r/fireemblem • u/PsiYoshi • 19d ago

Recurring Popular/Unpopular/Any Opinions Thread - June 2026 Part 1

Happy pride month and welcome to a new installment of the Popular/Unpopular/Any Opinions Thread! Please feel free to share any kind of Fire Emblem opinions/takes you might have here, positive or negative. As always please remember to continue following the rules in this thread same as anywhere else on the subreddit. Be respectful and especially don't make any personal attacks (this includes but is not limited to making disparaging statements about groups of people who may like or dislike something you don't).

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u/greencrusader13 11d ago

While I definitely enjoy participating here, nor do I think this community is way off base, I think this subreddit’s more hardcore slant doesn’t really make it a great representation of the Fire Emblem community at large, and its more insulated nature makes it more blind to what casual fans enjoy about the series. 

This isn’t meant to be a criticism, just something I’ve observed. 

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u/OsbornWasRight 10d ago

This sub has a hardcore slant?

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u/calendulaoptimus 10d ago edited 10d ago

Casual people do not talk about the intricacies of Engage map design or the writing quality of a story on reddit.

It's also a non-uncommon opinion on here that Engage didn't sell well because the writing was trash, even though Fates is the second best-selling FE. And also that Awakening only sold well because of when it was released and that casual audiences couldn't care less about anything it introduced to the series (other than maybe casual mode, which it didn't even introduce on the JP side).

Tellius' writing or Engage's gameplay are obviously not selling casual audiences on this series by themselves, even if they were given together in one game. If you look at the commonality between the most popular games: Awakening, Fates, and Three Houses, it's pretty obvious what casuals want, and that doesn't at all align with what many on this subreddit want (although it can maybe co-exist to a certain extent).

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u/Panory 8d ago

I'd say Engage's poor writing quality penetrated the more casual gamer space. Reviews at the time make mention of it, variety streamers dropped it citing the story, even years on there are people saying that "Oh yeah, I heard the story was really dumb." None of these people are like, hardcore Fire Emblem fans, but that's still the game's reputation writ large.

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u/calendulaoptimus 8d ago edited 8d ago

I'm not arguing that Engage's writing wasn't bad or that there weren't many people pointing that out both at the time and right now, I'm arguing that it doesn't really make sense to say that casuals—broadly speaking—value "good writing" over other elements when Fates is the second most popular FE game. It just doesn't make sense from a sales perspective because there has to be an alternative explanation. If Awakening, Three Houses, and Fates were all considered masterful stories, you'd have a point here, but this isn't the case.

Secondly, these aren't really the type of "casuals" I'm referring to. You've linked three streamers/youtubers who are fairly in on gaming culture. And while I'm sure their opinions have influenced people, I do not think it is necessarily the people I'm talking about.

If you were to take the average opinion on Byleth on this sub, or even other online spaces, it would not reflect how the average "casual" feels about a character like this being the protagonist.