The DS game was a step back I think. The GBA games had the perfect visuals for Fire Emblem, why not keep them?
I suck hard at Fire Emblem.
I get everyone I like killed.
Not being able to get a druid in Radiant Dawn was disappointing... That better change in the next FE on the Wii/whatever console comes out next.There's a whole lot in Radiant Dawn that's disappointing, character-wise. Too many characters just don't have the availability they need. I don't care that there are no generic Druids, but was it really necessary for Pelleas to not get off his butt until 4-E-2?
The DS game was a step back I think. The GBA games had the perfect visuals for Fire Emblem, why not keep them?Because somebody decided that class-swapping was a good idea, and so any sense of personalization to the sprites beyond hair color was abolished. I don't mind the "pseudo-model" thing, but palette-swapping to identify your characters is just pitiful.
The above not withstanding, I still wouldn't mind seeing a remake of FE3. I mean, come on, if you're going to tell us Marth's story, tell us the WHOLE story.Exactly. And don't make it so painfully obvious that you only brought it over here so you could say, "Look, we brought it over. What more do you want?" I don't know, THE WHOLE STORY? MORE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT? UNIQUE CHARACTERS? BADASS CRITICALS FOR ALL? Something along those lines, I'm guessing.
Sain has been arrested on 179 counts of sodomy. 177 were to himself; the other 2 were to his spear and sword.
There's a whole lot in Radiant Dawn that's disappointing, character-wise. Too many characters just don't have the availability they need. I don't care that there are no generic Druids, but was it really necessary for Pelleas to not get off his butt until 4-E-2?I CONCUR
Oh well. Still my favorite Fire Emblem.
- "That Person" from the trailer is revealed to be a customizable player-made character.I'm glad to hear this. If the "customization" gimmick is limited to a single character, then it's more likely that class-swapping is out the door, ergo the game's regular cast will actually have some identity to them (and God willing battle graphics, whatever style they are, will be more personalized).
- "That Person" from the trailer is revealed to be a customizable player-made character.I am hapy persn
I'm glad to hear this. If the "customization" gimmick is limited to a single character, then it's more likely that class-swapping is out the door, ergo the game's regular cast will actually have some identity to them (and God willing battle graphics, whatever style they are, will be more personalized).
# Reclassing from Shadow Dragon makes a return.
- My Unit can also engage in base conversations with characters before battle, ala FE9/10WHOO-HOO!
To all those who see Shadow Dragon as a disappointment and Radiant Dawn as their favorite: Well, screw you! (http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=20125&st=0&p=989284&#entry989284)I really don't understand the point of bitching about hitting stat caps, especially in a 3-tier class system. I mean, why do caps EXIST if not to be realistically hit by decent units? It's something that always mystified me about PoR's Laguz.
I really don't understand the point of bitching about hitting stat caps, especially in a 3-tier class system. I mean, why do caps EXIST if not to be realistically hit by decent units?That's because stat caps are supposed to be more of a guidance on how the units' stats should be at the end so there can be something like the red and green cavalier where one starts and stays as more of a powerhouse and the other starts and stays as the somewhat speedier one. and I personally believe it takes more individuality away than reclass ever did, because the only difference between them is the stat difference between their classes.
"Everyone in RD is over-powered unless unavailable/under-leveled". Ha. Every Cat/Tiger Laguz who is not named Ranulf begs to differ.That's because they're underleveled compared to the Laguz Royals.
So does every Whisper.That's because knifes are inferior to swords in every way and plenty of sword-using units outclass them.
And Mist. And Sigrun.
And Astrid, who is not even a shadow of her PoR self.That's because she's underleveled and off with a worse 3rd tier class when compared to Shinon.
There's also a meaty share of glass cannons, including Micaiah herself, and the fact that the entire Dawn Brigade is in a constant state of being under-leveled anyway.Exactly my point.
RD is far from flawless when it comes to character balance and ESPECIALLY availability, but it's far preferable to Arena grindingTrue, but Bonus EXP in its current state is so easily abusable that it isn't an adequate alternative to Arenas at all.
and characters who only have two usable weapons in the entire game;I agree that there should've been more axe users for swords to have an advantage over but FE3 already adressed that problem and swords also get balanced out by getting the most slayer weapons.
to say nothing of the fact that there is virtually no story outside of the NPCs.I really prefer that to the wordswordswords Radiant Dawn has that either make no sense or ruin every plot detail that PoR has established.
