Smash Brethren 1 + SpotPass schedule
(13th March 2013)
Yesterday, I mentioned the possibility of a
second DLC episode coming out this Thursday, but totally dismissed
the idea.
Well, what do you know, another one is coming out tomorrow!
Smash Brethren 1 sees Chrom land in
the middle of a battle between the forces of Elibe and Tellius and
allows players to recruit Elincia from Path of Radiance and
Radiant Dawn. The episode costs $3.00 by itself or,
alternatively, players can purchase the Smash pack, which contains
all 3 Smash Brethren episodes, for a discounted price of $6.50. (Source)
Additionally, Nintendo has issued a press
release about the upcoming maps available from SpotPass. If you've been following this
site or been around the Awakening community, none of this
information should be surprising to you. However, in case you're not
aware...
SpotPass maps are paralogues that can
be accessed from the world map, after
completing the penultimate chapter. Currently there are two SpotPass
maps out: "The Dead King's Lament" and "Irreconcilable Paths".
Besides these two maps, there are four more yet to be released (on
alternating Thursdays, starting from 14th March), starting with "A
Hard Miracle".
Confusingly, Nintendo claims that "A Hard Miracle" is out today, but
in all likelihood (judging by the schedule up to now), it's probably
out tomorrow.
Lost Bloodlines 3 (12th March 2013)
Nintendo of America has informed fans that the next DLC episode, Lost Bloodlines 3, will be released on
14th March (Source).
This episode concludes the Archanea and Jugdrali Einherjar arc and
allows players to recruit Seliph from Genealogy of the Holy War,
as well as obtain the Paragon Skill, which doubles gained
experience.
I should mention that last week, Nintendo only
mentioned that Lost Bloodlines 2 was releasing that week; however,
when the time of release came, another episode, Infinite Regalia,
was also available.
So if we're very lucky, maybe we'll also get Smash Brethren 1 or
something. Personally, I'm not expecting two maps this week though!
European character spotlights (11th
March 2013)
In a similar fashion to Nintendo of America's character spotlights,
Nintendo of Europe (or UK at least) is spotlighting the various Fire
Emblem: Awakening characters on their Nintendo 3DS Facebook
page.
Since I already covered the North American spotlights, I don't plan
to cover all of these ones. However, I'll just mention the first
one.
(Click image to enlarge)
Marth:
"Appearing as a masked knight, Marth carries the legendary Falchion
sword and appears out of nowhere to save Chrom and the other
Shepherds." (Source)
Two observations:
Firstly, NOE has chosen Marth as their first character, while NOA
chose Chrom. Secondly, the image quality is significantly better in
NOE's images, which I'm very glad about!
Original Soundtrack track list
(10th March 2013)
This was posted almost a month ago, but better late than never
right?
This includes the full track list, which I've rewritten in English here. Special thanks to Quick for
helping me with some quotes!
Of note, the soundtrack also includes a couple of extra tracks not featured in the
in-game Sound Test, such as songs that play in the animation movies
and the DLC scenarios.
DLC Redemption (7th March 2013)
I'm not sure if Nintendo heard the complaints, but either way two
DLC episodes were released today: Lost
Bloodlines 2 and Infinite Regalia.
I know some fans were pining about them earlier!
As well as featuring in Lost Bloodlines 2, the Gaiden legacy
characters are now available via SpotPass
too. Here are the new names, collected by Shadow Stalker X.
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
Quick Slash
Aggressor
Deen
Deen
Clea
Clair
Valbo
Valbar
Bowy
Boey
Norma
Nomah
Maisen
Mycen
Clerbe
Clive
Ryuto
Luthier
Eltshan
Eldigan
Official site update + continent
research (6th March 2013)
I almost missed this, but the official site has updated the Downloads
section and, I'll admit, I'm rather impressed!
The last time I checked, there were only 2
wallpapers/timeline covers and 1 set of icons/profile pictures; now
there are 4 more wallpapers/timeline covers and 2 extra sets of
icons/profile pictures.
Of note, the new wallpapers use artworks that previously weren't
available in high quality. Thanks, NOA!
On another note, it's no secret that I love geeking about the most
obscure Fire Emblem things.
This time, I've been looking into the three ominous landmasses
poking at the very edges of Awakening's world map. Thanks to
a tip from Fëanen and the power of shadowofchaos's
capture card, I believe I've solved
the mystery of the identity of all three continents.
A fair warning: the answer might not be as interesting as you were
expecting...
Lost Bloodlines 2 + final Fire Emblem
Friday (6th March 2013)
Then you may be relieved that Lost
Bloodlines 2 has been confirmed for this Thursday. This DLC
episode allows you recruit Alm and obtain the male-only Dread
Fighter class.
For some strange reason, it seems Nintendo has region-locked the
Facebook post containing the announcement, so I can't actually see
it without fans
quoting it. Seriously, region-locked posts?
Also, a message to Fire Emblem fans around the New York area:
the Nintendo World Store is holding its (possibly) final Fire
Emblem event on Friday 8th March 2013. For details, please
check the event page.
