tthiele0204
Notes from my series replay:
- Super ambitious title, really feels like Kaga was hitting his stride here. I feel like this is the biggest departure from what they had up until this point and it pays off.
-Maps are much larger and generally get shafted in terms of tight gameplay design in favor of grand sweeping encounters between massive groups of forces. Shorter, sweeter maps are lost in favor of grand conflicts across entire nations, as a result the game feels MASSIVE.
- Another side-effect of the change in map design is the dominance of the mounted cavalry units. IntSys cut back on the fliers in this game, now only sporting one or two per generation, but gives the player at least 5-10 mounted units per generation. This was most likely for ease of map design for less potential cheese than FE1-3 had with fliers. Footlocked units often get left in the dust on the larger maps, so I found myself leaving them to defend the castle for game efficiency.
- Staves have found themselves massively nerfed in terms of freedom and jank. They sport a wider range of use at the cost of cheesing the game.
-The story revolves around a different world and lore than the first 3 titles, quite frankly jumping into a world with greater depth than the series had ever had before in terms of world and character building. Each map features individual character conversations beyond just recruitment purposes, and it feels like the distant predecessor to support conversations in later FE titles.
-The holy blood and inheritance system is super fascinating and makes every playthrough feel like a different game. Granted it can be a little tedious to keep the units close enough to pair them up in the first generation, the second gen has INSANE depth of gameplay and strategy for subsequent replays as a result. This feels like the most well thought out child system the series has had thus far, and it feels super well integrated into the story as well.
- Castle towns are a fascinating addition too, making each castle feel like a well earned checkpoint in the maps, granting units access to shops, the arena, and a strange step backwards from the trading system in the form of the pawnbroker.
-The game is designed around each map taking the player multiple play sessions to complete. There's an autosave feature, as well as the ability to drop a hard save at the top of every turn. The maps take upwards of an hour, but these features alleviate that aspect for players not wanting to sink hours into each play session, making the game far more accessible than most despite the daunting map size.
-Small annoyance, but they didn't give a fuck with status staves in the last couple maps because there are sleep and silence staff users EVERYWHERE. It was becoming a little tedious to deal with to some degree, but just having the knowledge to bring a restore staff makes it bearable.
Tl;dr the game has a lot of things that it improves, some awkward jank in a lot of places, and other minor annoyances with pairing and enemy placement, etc. That being said, the game has a lot of heart and a beautiful story with some great characters. I still feel confident ranking it among my favorite games of all time.
- Super ambitious title, really feels like Kaga was hitting his stride here. I feel like this is the biggest departure from what they had up until this point and it pays off.
-Maps are much larger and generally get shafted in terms of tight gameplay design in favor of grand sweeping encounters between massive groups of forces. Shorter, sweeter maps are lost in favor of grand conflicts across entire nations, as a result the game feels MASSIVE.
- Another side-effect of the change in map design is the dominance of the mounted cavalry units. IntSys cut back on the fliers in this game, now only sporting one or two per generation, but gives the player at least 5-10 mounted units per generation. This was most likely for ease of map design for less potential cheese than FE1-3 had with fliers. Footlocked units often get left in the dust on the larger maps, so I found myself leaving them to defend the castle for game efficiency.
- Staves have found themselves massively nerfed in terms of freedom and jank. They sport a wider range of use at the cost of cheesing the game.
-The story revolves around a different world and lore than the first 3 titles, quite frankly jumping into a world with greater depth than the series had ever had before in terms of world and character building. Each map features individual character conversations beyond just recruitment purposes, and it feels like the distant predecessor to support conversations in later FE titles.
-The holy blood and inheritance system is super fascinating and makes every playthrough feel like a different game. Granted it can be a little tedious to keep the units close enough to pair them up in the first generation, the second gen has INSANE depth of gameplay and strategy for subsequent replays as a result. This feels like the most well thought out child system the series has had thus far, and it feels super well integrated into the story as well.
- Castle towns are a fascinating addition too, making each castle feel like a well earned checkpoint in the maps, granting units access to shops, the arena, and a strange step backwards from the trading system in the form of the pawnbroker.
-The game is designed around each map taking the player multiple play sessions to complete. There's an autosave feature, as well as the ability to drop a hard save at the top of every turn. The maps take upwards of an hour, but these features alleviate that aspect for players not wanting to sink hours into each play session, making the game far more accessible than most despite the daunting map size.
-Small annoyance, but they didn't give a fuck with status staves in the last couple maps because there are sleep and silence staff users EVERYWHERE. It was becoming a little tedious to deal with to some degree, but just having the knowledge to bring a restore staff makes it bearable.
Tl;dr the game has a lot of things that it improves, some awkward jank in a lot of places, and other minor annoyances with pairing and enemy placement, etc. That being said, the game has a lot of heart and a beautiful story with some great characters. I still feel confident ranking it among my favorite games of all time.
Notes for my series replay:
- Serious tone shift for the series up until this point. There are parts of the other games that are dark, but this game feels bleak from the beginning.
- A very nice variety of maps and map objectives, among the most diverse gameplay in the series. This game feels like Kaga was hitting his stride in map design, as the maps range from kinda annoying, to holy shit this is fucking amazing.
- The one thing I REALLY appreciate about Thracia 776 is that the maps mirror the narrative. A bleak situation will be accompanied likely by a map that is equally as bleak and stacked against the player. The map objectives generally reflect this, which is neat, as up until this point they were essentially just seize or rout.
- Another thing, this game is super sandbox-y for a SRPG. Combat potential of units has a relatively low ceiling compared to most games, and as such, OP stats does not equate to facerolling the map (in most cases, save for Ced). Rather, you are required to use the tools at your disposal to solve the problem posed by the chapter, whether it's fog of war, enemies escaping with valuable loot, status staves, etc.
- Almost every single map in this game has a side objective or unique challenge about them. It makes maps memorable and gives the player a nice little dopamine hit when they finally clear a challenging one.
- Thracia 776 implements an interesting capture system, as now any melee units can capture another (non-mounted) melee unit with less constitution and take all of their items. Units with no weapons, or units that are asleep will be captured with no combat initiated. It's high risk, as the capturing unit suffers severe stat penalties for attempting to capture, but gives players a chance to take some of the enticing loot from enemies, creating an interesting economy compared to other entries in the series. I beat my entire replay of this game without buying a single weapon, rather I only bought five door keys in the chapters leading up to the end.
- Capturing can sometimes be unreliable though, as units that have 20 Con cannot be captured, and as I previously mentioned, neither can mounted units. That's why thieves are also very valuable units in Thracia 776, as thieves can yoink just about anything in the game, granted they're faster than the enemy and have more Con than the weapon weighs. It's a really neat system, and makes thieves some of your best units, even if their combat is less than stellar (which it often is).
- Support units are wildly valuable too, as staves are the number one tool at your disposal in Thracia 776. Staves can heal units, warp units, rescue units, unlock chests/doors, inflict statuses, cure statuses, and even steal items from enemies in some circumstances. It wouldn't be exaggeration to say that all of the units that can easily rank A staves in Thracia 776 are among your best units in the game. An abundance in powerful staves in the late game makes this even clearer to a shrewd player.
- Leif is a particularly interesting protagonist. He begins as a kid who has experienced hardship in his life, but doesn't really know what it means to be a leader or a king. He isn't necessarily charismatic, but rather a symbol of liberation that people flock to. His growth over the game makes him potentially one of the most dynamic lords in the series, which is fascinating when you recall his role in the previous game.
- The soundtrack is also really noteworthy. It's not as grandiose as the previous titles, but rather more determined and grounded. A lot of the songs actually sound like marches, save for Leif's theme, which is potentially one of my favorite FE map themes, ever. I think it's also one of the only FE games to have a near defeat theme, which is interesting as a majority of FE soundtracks have a near victory theme.
This game has a threatening aura to some FE newcomers, and I totally understand. It's a daunting game with some really hard and aggravating chapters. I think that being patient and armed with knowledge on some frustrating chapters can remedy alot of the bullshit. When you finally get to understand the workings of Thracia 776 and put in the time to learn it's quirks, it's genuinely one of the best experiences I've had with Fire Emblem as a whole. This is Shouzou Kaga's masterpiece, and it took me way too long to realize it.
- Serious tone shift for the series up until this point. There are parts of the other games that are dark, but this game feels bleak from the beginning.
- A very nice variety of maps and map objectives, among the most diverse gameplay in the series. This game feels like Kaga was hitting his stride in map design, as the maps range from kinda annoying, to holy shit this is fucking amazing.
- The one thing I REALLY appreciate about Thracia 776 is that the maps mirror the narrative. A bleak situation will be accompanied likely by a map that is equally as bleak and stacked against the player. The map objectives generally reflect this, which is neat, as up until this point they were essentially just seize or rout.
- Another thing, this game is super sandbox-y for a SRPG. Combat potential of units has a relatively low ceiling compared to most games, and as such, OP stats does not equate to facerolling the map (in most cases, save for Ced). Rather, you are required to use the tools at your disposal to solve the problem posed by the chapter, whether it's fog of war, enemies escaping with valuable loot, status staves, etc.
- Almost every single map in this game has a side objective or unique challenge about them. It makes maps memorable and gives the player a nice little dopamine hit when they finally clear a challenging one.
- Thracia 776 implements an interesting capture system, as now any melee units can capture another (non-mounted) melee unit with less constitution and take all of their items. Units with no weapons, or units that are asleep will be captured with no combat initiated. It's high risk, as the capturing unit suffers severe stat penalties for attempting to capture, but gives players a chance to take some of the enticing loot from enemies, creating an interesting economy compared to other entries in the series. I beat my entire replay of this game without buying a single weapon, rather I only bought five door keys in the chapters leading up to the end.
- Capturing can sometimes be unreliable though, as units that have 20 Con cannot be captured, and as I previously mentioned, neither can mounted units. That's why thieves are also very valuable units in Thracia 776, as thieves can yoink just about anything in the game, granted they're faster than the enemy and have more Con than the weapon weighs. It's a really neat system, and makes thieves some of your best units, even if their combat is less than stellar (which it often is).
- Support units are wildly valuable too, as staves are the number one tool at your disposal in Thracia 776. Staves can heal units, warp units, rescue units, unlock chests/doors, inflict statuses, cure statuses, and even steal items from enemies in some circumstances. It wouldn't be exaggeration to say that all of the units that can easily rank A staves in Thracia 776 are among your best units in the game. An abundance in powerful staves in the late game makes this even clearer to a shrewd player.
