>>719248108
Both.
The waifu/shipping mechanics incentivize keeping your units alive, rather than sacrificing one for a dumb strat or whatever. They're a reward for keeping your army alive, and most players reset after a death anyways.
The issue is that IS does not know what players want. They've repeatedly said so, and the Engage vs 3H comparison clearly shows that even a third party company was more in-tune with what fans wanted.
Think of it this way:
If Koei got a second shot at making a proper FE, we'd see a game with Engage gameplay instead of Echoes gameplay, but still have the Fodlan writing.
If IS makes the next FE game, we'd get another Komuro-written game that probably apes 3H in setting and even map design.
In the former, the romance stuff is a plus to the improvement of the gameplay. In the latter, kill me please god.
