Ranking First Maps Part 4

Below Average Tier (Continued)

Fates: Revelation

Next on the list is Revelation. The easiest way to summarize this map is that it's a Corrin steamroll. It's a map where you have to kill two bosses before Chapter 5. On paper this sounds like a net positive. In practice...well, I'll just quote what somebody else had to say:

"RV: On normal and hard? Easy, just throw Corrin at the enemies as they run toward you. On Lunatic? Fuck this map, never play Revelation Lunatic. You have 5 turns to kill the Nohr mooks, and some genius decided to take away their Wyverns. Usually a lack of Wyverns is a good thing, but this time it means they can't cross the river, and you have to cross the river 1 square at a time yourself. Whoever though this was a good idea should be fed to Lilith.""

"Fuck Revelation's version of this map. Particularly the Lunatic one. Like somebody else has said, you've basically gotta cross the river to bait the cavalier to win. Which is some shit because to do this you have to realize that it's a thing you can do. I mean, I thought of it because of Awakening's water trick, and memories of having Hector ferry mounted units across rivers. But it's such a stupid and obscure thing to actually require from the player at any point in the game - let alone 6 chapters in, without telling or even hinting at the player's ability to Jesus their way across a body of water. For that reason alone Chapter 6 is probably the hardest map in Lunatic Revelation, for all the wrong reasons"

Source for both quotes: https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/65995c/fates_map_discussion_thread_48_chapter_6_all/

Birthright

Are you kidding me? A boss kill map where the boss killer is literally right next to the boss? I get that Birthright is meant to be for beginners, but did the designers just assume that people who are new to the series are idiots? The only reason why it's not listed in the "garbage" tier is because you're given plenty of units to use, and you can choose to give other units experience. 

Garbage Tier

As far as I'm concerned, these first chapters have no redeeming qualities. There's an awful lot of them.

Gaiden

Yep. This is the first map of the OG Gaiden. It's a pretty solid indicator of what's to come: An empty field with terrain haphazardly strewn about, and enemies in a random formation. To the game's credit, you at least get to start out with 5 units (Faye doesn't exist in Gaiden). There's very little in the way of strategy here. Maybe getting Tobin and Cliff to promotion level in preparation for the shrine? 

Why the other first maps on this list are considered garbage

For the sake of saving time, I figure that since the first maps of these games suffer from the same issues, I can just summarize why they all suck:

• Sacred Stones 
• Echoes
• FE 12 
• Awakening & Engage: (They basically have the same first chapter)
•  Path of Radiance
•  The prologue of Fates (yep. The first map of the Fates prologue is in this tier) 

1) 2 playable characters or less: All of these first chapters give you two playable characters or less. Technically, Echoes gives you a lot more than just two, but let's not kid ourselves: This map is a Mycen solo. It may as well be a 1 unit map. 

As a result of having so few characters, there are very few strategies and ways to replay these maps. That leads to a duller experience all around. 

2) Really short map with nothing else going on: All of these maps are really short, and having nothing else to them. I guess Sacred Stones has terrain, but it's a dull implementation of its terrain that just makes it easier for Seth to chokepoint the map. Once again, this hurts replayability. 

I get that a designer would want to make their first map simple, but you can have a first chapter that's simple without insulting the player's intelligence, and that's what these first chapters do.

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The Multi-Rate Tier

There are two games whose first chapter can be different based on the player's choice. Blazing Sword and Shadow Dragon. Since they rate so differently, they needed their own tier:

Blazing Sword - Lyn Mode: Garbage

There's only one playable character and two enemies. There's nothing else to this map. Textbook example of a map that treats the player like an idiot.

Hector Mode: Meh

You know, this is almost a good map. The biggest problem is that there's only two playable characters here, and only one of them (Hector) is going to be doing any fighting. What's cool about this map is that there are two different methods of approach, and Matthew's thief utility comes in handy here. The lack of a healer makes the map marginally more challenging. Still, it's not bad.