- Leif is a particularly interesting protagonist. He begins as a kid who has experienced hardship in his life, but doesn't really know what it means to be a leader or a king. He isn't necessarily charismatic, but rather a symbol of liberation that people flock to. His growth over the game makes him potentially one of the most dynamic lords in the series, which is fascinating when you recall his role in the previous game.
- The soundtrack is also really noteworthy. It's not as grandiose as the previous titles, but rather more determined and grounded. A lot of the songs actually sound like marches, save for Leif's theme, which is potentially one of my favorite FE map themes, ever. I think it's also one of the only FE games to have a near defeat theme, which is interesting as a majority of FE soundtracks have a near victory theme.
This game has a threatening aura to some FE newcomers, and I totally understand. It's a daunting game with some really hard and aggravating chapters. I think that being patient and armed with knowledge on some frustrating chapters can remedy alot of the bullshit. When you finally get to understand the workings of Thracia 776 and put in the time to learn it's quirks, it's genuinely one of the best experiences I've had with Fire Emblem as a whole. This is Shouzou Kaga's masterpiece, and it took me way too long to realize it.
Notes for my Series Replay:
- The plot feels very safe. Apart from the first game, this feels like the most formulaic story so far. Very standard case of invading neighboring country evolves into conflict with some supernatural beings/dragons. Not saying this is bad, but just very safe for the first FE post Shouzou Kaga.
- The gameplay feels significantly more defined with characters fulfilling specific niches. Classes have different stat caps, and thus characters have specific roles they're more tailored to rather than FE5's sandbox-ish style of gameplay. Also thieves are glorified keys now, as they have little combat potential, can't steal equipped items, and there is a general lack of valuable items worth stealing in FE6.
- Map design is... a thing. Most of the maps in FE6 are questionably large for the lack of enemy density in the normal difficulty. Many of my turns were just spent moving units up to the next encounter, which got to be a little frustrating on some of the more tedious maps. Speaking of which, there are many of those. FE6 maps aren't as large as FE4's maps, but they only sometimes have a gaiden objective, and they're mostly just standard seize maps with very little complexity. Sure, there are some memorable maps, and some notoriously bad maps, but overall I just felt meh on FE6's map design.
- Speaking of gaiden chapters, I have absolutely no clue how the average player is supposed to figure out how to reach them. Thracia is also guilty of this, but this game is mostly just turn limits reqs on maps that are needlessly slow and tedious (I'm looking at you, Chapter 14).
- FE6 somewhat weakened support units and put combat units back in the spotlight compared to FE5. There are still status staves and warp, and the like, but they have been severely hindered from their previous appearance. They have either limited range or accuracy checks to mitigate their performance this time around, and as such, I found myself relying on them as a viable strategy less often.
- But hey guess what, siege tomes and ballista are back. They are not nearly as threatening as in FE5 but still frustrating as hell sometimes. FE6 tends to group together status staves and it makes a somewhat uneventful map turn into a "oh fuck did i bring restore" check. Luckily there are very few maps where this is an issue, but I still felt it was worth noting.
- The one thing I REALLY liked about FE6 was the world building. The nations and their politics made the story of this game really fascinating, and I found myself wanting more of that and less of the dragon stuff to be quite honest. But maybe that's the consequence of playing these games back to back like this.
Overall, I like the vibes of FE6 and the world that it creates, but I feel like the gameplay is just kinda "eh" and after the spectacular gameplay of FE5, I felt a little disappointed. It's a solid game, just a little too safe after what felt like a great leap forward for the series.
- The plot feels very safe. Apart from the first game, this feels like the most formulaic story so far. Very standard case of invading neighboring country evolves into conflict with some supernatural beings/dragons. Not saying this is bad, but just very safe for the first FE post Shouzou Kaga.
- The gameplay feels significantly more defined with characters fulfilling specific niches. Classes have different stat caps, and thus characters have specific roles they're more tailored to rather than FE5's sandbox-ish style of gameplay. Also thieves are glorified keys now, as they have little combat potential, can't steal equipped items, and there is a general lack of valuable items worth stealing in FE6.
- Map design is... a thing. Most of the maps in FE6 are questionably large for the lack of enemy density in the normal difficulty. Many of my turns were just spent moving units up to the next encounter, which got to be a little frustrating on some of the more tedious maps. Speaking of which, there are many of those. FE6 maps aren't as large as FE4's maps, but they only sometimes have a gaiden objective, and they're mostly just standard seize maps with very little complexity. Sure, there are some memorable maps, and some notoriously bad maps, but overall I just felt meh on FE6's map design.
- Speaking of gaiden chapters, I have absolutely no clue how the average player is supposed to figure out how to reach them. Thracia is also guilty of this, but this game is mostly just turn limits reqs on maps that are needlessly slow and tedious (I'm looking at you, Chapter 14).
- FE6 somewhat weakened support units and put combat units back in the spotlight compared to FE5. There are still status staves and warp, and the like, but they have been severely hindered from their previous appearance. They have either limited range or accuracy checks to mitigate their performance this time around, and as such, I found myself relying on them as a viable strategy less often.
- But hey guess what, siege tomes and ballista are back. They are not nearly as threatening as in FE5 but still frustrating as hell sometimes. FE6 tends to group together status staves and it makes a somewhat uneventful map turn into a "oh fuck did i bring restore" check. Luckily there are very few maps where this is an issue, but I still felt it was worth noting.
- The one thing I REALLY liked about FE6 was the world building. The nations and their politics made the story of this game really fascinating, and I found myself wanting more of that and less of the dragon stuff to be quite honest. But maybe that's the consequence of playing these games back to back like this.
Overall, I like the vibes of FE6 and the world that it creates, but I feel like the gameplay is just kinda "eh" and after the spectacular gameplay of FE5, I felt a little disappointed. It's a solid game, just a little too safe after what felt like a great leap forward for the series.
Notes for my series replay:
- I'm just going to get it out of the way in this bullet because we're all thinking it: the first ten chapters of this game are fucking unbearable. Most Fire Emblem newcomers won't play this game first, so the fucking TEN tutorial levels that the game forces down your throat is obnoxious. For western players in 2003, I'm sure this was a necessary evil but replaying it is a tough pill to swallow. The story is whatever and the maps are baby food. That's about it. You COULD circumvent these levels by downloading a save off of GameFAQs, but I'd rather just have the tutorial be toggle-able.
- Getting to the actual game, however, I found that the story was actually semi-interesting at the start. Eliwood's tale of searching out his missing father was a new-ish spin on the classic case of FE daddy issues. I also found Hector and Eliwood's dynamic pretty endearing, and Lyn was also solid, but I felt a little less developed in the story than the other two. The story actually builds on FE6's lore of the Eight Legends pretty well, too. It's not the most revolutionary FE story there is, but it's solid for what it's trying to do.
- This game plays like baby mode FE6. I found myself blazing through maps, as there are very few threatening obstacles, other than a slew of underwhelming and generally non-threatening enemies. I didn't grind or arena abuse at all (I haven't been for this replay in favor of playing the intended way) but I still found most of the tools the game gave me to be far more than adequate to handle the chapters. This game doesn't shower you with pre-promotes in the mid game like FE6, but it does give you plenty of promotion items to buff your party early.
- The map design in FE7 is not as frustrating as it was in FE6, but I found them to suffer from the same case of tedious walking simulator. There were less gaiden objectives, too, so I found myself playing with my brain off essentially. Fliers are easily abusable in this entry, as the number of ballistas is laughable compared to FE5/6. There is very few instances of thief utility outside of doors/chests once again, so planning is just outfitting weapons and staves onto your team for the most part.
- The soundtrack is solid, I would say so far middle of the pack, that will change based on the later entries to come, but I think that this game still has some bangers. I love that "Campaign of Fire" uses part of "The Last Dragon" from FE6, as well as some re-use of classic FE tracks like "Knight's Vow" and "Together We Ride."
There isn't much to say about FE7 that I didn't really say about FE6. It feels like a good enough prequel FE6 game, minus the difficulty and, for lack of a better word, bullshit. I will lend to its' credit that the game has both Eliwood/Hector stories to tackle, AND their hard modes to add to the replayability, but honestly I found myself satisfied with just the one run through I had. In terms of Fire Emblem games, this feels like fast food, as it's not super high quality, but it is a quick hit of Fire Emblem, as the chapters tend to be really quick due to the lack of overall difficulty and depth compared to previous entries.
- I'm just going to get it out of the way in this bullet because we're all thinking it: the first ten chapters of this game are fucking unbearable. Most Fire Emblem newcomers won't play this game first, so the fucking TEN tutorial levels that the game forces down your throat is obnoxious. For western players in 2003, I'm sure this was a necessary evil but replaying it is a tough pill to swallow. The story is whatever and the maps are baby food. That's about it. You COULD circumvent these levels by downloading a save off of GameFAQs, but I'd rather just have the tutorial be toggle-able.
- Getting to the actual game, however, I found that the story was actually semi-interesting at the start. Eliwood's tale of searching out his missing father was a new-ish spin on the classic case of FE daddy issues. I also found Hector and Eliwood's dynamic pretty endearing, and Lyn was also solid, but I felt a little less developed in the story than the other two. The story actually builds on FE6's lore of the Eight Legends pretty well, too. It's not the most revolutionary FE story there is, but it's solid for what it's trying to do.
- This game plays like baby mode FE6. I found myself blazing through maps, as there are very few threatening obstacles, other than a slew of underwhelming and generally non-threatening enemies. I didn't grind or arena abuse at all (I haven't been for this replay in favor of playing the intended way) but I still found most of the tools the game gave me to be far more than adequate to handle the chapters. This game doesn't shower you with pre-promotes in the mid game like FE6, but it does give you plenty of promotion items to buff your party early.
- The map design in FE7 is not as frustrating as it was in FE6, but I found them to suffer from the same case of tedious walking simulator. There were less gaiden objectives, too, so I found myself playing with my brain off essentially. Fliers are easily abusable in this entry, as the number of ballistas is laughable compared to FE5/6. There is very few instances of thief utility outside of doors/chests once again, so planning is just outfitting weapons and staves onto your team for the most part.
- The soundtrack is solid, I would say so far middle of the pack, that will change based on the later entries to come, but I think that this game still has some bangers. I love that "Campaign of Fire" uses part of "The Last Dragon" from FE6, as well as some re-use of classic FE tracks like "Knight's Vow" and "Together We Ride."
