I finished the first act and one thing I do enjoy about the game is that it feels far more cohesive, from the dialogue to the gameplay, to how skills and other gameplay mechanics are implemented to even the supports taking place on the field and being aware that they're in the middle of a battlefield.
One thing that sort of irked me in Fates was that when I'm playing Conquest, I could reclass into a traditional Hoshido class. It doesn't make sense that someone of the Nohrian army would have the garb and look of a Hoshido soldier. But it was a good gameplay element so I couldn't complain. In Echoes, what really impressed me was that in your hometown, you would find remnants that subtly hint at what your recruitable friends would be proficient at. Like you'd see scorch marks and Alm would think to himself "Oh, Kliff must have messed up a spell here" or you'd see arrows and he'd remark "Oh, he must have been practicing again". I'm an absolute sucker for seeing these gameplay elements pop up as story elements even if they're little details so I already hold this game in high regards.
Terra-enforcer posted...
~8 is not negative by any means. You seem to be exaggerating a bit there lol.
It's an issue when we want Echoes to succeed and be more successful than Awakening or Fates to prove a point to IS that this is the direction FE should go.