Fire emblem and ADHD

[@sarasaland4709]

As a fellow ADHD FE player, nothing beats spending 20 minutes in battle prep and then still forgetting something on turn 1

[@asupapas2074]

I have ADHD (at minimum… idk about other spectrums lol) and the moment I tried Fire Emblem, I was HOOKED. So many other games come and go in my mind… but FE always stays in my mind. This video helps me understand and reaffirm why I love this series so much. Incredible video!!

[@misterpayah7723]

So interesting. I'm the complete opposite, risk averse to the max. I get kicks out of planning proverbial flowcharts of backup plans after backup plans in case that first 80% doesn't hit. Succeeding even after "unfair" misses because you planned contingencies feels great. It's pretty amazing how FE can cater for two completely different playstyles and feel rewarding for both.

[@AuroraBorealis670]

I definitely feel this too!

[@AuroraBorealis670]

You know, I've never really thought about it, but this resonates! The things I enjoy the most about FE games is all the planning that goes into each section of the game. There's the planning of your characters: what classes you want them to be, what stat boosters or weapons you want them to carry, what supports you want them to have. Then there's the planning that happens in the level: How do I want to split up my units, how do I want to tackle this set of enemies, how do I want to allocate the EXP available in this level, and my personal favorite: building contingencies into each plan! Each of these micro decisions has consequences and rewards and they are happening all the time from the start of the round to end so the stimulus is endless, not to mention the big payoff of everything going according to plan and winning the level. As someone with Autism, it makes sense that a game that rewards almost excessive planning/optimization while also providing endless small but interesting decisions AND doing it all in a time frame that does not stress me out is a game that I love.

[@MormonDude]

2:16 Personally I prefer the GBA crit sounds.

[@MormonDude]

So as a person with ADHD (and a couple other mental diagnoses but that’s neither here nor there), I do love all the strategizing and other such things, but it’s weird because I also really love story as well. That’s the main reason I am the Dungeon Master in D&D is because I love seeing how everyone reacts to the crazy story I come up with. Gameplay is still king for me but I can force myself to play through a bad game if the story is interesting. And not to be a sort of FE elitist or anything but I always found the older games (anything before the 3DS era) to be more ADHD friendly, at least to me. The controls are snappier, the combat is more quick, and the supports are often quicker and there’s no “going back to the main hub world” or anything. Just straight through to the next mission.

[@Speedwinghere]

Like with most things its a spectrum so can easily be displayed in different ways amongst different people. Hyperfixation can also apply to being deeply involved with the plot of something or perhaps its character interactions as well

[@sirbradfordofhousejones]

AudHD GANG! There’s a video recently that someone made about why us autistic folks are into fire emblem. Love seeing another video on the topic!

[@Speedwinghere]

Oh really? do you happen to have the name of it I'd love to see it

[@sirbradfordofhousejones]

@ the channel is NoahTheOtter!

[@RisingSunReviews]

While I haven't been diagnosed with ADHD, the more I learn about it the more I'm pretty sure I have it. I want to get tested to know for sure, and my doctor gave me a place to go for it, but need to actually go do it. And this video makes me even more confident I have it. There are all the satisfying attacks, the constant numbers going up that feel good. It also invites the hyper fixation to deal with the higher difficulties while still having the easier ones to invite the player in, so they're not overwhelmed at once. It also has a good balance of structure and freedom.

[@nathanielzarny1176]

Absolutely. How i play is that i get into a map, get super fixated on it, (ive missed my stop many times because of this series!) and then i finish the level. I enjoy the rush that i got, but now I'm tired. Perfect! I do the story, and some relaxing battie preps, and im satisfied. Then the cycle repeats! (This is also true of chess btw, its great seeing that bar go up and down after a match as you try to figure out what you did wrong)

[@FireEmbros]

This video was absolutely fantastic. Thank you for your insight on this. 3 things I noticed : 1 - This now explains why you and Mangs tend to have the absolute riskiest plays I’ve ever seen in FE and gamble like mofos. If for content or not, it’s those receptors kicking in. 2 - I’m actually grateful the game is setup in a way that allows people with varying levels of neurodivergence to enjoy the experience they have in different formats. 3- I noticed that bottle of Kraken Rum and sir, take my upvote. Kraken is one of the best most affordable spiced runs out there. Fantastic with coke or even by itself. Good choice sir!

[@Speedwinghere]

I've always been a big fan of kraken for like you said an affordable brand

[@nessdbest8708]

@@Speedwinghere yep, this video is absolutely true. My nephew loves FE & has ADHD

[@princestarfy4098]

Big Number make me big happy. This is why I play turn based RPGs.

