So I was asked recently if I prefer Pair Up to Rescue. Before we answer that let's specify which version of Pair Up since there are two different versions. If it's the Awakening version of Pair Up then heck no. Awakening's Pair Up system is so ludicrously broken that it watered down the strategical aspect of the game. There was no reason to not use Awakening's Pair Up system. Fates on the other hand is an entirely different story altogether.
With Fates, Pair Up is much more balanced. I really love the fact that enemies can Pair Up too in Fates which means that neither side has a game-breaking advantage. Pair-Up also lets lower movement units to stay on the front lines of the battlefield more often (see the part of my previous post that talked about Armor Knights) and the fact that enemy units can do it too makes things a little more even. Plus as far as I'm aware, you can't skip the game with the Fates version of Pair Up the way you can with rescue chains so I'm more inclined to lean towards the Fates version of Pair Up than with the rescue mechanic. There might have to be some tweaking with Guard Stance, but it looks like the developers are on the right track. In games where the rescue mechanic existed it was only the player's units who could rescue which means that the player had a huge advantage over the enemy if the player could properly abuse this mechanic.
So the tl;dr version: Fates Pair Up > Rescue > Awakening Pair Up
- Kill off the character: If they're not around for the entire game then the player is forced to use different characters and level them up. In order for this to work you have to kill them off relatively early on so that there's a significant portion of the game that they're not available for. You don't have to kill the character off, but at least do what Thracia 776 did and make the character unavailable for the majority of the game. That way you're forced to use your growths units (or at least it provides a pretty strong incentive to do so).
- Make them a class other than a Paladin: A paladin with fantastic bases and weapon ranks will destroy the game. A general, on the other hand, probably won't. In case you're wondering why I'm saying a general, it's because DRP uses this idea in his game Realm of Ascension. A low movement unit with high base stats would still be useful to the player but they would have legitimate drawbacks to them. If you're going to go this route then the character shouldn't have high movement in general just to balance them out. '
- Get rid of these types of characters and buff your growth units: I would like to point out that this idea has been done before by Gaiden. You don't get any early-joining paladins in Gaiden and I think the game did fine without it. To be fair, when you've got mother freaking Alm on your side you don't need anyone else (unless they're a lousy warp-bot) but nevertheless I think this might be the next stage in Fire Emblem's evolution. If your growth units are strong enough there's no need for a pre-promote. I think it would be better having a team of useable units as opposed to a mega-juggernaut who has to carry an entire team behind him / her.
Next up I plan on discussing map design for Part 3 and I would like to know something from those of you who are reading this right now:
- Name 3 games that in your opinion had the best map design and why you think this way.
- Name 3 games that in your opinion had the worst map design and why you think this way.
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