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SF reviews the Japanese version (ahem, just me)


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I've been meaning to review a Fire Emblem game since forever, but the opportunity never really came.

Rather than twiddle my fingers, I thought I'd write up a review for the main site, which you can read here.

(Note: There are some light/medium spoilers, but nothing major.)

Since we're primarily a fan site, there wasn't much sense in me trying to score the game, so I did a breakdown of the game's key features.

I'm sure most of the information is common knowledge, but there may be some gameplay elements that haven't been covered much.

Also, enjoy the pretty pictures : )

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I'm 6 hours in

I found the begining to be very easy and the difficulty begins to spike early chapter 3

It's fun, I'll have to wait to experience the story when the englis version comes out before I make a full judgement

It's been enjoyable so far

also, the hit rates are awayful and I'm fully convinced that this is single RNG

Edited by Captain Karnage
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So, Rinea is basically a plot device that is used to just develop Berkut's character? That's...really disappointing.

Anyway, nice job Vincent! Happy to see that this time we' ll have a decent story, albeit not without flaws.

Also, regarding the story, may I ask how did you find Rudolf's character in the story? Did you find him well done or not?

Edited by The Malign Knight
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Well, I'm quite glad for the review; I know it covers stuff we sort of already know, but it still gives me a clearer picture of what the game is probably like.

1 hour ago, Captain Karnage said:

I found the begining to be very easy and the difficulty begins to spike early chapter 3

Honestly a lot like the original, at least with Celica's route in Ch 3.  The only other difficult part I remember up to that point was maybe the Dracozombie you could fight in Ch 2, but it was optional and easily killable within a single turn of bouts with proper strategy and a properly leveled Celica.  I guess sometimes the gargoyles were also a pain since they would always go after Genny or one of the mages and bonewalkers were really tough foes (at least for generics), but the former are definitely manageable and the latter were few in numbers early on.  Also, you only encountered them after you defeat the optional Dracozombie fight, so again, they're avoidable altogether.

39 minutes ago, The Malign Knight said:

So, Rinea is basically a plot device that is used to just develop Berkut's character? That's...really disappointing.

Anyway, nice job Vincent! Happy to see that this time we' ll have a decent story, albeit not without flaws.

Also, regarding the story, may I ask how did you find Rudolf's character in the story? Did you find him well done or not?

Yeah, I was expecting more from her, given certain plot elements.  Like, I thought we were gonna be given a reason to feel sympathetic towards her and Berkut.  Instead, she gets all Azura'd.

Also, I think Rudolf is medium rare...

Spoiler

... with a side of Alm-inflicted ketchup.

 

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2 hours ago, Captain Karnage said:

I'm 6 hours in

I found the begining to be very easy and the difficulty begins to spike early chapter 3

It's fun, I'll have to wait to experience the story when the englis version comes out before I make a full judgement

It's been enjoyable so far

also, the hit rates are awayful and I'm fully convinced that this is single RNG

It's region locked, right?  I've seen cutscenes in English, but thought that only the Japanese version was out.

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2 minutes ago, Rezzy said:

It's region locked, right?  I've seen cutscenes in English, but thought that only the Japanese version was out.

Reviewers have english copies, there's also a partial text translation patch

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So the difficulty curve is... basically the same as the original? Only that late-postgame enemies will actually give you trouble now?

Edited by N30
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I'm not sure what people expected regarding Rinean. Yeah, she's probably underdeveloped, but the role she does serve helps the other characters (Berkut, Alm, and Celica). She seemed like a FOIL character from the start IMO.

At least they're trying to develop the villains. I think a lot of FE games tend to have villains with no development at all. At least this time around they have some, even if it's not what it could potentially be. It's still a shame, but I rather have this than no development.

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18 minutes ago, Dandy Druid said:

I'm not sure what people expected regarding Rinean. Yeah, she's probably underdeveloped, but the role she does serve helps the other characters (Berkut, Alm, and Celica). She seemed like a FOIL character from the start IMO.

At least they're trying to develop the villains. I think a lot of FE games tend to have villains with no development at all. At least this time around they have some, even if it's not what it could potentially be. It's still a shame, but I rather have this than no development.

The reason why I thought she was gonna be more than a FOIL character was because of a spoiler that led me to believe that she'd be a more developed character.