There isn't much to say about FE7 that I didn't really say about FE6. It feels like a good enough prequel FE6 game, minus the difficulty and, for lack of a better word, bullshit. I will lend to its' credit that the game has both Eliwood/Hector stories to tackle, AND their hard modes to add to the replayability, but honestly I found myself satisfied with just the one run through I had. In terms of Fire Emblem games, this feels like fast food, as it's not super high quality, but it is a quick hit of Fire Emblem, as the chapters tend to be really quick due to the lack of overall difficulty and depth compared to previous entries.
Notes for my series replay:
- Pretty par for the course on GBA Fire Emblems in terms of presentation, looks a little bit more polished than the other two in some areas but ultimately plays the same.
- First game since Gaiden to have a world map, kinda neat throwback to Gaiden but just like in Gaiden it's mostly novelty and not super meaningful. If we're being technical, it actually has less purpose than Gaiden because it's a straight line and you never really have to deal with monster encounters unless you go to grind. Gaiden at least had branching paths in some cases that took you to different dungeons and maps. There are like 3 dungeons in FE8 and they don't really reward you with much of anything except for post game content.
- The easiest game I have played so far, even easier than FE7. I played Ephraim's route for my replay, and even the hardest chapter in that (chapter 14) was still mildly frustrating due to poor luck with status staves.
- Speaking of which, this must be the most straightforward entry thus far, as there are maybe like 3 maps with ballistas, occasionally siege tomes, and mostly just reinforcements to worry about, but they don't move on EP so it's not a huge deal. Yeah there are status staves, but their accuracy is kinda shoddy and you get PLENTY of restore staves, so proper positioning and burning the staves is easy enough.
- Given what I just mentioned, maps are hardly memorable or impactful. They feel pretty devoid of any real thought except for enemy placement and general setting. The bravest Sacred Stones gets with map design is putting you on three small boats in fog of war. Frustrating, sure, but not exactly engaging.
- To give credit where it's due, FE8 has an absolute slapper of a soundtrack. It goes extremely hard for absolutely no reason in some tracks. "Powerful Foe" is a awesome boss theme, "Truth, Despair, and Hope" fucking blew me out of the water the first time I heard it and it still makes me get hyped even on replays, and of course "Prince of Despair" is my favorite GBA main antag theme. In fact, of the three GBA titles, I would say either Sacred Stones has the best OST overall. It starts very mid, but picks up in the mid game and starts to blow your socks off.
- My last critique of Sacred Stones is that the cast of characters is kinda sleepy. I think there are a few awesome standouts like Joshua and Cormag, but otherwise I feel like this game has the most white bread cast up to this point, as without farming supports for dozens of turns, I get almost no characterization from most of the cast when they're recruited. And the few that you do get characterization from are just like knightly types, which is fine but it gets old after a few of them. None can touch the GOAT Seth, granted.
Overall, the best way I can describe Sacred Stones is that it has neat OST and presentation, but man is the game bland. It has a few neat departures from the standard, but ultimately they're making an already too easy game even easier. For me, I opted out of those features for the most part, and I felt like even as a standard FE game this falls a little flat in most places. Ephraim is funny though because he feels like a Michael Bay movie character in Fire Emblem which is kinda epic.
- Pretty par for the course on GBA Fire Emblems in terms of presentation, looks a little bit more polished than the other two in some areas but ultimately plays the same.
- First game since Gaiden to have a world map, kinda neat throwback to Gaiden but just like in Gaiden it's mostly novelty and not super meaningful. If we're being technical, it actually has less purpose than Gaiden because it's a straight line and you never really have to deal with monster encounters unless you go to grind. Gaiden at least had branching paths in some cases that took you to different dungeons and maps. There are like 3 dungeons in FE8 and they don't really reward you with much of anything except for post game content.
- The easiest game I have played so far, even easier than FE7. I played Ephraim's route for my replay, and even the hardest chapter in that (chapter 14) was still mildly frustrating due to poor luck with status staves.
- Speaking of which, this must be the most straightforward entry thus far, as there are maybe like 3 maps with ballistas, occasionally siege tomes, and mostly just reinforcements to worry about, but they don't move on EP so it's not a huge deal. Yeah there are status staves, but their accuracy is kinda shoddy and you get PLENTY of restore staves, so proper positioning and burning the staves is easy enough.
- Given what I just mentioned, maps are hardly memorable or impactful. They feel pretty devoid of any real thought except for enemy placement and general setting. The bravest Sacred Stones gets with map design is putting you on three small boats in fog of war. Frustrating, sure, but not exactly engaging.
- To give credit where it's due, FE8 has an absolute slapper of a soundtrack. It goes extremely hard for absolutely no reason in some tracks. "Powerful Foe" is a awesome boss theme, "Truth, Despair, and Hope" fucking blew me out of the water the first time I heard it and it still makes me get hyped even on replays, and of course "Prince of Despair" is my favorite GBA main antag theme. In fact, of the three GBA titles, I would say either Sacred Stones has the best OST overall. It starts very mid, but picks up in the mid game and starts to blow your socks off.
- My last critique of Sacred Stones is that the cast of characters is kinda sleepy. I think there are a few awesome standouts like Joshua and Cormag, but otherwise I feel like this game has the most white bread cast up to this point, as without farming supports for dozens of turns, I get almost no characterization from most of the cast when they're recruited. And the few that you do get characterization from are just like knightly types, which is fine but it gets old after a few of them. None can touch the GOAT Seth, granted.
Overall, the best way I can describe Sacred Stones is that it has neat OST and presentation, but man is the game bland. It has a few neat departures from the standard, but ultimately they're making an already too easy game even easier. For me, I opted out of those features for the most part, and I felt like even as a standard FE game this falls a little flat in most places. Ephraim is funny though because he feels like a Michael Bay movie character in Fire Emblem which is kinda epic.
Notes for my series replay:
- Right off the bat, this has to be my favorite art style for the characters in-game so far, I love the character designs too, as they feel very unique in this title.
- This game is very easy, and not in a "I've played all the FE's, I'm too good" way, but generally enemy density and the stats that they have are pretty much on par with your units for the entirety of the game on THE HARDEST DIFFICULTY. I am not kidding when I say that yes, you might be surprised by a few really fast myrmidons, or perhaps a status stave here or there and have to restart, but I only had to like 3 or 4 times this entire game.
- The game throws money, bonus xp, and really good units at you for a majority of the runtime, and I feel like this lends to why the game feels really easy for a lot of people as well.
-Speaking of bonus xp, the game introduces this mechanic to help out in training weaker units, or to even further buff up the units the player has a preference for. I found that this mechanic made basically every character in the game usable, even really high investment units like Rolf, which was a super fun addition. I found myself dumping hundreds of BEXP into units that I liked story-wise just to see if they could make the A-team and it honestly made me use more than just my set team every map. The game is VERY generous with BEXP in some cases.
- Another new feature with FE9 is the Base screen. This featured inventory management, the convoy, shops, armories, and even supports and info conversations. This was very welcome, as it felt like it centralized all of the important facets of combat preparation for a more streamlined experience. I really like this flow of gameplay, as removing shops and armories from maps and just putting them before battle was SO much better. I wouldn't just bring a throwaway unit with high mov to maps as my pack mule anymore, and I no longer had to wonder where the hell I put those javelins I bought three maps ago as well. This is much, much more preferable in my opinion.
- In terms of story, I would rank FE9 on par with Genealogy's story. The sheer amount of characters and political threads to follow is really interesting, I found myself engrossed in reading all the info conversations and supports between people. This game really sets up it's sequel well, which I was am itching to dive into after finishing these notes. I love all the themes of the cycle of violence and forgiveness, and I think that this game tackles some of the realest issues I've seen in a Fire Emblem game. Some people have issues with the brevity of how they are handled, but I personally thought they were tactful in most cases.
- This game feels like the birth of the modern support system. Supports are gained simply by being around other units or on the same map as them, rather than directly adjacent, and I was gaining support ranks at a rather decent clip as a result. This way felt much more natural and wayyyy less tedious.
- I don't have a whole lot to say about the map design, other than I think they did a great job of getting a variety of map objectives and settings. The maps aren't super memorable for me, but I think that they're fine for the game. I actually think this game's weakest suit is the maps, but they're still just par for the course FE maps, so I can't really subtract any points. To FE9's credit, however, it does have an awesome prison break map, even if it's not as good as FE5's.
- I think the soundtrack is fucking awesome. The revamped "Knight's Vow" for this was awesome, as well as "With Us" being one of my favorite recruitment themes ever. I think some of the map themes are a little lackluster compared to earlier entries, but honestly it fits the vibe of the game so well they just felt natural.
- I also need to make this claim before I forget, but Ike has to be top 3 lords in the series. I think that he is written brilliantly, and that he defies all of the expectations of an FE lord, even though he fits many of the archetypal tropes. I think that despite all of the memes about him being a meathead, himbo, etc, I think that he is actually one of the more introspective lords of the series in some cases, and if memory of FE10 serves, this game portrays him much better in that regard.
This game is a masterpiece. Not just for Fire Emblem titles, but on it's own two feet as well. I think that this game is an amazing jumping in point for beginners, but also an interesting entry for series veterans if you don't mind the slightly easier difficulty comparatively. Great story, great music, amazing character writing. Enough said.
- Right off the bat, this has to be my favorite art style for the characters in-game so far, I love the character designs too, as they feel very unique in this title.
- This game is very easy, and not in a "I've played all the FE's, I'm too good" way, but generally enemy density and the stats that they have are pretty much on par with your units for the entirety of the game on THE HARDEST DIFFICULTY. I am not kidding when I say that yes, you might be surprised by a few really fast myrmidons, or perhaps a status stave here or there and have to restart, but I only had to like 3 or 4 times this entire game.
- The game throws money, bonus xp, and really good units at you for a majority of the runtime, and I feel like this lends to why the game feels really easy for a lot of people as well.
-Speaking of bonus xp, the game introduces this mechanic to help out in training weaker units, or to even further buff up the units the player has a preference for. I found that this mechanic made basically every character in the game usable, even really high investment units like Rolf, which was a super fun addition. I found myself dumping hundreds of BEXP into units that I liked story-wise just to see if they could make the A-team and it honestly made me use more than just my set team every map. The game is VERY generous with BEXP in some cases.
- Another new feature with FE9 is the Base screen. This featured inventory management, the convoy, shops, armories, and even supports and info conversations. This was very welcome, as it felt like it centralized all of the important facets of combat preparation for a more streamlined experience. I really like this flow of gameplay, as removing shops and armories from maps and just putting them before battle was SO much better. I wouldn't just bring a throwaway unit with high mov to maps as my pack mule anymore, and I no longer had to wonder where the hell I put those javelins I bought three maps ago as well. This is much, much more preferable in my opinion.
