Do you prefer more realistic or more over-the-top battle animations and why?

[Extrasolar]

Title says it all. Are you more of a fan of down-to-earth and realistic animations in Fire Emblem, or do you tend toward animated and flashy, and why? And which system has your favorite animations?

In my opinions, GBA animations were fun, colorful and snappy. I like them quite a bit for the most part, but I thought some of them were a bit strange in look (the cavalier horse permanently having a leg in the air, general ranged axes just...hanging there for a second before being pulled back, and why does the mage do that strange pose while casting?)

I've always loved the animations of Radiant Dawn the most, as not only because they're good-looking even to this day, but every single animation of RD had true weight and impact, while at the same time looking amazingly stylish. I mean, these are elite warriors for the most part, and the animations did not disappoint. Give me all the weapon twirling, backflipping and somersaulting. Flashier animations for me! If anything, by the time they got the flashier animations, it served only to highlight how badass your units were.

I consider Radiant Dawn to easily have the best casting animations, even if a lot of them could get overly-long. I tend to leave them on regardless, just to look at how nice they are.

Path of Radiance animations are...a little wonky by today's standards, but I think there's something charming about them. They're straightforward and simple for the most part, barring Aether's crazy flips, while still being impactful.

Personally I'm not a big fan of the DS-style animations, as I feel they're a little too restrained while lacking the same punch as the others. I never much felt the weight behind a strike in Shadow Dragon, even when the "hit" sound punctuated it. Strangely, though, I think there's something charming about NES/Famicom animations in my opinion, as though limited, they felt more impactful than Shadow Dragon's did for me.

Fates and Awakening animations, while fine, are a little too simple and strangely slow; seems like whenever anyone goes in for a hit, some sort of slow-motion effect activates and they hang for a few seconds before attacking. Maybe they tried to make it feel more epic, but I think they fell short of that. I also miss unique animations for criticals, like they had in POR/RD, which just drove home that feeling of power.

But what do you think?

Edited March 6, 2017 by Extrasolar

[Oricorio]

Over-the-top. This is a fantasy series, after all.

[KadenTheKitsune]

Over the top. I think that they are more creative than just a normal battle animation. I like the over the top battle animations that seem crazy or might not make any sense at first.

[ruruo]

So hard to choose! Over-the-top since yeah, it's fantasy. It's so difficult to decide between the GBA and GameCube era styles. I really liked them both a lot. 

[Dragoncat]

RD's animations were awesome, and those victory dances really took the cake. I liked PoR's too, but the victory dances made me vote RD. Okay so...I guess they weren't victory "dances", but still. I'm talking about the animations that happened after a kill. Cats have to clean the blood off their paws and wolves have to howl. I don't remember any beorc victory animations. 

I love Ike's backflip critical that he only does in the PoR prologue and any time he doesn't actually kill the enemy because of story stuff. It makes him look so awesome. When Smash Bros made him a slow, low jumping tank, I was like, wtf, he's way faster and more agile in his original game because backflips. But as we digress. The only thing that would improve RD's animations is some blood splatters here and there...

[Extrasolar]

11 minutes ago, Dragoncat said:

RD's animations were awesome, and those victory dances really took the cake. I liked PoR's too, but the victory dances made me vote RD. Okay so...I guess they weren't victory "dances", but still. I'm talking about the animations that happened after a kill. Cats have to clean the blood off their paws and wolves have to howl. I don't remember any beorc victory animations. 

Yeah, I loved those too!

The beorc had them too; weapon wielders would brandish or swing their weapons, mages would do a fancy cape/cloak twirl, and IIRC bishops like Rhys would do a little bow to the enemy like Micaiah does. Thieves would do a few backflips and twirl their daggers.

One of my favorites is one you probably won't see if you play the game naturally: When Kurthnaga gets a kill via punching an enemy out in human form, he just stops to dust off his pants. It's too good.

11 minutes ago, Dragoncat said:

When Smash Bros made him a slow, low jumping tank, I was like, wtf, he's way faster and more agile in his original game because backflips.

Yeah, that was pretty inexplicable, considering Ike's extremely speedy in Path of Radiance. More justified for Radiant Dawn Ike in Smash 4, since his speed did get nerfed there, but then again, he's still got enough speed in Radiant Dawn to double most things.

