wiill64
It's pretty much Mario Party Advance but with Danganronpa characters.
Go around a board, pick up stats to make your character better and eventually beat a boss to unlock the next island. You can tell it was a side mode previously because of how basic it is and the lack of any new voice acting but the gameplay loop is pretty fun...... it just lacks a compelling reason to keep coming back. Like the events are nice, it's cool seeing the different casts of characters interact but it's not enough to put a lot of time into.
The most annoying thing is that outside of the initial starting cast of protagonists, everyone else is unlocked through grinding for coins for a gacha machine and that is awful. Like a random chance to get a character I want to play with? Nah, not fun and the fact you can pay real money as well for this as well makes it even worse.
Ultimately this is a cheap cash in on the anniversary that works as a nice bonus game for buying the trilogy on Switch otherwise it isn't worth checking out on its own
Go around a board, pick up stats to make your character better and eventually beat a boss to unlock the next island. You can tell it was a side mode previously because of how basic it is and the lack of any new voice acting but the gameplay loop is pretty fun...... it just lacks a compelling reason to keep coming back. Like the events are nice, it's cool seeing the different casts of characters interact but it's not enough to put a lot of time into.
The most annoying thing is that outside of the initial starting cast of protagonists, everyone else is unlocked through grinding for coins for a gacha machine and that is awful. Like a random chance to get a character I want to play with? Nah, not fun and the fact you can pay real money as well for this as well makes it even worse.
Ultimately this is a cheap cash in on the anniversary that works as a nice bonus game for buying the trilogy on Switch otherwise it isn't worth checking out on its own
2021
Genuinely surprised by Atlus doing big wide open exploration based environments, but I love it. Each area is full of side quests and miman to find that you're constantly going off the main story path to explore. I do miss the intricate dungeons that Nocturne had but there are still a couple of well crafted dungeons to explore too.
The story and characters are solid, I love Tao a lot but none of their reason paths really resonated with me. I think Nocturne handles that better but there aspects of SMTV's story that hit pretty hard.
I always appreciate how SMT characterises it's demons and SMTV knocks it out of the park with it's dialogue during negotiations.
The biggest flaw with the game though has to be it's performance on Switch. Even as someone who doesn't mind framerate dips or stuff like that, SMTV unfortunately dips often.... and long enough to take you out of cutscenes as you watch them stuttering throughout. It's a shame because the game deserves better but it's clear that the Switch itself is the issue here.
Atlus are the masters of a well crafted JRPG. Aside from a couple of nitpicks, this is a fantastic evolution of the series and an excellent starting point for newcomers
The story and characters are solid, I love Tao a lot but none of their reason paths really resonated with me. I think Nocturne handles that better but there aspects of SMTV's story that hit pretty hard.
I always appreciate how SMT characterises it's demons and SMTV knocks it out of the park with it's dialogue during negotiations.
The biggest flaw with the game though has to be it's performance on Switch. Even as someone who doesn't mind framerate dips or stuff like that, SMTV unfortunately dips often.... and long enough to take you out of cutscenes as you watch them stuttering throughout. It's a shame because the game deserves better but it's clear that the Switch itself is the issue here.
Atlus are the masters of a well crafted JRPG. Aside from a couple of nitpicks, this is a fantastic evolution of the series and an excellent starting point for newcomers
Replaying this in 2021 has allowed me to view Fates with a different perspective.
Originally I went into Conquest with the view that it was going to be focused on playing as the "evil" nation, conquering for the sake of conquering and it left me disappointed with the story. Now, 5 years later, I can appreciate it's narrative and characters more for what they are rather than what they aren't.
The first half of Conquest is actually decently well set up. It puts Corrin in a position where they're trying to change Nohr from the inside, without annoying Garon too much. While it's obvious that Garon will never change his psychotic ways, it is understandable that Corrin's unique circumstances growing up and the Norhian siblings raised alongside them, still view Garon as a father and hope that he will change someday. It does a decent job of showing what struggles Corrin's choice brings and the themes of family is one of Conquest's and Fates in general strong points. Families can be complicated affairs. They're messy and not always pleasant yet we always try and make the best of what we're given and it is interesting to see Conquest tackle that.
Now the story does kinda fall to pieces after the Valla revelation. It's obviously put in to tease players for Revelation, but it ultimately causes the narrative to dip severely, with Corrin, who doesn't want to kill people, decide to invade Hosido to get Garon to sit on a truth revealing throne, which ultimately gets thousands of innocent Hosidan's slaughtered because hey, Garon and Iago love to clean up behind you :)
I think if Corrin at least tried to convince their army that dethroning Garon is the best option for peace and the royals refused to fight their father, theeeen maybe this works better. As it is, it's one of the most frustrating plot points in the series.
Speaking of frustrating, Conquest makes it a point to let you know that Corrin and their army are absolutely not killing anyone, but the gameplay doesn't really reflect this at all, with only important characters stating they're retreating. Personally I would've loved to have seen a combination of Thracia's capture mechanic (which only Niles has as a skill in this game) and Elincia's mercy skill to make capturing enemies a viable option. Add in bonus exp for each enemy spared and you have a great way to make Conquest stand out with an interesting risk/reward strategy that matches the actual narrative.