- In terms of story, I would rank FE9 on par with Genealogy's story. The sheer amount of characters and political threads to follow is really interesting, I found myself engrossed in reading all the info conversations and supports between people. This game really sets up it's sequel well, which I was am itching to dive into after finishing these notes. I love all the themes of the cycle of violence and forgiveness, and I think that this game tackles some of the realest issues I've seen in a Fire Emblem game. Some people have issues with the brevity of how they are handled, but I personally thought they were tactful in most cases.
- This game feels like the birth of the modern support system. Supports are gained simply by being around other units or on the same map as them, rather than directly adjacent, and I was gaining support ranks at a rather decent clip as a result. This way felt much more natural and wayyyy less tedious.
- I don't have a whole lot to say about the map design, other than I think they did a great job of getting a variety of map objectives and settings. The maps aren't super memorable for me, but I think that they're fine for the game. I actually think this game's weakest suit is the maps, but they're still just par for the course FE maps, so I can't really subtract any points. To FE9's credit, however, it does have an awesome prison break map, even if it's not as good as FE5's.
- I think the soundtrack is fucking awesome. The revamped "Knight's Vow" for this was awesome, as well as "With Us" being one of my favorite recruitment themes ever. I think some of the map themes are a little lackluster compared to earlier entries, but honestly it fits the vibe of the game so well they just felt natural.
- I also need to make this claim before I forget, but Ike has to be top 3 lords in the series. I think that he is written brilliantly, and that he defies all of the expectations of an FE lord, even though he fits many of the archetypal tropes. I think that despite all of the memes about him being a meathead, himbo, etc, I think that he is actually one of the more introspective lords of the series in some cases, and if memory of FE10 serves, this game portrays him much better in that regard.
This game is a masterpiece. Not just for Fire Emblem titles, but on it's own two feet as well. I think that this game is an amazing jumping in point for beginners, but also an interesting entry for series veterans if you don't mind the slightly easier difficulty comparatively. Great story, great music, amazing character writing. Enough said.
Notes for my series replay:
-This is the most ambitious Fire Emblem title. The gameplay and story structure is unlike anything Fire Emblem had tried prior to this, and it's super fascinating. The game has a huge ensemble cast of characters often at odds with each other and the narrative is very grand scale most of the time. It's fucking awesome.
-The gameplay is also very tight this time around. Characters feel more balanced than in PoR, and you are often times presented with a limited range of characters, making your team for a given part become important to you for a short time. Every unit has a niche at one point or another in the grand scheme of the game, save for a few with really limited combat potential.
-This game introduces elevation, which is a super neat concept that they haven't toyed with before or since, which makes me a little sad. The maps in Radiant Dawn have insane verticality and it makes the map feel more dynamic, as well as your positioning twice as important. It also entices the player to play around the high ground.
- Radiant Dawn is awfully close if not surpasses the diversity of map objectives that Thracia 776 has, which was one of my many praises of that game. This game is not just a rout the enemy/seize fest, but has some really interesting objectives, such as burning enemy supplies, or thinning enough enemy forces against a never-ending wave of reinforcements. This game keeps the player on their toes, but not in an unfair or bullshit way, which I really appreciate.
-This game also feels like the sweet spot for difficulty, as I was playing on NA normal mode and it felt very rewarding to get through a particularly tight chapter with all of my units still alive and kicking.
-Bonus XP got an overhaul in this game, as they reworked the formula to make it more balanced. It now scales with your level, making it less effective the higher level you are, but it guarantees three stats per level up, which can be handy if you're looking to cap stats. The game gives you BEXP like candy depending on how many optional objectives you clear per chapter, which also was a nice incentive to haul ass on maps.
- In terms of character writing and story, I have a few qualms with the Dawn Brigade's story, especially getting into part 3. I think that the blood pact was... interesting, but ultimately hindered the story of Pelleas and Micaiah. It felt like a device simply for getting Micaiah to square off against Ike, and I think there could have been a better way to put the two at odds that a plot contrivance. I honestly thought it served Naesala's character better than it did Pelleas, but I still disagree with opting to go that route. Micaiah choosing to blindly go with Pelleas felt like she was a Camus archetype, which is a neat spin on it, but then got ultimately subverted by the pact revelation.
-The soundtrack is fuckin amazing. I think that this game has to be top 3 Fire Emblem soundtracks, as it has so many bangers: "Eternal Bond," "A Grasping Truth," "On Glory's Wings," "Bearer of Hope," etc. They all have such an insane range, but also get me absolutely pumped to keep playing.
(EDIT: I remembered my last two points later, so I will be adding them below to keep tldr at the end.)
-Tier 3 classes are fucking awesome and feel so rewarding, especially since they aren't in any other FE titles up to this point, so I always feel super powerful with them, but also this felt like a better way to handle mastery skills. Getting Astra/Luna/Impale etc when you finally grind up to T3 is so rewarding for that dopamine receiver in my brain, I don't know why.
-Lastly, I think that the skill system overall was handled much, much better. I think the fact that characters can now trade skills is fucking awesome, because now you can have crazy shit like Uber Swordmasters with Wrath, Resolve, Astra, etc. I think this still kinda ties in with T3 classes but the power trip I felt with a completely roided full skill capacity T3 class was insane. Edward was going fucking ham in the final act. Yeah, there's some dumb shit like fucking Corrosion and Disarm, but to be honest, the biggest question mark skill in this game is Vantage. Why did they make it a speed check and not an HP threshold? Felt very odd to me, but I guess they were worried about wrath/resolve/vantage? Can't really wrap my head around it.
I wanted to write more about this game, but have played more FE games since, so the thoughts are fleeting, but my final conclusion about Radiant Dawn is as follows: this game is the best Fire Emblem post-Kaga. The ambition is insane, the scope is grand, and everything save for the presentation (which is a slight dip from PoR) mastered the formula they laid out in FE9.
-This is the most ambitious Fire Emblem title. The gameplay and story structure is unlike anything Fire Emblem had tried prior to this, and it's super fascinating. The game has a huge ensemble cast of characters often at odds with each other and the narrative is very grand scale most of the time. It's fucking awesome.
-The gameplay is also very tight this time around. Characters feel more balanced than in PoR, and you are often times presented with a limited range of characters, making your team for a given part become important to you for a short time. Every unit has a niche at one point or another in the grand scheme of the game, save for a few with really limited combat potential.
-This game introduces elevation, which is a super neat concept that they haven't toyed with before or since, which makes me a little sad. The maps in Radiant Dawn have insane verticality and it makes the map feel more dynamic, as well as your positioning twice as important. It also entices the player to play around the high ground.
- Radiant Dawn is awfully close if not surpasses the diversity of map objectives that Thracia 776 has, which was one of my many praises of that game. This game is not just a rout the enemy/seize fest, but has some really interesting objectives, such as burning enemy supplies, or thinning enough enemy forces against a never-ending wave of reinforcements. This game keeps the player on their toes, but not in an unfair or bullshit way, which I really appreciate.
-This game also feels like the sweet spot for difficulty, as I was playing on NA normal mode and it felt very rewarding to get through a particularly tight chapter with all of my units still alive and kicking.
-Bonus XP got an overhaul in this game, as they reworked the formula to make it more balanced. It now scales with your level, making it less effective the higher level you are, but it guarantees three stats per level up, which can be handy if you're looking to cap stats. The game gives you BEXP like candy depending on how many optional objectives you clear per chapter, which also was a nice incentive to haul ass on maps.
- In terms of character writing and story, I have a few qualms with the Dawn Brigade's story, especially getting into part 3. I think that the blood pact was... interesting, but ultimately hindered the story of Pelleas and Micaiah. It felt like a device simply for getting Micaiah to square off against Ike, and I think there could have been a better way to put the two at odds that a plot contrivance. I honestly thought it served Naesala's character better than it did Pelleas, but I still disagree with opting to go that route. Micaiah choosing to blindly go with Pelleas felt like she was a Camus archetype, which is a neat spin on it, but then got ultimately subverted by the pact revelation.
-The soundtrack is fuckin amazing. I think that this game has to be top 3 Fire Emblem soundtracks, as it has so many bangers: "Eternal Bond," "A Grasping Truth," "On Glory's Wings," "Bearer of Hope," etc. They all have such an insane range, but also get me absolutely pumped to keep playing.
(EDIT: I remembered my last two points later, so I will be adding them below to keep tldr at the end.)
-Tier 3 classes are fucking awesome and feel so rewarding, especially since they aren't in any other FE titles up to this point, so I always feel super powerful with them, but also this felt like a better way to handle mastery skills. Getting Astra/Luna/Impale etc when you finally grind up to T3 is so rewarding for that dopamine receiver in my brain, I don't know why.
-Lastly, I think that the skill system overall was handled much, much better. I think the fact that characters can now trade skills is fucking awesome, because now you can have crazy shit like Uber Swordmasters with Wrath, Resolve, Astra, etc. I think this still kinda ties in with T3 classes but the power trip I felt with a completely roided full skill capacity T3 class was insane. Edward was going fucking ham in the final act. Yeah, there's some dumb shit like fucking Corrosion and Disarm, but to be honest, the biggest question mark skill in this game is Vantage. Why did they make it a speed check and not an HP threshold? Felt very odd to me, but I guess they were worried about wrath/resolve/vantage? Can't really wrap my head around it.
I wanted to write more about this game, but have played more FE games since, so the thoughts are fleeting, but my final conclusion about Radiant Dawn is as follows: this game is the best Fire Emblem post-Kaga. The ambition is insane, the scope is grand, and everything save for the presentation (which is a slight dip from PoR) mastered the formula they laid out in FE9.
Notes for my series replay:
-I'm going to get mention this right off the bat, I think this is the ugliest Fire Emblem game. I know graphics aren't what makes a good game, but they aren't completely irrelevant either. This game and its sequel are ranking among my least favorite FE titles in terms of presentation, granted the NES games look worse, but are a product of their time. There's no excuse for how muddy Shadow Dragon looks.
-Getting past that, the gameplay is pretty much what I wrote about FE1, save for enemies being a little more competent this time around, as I was playing on Hard 1 for time's sake. Marth, however, has become a bit of a liability compared to his NES self. His aggro quirk is now gone with this remake, nor is he quite as good as he was on the NES. He's still a solid unit worth training due to being a force deploy for every map, but he's just not quite as good as the NES version.