[@jierdareisa4313]

I love ALL Speedwinghere videos!!!! ❤

[@dfon4056]

Allow me to shed some light on this. I am a second year cognitive and behavioral neuroscience master's student. Disclaimer: I'll write off the top of my head. I am happy to be corrected if I get something wrong. Also, I'm undiagnosed, but 100% sure. I have even been prescribed medication despite not having a diagnostic to show. In sum: ADHD = underdeveloped brain; underdeveloped brain → underdeveloped reward system → less happy chemicals → more need to "play around" → more happy chemicals go brrrrr Admittedly, I hadn't thought about this, but I agree: fire emblem imposes structure but also allows for freedom and creativity. This is crucial in dealing with ADHD. As you exemplified: in open world games, the openness might lead to overwhelm; we need directions. However, we cannot be too restrained either, because we need new and different things to play around with, otherwise we get bored out of habituation. Habituation results in understimulation, and thus in the need to raise the dosing of rewarding activities - e.g.: drinking and smoking. So, our major problem is that our frontal cortex (FC) is underdeveloped. In actuality, other regions are also underdeveloped, meaning that the brain has reduced connectivity with itself (i.e.: the brain's regions cannot effectively communicate with one another). While healthy brains should fully mature by their mid-late 20s, we may still be underdeveloped in our 30s (or possibly later, but I'd like to avoid spreading misinformation). This delayed development causes a lot of problems in the brain's structure and physiology, as well as for our cognition (attention; decision making; introspection; etc). Why is this important? 1. This means we do not produce as many "happy chemicals" as healthy brains do. Since various neurotransmitters (NTs) are connected - one NT can be a precursor to numerous others (source: my biochemistry degree) - we lack more NTs aside from the "happy chemicals". 2. Because the FC is where the reward (dopaminergic) system is mainly located. We crave constant stimuli due to the lack of NTs in there, mostly dopamine of course, thus creating a need to compensate for it - hence the tendency to become addicted. You're correct at 6:14 - this is why we engage in risky behavior more often. By the way, ADHD may fall into ASD (still a debate). There are plenty of shared symptoms, and because comorbidity is a bitch, most people in the ASD also suffer from ADHD and vice versa.

[@Speedwinghere]

Interesting to hear from someone that actually knows what they're talking about. I'm not sure how I feel about ASD and ADHD being lumped together as technically what I was initially diagnosed with when I was younger wasn't even ADHD but rather ADD which now "doesn't exist" and has been absorbed into it. Part of me worries that overly grouping all these different things might lead to oversimplification, especially as diagnosis now adays allows for multiple outcomes

[@dfon4056]

​​@@Speedwinghere ​ Happy to share knowledge! The tricky parts with diagnosing are heterogeneity* and comorbidity**. *despite having ADHD as well, I'm sure I have symptoms you don't, and vice versa. **I would bet that this is the main suspect for misdiagnoses, mainly in women. Lumping it all together is an old fashioned idea. There are as many shared symptoms as dissimilarities (not to a T, but you get the point). Over the years more and more distinctions have been found, so I wouldn't bet that in the next DSM or ICD - the manuals for diagnosing mental health conditions - ADHD/ADD and ASD are in the same basket. Then again, I'm just a student, not a researcher nor a high official in the field. Alright, I have to stop writing, otherwise my comment will turn into a whole class on ADHD and neuroanatomy.

[@EthanKironus8067]

AuDHD is my new fav acronym

[@MormonDude]

ADHD bros. 🤝

[@johanandersson8252]

ADHD bruh’s

[@DaRealKir]

Personally i dunno, I doubt i have ADHD, because symptoms barely get in: i may act blithe sometimes and feed my entire team to enemy because of low strategy engagement, or make genius strategy plans so all my units would survive with severe buffs and get bunches of exp and drops clearing the map. ive only been diagnosed with social neglection hyperactivity when i was a kid, yet recently i sometimes notice those symptoms but in special cases where they'd be natural for every human. Although, don't care if i have any kinds of those things, i still love Fire Emblem, its just fun playing strategy game, especially late games where you can build units and experiment with them

[@Speedwinghere]

I wasn't implying you have to have ADHD to enjoy fire emblem, but rather what about the games is appealing to people that do

[@randyroy-qb8wb]

6:10 engage word detected 😳

[@AzumarillConGafasBv]

FIRE EMBLEM ENGAGE MENTIONES?!?!?!?!

[@randyroy-qb8wb]

*vine boom*

[@Yemile31776]

Very great video. I never would have guessed a video from hit youtuber speedwinghere would rises so much question about myself

[@klausk273]

Anpther thing that makes FE good for people with ADHD is it connects what you did to the success. I feel like if I can't connect what I did to the success, I don't feel like there was any success any at. But I gave Arthur a Hammer and that's why I can beat this Armor Knight here, I know why I have success and feel good about myself 😊

[@Speedwinghere]

This is a big factor that perhaps I should have touched on more. Fire emblem has a very clear action = reward framework

[@MagikarpPower]

fellow adhd'er here. FE has been the most dopamine activating game for me by a mile. i can play this game for hours without noticing or getting bored.

