Being as I'm named after the uberwind spell of FE4/5, it'd be a shame if I didn't try to spark conversation about it.
Right now I'm on chapter 3 of FE5, and enjoying it greatly; the capture feature makes managing items a little annoying, but it's nice to be able to steal every item in sight. Supposedly it's the hardest turn based strategy RPG ever, except for FE9 on the Japanese version's hardest mode.
Personally, I think the older games in the series are a great example of what dedicated american fans can do to help others enjoy it; #4 has been patched into english by fans, 5 is in progress, and the others have translations and are likely to someday be worked on. Commendable?
Anyone a Fan of Fire Emblem
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CovenantJr
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I've definatley heard of it, game boy / advance game, right?
But if you're all about the destination, then take a fucking flight.
We're going nowhere slowly, but we're seeing all the sights.
And we're definitely going to hell, but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
Full of the heavens and time.
We're going nowhere slowly, but we're seeing all the sights.
And we're definitely going to hell, but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
Full of the heavens and time.
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Worm of Despite
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Fire Emblem is one of Nintendo's big franchises, but it's only huge in Japan (much like Enix's Dragon Quest series). There's been about nine games, I think, only two coming to the GBA in the U.S.
I played the "Sacred Stones" one, the most recent one. Very similar to Final Fantasy Tactics. You move/attack with units over a map grid and then end your turn, to which the enemy A.I. has its turn and so and so on until you win or lose. Combat is very rock-paper-scissors (swords beat axes, axes beat lance, etc.) There's the ability to upgrade your class (again, similar to "jobs" in FF). Also: when a character dies in combat, he dies for good. Really enjoyed it; an addictive blend of turn-based strategy and JRPG.
I played the "Sacred Stones" one, the most recent one. Very similar to Final Fantasy Tactics. You move/attack with units over a map grid and then end your turn, to which the enemy A.I. has its turn and so and so on until you win or lose. Combat is very rock-paper-scissors (swords beat axes, axes beat lance, etc.) There's the ability to upgrade your class (again, similar to "jobs" in FF). Also: when a character dies in combat, he dies for good. Really enjoyed it; an addictive blend of turn-based strategy and JRPG.
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CovenantJr
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Holsety
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There are 9 fire emblem games, the 10th is slated for the Wii and is a storyline successor of 9 (the games don't go in a linear story order, but there are a number of connections).
If you're going for anything released in the West, I'd reccomend FE7 first. It has a pretty sucky tutorial mode (way too long, 10 chapters) but it's better to go through that on your first time (instead of playing through it after the insane challenge that is #5). It gives the best intro to what might be considered standard for Fire Emblem games, though 6 is really the best for that (but not in the USA). It's not too hard on the normal modes, and yet on the hard modes gives a challenge that's worth your buck. I'm also pretty sure that made it to the UK, since I know from forums someone in the UK who played it. The main thing you need to be careful of, not prevalent in most RPGs, is your character choice, because you have a limited amount of enemies to kill (and get exp from) during the game.
In comparison, 8 is fun, but not going to give you as good a feel for the series. There're "random" battles you can engage in, and the characters have higher growths for stats than in most of the games. It's usually agreed to be the easiest FE, though I've heard some of the dungeon areas on hard mode get as difficult as Fire Emblem 5 (the hardest).
#9 is a console released version (GCN), so it's more expensive. You can't play it on the go, and it's arguably harder than the other two (I find it's easiest mode the easiest, but many disagree with me). The bright side is that it has the best tutorial system so far (just one chapter learn-only, and then optional sessions throughout the game), and it explains the most to the player in terms of battle mechanics (arguably better than FFT, in terms of how much control you have of a battle in this regard). It also has the best story in my view, because the main character is much more interesting and it deals with broader issues than most of the others. It's also, I've found, the most solid innovation on the series, including Fire Emblem 4.
The biggest letdown is that the "maniac" mode, which was supposed to be as hard or harder than #5, was removed from the American version, a backwards view (actually, DMC3 was apparently released with a harder version in America because capcom recognized American gamers actually enjoyed the challenges more!). The hard mode is fun enough, but because of it the toughest fire emblems have yet to make it to America fully intact.
If you're interested in the ones in Japan only, I can point people in the direction of the patches of the games into english, as well as provide more information on how to use them. I can't point you in the direction of the roms, if you want to use them, because they're illegal, and I support the idea that someone should own a copy before using roms (thus I own Fire Emblem 3, 4, and 5 for the super famicom). They're easy enough to find anyway, so meh. I'll say now that 4 and 5 have great storyline, and 3 (which includes FE1) and 5 are the most challenging of the series.