I will say that Conquest does have some excellent maps. Takumi's map with climbing up the castle to get to him is cool, as is the rainbow sage one. The actual map design and objectives in Conquest are arguably some of the best in the series..... completely undermined by a lot of thing that I personally do not find fun. In fact, the actual act of playing Conquest frustrates and exhausts me to the point that I do not enjoy playing the game. As someone who generally plays FE on Classic/Normal, Conquest's difficulty exceeds all other FE games to a point that I have never beaten it on Classic. Enemies hit harder, tank more damage, there's some absolute bs stuff like Hinoka being able to use a dragon vein that allows her fliers to cover practically the whole map, and a defence map in which the water can be dried up so you're literally left wide open and defenceless.
On top of that, skills are more prevalent than ever with enemies constantly debuffing you or chip damaging you, Wane Festals that have 100% accuaracy, and it all adds up to a miserable gameplay experience for me. I now understand that in Fates, to get the most out of your units you need to use My Castle effectively, reclass your units to unlock better skills and essentially do a lot of things that I personally do not do in FE. For normal difficulty, I should be to get through the game with my base unit builds without getting lost in figuring out optimal skills and stuff, that should be for hard/lunatic thrill seekers. I understand that this level of difficulty and well craftedness is what a decent number of fans crave, but for me, it's not something that appeals to me.
There's so much more to Fates, like removing breakable weapons and the pair up mechanic being more balanced and all the My Castle stuff as well as the children mechanic returning but I'll love some of that for my other Fates reviews.
Ultimately, Conquest is a well crafted FE experience with excellent maps and a cast with hidden depth beneath their rather tropey surface. The difficulty cross over a line for me personally but I can still respect that the game itself is a good experience.
Originally I went into Conquest with the view that it was going to be focused on playing as the "evil" nation, conquering for the sake of conquering and it left me disappointed with the story. Now, 5 years later, I can appreciate it's narrative and characters more for what they are rather than what they aren't.
The first half of Conquest is actually decently well set up. It puts Corrin in a position where they're trying to change Nohr from the inside, without annoying Garon too much. While it's obvious that Garon will never change his psychotic ways, it is understandable that Corrin's unique circumstances growing up and the Norhian siblings raised alongside them, still view Garon as a father and hope that he will change someday. It does a decent job of showing what struggles Corrin's choice brings and the themes of family is one of Conquest's and Fates in general strong points. Families can be complicated affairs. They're messy and not always pleasant yet we always try and make the best of what we're given and it is interesting to see Conquest tackle that.
Now the story does kinda fall to pieces after the Valla revelation. It's obviously put in to tease players for Revelation, but it ultimately causes the narrative to dip severely, with Corrin, who doesn't want to kill people, decide to invade Hosido to get Garon to sit on a truth revealing throne, which ultimately gets thousands of innocent Hosidan's slaughtered because hey, Garon and Iago love to clean up behind you :)
I think if Corrin at least tried to convince their army that dethroning Garon is the best option for peace and the royals refused to fight their father, theeeen maybe this works better. As it is, it's one of the most frustrating plot points in the series.
Speaking of frustrating, Conquest makes it a point to let you know that Corrin and their army are absolutely not killing anyone, but the gameplay doesn't really reflect this at all, with only important characters stating they're retreating. Personally I would've loved to have seen a combination of Thracia's capture mechanic (which only Niles has as a skill in this game) and Elincia's mercy skill to make capturing enemies a viable option. Add in bonus exp for each enemy spared and you have a great way to make Conquest stand out with an interesting risk/reward strategy that matches the actual narrative.
I will say that Conquest does have some excellent maps. Takumi's map with climbing up the castle to get to him is cool, as is the rainbow sage one. The actual map design and objectives in Conquest are arguably some of the best in the series..... completely undermined by a lot of thing that I personally do not find fun. In fact, the actual act of playing Conquest frustrates and exhausts me to the point that I do not enjoy playing the game. As someone who generally plays FE on Classic/Normal, Conquest's difficulty exceeds all other FE games to a point that I have never beaten it on Classic. Enemies hit harder, tank more damage, there's some absolute bs stuff like Hinoka being able to use a dragon vein that allows her fliers to cover practically the whole map, and a defence map in which the water can be dried up so you're literally left wide open and defenceless.
On top of that, skills are more prevalent than ever with enemies constantly debuffing you or chip damaging you, Wane Festals that have 100% accuaracy, and it all adds up to a miserable gameplay experience for me. I now understand that in Fates, to get the most out of your units you need to use My Castle effectively, reclass your units to unlock better skills and essentially do a lot of things that I personally do not do in FE. For normal difficulty, I should be to get through the game with my base unit builds without getting lost in figuring out optimal skills and stuff, that should be for hard/lunatic thrill seekers. I understand that this level of difficulty and well craftedness is what a decent number of fans crave, but for me, it's not something that appeals to me.
