~Fire Emblem 14~

Don't forget Path of Radiance which was released also in 2005! And Radiant Dawn in 2007...but we don't talk about Radiant Dawn >.>

Funnily enough the FE:A hype was completely unexpected. Due to how horribly received Shadow Dragon and Radiant Dawn were in the US, rumors say if FE:A didn't do well here then we might never have gotten another FE game again. Though I wonder if they'll introduce any new classes or make variants of existing classes, I liked the magic users in this set (which I attribute entirely to the existence of Dark Fliers) and I'll probably be happy as long as they keep Dark Flier as a class.

 

To me, the Radiant Saga represents the cream of the crop when regarding western releases of Fire Emblem - Radiant Dawn a little less-so, since the story became a tad bit diluted by the end, but the maps were certainly the most challenging we've received out of any of the aforementioned western releases, too, so it evens out. Path of Radiance, meanwhile, is just awesome. Whilst not as pretty or seamless in terms of display and gameplay like Awakening, it has a certain epicness to its political drama that hasn't, in my opinion, really been tapped in the series as much as it should be (Seisen no Keifu and Rekka no Ken are other high points). The laguz were fantastical, but believable, as the center of racial divides sparked throughout Tellius, and Ike quickly became my personal favorite lord of the entire series for his part in helping to alleviate it all by the end of the saga. I highly recommend it if you haven't played it yet. 

With that said, I see a lot of potential for that type of storyline in If, given that it's dividing Kamui and Aqua up between the two separate kingdoms of Nohr and Hoshido. I dug Awakening a lot and loved that it harked back to Marth's games and gave us a bit of previously unforeseen continuity, and I really like Lucina's character (I'd rank her as my 3rd favorite lord ever out of the western releases) and a certain endgame "twist" revolving someone else, but I'm yearning for what made me love the series plots in general with the type of dramatics introduced in Rekka no Ken with the Black Fang. This should help soothe that appetite quite a bit, I reckon.

I'm also digging Kamui's designs, personally. I find it hilarious that he/she has exposed feet, given the whole "no foot dilemma" during Awakening scenes. And they're basically a manakete? That fact alone makes this kid infinitely cool. It will take a lot to make me lose my instantaneous predisposition towards Kamui once If is released. The maid class is a bit silly, but I'm going to play the game and see where Felicia and whoever else lands story-wise before knocking it as gratuitous Rule 34 bait. 

Are you picking up Black Kingdom, White Kingdom, or both? I'm leaning towards Black for starters simply because it seems like the more interesting, more challenging game, and White for down the road because nobody can keep me from more Fire Emblem.

 

Yeah, I'm currently replaying Rekka no Ken wishing Mark had more of a role. It was a neat first glance into what the future would hold for FE and its avatars, but by no means was it that much of a big deal to have him around. Robin made for an epic unit in Awakening but shared the spotlight secondarily to Chrom and Lucina, so it will be interesting to see Kamui really step into the spotlight this time. My mind keeps shooting to Smash Bros., too, since the series has such a hold on me as well. Kamui would make a great playable character - dragon form included pls. B)

 

Just gonna post some random details about FE:If I've heard about these past weeks:
- They changed the weapon triangle to include magic, bows and a new weapon type.
- They got rid of weapon durability but they made it so weapons have way more varied effects.
- Apparently the Black Kingdom side plays like older FE games, as in you can only accumulate levels in story chapters.
- Female Kamui's design is yes
- There's a new even easier mode where KO'd units revive the next turn called Phoenix Mode. Chapter conditions are also altered in this mode so the whole game won't be a complete cakewalk, though.
- Butlers and Maids are classes, apparently.
- And last but not least: Female Kamui's design is yes.

 

I can't be more excited for Fates, at this point. I will gladly fork over 80 smacks for the special edition come February.

 

Not that long until the North American release of Fates, now! I'm a bit miffed that the special edition pre-orders sold out like an hour before I could get to GameStop to smack down a pre-order, but am more than happy with Conquest and Birthright incoming, all the same. Anyone else planning on picking up Fates once it's out? If so, which version? Both? Did you get your grubby hands on a special edition pre-order?

The more I've played through Awakening, I think of Robin as the one that the story centers around and its main character; sure, they share the spotlight with Chrom and Lucina, but, depending on the angle, one party or the other plays the deuteragonist(s) to the next. Given that the avatar represents you yourself, and that the story pretty much relies on your existence, I'd give Robin the edge as protagonist; not sure what I was thinking there, back on May 28, 2015. :5

Speaking of ---

Ohhh the irony LOL

 

So I've played a decent amount of both Birthright and Conquest, up to chapter 11 on Birthright and 16 on Conquest. And I'm enjoying Conquest way more. From what I've seen so far, Birthright is more similar to the Awakening style where you can grind battles in between chapters endlessly and battles are generally more simplified with less varied objectives and fewer map mechanics. Conquest goes back to the older games, where you go from one story mission to the next with only side battles every now and then along with limited resources and thus giving you less opportunity to level everyone up. It has the side effect of making the game feel less like Shipping Emblem 2016 because you can't just farm support rankings to always get the ideal pairings you want, since forcing some units to always fight together may add another layer of difficulty to the chapters while you're trying to accomplish the map objective, which in many cases in Conquest, is timed. That can be good or bad depending on your viewpoint. Also I think the cast of Conquest is far more interesting than that of Birthright, but that's just me.