-Every map is a seize map. I respect the faithfulness to the original game but this game feels like a step back in many ways from the diverse gameplay of FE10.
-The one thing I will give this game credit for, is the modern reclass system. This is the first game in the series to allow a unit to change their class into an entirely different one. For instance, Wyvern Knight Jagen. Or Myrmidon Caeda, or Mage Draug. This adds a lot of depth to how the player can approach maps in SD, as you can go all out mounted units, or you could choose to build a brick wall of armored knights (don't do that). This feels like the blueprint for Awakening onwards, as nothing was quite like this up until now in terms of class changes.
-The soundtrack is super solid. Nice remakes of beloved FE tracks, but also THERE IS MORE THAN 2 FUCKING MAP THEMES!!!! I love the first map theme, don't get me wrong. But I was ready to pull my hair out after FE1 and FE3 book 1.
- The prologue was... interesting? I played it just to see what it was like on a separate save, and it serves as a solid tutorial. At least it's not as egregious as Lyn's tutorials were, where they would often choose your actions for you. Relatively unoffensive and just kinda there.
Not going to write a whole lot about Shadow Dragon, as it's a VERY faithful remake to FE1. I think that the gameplay is a fucking mile better than the original, but in terms of story or characters, it's barely better than the source material, which is a little disappointing. First NA release of Marth, though. So that's neat.
-I'm going to get mention this right off the bat, I think this is the ugliest Fire Emblem game. I know graphics aren't what makes a good game, but they aren't completely irrelevant either. This game and its sequel are ranking among my least favorite FE titles in terms of presentation, granted the NES games look worse, but are a product of their time. There's no excuse for how muddy Shadow Dragon looks.
-Getting past that, the gameplay is pretty much what I wrote about FE1, save for enemies being a little more competent this time around, as I was playing on Hard 1 for time's sake. Marth, however, has become a bit of a liability compared to his NES self. His aggro quirk is now gone with this remake, nor is he quite as good as he was on the NES. He's still a solid unit worth training due to being a force deploy for every map, but he's just not quite as good as the NES version.
-Every map is a seize map. I respect the faithfulness to the original game but this game feels like a step back in many ways from the diverse gameplay of FE10.
-The one thing I will give this game credit for, is the modern reclass system. This is the first game in the series to allow a unit to change their class into an entirely different one. For instance, Wyvern Knight Jagen. Or Myrmidon Caeda, or Mage Draug. This adds a lot of depth to how the player can approach maps in SD, as you can go all out mounted units, or you could choose to build a brick wall of armored knights (don't do that). This feels like the blueprint for Awakening onwards, as nothing was quite like this up until now in terms of class changes.
-The soundtrack is super solid. Nice remakes of beloved FE tracks, but also THERE IS MORE THAN 2 FUCKING MAP THEMES!!!! I love the first map theme, don't get me wrong. But I was ready to pull my hair out after FE1 and FE3 book 1.
- The prologue was... interesting? I played it just to see what it was like on a separate save, and it serves as a solid tutorial. At least it's not as egregious as Lyn's tutorials were, where they would often choose your actions for you. Relatively unoffensive and just kinda there.
Not going to write a whole lot about Shadow Dragon, as it's a VERY faithful remake to FE1. I think that the gameplay is a fucking mile better than the original, but in terms of story or characters, it's barely better than the source material, which is a little disappointing. First NA release of Marth, though. So that's neat.
Notes for my series replay:
- See my SD review about this games' presentation (if you care).
- I want to get the elephant in the room addressed before I talk about anything else. Kris is a fucking wild addition to this game. I think that the drawn-out prologue the exposition dumps Kris and Katarina's relationship is kinda terrible, and their chemistry even worse. Kris absolutely obliterates any semblance of balance that Mystery had, which wasn't much to begin with, mind you. Kris is the most malleable unit in the game, with essentially infinite potential. I don't know how they didn't expect this character to snap the game over their leg, or maybe they just didn't care, but honestly Kris' presence diminishes Marth's story in this game, and I didn't really care for it. FE3 is fucking awesome because Marth travels the path of Anri, this untouchable hero whose legacy he's expected to fulfill, but rather he rises above that and breaks the curse of Anri and Artemis, as well as putting Medeus back in the ground. So tell me why they decided to put his OP Gary Stew bodyguard in this remake, completely negating that entire arc for Marth??? Wild.
-Previous anger aside, I think that this game is super interesting from a gameplay perspective. Kris obviously trivializes the difficulty, but this game has so many tools for the player to abuse other than Kris, I wanted to note a few. The Again staff is a dancer staff that is never seen again after this, which is a shame. Warp and Rescue are back, as well as Hammerne. This game has an abundance of powerful staves, making it feel like this game very breakable aside from Kris (on lower difficulties, that is).
- Seize maps. Again, it's a remake, I get it. But seize maps that are fucking massive, which involves moving Marth long ass distances across the map, despite being a foot-locked unit. Those boots can't come fast enough. Oh, and no rescue dropping either, just like Shadow Dragon.
- All of that hate aside, I still love the reclass system, as having half a dozen Dracoknights bowling across a map is really satisfying. It also helps a lot with getting through some of the tougher maps in the mid-game, as there are flying dragons, and if you don't intercept them, they can be a serious threat to your weaker supportive units.
- I gotta hop back on the hate bus for my last point, but I honestly prefer the FE3 soundtrack to this game. I find that the tracks lose a lot of their luster given the more "grounded" tone they were going for this time. For instance, "Holy War" sounds a lot less emotionally driven in this game, which was a huge blow for me. There are some tracks I prefer in this game, like the Hardin battle theme, but ultimately, this game feels like a more washed out take on the original's OST.
I feel bad writing such a negative review on this game, as it's honestly not too bad to play, but having just played the game it's based off of, I found myself sorely disappointed in many areas. It's kind of ironic, because I get on Shadow Dragon's case for being too close to the original source material, but then most of the changes this game made were kinda downgrades, so I still prefer Shadow Dragon of the two? It's strange. Tl;dr, fun gameplay, but seriously neutered version of FE3.
- See my SD review about this games' presentation (if you care).
- I want to get the elephant in the room addressed before I talk about anything else. Kris is a fucking wild addition to this game. I think that the drawn-out prologue the exposition dumps Kris and Katarina's relationship is kinda terrible, and their chemistry even worse. Kris absolutely obliterates any semblance of balance that Mystery had, which wasn't much to begin with, mind you. Kris is the most malleable unit in the game, with essentially infinite potential. I don't know how they didn't expect this character to snap the game over their leg, or maybe they just didn't care, but honestly Kris' presence diminishes Marth's story in this game, and I didn't really care for it. FE3 is fucking awesome because Marth travels the path of Anri, this untouchable hero whose legacy he's expected to fulfill, but rather he rises above that and breaks the curse of Anri and Artemis, as well as putting Medeus back in the ground. So tell me why they decided to put his OP Gary Stew bodyguard in this remake, completely negating that entire arc for Marth??? Wild.
-Previous anger aside, I think that this game is super interesting from a gameplay perspective. Kris obviously trivializes the difficulty, but this game has so many tools for the player to abuse other than Kris, I wanted to note a few. The Again staff is a dancer staff that is never seen again after this, which is a shame. Warp and Rescue are back, as well as Hammerne. This game has an abundance of powerful staves, making it feel like this game very breakable aside from Kris (on lower difficulties, that is).
- Seize maps. Again, it's a remake, I get it. But seize maps that are fucking massive, which involves moving Marth long ass distances across the map, despite being a foot-locked unit. Those boots can't come fast enough. Oh, and no rescue dropping either, just like Shadow Dragon.
- All of that hate aside, I still love the reclass system, as having half a dozen Dracoknights bowling across a map is really satisfying. It also helps a lot with getting through some of the tougher maps in the mid-game, as there are flying dragons, and if you don't intercept them, they can be a serious threat to your weaker supportive units.
- I gotta hop back on the hate bus for my last point, but I honestly prefer the FE3 soundtrack to this game. I find that the tracks lose a lot of their luster given the more "grounded" tone they were going for this time. For instance, "Holy War" sounds a lot less emotionally driven in this game, which was a huge blow for me. There are some tracks I prefer in this game, like the Hardin battle theme, but ultimately, this game feels like a more washed out take on the original's OST.
I feel bad writing such a negative review on this game, as it's honestly not too bad to play, but having just played the game it's based off of, I found myself sorely disappointed in many areas. It's kind of ironic, because I get on Shadow Dragon's case for being too close to the original source material, but then most of the changes this game made were kinda downgrades, so I still prefer Shadow Dragon of the two? It's strange. Tl;dr, fun gameplay, but seriously neutered version of FE3.
Notes for my series replay:
- This game has a very unique start for the series up until now. The whole third act prologue is very interesting and got me decently engaged my first time around. Subsequent playthroughs felt like I had been had, but still neat I guess.
- I hope you like Rout the Enemy maps, because Awakening exclusively has Rout and Kill the Boss maps. The maps are nothing to write home about either, as they are mostly pretty static, with maybe 1-2 waves of reinforcements. But Awakening is special, because Hard onwards has AMBUSH reinforcements which is so fucking cool. I felt like this game's difficulty was decently low until my dancer bit the dust due to getting oneshot by a surprise mage. Most times, if you see stairs or forts, you should just block them. But I am still going to be spiteful because I can.
- This game is interesting because it feels like it ran with the reclass system from DSFE and turned it into what it is today. Second Seals were such an interesting and absolutely BROKEN addition to FE13. It added a neat level of customization to your army, as you could reclass anyone you wanted to your heart's content, as Seals are not by any stretch a rare commodity.
- I have stopped making notes about Thieves because they have been glorified lockpicks since FE6, but I want to just say that this game at least lets your other units get access to locktouch, as well as making thieves decent combat units with some reclassing.
- This game went completely overboard with the class skills, as now characters have a flat five skill slots rather than capacity, and it allows for some disgusting skill combinations. For instance, you could run a Vantage/Vengeance dark mage that is essentially invincible because for some reason Nosferatu is fucking broken in this game. You could run an Omni-breaker tactician who just dodges fucking everything, like the one I ran into on Streetpass in 2020 for some reason. The possibilities are only limited by your willingness to grind xp for literal hours in the DLC maps.