Eliwood Mode: Meh

For a first map, there's nothing super wrong with it, but it's also not super great either. I might rate it higher if that village were actually threatened. Still, 6 playable characters has to count for something. Not much else to say about the map.

Shadow Dragon: Prologue - Garbage

So this map is basically a Marth solo with nothing else that's interesting about it. Joy.

Shadow Dragon Chapter 1

The first chapter of Shadow Dragon gets the same rating as FE 1's first map (Meh) unless we're talking about H5. Based on what I've been told, H5 is significantly harder. I've also been told that the boss has to break his weapon before you can move on. That sounds like terrible design to me. If it's not H5, then I'm assuming that it plays pretty similarly to FE 1's first map, right? So it ranges from Meh to Garbage.

Ranking the First Maps Part 3

Meh

First chapters that are ranked in the "Meh" tier are chapters that aren't bad per se, but they're not particularly good either. Another important criteria of the "Meh" tier is that with a couple of tweaks, these could be good maps.

Fire Emblem 1

And here is the first map of the entire franchise and.....it's meh. To the map's credit, you do get a total of 8 characters (this includes Wrys in the village) so it at least checks one box off. I think the thief down below is supposed to threaten the village up top? If that's the case, then this doesn't work. Just like with Mystery of the Emblem, the thief is closer to the player than the village. It's pretty easy to kill the thief before it has a chance to destroy the village. 

This map lets you buy weapons, which is pretty rare for a first map. The fact that you have to recruit your healer after beating most of the map is an interesting twist. Forts and forests make life easier for the player, and the map layout is simple enough. 

Overall, not a bad first chapter, especially since this is the first time a Japanese player would have been exposed to the franchise as a whole. With a couple of tweaks, it could have been better.

Conquest

As a quick heads-up: Fates is one of those games where the player has different choices on how to begin. So, I'm going to rate the first map of each route, and then I'll rate the first chapter of the prologue. 

Conquest's first chapter is the best first chapter of Fates and it leaves room to be desired. The only interesting elements of this map are: 

1) Choosing whether to kill Ryoma or Sakura 

AND 

2) Baiting the Takumi / Hinoka pair up.

Outside of those two choices, there's really not much else to say. There are very few enemies to fight, which hurts the replayability of the map, and there are no turtle disincentives. Ryoma's avoid is really high, so fighting him feels like an even bigger RNG gamble than is usual for Fire Emblem. That counts as a negative.

 To the map's credit, you at least get 6 characters, so it checks one box. Another positive is that Elise has a Freeze staff, which can be helpful here. There's also the Dragon Vein, which makes the map a little more playable, since you can have more characters attack Ryoma. Considering how powerful he is, this isn't recommended but at least the option exists. And another positive is that poor unit positioning can cause a restart. 

Overall, this map is not terrible, but there also aren't too many positives to say here either.

Tearring Saga

What I find interesting about Tearring Saga's first chapter is that you spend the first four chapters buying stuff with Runan and his crew. Once again, it's pretty rare for the first chapter to give the player the option to buy things. Points for creativity. Afterward, the drawbridge goes down, and Runan's crew have to take on the enemies. Meanwhile, Sasha and Kate have to flee the bad guys.

One big negative is that Runan's crew are forced to sit behind the drawbridge, so there's nothing you can do about Sasha and Kate. It feels like the map takes longer than it needs to because of that. Another negative is that the terrain layout is really dull. The actual combat takes place on an open field with a little bit of forests if you need an evasion boost. 

Unlike the maps ranked below it, it feels like a couple of tweaks could have made it good. The maps in the "Below Average" tier are just mostly really bad.

Below Average Tier

These first maps are straight up bad. They might have one quality that prevents them from being outright terrible, but they're still a net negative overall.

