Starboard Driger said:
Going to repost something I said on another forum because I feel it captures my opinion on this really well and I don't feel like trying to rewrite another post from scratch to try and say the same thing differently:
In some ways, the earlier games' sales (or lack thereof) and Awakening's success showcase a lot of general video gaming issues at once, namely how to cater to older, more "hardcore" fans while still bringing in new blood and maintaining sales. And honestly, I think they nailed it. Classic mode, added difficulty, and tonnes of throwbacks to old games (directly via DLC and such, and indirectly through mechanics) was enough to bring the fans throwing their money at it, while Casual mode, integrated gameplay with interesting mechanics, and easy starting difficulties welcomed newer, more casual players. Not to mention that the marketing was done well, the art and graphics were stellar, and it came at a good time in the 3DS's life cycle. Oh, and can't forget that it was actually a new game with some good effort put into it with fun characters; that was enough to bring back old, disenfranchised players like me.
In other words, Awakening brought together a whole lot of vary different elements to encourage a wide variety of players, but at it's core, it's still its own special kind of ridiculous, very Japanese turn-based strategy game. And I hope this doesn't change.
I'm definitely a crotchety veteran. I didn't use Pair Up or Second Seals my entire first playthrough. I'm replaying again and experimenting a bit with both options, though I don't really like pairing up at all; shared supports and dual strike/guard are more than enough for me, and I avoid slow moving classes anyway. Second Seal just overloads my brain with options, so I haven't used it much either yet, though I'm playing around with it in preparation for Lunatic mode. I don't really feel any of these things diminish the game. (I guess this specific paragraph doesn't make much sense out of context, but part of the discussion in that other thread revolved around some older players implying that it wouldn't be worth it to continue the game if it meant the game was filled with easy things like second seals and pair ups making levelings and stats so easy.)
I really hope the developers keep this lesson in mind when working on more additions to the series. They need to remember that its okay to innovate and that the main purpose of the game, like all games, is to have fun. If they can continue to offer "fun" to as many different demographics as possible, hopefully with the use of that aforementioned innovation, hopefully their sales will stay strong.