That's because they're underleveled compared to the Laguz Royals.(#1) Ranulf, Janaff, and Ulki are royals now? No cat/tiger can hope to match them. Not to mention, there ARE people who play without the royals.
That's because knifes are inferior to swords in every way and plenty of sword-using units outclass them.Compare Volke to a Whisper (#2). Yeah, knives aren't powerful, but Sothe even at all caps is WORTHLESS in the Endgame for everything except picking off spirits.
That's because they're underleveled and in Sigrun's case less available than Elincia, who gets the healing part done and gets a nice brave sword too, and Haar, who is pretty much the best flying unit in the game.In what universe is Sigrun less available than Elincia (#3)? Their availability is exactly the same; both appear in 2 chapters before Part 4. If anything Elincia is out of favor by such a comparison; she appears in Part 2 (weaker enemies, less experience), and can't kill worth a damn in her first chapter due to being stuck with a Slim Sword.
That's because she's underleveled and off with a worse 3rd tier class when compared to Shinon.She has Paragon and is almost as experienced/available as Marcia, not to mention she was HORRENDOUSLY more under-leveled in PoR where she still had to compete with Shinon (#5). Seriously, if you've played her in both games, there is no comparison, her stats simply blow in RD when you measure against her past appearance.
Exactly my point.Except that your point is ignoring context. I'm speaking of Micaiah's entire crew (save for Sothe). If you're complaining that all units are strong but under-leveled, you are effectively complaining that characters are too powerful when raised beyond what should practically be happening over the course of the game. Such can be said of ANY game with an experience system.
True, but Bonus EXP in its current state is so easily abusable that it isn't an adequate alternative to Arenas at all.You don't grind for Bonus Exp. Quite the opposite, Bonus Exp discourages grinding, since your rewards are diminished if you drag your feet. That in itself makes it far preferable to Arenas. It's also far more flexible; you can use the guaranteed 3 stat gains to strengthen the weaker points of characters who have already hit a few caps, or you can Bonus up to 99 and let the natural level-ups do the work. You can complain of brokenness all you want, but it's the only semblance of control you have in a world where getting RNG-screwed is always a concern.
I agree that there should've been more axe users for swords to have an advantage over but FE3 already adressed that problem and swords also get balanced out by getting the most slayer weapons.You grossly misunderstood me. I didn't mean two weapon types, I meant literally, a character who is the sole representative of his class and has only two equippable weapons in the game. In other words: Bantu. There are only two Firestones in the entire game to space out over the 18 chapters you have him. That's inexcusable.
I really prefer that to the wordswordswords Radiant Dawn has that either make no sense or ruin every plot detail that PoR has established.PoR-to-RD is wrecking plot details? Wow. The MegaMan Zero series would scar you for life.
Actually in the case of video games I prefer "too little" a lot more over "too much". I'd rather see everything the game has to offer within minutes than figuring out how everything works for hours and still not being able to that one thing I wanted it to do.Game length is not a problem; both titles are plenty long enough. The problem is that Shadow Dragon doesn't actually involve the playable characters in what's going on in the storyline. You claim that RD feels like filler and Shadow Dragon doesn't, but I find the inverse to be true. When the storyline completely forgets that all of your characters exist after recruitment, the entire experience is left feeling shallow and meaningless.
If you're complaining that all units are strong but under-leveled, you are effectively complaining that characters are too powerful when raised beyond what should practically be happening over the course of the game. Such can be said of ANY game with an experience system.Other games with an experience system don't switch your party members around with ones with better stats and/or higher levels every few instances and give you the opportunity to use those instead for the final part of the game.
You grossly misunderstood me. I didn't mean two weapon types, I meant literally, a character who is the sole representative of his class and has only two equippable weapons in the game. In other words: Bantu. There are only two Firestones in the entire game to space out over the 18 chapters you have him. That's inexcusable.So it should be inexcusable that Fa and Myrrh get only one dragonstone. Besides FE3 fixes that too ... somewhat. There's a secret shop with all kinds of dragonstones mid-game.
PoR-to-RD is wrecking plot details? Wow. The MegaMan Zero series would scar you for life.Instead IS tried to be 'original' and went with an 'epic' story with a 'huge' twist that the dark god was actually part of the good guys and that the goddess you've been all worshipping was actually the bad one. No actually that there was no good or evil in this story, just something about order vs. chaos. Excuse me, but there's a reason why all the most popular fictions all are basically the same dozen or so stories retold and that they all revolve around good vs. evil, so why did IS feel the need to stray away from that, especially since that way they also destroyed everything that PoR established?
