FE is a fun game.
It's however not only my opinion that there's also a distinct "blandness" for lack of a better word in FE. Factions may play differently, but they still "feel" the same. Is it just the visuals or the game lore being in it's infancy? Perhaps to some extent, but it's also not just completely superficial. Let me try to illustrate.
A good example is the fact that the sovereigns and champions in FE practically feel more or less the same, because they actually do function more or less the same. They both can cast spells and they are both essentially blank slates starting out except for some race traits and can be customized into a certain path as they gain levels. But the end result is that they are practically interchangeable aside from certain bonuses or penalties. There are no true restrictions and consequently no champion or sovereign feels really special.
By contrast, MOM had heroes that felt unique and were particularly memorable. You had pure fighters that had no magic to necromancers that could cast tactical death spells and could life steal to dragon-riding heroes that could fly and breath fire and even invisible ninjas. There's a certain sense of awe when you get Warrax as a hero for example, but when I get a new champion in FE it's a non-affair because they are basically all the same.
This extends also to the customizable units which are fundamental to the game. Are customizable units a good thing? Of course, but when each faction's unit is a blank slate that can be customized to the extent that they each start to look and function like the other faction's, then perhaps it's excessive. As a contrast, every unit for every faction in MOM was unique in terms of both visuals and mix of abilities, and therefore each faction not only played different, it more importantly also felt different. Perhaps a good compromise between customizability and uniqueness is to start from several types of distinct faction units (like a Juggernaut or Iron golem unit) and then allow some customization of equipment and abilities from there.
Another illustration are the spells. Sure you can cast a damage-based spell and provide some stat bonuses here and there in FE, but MOM had close to 25 unique global enchantments with effects that range from causing all enemies slaughtered to rise up as zombies to making it more difficult for other factions to cast spells to spontaneously corrupting parts of the land every turn and another that even stops time so that only the caster's faction could move. And not merely adjust some numbers on a spreadsheet. Is it any surprise then that people regard FE's magic system as lacking "kick-ass" especially when you compare it to MOM?
Perhaps for the next expansion pack, Stardock could consider even more ways to inject uniqueness and flavor into the game as a whole.
