So anyway, this game has been out in Japan for a few weeks now under the name Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo Hikari to Kage no Eiyuu.
A few things I managed to pick up here and there. Take these with a grain of salt, though:
- There are numerous difficulty levels, from easy to insane. All difficulty levels can be played in a with-perma-death or a no-perma-death mode.
- All characters from Shadow Dragon will return, even those that originally didn't.
- You will be able to create 'My Hero', an original character sort of like FE7's Tactician, but unlike the Tactician they will be an actual unit with an actual personality and an actual impact on the story. They can be male or female and nearly any class you like. They are also, apparently, quite broken.
- The story has been updated and fleshed out a bit more, unlike Shadow Dragon's more faithful retelling.
- Support Conversations make a return, Path of Radiance style. Supposedly.
- Base Conversations also exist, hopefully fleshing out the characters a bit more.
I love Fire Emblem a lot. But I went out of town for a month when I was in the middle of Radiant Dawn a few years ago and never got back to it. Now I feel like if I do I'll have no idea where I was and I'm intinidated. Someone convince me to go back to it, please.
Also, I started the DS one and had a similar thing happen. Except I remember not liking it as much. Was I wrong?
Radiant Dawn is quite possibly the best SRPG game ever released. A massive cast, hard as hell, and with a plot that actually ends up being pretty damn cool.
Shadow Dragon, the DS game, has a lot of problems. Mainly that the story tried too hard to be like the original, which was boring as fuck. Also the graphics feel lazy, even if you do get used to them after awhile. The online store component breaks the game, but the game needs a bit of breaking on some difficulty levels.
If you were to only continue one of those two games, make it Radiant Dawn. Depending on when exactly you gave up on it you might find it pretty damn easy to get back into it. The first part is the hardest, most unforgiving and least interesting plotwise but the ball really does get rolling about six missions in.
Well, the problem with the DS, Shadow Dragon, one is that it's a faithful remake of the very first Fire Emblem for the NES and so it misses a lot of what makes the later games so special. It's still got some interesting maps and challenges, though.
As for getting completely lost in Radiant Dawn... I wouldn't be too worried about that. There's relatively frequent recaps and on the Base screen you have the option of reading the library or looking over the character relationships chart.
I was well into Radiant Dawn, more than halfway, I would say.
Yeah, It's not so much being lost or anything, it's just stuff like which units I was using and levelling and support conversations, where I was up to with those etc.
Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely get back into Radiant Dawn soon, I reckon. I feel bad about missing Shadow Dragon as I obviously never got to play the original and I think the plots of the FE games I've played (all those released in the west) have been some of the best I've found in games and It would be good to play through the first game just for that but the missing features made it a bit hard going.
Speaking of plot, FE would seem so generic at a glance but it fleshes out the characters and scenarios so much more than a lot of games and manages to weave these tales of political intrigue without being cliched. Did I mention I love Fire Emblem?
Yeah, It's not so much being lost or anything, it's just stuff like which units I was using and levelling and support conversations, where I was up to with those etc.
That shouldn't be too difficult to figure out. The units you were levelling are the units with the highest level. And were probably also given the best weapons/skills.
And of course, you can always check Support Levels on the Support screen at the base and on the character's own information screens. This is made especially easy since Radiant Dawn restricts characters to supporting with only one other character. :x
Makes a lot of sense because of the huge cast and divided armies scenario they had going.
I dunno. With the incredible lack of effort they put into the conversations part of the support conversations, you'd think it'd be even easier to let the player distribute five support levels whichever way they liked.
EDIT:
Also, there's apparently a Lunatic Reverse difficulty mode where enemies always attack first.
Have we finally found a game even more bullshit than Thracia 776?
Seriously, it's not as if Fire Emblem has ever been particularly shy about sexual deviancy.
I still can't believe the first/seventh Fire Emblem got away with just an E rating. The only deviant behaviour they didn't include was necrophilia.
Then they went and fixed that particular oversight in Sacred Stones.
Wait, what? I missed that convo...ooh
The traitor paladin, right?