[@AzumarillConGafasBv]

I suffer from ADHD whenever I try to play LTC and optimal

[@maverick5169]

I'm totally not planning a Blue Lions run while playing another game and I'm totally not torn between recruiting Catherine in ch4 for more tutoring or ch5 for easier level 10, no sir

[@danieldavid5269]

From what you described about what you enjoy about Fire Emblem, I would recommend that you try Library of Ruina. It's a very satisfying game to master and has a lot of rng and risk/reward combat. You might like it.

[@Speedwinghere]

I'll look into it, thanks

[@Mangs1337]

Wanted to watch this video but got distracted by my other 17 tabs.

[@nessdbest8708]

YO! MANGS GOT VERIFIED!

[@Mangs1337]

@@nessdbest8708 bruh I've been verified for years

[@marcgomez8391]

Man. I've been suspecting I have undiagnosed ADHD for a long while now, and Fire Emblem hyperfixation has been a thing for me since very young. I'm being called out man.

[@Zyaire286]

Interesting topic, No wonder I always fixated on big numbers and combats

[@BobbyCorwen42]

ADHD is this weird thing where I don't really see a clear difference between those who have it and those who don't. Maybe I am suffering from ADHD, I wouldn't ever be able to tell. I often don't finish the games I start (even if I do like them), but I do end up finishing most of my FE runs. In that sense, maybe it would prove you right.

[@MormonDude]

@@BobbyCorwen42 if you had ADHD you would probably be able to see it in others given enough time. the thing is that adults who don’t have very severe ADHD get good at making it less noticeable (that’s how I am anyway). That’s why it’s most easily spotted in kids.

[@Realmidboss]

Interesting analisys you got here. I have no idea if I have ADHD (the only thing I prob have is some light depression due to old school bullying issues that remained in my mind) but I do know that I'm the opposite of the examples you got for the risk. I'm someone who always goes for the failproof plan or at least have as less chances as possible to fail because when smth wrong happens I tend to panic and fuck up even more. Maybe it's also work related because I work at a chemical plant and if any reaction is going wrong in the slightest I have to see what's wrong and if possible, solve it or call my shift chief for assistance. That's also prob why I have barely tried FE as a series in general (tried Awakening and Echoes for a few maps, only finished Engage in Normal and I'm sorta in the middle of FE7 now but I haven't touched my Switch in months, I'm also not a fan of growth rates as a whole, I really don't like RNG on level ups.......) and went more with basic RPGs like most FF games, Trails and such.

[@SoupWizard776]

The A in adhd stands for Arthur

[@aaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssss]

not dodging the "PoR non-enjoyers are ADHD" allegations with this one bro im just playing but that perspective is pretty interesting to me personally as someone who also has a touch of the 'D and used to be much more favorable towards tellius/gba emblem until getting more frames of reference and options + older & bitterer. i'd probably be preaching to the choir explaining how almost every aspect of fates from macro strategy to micro strategy to presentation etc is fine-tuned and folded over 1000 times glorious japanese game design to constantly be delivering a rapid-fire flurry of dopamine hits to the kind of mind that watches Speedwinghere videos. i'm more engrossed and fixated just thinking about ways to use units and team compositions in fates (and other FEs, though to a lesser extent) than i am actually playing a lot of action games or other similar genres that are, on paper at least, considered more ADHD-appropriate

[@Speedwinghere]

Lmao, PoR actually used to be one of my favourite games before like you say games like fates made it feel pretty sluggish in comparison

[@aaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssss]

@@Speedwinghere probably a nuclear psycho take but imo PoR is sluggish even in the context of the NES titles, and even those have the decency to provide some bars representing hit, crit, and dmg during combat to provide context and give something to look at. amusingly, PoR keeping that kind of information under the hood is much more in line with the rest of the genre, despite it being the only entry in the entire series that does it (from what i remember)

[@DunYappin]

i keep running into the signs 😅

[@BurningBerend]

Autistic here, and yeah, I have an old Fates inheritance planner app because even though the story is very 'just servicable', the endless amount of customization makes my brain go ape shit, and I've constantly gone on and off huge hyperfixated streaks of just planning and building runs and the stupidest gimmick builds. I occasionally open the app to check something everyday still! Then again, I came to FE from missing real customization in Pokémon, so the gay and autistic is written on the wall here 😅

[@juicyjuustar121]

The more life I live, the more every sign points to me having ADHD. At this point it's all but guaranteed; my risky plays, my love of micromanaging character growth, it's all there and works like crazy on me

[@Abundy]

Felicia Jumpscare! Good video

[@lmello009]

I got no ADHD but I am a support level 1 (the C support where Empress talks about tea with everyone) spectrum guy with effective OCD damage. I also missed a 90% hit on the high ability test. anyway that's the "fe fans are not fit to live in society" meme ain't it

[@RenzoDragneel]

good video, you're cute

[@rustcopperfield9175]

Look at the resident yapper over here.

[@Speedwinghere]

I love a good yap

[@kingofslimes233]

Yunaka in thumbnail, instant dislike

[@Speedwinghere]

RIP in peace me