If you're going for anything released in the West, I'd reccomend FE7 first. It has a pretty sucky tutorial mode (way too long, 10 chapters) but it's better to go through that on your first time (instead of playing through it after the insane challenge that is #5). It gives the best intro to what might be considered standard for Fire Emblem games, though 6 is really the best for that (but not in the USA). It's not too hard on the normal modes, and yet on the hard modes gives a challenge that's worth your buck. I'm also pretty sure that made it to the UK, since I know from forums someone in the UK who played it. The main thing you need to be careful of, not prevalent in most RPGs, is your character choice, because you have a limited amount of enemies to kill (and get exp from) during the game.
In comparison, 8 is fun, but not going to give you as good a feel for the series. There're "random" battles you can engage in, and the characters have higher growths for stats than in most of the games. It's usually agreed to be the easiest FE, though I've heard some of the dungeon areas on hard mode get as difficult as Fire Emblem 5 (the hardest).
#9 is a console released version (GCN), so it's more expensive. You can't play it on the go, and it's arguably harder than the other two (I find it's easiest mode the easiest, but many disagree with me). The bright side is that it has the best tutorial system so far (just one chapter learn-only, and then optional sessions throughout the game), and it explains the most to the player in terms of battle mechanics (arguably better than FFT, in terms of how much control you have of a battle in this regard). It also has the best story in my view, because the main character is much more interesting and it deals with broader issues than most of the others. It's also, I've found, the most solid innovation on the series, including Fire Emblem 4.
The biggest letdown is that the "maniac" mode, which was supposed to be as hard or harder than #5, was removed from the American version, a backwards view (actually, DMC3 was apparently released with a harder version in America because capcom recognized American gamers actually enjoyed the challenges more!). The hard mode is fun enough, but because of it the toughest fire emblems have yet to make it to America fully intact.
If you're interested in the ones in Japan only, I can point people in the direction of the patches of the games into english, as well as provide more information on how to use them. I can't point you in the direction of the roms, if you want to use them, because they're illegal, and I support the idea that someone should own a copy before using roms (thus I own Fire Emblem 3, 4, and 5 for the super famicom). They're easy enough to find anyway, so meh. I'll say now that 4 and 5 have great storyline, and 3 (which includes FE1) and 5 are the most challenging of the series.
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CovenantJr
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Hound Of Chulainn
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I couldn't believe how great the witing was with FE7, it didn't suffer at all in translation the way you get used to with Japanese games. I was looking for a nice TBS to fill the gap between Advance Wars 1 and 2, and found what is in my opinion one of the best game franchises ever. The first six games might not have had the hook of great writing, but I've now played every game at least twice (Siesen no Keifu being the best probably), and I doubt that I could ever get sick of them.
The only thing I wish that they would do away with are the Jeigans - i.e: pre-promoted characters that are tanks early on, but have godawful stat-growth and just end up being experience-hogs.
The only thing I wish that they would do away with are the Jeigans - i.e: pre-promoted characters that are tanks early on, but have godawful stat-growth and just end up being experience-hogs.
"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."
Endut!
Hoch Hech!
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."
Endut!
Hoch Hech!
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Holsety
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Well, you have to realize that jeigans and other crappy prepromotes are the last refuge of the thrill seeker - if hard mode gets to the point where the game actually becomes easy, you can do a prepromo game.Hound Of Chulainn wrote:I couldn't believe how great the witing was with FE7, it didn't suffer at all in translation the way you get used to with Japanese games. I was looking for a nice TBS to fill the gap between Advance Wars 1 and 2, and found what is in my opinion one of the best game franchises ever. The first six games might not have had the hook of great writing, but I've now played every game at least twice (Siesen no Keifu being the best probably), and I doubt that I could ever get sick of them.
The only thing I wish that they would do away with are the Jeigans - i.e: pre-promoted characters that are tanks early on, but have godawful stat-growth and just end up being experience-hogs.
Really, every Jeigan besides Jeigan himself (and his Book II FE3 counterpart, named - IIRC - Alan) is very useable. But Jeigan, and Alan, have no growths above 10%, and suck terribly. Some (Oifaye) have their uses, some are quite good for prepromos (Titania), and some are just plain uber (Seth).
The writing in the earlier games is fairly poor but the story is very well done anyway, if you ask me. It's more evident if you've seen the writing for the Osawa manga based on the game, which had a more refined story and dialogue and was good because of it. Well, I haven't read much but what I've seen is well done...though the art wasn't stunning
. FE8 is the low point of the series in terms of story, IMO, and 4-5 and 9 are the high points.Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that Final Fantasy Tactics was in some way a response to the story of FE4. Although the two have very different historimythical backdrops (Med. Eurpope, and the whole Sigfried thing) there are many similarities in terms of character background and such.