If anyone who reads this site is going, I'd love to hear a report
about the event!
Sadly, I'm nowhere near New York or even America. But given the
chance, I'd definitely like to meet other Fire Emblem fans
in the flesh : )
Week 5 DLC and SpotPass (28th February
2013)
Rather disappointingly, there is no new DLC released today.
Well, EXPonential Growth is now out,
but players who purchased the Golden Pack could already play it last week. Given that Nintendo's latest press
release specifically mentions that EXPonential Growth is out
today, it's possible the early release was a mistake.
Also, a reminder: the free period for the DLC episode Champions of Yore 1 is almost over!
Anybody who still hasn't downloaded it for free has until 5th March
before it becomes paid content.
On the SpotPass front, you can now
recruit Shadow Dragon
characters and access Paralogue 19: Irreconcilable Paths.
Additionally, the official site has added a new downloads
section, featuring exclusive wallpapers, icons and Facebook stuff.
North American DLC trailer (25th
February 2013)
The Fire Emblem: Awakening official site has added a new trailer
(at the very bottom) detailing the entire Series 1 set of DLC.
Personally I'm kind of dubious about the reliability of the trailer,
when they misspell Celica as Cecilia, but most of the details should
be fairly safe.
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
Demon Fighter
Dread Fighter
Light versus Dark
Rogues and Redeemers
Red versus Blue
Smash Brethren
Limit Breaker
Limit Breaker
Bride
Bride
-
-
Lost Bloodlines DLC + final class chart (21st
February 2013)
Update:
Strangely, another DLC episode EXPonential
Growth is out today. According to players, this episode cannot
be purchased from the Outrealm Gate yet, but is available if your
purchased the Golden Pack.
Anyway, now that Lost Bloodlines 1 is out, we've got some new official names for various
Archanea and Jugdral characters. Special thanks to Shadow
Stalker Xfor compiling the new names!
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
Maris
Malice
Skasaher
Ulster
Roro
Legion
Sety
Ced
Cuan
Quan
Aless
Ares
Ethlin
Ethlyn
Altenna
Altena
Ira
Ayra
Yurius
Julius
Jamka
Jamke
Evayle (Eyvel)
Eyvel
Levin (Levn)
Lewyn
Dagda (Dagdar)
Dagdar
Lachesis (Rackesis)
Raquesis
Cyas
Saias
Alvis
Arvis
Leidrick
Raydrik
Lakche
Larcei
-
-
Nintendo of America has teased
the next DLC episode slightly ahead of
time.
Lost Bloodlines 1, which releases
later today, allows you to recruit Leif from Thracia 776.
The map costs $3.00 by itself, which is slightly more expensive than
prior maps. However, you can also purchase the Lost Bloodlines Pack,
containing all three maps, for a discounted $6.00.
Additionally, the third and apparently final class
chart has been added.
Soundtrack update + assorted bonus stuff 2
(19th February 2013)
4x 12 inch CDs + 1x data CD
3 sided Digipak + transparent case + 24 page booklet
According to the report, the OST includes 93 tracks (1 more than
previously reported); disks 1 to 4 contain 24, 20, 23 and 26 tracks
respectively.
Meanwhile the elusive data disk contains the full voice track,
various sound effects, a HD version of the game's opening movie,
plus a piano score for "You may call me Marth."
On the North American side, Nintendo has added the second
class chart (there should be one more to come) to their 3DS
Facebook page.
Additionally, many North American Awakening players have
probably received the exclusive Fire Emblem: Awakening
Swapnote stationary by now (image below).
(Image credits to shadowofchaos)
I don't have many stationary myself, so I don't know what region
gets what, but it's pretty interesting that the North American
design is very different to the Japanese
one. I wonder if Europeans will get another design?
Finally, I'd like to publically announce that The
Heroes of Shadow are working on translating various Fire
Emblem: Awakening bonus materials. This includes the official
comic published in the Nintendo Dream magazine. At the moment, we've
just started and we're in the middle of organising various things,
so there'll probably be a formal announcement further down the road.
European media + assorted bonus stuff
(17th February 2013)
Apologies If I'm ever late with North American or European news.
Japanese news I'm getting the hang of, but I'm not too familiar with
where to look for occidental news!
Nintendo of Europe has added a product
description for Awakening, which confirms that the
game will contain English, French, German, Italian and Spanish text.
Also, it appears Casual Mode has been renamed "Newcomer Mode".
Additionally, I've uploaded better quality images of the European
game box and 3DS XL bundle, which you can find below.
Now, if you don't mind, I'll be moving onto some slightly random
stuff for today!
I realise the game's been out for ages, but I've been hooked on
Pullblox recently (or Pushmo if you live in North America). If any
Pullblox/Pusho fans fancy climbing up Serenes Forest's emblem or
Olivia's map sprite, then please scan the QR code images below!
Next up, I recently received a bunch of Awakening deco
stickers from an awesome online friend. I don't intend on physically
parting with the stickers, but I figured some people might be
interested in some scans.
