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Offline Ephidiel

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Reply #25 on: June 04, 2010, 01:33:37 AM
i'd be extremly pleased if its sprite based combat again.
with badass critical hits.

if its not sprite based i guess i won't buy it as i already own the snes version



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Reply #26 on: June 04, 2010, 03:49:54 AM
- "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).

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Offline Mirby

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Reply #27 on: June 04, 2010, 04:35:02 AM
yeah. Can anyone help me out an translate that thing I mentioned though?

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Offline Solar

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Reply #28 on: June 04, 2010, 04:48:31 AM
Guide

Also, yay for the customizable unit,  I missed having a character to represent you like in FE7 and it's even better now since it's actually playable.


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Reply #29 on: June 04, 2010, 04:54:34 AM
That makes sense. Thanks!

Hey, I did pretty good with what I got though...

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Offline Dantonumanoa Ongdolota Amycronicon

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Reply #30 on: June 04, 2010, 04:56:51 AM
- "That Person" from the trailer is revealed to be a customizable player-made character.
I am hapy persn


I put on my [twin slasher] face.

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Offline Mirby

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Reply #31 on: June 04, 2010, 04:58:44 AM
I am too. I liked that feature from Rekka no Ken.

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Offline Solar

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Reply #32 on: June 04, 2010, 06:10:49 AM
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).

Yeah, about that...

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# Reclassing from Shadow Dragon makes a return.

http://serenesforest.net/fe3ds/info.html


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Reply #33 on: June 04, 2010, 06:42:00 AM
Ah, but none of them have been confirmed! There's a chance (albeit slim) that reclassing is still out!

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Offline Hypershell

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Reply #34 on: June 04, 2010, 06:33:23 PM
Well, I sincerely hope it's wrong.  But we'll see.  Their source is unconfirmed but allegedly has a good history.

My main complaint with reclassing is how it impacts visuals; cheapened battle graphics are unavoidable when they need to be swappable with nearly all characters of the same gender.

How the game handles extra chapters, and the workings of your customizable character, are of far greater concern.  And frankly even if they all blew, I enjoyed Shadow Dragon enough that I'd purchase its sequel.  It's more a matter of whether I'll actually enjoy replaying it, or just perpetually return to Ike's stories on GCN/Wii.

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Reply #35 on: June 04, 2010, 06:36:24 PM
Part of the challenge in Fire Emblem, as I see it, is picking the right units for the chapter. If you can just switch character A to class A and character B to class B, then it defeats the purpose. Having to make sure you get those characters of class A and class B instead of being able to reclass to get them is what's fun.

As I see it, Fire Emblem is just a really complex game of Chess. You can't make all your pieces Queens in Chess; you shouldn't be able to make almost any unit almost any class at will in Fire Emblem either.

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Offline Hypershell

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Reply #36 on: June 04, 2010, 06:43:47 PM
In all fairness, the reclass feature is limited in that regard.  Your total of any given class may not exceed your possible recruits of that class + 1.  It's still weird, and it glazes over your failure to recruit characters, but making your entire party one class is an exaggeration.

Personally, besides the above visual complaints, I just don't care for the idea because it destroys whatever identity the characters have.  Most Fire Emblem games are pretty serious in regards to the devotion it takes to master a given combat style (for clarity's sake, I'm not referring to Weapon Levels; I mean actual dialogue pertaining to being competent on the battlefield).  The ability to switch that around at will really pulls you out of the game.  But at least, in that sense, you can simply ignore it.

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Reply #37 on: June 04, 2010, 06:48:23 PM
That is true. But the point remains; reclassing destroys part of the strategic element of having the right units for the job.

Let's say there's a unit you like. She's a Pegasus Knight. In most other FE games, she'd only change her class for the next ranking one, a Falcoknight. Now say the chapter you're on has lots of Archers, Snipers, and Ballistae. Normally you'd pass on her for that chapter, so she wouldn't die and you could keep her for future chapters. A difficult choice? Possibly, but it adds to the strategic element. Being able to reclass her into something that's not highly vulnerable to arrows takes that away. And takes away part of the challenge, if you ask me.

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Offline Hypershell

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Reply #38 on: June 04, 2010, 06:50:30 PM
Point taken.  Most if not all FE games do not provide sufficient experience to raise all characters, so the pick-and-choose element is diminished.

