Echoes had a ton of promise. The presentation was fantastic, the script and voice acting are better than ever, characterization was generally much stronger and it seemed like a return to form in terms of actually depicting war + word building.
Here's why it didn't work:
The gameplay
It's bottom class Fire Emblem. There are pretty much no ifs, and, or buts about it. For anyone who is even remotely invested in the concept of strategy, Echoes is a complete and utter failure. It is so shallow, so devoid of smart design, playing it for an extended period of time is just an exercise in frustration. And why did anyone expect otherwise, given how it features a
1 to 1 recreation of Gaiden's original maps? It's amusing how people defend the gameplay, when those very same people have likely bashed Gaiden into oblivion. The game's obsession with being a faithful remake is almost always to its detriment, with things like the limited inventory, map design and class design being poor, and none of the new features like fatigue really amounting to anything. It's arbitrary what got carried over, and what was tossed (though the Arts system is pretty good).
Echoes even doubles down on the tedium from the original gaiden, with how enemies repeatedly respawn on the world map. This pretty much kills any desire to do sidequests since you'll be forced to do encounters if you backtrack. The game's balance is generally pretty lackluster, and cheesing your way through obstacles is pretty trivial. The game's poor design pretty much necessitates it though, which compounds on the issue. We've had broken FE games, and unfun FE games, but it's rare that we get a broken and unfun FE game.
The story
It's definitely promising, but it too falls flat on its face by the end. Relying too much on the source material will do that, but even the new scenes are lackluster (they somehow managed to take away Celica's agency...). The game sets up a pretty simplistic theme; your station in life does not matter, but undoes this repeatedly with destiny being a huge driver of the plot. The writing is just...
bad by the end, i'm shocked that it got a pass here. There's pretty much no justification for the shameful use of deus ex machina by the end. Celica literally gives her up soul to a man who explicitly tells her he will ruin the world... because reasons. She turns into a Witch but Alm miraculously manages to save her by stabbing her with the Falchion because... reasons. The Falchion scene in particular ranks as pretty much one of the worst written scene in FE history, which is a testament to how bad it was.
The story in general also trips over itself to frame in Alm in such a perfect light, which is a shame because he's actually a pretty likable character, but his arc is so basic, contradictor andy bland. Celica has been talked to death, but the story's obsession with throwing her under the bus to make Alm look better is obnoxious, and the driving force for the character is fundamentally flawed and sexist. Here's why:
Kusikara said:
Alm pursues a path of power while Celica walks a path of love –and aims to save Alm with it, leading to a type of self-sacrifice. The scenario is built upon this.
Anyone who's actually played Echoes knows this is complete nonsense. Celica consistently uses force to get what she wants, brutally murdering pirates and tyrants out of necessity. Alm on the other hand, is more pragmatic, and has even tried to order a ceasefire with Rigel. It's silly. Sure it's better than Fates, but that's barely a bar, and it still ranks among the worst narratives for FE.
Misc
The game is pretty sexist. Now i'm sure someone will retort with an example of past FE games being sexist, and I accept that, but FE: Echoes stands out due to its quantity + recency. It's a given, because it strays too close to the source material, but pretty much every female character on Alm's route has to be rescued.
Shameless CGs are a thing, and again Celica's character being in service to Alm by the end.
Overall it disappoints. It could have been amazing, but an adherence to being a faithful remake of a bad game really hurt the overall experience.
One of the worst, if not the worst FE game (after FE:Gaiden of course)