Finally, something that I thought was really cool...
Awakening fan Airship Cannon noticed that ancient
Tellius text, which appears in Path of Radiance
and Radiant
Dawn, can be found surrounding the game's various magical
spells (see
topic).
In particular, the text is apparently most clear during Valflame's
animation (shown above; image credits to shadowofchaos).
For those curious about what the text says: sadly, it appears to be
just garble and is the same text that appears alongside Radiant
Dawn's spell animations (texture
A | texture
B).
Personally I think the fact they reused the ancient text is pretty
darn cool. Although I do wonder if there's any special meaning
behind this or whether the developers were just lazy. If the ancient
text was reused on purpose, it would imply that Awakening's
(and Jugdral's) magic originated from Tellius, which would make
sense given that the Tellius games are probably the earliest ones
chronologically.
Teaser + official site observations +
other (15th February 2013)
This is still in the early stages, but two Olivia fans might be
working on...
In official news, I was too excited about the European news
yesterday that I overlooked a couple of things.
If you check the official site, you can
now find voice samples in the characters section, plus two
originally-hidden-but-now-viewable characters (one who's a spoiler),
as well as an update to the SpotPass
and DLC schedule.
To be honest, I'm slightly disappointed that the site's schedule is
one week behind. For instance, the DLC page has only just added
Champions of Yore 2, when you can go out and buy Champions of Yore
3! Although, I suppose it's more fun to discover the new DLC
yourself, rather than from the site. Also, whoever updated the
Champions of Yore 2 description really needs to use a spell checker!
Oh wait, I'm not done yet?
(Click image to load site)
Oh yeah, of course, the results of Nintendo of America's pairing
polls are
in and, perhaps not unexpected, Chrom's ideal partner was
Sumia and vice versa! For reference, Chrom's poll had 1134 comments,
while Sumia's poll had 598 comments, at the time of writing.
Finally, just in case you thought Fire Emblem: Awakening
wasn't brilliant, Nintendo has uploaded a special accolades trailer
here.
European Redemption + DLC
announcements (14th February 2013)
In their latest Nintendo
Direct presentation, Nintendo of Europe announced that Fire
Emblem: Awakening will be releasing on 19th April 2013
(a full year behind the Japanese release).
To make up for the delay, Nintendo also revealed an exclusive
limited edition hardware bundle for Europe featuring a Fire
Emblem: Awakening themed Nintendo 3DS XL (and not the
regular model like in other territories).
(Click images to enlarge)
Furthermore, fans were promised all the DLC that Japan received.
A minor observation: "Xenologue" (the prefix for DLC episodes) was
renamed "Outrealm Tales".
On the North American
side, Nintendo shared details about the upcoming DLC.
Today, players can purchase two episodes: Champions
of Yore 3 and The Golden Gaffe.
The latter is part of the "Golden Pack", which also contains the
"EXPonential Growth" and "Infinite Regalia" episodes.
North American fans should also keep an eye out for a special
Swapnote message...
Sumia's best husband + Nintendo Direct
(13th February 2013)
Personally I think this is rather short notice, but Nintendo of
America has added another pairing
poll, this time for Sumia.
(Click image to load site)
Like before, the results will be posted on Valentine's Day
(tomorrow).
For reference, the previous poll has over a
thousand comments at the time of writing.
In other news, Nintendo is holding another Nintendo Direct
presentation tomorrow. At the very least, hopefully Nintendo of
Europe will announce a full release date for Fire Emblem:
Awakening and maybe even the Nintendo 3DS hardware bundle!
*Crosses fingers*
Chrom's best wife? (12th February
2013)
Nintendo of America has posted a
poll on their Nintendo 3DS Facebook page, allowing fans to
vote for their favourite wife for Chrom.
(Click image to load site)
The results will be posted on Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, female
Avatar didn't make the cut and neither did the generic village girl,
but it's going to be interesting to know what fans think.
Alternatively, we also have a similar poll on our
forums!
10 million hits + final character
spotlight (12th February 2013)
This is kind of a weird place to mention it, but this site--Serenes
Forest--crossed 10 million unique visitors some time yesterday!
I'd like to give a hearty thanks to everyone for visiting this site
and encouraging others to do the same. For a long time, I never
imagined the site would ever reach 10 millions hits--for reference,
this site reached 1 million hits back in August 2008 and it was
created during 2005.
Sadly, I've been too caught up with Awakening updates and
other stuff, so I haven't prepared anything cool to celebrate this
milestone. However, I did grab a chart of the site's activity for
the past year.
The spike at April 2012 was due to the Japanese release of
Awakening, while the massive spike towards the far right of the
chart is due to the North American release.
In terms of numbers, this time last year, the average number of
unique visitors was in the range of 4 to 5,000. After the Japanese
release of Awakening, this number shot up to 9 to 10,000 (although
this increase may also be due to more frequently placed counters on
the Awakening pages). This week, it's in the range of 40 to
50,000! Needless to say, the North American release has really boosted
the traffic of this site : )
In real Awakening news, the official site still hasn't
updated with Champions of Yore 2, so that just leaves the final
character spotlight!