Not to mention I've had many a fond time dancing around archer/ballistae ranges as Marcia in order to pick them off with a sneak attack. 8)

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Reply #39 on: June 04, 2010, 08:30:26 PM
Yeah, still doing that is part of the fun. >0<

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Offline The Blind Archer

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Reply #40 on: June 05, 2010, 08:39:34 AM
Ugh.  That just reminded me of the chapter in Shadow Dragon where you recruit Jake.  Caeda can't reach him without getting in range, and he either one-shots her or makes her severely weak when she's a Peg Knight.

Didn't want him to run out of ammo because I heard that ballista ammo didn't come around for a good while.  That couldn't have been more true.


Offline The Blind Archer

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Reply #41 on: June 12, 2010, 08:10:13 PM
Bumpdate redux

Serenes has some Famitsu scans up.

http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/8/13/166...1_122_537lo.jpg
http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/8/13/166...e2_122_69lo.jpg

We've got some more confirmed returning characters from the original.
-Luke
-Roddy
-Cecile
-Ryan
-Caeda

We also get a few more examples of My Unit portraits, and artwork of a new NPC named "Katarina" (Likely gonna be Catalena or Katrina), taking up the role of Altea's newest tactician.  Based on Vincents translations, she gets worried easily.  There's also a character in back behind her on the first page of the scan.  It's either another new character, or Sheema's a blonde now.

Some other tidbits from Vince's translation
- Heroes of Light and Shadow does refer to Marth and My Unit
- My Unit takes part in the prologue/tutorial chapters before the main game starts.
- Katarina is My Unit's tactician.
- My Unit can also engage in base conversations with characters before battle, ala FE9/10
- Downloadable maps, whether they're trial maps, vs maps, or in-game chapters is yet to be decided.


Offline Hypershell

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Reply #42 on: June 12, 2010, 08:44:13 PM
- My Unit can also engage in base conversations with characters before battle, ala FE9/10
WHOO-HOO!

Note, IGN has some cleaner versions of the screenshots in those scans.  I dunno if this is just my wishful thinking, but the generic bandit looks better detailed.

Well, we'll have a better idea when we see it in motion, I suppose.

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Offline The Blind Archer

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Reply #43 on: June 20, 2010, 05:34:59 AM
A new update.  For the few of you who can say that you've played the Broadcast Satellite FE... well, you won't be the only ones anymore.

Nintendo Dream's June issue confirms the appearance of Broadcast Satellite FE chapters as an extra mode, along with a headshot of Malice (purple haired girl with the rag over her eye in the scan) from her OA.

[Spoiler=Scan][/Spoiler]

VincentASM also says that a new translation from last month's Famitsu scan confirms that Athena (a gaiden character from Shadow Dragon) returns as well.


Offline Hypershell

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Reply #44 on: June 20, 2010, 05:53:29 AM
Broadcast Satellite features returning?!


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Offline Ike-Mike

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Reply #45 on: June 22, 2010, 02:09:16 PM
To all those who see Shadow Dragon as a disappointment and Radiant Dawn as their favorite: Well, screw you!

Everything about New Mystery of the Emblem that has been shown so far looks like it really might be the best FE ever.

Also awesome how FE is the first series to rerelease Satellaview content.



Offline Hypershell

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Reply #46 on: June 23, 2010, 12:54:11 AM
To all those who see Shadow Dragon as a disappointment and Radiant Dawn as their favorite: Well, screw you!
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. 

"Everyone in RD is over-powered unless unavailable/under-leveled".  Ha.  Every Cat/Tiger Laguz who is not named Ranulf begs to differ.  So does every Whisper.  And Mist.  And Sigrun.  And Astrid, who is not even a shadow of her PoR self.  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.

RD is far from flawless when it comes to character balance and ESPECIALLY availability, but it's far preferable to Arena grinding and characters who only have two usable weapons in the entire game; to say nothing of the fact that there is virtually no story outside of the NPCs.

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Offline Ike-Mike

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Reply #47 on: June 23, 2010, 01:30:02 AM
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.

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"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.

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So does every Whisper.
That's because knifes are inferior to swords in every way and plenty of sword-using units outclass them.

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And Mist. And Sigrun.

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.

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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.

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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.

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RD is far from flawless when it comes to character balance and ESPECIALLY availability, but it's far preferable to Arena grinding
True, but Bonus EXP in its current state is so easily abusable that it isn't an adequate alternative to Arenas at all.