A great deal of PoR's plot went unexplained, most significantly the Sephiran/Black Knight connection. And what did RD challenge of PoR's presuppositions, the Serenes Massacre? That was an assumption of circumstantial evidence.The two reasons why I wanted a PoR sequel in the first place are to find out the Black Knight's identity and to fight the Dark God who would be inevitably unsealed in a sequel for sure.
Game length is not a problem; both titles are plenty long enough. The problem is that Shadow Dragon doesn't actually involve the playable characters in what's going on in the storyline. You claim that RD feels like filler and Shadow Dragon doesn't, but I find the inverse to be true. When the storyline completely forgets that all of your characters exist after recruitment, the entire experience is left feeling shallow and meaningless.I finished RD within 80 hours while I finished SD within 15.
1. Those 3 start out at much higher levels than the others. The only Laguz that can hope to catch up is Lethe, but then she has lower base stats than Ranulf. And yes, there are people who don't use the Royals but it still doesn't change that while previous FEs might've thrown you one super unit near the end to save the day RD gives you 4 of them.Given that your team is split into 3 pieces in Part 4 that's kind of a necessity to prevent first-time players from screwing themselves over, something which RD runs a fairly high risk of as it is. Not to mention the sheer insanity that is Dheginsea.
2. Volke is only slightly better than a WhisperYes, and I'm "slightly" obsessed with Yoshi. He's still far more viable. 4 extra strength and +25 critical means a lot on a character who should be double-hitting virtually everything. Then of course there's the fact that Bane is literally Lethality+Mercy. I will grant you that most of that is irrelevant against the three Mantle bosses, but it still leaves Volke a LOT more capable than Sothe/Heather against all the rest. Pretty impressive given the general tendency of non-royal late entries to suck.
3. Sigrun is available in one chapter before part 4.(http://home.comcast.net/~Anguirus/objection.gif)
Elincia also gets more versitality due to being able to use staves and gets Amiti in 2-F so she can hold on her own there. Oh and Tanith has better base stats than what Sigrun would have at a similiar level, is only 3 levels away and gets an awesome ability.Bringing up Tanith only drives home my point, that Sigrun is an example of a character who sucks for reasons other than level/availability. She's as available as two other non-staff-wielding pegasus riders and amply leveled, but her stats simply do not measure up. So to claim that the entire cast is over-powered is wrong.
4. Mist starts out at level 1 when the other GMs start out at around level 8 on averageMist also starts with Florete, a madly powerful and bizarrely light ranged sword, complete with high accuracy and critical. It plenty compensates for her initial weakness. The problem is, when your starting weapon strength is only 4 attack strength behind the SS weapons, it doesn't leave much room to grow. Mist does not have the growth rates to keep up, and even if she did, her Strength cap stops her entirely too early. Bonus EXP will only make her less of a disaster, but she can NEVER be overpowered (which is quite a shame considering what a beast she could be in PoR with a Sonic Sword).
5. True, but you must admit that the gap between Shinon and the other bow users was much smaller in PoR.In ease of raising, yes. I don't think the performance advantage is that drastic, but using an alternative takes more effort. Then again, Rolf is at least competent to start with, he just doesn't get any lead time over Shinon like he used to.
Instead IS tried to be 'original' and went with an 'epic' story with a 'huge' twist that the dark god was actually part of the good guys and that the goddess you've been all worshipping was actually the bad one. No actually that there was no good or evil in this story, just something about order vs. chaos. Excuse me, but there's a reason why all the most popular fictions all are basically the same dozen or so stories retold and that they all revolve around good vs. evil, so why did IS feel the need to stray away from that, especially since that way they also destroyed everything that PoR established?The better stories out there tend to challenge the absolute of good versus evil. Heck, even PoR did to some degree, as virtually the entire storyline centers around conquering racial tension. For that matter so does MMZ; from day one you're on the side of "Mavericks" fighting against the "hero" of human utopia. And throughout Z2 and Z3 Harpuia challenges his own beliefs.
I finished RD within 80 hours while I finished SD within 15.RD is unusually long even by FE standards, and SD is a handheld based on an NES game. Kinda opposite extremes, as far as FE is concerned. I said that both are adequate, not that they're comparable. Simply put, I don't see SD as too short. I do see it as incomplete, knowing that FE3 on the SFC offered a remake and more (that and even the uneducated know that there's more to the story if they've seen Marth's SSB trophies), but that's not the same thing, and the DS sequel is aimed to fix that anyway.