(Click image to enlarge)
Walhart:
"An unforgiving man who forged the Valmese Empire. He hates cowards
and believe the only way to unite the world is through absolute
power." (Source)
This also pretty much concludes Nintendo's extensive Awakening advertising
on their Facebook, although I guess there's still the DLC
announcements and the two class charts they
promised us!
Fire Emblem: Awakening figures (10th
February 2013)
Okay, now the cycle is complete.
At the winter Wonder Festival 2013, Max Factory revealed two Fire
Emblem: Awakening figures, of Marth and Tharja. Currently,
there aren't any details about the Marth figure, other than it will
be a figma. However a prototype of the Tharja figure was on display
(see image below or check out Inside's gallery).
(Click image to enlarge)
According the information card beside it, the Tharja figure is 1/8
scale and sculptured by Shining Wizard; a release date or a price
has not been shared yet.
Soundtrack cover + spotlight 22 (9th
February 2013)
Amazon Japan
has uploaded the cover of the upcoming Fire Emblem: AwakeningOriginal Soundtrack, which releases on 27th
March (may contain spoilers).
(Click image to enlarge)
Yusuke Kozaki, who illustrated the cover, tweeted
that the cover art we see is actually not complete; the full artwork
is divided into three pages (only the first has been revealed), so
you'll have to wait until the soundtrack's out if you want to see it
in full! Special thanks to shadowofchaos for clarifying his
remark.
Meanwhile, the latest character in the spotlight, following in
Gangrel's footsteps, is...
(Click image to enlarge)
Aversa:
"A cunning vixen who uses her beauty to lead men to ruin." (Source)
Week 2 of DLC/SpotPass + spotlight 21
(7th February 2013)
Slightly earlier than I expected, the second DLC episode Champions of Yore 2 is now out.
Interestingly, there's also a "Champions Pack", which allows you to
purchase all three Champions of Yore maps for a discounted price of
$4.00. Currently the third map has yet to be released; owners of the
Champions Pack can view the map in the Outrealm Gate, but cannot
play it until it's released.
On the SpotPass front, you can now
start recruiting characters from The Sacred Stones. If you
"missed" any of the previous Fire
Emblem (GBA) characters, you can now summon any of them at
will too.
Anyway, it would seem the "secret" SpotPass schedule was a red
herring, which perhaps isn't all too surprising, if I had noticed
earlier that it was more or less the Japanese schedule..!
Finally, if you missed it, the most recent character in the
spotlight was...
(Click image to enlarge)
Gangrel:
"A wild and ruthless king of Plegia who once took sick pleasure in
hurting others." (Source)
Official site updated (4th February
2013)
The Fire Emblem: Awakeningofficial site
has updated!
(Click image to load site)
The previously locked pages, "Gameplay" and "Connect &
Download", are now available to view. Additionally, Nintendo of
America has even added profiles for characters not featured on the
Japanese site, which is very cool of them!
Because I was feeling a bit sneaky, I poked around the source code a
bit and found some interesting details...
On the SpotPass front, it seems the
available content will include
(opens a new window)...
I'm too busy to thoroughly check the DLC page, but I did notice a
weird dummied out entry for "Enchanted Seal of the Netherworld",
which is apparently released on 4th June 2013. Actually, now that I
think about it, it's a (somewhat strange) translation of the first DLC series "Other-world Talismans".
Awakening North American/Canadian
release + spotlight 20 (4th February 2013)
Today's the day many of you have been waiting for: Fire Emblem:
Awakening is now out (officially) in North America and Canada!
Sadly, for some people the "now out" has become "not out", as many
stores apparently still aren't certain as to when they'll have
copies to sell, most likely due to the huge demand for the game.
However, if you haven't pre-ordered the game (or are thinking of
cancelling your pre-order), don't forget you can also purchase a
digital version of the game from Nintendo's
eShop (clicking on the link I provided should send you to a
page with a QR code for the game's eShop page).
In any case, to celebrate the game's release, I think I'll link to a
pretty nifty piece of artwork drawn by official artist Yusuke
Kozaki, which he posted on his Twitter nearly a year ago (if
you dig around, you can find a couple of more Awakening doodles,
but do be wary of spoilers).
(Click image to enlarge)
My Japanese knowledge isn't that great and some of the text is a bit
too squiggly for me to read but, if I had to guess, Lissa is
probably complaining about her brother's playing style, while
Chrom's like "Shut up! I can do it! Oh wait, I died!?"
In other news, though the game is out now, Nintendo of America
hasn't stopped with their character spotlights just yet! In the
spotlight today is...
(Click image to enlarge)
Tiki:
"The voice of the divine dragon. Being a dragonkin means she has
lived since days of yore and was friends with the Hero-King, Marth."