There's so much more to Fates, like removing breakable weapons and the pair up mechanic being more balanced and all the My Castle stuff as well as the children mechanic returning but I'll love some of that for my other Fates reviews.
Ultimately, Conquest is a well crafted FE experience with excellent maps and a cast with hidden depth beneath their rather tropey surface. The difficulty cross over a line for me personally but I can still respect that the game itself is a good experience.
This game walked so the future of Fire Emblem could run.
The main features attributing to what many would say caused Awakening's success are actually found here. Unfortunately it was released late in the DS lifespan and was never released outside of Japan (The first FE since FE6 to do so and hopefully the last) that many missed out on the impact this game started.
FE12 is a remake of Book 2 from FE3 but unlike FE11 before it, this chooses to change things up a bit more. First we have the addition of a Casual mode where units will not stay permadead if fallen. Instead they will return in the next chapter, available to use again and this is huge for widening the appeal of the series. Do I ever use it? Outside of Conquest, no. Permadeath is part of the appeal of FE to me and I like having it on. But as an optional feature for those turned off by permadeath? Casual mode is a fantastic addition and one I wholeheartedly welcome to the series.
Now the other major is a "my unit" character. Essentially you can create your own character and use them throughout the game like a regular character, which is really neat. There's a decent amount of customisation available and being able to self insert yourself into the game is pretty cool. I'm not a huge fan of how they essentially become Marth's right hand person and have a lot of importance placed on them throughout the plot (something I wish they would stop doing with avatar characters personally) but I can appreciate the appeal of having your own personal character.
Now FE12 addresses many of the issues I had with it's prequel FE11. The artstyle, while still not great, is decently cleaned up enough to not look so drab. Side chapters are available through beating maps quickly instead of having few units left. We now have a Tellius style base before every chapter where we can have base conversations to flesh out the lore and the world and the story via Jagien and even support conversations to flesh out the characters! I think Kris (the avatar) has conversations with everybody while everyone else essentially have a handful with important characters to them (like the Whitewings and Minerva all have supports with each other) but this is very helpful for making these characters more interesting. On top of that we can even access a Radiant Dawn still character tree to see connections to everyone and each country has descriptions about them on the map. They did everything possible to flesh out Archanea at last and I appreciate so much. They even brought in cut characters like Barst so we have axe users! Truly they wanted to make this the best FE3 experience possible.
Now this being a remake though does mean it carries across the major issue I had with FE3 Book 2: collecting the Starsphere shards and Binding Shield orbs to access the true ending. I don't like a linear game with no way to backtrack locking a true ending behind missable items, especially in FE.
The few grievances aside, this is a fantastic remake of Book 2 from FE3. It fleshes out it's character and world while updating it's gameplay and accessibility for a wider player base.
The main features attributing to what many would say caused Awakening's success are actually found here. Unfortunately it was released late in the DS lifespan and was never released outside of Japan (The first FE since FE6 to do so and hopefully the last) that many missed out on the impact this game started.
FE12 is a remake of Book 2 from FE3 but unlike FE11 before it, this chooses to change things up a bit more. First we have the addition of a Casual mode where units will not stay permadead if fallen. Instead they will return in the next chapter, available to use again and this is huge for widening the appeal of the series. Do I ever use it? Outside of Conquest, no. Permadeath is part of the appeal of FE to me and I like having it on. But as an optional feature for those turned off by permadeath? Casual mode is a fantastic addition and one I wholeheartedly welcome to the series.
Now the other major is a "my unit" character. Essentially you can create your own character and use them throughout the game like a regular character, which is really neat. There's a decent amount of customisation available and being able to self insert yourself into the game is pretty cool. I'm not a huge fan of how they essentially become Marth's right hand person and have a lot of importance placed on them throughout the plot (something I wish they would stop doing with avatar characters personally) but I can appreciate the appeal of having your own personal character.
Now FE12 addresses many of the issues I had with it's prequel FE11. The artstyle, while still not great, is decently cleaned up enough to not look so drab. Side chapters are available through beating maps quickly instead of having few units left. We now have a Tellius style base before every chapter where we can have base conversations to flesh out the lore and the world and the story via Jagien and even support conversations to flesh out the characters! I think Kris (the avatar) has conversations with everybody while everyone else essentially have a handful with important characters to them (like the Whitewings and Minerva all have supports with each other) but this is very helpful for making these characters more interesting. On top of that we can even access a Radiant Dawn still character tree to see connections to everyone and each country has descriptions about them on the map. They did everything possible to flesh out Archanea at last and I appreciate so much. They even brought in cut characters like Barst so we have axe users! Truly they wanted to make this the best FE3 experience possible.
Now this being a remake though does mean it carries across the major issue I had with FE3 Book 2: collecting the Starsphere shards and Binding Shield orbs to access the true ending. I don't like a linear game with no way to backtrack locking a true ending behind missable items, especially in FE.
