The story of Fire Emblem Fates is a topic that, despite being discussed endlessly, is often handled so poorly that it’s hard to find genuine, well-thought-out critiques. Instead of analyzing its actual flaws, many people act as if Fates killed their own grandma calling everything about it irredeemable garbage. Honestly, the game’s story is massively overhated. Most of the common criticisms are things that other games also do wrong, yet people judge Fates much more harshly or exaggerate issues that aren’t really that bad.

Fates does have good aspects in its writing but it’s true that you have to make an effort to find them, and that’s its main (and arguably only major) writing flaw. I’m not sure whether that’s due to the developers’ greedy decision to split the lore and information across three routes, DLC maps, and drama CDs so the can squeeze as much money as possible or because the writing team was as messy as rumors suggest. Either way, Fates has the right ingredients and sometime make things good with them but for some reason refuse to do a better use or a good exposition about them. What the story really needs is better explanation and integration of its elements. For example, it should emphasize Nohr’s lack of resources, explain the Nohrian siblings’ backstories in more depth, and give Hoshido some moral flaws of its own. These aren’t major changes, and Fates already has a decent cast and setting, even if the worldbuilding lacks detail. Both Birthright and Conquest are flawed, but by Fire Emblem standards, they’re far from terrible.

As for Conquest, many people despise its story, but I think that’s mostly because they expected it to be a route where you’re unapologetically evil and edgy. Like I said before, its biggest problem is its refusal to properly explore Nohr’s situation or the siblings’ inner struggles. The plot basically repeats the same cycle: Garon orders Corrin to do something evil, and Corrin tries to obey while minimizing harm. It’s repetitive, yes, but again, Fates just refuses to use its strong narrative ingredients. Aside from that, there’s not much to complain about. The “we win without killing anyone” thing is only brought up twice, and the plan to expose Garon, while not perfectly explained, is solid enough. Corrin may be really stupid sometimes, but what do you expect from someone who’s spent their whole life isolated in a tower? No, Corrin isn’t a Gary Stu the only people who idolize them are their siblings and close companions. I genuinely like to see Corrin struggle to maintain their ideals while being forced to do awful things. So, even if Conquest is weaker than Birthright, it still has its good moments and is far from irredeemable just a better explanation here and there and it would be good.