The Missed Potential of Fire Emblem Fates' Choice

[JWeinCom]

Hiku said:

JWeinCom said:

Yes, you do have to make the decision at the point of sale.  You have already paid for whichever version you wanted.  You own that version.  You are free to buy the other version if you want, and you could even play that one first.  Doesn't change the fact that you already decided to purchase one version over the other.  

If I understand correctly, by the time of purchase, no path is set. After you play through the first 5 chapter, you make the choice of either one side or the other.
And because I may not have decided which path I want to go with before I experience the first 5 chapters, regardless of whether I have Hoshido or Nohr on my game cover, it's not accurate to say that you make the decision of which side to go with at the point of sale.

You do not understand correctly.  It's not like Sacred Stones where you can actually choose after the first few missions.  

If you buy Birthright, you have Birthright and you have access to that path which is on the cartridge.  Even if you digitally downloaded Fire Emblem, you can only play the path of the version you purchased.

After Chapter 5, you can make your choice, but that choice is limited.  If you bought Birthright, you can only choose Hoshido.  If you bought Conquest, you can only choose Nohr. 

If you really want, you could go to the DLC shop and purchase the other quest before Chapter 5.  If you bought Birthright but you decide you like Nohr better, you can pay an extra 20 bucks and play that one first, but you've still already paid for the Birthright quest. 

So yeah, if you really want to play Conquest when you purchased Birthright you can.  But when one option is locked behind a paywall, I think it's accurate to say you chose at point of sale.