Edited March 6, 2017 by Extrasolar

[X-Naut]

why not both

I like the liberties battle animations take but sometimes they just break suspension of disbelief.

[saisymbolic]

I like both if they are done right, but I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I see over-the-top animations.

I voted for RD as well. There really was something satisfying about landing the killing blow on an enemy; it must have been that slight slow motion and distortion effect they used. The Awakening and Fates animations are decent; the same about the GBA animations. But, RD edges out for me.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Gotta give it to Fates. I feel like the GBA critical animations are being channeled into 3DS characters' kill attacks. And the actual criticals can be equally iconic. Fuga's Sonic-styled homing attack, Odin's crit animation when equipped with the Odin's Grimoire really puts some oomph into the death ray, Lethality's colors and freeze frame being reminiscent of samurai clashes. It's all good stuff.

Radiant Dawn deserves a shout out for mounted characters charging into battle, and watching most on foot units makes me think of 2D fighters, like the swordmaster uppercut than midair spike attack. And characters with shields actually use them to deflect attacks. I'm also naturally nostalgic for GBA era, but there's no physical reaction to being hit, and it seems silly to think that armor knights could just sidestep an attack rather than rely on their armor and shield. I'm also desperate for somebody to explain to me what in blazes those armor knights are doing with their shield/chestplate on each strike.

"Realism" is a harsh word when it comes to this series. If you wanted to portray mounted units realistically, they would run targets through and keep moving to avoid counterattack. Seeing a horseman attack, stop, then get a followup attack, it's kind of ridiculous to treat them like any infantry. It's also a shame Fire Emblem has yet to combine the Canto idea with horsemen not being able to followup attack. It's genius in terms of realism and can make them feel like different units without giving them Canto as a straight upgrade to their effectiveness.

Edited March 6, 2017 by Gustavos

[maybe]

shouldn't heroes be an option? it has a really minimalistic style but I do love the way the backgrounds and stuff change when skills activate

anyway I chose the GBA games, I find them really fun to watch

granted I prefer being able to skip the animations I don't want to watch but I do really enjoy watching them

radiant dawn is a close second, I love the way the skills look, especially things like deadeye (was that the name??? the archer skill) and impale. some of the animations were also like 3d versions of the gba animations and that was really cool too 

also even though it's not too interesting overall I really like the way magic looks in the ds games. stuff like aura and starlight look super cool, and I find the magic animations in those games much more nice to look at than in pretty much any other game

Edited March 6, 2017 by unique

[Extrasolar]

24 minutes ago, unique said:

shouldn't heroes be an option? it has a really minimalistic style but I do love the way the backgrounds and stuff change when skills activate

Oh, you're right! My bad, I'll add that.

24 minutes ago, unique said:

radiant dawn is a close second, I love the way the skills look, especially things like deadeye (was that the name??? the archer skill) and impale

Yup, Deadeye is the sniper mastery skill. Though it is kind of odd how the archer jumps roughly 20 feet into the air while using it, now that I think about it... At least it still looks cool, haha.

Same. Mastery skill activations are definitely the high point of Radiant Dawn activations for me, other than the bigger tomes like Bolganone and Blizzard.

My absolute favorite is Eclipse, just due to the pure power factor involved. I much prefer it with a sword to a lance, though.
 

32 minutes ago, Gustavos said:

Lethality's colors and freeze frame being reminiscent of samurai clashes

I'll agree on the 3DS games giving Lethality the best look it's ever had in the series. Radiant Dawn's was a bit disappointing on that front for me, in that it was just a fade-to-black and crescent slashes on the black screen. Gets the message across, but not as cool-looking imo.
 

32 minutes ago, Gustavos said:

Radiant Dawn deserves a shout out for mounted characters charging into battle, and watching most on foot units makes me think of 2D fighters, like the swordmaster uppercut than midair spike attack. And characters with shields actually use them to deflect attacks.

All this stuff too, little details like that always made them feel more realistic...or believable, I suppose, would be the more accurate term. One thing I really liked was the fact that if you had two flying units (Pegasus knights, wyvern riders, and bird laguz) fighting, they'd be in the air in the battle animation. Really neat.