- In my last point, I stated that "for some reason Nosferatu is broken", I would like to rectify that comment. I know why Nosferatu is broken, and it's because THEY TOOK AWAY FUCKING WEAPON WEIGHT. What in the blue fuck compelled IS to remove the only thing that balanced stronger weapons in Fire Emblem? In every Fire Emblem prior, dark mages usually sucked fucking balls because they got weighed down to shit because they had 0 con and were slow. But Tharja literally snaps the game over her knee due to the fact that she is decently fast and has no penalties whatsoever. Maybe her hit is a little shaky here and there, but just pairing her up completely negates that problem.
-Speaking of pair up, I wonder what they were thinking with that. It's a neat idea, right? But I just wonder why they were complacent with "lose a unit, gain a unit that now has fucking super powers." Like some of the pair up bonuses are actually obscene in this game, giving characters like +10 or 11 to a stat, essentially covering up any weaknesses they might have. For instance, my Cordelia had like 20 Str by the final chapter because I hadn't been using her as much as Sumia. But none of that mattered because she had an S support with my warrior Donnel who gave +10 Str or some shit every time they paired up. He gains flier mobility, and she gets to be an unstoppable fucking monster, and that's without Galeforce, god knows what she would be with it.
- Galeforce is another issue with FE13, as it furthers the canyon between footlocked units and fliers, as now they get to act twice per turn with no real downside, and it can be inherited to their children as well, who essentially turn out to be better versions of their parents with a little more effort. Oddly enough, they didn't think Canto was okay to bring back... but Galeforce got the green light. I think about that every time I play this game.
-Children are a whole can of worms in this game, but I don't really have the mental energy to write about them in depth, other than neat concept, wildly overpowered and created a rift in the FE community in terms of gameplay focus. They're fine, essentially just weirder versions of their parents with better stats and skill accessibility.
- The plot is solid, I think it could have honestly leaned more into the lore of Archanea and Valentia if they were brave enough, as I think that there are some parallels to be made between Walhart and Alm/Rudolf, and I would love to see if the story had something in terms of Chrom and Marth. It just felt a little generic, with some surprisingly hard hitting moments. I definitely got choked up this time around when Lucina reveals her identity to Chrom and breaks down crying, or when she threatens Robin to protect her father.
- The soundtrack for Awakening is honestly my least favorite of the 3DS titles, but still really, really good. I enjoy "Conquest," "Don't Speak Her Name," "You Have Power Like Mine," and "Id (Sorrow)."
I know I just bitched about game balance in Awakening for a hot minute, but I still really enjoy this game, if for nothing else, the power fantasy. I think that this game is a fun entry if you want to dominate the battlefield with some really good units. The cast is pretty fun, the music is gorgeous, and I think that you could have a worse time with an FE title. The game might be just good, but at least it's not egregiously annoying or tedious like other entries in this series. It also has a nice little bit of fan service here and there as well.
(Fun fact as a last bit: this game both came out on my birthday, and was also my first FE game!)
- This game has a very unique start for the series up until now. The whole third act prologue is very interesting and got me decently engaged my first time around. Subsequent playthroughs felt like I had been had, but still neat I guess.
- I hope you like Rout the Enemy maps, because Awakening exclusively has Rout and Kill the Boss maps. The maps are nothing to write home about either, as they are mostly pretty static, with maybe 1-2 waves of reinforcements. But Awakening is special, because Hard onwards has AMBUSH reinforcements which is so fucking cool. I felt like this game's difficulty was decently low until my dancer bit the dust due to getting oneshot by a surprise mage. Most times, if you see stairs or forts, you should just block them. But I am still going to be spiteful because I can.
- This game is interesting because it feels like it ran with the reclass system from DSFE and turned it into what it is today. Second Seals were such an interesting and absolutely BROKEN addition to FE13. It added a neat level of customization to your army, as you could reclass anyone you wanted to your heart's content, as Seals are not by any stretch a rare commodity.
- I have stopped making notes about Thieves because they have been glorified lockpicks since FE6, but I want to just say that this game at least lets your other units get access to locktouch, as well as making thieves decent combat units with some reclassing.
- This game went completely overboard with the class skills, as now characters have a flat five skill slots rather than capacity, and it allows for some disgusting skill combinations. For instance, you could run a Vantage/Vengeance dark mage that is essentially invincible because for some reason Nosferatu is fucking broken in this game. You could run an Omni-breaker tactician who just dodges fucking everything, like the one I ran into on Streetpass in 2020 for some reason. The possibilities are only limited by your willingness to grind xp for literal hours in the DLC maps.
- In my last point, I stated that "for some reason Nosferatu is broken", I would like to rectify that comment. I know why Nosferatu is broken, and it's because THEY TOOK AWAY FUCKING WEAPON WEIGHT. What in the blue fuck compelled IS to remove the only thing that balanced stronger weapons in Fire Emblem? In every Fire Emblem prior, dark mages usually sucked fucking balls because they got weighed down to shit because they had 0 con and were slow. But Tharja literally snaps the game over her knee due to the fact that she is decently fast and has no penalties whatsoever. Maybe her hit is a little shaky here and there, but just pairing her up completely negates that problem.
-Speaking of pair up, I wonder what they were thinking with that. It's a neat idea, right? But I just wonder why they were complacent with "lose a unit, gain a unit that now has fucking super powers." Like some of the pair up bonuses are actually obscene in this game, giving characters like +10 or 11 to a stat, essentially covering up any weaknesses they might have. For instance, my Cordelia had like 20 Str by the final chapter because I hadn't been using her as much as Sumia. But none of that mattered because she had an S support with my warrior Donnel who gave +10 Str or some shit every time they paired up. He gains flier mobility, and she gets to be an unstoppable fucking monster, and that's without Galeforce, god knows what she would be with it.
- Galeforce is another issue with FE13, as it furthers the canyon between footlocked units and fliers, as now they get to act twice per turn with no real downside, and it can be inherited to their children as well, who essentially turn out to be better versions of their parents with a little more effort. Oddly enough, they didn't think Canto was okay to bring back... but Galeforce got the green light. I think about that every time I play this game.
-Children are a whole can of worms in this game, but I don't really have the mental energy to write about them in depth, other than neat concept, wildly overpowered and created a rift in the FE community in terms of gameplay focus. They're fine, essentially just weirder versions of their parents with better stats and skill accessibility.
- The plot is solid, I think it could have honestly leaned more into the lore of Archanea and Valentia if they were brave enough, as I think that there are some parallels to be made between Walhart and Alm/Rudolf, and I would love to see if the story had something in terms of Chrom and Marth. It just felt a little generic, with some surprisingly hard hitting moments. I definitely got choked up this time around when Lucina reveals her identity to Chrom and breaks down crying, or when she threatens Robin to protect her father.
- The soundtrack for Awakening is honestly my least favorite of the 3DS titles, but still really, really good. I enjoy "Conquest," "Don't Speak Her Name," "You Have Power Like Mine," and "Id (Sorrow)."
I know I just bitched about game balance in Awakening for a hot minute, but I still really enjoy this game, if for nothing else, the power fantasy. I think that this game is a fun entry if you want to dominate the battlefield with some really good units. The cast is pretty fun, the music is gorgeous, and I think that you could have a worse time with an FE title. The game might be just good, but at least it's not egregiously annoying or tedious like other entries in this series. It also has a nice little bit of fan service here and there as well.
(Fun fact as a last bit: this game both came out on my birthday, and was also my first FE game!)
2023
I was not optimistic about this game. I was among the many people that initially panned the game for the character designs, and even still don't love them really. But I have done a complete 180 on this game, and I am kind of in love with it now.
- Gameplay: This is the strongest aspect of this game in my mind. I think that this is a nice balance between classic and modern FE, as there is a wide variety of skills and class building without diluting the balance of the game, as there didn't seem to be a steam-roll unit in my hard/classic playthrough, although I didn't really try looking very hard as I was just enjoying myself. Armor Knights got a HUGE buff in this entry which honestly I was down with, and the gap between mounted unit and foot unit efficiency is reduced drastically. Warp skipping is less effective, and ultimately the game uses the emblem mechanic to a really solid degree. Some emblems are just kinda eh, such as Lyn, but others can be ridiculous on the right units, such as Corrin on a covert unit giving Yunaka like 190 avoid or some wild number.
- Visuals: This is hands down the best looking and performing Fire Emblem game. This game is mostly 60 with a few dips here and there, but nothing very significant. The colors look great, and for the most part, the game is gorgeous. Yes, I am still in the camp that a lot of the character designs are pretty bad, but I think there are some really solid ones as well, such as Diamante, Yunaka, Alfred, Kagetsu, etc. I think the anime-ification of this game is way overblown, especially given that the series has been anime basically since its' conception.
- Music: This has to be top 5 switch game soundtracks imo, this game has a fucking insane ost. I think that some of the Engage map themes flop to some extent, but the Firene map theme, the Solm map theme, and Tear Streaked are fucking awesome. All of the reworked classic music goes absolutely insane, I found myself blasting that shit way too loud through my headphones whenever I was doing the trial maps. And last of all, the main theme. Yes, it's very 4kids, but if you just take it at face value and accept that it was made to be campy, it's kinda great. I like it a lot, and have had it stuck in my head for a long time now.
- Characters/Story: Okay, now the praises are going to stop. This is where the game kinda falls short in a lot of regards. Long story short, this game does not have a good story. It has a lot of strange and unpredictable twists, sure, but for just as many, there are very obvious twists that don't really do anything for me, as well as drawn out cutscenes that don't really develop anything in a meaningful way. I was not floored by the story, but I also think that it is far from the worst we've gotten from FE. In my opinion, this game's story is still better than Fates and Sacred Stones, but I feel like I will be alone in that regard. The characters are nothing special, either. I found some of them to be charming, but ultimately, this game falls into the unfortunate trap that most modern FE games do of making a character feel like they have one defining characteristic that shapes most of their supports, and that makes me a little sad. But that being said, they are solid enough in that regard and felt on par with Fates in terms of character writing.
Final comments: Yes, I understand this game is very fanservice-y and might not be what everyone wanted, but I also can appreciate the fact that this is a celebration of Fire Emblem, and it makes me sad that a lot of fans are crucifying it for not being the next step from Three Houses, as I see a lot of people claiming this "is Fire Emblem for people who don't get Fire Emblem" both on this site and on Twitter, which is kind of cringe. Yes, it has its cheesy shounen anime moments, and the story is a little shit, but honestly I had more fun playing Engage than I could have ever expected, and I hope that people give it the credit it deserves. I plan on starting a Maddening playthrough of the game relatively soon, as I heard from others it is actually quite fair unlike Lunatic+ Awakening/Maddening 3H.