The few grievances aside, this is a fantastic remake of Book 2 from FE3. It fleshes out it's character and world while updating it's gameplay and accessibility for a wider player base.
A very faithful remake to the very first FE game on Famicom.
It does a good job modernising a lot of mechanics, like bringing in the weapon triangle, making all promotions use the Master Seal instead of different items and allowing you to see the enemies range, making this a much more fluid and fun to play version of FE1.
On top of that, maps now include 1 or 2 save points so you don't need to start over from the beginning if you lose a unit and want to reset.
There is some new content in side chapters and characters but these are only accessible if you have less than a certain amount of characters as they were designed to help newcomers keep their army filled up if they were losing too many characters. As someone who challenges himself to beat these games by recruiting all characters and keeping them alive, it sucks missing out on these side chapters because I don't want to sack off half my army. I understand the idea, it just doesn't work for me.
The artstyle for this game doesn't vibe with me either. The colours are very muted and the character models are not so great 3D DS level models so they're pretty blocky and undefined. I like the portraits and actual artwork for the game, those have a very nice rough old school vibe to them that meshes well with the Archanea cast.
My other big negative with the game is that it doesn't take this opportunity to flesh these characters out. There are no supports and the dialogue seems to stick very closely to the original game that it feels super conservative in what a remake can achieve. I don't mind remakes sticking closely to their original games but with Fire Emblem, something that has made its cast increasingly more in depth to give players greater attachment to them, I think a remake should flesh out its cast a bit more.
Now another new thing this game introduced was the ability to reclass characters. It's a neat feature for those that want it but I am someone who likes having my characters have a designated role and playing around that limitation. For me it helps characters stand out more when I know Caeda is my Pegasus Knight, Ogma is my Mercenary, etc. Reclassing is a nice feature for additional playthroughs but it is something I rarely use.
The last thing to touch on is the European localisation. This game changed a few names from the American one and now that Heroes has essentially unified everything, it leaves this localisation feeling outdated. When Caeda is Shiida and Narverre is Nabarl, it takes you out of the game a bit.
Ultimately this is arguably the best version of FE1. It is modernised to a point that it feels more fun to play than FE1, and doesn't cut chapters/characters like FE3 Book 1 does. It does miss the opportunity to flesh out its story and characters leaving the experience to be a bit dull though
It does a good job modernising a lot of mechanics, like bringing in the weapon triangle, making all promotions use the Master Seal instead of different items and allowing you to see the enemies range, making this a much more fluid and fun to play version of FE1.
On top of that, maps now include 1 or 2 save points so you don't need to start over from the beginning if you lose a unit and want to reset.
There is some new content in side chapters and characters but these are only accessible if you have less than a certain amount of characters as they were designed to help newcomers keep their army filled up if they were losing too many characters. As someone who challenges himself to beat these games by recruiting all characters and keeping them alive, it sucks missing out on these side chapters because I don't want to sack off half my army. I understand the idea, it just doesn't work for me.
The artstyle for this game doesn't vibe with me either. The colours are very muted and the character models are not so great 3D DS level models so they're pretty blocky and undefined. I like the portraits and actual artwork for the game, those have a very nice rough old school vibe to them that meshes well with the Archanea cast.
My other big negative with the game is that it doesn't take this opportunity to flesh these characters out. There are no supports and the dialogue seems to stick very closely to the original game that it feels super conservative in what a remake can achieve. I don't mind remakes sticking closely to their original games but with Fire Emblem, something that has made its cast increasingly more in depth to give players greater attachment to them, I think a remake should flesh out its cast a bit more.
Now another new thing this game introduced was the ability to reclass characters. It's a neat feature for those that want it but I am someone who likes having my characters have a designated role and playing around that limitation. For me it helps characters stand out more when I know Caeda is my Pegasus Knight, Ogma is my Mercenary, etc. Reclassing is a nice feature for additional playthroughs but it is something I rarely use.
The last thing to touch on is the European localisation. This game changed a few names from the American one and now that Heroes has essentially unified everything, it leaves this localisation feeling outdated. When Caeda is Shiida and Narverre is Nabarl, it takes you out of the game a bit.
Ultimately this is arguably the best version of FE1. It is modernised to a point that it feels more fun to play than FE1, and doesn't cut chapters/characters like FE3 Book 1 does. It does miss the opportunity to flesh out its story and characters leaving the experience to be a bit dull though
After a spell away from home consoles, Fire Emblem returned on GameCube with arguably it's most consistent entry yet
Intelligent Systems took all of their experience from making Fire Emblem and put it into this fantastic entry. The skill system is back after skipping the GBA titles and now every unit can equip/unequip and trade skills between themselves with each skill on a unit costing a certain amount of points and units being able to equip around 20 points worth of skills at once. It's the most freely engaging the skill system has ever been in FE and I love it. On top of that you can now forge weapons for a price and create some truly powerful weapons if your gold supply allows it.