Spoiler

Specifically, the tragedy that befalls her.  What I thought is since something so horrible happens to her, they'd try to make the audience sympathetic towards her (and I mean more than just her being a pretty girl).  Like, I thought that when I was gonna see her as a witch, I'd feel more than just pity.  I mean, sure, I might feel bad for Berkut, but I'm assuming he dies well before she even becomes a witch.

I ultimately just don't like characters that are solely used as foils or devices.  I get that characters sometimes need crutches to help bring out the better parts of their characters, and someone has to explain stuff or make things happen, but people aren't tools.  Would it kill them to at least give Rinea a bit more of a character arc?

And I agree; I think that Rudolf and Berkut may just be the best villains the series has ever seen simply by virtue of them having more development.

Spoiler

Heck, even in Gaiden, Rudolf was more like a well thought-out Camus, since everything he did (including letting Alm kill him) was so that the continent of Valentia could be ruled by people instead of callous gods.  He was already a better "villain" than some FE antagonists that would come around later in the series, and certainly was a better Camus than the man whom the archetype originated from.

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I'm sad they ditched axes and the weapon triangle just because the original didn't have it... That's one thing that could've been simply updated and would give us more options.

Also expected that a lot of characters would only have 2-3 support options, but apparently it's even less than that. I know they will have more screen time, but that could've been paired with more supports too. Because for me more support options offer more replayability as I always discover something new about characters when pairing/supporting characters I didn't before. And that a lot of stuff only gets revealed to specific characters. The base convos might be awesome, specially on initial runs, but down the road they will just be repetitive and won't have anything new to offer.

And a few updates to the maps probably wouldn't have hurt too...

That said, the artwork looks fantastic. I really liked what I saw of it. I will reserve judgment on the new "inventory system" and Skill system. Forging seems a lot better. 

And I liked the "quests" thing. Gaining items, renown and more opportunities to explore more places and lore of the world. And apparently that chapters are composed of multiple different battles and you can do them in any order you wish, with characters even reacting to your choices (I read somewhere here that Palla and Catria leave your party if you go do battle X before recruiting Est - that's fantastic). Or even some passages/areas are blocked by events later.

Edited by Lanko
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26 minutes ago, Lanko said:

I'm sad they ditched axes and the weapon triangle just because the original didn't have it... That's one thing that could've been simply updated and would give us more options.

They might not have wanted to run the risk of unbalancing the game. Always kind of tricky to try and force in concepts that a game wasn't made for.

I'm no expert in game design but they might have decided that it wasn't worth the risk to try and squeeze it in.

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19 minutes ago, Sentinel07 said:

They might not have wanted to run the risk of unbalancing the game. Always kind of tricky to try and force in concepts that a game wasn't made for.

I'm no expert in game design but they might have decided that it wasn't worth the risk to try and squeeze it in.

I didn't play Gaiden, but I believe Skills and Mila's Turnwheel are new additions and possibly far more game changing than just having axes and the weapon triangle. They also did tweak other numbers, like giving 40 Avoid to Forests. I saw some screenshots with enemies with 40+ STR. I believe back then characters with 25-28 in a stat meant it was capped or near it. So apparently, and I say this without prior knowledge of Gaiden, they did tweak stats too. Main maps were basically ported to 3D and this possibly saved some time too.

So why not add axes? Apparently there are not even classes that can use them, but why not just give this part an update? Feels like a wasted opportunity for a few more options, IMO. 

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1 hour ago, Lanko said:

I didn't play Gaiden, but I believe Skills and Mila's Turnwheel are new additions and possibly far more game changing than just having axes and the weapon triangle.

The issue is that Gaiden/Echoes' maps and classes weren't really designed the Weapon Triangle in mind. The game is more about formation than advantage vs disadvantage. In other games, if you've got a group of sword units coming at you, all you really had to do was put a lance unit in their way. But that won't work in Gaiden/Echoes.

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2 hours ago, Armagon said:

The issue is that Gaiden/Echoes' maps and classes weren't really designed the Weapon Triangle in mind. The game is more about formation than advantage vs disadvantage. In other games, if you've got a group of sword units coming at you, all you really had to do was put a lance unit in their way. But that won't work in Gaiden/Echoes.

Weapon Triangle doesn't mean instant win, though. Use advantages to build formation, like every other game in the series. Like Lanko says, i'ts not like they didn't already add & change significant things. 

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Don't mean to be picky but, below the pic of alm that's showcasing the question marks on the skills,  there is a typo which I think it's most likely meant to be "Access" instead of "Assess"

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