Fire Emblem: Awakening lets you turn off permadeath. Here's why you shouldn't.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/editorial/33199
Ricken was always looking for a way to prove himself to the others. The youngest member of the Shepherds, he was often overlooked when preparing for battle. “Stay here, it’s too dangerous for you,” he would hear time and time again. Still, he was a mage of remarkable skill, and, disobeying direct orders, he made his ability known by sneaking on to the battlefield during a particularly harrowing encounter. His mastery of wind magic turned the tides in the favor of the Shepherds that afternoon, and he was from then on welcomed into battle alongside his countrymen. Though he struggled with the idea of snuffing out the lives of other people, he willed himself forward in order to protect his friends. Ricken was a fiercely loyal, compassionate boy far beyond his years.
And I watched him die.
In my playthrough of Fire Emblem Awakening, I read the last words of a number of characters I had come to know, and each time I would do the same exact thing: close my eyes, tilt my head up toward the ceiling, let out an elongated four-letter word, and turn the 3DS off. Then, I would immediately turn the system back on and attempt to change the fate of the character I had charged into death’s grasp. For the first time in North America, players can choose to bypass creating their own similar ritual by turning permadeath off completely. Objectively, I applaud the decision to make Fire Emblem more accessible to those who might be scared off by the thought of losing characters forever. Personally, though, I think Casual Mode fundamentally strips Fire Emblem of its most unique feature: the tragedy and exuberance of choice.
I sat and stared at the stats of an attack and counter attack for minutes, literally minutes, with my thumb hovering over the A Button, completely frozen, countless times during the game. With less than a 100% chance to hit, there was a possibility I would fail to deliver the final blow to a weakened enemy. More worrisome was the chance he had to strike me back and kill me, causing me to perform the same order of actions I detailed earlier. I watched the percentiles display across the screen, immune to my will. I looked over the map, trying to see if other characters might possibly be able to reach the enemy and more assuredly kill him. With no luck, I settled back on those imperfect percentiles. Finally, I closed my eyes, pressed the A Button, and listened. Would I hear the sound of metal slicing through armor on impact, or the fleeting tune of an enemy sidestepping my advance?
Sure, I was angry if a strategy failed and I had to restart the level, but those lows never matched the absolute joy I felt when a gamble paid off. Each and every time one of my characters executed a low-chance attack or dodged a fatal strike, dread was instantly replaced by elation. I had survived. Eventually, I watched Awakening’s credits roll, and was given brief synopses of what each character went on to do after saving the world. Though the quality of each varied, I was able to give every character I met a future.
As great as Casual Mode is for being more welcoming to new players, it removes the weight of the characters’ lives from your shoulders, which Fire Emblem so expertly creates. Unlike StarCraft or Command & Conquer, which are built around losing countless identical soldiers, and even XCOM, whose losable troops are merely blank slates that level up, Fire Emblem features a variety of characters with distinct backgrounds and motivations. Moreover, the new relationship system allows you to learn even more about characters as they begin to trust, confide in, and even love each other. The death of a character is felt, not merely on the battlefield, but throughout the game. What conversations are lost entirely when one character fails to return home?
If you aren’t trying to protect your heroes while you play Fire Emblem, then why play at all? Sure, the main story is interesting, but Casual Mode eliminates the stories you create for yourself on the battlefield; the moments of uncertainty that miraculously unfold in your favor. And what of the tactical and strategic elements Fire Emblem is known for? Without the penalty of death, what’s to stop players from blindly marching their mass of resurrecting units down the map toward the enemy without any pause for concern? Casual Mode is a guided tour through the world of Awakening; you’ll see everything, but experience nothing.
If you absolutely can’t imagine playing Fire Emblem Awakening with permadeath on, then I’ll concede that you should go ahead and use Casual Mode. But, if you are flirting with the possibility of leaving it on, I wholly urge you to do so. The real challenge of Awakening isn’t simply beating the game, it’s protecting your characters through constant peril; literally shepherding the Shepherds. Awakening is an entirely unique experience when your every choice carries consequence. You are doing yourself a disservice by missing it.
Kotaku brought up a good point a couple days ago: permadeath is completely pointless when 95% of people who'se characters die will simply restart their save file. "Casual mode" is the same exact thing, but without having to restart the level and potentially losing hours of work.
You should either do Casual Mode, or take it like a man when your characters die.
I've played through both both console Fire Emblem games and part of Sacred Stones. I can tell you the first thing I'm doing when I get this game next week is turning off the permadeath. I'm just like 90% of everyone else in that the first thing I did when I lost someone in the previous games was to reset the game. At times it was could be highly frustrating, especially if you had just played an hour. I don't need the aggravation, and would rather not waste the time by playing with permadeaths on. I'm going to enjoy it just as much as I did before, probably even more knowing I don't have that added stress.
You are being punished for being careless and taking on far too much risk.
You are being punished for being careless and taking on far too much risk. It really doesn't matter how many units are on the board as you have all the time in the world to consider your moves. I hope I never play chess with you seeing you throw such a fit over a videogame.
So, you play the game balls out. Interesting. Me? I'm a safe and sound kind of FE player. I hold back until I can strike at just the right moment. It's how I've done things since the very first North American release of FE, and it's how I intend to play Awakening, too. With that said...You are being punished for being careless and taking on far too much risk.
The vast majority of times I've lost a character in Fire Emblem, it's because I got RNG-screwed. Things would be going just fine, and then an enemy would trigger their 10% chance of a critical hit while my character triggered their 10% chance of missing. I've lost characters due to carelessness before, but most of the time it's been random chance that's perma-killed my characters after hours of play. Yeah, I think I can do without that.
So, you play the game balls out. Interesting. Me? I'm a safe and sound kind of FE player. I hold back until I can strike at just the right moment.
I highly doubt the original intent of permadeath was "then the suckers will have to restart the chapter from the beginning every time! HA HA HA!" The idea was that characters will die and it will be part of the experience, to add emotional weight. You're supposed to lose characters. But these things don't always go the way the devs want. Gamers can be very dedicated completists and will restart things to get a perfect run. So casual mode is really just accomodating that type of player. If you insist on not losing anybody, then play with this mode and save yourself a lot of hassle.
Though I think permadeath is a better feature in a game of relatively short length, where you would be encouraged to play multiple times. Fire Emblem is too long to really make the concept enjoyable to the player.
At the very least they did not get rid of it. Options are good. Nintendo could just as easily removed permadeath for EVERYONE. This is the company that will force waggle and Blue Shells and tripping in SSB down our throats and they didn't do that here.
I'll be interested to see what all you non-permadeathers thinks about it after you play the game. To me, it's like playing an entire Mario game with the golden invincibility leaf; you get through the levels but without any challenge.
Ha ha, I'm not trying to be snide, I'm genuinely curious. I think it really changes the experience, so I want to hear about what you think.
The thing with no permadeath is it gives you a lot more leeway to take chances and make mistakes. So you'll end up with a deeper knowledge of the game because you know what the consequences of various actions are.
I agree, comparing it to Mario's golden leaf is quite ridiculous. This'll probably sound strange around these parts, but I don't play games for challenge, so I'll take my easy mode, thank you very much.I'll be interested to see what all you non-permadeathers thinks about it after you play the game. To me, it's like playing an entire Mario game with the golden invincibility leaf; you get through the levels but without any challenge.That is a poor analogy.