Three Houses

The only nice thing I can say about this map is that it has 4 playable characters. So it checks off one box. Unfortunately, this is mitigated by the fact that Dimitri, Edelgard, and Byleth play too similarly to each other. They're basically just sturdy(ish) melee fighters. Claude's the only playable character on this map who fights differently than the others. In practice, it almost feels like you've got 2 different characters, as opposed to four.

Another major negative is that generic enemies double attack your characters on Maddening mode, which is terrible design. It practically incentivizes the player to play slower (as opposed to faster) and to take their time fighting one enemy at a time. Incentivizing slow play is always a net negative. 

Bytheway, the reason why Three Houses is only having this map rated is because no matter which route you play, this will always be your first chapter. That separates it from Fates, FE 7, or Shadow Dragon. So this will be the only Three Houses map on this list, and it's a pretty poor showing.

Radiant Dawn

Unlike Three Houses, Radiant Dawn's first map only gives you three playable characters to start with. Two of them are squishy ranged fighters, and the other one is Edward. The basic premise of this map is to have Edward take the hits while Micaiah and Leonardo provide chip damage from a safe distance. The terrain makes distance combat fun, since Micaiah and Leo have fun walls to attack behind. 

There is one negative that is unique to Hard Mode: No Weapon Triangle. This map feels like it was designed with the weapon triangle in mind. It really benefits Edward. Take that away, and suddenly his chances of blocking axes with his face improves. That's a big negative, which really hurts the ranking of this map. Another negative is no turtle disincentives. 

I want to like this map more, but I can't because there's not enough going for it to merit a higher rank. 

Ranking the First Maps (Part 2)

Really Good

This tier is reserved for first maps that get lots of things right. The reason why these maps are a whole tier below the top tier is because their turtle disincentives aren't as strong.

Binding Blade

The first map of Binding Blade gives the player 6 characters to use, and there's a brigand that pops up next to the village with the intent to destroy it. It's a weak turtle disincentive, but it still exists so it counts. So it checks both boxes as far as first maps go.

On Hard mode, most of the cast will do menial damage while Marcus carries the team. I am going to deduct points for that, since it's more ideal to have multiple viable characters during the first map. To the game's credit, at least enemy strength is more balanced than in some of the games that have come after.

Thracia 776

Next on the list is Thracia 776. Here, you get a total of 8 characters to use, two houses you can visit that will result in obtaining the Pugi Axe and a Brave Axe, and multiple enemies to fight. Weissman is more difficult than the typical first chapter boss, and while the enemies aren't that difficult to beat, they're still better than the normal axe wielding brigand that frequently show up in a first chapter. 

The map gets points for having side objectives, but also loses points for no turtle disincentive. This doesn't hurt the map as much since most first chapters typically don't have them, but it is worth noting.

 It's really cool how the game gives you such powerful weapons and characters right off the bat: Eyvel kicks ass in this part of the game, Dagdar's really strong, Finn is super useful (and joins with a Brave Lance. How many games just let you have a Brave Lance from the first chapter?), and you get Orsin with the Pugi. 

It's a strong start to an excellently designed game.

Mystery of the Emblem 

For a first chapter, Mystery of the Emblem sure knows how to start on the right foot. If you count Mallicia, you start this map with 9 characters. Thieves will appear from the cave to the left and will attempt to destroy the village. On the one hand, this is a turtle disincentive so kudos to the map for that. On the other hand, the thieves are closer to the player than they are to the village, so there's no reason to rush toward the village. It gets some points for the attempt at a turtle disincentive, but then it loses points for how weak it is.

The mountain pass where the brigands are can be a little tedious to get through too. I went back and checked my notes  on this map and I said there that only Marth and Arran can move here. That's another net negative for tedious terrain. Still, it's a pretty good map to start a game on.

