When comparing Fire Emblem Warriors vs Mario Tennis Aces, the Slant community recommends Fire Emblem Warriors for most people. In the question“What are the best couch/local co-op games for the Nintendo Switch?” Fire Emblem Warriors is ranked 22nd while Mario Tennis Aces is ranked 34th. The most important reason people chose Fire Emblem Warriors is:
The fast paced action is the heart of the game, and you won't be at a loss for things to swing your weapon at. Virtual armies of enemies fill each and every map to the brim. Each hero has their own set of special moves that can be used, oftentimes with over the top animations such as a powerful weapon swing sending dozens of enemies flying in different directions, along with special effect such as bursts of light and wind trails behind each strike. Chaining attacks together in vicious combos look and feel great, with each hit feeling like it connects. The game uses a rock paper scissors type combat system called the "weapon triangle" in which certain weapons are strong and weak against other weapon types. Swords beat axes, axes beat spears, and spears beat swords. This adds an interesting layer to combat where you'll want to make sure you're using the right weapon against the right enemy for maximum damage.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Combat is satisfying and strategic
The fast paced action is the heart of the game, and you won't be at a loss for things to swing your weapon at. Virtual armies of enemies fill each and every map to the brim. Each hero has their own set of special moves that can be used, oftentimes with over the top animations such as a powerful weapon swing sending dozens of enemies flying in different directions, along with special effect such as bursts of light and wind trails behind each strike. Chaining attacks together in vicious combos look and feel great, with each hit feeling like it connects.
The game uses a rock paper scissors type combat system called the "weapon triangle" in which certain weapons are strong and weak against other weapon types. Swords beat axes, axes beat spears, and spears beat swords. This adds an interesting layer to combat where you'll want to make sure you're using the right weapon against the right enemy for maximum damage.
Pro Potential permadeath adds panicked excitement to battle
If one of your characters die, they may be potentially gone for good as raising them from the dead requires a large amount of rare reagents. While you may be able to resurrect a fallen hero from time to time, you won't be able to continually bring them back if you let them die constantly. This encourages strategic play by keeping an eye on the entire battlefield, as opposed to just mashing buttons and cutting through ranks of enemies. Nobody wants to see their favorite hero die, so this adds a sense of panicked excitement to the action.
Pro All favorite characters together in one place
Over 20 of the more popular and well-loved characters from the Fire Emblem franchise appear in this game, including Rowan, Caeda, Lyn, Chrom, and more. It's a treat to see most of the characters from all the Fire Emblem games all together in one place, teaming up with one another when they otherwise wouldn't in other games.
Pro There is a distinct sense of character progression
Between battles and story chapters, you can upgrade character levels in the training grounds by spending gold, choose talents for your heroes, and forge powerful crests and weapons with materials gathered during battles.
If you find your heroes simply aren't strong enough to tackle the next battle or chapter, you'll always have to opportunity to go back and grind old battles for new crafting materials, experience, and special items. This is a nice touch that helps players feel their heroes getting stronger, especially when you get to go back to an old battle completely overpowered and just demolish everything.
Pro History modes expands on the base game with challenges
History mode is a fast-paced and exciting mode where you tackle a map (based on classic events from previous Fire Emblem games) with various challenges requiring a certain number of enemies to be killed, or the map to be cleared in a specific time frame. Some of the most tense moments are to be had in this mode due to these battle requirements which aren't present in the regular story mode, and it will really put your skills to the test. By completing these challenges, new weapons and characters are unlocked, making it a rather rewarding experience and a great way to keep the gameplay going after the main story mode is completed.
Pro Couch co-op with a friend is tons of fun
Playing with a friend right beside you makes the game much more enjoyable. Reacting to each other in real-time is just better than playing against a computer opponent. There's no online co-op -- only multiplayer matches against random people -- meaning you'll have to be in the same room together to play.
Pro Solid roster of Nintendo characters to play as
There's a good variety of characters you can play as. If you're familiar with first party Nintendo games, then you'll see a lot of familiar faces here, like Yoshi, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Luigi, Peach, and of course Mario. Everyone has their own playing styles, with bigger characters like Bowser and Donkey Kong favoring hard-hitting power shots, and others like Yoshi and Mario that have a more balanced approach. You can go with whichever style or character you prefer, practicing with them until you master everything. Getting to see all of these characters together in one game is great for fanservice as well.
Pro You can compete against others online in multiplayer
When you run out of single-player content to enjoy, you can hop online to play against random opponents. The main game mode is the tournaments you can play, which rewards you with special characters if you score well. Online connectivity is good too, especially with the choice to drop out of matches beforehand against players who have bad connections. Playing online is a really great way to test your skills and improve your play, since anyone you get matched with is an actual player who has their own strengths and weaknesses.
Pro Intense and engaging tennis matches
Mario Tennis Aces is incredibly addicting to play. Matches are fast-paced and exciting, with one particular mechanic that keeps things unpredictable. Every time you successfully hit the tennis ball to your opponent's end of the court, you build up a power meter that you can use in a couple of different ways.
When you want to quickly finish off a match, you can slow down time and take aim at a vulnerable corner of your opponent's court for an instant win. Or, if they try to do that to you, you can instead expend some of your power meter to quickly reach the ball and hit it back. Things can get pretty tricky when you both use up your power meters at the same time, leading to some satisfying wins.
Cons
Con Army management can be tedious due to AI
When units are set to offense, they become reckless and tend to get themselves killed far too often. Upon capturing their objective, they will completely stop and await new orders. When set to defense, they will heal themselves and guard forts, but refuse to engage approaching enemies, even ones who are close by. This poor AI makes micromanaging units a hassle at times, as they constantly have to be given new orders.
Con Story is generic
The kingdom is being overrun with monstrous armies from another dimension, and it's up to our heroes to stop it. There's not a lot of character development, nor much to the plot. The paper thin story probably won't hold your attention, and can be mostly skipped over to get to the action.
Con Very wide skill gap between experienced and inexperienced players
Mario Tennis Aces can be unwelcoming to new players. While playing co-op or online, it's tough to catch up with everyone else who knows how to time their power shots with the meter. If you don't pick up on this mechanic fairly quickly, you may feel like you're getting left behind. You don't necessarily have to use the mechanic if you and a friend agree not to, but this sadly makes matches pretty dull. Running against computer opponents is a good way to get your feet wet before moving up to other levels of play.
Con Limited gameplay options for solo players
If you're the type who prefers to game alone, then Mario Tennis Aces might not be for you. There's only one single-player mode, while the rest of the game is mostly dedicated to co-op and online play. The solo mode is also extremely short, clocking in at around four hours. Aside from that, there really isn't much else for you to do.
Con Certain characters are locked behind online tournaments
The primary way to unlock new characters is to win tournaments, but this isn't entirely fair. They're only available for a limited amount of time, with the rewards changing from tournament to tournament. Even though some of these characters are in the actual game as opponents in the single-player adventure mode, you can't get access to them unless you unlock them through these tournaments. If you don't like playing online, or if you don't have the means to pay for Nintendo's online service once it's implemented later on in 2018, then you're basically out of luck.
Con Single-player adventure mode is pretty difficult
The game's adventure mode makes up for its short length with some real difficulty. It's a rough introduction to the gameplay, as some of the matches and bosses are really hard. There's plenty of variety to things, like courts that have certain hazards in your way and uneven terrain such as tall grass, as well as inventive boss designs like a giant squid that shoots out tennis ball-shaped blobs of ink. But all of these things can get quite overwhelming, especially if you're using the single-player mode to get better at the game.