- Gameplay: This is the strongest aspect of this game in my mind. I think that this is a nice balance between classic and modern FE, as there is a wide variety of skills and class building without diluting the balance of the game, as there didn't seem to be a steam-roll unit in my hard/classic playthrough, although I didn't really try looking very hard as I was just enjoying myself. Armor Knights got a HUGE buff in this entry which honestly I was down with, and the gap between mounted unit and foot unit efficiency is reduced drastically. Warp skipping is less effective, and ultimately the game uses the emblem mechanic to a really solid degree. Some emblems are just kinda eh, such as Lyn, but others can be ridiculous on the right units, such as Corrin on a covert unit giving Yunaka like 190 avoid or some wild number.
- Visuals: This is hands down the best looking and performing Fire Emblem game. This game is mostly 60 with a few dips here and there, but nothing very significant. The colors look great, and for the most part, the game is gorgeous. Yes, I am still in the camp that a lot of the character designs are pretty bad, but I think there are some really solid ones as well, such as Diamante, Yunaka, Alfred, Kagetsu, etc. I think the anime-ification of this game is way overblown, especially given that the series has been anime basically since its' conception.
- Music: This has to be top 5 switch game soundtracks imo, this game has a fucking insane ost. I think that some of the Engage map themes flop to some extent, but the Firene map theme, the Solm map theme, and Tear Streaked are fucking awesome. All of the reworked classic music goes absolutely insane, I found myself blasting that shit way too loud through my headphones whenever I was doing the trial maps. And last of all, the main theme. Yes, it's very 4kids, but if you just take it at face value and accept that it was made to be campy, it's kinda great. I like it a lot, and have had it stuck in my head for a long time now.
- Characters/Story: Okay, now the praises are going to stop. This is where the game kinda falls short in a lot of regards. Long story short, this game does not have a good story. It has a lot of strange and unpredictable twists, sure, but for just as many, there are very obvious twists that don't really do anything for me, as well as drawn out cutscenes that don't really develop anything in a meaningful way. I was not floored by the story, but I also think that it is far from the worst we've gotten from FE. In my opinion, this game's story is still better than Fates and Sacred Stones, but I feel like I will be alone in that regard. The characters are nothing special, either. I found some of them to be charming, but ultimately, this game falls into the unfortunate trap that most modern FE games do of making a character feel like they have one defining characteristic that shapes most of their supports, and that makes me a little sad. But that being said, they are solid enough in that regard and felt on par with Fates in terms of character writing.
Final comments: Yes, I understand this game is very fanservice-y and might not be what everyone wanted, but I also can appreciate the fact that this is a celebration of Fire Emblem, and it makes me sad that a lot of fans are crucifying it for not being the next step from Three Houses, as I see a lot of people claiming this "is Fire Emblem for people who don't get Fire Emblem" both on this site and on Twitter, which is kind of cringe. Yes, it has its cheesy shounen anime moments, and the story is a little shit, but honestly I had more fun playing Engage than I could have ever expected, and I hope that people give it the credit it deserves. I plan on starting a Maddening playthrough of the game relatively soon, as I heard from others it is actually quite fair unlike Lunatic+ Awakening/Maddening 3H.
peak beat em up shitty licensed movie tie-in game
-- Warning, strong language --
This review is not a part of my FE series replay reviews, as I am not being "objective" or "fair" as game reviewers tend to think they are. I am here to CLEAR SOME SHIT UP for glue eating individuals that say this game is bad. This one is personal for me because I'm tired of hearing the same tired ass takes about this masterpiece of a game, because even though liking it isn't a hot take, dissenters of this game have one fuckin critique and still rank it among the worst in the series, which is egregiously cap when Revelations and Sacred Stones exist and are actively the worst games.
Let's talk about expectations for a Fire Emblem game nowadays, as I feel like especially right after the release of Engage, I've come to understand what FE fans have come to expect from a new entry in the series. I imagine the thoughts bouncing around in their heads sound a little something like this:
"Wow! I can't believe we're getting a new FE, I sure hope that it has the weapon triangle, a fully fledged child/marriage system with skill inheritance, shit fuckloads of skills to grind and abuse in combat, and hella optional maps for grinding. Otherwise I'm going to pound my chest like an ape on twitter dot com and scream about how the franchise is going down the shitter and elitists are the bane of the fucking franchise."
While they're right about that very last part, I feel like this game was victim to these expectations, as I have seen nothing but idiot after idiot complaining about something or other that this game didn't completely fucking axe from the original experience. Let's real talk for a second here: the original game sucks fucking donkey dick. Gaiden is by no means a fun experience. I just replayed it. You are a fuckin contrarian if you say it is, and a super mega chud if you say it's better than this game. This is a remake, and while it does very little to improve the shitty map design and approach to enemy placement (or lack thereof), it does SO FUCKING MUCH to reimagine and improve the limited source material and create something truly magical that you have to be a soulless bastard to hate this.
- Gameplay: This is the actual worst part of the game, but not nearly as bad as people make it out to be, and in fact, Three Houses stole many aspects of this game's playbook for itself. For instance, this entry gave us the Mila Turnwheel, something that every entry since has seen, as well as combat arts, something that Three Houses made an integral aspect of its combat. While the maps are often just locations with enemies placed on them with little-to-no rhyme or reason, I find that the maps aren't nearly as atrocious if you just don't suck balls at the game. Crazy idea, using the tools the game gives you to beat it, such as warp rescue strats on Alm's route, Peg knight abuse against cantors and monsters on Celica's route, and just using your brain on either. Yes, swamp maps are annoying, but also, they added the turnwheel for a reason, so use it.
-Map Design: It's fucking trash. Like this is the one weakness of the game in my mind. The maps are not fun to play, at best, unit growth is something to drive the player on maps, but no real meaningful side objectives or obj variety on maps. However, again, as this is a remake, there is only so much they can do with this, as Gaiden was a JPN only title prior to this, and if they HAD done radical revisions, it would honestly change the identity of the game.
-Soundtrack: This game has the best soundtrack in the entire fucking series. Fates might be a close second, but this is the greatest glow-up of a remake's soundtrack I've ever heard. If you need proof: "Lord of a Dead Empire," "Scion's Dance in Purgatory," "The Sacrifice and the Saint," "Pride and Arrogance," "With Mila's Divine Protection," "TWILIGHT OF THE GODS," do I need to list any fucking more??? "Heritors of Arcadia"???? Anything else? It's not close, and tbh it doesn't fall into the very common FE trope in modern entries of shoe horning the fuck out of the main motif into every single goddamn map theme in the game, thank God.
-Voice Acting: This is the first fully-voiced Fire Emblem game, at least in main cutscenes and support conversations. It is for the most part really, really fucking good voice acting. Like way better than I would have expected for a 3DS title, especially given the mixed bag that we got with Fates. Ian Sinclair's Berkut genuinely fucking KILLS his performance, but genuinely I cry at some of this game's voice acting every single time I play it, and I think Kyle does a phenomenal job at Alm.
-Story: This is the part that confuses me most about this game. I get hating the gameplay, or maybe even some of the dialogue, as it doesn't really feel like FE dialogue in some places, but how in the actual fuck do you hate this game's story? The story of Alm and Celica is so fuckin moving to me, and I genuinely choke up every time I see them get torn apart at the end of the prologue. The implementation of the two new characters, Berkut and Fernand is also very well done, as it gives characterization to some of the founding members of the Deliverance who tended to get shafted in the original game. It felt like most of the story was happening in Celica's route in the original, whereas this game's storytelling feels more leaning towards Alm, but ultimately more equal, which is something I appreciate about it.
At the end of the day, I get you not liking Shadow of Valentia as a Fire Emblem game, I do. But this game is a fucking masterpiece apart from the series it comes from, and does so much to further that series, even if it feels like it takes a few steps back in other places. Echoes is a perfect example of a masterful remake; loyal to the source material in most places, while adding enough to keep the experience fresh and engaging for new audiences. Now that I've not only gotten onto my soapbox, but also did a fucking cartwheel off of it, I hope that you can understand just how special this game is to me, because I feel like it was very formative to the kind of video games that I enjoy to this day.
[EDIT: I fuckin forgot to mention the god tier glow-up of the character designs. The redesigns of some of these characters are night and day, and it's fucking insane how they managed to turn some of the ugliest designs in the original (Boey) into some of my favorites. I cannot stress enough just how amazing this game's artstyle is and how much of an improvement it is, which to be fair really anything would be from the original NES title...]
This review is not a part of my FE series replay reviews, as I am not being "objective" or "fair" as game reviewers tend to think they are. I am here to CLEAR SOME SHIT UP for glue eating individuals that say this game is bad. This one is personal for me because I'm tired of hearing the same tired ass takes about this masterpiece of a game, because even though liking it isn't a hot take, dissenters of this game have one fuckin critique and still rank it among the worst in the series, which is egregiously cap when Revelations and Sacred Stones exist and are actively the worst games.
Let's talk about expectations for a Fire Emblem game nowadays, as I feel like especially right after the release of Engage, I've come to understand what FE fans have come to expect from a new entry in the series. I imagine the thoughts bouncing around in their heads sound a little something like this:
"Wow! I can't believe we're getting a new FE, I sure hope that it has the weapon triangle, a fully fledged child/marriage system with skill inheritance, shit fuckloads of skills to grind and abuse in combat, and hella optional maps for grinding. Otherwise I'm going to pound my chest like an ape on twitter dot com and scream about how the franchise is going down the shitter and elitists are the bane of the fucking franchise."
While they're right about that very last part, I feel like this game was victim to these expectations, as I have seen nothing but idiot after idiot complaining about something or other that this game didn't completely fucking axe from the original experience. Let's real talk for a second here: the original game sucks fucking donkey dick. Gaiden is by no means a fun experience. I just replayed it. You are a fuckin contrarian if you say it is, and a super mega chud if you say it's better than this game. This is a remake, and while it does very little to improve the shitty map design and approach to enemy placement (or lack thereof), it does SO FUCKING MUCH to reimagine and improve the limited source material and create something truly magical that you have to be a soulless bastard to hate this.
- Gameplay: This is the actual worst part of the game, but not nearly as bad as people make it out to be, and in fact, Three Houses stole many aspects of this game's playbook for itself. For instance, this entry gave us the Mila Turnwheel, something that every entry since has seen, as well as combat arts, something that Three Houses made an integral aspect of its combat. While the maps are often just locations with enemies placed on them with little-to-no rhyme or reason, I find that the maps aren't nearly as atrocious if you just don't suck balls at the game. Crazy idea, using the tools the game gives you to beat it, such as warp rescue strats on Alm's route, Peg knight abuse against cantors and monsters on Celica's route, and just using your brain on either. Yes, swamp maps are annoying, but also, they added the turnwheel for a reason, so use it.
