Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia discussion.

[Super_Boom]

Hiku said:

As for the way the characters are written in the "Social Links" of Fire Emblem Awakening/Fates, it sounds like it's present in Echoes as well in a similar fashion. Just that the final Social Link level doesn't unlock a child character, and that there are fewer Social Link interactions overall. I haven't played Echoes. Just judging by what I read.

More or less, yeah. The supports in Echoes are closer to how they were implemented in the GBA games, with each character only having 2-5 other characters they could bond with, with the final conversation stopping at A instead of S, since marriage didn't exist in-universe for the most part. If certain couples get to A, though, those characters will get a new epilogue, usually involving marriage or traveling together. Certain pairs would give added content in game if you reached A early (Eliwood/Ninian and Hector/Lyn for example), but it was mostly left open until the epilogue.

Personally, I preferred that system, since the supports felt generally more natural, but incorporating children was a neat bonus I thought. Still, like you said, only a bonus, nothing critical for the game.