I have to say POR has my favorite story of all the FEs I've played (haven't played RD yet). Ike was such a breath of fresh air after how meek Eliwood was, and the serious noble of Ephraim (well sorta).
You guys can't blame me when the game itself is designed to invoke shipping wars. :P
I always felt that the games were more or less designed to prevent that sort of shipping wars stupidity.
Since there is [strike]no[/strike] very little canon (I'd like to see the rabid shipper denying that Louise and Pent are married) you can pretty much go nuts with whoever you feel like and feel reasonably justified and unthreatened.
Gah, shipping! What do you think this is, the SE++ Homestuck thread? :P
Roy's mother is Ninian because you get a different scene at the end and that makes it canon.
And Lilina's mother is Florina because Lilina's shy and Florina's shy and that means Florina must be her mother.
And Sue's mother is Lyn because Rath is Sue's father and he's hot.
There's little proof of either the first or second. Yes, you get a specifically different ending if you maxed Ninian's support link with Roy, but the same applies to Hawkeye, too.
Also, Lyn and Hector got as many scenes together as Roy and Ninian did, so Lyn might've married Hector.
Except for Louise and Pent. I think the evidence leans in favour of them being together.
Which reminds me, I find Pent to be by far the most useful mage/sage in the game. he has decent (but not amazing growth), starts with decent skills in both anima and staves, and is with you for around half of the game. While I like Erk and Nino, Erk doesn't have that good of growths, and Nino is a really late addition that I didn't find worth it.
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
I hope they do more 'you are the strategist' stuff. That's why FE7(?, the first US one) is my favorite.
The new game create a unit is really CREATE A LORD.
A Lord even, eh?
Back in the day, I really, really wanted a Fire Emblem game with a mage as a Lord character rather than yet more swordwielders (with one axe and one spear thrown in).
I often give the Dawn Brigade a lot of shit for being a bunch of no defense nellies and Micaiah is no exception. Her defense at first promotion in my current game is around a 3.
I've grown to like it. It adds a certain spice to the game. She's actually one of the better lords in recent games for dealing damage...she just can never, ever take a hit ever.
I'd prefer a new game, but seeing as that would probably be on the Wii (which I don't own) I'm ok with this. I don't expect to be amazed, but so long as it's better than Shadow Dragon I'll be happy. They can't all be FF7.
As a side note, it'd be nice if these remakes were done with the FE6-8 visual style, as that was my favorite.
I don't dislike Micaiah for her qualities in battle. I usually don't base my like for Fire Emblem characters on their combat abilities.
I just don't like Micaiah as a person. And I'm not sure I can articulate why, but I think a large part of it is her immense love for a country whose inhabitants would murder her without hesitation the moment they found out what she was.
Granted, the inhabitants of most of the other countries would too, but at least in that case it wouldn't be official government policy.
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And even if he did, he didn't show any interest in it.
A few things I managed to pick up here and there. Take these with a grain of salt, though:
- There are numerous difficulty levels, from easy to insane. All difficulty levels can be played in a with-perma-death or a no-perma-death mode.
- All characters from Shadow Dragon will return, even those that originally didn't.
- You will be able to create 'My Hero', an original character sort of like FE7's Tactician, but unlike the Tactician they will be an actual unit with an actual personality and an actual impact on the story. They can be male or female and nearly any class you like. They are also, apparently, quite broken.
- The story has been updated and fleshed out a bit more, unlike Shadow Dragon's more faithful retelling.
- Support Conversations make a return, Path of Radiance style. Supposedly.
- Base Conversations also exist, hopefully fleshing out the characters a bit more.
Have a Japanese promotional video
Serenes Forest has more.
Also, I started the DS one and had a similar thing happen. Except I remember not liking it as much. Was I wrong?
Kick my arse back into Fire Emblem.
Shadow Dragon, the DS game, has a lot of problems. Mainly that the story tried too hard to be like the original, which was boring as fuck. Also the graphics feel lazy, even if you do get used to them after awhile. The online store component breaks the game, but the game needs a bit of breaking on some difficulty levels.
