Topic: Fire Emblem discussion

[The Blind Archer]

For anyone who's unaware, today marks the 20th anniversary of Nintendo and Intelligent System's medieval strategy RPG series, Fire Emblem.  The game has seen eleven titles in these years (twelve if you count the Broadcast Satellite FE title), and I think a general Fire Emblem series discussion thread is a good way to celebrate.

Lets start with speculation; could it be possible that Ninty and IS would announce a new installment or classic remake at this year's E3 to commemorate this event?

I personally would be ecstatic to see one announced in any shape or form (localised imports on the VC, perhaps?), but have my doubts.  Nintendo's got a lot of new entries in their big franchises (Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Pokemon) to talk about this year, so any Fire Emblem announcement might be met with underwhelming reception, short of a FE6 remake for the Roy fans.

Thoughts?

[Mirby]

I think that there's always time for a new Fire Emblem. that's one of my favorite series ever, and I'm glad the Sky Fish introduced me to it! ^_^

[Black Mage J]

I would like to see a new DS sequel, maybe a remake of the second one, and adding the episodic chapters from the satelite nintendo thing.

[Acid]

The DS game was a step back I think. The GBA games had the perfect visuals for Fire Emblem, why not keep them?

[The Blind Archer]

The DS game was a step back I think. The GBA games had the perfect visuals for Fire Emblem, why not keep them?

That I can agree with.  The battle sequences in the GBA titles especially felt so lively and energetic.

But I think Shadow Dragon was a step back for more reasons than just the use of pseudo-models over 2D sprites.  Outside of the prologue/sidequest chapters and handful of side convos, the script is pretty much copied and pasted from the NES version.  Fire Emblem is one of Nintendo's more plot-heavy series (if not the most), so the lack of plot/character development was a big downer for me.

That, and the lack of Marth on the cover probably hurt the reception, too. =/

[Black Mage J]

I enjoyed looking at the Shadow Dragon Map more than the GBA Fire Emblem one.
But the battle animations seem more entertaining to watch

edit: Pretty much what Blind Archer said, only smaller...

[Mirby]

Yeah, no crazy ass crits in Shadow Dragon... I was dissapointed...

[Black Mage J]

If you want that, you just use Navarre with a Wao Dao. It makes him go crazy on anyone who gets in his way.

[Dantonumanoa Ongdolota Amycronicon]

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.

[Kit]

I suck hard at Fire Emblem.

I get everyone I like killed.

[Acid]

I suck hard at Fire Emblem.

I get everyone I like killed.

The trick is to make them survive.

[Hypershell]

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?

Oh well.  Still my favorite Fire Emblem.

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.

I love that they brought Shadow Dragon here, but you really can tell that it's an NES game.  For all the visuals it still feels primitive.  There's exceedingly little character development, bad news for a story-heavy genre.  Also, why is half of the new stuff only available by getting most of your party killed?  If you honestly sucked that badly, the characters you might recruit in the side-quests are not going to help you.

And the arena is like Rush Marining against Dive Man.  It sounds great in theory, but...just no.

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.

[Mirby]

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.

Also, we can't talk about FE without bringing up Oscar, he who's eyes are perpetually closed. Also, a quote from my friend the Sky Fish.

Sain has been arrested on 179 counts of sodomy. 177 were to himself; the other 2 were to his spear and sword.

We talk about FE a lot...

[Dantonumanoa Ongdolota Amycronicon]

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?

Oh well.  Still my favorite Fire Emblem.

I CONCUR
Also gets my vote for best battle prep BGM.

[Harruhy]

Oh boy, a Fire Emblem thread.
Those GBA critical animations... I will never forget them. ;_;

[The Blind Archer]

Bumpan for news!

Next in the line of remakes is FE3.

Behold, Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem - Hero of Light and Shadow!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV7QXtgdpB0

Information is also up on the official site
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/fe/

[Mirby]

I heard about this, and am happy about that. Let's hope they do a bit better than they did with the previous attempt.

[Align]

I can't tell from that intro video...
Is it sprites or polygons now? This is important.

[The Blind Archer]

^ We don't know yet; it was only just announced today.  All we can do is speculate.

[Mirby]

Yeah, and you can never tell by an opening sequence what the graphics are like in-game. At the very least, you shouldn't make assumptions based on them.

[Fariator]

A new Fire Emblem (well... sorta) to be released? Sweet!

I'm still yet to get my lazy butt to buy Path of Radiance and the GBA titles off eBay or something. I loved Radiant Dawn, and Shadow Dragon was pretty fun even if had some oddities (which can be kind of forgiven, as it is a remake of a NES game).

Just gotta wait till for more info.

[Hypershell]

About damn time.

Now here's what I DON'T want to see:

-Class-swapping.  Seriously, nobody cares, and we'd like some battle visuals besides Marth's that are actually character-specific.

-Stages/characters who are unlocked only by sucking.  Deliberately sucking.  Because if you honestly sucked that badly, the one average shmoe who joins you in that new chapter is not going to be any help.

[Mirby]

Agreed on both points. One of the reasons I fell in love with FE in the first place was the diversity of the party between units and the strengths and weaknesses inherent within the classes. Being able to switch the classes at will before a chapter kinda defeats the purpose.

And extra chapters should only be unlocked after meeting a difficult secret goal, like it has always been. Not from sucking atrociously.

[The Blind Archer]

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/vi2j/charactor/index.html

The mainsite's updated.  Here's what we've got so far:

- The sprites, at least for the portraits, are in the same style as / a similar style to Shadow Dragon.
- Cain and Jagen are confirmed to return.  Cain's also aged a bit, so it's good to know that not all of the portraits are being reused.
- Wrys, who was absent from the original Mystery of the Emblem, makes a return
- Japanese release date is July 15th 2010
- "That Person" from the trailer is revealed to be a customizable player-made character.
- WiFi returns.  We don't know if it's in the same form or not.

[Mirby]

I'm trying to figure out what the L tag says, the one shown in the dialogue screenies. I tried using my poor translation skills, and all I got was ??ido

I couldn't figure out the first character...