-Map Design: It's fucking trash. Like this is the one weakness of the game in my mind. The maps are not fun to play, at best, unit growth is something to drive the player on maps, but no real meaningful side objectives or obj variety on maps. However, again, as this is a remake, there is only so much they can do with this, as Gaiden was a JPN only title prior to this, and if they HAD done radical revisions, it would honestly change the identity of the game.
-Soundtrack: This game has the best soundtrack in the entire fucking series. Fates might be a close second, but this is the greatest glow-up of a remake's soundtrack I've ever heard. If you need proof: "Lord of a Dead Empire," "Scion's Dance in Purgatory," "The Sacrifice and the Saint," "Pride and Arrogance," "With Mila's Divine Protection," "TWILIGHT OF THE GODS," do I need to list any fucking more??? "Heritors of Arcadia"???? Anything else? It's not close, and tbh it doesn't fall into the very common FE trope in modern entries of shoe horning the fuck out of the main motif into every single goddamn map theme in the game, thank God.
-Voice Acting: This is the first fully-voiced Fire Emblem game, at least in main cutscenes and support conversations. It is for the most part really, really fucking good voice acting. Like way better than I would have expected for a 3DS title, especially given the mixed bag that we got with Fates. Ian Sinclair's Berkut genuinely fucking KILLS his performance, but genuinely I cry at some of this game's voice acting every single time I play it, and I think Kyle does a phenomenal job at Alm.
-Story: This is the part that confuses me most about this game. I get hating the gameplay, or maybe even some of the dialogue, as it doesn't really feel like FE dialogue in some places, but how in the actual fuck do you hate this game's story? The story of Alm and Celica is so fuckin moving to me, and I genuinely choke up every time I see them get torn apart at the end of the prologue. The implementation of the two new characters, Berkut and Fernand is also very well done, as it gives characterization to some of the founding members of the Deliverance who tended to get shafted in the original game. It felt like most of the story was happening in Celica's route in the original, whereas this game's storytelling feels more leaning towards Alm, but ultimately more equal, which is something I appreciate about it.
At the end of the day, I get you not liking Shadow of Valentia as a Fire Emblem game, I do. But this game is a fucking masterpiece apart from the series it comes from, and does so much to further that series, even if it feels like it takes a few steps back in other places. Echoes is a perfect example of a masterful remake; loyal to the source material in most places, while adding enough to keep the experience fresh and engaging for new audiences. Now that I've not only gotten onto my soapbox, but also did a fucking cartwheel off of it, I hope that you can understand just how special this game is to me, because I feel like it was very formative to the kind of video games that I enjoy to this day.
[EDIT: I fuckin forgot to mention the god tier glow-up of the character designs. The redesigns of some of these characters are night and day, and it's fucking insane how they managed to turn some of the ugliest designs in the original (Boey) into some of my favorites. I cannot stress enough just how amazing this game's artstyle is and how much of an improvement it is, which to be fair really anything would be from the original NES title...]
I had put off playing this game for way too long. I heard so many mixed opinions on this game that steered me away from playing, and yet I finally bit the bullet and played it.
It was fucking amazing.
The story, the music, the art direction, even the combat with the new controls on Switch is so fucking clean. I really had an amazing time with this game. Some of the dungeons are really creative, as Sky Keep and Sand Ship are some of my favorite in the series. The story and relationship between Link and Zelda is perfection and sets up the series in such a great way. I ended up really enjoying the cast of characters in this game way more than I had anticipated from my first few hours with it, and I have to say I almost cried a bit at certain scenes involving a crystal. I picked this game up and beat it in three days, basically playing it in all of my free time as I was enamored with how clean it felt to play portable on the switch. While the game has a little bit of a slow opening, once it gets the ball rolling, it's a non-stop blast until the end. Even though you end up backtracking ALOT, Skyward Sword manages to change up the level enough to keep each pass through one of the three major areas interesting to the player. The biggest critique I have is that at times, the right stick sword movements got a little finicky sometimes and it was annoying when making precise cuts, but it was totally fine like 95% of the time.
I think this is the first game to get me this excited about Zelda in a long time, ever since I first played Ocarina. Skyward Sword is a fantastic entry and based on how little I've heard people sing it's praises, I would even potentially say an underrated one. I know that the Switch version did SO much to try and smooth over some of the gameplay frustrations, so I can't comment on the original, but damn the HD version hits so hard.
It was fucking amazing.
The story, the music, the art direction, even the combat with the new controls on Switch is so fucking clean. I really had an amazing time with this game. Some of the dungeons are really creative, as Sky Keep and Sand Ship are some of my favorite in the series. The story and relationship between Link and Zelda is perfection and sets up the series in such a great way. I ended up really enjoying the cast of characters in this game way more than I had anticipated from my first few hours with it, and I have to say I almost cried a bit at certain scenes involving a crystal. I picked this game up and beat it in three days, basically playing it in all of my free time as I was enamored with how clean it felt to play portable on the switch. While the game has a little bit of a slow opening, once it gets the ball rolling, it's a non-stop blast until the end. Even though you end up backtracking ALOT, Skyward Sword manages to change up the level enough to keep each pass through one of the three major areas interesting to the player. The biggest critique I have is that at times, the right stick sword movements got a little finicky sometimes and it was annoying when making precise cuts, but it was totally fine like 95% of the time.
I think this is the first game to get me this excited about Zelda in a long time, ever since I first played Ocarina. Skyward Sword is a fantastic entry and based on how little I've heard people sing it's praises, I would even potentially say an underrated one. I know that the Switch version did SO much to try and smooth over some of the gameplay frustrations, so I can't comment on the original, but damn the HD version hits so hard.
2023
This review contains spoilers
Octopath Traveler II is everything that I wanted from the first game, almost. I think that Square did a fantastic job of taking criticism from the fans about the first game and channeling that into a fantastic sequel. If we're talking about strictly gameplay and music, this eclipses the original. But in terms of the story, I have some comments.
This is a point of contention for me in both games, as Octopath II is building off the system from the first game on character stories. It has a few improvements here and there, such as route splits, combined stories, etc. However, I did find myself feeling like I was just ready to set the game down towards the end, as it felt like the same old song and dance of arrive at new town, watch ten minutes of cutscene, go through a short dungeon, and fight a boss for every single chapter. Some chapters just skipped the dungeon, the boss, or even both which was jarring to me, but even still. I didn't find my expectations subverted or shaken in any capacity up until the final few hours of the game, which is where the most radical change happens between this game and the first.
My biggest issue with how Octopath II tells its story is the fact that the party still doesn't act like a cohesive group. I understand that this would be insanely difficult to pull off, as this is a very non-linear game in a genre that is defined by linear story telling, and it would be very hard to manage what characters are in the player party and etc, which is fine. But I found that the party banters were seldom enough to sate my desire for group interaction, as they're fairly shallow most of the time and don't really have me feeling any type of way. It makes the game feel like there are no stakes for the travelers outside of the role they play in their own story. The group faces no internal struggle, just as they don't grow closer either, that is until the last few hours. They just seem to be at arms length the entire game, until the Journey for Dawn, which FINALLY fixed my issues, but too little too late.
This lack of meaningful relationships for like 90% of the game made a lot of my choices on where I went and when feel like they had no stakes, and that I solely went there on a whim because I decided to. Like don't get me wrong, the individual character stories are pretty good, it's just that overall the game felt a little underwhelming in the overarching narrative, as even the final showdown is a little vacant of group togetherness and triumph as they all just spit character lines about themselves rather than interact in a meaningful way. In the end, this was still a massive improvement over the first game's story, but still felt a few steps removed from the answer I was hoping for.
My qualms about the story aside, the gameplay loop is actually quite fun, as each traveler feels like they have more options this time around, and the combat is MUCH more balanced (at least until you find all the Ochette exploits.) I also really like the soundtrack, so there's that. I can't complain with what we got, but man I almost wish they just focused more energy into a good Bravely Default game, as those games are the peak of what a great JRPG party is, even if their overall story is a little less good.
Nonetheless, I was satisfied with this sequel. But fuck them for trying to squeeze this game's dogshit title in at the end, that was a little painful ngl.
This is a point of contention for me in both games, as Octopath II is building off the system from the first game on character stories. It has a few improvements here and there, such as route splits, combined stories, etc. However, I did find myself feeling like I was just ready to set the game down towards the end, as it felt like the same old song and dance of arrive at new town, watch ten minutes of cutscene, go through a short dungeon, and fight a boss for every single chapter. Some chapters just skipped the dungeon, the boss, or even both which was jarring to me, but even still. I didn't find my expectations subverted or shaken in any capacity up until the final few hours of the game, which is where the most radical change happens between this game and the first.
My biggest issue with how Octopath II tells its story is the fact that the party still doesn't act like a cohesive group. I understand that this would be insanely difficult to pull off, as this is a very non-linear game in a genre that is defined by linear story telling, and it would be very hard to manage what characters are in the player party and etc, which is fine. But I found that the party banters were seldom enough to sate my desire for group interaction, as they're fairly shallow most of the time and don't really have me feeling any type of way. It makes the game feel like there are no stakes for the travelers outside of the role they play in their own story. The group faces no internal struggle, just as they don't grow closer either, that is until the last few hours. They just seem to be at arms length the entire game, until the Journey for Dawn, which FINALLY fixed my issues, but too little too late.
This lack of meaningful relationships for like 90% of the game made a lot of my choices on where I went and when feel like they had no stakes, and that I solely went there on a whim because I decided to. Like don't get me wrong, the individual character stories are pretty good, it's just that overall the game felt a little underwhelming in the overarching narrative, as even the final showdown is a little vacant of group togetherness and triumph as they all just spit character lines about themselves rather than interact in a meaningful way. In the end, this was still a massive improvement over the first game's story, but still felt a few steps removed from the answer I was hoping for.
My qualms about the story aside, the gameplay loop is actually quite fun, as each traveler feels like they have more options this time around, and the combat is MUCH more balanced (at least until you find all the Ochette exploits.) I also really like the soundtrack, so there's that. I can't complain with what we got, but man I almost wish they just focused more energy into a good Bravely Default game, as those games are the peak of what a great JRPG party is, even if their overall story is a little less good.
Nonetheless, I was satisfied with this sequel. But fuck them for trying to squeeze this game's dogshit title in at the end, that was a little painful ngl.