While Mystery of the Emblem was the formation of the series as we know it in a mechanical sense, Genealogy is where the series comes to life, and where it starts to draw me in as one of my favourite video game series ever. An epic fantasy historical narrative spanning two generations, layered and nuanced characters, especially the villains in comparison to the last 3 games, who often find themselves contemplating the value of their chivalry against the their loyalty to the ruling class, this entry tells a grand narrative that is still distinctive and still impressive amongst the console generation it was born in.
The game isn't without its flaws, there is some inkling of narrative aspects that didn't quite make it in due to space or time limitations, such as the Loptyr cult being only explained away as shunned basement dwellers crawling to Loptus for salvation, and the presentation for a lot of the ideas is a bit of a hamfisted explanation given by the tactician you have by the second half of the game, contrasting the first half's exposition via the actual events Sigurd is witnessing. Also the maps are just a huge pain in the ass to navigate, the map design very impressively enlarges into nearly whole continents in a single chapter (it's very well documented you can fit the in-game maps against the world map, and it's geographically one-to-one) but you often find the game wanting you to ride back and forth between locations when enemies decide to send a battalion to your main base and it just makes non mounted units just feel really sluggish, which is a shame because (especially in the second half) the non mounted units were my favourite to use, I suppose that was how IntSys wanted to balance mounted units but it just feels a bit unsatisfying to slowly push your units through a flood of trees that severely hamper movement.
On the more positive aspects, Genealogy's scope affords it to try and experiment with a lot of new futures, many of which became series mainstays. Relationships between units at the player's discretion, rather than the story forcing characters that didn't talk together, is a very welcome addition, mainly because the story frequently rewards this through exclusive conversations between these characters at set points, and the relationships of the first half directly affect characters in the second half. Additionally, the strategic layer takes a huge leap forward with the introduction of the weapon triangle, which adds a lot of nuance to how to tactically engage with the map design, which leads to very satisfying and well done micro-encounters that keep the game feeling satisfying even if there are more annoying macro-objectives. As mentioned prior, the story takes a huge leap forward in terms of portraying its themes, ideas, characters, and general plot with nuance and detail added where possible to create a rich tapestry of a world, truly making it feel like the war narrative anime and media that definitely inspired it.
Genealogy is where the series truly hits its stride, and while I have gripes with future entries here and there, it never really breaks that stride until Fates, so I have a lot of respect for this entry for not only getting the ball rolling on what makes the series so special, but also for being a great distillation into the core ideas that make the series so special to begin with.
The game isn't without its flaws, there is some inkling of narrative aspects that didn't quite make it in due to space or time limitations, such as the Loptyr cult being only explained away as shunned basement dwellers crawling to Loptus for salvation, and the presentation for a lot of the ideas is a bit of a hamfisted explanation given by the tactician you have by the second half of the game, contrasting the first half's exposition via the actual events Sigurd is witnessing. Also the maps are just a huge pain in the ass to navigate, the map design very impressively enlarges into nearly whole continents in a single chapter (it's very well documented you can fit the in-game maps against the world map, and it's geographically one-to-one) but you often find the game wanting you to ride back and forth between locations when enemies decide to send a battalion to your main base and it just makes non mounted units just feel really sluggish, which is a shame because (especially in the second half) the non mounted units were my favourite to use, I suppose that was how IntSys wanted to balance mounted units but it just feels a bit unsatisfying to slowly push your units through a flood of trees that severely hamper movement.
On the more positive aspects, Genealogy's scope affords it to try and experiment with a lot of new futures, many of which became series mainstays. Relationships between units at the player's discretion, rather than the story forcing characters that didn't talk together, is a very welcome addition, mainly because the story frequently rewards this through exclusive conversations between these characters at set points, and the relationships of the first half directly affect characters in the second half. Additionally, the strategic layer takes a huge leap forward with the introduction of the weapon triangle, which adds a lot of nuance to how to tactically engage with the map design, which leads to very satisfying and well done micro-encounters that keep the game feeling satisfying even if there are more annoying macro-objectives. As mentioned prior, the story takes a huge leap forward in terms of portraying its themes, ideas, characters, and general plot with nuance and detail added where possible to create a rich tapestry of a world, truly making it feel like the war narrative anime and media that definitely inspired it.
Genealogy is where the series truly hits its stride, and while I have gripes with future entries here and there, it never really breaks that stride until Fates, so I have a lot of respect for this entry for not only getting the ball rolling on what makes the series so special, but also for being a great distillation into the core ideas that make the series so special to begin with.