(Source)
Iwata Asks + DLC footage (2nd February 2013)
The translated Iwata Asks interview for Fire Emblem: Awakening
is now
up! I already briefly talked about the interview here and here,
so I won't bother repeating here. I do recommend reading the actual
interview though, because it is rather interesting and amusing.
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Arizona State Univ)
If you haven't read them before, I also recommend checking out the
Iwata Asks interview for Heroes of
Light and Shadow. (I was going to link to the Shadow Dragon
one too, but it seems Nintendo took down the entire English site...)
Meanwhile, IGN has uploaded a video that showcases the entire
"Champions of Yore 1" DLC episode here.
Originally I found it odd how the first DLC and SpotPass content was
released before the game was, but I guess it
allows for the gaming press to check out the content early. If so,
then that's mighty clever!
English voice actors revealed +
official class chart (1st February 2013)
The full English voice cast for Fire Emblem: Awakening can
be found here.
I'm not sure if I should be saying this, but infamous GameFAQs
poster Marth Koopa has finally redeemed himself!
By the way, if you can't find a particular character, you're not
imagining things; for some strange reason, some characters are
simply missing from the credits.
(Click image to open Facebook page)
Meanwhile, Nintendo of America has posted a pretty chart detailing
some of the classes from the game on their Nintendo 3DS Facebook
page. Two more are promised soon.
DLC and SpotPass out now (31st January
2013)
The game's not officially out yet, but the first DLC and SpotPass
content is already available today!
On the DLC side, we have Champions of Yore 1, which sees Chrom
do battle against heroines from previous Fire Emblem titles.
Upon completion of the mission, players will recruit Pr. Marth, of
the Lodestar class. (Presumably "Pr." stands for "Prince", which is
a bit odd since DLC Marth was just "Marth" in the Japanese
version...)
As for SpotPass, players can look
forward to 10 SpotPass Teams featuring characters from Fire Emblem (GBA) (and,
yes, you can recruit all of them!) and two extra Double Duel
challengers: Virion's Archest and Lon'qu's Blades. Japanese players
received the Genealogy of the Holy War 1st Gen. set first,
so evidently Western players will be receiving the teams in a
different order (and hopefully no teams were cut!).
StreetPass puzzle + new names +
character spotlight 19 (31st January 2013)
North American 3DS owners may be pleased to know that the Fire
Emblem: Awakening puzzle is now available in Puzzle Swap
(requires SpotPass data).
Meanwhile, fans who picked up the game early on Tuesday
have discovered the new (or old) names for the children and some
legacy Fire Emblem weapons. Thanks to everyone who shared
their discoveries!
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
Wood/Eudes
Owain
Loran/Laurent
Laurent
Azure/Azur
Inigo
Noire
Noire
Brady
Brady
n_n/Nn
Nah
Degel
Kjelle
Balmunk/Balmunc
Balmung
Cynthia
Cynthia
Gungnir
Gungnir
Selena/Serena
Severa
Swanchika
Helswath
Jerome
Gerome
Ichaival/Ichii-bal
Yewfelle
Chambray
Yarne
Falaflame
Valflame
Finally, on the character spotlight front, we have...
(Click image to enlarge)
Say'ri:
"An upright and dignified princess from the Chon’sin dynasty. Her
old fashioned mannerisms set her apart from the other Ylisseans." (Source)
Canadian street date restored + reviews +
spotlight 18 (30th January 2013)
Just yesterday, a bunch of Canadian Fire
Emblem fans managed to snag a copy of Awakening early,
after several retailers broke the street date.
However, according to some fans who tried to purchase the game
today, retailers are no longer selling the game until 4th
February; apparently the early release was done in error (gasp!) and
Nintendo may have contacted retailers, telling them to stick to the
official release date.
Meanwhile, the gaming sites are starting to publish their reviews of
the game--you can find a list of them here
(special thanks to forum members). Currently, there are nothing but
great scores for the game : )
Finally, in case you missed it, the latest character to be
spotlighted is...
(Click image to enlarge)
Cherche:
"A wyvern rider. She is raised on simple values and loves to cook
and sew." (Source)
Game out now in Canada
+ character progression video (29th January 2013)
The game's officially released next week, but according to many
fans, some Canadian retailers--apparently starting with EB
Games--have broken the street date and are selling Fire Emblem:
AwakeningNOW.
On the subject of things being broken, you may notice this
site--Serenes Forest--was down for several hours. I've been told the
hard drive broke down; it's an issue that's not too difficult to
fix, but requires hours to restore the site from the backups.
Meanwhile, Nintendo of America has uploaded a "Character
Progression" video, which details the Level up, Class-change
and Skills systems.
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
Lucky 7
Lucky Seven
Sword Slayer
Swordbreaker
Picklock
Locktouch
Magic Cry
Rally Magic
Ride Fast
Tantivy
Magic Expert
Tomefaire
Hot Start
Quick Burn
-
-
DLC first details + character spotlight
17 (27th January 2013)
Best
Buy is advertising a free DLC map as a special offer when
buying Fire Emblem: Awakening. Before you scratch your head,
wondering whether to move your pre-order, the free DLC map is almost
definitely the same limited-time free DLC mentioned by Nintendo of
America earlier in the year, which will be
available to everyone.