32 minutes ago, Gustavos said:

If you wanted to portray mounted units realistically, they would run targets through and keep moving to avoid counterattack. Seeing a horseman attack, stop, then get a followup attack, it's kind of ridiculous to treat them like any infantry. It's also a shame Fire Emblem has yet to combine the Canto idea with horsemen not being able to followup attack.

True, but then again, you've got horsemen fighting in much tighter quarters than they'd ordinarily be fighting in when you're talking about the games that don't have dismount. But mounted units in Jugdral and Tellius had a Canto effect in that they could move remaining spaces in their move after an attack as long as they had spaces left to move, but couldn't make any more attacks.

Edited March 6, 2017 by Extrasolar

[Dragoncat]

Yeah I know the beorc had the victory animations too. OMG, Kurthnaga dusts off his pants? Lol. Must be somebody hacking the game...right?

I remember in PoR, maybe RD too but it was more noticeable in the former, when a cavy/paladin dies they dramatically collapse on the horse and the horse just stands there. Maybe not realistic, but memorable for some reason.

[Magical Glace]

The GBA games and Heroes, for me.  I really like the spritework.  Except GBA knights being just weird in general.

The only ones I really dislike are FE9 (it's really obvious this was their first time doing things with models), Awakening (everything feels very... bland to watch), and the NES games (datedness).

[Extrasolar]

7 minutes ago, Dragoncat said:

OMG, Kurthnaga dusts off his pants? Lol. Must be somebody hacking the game...right?

Yup. It's hilarious. The only reason I knew about it was because of this video. Enjoy.

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2017 by Extrasolar

[BANRYU]

I prefer them over the top personally, but either is better than neither lol-- quite a few of the animations in the 3D games are guilty of being neither. Tellius does a pretty good job of keeping it realistic for the MOST part, but their Pegasus animations have always bothered me... And Awakening doesn't do a particularly good job of being either, it's both cartoony and goofy (characters flying up into the air on death/defeat, silly motions, etc) without being over-the-top enough to justify it... Fates at least tried a little harder to make them more dynamic and interesting, so I appreciate that, but both the 3DS games suffer from some silliness, IE most of the wyvern attack animations (impractical and not very interesting) and a good deal of the horse animations (I don't know how realistic/practical the horses leaping away from and in for attacks is but I have a hard time buying it lol) in both games IIRC.

Edited March 7, 2017 by BANRYU

[NekoKnight]

Over the top all the way. How could anyone say otherwise after seeing the GBA Hero crit? Look at that cheeky bastard! Throwing his shield in the air and killing a mofo before catching his shield again like it was nothing. I don't how it's possible to have a man-crush on a video game sprite, but I do.

That said, the Radiant Dawn animations are pretty solid and I wouldn't mind if they went in that direction for the next game.

[Etria]

Battle animations are one of the first things that I switch off (ain't got time for that) so I don't really care.

[Flee Fleet!]

Over the top, of course!

 

I prefer the GBA animations because I like how cartoonish looking they are and they're fast too. FE4, 3 and 5 animations are not too bad (I do like how characters don't move back to their original place after their first attack). The units' shadows sure are having a stroke though, during the battle sequence.

I like RD's battle animation, well, of the few animations I have seen. And the DS ones are just bad looking.

[Lord Tullus]

Realistic is nice in some cases, but flashy just fits FE so much better.  Leave the story to realism.

The animations of the GBA era were flashy, but... it just didn't have the kick that RD's animations had.  I really liked how some characters (I think this was exclusive to myrmidon class sets) would roll backwards to dodge.  It was just so... life-like.  The magic animations in any game that isn't the SNES games or Radiant dawn is just appalling to me.  Imagine the Valflame and Holsety in stunning, RD like animations.  Maybe in in HD?

The animation of the magic was a little long or winded at times (like the Light and fire animations) but the holy weapons and the critical animations of the princess, Swordmaster, Warrior, and even the sword Pegasi were either quick or flashy.  Now that I think about it, the Pegasi would swoop down, crit-to-kill as they pass by and fly back to the air to scout some more.  Kinda like the Radiant dawn flier animations.  I think I know where the inspiration came from.  

