For years now, I've had people suggest Fire emblem to me whenever I would ask for any reccommendations for good Turn based strategy games (which is a dying genre IMO). Only just recently have I gotten around to trying the game however (see subject title for which version...ok so the subject title changed. it's shadow dragon). My very initial sub-30 min impression was that the game looked very promising. However, now I'm at chapter 8 or so. The series (or at least the iteration that I'm playing) seems highly overrated unfortunately.
This isn't a bash to the series, it's my opinions on why it's not all that, and asking you guys if it gets better later on (and how), or if it's just unique to the version I'm playing.
1: Leveling up characters is not exciting, and it's actually somewhat tedious. For example, upon a level up, I don't get to choose anything. Lack of customization for level ups in an rpgish game is expected however. Unfortunately it's also randomized. I really HATE how I can get absolutely nothing but a single hp one level up, reset the game, level up again, and get pretty much everything leveled up the next time, at the same level.
2: strategy is almost nonexistent. I mean playing against the CPU in advance wars is almost like taking candy from a baby, but in Fire emblem (so far), it's even worse. There is absolutely no challenge to the game at all so far...Unless
3: too RNG dependent. OK so this guy that normally hits for 6 damage can crit 1% of the time for like 18. effectively 1-shotting my guy, which sucks because once a guy dies, they're gone for good. I understand the game has multiple hardmodes, which is absolutely awesome. But I'm wondering if they are legitimately hard, or if they will just cause more bad RNG reset frustration during perfectly viable strategies. I understand you can avoid this problem by leveling "properly", but making sure everyone is near a level, saving at a safe spot, then proceeding to complete leveling + resetting over and over until the stats given are good isn't exactly my idea of a good time.
I understand there are a lot of fans of this series in here, I don't mean to bash your fave game, but so far it just feels like I'm not going to enjoy it. do these problems only exist with shadow dragon? Are there redeeming qualities otherwise in the other games? Please offer your input.