According to the offer, the DLC map is
named "Champion of Yore 1" and allows you to recruit Marth: this
would match perfectly with Japan's limited-time free DLC "Spirit
Talisman 1".
Meanwhile, though the majority of the characters have been revealed
at the official site, the character spotlights continue. Hopefully
we'll get some more official art, for the characters who don't have
it on the official site!
(Click image to enlarge)
Tharja:
"A mopey Plegian dark mage with a jealous streak, Tharja usually
keeps to herself chanting disturbing hexes." (Source)
Fire Emblem: Awakening Original
Soundtrack (26th January 2013)
Another "at last" moment today! At long last, Fire Emblem:
Awakening will be receiving the original soundtrack treatment
come 27th March 2013.
(Image from the Musical Selections CD)
According to a product listing at Rakuten,
the soundtrack contains a whopping 5 disks: the first 4 disks
include 92 tracks, while the last one is a special data disk
featuring the character voices and other things. The soundtrack is
presented in a high quality 3-panel digipak, adorned with
illustrations by Yusuke Kozaki and includes a 24 page booklet. It
will cost 3,980 Yen, which is about 44 USD or 28 GBP.
And now the cycle is complete. Although I guess an anime couldn't
hurt...
Full official site + Japanese download
+ spotlight 16 (25th January 2013)
At last the full Fire Emblem: Awakening official site
is now up! You
may notice it's based on the Japanese site.
(Click image to load site)
Some observant fans have noticed there are some extra character
pages for Walhart, Tiki, Say'ri and Validar, which you can access by
fiddling with the number in the URL.
Also, is it me or did they change some of the characters' peculiar
traits? E.g. Tharja is now the person with the "darkest thoughts"
instead of the "best body".
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
Tiamo
Cordelia
Valhart/Valhalt
Walhart
Renha/Lenha
Yen'fay
Sonshin
Chon'sin
Meanwhile, Japanese fans can finally purchase the download version
of Awakening from 30th January 2013. So even though
the download version was announced for North America first, Japan
still ends up getting it first X D
Finally, the latest character in the spotlight is Awakening's
"Catria"...
(Click image to enlarge)
Cordelia:
"An Ylissean Pegasus knight who has been friends with Sumia since
childhood." (Source)
The first English Awakening marriage?
(24th January 2013)
Well, the first to be recorded and posted online maybe!
(Click image to enlarge)
It's no secret that Eric from Tiny
Catridge is a massive fan of Sully. After much struggle, his
courting of Sully has reached the final stage. Will it end with
tears of joy or sorrow? Find out here!
New game announcement + character
spotlight 15 (23rd January 2013)
This isn't really anything to do with Awakening, but I
figured I should mention this here too.
Shin Megami Tensei X Fire
Emblem was just announced at Nintendo's Wii U Direct
presentation. Chrom and Marth from Awakening were among the
characters shown from the Fire Emblem side.
Meanwhile, the latest character to be spotlighted is...
(Click image to enlarge)
Gaius:
"He is a cool and capable Ylissean the (sic.) thief who will take
any job for the right price. He’s also absolutely obsessed with
sweets." (Source)
I'm glad to see they're using the official artwork again, but for
how long?!
Class reel + Nintendo Force article +
spotlight 14 (22nd January 2013)
Nintendo of America has unleashed a new trailer,
which details several of the classes from the game.
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
Strategist
Tactician
Griffon Knight
Griffon Rider
Grandmaster
Grandmaster
Dark Knight
Dark Knight
Trickster
Trickster
Battle Monk
War Monk
Dark Pegasus
Dark Flier
Battle Cleric
War Cleric
Dracoknight
Wyvern Rider
Villager
Villager
Dragonmaster
Wyvern Lord
Taguel
Taguel
Additionally, the first issue of the Nintendo Force
magazine features Fire Emblem: Awakening as its cover story
and includes a review
of the game (thanks to Wheels for the images). According to
the review, the DLC will be divided into two categories: "Another
World Stories" and "Classic Maps", which are presumably the "Path of
a Grandmaster" and "Other-world Talismans" categories from the Japanese version.
Finally, in case you haven't been keeping up, yesterday's character
spotlight was...
(Click image to enlarge)
Panne:
"A nationless shape-shifter and the last of the taguel, a race that
can communicate with animals." (Source)
Chapter 4 video + TV commercial +
spotlight 13 (21st January 2013)
Hungry for more English gameplay footage? Then look no further,
because GameXplain has uploaded a new
video that covers Chapter 4 in its entirety.
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
Raimi
Raimi
Mariabel/Mariabell
Maribelle
Basilio
Basilio
Gangrel
Gangrel
Philein
Phila
Hidden Falchion
Parallel Falchion
Meanwhile, Nintendo of America has revealed the TV commercial
for Awakening, which briefly contains spoilers.