The best new addition imo though is the bonus exp. Some maps will award you with more bonus exp if you achieve side objectives (like keeping all green units alive for example) and you can choose to award that exp inbetween maps to units, allowing others to catch up if you want to use them. It's great, it requires no grinding, and it's optional.
Speaking of inbetween maps, you now have a base segment where you can see additional conversations that flesh out the narrative, manage your equipment, award bonus exp, and forge and buy weapons. It's a great addition that gives the player much more control over how they prepare for the next battle and build their units. The conversations add character and story elements as well as sometimes reward the player with weapons or gold and it's such a good addition to the series.
Map wise it's solid. There's a few really good maps but it doesn't quite hit the highest highs of the series, moreso offering the most consistent experience of the series. You've got your defense and escape maps too, plus the bonus exp objectives to build upon the Fire Emblem standard
The story is also very solid here, focusing on a mercenary group with its main character Ike not being of noble birth allowing the series to bring in a new perspective. The themes of racial prejudice and division that Tellius has is also explored decently well and the continent itself is really well fleshed out with a multitude of nations all with importance to the plot and interesting characters. There's a scale here that while doesn't quite hit the size of FE4s scale, it does manage to stand out from most other FEs. The characters are really cool too, featuring some of my all time favourites with the likes of Ike, Mia, and Elincia.
FE9 also includes one of the most imposing villains in the series in the Black Knight. His presence whenever he shows up on a map is always intimidating. You can't possibly hope to beat him and he strikes fear as he begins to move towards the player. Having an imposing and memorable villain like that is very important. Ashnard is decent as well, showing how he manages to manipulate his own nation into starting a war to get what he wants and I quite like his role.
Another thing I love about FE9 is how good it's character portrait art is. The character designs and art are some of my favourite in the series and it always makes me smile seeing it again.
There's very little I can actually criticise about FE9. The game is very solid and executes everything near perfectly. The only minor gripe is that the voice acting during cutscenes is pretty bad but I wouldn't go as far as to hold that against the game when there are few scenes with voice acting.
Ultimately FE9 is the most consistent FE experience. It has solid mechanics and an interesting story without ever crossing into frustration like some other games in the series. Ike is an excellent protagonist and the Black Knight makes for a fantastic villain, and the themes the story explores are very interesting. It is a FE game that I can highly recommend without my own preferences or bias elevating it higher or lower than it probably should be
Intelligent Systems took all of their experience from making Fire Emblem and put it into this fantastic entry. The skill system is back after skipping the GBA titles and now every unit can equip/unequip and trade skills between themselves with each skill on a unit costing a certain amount of points and units being able to equip around 20 points worth of skills at once. It's the most freely engaging the skill system has ever been in FE and I love it. On top of that you can now forge weapons for a price and create some truly powerful weapons if your gold supply allows it.
The best new addition imo though is the bonus exp. Some maps will award you with more bonus exp if you achieve side objectives (like keeping all green units alive for example) and you can choose to award that exp inbetween maps to units, allowing others to catch up if you want to use them. It's great, it requires no grinding, and it's optional.
Speaking of inbetween maps, you now have a base segment where you can see additional conversations that flesh out the narrative, manage your equipment, award bonus exp, and forge and buy weapons. It's a great addition that gives the player much more control over how they prepare for the next battle and build their units. The conversations add character and story elements as well as sometimes reward the player with weapons or gold and it's such a good addition to the series.
Map wise it's solid. There's a few really good maps but it doesn't quite hit the highest highs of the series, moreso offering the most consistent experience of the series. You've got your defense and escape maps too, plus the bonus exp objectives to build upon the Fire Emblem standard
The story is also very solid here, focusing on a mercenary group with its main character Ike not being of noble birth allowing the series to bring in a new perspective. The themes of racial prejudice and division that Tellius has is also explored decently well and the continent itself is really well fleshed out with a multitude of nations all with importance to the plot and interesting characters. There's a scale here that while doesn't quite hit the size of FE4s scale, it does manage to stand out from most other FEs. The characters are really cool too, featuring some of my all time favourites with the likes of Ike, Mia, and Elincia.
FE9 also includes one of the most imposing villains in the series in the Black Knight. His presence whenever he shows up on a map is always intimidating. You can't possibly hope to beat him and he strikes fear as he begins to move towards the player. Having an imposing and memorable villain like that is very important. Ashnard is decent as well, showing how he manages to manipulate his own nation into starting a war to get what he wants and I quite like his role.
Another thing I love about FE9 is how good it's character portrait art is. The character designs and art are some of my favourite in the series and it always makes me smile seeing it again.
There's very little I can actually criticise about FE9. The game is very solid and executes everything near perfectly. The only minor gripe is that the voice acting during cutscenes is pretty bad but I wouldn't go as far as to hold that against the game when there are few scenes with voice acting.
