Act 1 done, preliminary thoughts:
Alm is good. Maybe it's because of the localization, but he's more likeable than your typical FE lord. He's basically a Disney princess equipped with good wits and the ability to fight. As a unit, he's pretty dependable, with good bases and actually good growths. I really like his voice actor, and I look forward to seeing where he goes as a characters.
I love the villagers. Finally, Est-type units that don't suck ass. Gray is a baller and one of my favorite units at the moment. I love how he exists beyond the prologue, and his dynamic with Tobin and Clair is great. Speaking of Tobin, he's been doing pretty well as an archer. He's the only unit with serviceable Skill, so he can actually hit things with a Bow. Not the heaviest of damage dealers, but a solid supporting unit. Faye is... polarizing, but I like her. Her crush on Alm is really anime, at first glance but it's actually kind of sad in execution. She's pitiful, and unlike other characters of her archetype who "get over yo man crush and be happy" she never really gets over him... Like, even her support with Silque is depressing so far. As a unit, she's ridiculously kickass. Calling my Faye #blessed would be a major understatement. She's got like 15 atk and passable speed as a level 7 Cleric, it's whack. Kliff is solid; I wish he was more plot relevant, but what's there is great. And as a unit, he wrecks fools with his magic (the health penalty is nothing).
The storytelling a major step up from Fates and pretty much most FE games. Story scenes are long, and dense. The setting is well realized,and the game employs multiple perspectives, so it's not all just about Alm. Tons and tons of characters with varied motivations as well. The main conflict is pretty simple, but the execution makes it easy to get invested in the story. I actually rush through the gameplay just to experience the story.
The writing is so good, it sings. I've forgotten how much a good localization can improve a product. The little bits of errant dialogue when you examine stuff is so 8-4 in the best. The voice acting complements the writing well, with solid performances across the board.
The gameplay is... decent. Map design and enemy unit place is outright bad, leading to every skirmish pretty much playing out the same way.. Draw out enemy units, beat them up rinse and repeat. Even the mechanics are lacking in depth. I get not wanting to bring back pair up, but where's Rescue?! It's not all bad though, since the skill system is fantastic. Echoes has the best implementation of skills. I really hope they become a standard going forward. Forget about random % activations, arts and built in magic for life! Mila's turnwheel is pretty nifty. I'm currently using it to fix level ups (lol), but I can see it coming handy in some of later, longer maps. Oh, and built in magic is the shit. I understand the appeal of buying spells, but man this shit's awesome. I have infinite uses of Warp. Dungeons are okay. Smashing stuff is addicting, and killing monsters is mindless, but it gets boring after a while. The stat-up springs at the end make the journey well worth it though!
Supports are disappointing, even when compared to GBA support chains. They read more like natural conversations instead of kits, which has its appeal, but they're honestly underwhelming overall. Like, why do they have to break simple conversations across 3 ranks? It's silly! To many "you suck, bye" endings. Like, I don't care about kids or pairing units, but the 3DS supports always gave me something to look forward to. Not to quite the same deal here.
Overall, FE:Echoes is a solid FE game so far. It's lacking in gameplay when compared to other FE games, but passable overall, and it actually has its own good points (WARP!). The story and characters are fantastic, and I can't wait to see more.
PS: "Come at me fools!"