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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.
Lances are the weapon type with balanced hit and damage like in the original game.
Axes are actually useful now unlike in the original FE1 and aren't as stupidly OP as they are in the Tellius games.
Bowmen are still rather useless, I admit that, but I don't want to be them as OP as Marksmen were.
Magic is actually effective and useful due to most units on both your and the enemy's side having little to no Res.
Staves actually give some significant EXP so healers don't fall behind like they usually did.
Not to mention that thanks to the weapon rank bonuses there is an actual balance within the weapon triangle itself.

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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.

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.



Offline Hypershell

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Reply #48 on: June 23, 2010, 03:23:38 AM
Too many OBJECTIONS! here to even bother with Iris...  There are no fewer than 5 counts of faulty logic in that post.

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.

To a lesser extent Volug can be argued as well, although I'm not sure how valid that argument would be given that it requires Resolve abuse.

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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.
 
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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.

Further, you don't need to look anywhere near the top of the flying chain to cast doubt on Sigrun; Tanith and Marcia outmatch her at every turn.  Tanith is equally available and Marcia would have to gain 14 levels in 4 chapters to reach an equal level to Sigrun.  Believe me, it doesn't take that long before Sigrun is left in the dust.

Claiming that Mist is under-leveled is hard to read as anything but sheer ignorance (#4).  The only way that statement holds any possible validity is if you're playing the Japanese version where you can't experience-promote to 3rd tier.  She's as available as any other member of the Greil Mercenaries and very well viable at her introduction; in fact I'd dare say more so than in the late-game.  Her level is irrelevant, because at the end of the day her Strength caps at a measly 25 (less than even a Whisper), and her growth is so pitiful she won't even reach that without a lot of Bonus abuse.  I know this, I use Mist out of pure favoritism, and even with all stats capped she can *NEVER* measure up to the other units.  And unlike PoR, there's no viable magical weapon work-around (the cards are not practical; they're low-use and do not allow counter-attacks).
 
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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.

Shinon is irrelevant; Astrid isn't worth your time in RD even if you have no other bow-users.

Lethe suffers the same troubles, although in her case, the general Laguz mechanics of RD don't help any.  But even tanked on Bonus Exp., she's still nothing special.

Oh, and while we're on the topic of RD characters who suck: Gareth.  Seriously, no amount of Bonus Exp. will fix him.  And this is coming from somebody who figured out how to make ENA viable.  That guy is a walking husk of spirit-bait; completely and utterly useless.

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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.

The logic of "under-leveled" as the only reason characters are not viable only holds if there are better leveled alternatives; ie: Fiona, Lyre, and Kyza.  You can't just say that Micaiah's entire crew is under-leveled as reasoning behind them being too powerful, it makes no sense.

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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.

Most importantly, though, Bonus Exp. is finite.  Arenas are limited only by Heal staves, unless your character is out-matched, rendering the Arena worthless (which is VERY likely in higher difficulties).  It's all-or-nothing with the Arenas.

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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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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Offline Ike-Mike

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Reply #49 on: June 23, 2010, 12:23:07 PM
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.
2. Volke is only slightly better than a Whisper so there are still plenty of better units that you might want to use a unit slot for.
3. Sigrun is available in one chapter before part 4. 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.
4. Mist starts out at level 1 when the other GMs start out at around level 8 on average and by the time she reaches third tier Elincia will fly circles around her.
5. True, but you must admit that the gap between Shinon and the other bow users was much smaller in PoR.

Yes, there are differences in base stats and growths (though the latter are usually ho high for everyone that it's negligible) especially during the first two tiers but exactly thanks to those 20 extra levels and with a little help from the BEXP system every unit will be able to cap every stat. But that brings to this point:
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.

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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.

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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?

MMZ had a good vs. evil dynamic going on throughout the entire series even with its plot twists and holes.

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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.

The former was ruined by Ranulf while the latter was ruined with that order vs. chaos bullcrap.

Then again this comes from someone who felt that PoR had a compelling ending and would be okay with the Tellius saga as a whole ending on that note.

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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.
Hmmmmmmm!

When RD only moves its overall plot forward every 4 chapters or so while every FE before that did it at a faster pace then I have every right to call it filler.
Then again you put characters on a higher priority than the overall plot so I suppose that's where our opinions differ.