Ultimately FE9 is the most consistent FE experience. It has solid mechanics and an interesting story without ever crossing into frustration like some other games in the series. Ike is an excellent protagonist and the Black Knight makes for a fantastic villain, and the themes the story explores are very interesting. It is a FE game that I can highly recommend without my own preferences or bias elevating it higher or lower than it probably should be
This one is split into two "books"
Book 1 is a remake of FE1 albeit with a handful of cut chapters and characters (due to cartridge space limitations) while Book 2 is a full sequel to FE1. Despite the cut chapters/characters, it is really nice having Marth's full story in one place so I can appreciate the effort put in there.
Gameplay wise we're back to standard FE after Gaidens little deviation. Breakable weapons and map to map progression are back meaning no opportunities to level grind characters. You can now click enemies to see their movement range (though it doesn't include attack range) and there are early battle forecast windows though you'll have to do the math for damage via the attack/defence numbers.
Unfortunately we're back to multiple items for promotions like the Elysian Whip, Guiding Ring etc which I'm not a huge fan of. We also have a new dismount feature for mounted units which can be handy for pegasus knights in a little archer pinch, but dismounting is forced for all indoor maps limiting movement and changing lance users into sword users.
Book 1 is a solid remake of FE1 with the updated mechanics making it more enjoyable to play. Book 2 features some more interesting recruitment objectives that help makes some maps feel more creative. It also has a true ending though in which you're required to collect 12 pieces of the shattered Starsphere, as well as all 5 spheres for the Binding Shield which can be extremely frustrating if you miss JUST ONE of them and find yourself locked out of the last few chapters. Now most of them are easy enough to pick up regularly but there are a couple that enemies are holding and you have to be quick to catch them. I am not a huge fan of FE locking an ending behind a "collect macguffins" requirement as you can't go back and try again if you realise later on you missed one in an earlier chapter.
Aside from a couple of missteps, this is a very solid title and feels a lot more playable than the Famicom titles before it. Its unique features also allow it to stand out from the later DS remakes and offer a charm that some people might prefer over those games
Book 1 is a remake of FE1 albeit with a handful of cut chapters and characters (due to cartridge space limitations) while Book 2 is a full sequel to FE1. Despite the cut chapters/characters, it is really nice having Marth's full story in one place so I can appreciate the effort put in there.
Gameplay wise we're back to standard FE after Gaidens little deviation. Breakable weapons and map to map progression are back meaning no opportunities to level grind characters. You can now click enemies to see their movement range (though it doesn't include attack range) and there are early battle forecast windows though you'll have to do the math for damage via the attack/defence numbers.
Unfortunately we're back to multiple items for promotions like the Elysian Whip, Guiding Ring etc which I'm not a huge fan of. We also have a new dismount feature for mounted units which can be handy for pegasus knights in a little archer pinch, but dismounting is forced for all indoor maps limiting movement and changing lance users into sword users.
Book 1 is a solid remake of FE1 with the updated mechanics making it more enjoyable to play. Book 2 features some more interesting recruitment objectives that help makes some maps feel more creative. It also has a true ending though in which you're required to collect 12 pieces of the shattered Starsphere, as well as all 5 spheres for the Binding Shield which can be extremely frustrating if you miss JUST ONE of them and find yourself locked out of the last few chapters. Now most of them are easy enough to pick up regularly but there are a couple that enemies are holding and you have to be quick to catch them. I am not a huge fan of FE locking an ending behind a "collect macguffins" requirement as you can't go back and try again if you realise later on you missed one in an earlier chapter.
Aside from a couple of missteps, this is a very solid title and feels a lot more playable than the Famicom titles before it. Its unique features also allow it to stand out from the later DS remakes and offer a charm that some people might prefer over those games
1992
Part of the era of "weird" Nintendo sequels, FE2 takes the foundation that FE1 laid and leans so much harder into the RPG aspect of strategy RPGs.
The game offers explorable towns and dungeons where you can recruit characters and pick up items/weapons. Dungeons also bring in random battles that use the classic tile based FE gameplay for combat which offers a nice to chance to level grind characters to help push through the game.
There's also changes to classes here like mages and healers using hp to cast spells and archers being able to attack multiple spaces ahead of them instead of just two.
The game takes place on a world map with players progressing via battle after battle and eventually being able to switch between dual protagonists Alm and Celica at will, which gives a nice perspective change on the story.
Unfortunately the game is held back by awful map design leading to slow and slog full maps, especially when enemy cantors are able to constantly summon enemies and witches can teleport at will. That on top of the lack of enemy ranges and battle forecasts makes it a frustrating experience at times but still one that I can appreciate taking the series into a bold direction.
Also the soundtrack here is soooooo good
The game offers explorable towns and dungeons where you can recruit characters and pick up items/weapons. Dungeons also bring in random battles that use the classic tile based FE gameplay for combat which offers a nice to chance to level grind characters to help push through the game.
There's also changes to classes here like mages and healers using hp to cast spells and archers being able to attack multiple spaces ahead of them instead of just two.
The game takes place on a world map with players progressing via battle after battle and eventually being able to switch between dual protagonists Alm and Celica at will, which gives a nice perspective change on the story.