Hmmmmmmm!
Then again you put characters on a higher priority than the overall plot so I suppose that's where our opinions differ.Only because if the characters aren't involved in the plot, it makes the entire gameplay scenario feel unrelated and a lot less compelling. If you have no attachment to who you're playing as, you have less of a reason to keep playing.
If you have no attachment to who you're playing as, you have less of a reason to keep playing.I'm not trying to get embroiled in this argument. I'm only saying that I agree with this 100%.
The better stories out there tend to challenge the absolute of good versus evil. Heck, even PoR did to some degree, as virtually the entire storyline centers around conquering racial tension. For that matter so does MMZ; from day one you're on the side of "Mavericks" fighting against the "hero" of human utopia. And throughout Z2 and Z3 Harpuia challenges his own beliefs.... wow, I certainly haven't seen it that way. Thanks for clearing that up, since it's my main gripe with Radiant Dawn.
Ashera is evil for the same reason that Copy X is: Apathy. She doesn't question herself and cares nothing for the people under her. The twist isn't the switcheroo from public perception, as their roles were quite reversed in ancient times when Yune was out of control (and incidentally PoR implies that the "pop" Ashera is invalid; see Stefan's support conversations with Mordecai). Rather, the twist is that Ashera and Yune are in fact the same person. In trying to "fix" herself by casting off what was unwanted, she started down a dark path and very nearly sealed the fate of all that she (previously) cared for.
I so see it as incomplete, knowing that FE3 on the SFC offered a remake and moreThough the difference between FE1 and FE3 Book 1 is pretty much the difference between the original Kirby's Dreamland and Spring Breeze.
And that, in my opinion, it's highly integral to FE. If you don't care about who lives and dies because the characters are as lifeless as units in Advance Wars and still want to play FE, then yes. SD is for you. But you'd probably have more fun with AW.But AW doesn't have stats, level ups, swords and magic! :P
Not to bait or be a dick or anything, but am I the only person perturbed by strategy games that make absolutely no use of flanking and rear assaults?Well this installment has some flanking strategies, in that if you're next to someone they can join in for an extra attack. Which is cool.
Not to bait or be a dick or anything, but am I the only person perturbed by strategy games that make absolutely no use of flanking and rear assaults?I never saw it as odd in Fire Emblem because the combat takes place among individual soldiers, and a single human being (and I assume dragon/cat/whatever) can turn around very easily. Flanking is something that affects the group, not the individual.
Fire Emblem has a variety of options in terms of how quickly you want the gameplay to go (movement speed, attack animations, and such). I find the general pacing to be slow, but that's because I think a lot, and generally don't play a lot of strategy games, so yeah.That FE12 translation patch is nearin' completion, btw.
For the record, I agree with Zomirby; Shadow Dragon was pretty horrid compared to Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn. Despite the shiny visuals it's still evident, from a story/narrative standpoint, that it is based off of an NES game (further most of its new content is a reward for deliberately sucking at the game). Nevertheless I was still hoping that FE12 would make it here, as it looked to have improved on many of those weaknesses, but it seems Nintendo fell to the "if the franchise stumbles just let it die" mentality during that timeframe. I guess that's what we call hacking-bait (http://www.heroesofshadow.net/), eh?
I never saw it as odd in Fire Emblem because the combat takes place among individual soldiers, and a single human being (and I assume dragon/cat/whatever) can turn around very easily. Flanking is something that affects the group, not the individual.
So while there is no "directional" modifiers for the individual battles, formation in terms of your team in general is of course very relevant. You can get "flanked" in the sense that a unit at the edge of your line is vulnerable from more angles, therefore is liable to take more attacks in a single turn and die. This is something you need to be conscientious of throughout the Fire Emblem games, and ESPECIALLY Radiant Dawn. There's a lot of emphasis on terrain as well, including Radiant Dawn offering bonuses for elevation (IE; attacking someone from atop a ledge).
I never saw it as odd in Fire Emblem because the combat takes place among individual soldiers, and a single human being (and I assume dragon/cat/whatever) can turn around very easily. Flanking is something that affects the group, not the individual.You're full of [parasitic bomb]. Koei's Gemfire uses flanking and rear assaults, and that game deals with armies, except in the case of special units.
