One of my favorite games in the franchise. The story is really interesting backed by how in depth Fodlan is as a world, the characters are for the most part 3 dimensional people instead of just bland anime tropes. Garreg Mach is a fun overworld, and while the calendar system doesn't reach the highs of something like Persona, it's fun in it's own way and I do like it's inclusion.
I love the sandbox feel of this game, being able to meld my units in anyway I want for wackier builds on lower difficulties or optimizing units as much as I can for Maddening. I think the multiple routes also encourages this since you can use totally different teams in every route to make each playthrough feel fresh. It's why I've played this game so many times, don't get me wrong I get the complaints about the routes being half baked, but for me I think the pros outweigh the cons.
I hear a lot of people nowadays especially with Engage being out say the game's too easy, and yeah, it's for sure one of the easier games in the series, I feel like Maddening is difficult enough to give me a challenge without making me want to tear my hair out in frustration, like Hard 5 Shadow Dragon or Lunatic+ Awakening. And unlike Maddening Engage I don't feel like maps overstay their welcome by an entire hour. Also being able to easily skip a good chunk of the annoying maps helps a ton.
I will say I'm not HUGE on the map design but it never gets to Awakening or Birthright levels of bland. Some of the character writing can be cringe (Bernadetta) even if most of it IS good. The game for sure has weaknesses but with all the good it has and has done for the series I don't blame IS for dick ridding it so much.
I love the sandbox feel of this game, being able to meld my units in anyway I want for wackier builds on lower difficulties or optimizing units as much as I can for Maddening. I think the multiple routes also encourages this since you can use totally different teams in every route to make each playthrough feel fresh. It's why I've played this game so many times, don't get me wrong I get the complaints about the routes being half baked, but for me I think the pros outweigh the cons.
I hear a lot of people nowadays especially with Engage being out say the game's too easy, and yeah, it's for sure one of the easier games in the series, I feel like Maddening is difficult enough to give me a challenge without making me want to tear my hair out in frustration, like Hard 5 Shadow Dragon or Lunatic+ Awakening. And unlike Maddening Engage I don't feel like maps overstay their welcome by an entire hour. Also being able to easily skip a good chunk of the annoying maps helps a ton.
I will say I'm not HUGE on the map design but it never gets to Awakening or Birthright levels of bland. Some of the character writing can be cringe (Bernadetta) even if most of it IS good. The game for sure has weaknesses but with all the good it has and has done for the series I don't blame IS for dick ridding it so much.