 

I'm playing through Conquest on Hard/Classic and oh god am I suffering. Chapter 12 is hell. I'm probably gonna move it down to Normal and save Hard for my next playthrough. >.x

 

I did normal for my first playthrough just because of all the new mechanics I have to learn. So far it's been a fun challenge. Chapter 19 was a bit annoying though.

 

The dragon veins in Conquest are way more interesting, in my opinion, than Birthright. On one map you get a vein where you call down acid rain to damage ALL units in an area. And since on that map there are a few units that patrol you're kind of expected to time it just right for maximum effectiveness. Another map has a mechanic where there are sudden gusts of wind that toss your team around like ragdolls, however every dragon vein allows you a one-time activation of those winds against your enemies. Additionally if you use the dragon vein, your team doesn't get blown around on that turn. So it opens up a ton of strategic planning and decision making.

 

Spoiler

It seems like a lot of people are bagging on the storyline for Conquest. I'm not one of them. I feel like the first few chapters prior to the break really try caking on the "Hoshidans are the really good people" theme a bit too thickly, and that, while it may come as a surprise to the Hoshidan siblings that their blood brother/sister would abandon them so quickly after watching a whole slew of people die at the hand of Nohr, including their mother, it shouldn't be so surprising that there is an inner conflict in Corrin's head about which side to take. They have been growing up with the Nohrian royals their entire life and, for better or for worse, regard them as siblings in spite of them not being of blood relation (which, you know, shouldn't be the prime judgment in real cases where people grow up with an adopted family, either - hello). 

Watching Corrin with either batch of siblings has made for an overall more interesting story than Awakening, in my opinion, and actually hearkens back more to the classic Fire Emblem formula of actual inter-nation conflict with multiple layers aside from "Plegia is bad lol." In Conquest, personally, I find that to be especially so. The risks feel greater and the losses that much more heavy, and it leads you on a path where you end up closer to the truth found in Revelation than in Birthright. The overall challenge of the game feeds into my leaning towards it in those regards, too; there's definitely more variety in the design of maps, means of completing chapters, and in the Dragon Veins, too. This isn't the story of a straightforward hero - it's one that encapsulates making human mistakes that sees Corrin being continuously beaten down by Garon, Iago, and Hans while knowing the truth of Nohr over the past several years as a whole is soon to come to fruition, but only if he complies to their villainy for that much longer. It's compelling.

That isn't to bag on Birthright, though. I've really enjoyed my first playthrough of it, too. The characters are obviously much more of a righteous good than Conquest's playables, but they have been driven into the dirt by Nohr so often that that continuance of their drive to keep on carrying on is admirable in a way that I didn't quite feel in the same spades as with, say, Awakening. That said, I agree with everyone saying it reminds them from a gameplay perspective of Awakening, but also of Sacred Stones, as Moon had pointed out. When playing Awakening, I'm reminded of Sacred Stones, too, though; I feel like they have similar formulas for success in their structure, though I do enjoy Sacred Stones a bit more. 

It makes it seem like I'm bagging on Awakening, but I'm not. I love that game - I just think Fates has improved on it in almost every way, which is a good thing. Yes, a good portion of the VA is cheesy (Awakening was impeccably solid, by comparison), but in every other factor that matters, they've got this in the bag. I think that Xander, Leo, and Ryoma are standouts, as far as VA goes. I actually really love Felicia's, too, which apparently is weird because everyone else seems to be universally bagging on her VA. 

I feel like nothing will beat Path of Radiance for me as what I perceive as the Fire Emblem with the best overall story and characters. They had gotten complex political strife down pat and it was utterly scintillating. That said, I appreciate the polish of Fates. Intelligent Systems really improved upon their past works in nearly every way from an objective standpoint, and I couldn't be happier for that.

I also agree with Moon on the whole face-petting thing. It's a horrendously stupid reason to not buy a game, but I don't see the argument against it, on the overall. I don't feel like getting into it on a descriptive rant right now, though, so, if you wanna talk about it, let that be known in a response and maybe I'll get to it (though, as it stands, I've heard enough of this on the overall and think everyone in the mainstream ether totally overreacted from both sides - holy SHIT). In a sentence, I'll say that I agree with censoring the thirteen year-old swimsuit thing in Xenoblade Chronicles X for reasons that should be obvious with western perception in tow, though, toning down the sexuality of the stupid face-petting game would've been fine, too. But whatever. 

What really gets me miffed is swapping out the same-sex S supports. There was even less of a reason for that. This is 2016 - prove it by showcasing individuality in the characters that you decidedly kept bisexual. God's sake.

 

So I finally got an S-Support (Niles x Peri best) and wow, their explanation on children is just so silly it hurts