All in all, Radiant Dawn's animations are my Favorite, but I have to give honorable mentions to the SNES animations.  Who doesn't like Seliph's crazy dance moves or the Swordmaster's illusion techniques?

[Sire]

I voted for the GBA style animations because they were over the top and amazing. Specifically, the spellcasters summoning their crazy orbs to power their spells and the awesome Generals with their chain weapons. Then there are all those impractical but cool crazy weapon twirls and stuff. I also happen to really enjoy Pixel art, so there is some bias there.

However, Radiant Dawn, for me, is more or less at the same level of the GBA animations. The have some of the over-the-top moments, especially with the proc skills, but the biggest takeaway are the "auxiliary animations" such as Soldiers and Knights "blocking" attacks instead of dodging. I'm sure with the modern tech an upgraded variant of Radiant Dawn's animations would surpass the GBA style (Fire Emblem Battle Animations in the style of RWBY battles?), so I wonder how Fire Emblem Switch will take this on.

Lastly, I want to note Fate's animations. They are a notable improvement from Awakening and I think some even pay homage to the GBA era of animations (or was that Awakening that did that? I don't remember). The style is all right and is enjoyable to watch in its own regard, but I still prefer GBA or Radiant Dawn to Fates.

[The DanMan]

Over-the-top.
And Awakening and Fates shouldn't be sharing a spot-- Awakening's animations are straightforward and stiff, while Fates' are a lot more fluid and flashy; they're worlds apart.

[Extrasolar]

1 hour ago, The DanMan said:

And Awakening and Fates shouldn't be sharing a spot-- Awakening's animations are straightforward and stiff, while Fates' are a lot more fluid and flashy; they're worlds apart.

Really? I don't know, they look pretty similar to me.

[Dragrath]

Yeah as a fantasy game there is no reason for them not to be over the top as long as they don't look stupid (see all mounted units animations in 3DS games)

As for a game by game basis RD defiantly had the best feel to animations hands down. That said I feel that fittingness could probably be given to other styles if IS wanted...

Honestly it feels FE backpedaled after FE10 probably because the games weren't very successful because bad marketing decisions... sigh...

(I miss elevation advantages and Canto honestly)

Edited March 8, 2017 by Dragrath
more detail/spelling

[Zapp Branniglenn]

31 minutes ago, Extrasolar said:

Really? I don't know, they look pretty similar to me.

While similarities exist, animations aren't reused, even in returning classes. And there's now a distinction between normal attacks, criticals/skills, and for any attack that deals enough damage to kill. Awakening did not have that third distinction. And to characterize Fates as more flashy and personalized in terms of class is accurate in my opinion. Though the Adventurer and Sniper are both on foot archers, only the Adventurer performs the side flip shot for a kill. All I remember of Awakening is a lot of slow motion jumps and single leap dashes often from a distance that no human should be capable of. Kind of cool, but lacks inspiration. Corrin has a disgusting amount of animations, Maids and Butlers share a class but not attacks, and denizens of the Flame, Ice, and Wind Tribes have elemental effects whenever they make contact. All in all, the difference between Fates and Awakening is similar to the difference between RD and PoR. A net increase in quality and quantity. Though Quality is still a subjective term here.

Thinking on it, I would keep the two games together for the sake of the poll. Voting on eras instead of individual entries makes plenty sense, and by that logic I would personally combine PoR and RD. 

Edited March 8, 2017 by Gustavos

[vanguard333]

I think a little over-the-top is good, within reason. I think, aside from special moves, like Aether, and critical hits, attacks should be reasonable. In my opinion they should at least make some sense; i.e, "This might be something someone could do." For example, I liked a lot of Ike's fighting animations and those of the myrmidon/swordmaster/trueblade classes in PoR and RD because they, while flashy, were not unreasonably so in my opinion. Whereas a lot of Corrin's attack animations in Fates were flare for flare's sake and made me think, "This person has been living in an isolated castle, and the time his 'siblings' come to visit occurs when his eldest brother: the best swordsman in Nohr, comes to train him. Why does his 'technique' look so ridiculous".

I believe in rule of cool: if you are going to do something flashy and unauthentic where something authentic could be done, at least make sure it is awesome. The problem is a lot of the flashy animations recently have been very not-awesome.