My Mechanics List Part 3

10 Mechanics I’d Like To See In Future Games

# 9 - The Magic Trinity

               It’s been 10 years since we’ve had a Fire Emblem game that had the magic trinity. 10 years! Radiant Dawn was the last Fire Emblem game where we not only had anima, light & dark magic but was the last game where they had a weapon triangle. The magic trinity in theory is meant to diversify magic. Light, anima and dark magic had their own unique properties (or at least were supposed to. The key phrase here is “supposed to”) with each one having its pros and cons. These unique properties led to having different mage classes which meant that most playable magic users had their own unique identity.

Unfortunately the magic trinity has not always been executed as well as it could have. In order for the magic trinity to matter more in future installments it’s going to need the following changes:

• More mages in enemy armies
• More playable magic users (and more playable magic classes too wouldn’t hurt)
• A greater level of distinction between the different magic types
• A greater emphasis on balancing the different magic types

                       Some people would argue that more would need to be done, but at least this can serve as the start for what would be needed. After seeing this topic broached on different Fire Emblem forums I can see why IS hasn’t bothered to bring back the magic trinity. Call me an optimist, but I believe that it’s possible to accomplish everything I just mentioned. If executed correctly this could lead to the best magic system in the Fire Emblem series.

                 

10 Mechanics That Should Be Gone In Future Games List

# 9 - Phoenix Mode

                           Now here’s an idea that’s as stupid in execution as it is in principle. Phoenix Mode is basically the “press the A button to win” mode. That should already tell you all you need to know about the awfulness of the mechanic but I’m going to bother explaining why this atrocity needs to die anyway. Phoenix mode throws any semblance of strategy that the game may have had out the window. Why bother trying to carefully place your units when they’ll just come back to life anyway? What good are stats when you can whittle down even the strongest of enemies since you can come back to life and they can’t?

                      I hear some people mention that they play phoenix mode “just to experience the story”. This excuse would be more believable if Fates had a well written story but it doesn’t. In fact, Conquest and Revelation have TERRIBLE writing and Birthright at best is pretty bland. Also, why would you bother buying the game? You could save yourself a lot of money by going online and watching someone else play the game.

                   We already have casual mode and low difficulty settings for noobs so Phoenix Mode comes across as redundant in addition to being a brain dead difficulty setting that’s extremely condescending to newcomers. You might be wondering why this is so far down the list and the answer is that Phoenix Mode can be ignored which means that it’s stupidity can at least be ignored which mitigates the harm that it does. The other mechanics rated higher on this list cannot be ignored which makes their impact on the game all the more present. I also have to wonder if there’s a Fire Emblem game out there that recently invented a new mechanic that saves the player a lot of frustration without eliminating the strategy of the game altogether. If only such a mechanic existed. Oh wait….