(Click right image to enlarge)
It's nice that Nintendo's dead serious about pushing the game, what
with the eShop demo, 3DS hardware bundle, limited edition character
artbook, character spotlights and now this TV commercial!
Finally, in case you missed it, the latest character to be
spotlighted is...
Donnel:
"A villager from a remote corner of Ylisse, Donnel came to the fight
with just his farming experience but he is eager to learn and shows
a great deal of promise." (Source)
Demo out + new names + spotlight 12
(17th January 2013)
Okay, now the demo is definitely out!
According to fans, the demo contains 2 chapters: Prologue and
Chapter 1. So not a lot of content, but still pretty fair.
Hardcore fans will probably be interested in farming the event tiles in Chapter 1; especially
because the items found there reveal what official names some legacy
characters now have...
Thanks to Shadow Stalker Xand many other fans for
compiling the new names!
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
Leaf
Leif
Katarina
Katarina
Celice
Seliph
Cellica
Celica
Fin
Finn
Chris
Kris
Sigurd
Sigurd
Gimle/Gimurei
Grima
Othin
Orsin
Inverse
Aversa
Wolt
Wolt
Gaia/Guire
Gaius
Update: The character spotlights continue with...
(Click image to enlarge)
Lon'qu:
"A swordsman raised in Regna Ferox. He’s usually cool and curt with
most people." (Source)
Yay, it's the return of the official artwork!
Demo out today + first 20 minutes (17th
January 2013)
At the time of writing the free demo isn't actually available from
the North American eShop yet, but its release shouldn't be too far
off.
In any case, if you're itching to know what the first 20 minutes of
the game is like (in English to boot), you can check out this
video from GameXplain.
Meanwhile I think I'll go cry in a corner while everyone plays the
demo. Nah, just kidding; I'll probably go back to updating the Awakening
pages on the site.
Update: Have some (sorta) new screenshots courtesy of
Nintendo of America!
Nintendo of America has uploaded a new
trailer, teaching players how to build an army. If you were
around a year ago, you might notice it's based on the Japanese
trailers, which is very cool in my book!
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
SF/Japanese
name
NOA name
Grego
Gregor
Richt/Licht
Ricken
Olivia/Olivie
Olivia
Holy Kingdom of Iris
Halidom of Ylisse
Sariya/Sallya
Tharja
Dual Attack
Dual Strike
Nono
Nowi
Dual Guard
Support Block *
* According to the promotional materials; Dual Guard in the actual
game.
A reminder + various (re)confirmations
(16th January 2013)
North American fans, don't forget: the Fire Emblem: Awakeningfree demo will be available from the Nintendo
3DS eShop tomorrow!
I honestly don't know if Canadian gamers will have access to the
demo, but I do know they will be able to purchase the Fire
Emblem: Awakening Nintendo 3DS hardware
bundle.
"In Canada, the [...] hardware bundle launches exclusively at Best
Buy and Future Shop on Feb. 4! The bundle will be available online
and in-store at a retail price of $199.99." (Source)
Finally, in case Destuctoid's report about Awakening having
dual audio wasn't convincing enough (or you
missed it), Siliconera has reported the same
thing.
Oh, actually, I should mention that members of the press are
starting to receive review copies of Awakening, so if you're
hungry for info, keep
youreyes
peeled!
Download size + character spotlight 11
(15th January 2013)
In a twitter
post, Rich from IGN reveals that the download version of
Fire Emblem: Awakening takes up 8579 blocks of space (around
1GB). That makes it one of the largest Nintendo 3DS games that can
downloaded from the eShop when it releases.
Nintendo of America promised more details about
the limited edition Fire Emblem: Awakening Nintendo 3DS
bundle soon; well, here are some more details!
"The Fire Emblem Awakening Nintendo 3DS hardware bundle launches on
Feb. 4! You’ll get a Nintendo 3DS emblazoned with Fire Emblem
artwork, the game pre-installed on the hardware and a 4GB SD memory
card. The bundle will be available at a suggested retail price of
$199.99." (Source)
(Click image to enlarge)
Now we just need to know where to buy it from, huh?
Character spotlight 10 + a little bonus
(13th January 2013)
Hmm, I could have sworn there was a character spotlight today. Oh
well...
(Click image to enlarge)
Kellam:
"He is a Shepherd whose infamous lack of presence makes him seem
invisible to others." (Source)
I can't exactly leave this news entry empty, so um...
If you've been checking out certain sites, you may have seen web
adverts for Awakening pop up recently. Fans who don't live
in North America or Canada might not see them though. However,
thanks to Sirius, I've copied the ads and you can view them
here.
Nintendo 3DS bundle + character
spotlight 9 (11th January 2013)
"Fire Emblem fans in the US and Canada get excited! We have an
awesome Fire Emblem Awakening Nintendo 3DS hardware bundle coming
your way. Stay tuned for more details." (Source)
You heard them.
