogame can be designed around people watching guides, being optimal and knowing stuff beforehand
Anyway, I'm going to replay sacred stones and train my wife L'arachel to max level again
L'Arachel the goat 🛐
I have two modes:
reset and Ironman.
Reset allows me to do suboptimal things like prioritizing low tier characters because I like them since I can reset of it all blows up in my face. I don’t worry as much about any individual decision because I can always try the chapter again.
Meanwhile on Ironman I am far Morse guarded. I read guides I train and equip characters based on utility because if I don’t it will cost me long term and then I’ll have to play the whole game over which imo is far more stressful than replaying one measly chapter.
Good advice and great video. I hate grinding or tainting to be optimal, and I enjoy focusing on the more enjoyable parts of the gameplay, so this really speaks to me in terms of encouraging playing FE. I think my biggest difficulty comes from trying to find motivation to play when you're otherwise spent from the grind of daily life. When you're tired and frustrated is also when it's most difficult to accept and swallow failure. I think in those circumstances it's good to allow yourself to return to the game with renewed energy and that acceptance in mind.
I've always played Fire Emblem recklessly while using every single unit. I lose more than half of them on each run, but it's fun
I think the best thing to do is remember, at the end of the day, Fire Emblem is still a Nintendo game. It's allowed to be fun and colourful and you're allowed to play it for fun. Like Zelda or Pokémon there are challenges and completionism involved, but it's not the entire point of the game. Pokémon has always been best played by using the Pokémon you like the most, and Zelda you can play without fussing over getting absolutely everything to beat the game. The only game in the series I'd say you have to complete it 100% is Majora's Mask, and that's only because it really is that big a part of the experience.
Either way, I've been wanting to get back into the series for a long time now, but I've been jaded by the absolutely horrendous fanbase ever since 2020, for you know what reason. But I think this gave me the push to finally try it again for real. Tusind tak :)
I have a very fond memory of one of my first ever playthroughs of Path of Radiance. I lost oscar, boyd, mia, rhys and soren by the time the defense chapter rolled around. All I had was Titania and Ike. Somehow I managed to recruit ilyana, keep her alive, and complete the chapter. It was that playthrough that I used lots of funky units like mordecai, rolf, and mist because i didn't have anyone else. That was easily one of my favorite times playing fire emblem ever.
I recently started my first run of FE6. The games I've played are primarily 7 and onward, so I'm used to the modern style, but I've watched a run of FE1 and took notes to shape my thinking on what this series is really meant to be. I know I can't play FE6 the same way I played FE7 when it was new. I lost a favorite unit or two to arena shenanigans, but I know I can carry on without them. I'm still resetting if I do something REALLY dumb, like losing a unit the chapter they're recruited, but all things considered it's a relaxed stroll to experience it and finally see what this one's all about. And I tell you, there's _no way_ I would've made it through with my sanity intact if I was trying to be completionist about it in my first run!
Basically games should give you a good time, don't stress out over it. If you don't have a good time playing it, you should reconsider your way of playing or just go find something else.
Thank you! I’ve recently found your hack and I’m trying my first ever Ironman blind on it and it’s a blast! Not worrying about keeping everyone or making mistakes is so freeing
Nah. I'mma keep using save states.
Because I only use the characters that tryhards tell me are the worst, specifically to make my life a living hell.
The first time I had massive losses in FE and continued on was surprisingly 3 Houses. The fight with Rhea at the end of the Church route had me reset twice. I was frustrated so much that when I realized I just couldn't beat it I considered stopping the run and just going through the other routes. For context, it was my first play through so I did my entire run blind as that's generally how I like to play games. At some point after using another handful of pulses, I decided that because I already spent so much time I'd just try my best, only resetting for strategic reasons or to save Petra because I was dead-set on marrying her 😂😂😂 and it's good for me that Petra is one of the few characters that rarely died. I ended that run with like 11 units (that includes the benched ones). In hindsight, it's a great and funny memory but recalling that with this video here leads me to believe you're right entirely
Also, it reminds me that I never finished Revelations because I reset on one of the last few maps and never continued on. I should definitely work on finishing that once and for all with this ideology in mind
I find a lot of small niche and obscure players usually come up with their own strategies that the bigger players don't even realize exist because of the que-sera-sera attitude. The stuff you said about the "optimal solution" made me remember this.
In FE7 I used Lucius a lot because I thought he was cool, though but all my friends said he was weak and oft died cause of his low con/stuff.
That said, however.... I did an iron man of the o.g. Fire Emblem: Gaiden, so that ended horribly because there are few in terms of 'extra units' ... haaa.......... Shadows of Valentia where are youuu...........
Ahem! I guess the tldr version is just; have fun!
TBH this applies to almost every game lol I been playing Helldivers 2, a game where you play in a meatgrinder - you have several lives, and there's players that get butthurt if they die once. There's an obsession with meta and strats when you can play carelessly and still complete the missions. You can lose all your lives and still complete missions. It's pretty crazy how certain gamers want to feel so special and perfect in their non competitive games instead of, you know, have fun.
Ha ha, good video.