Unfortunately the game is held back by awful map design leading to slow and slog full maps, especially when enemy cantors are able to constantly summon enemies and witches can teleport at will. That on top of the lack of enemy ranges and battle forecasts makes it a frustrating experience at times but still one that I can appreciate taking the series into a bold direction.
Also the soundtrack here is soooooo good
This laid a solid foundation for the series to build off. The tried and tested gameplay of Fire Emblem is all here from breakable weapons and permadeath to grid based maps and recruiting characters during battle, FE1 offers a compelling experience.
Unfortunately it hasn't aged as well as time goes on. If you started with something like say FE7 or later, you're going to miss being able to see enemy ranges and combat forecasts. The lack of being able to trade weapons and items as well as requiring Marth to visit villages also slows down the flow of maps despite them being pretty well designed.
It's a solid first entry but also one that has all the quirks of being the first entry
Unfortunately it hasn't aged as well as time goes on. If you started with something like say FE7 or later, you're going to miss being able to see enemy ranges and combat forecasts. The lack of being able to trade weapons and items as well as requiring Marth to visit villages also slows down the flow of maps despite them being pretty well designed.
It's a solid first entry but also one that has all the quirks of being the first entry
I've had a great time with this online with my friends
The classic boards and mechanics make this more interesting and fun than recent Mario Parties, offering plenty of chaos when stars start getting stolen
Minigame selection is solid and I love the new stickers they added which help add to the general fun
CPUs also move super fast and keep the game moving at a quick pace when playing with them, skipping all the unnecessary fluff
Only downside I have with this is I kinda wish there were more boards. With them all being old ones you would think that would save a decent amount of time in development to add a couple more but unfortunately we're left with just 5 and once again hoping we get more via DLC (and we all know how that went with Super Mario Party)
The classic boards and mechanics make this more interesting and fun than recent Mario Parties, offering plenty of chaos when stars start getting stolen
Minigame selection is solid and I love the new stickers they added which help add to the general fun
CPUs also move super fast and keep the game moving at a quick pace when playing with them, skipping all the unnecessary fluff
Only downside I have with this is I kinda wish there were more boards. With them all being old ones you would think that would save a decent amount of time in development to add a couple more but unfortunately we're left with just 5 and once again hoping we get more via DLC (and we all know how that went with Super Mario Party)
A remake of FE2 carrying over all of the unique oddities that made that game special while also modernising a lot of the gameplay.
Echoes is carried heavily by it presentation and production, which is arguably the best in the series. First of all we have the absolutely beautiful artwork. The character designs have been gloriously updated that some look almost completely unrecognisable to their original artwork. On top of the gorgeous artwork, there is full voice acting in the series for the first time and my how far we have come from the awkwardly stilted performances in the Tellius games. The performances here elevate these characters into being some of the most memorable FE characters ever. Alm and Celica are fantastic leads, Clair and her unique dialogue is a joy to listen to and my gosh Berkut's lines are delivered which such a perfection that you'll be quoting him for a long time to come. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!! The music, my gosh the music is so beautiful. An absolute joy to listen to. From emotional pieces that bring you tears to the epic map finale, Twilight of the Gods, the soundtrack here is right up there as one of the best in the series, if not the best.
We also have some new additions on top of the Gaiden gameplay. Combat arts allow units to perform special attacks at the cost of HP. Dungeon exploration is fully 3rd person giving the game even more of a JRPG feel. And there's new characters, a full extra Act for a postgame and DLC allowing for even higher tier classes. The love the developers poured into Echoes is there for all to see. This is a love letter to long time fans.
Hold up. If this game is one of the best in basically every aspect, what is holding it back from the full 5 stars? Well, unfortunately one of the things left untouched in the remake is the awful map design... plus the teleporting witches.... plus the cantors that can continuously summon enemies.....
Echoes can be a chore to play at times and if you don't have the patience for it, well it can be a frustrating experience. Now some of that frustration can be eased with the new Mila's Turnwheel mechanic that allows you to undo turns (though it can only be used a limited amount of times per map) but ultimately, some of these maps are always gonna feel like a slog to play. Personally, I don't mind most of them, but there are a few, especially on Celica's route that feel like chores.
All in all, Echoes comes so close to being a perfect remake. It's presentation is fantastic, it fleshes out the narrative without forcing an avatar that kinda steals the spotlight in, it adds depth to its characters through supports, updates it mechanically to be a more playable game, and stays faithful enough without crossing the line. It falls short with some poor map design but this is truly a love letter to the original Gaiden and a beautiful one at that
Echoes is carried heavily by it presentation and production, which is arguably the best in the series. First of all we have the absolutely beautiful artwork. The character designs have been gloriously updated that some look almost completely unrecognisable to their original artwork. On top of the gorgeous artwork, there is full voice acting in the series for the first time and my how far we have come from the awkwardly stilted performances in the Tellius games. The performances here elevate these characters into being some of the most memorable FE characters ever. Alm and Celica are fantastic leads, Clair and her unique dialogue is a joy to listen to and my gosh Berkut's lines are delivered which such a perfection that you'll be quoting him for a long time to come. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!! The music, my gosh the music is so beautiful. An absolute joy to listen to. From emotional pieces that bring you tears to the epic map finale, Twilight of the Gods, the soundtrack here is right up there as one of the best in the series, if not the best.