You're full of [parasitic bomb]. Koei's Gemfire uses flanking and rear assaults, and that game deals with armies, except in the case of special units.To be fair, it is one-on-one combat (or in this, two-on-one), and if you only have a single foe coming at you in armor (which makes noise) you tend to hear them in time to react accordingly. Also, you're moving one troop at a time. The concept of flanking, which requires multiple troops to move at once, is somewhat irrelevant to the gameplay when you're only moving one character at a time.
And what about any military strategy ever? Tywin Lannister is all like "Aggravate their flanks, but do not engage them" and Jaime Lannister gets captured from a rear and flanking assault. Also horses trump footmen.
Only for like 3 turns, which for true winners (read: procrastinators) happens very suddenlyThe fact remains you can save them.
You're full of [parasitic bomb]. Koei's Gemfire uses flanking and rear assaults, and that game deals with armiesTry to read it the first time so that Zomirby doesn't have to repeat me (http://forum.rockmanpm.com/index.php?topic=4042.msg346161#msg346161).
I'm trying not to spoil myself TOO much, but upon learning that they were doing a My Unit thing again in Awakening, I had to take a look...the question here is
[spoiler]So...not only can I make my own FE character, but I can have him shack up with Tiki? Yeah, that in itself pretty much justifies the purchase.
Also, past DLC characters. 0v0[/spoiler]
You guys better buy it fast. Apparently, Awakening is selling out already across many stores in the US. Nintendo really understocked, severely underestimating the demand for this series. People are already selling it for $60+ on eBay and Amazon and it's only the day after release.
It's like an Atlus shortage all over again.
Can't we just download it from the Virtual Console?
If you go the eShop route, be warned. It's around 8,000 blocks.
Nintendo needs an account system.
Also, the game is bound to your 3DS. So if you lose it, it's gone forever. Nintendo needs an account system.well i didn't mention that because i figured everyone knew that by now
[spoiler= Well...]You can't really get any support with Olivia, since you get her in the chapter that Chrom will Automarry at the end, making it very difficult to get her as his wife. Though doing so will be beneficial later on if you get them leveled up nicely before Finishing Chapter 13.[/spoiler]
And that is totally fine.
I'm personally looking forward to more new DLC this week.
Well, I'm not excited at all for Micaiah, but her arrival means we're closer to the better DLC than last week and I already bought her so yeah :UI just don't like her artwork.
I just don't like her artwork.
it's so bad
I'm sort of looking forward to it too, though I never played FE7.
I'm going to take a small break, I did some over-grinding yesterday before Chapter 13 so I could obtain a certain skill that makes a certain someone broken as all [tornado fang].
Married my MU off.
Currently grinding Donny up to being a formidable unit.
I want the DLC that gives us the Demon Fighter scroll.
Just because I'm going to make Morgan a Demon Fighter.
I never played Radiant dawn, so I don't really know much about her character. She looks cute though, too bad you can't marry ghosts.I'm glad that Micaiah is there, but I do admit her depiction is a bit off.
Then again, with most of these characters I don't know much about the character. Y'know, since the majority of the series is Japan only.
Only ones I'm looking forward to are Lyn and Ike, but I'll still buy the rest since loldisposableincome.
Why's that?I'd settle for non-generic heads, to be honest with you. It seems like they're pulling existing facial expressions and hair styles; and if the character has ANY manner of headgear, it just doesn't work. I got Sanaki on Spot Pass, and...yeah.
Though all of the costumes for the DLC characters (Pr. Marth notwithstanding since his outfit is in the game.) are pretty crap since they all look so damn generic.
Maybe if they do something like this again, we can get non-generic units.
I haven't really had the time to invest in DLC characters, though I'm collecting them just because. Took Roy and Marth for a little spin, but that was more or less it. I do admit, though, seeing Mist as a War Cleric would be pretty cool.
if the character has ANY manner of headgear, it just doesn't work.
I'd settle for non-generic heads, to be honest with you. It seems like they're pulling existing facial expressions and hair styles; and if the character has ANY manner of headgear, it just doesn't work. I got Sanaki on Spot Pass, and...yeah.
I'm just excited for Smash Brethren 3.
Finally, Lyn shall be in my party... with dat cool artwork
hell after the US kept the Nowi/Tharja conversation in Harvest Scramble about Tharja's TitsIt IS rather silly to draw the line at Tharja's butt in a bikini after that one made it in, isn't it?