(Click image to enlarge)
Also, I'm starting to wonder if Nintendo of America is planning to
spotlight every character before the game's release!
(Click image to enlarge)
Miriel's turn today:
"A Shepherd who adores her research and obsesses over her studies.
She’s quiet and organized but can be tough towards people who are
careless." (Source)
Finally, the official site now
mentions the limited edition character art book and includes a small
preview image (shown above).
Nintendo 3DS bundle hitting North
America (10th January 2013)
(Click image to enlarge)
Just in case the free demo wasn't exciting enough for you, Nintendo
of America has raised the stakes: the Fire Emblem: Awakening
Nintendo 3DS hardware bundle has been confirmed for North
America. This news originates from a full page advertisement
in the latest February issue of Game Informer; according to the ad,
the bundle will be available from "participating retailers, while
supplies last".
Image courtesy of GoNintendo
(at the time of writing, the image is filed as a "rumour", but it's
been confirmed by multiple
fans).
Nintendo of Europe, please don't disappoint us!!!
North American press release +
spotlight 8 (10th January 2013)
Hold the presses! Nintendo of America has issued a press
release, which reveals Fire Emblem: Awakening will be
receiving a free demo on the Nintendo 3DS eShop come 17th
January and confirms that the game will be receiving an eShop
download version, as reported earlier (thanks
to Jave for spotting this).
Otherwise, the press release mainly explains Awakening's
diverse range of communication functions; just like during the
Japanese release, players can obtain the first DLC map for free for
a limited period. There are also a number of artwork and English
screenshots, which you can find at the bottom of this news entry.
Die-hard fans unafraid of spoilers might like the "StreetPass Team"
screenshot : )
In related news, you can also find a preview at Destructoid,
which reveals the game will be dual audio, containing both an
English and Japanese voice track.
(Click image to enlarge)
...And finally, it's Vaike time!
"A Shepherd who considers himself Chrom’s rival, Vaike has a loud
personality and more confidence than his ability warrants." (Source)
Back in late 2012, it was
reported that GameStop would be offered a limited edition bonus
"character artbook" while supplies last.
Recently, GameStop added a sneak preview of the artbook (well, a
single tiny image), shown above. Thanks to chromnom for the
heads up!
In case you were wondering, the "character artbook" is not
the Knights of Iris book that was
released in Japan recently (as if you'd be getting a 320 page
artbook for free...). However, it's now clear that the bonus artbook
will be using material from it, which is very nice.
Canadian fans can also rejoice as EBGames will be offering the same
bonus.
Character spotlight 7 (8th January 2013)
Whoa, these are coming thick and fast. And here I thought Nintendo
would take a break with the announcement of Pokémon X and Pokémon
Y!
(Click image to enlarge)
Today's Stahl:
"A Shepherd with a big heart and a good head on his shoulders. He is
very attentive and kind to others." (Source)
Unlike the previous character spotlight, it seems Nintendo of
America managed to sneak some of the newer official artworks from
Nintendo of Japan's headquarters. Awesome!
Character spotlight 6 + a little bonus
(7th January 2013)
Yikes, I almost can't keep up with Nintendo of America's character
spotlights.
(Click image to enlarge)
Yesterday was Sully:
"A no-nonsense, capable Shepherd who is admired by the other
Ylissean women for her strength." (Source)
For some reason, we only get to see Sully's character portrait and
not her official
artwork; did Nintendo of Japan neglect to give their American
partner the goods..?
Also, since I was bored, have some screen captures from earlier
trailers!
English eShop entry + character
spotlight 5 (4th January 2013)
If you enter the North American or European Nintendo 3DS eShop and
search for "Fire Emblem", you may come across a currently unfinished
eShop entry for Fire Emblem: Awakening.
(Click images to enlarge)
Unfortunately, I can't connect my 3DS online to confirm the details,
but according to Jave
and Karaszure:
When the time comes, you can download and purchase Fire
Emblem: Awakening from the Nintendo eShop
(which is interesting because Japanese gamers haven't the option
yet).
Chapter 8 is called "The Grimleal" (originally "Servants of
the Evil Dragon" in the Japanese version).
Lon'qu can be spotted fighting an enemy unit referred to as
"Valmese" (originally "Warm Soldier").
He is also fighting together with "Cherche" (originally
"Serge"), the character in the left-hand image.
...And following on from yesterday, we have another character
spotlight; this time for Emmeryn (in the right-hand image):
"The holy ruler of Ylisse and Chrom’s older sister. She is gentle
and kind and believes in peaceful negotiation even when her
kingdom is threatened by the Plegia invasion." (Source)
English character spotlight 4 (3rd January
2013)
Nintendo of America's character spotlight continues with the
enigmatic Marth:
"Appearing in Fire Emblem Awakening as a masked knight, Marth
carries the legendary Falchion sword and appears out of nowhere to
save Chrom and the other Shepherds." (Source)
(Click image to enlarge)
You can also find a short teaser
trailer, showcasing some of the in-game movies (nothing you
likely haven't seen before), at their Youtube channel.