If you were to only continue one of those two games, make it Radiant Dawn. Depending on when exactly you gave up on it you might find it pretty damn easy to get back into it. The first part is the hardest, most unforgiving and least interesting plotwise but the ball really does get rolling about six missions in.
As for getting completely lost in Radiant Dawn... I wouldn't be too worried about that. There's relatively frequent recaps and on the Base screen you have the option of reading the library or looking over the character relationships chart.
Yeah, It's not so much being lost or anything, it's just stuff like which units I was using and levelling and support conversations, where I was up to with those etc.
Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely get back into Radiant Dawn soon, I reckon. I feel bad about missing Shadow Dragon as I obviously never got to play the original and I think the plots of the FE games I've played (all those released in the west) have been some of the best I've found in games and It would be good to play through the first game just for that but the missing features made it a bit hard going.
Speaking of plot, FE would seem so generic at a glance but it fleshes out the characters and scenarios so much more than a lot of games and manages to weave these tales of political intrigue without being cliched. Did I mention I love Fire Emblem?
Something about really well done generic fantasy strikes a chord with me.
And of course, you can always check Support Levels on the Support screen at the base and on the character's own information screens. This is made especially easy since Radiant Dawn restricts characters to supporting with only one other character. :x
Also, there's apparently a Lunatic Reverse difficulty mode where enemies always attack first.
EDIT: Have we finally found a game even more bullshit than Thracia 776?
(Note: I have not actually played Thracia 776.)
Also, I find the characters so much more believable and realistic than most VG characters despite their fantasy setting.
Gotta get back into Radiant Dawn.
Gotta.
Lunatic is hilarious; it's beyond Maniac. Enemies start in the first map with silver and killer weapons. :P
Oh, and, if I'm not mistaken, the characters you used most recently are gonna be at the top of most of the lists. So there is that as well.
So yes, get back to Radiant Dawn.
Wait, what? I missed that convo...ooh
I have to say POR has my favorite story of all the FEs I've played (haven't played RD yet). Ike was such a breath of fresh air after how meek Eliwood was, and the serious noble of Ephraim (well sorta).
That scene was seriously messed up.
Yeah, but they don't have a center of social deviancy like Raven.
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
And Lilina's mother is Florina because Lilina's shy and Florina's shy and that means Florina must be her mother.
And Sue's mother is Lyn because Rath is Sue's father and he's hot.
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
Since there is [strike]no[/strike] very little canon (I'd like to see the rabid shipper denying that Louise and Pent are married) you can pretty much go nuts with whoever you feel like and feel reasonably justified and unthreatened.
Alas, 'tis not so.
There's little proof of either the first or second. Yes, you get a specifically different ending if you maxed Ninian's support link with Roy, but the same applies to Hawkeye, too.
Also, Lyn and Hector got as many scenes together as Roy and Ninian did, so Lyn might've married Hector.
EDIT: Actually, there's no proof of any of them!
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Except for Louise and Pent. I think the evidence leans in favour of them being together.
The entire first act and the parts of act three that involved Micaiah's army, yes.
Which reminds me, I find Pent to be by far the most useful mage/sage in the game. he has decent (but not amazing growth), starts with decent skills in both anima and staves, and is with you for around half of the game. While I like Erk and Nino, Erk doesn't have that good of growths, and Nino is a really late addition that I didn't find worth it.
And hey, in the (hopefully) upcoming new remake for the DS 'you are one of the units', so there is that.
Your avatar is awesome, and could easily be the best unit.
Back in the day, I really, really wanted a Fire Emblem game with a mage as a Lord character rather than yet more swordwielders (with one axe and one spear thrown in).
Then Micaiah came along.
So maybe I'll go for a pegasus knight instead.
I've grown to like it. It adds a certain spice to the game. She's actually one of the better lords in recent games for dealing damage...she just can never, ever take a hit ever.
As a side note, it'd be nice if these remakes were done with the FE6-8 visual style, as that was my favorite.
I just don't like Micaiah as a person. And I'm not sure I can articulate why, but I think a large part of it is her immense love for a country whose inhabitants would murder her without hesitation the moment they found out what she was.
Granted, the inhabitants of most of the other countries would too, but at least in that case it wouldn't be official government policy.