Above Average: Holy War

Holy War's first map is kind of weird to rate in this particular context. On the one hand, it checks both the boxes off. By the end of the map you wind up with ten different characters in your army:

• Sigurd
• Alec
• Noish
• Arden
• Quan
• Ethlyn
• Finn
• Lex
• Azel
• Midir

But you don't get them all at once. You just start out with Sigurd, your Christmas Cavs, and Arden. Your Lenster squad shows up later and has to play catch up after Sigurd, Alec, and Noish have already started moving. Lex and Azel also show up way the heck out there on the map, away from your main army. So, Holy War's prologue is kind of weird in this respect. Credit given to where credit's due, you still get a bunch of units to use on the first map, and that's always a positive.

As for turtle disincentives, this map introduces the concept that villages don't automatically get destroyed, but instead burn over time. Considering the fact that you lose 500 gold per burn, this works to incentivize the player to move fast. 

However, some brigands are so close to the villages that you'll still lose some money even if you go fast. This is something that could have been handled better, but at least some form of turtle disincentives exist. The village by Jungby gives you a Speed Ring, which is really important, so you'll definitely want to save that asap.

Arvis also gives you a Silver Sword, which helps to teach the player that conversations can net the player free stuff. 

Two negatives worth mentioning are that Sigurd can obliterate enemies by himself, which puts some pressure off of the player in addition to the Evans army being easy to dismantle by simply blocking the bridge.

On the one hand, Holy War meets both criteria for a first map. On the other hand, it does so in funky ways that hurt the rating. Even with its negatives taken into account, Holy War's first chapter is still leagues better than the maps ranked below it. It fits both criteria, and it manages to teach the player a great deal about the game's mechanics. This is why it merits its own unique rating. It's much more interesting to play than the map where you have few characters in a small map, but it's also not quite as good as the maps ranked above it, hence it's own tier titled "Above Average". 

Ranking the First Maps of Fire Emblem

Ranking the final chapters of each Fire Emblem game was fun. This naturally made me want to rank the first chapters of each map. I added the Kaga Sagas to this list because I've at least played the first chapter of each Kaga Saga, even if I haven't beaten Tearring Saga or Vestaria Saga yet. First, we need to establish the criteria for what makes a well designed first chapter:

1) Does the first chapter have more than 3 characters?  The reason why this is a metric is because there's a difference in quality between maps where you can play 3 characters or fewer versus maps where you have 6 - 7. More characters usually means more strategies, and thus more ways to play the game. That's good. It also makes the map more interesting.

2) Bonus points for turtle disincentives or side objectives: I tend to be easier on the first chapter, because I don't expect it to happen, but there are first chapters that do this and they deserve to be rewarded for it.

Gold Standard: Berwick and Vestaria Saga

These are the two games that come to mind that do pretty much everything right when it comes to the first map. I've already done a map design review for the first chapter of Berwick Saga: https://thecrusadergrant.blogspot.com/2022/03/berwick-saga-map-design-review-part-1.html

Tl;dr - "So, to recap. On the first freaking map of the game we have:

• Multiple bosses.
• Good map layout with 2 avenues of approach.
• 1 timed side objective where the player has to protect their healer on the opposite side of the map.
• 1 side objective where enemies drop gold. If the player doesn't get to these enemies in time, they permanently leave the map.

Yeah, this map is a case study on how to start your game. It does everything right. It also gives you 9 characters to start out with. Each character has their own nuances of how to use, which really increases the strategy in this chapter. Brilliantly done!

Vestaria Saga

Vestaria Saga is a map that I never thought would be ranked this high, and yet its first map does everything correctly. You get 6 characters right off the bat, a turtle disincentive in the form of an extra defeat condition: If the ships' HP drops to 0, you lose, and you also have a thief threatening to destroy a house. It's pretty rare for the first map to have all these things. 

You get 5 units, so it meets that requirement. The houses in between the player and the ship can be visited, which can net them money and funny NPC dialogue. It can also run the risk of slowing the player down since that could be time used to get to the ship faster. 

The village to the side will also be threatened by an enemy. This is both a turtle disincentive, and it counts as a side objective since it's out of the way. Overall, it's a great map that pretty much does everything one could want from a first chapter.