_Continues to wait until units hit level 20 before promoting them (which admittedly wasn't mentioned in this video) and hoarding stat boosters until my main army is level capped_
"playing Sophia and Gwendolyn" Am I a bad person? 😆
But Mannnnngs, i like pain and suffering that is my Kagetsuless/Pandreoless Ringless Fixed Growth Maddening Ironman runs. Oh and the fact that it is Engage. It shall fuel me till the end of my dayssss.
but .... but ... the weapon triangle is real life!
Honestly reminds me of my binding blade ironman where I lost marcus and a lot of other top tier units on chapter 9 replaced them with "worse units " like zelot trec and oiger and all 3 became amazing units and its by far my favourite ironman experience to date. Love this video keep up good work.
Just got back home from errands and was gonna play fire emblem on my phone and see this recommendation.
Thanks, I kinda appreciate Mango.
Ah yes. The good old Jobber Insurance of Kaga Emblems. Yeah. It is something I never realized why they are like that till recently. I can see why later games don't really have Jeigans as well as not have as huge of a roster as it once did.
I remember finding a tier list of all of the FE8 units and seeing Amelia and Neimi, two of the absolute all stars of my hard mode team, ranked as unusable trash. I understand that some units might be inherently 'better' than others. But I don't think that viability should be the defining factor in why you choose to field a unit. I think that a truly great fire emblem player can take the suboptimal units and make maximal use of them, undertaking an ultimate test of creativity. It's why I love Three Houses so much, if you can conceptualize it, you can probably build it, and making unconventional strategies work (some of my favorites being swordmaster Marianne, AK Annette, and mage Felix) is why I hold the game so dear.
I've played Fire Emblem (7 mainly) with my brother since we were kids. Honestly, I get this. Unfortunately, it wasn't until a few years ago (3 Houses, I think) I started to follow some of these rules, funny enough. I use stat boosters on my faves, shake my head when I make a little mistake and try to move on. I still reset if I lose a unit and I still hoard expensive weapons, but I do find it easier to play Fire Emblem and come up with new strategies and have fun. So, I agree with this, but I don't think I can completely follow the rules on this. XD
This feels like more of "start enjoying fire emblem" than stop caring about fire emblem.
This is something I'm struggling so hard to do, but I think it's ingrained into some form of OCD to me due to years of Pokemon EV and IV stuff, and strategy games like FE, Final Fantasy Tactics and so on, to the point I have massive decision paralysis when squadbuilding with games like Unicorn overlord. One day I hope I can break out of this mindset, I'm trying to figure out squads on my own but my brain keeps telling me to look up stuff for ideas to help. It sucks really XD
It's not really fear of failure I feel, but that I want to maximize my units potential and I think that leads to overall enjoyment when it actually doesn't.
5:30 Honestly, I get that. Much like my "Tin Man Run" Hard Mode With Engage. After losing like 7 units on a boring Tide Chapter, I took a short break. By short I mean 6-7 months on it after grinding any remaining units I had left. After that break I continued and got to the end and got an ending. I got the bad ending cutscene, but an ending I'm okay with. Because 6 V 100 is not a fun time or possible. If I turned down the difficulty, it would feel like a cop out to me.
6:20 I remember saying this on a stream back in the day : "At least you get that unit back when Roy Dies" Then a response of "No, it's an ironman. I can't do that" I just went "oh" in my mind and left. That was a funny time. Now I enjoy watching the Ironmans.
10:40 I can agree with having more money in the end. In FE1 I kept track of how much gold was accumulated and Spent. Spent 104930, while still having 32000 left over. Even then, not every bit of gold you spent will be used since said units with weapons you spent money on will die with them anyway.
11:14 RIP LILINA! LOL!
2:23 I've heard this story, I respect it the vision Kaga had. After hearing that, I kinda stopped resetting manually. And really only reset when a lord died. That last time I ever did it was Fire Emblem : Three Houses with Lysithea. After that reset, I urged myself to never reset again. Funny enough, no one died, had some close calls with Raphael and Leonie at a couple points. But I made it through.
3:02 Well the Knight on the left is better than Draug.
2:55
Why is Dolph objectively better than the guy with whom he joins--? Also, he looks even better than Draug here...
Ironically my 1st playthrough of FE shadow dragon ended up with rickard dying, because I didn't want to reset just to save him
Hey hey, Memes are the best part of fire emblem who could take this game seriously when my 10 year old Dragon that's actually 200 year old and could solo people wheeze
I never understood sitting on stat boosters because... that's free damage/hit-rate/double attacks/etc the earlier you use them on a unit. Using it at the earliest possible moment reaps the greatest overall rewards because it compounds over time. Raising a unit's Str by 2 means you are dealing 2 addtional damage for EVERY SINGLE (weapon) ATTACK that unit performs.
Second title of this video: The art of feeling stats
I’ll tell you right now, the last FE game I ever bought was Shadows of Valentia and I still own it too. When I lose units I just let it go and see it as “things happen for a reason” situation.
For me, my first game was three houses. My second was the hoshido one, and my last was engage. I didnt even complete the hoshido one, and I played engage through twice and dropped it. Three houses? I havent stopped playing it. I dont really argue online about it or partake in community stuff, I just genuinely enjoy the game and the units in it. Mind you, I also play on baby mode with no perma deaths. I still enjoy it though