We also have some new additions on top of the Gaiden gameplay. Combat arts allow units to perform special attacks at the cost of HP. Dungeon exploration is fully 3rd person giving the game even more of a JRPG feel. And there's new characters, a full extra Act for a postgame and DLC allowing for even higher tier classes. The love the developers poured into Echoes is there for all to see. This is a love letter to long time fans.
Hold up. If this game is one of the best in basically every aspect, what is holding it back from the full 5 stars? Well, unfortunately one of the things left untouched in the remake is the awful map design... plus the teleporting witches.... plus the cantors that can continuously summon enemies.....
Echoes can be a chore to play at times and if you don't have the patience for it, well it can be a frustrating experience. Now some of that frustration can be eased with the new Mila's Turnwheel mechanic that allows you to undo turns (though it can only be used a limited amount of times per map) but ultimately, some of these maps are always gonna feel like a slog to play. Personally, I don't mind most of them, but there are a few, especially on Celica's route that feel like chores.
All in all, Echoes comes so close to being a perfect remake. It's presentation is fantastic, it fleshes out the narrative without forcing an avatar that kinda steals the spotlight in, it adds depth to its characters through supports, updates it mechanically to be a more playable game, and stays faithful enough without crossing the line. It falls short with some poor map design but this is truly a love letter to the original Gaiden and a beautiful one at that
1999
Having finally found out about a translation for this I decided to try it and..... yeah Custom Robo rocks!!!
Story wise, it's very similar to Pokemon in that you compete in tournaments and have to stop an evil team but it's such a fun time.
Custom Robo shines in it's battles and it's cool to see how much it nailed in it's first outing. Mechanically there's basically everything from the GCN/DS games just a bit more polygony haha.
It is a little disappointing that it's only 1 on 1 battles but I know V2 brings in 2 on 2 battles so I can kinda understand wanting to focus on 1 on 1 in the first title and making sure it ran well.
The characters are fun, the combat is engaging and the story is decent enough and it all makes for an incredibly solid first outing for an extremely underrated and underappreciated series
Story wise, it's very similar to Pokemon in that you compete in tournaments and have to stop an evil team but it's such a fun time.
Custom Robo shines in it's battles and it's cool to see how much it nailed in it's first outing. Mechanically there's basically everything from the GCN/DS games just a bit more polygony haha.
It is a little disappointing that it's only 1 on 1 battles but I know V2 brings in 2 on 2 battles so I can kinda understand wanting to focus on 1 on 1 in the first title and making sure it ran well.
The characters are fun, the combat is engaging and the story is decent enough and it all makes for an incredibly solid first outing for an extremely underrated and underappreciated series
This is my first ever Monkey Ball game and while I appreciate that for long time fans the physics and stuff wasn't what they hoped for, as a newcomer they were good enough to sell me on the franchise.
It's definitely a game you can tell was designed for the notched controller the Gamecube had because the full circle sticks on modern controllers make it difficult to roll in a set direction and makes it soooooo easy to fall off thinner platforms.
That said, the core concept of moving stages to guide a monkey in a ball to a goal? Addictively fun! I love arcadey style stuff like this so much. Easy to learn, difficult to master as stages become more complex, asking you to pull off manoeuvres that make you feel like a Monkey Ball deity when you do them.
I do appreciate that for long time fans, the physics being off can be hugely detrimental to your enjoyment (I've experienced that with Sonic 4......) but I think for newcomers like myself, this is good enough to hook us on the series and get us interested in trying out the Gamecube originals that people love so dearly
It's definitely a game you can tell was designed for the notched controller the Gamecube had because the full circle sticks on modern controllers make it difficult to roll in a set direction and makes it soooooo easy to fall off thinner platforms.
That said, the core concept of moving stages to guide a monkey in a ball to a goal? Addictively fun! I love arcadey style stuff like this so much. Easy to learn, difficult to master as stages become more complex, asking you to pull off manoeuvres that make you feel like a Monkey Ball deity when you do them.
I do appreciate that for long time fans, the physics being off can be hugely detrimental to your enjoyment (I've experienced that with Sonic 4......) but I think for newcomers like myself, this is good enough to hook us on the series and get us interested in trying out the Gamecube originals that people love so dearly
2021
They done did it. They brought out a proper brand new 2D Metroid and nailed it's execution.
A planet that oozes atmosphere, enemies that build up tension and fear in the player, boss fights that are flashy and spectacular and Samus is a badass.
We waited so long for this and the wait was absolutely worth it
A planet that oozes atmosphere, enemies that build up tension and fear in the player, boss fights that are flashy and spectacular and Samus is a badass.
We waited so long for this and the wait was absolutely worth it
2019
Played this a couple of times with a friend and it's one of the few fps games that I can play well enough to enjoy