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Shadow Dragon. What can I say? My favorite FE, and the first I happened to play. Truly, it is the ultimate form of the game that started it all. But i'm not going to mercilessly defend every flaw like a fanboy. Any game is going to have flaws. Blazing Sword had that incredibly forced tutorial that Japan loathed it for. The Radiant series had the Biorythem and the infamous Easy mode memory transfer glitch.

Genealogy had it's "Never turn off, no reseting" love system that permanently swapped upon power down.

And Mystery had the removal of key elements from Book 1. But still, most people overlook these flaws because these can be amazing games if you power through the crap spots, kinda like Wonderful 101. Why didn't people do that with Shadow Dragon?

All i usually hear from engish players is that this game sucks and it's nowhere near the Radiant Series. I set out to find: is it really that bad? So, I compiled a list of the pros and cons of Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon to conduct a written review and comparision, and ask what you think about it. What do you like and dislike about it? Here's my input:

THE PROS

First official Translation of a Japanese Fire Emblem :Japan:

No one ever brings this up. Seriously, this is a grace from Nintendo for this to happen. They never did it ever before, even though the English Fire Emblem almost explicitly sets up Binding Blade with Athos' dying vision and the Birth of Roy, and Nintendo didn't take the chance to localize it. So to translate a game that never even had a related game across the pond was something special. Awakening continued this trend in bits and chunks with other things in it's DLC. Translaters, Heroes of Shadow, people WHY HAVEN'T YOUFIXEDYOURPATCHESYET?!?!? No offense, but "Maris" sounds like very fruent engrish now and "Roro" is annoying, especially now that i think he quotes a Bible verse in Chapter 10X that was overlooked (I am Legion, for we are many).

Reclassing

Really, no one can argue that this is a godsend. Even Awakening utilized this. This allows an otherwise useless character to have potential, and a powerful character to maximize his/her potential, like the Avatar can in the sequel. It can't save a doomed unit like Caesar, but it can turn better units into unstoppable swiss army knives if you use it well enough.

The Controls

I don't know why, but for me personally the touch controls worked like a charm, allowing me to move units in a precise path rather than a path the cpu genrates to move that unit to point X (example: have Marth move in a zigzag rather than a straight line). Maybe it's just me though.

Blade of Light, Mystery of the Emblem Style

Only fans really notice this: the game seamlessly Combines Ankoku Ryuu with Monsho No Nazo Book 1, making it seem like it was fixing the flaws with Book 1 more than remaking a NES game. Why is this a good thing? Because it looks and sounds damn amazing. Even haters usually say that this game (and by extension it's sequel) have the single best rendititon of the FE theme to date, and the game looks brilliant.... especially comapared to the NES version.

The more the merrier

People hate this, but I actually like this: to a degree. The FE series has a special focus on caracter development, so more characters means more content. I do dislike not being able to use them all, but... More replay value!

Online Features

For the first FE game to have online features, it really was well executed. Exibit A: Online Battles. Register your buddies, and you won't have to travel cross country to play for a mere hour! Weather or not you can have a four player war like in FE7 i'll never know for sure....(forever alone) And the online shop, the first instance of FE DLC, although maps wouldn't happen till the sequel, the most notable thing is that Starting on Dec. 31 2008, Players could buy an Elesian Whip on days that end in 1. (eg. Apr. 21) Shadow Dragon Ditched the multi item promotions that FE1 and 3 had for Master Seal based promos, (one of maybe 3 changes from the original if you sacrifice Frey and don't get to Gaiden Chapters) but this whip offered a secret means of promoting Pegasus Knights into Falcon Knights like in Gaiden and later games, which is perferred if you want to keep a high resistance.

Remember how i said this was my first game?

The tutorial

Nintendo, you really nailed it with this. FE7's tutorial (Lyn Mode) is incredibly forced, and when you think about it Lyn's story is half of the game! HALF OF THE GAME IS A TUTORIAL! SD though, has a streamlined, and effective turorial. I didn't know the first fuck about FE except "There's this dude named Marth in Smash Bros., and he kicks a lot more ass than Roy and Ike", and I was close to an expert by the end of Chapter 6. Clearly that says something. Plus, the Prologue is interesting on it's own, and you can turn of the actual tutorial and just play through it. (Granted, there's no real reason other than story and it's insultingly easy, a stark contrast to the sequel's BS FE mode which takes place right after this prolouge) Now, we're flipping the Switch:

THE CONS (BUM BUM BUUUUUUUUM!)

Who the fuck is Whymp?!?!? He's Auffle!

Really, this game was probably made at least somewhat with beginers in mind, but this is rediculus! If FE has a moral lession, it's that war is bad and a life cannot be restored. (Aum Staff, but there's only one of those) So why in the flying mother of fungleberries does this game have REPLACEMENT UNITS?!?!?!?!? If you really suck and everyone dies, FE makes sure that A: You feel like the biggest douch in the world, B: You're screwed and have to start the Game over, C: You have no chance of recruiting more arrow fodder, And D: You are not rewarded for this. SO WHY DO YOU GET MADE UP, RANDOMIZED CHARACTERS TO REPLACE YOUR 50 DEAD ONES?!?!?!?!?! And noone ever sees them unless they do it on purpose, so if you see someone's DS with a save file consisting only of Marth and these, DUCK AND ROLL IMMEDIATELY, because it's very likely they are behind you with a blood stained axe and a body in their closet. Sadly, the sequel isn't off the hook about this either, and there you have to be even MORE intentional because that game has 81 playable characters in all!

And speaking of killing off units intentionally:

THE GAIDEN CHAPTERS THAT EVERYONE NEVER PLAYED

Gaiden Chapters! I don't care what i have to do, it adds an element of challenge to the mix, and sometimes you have to get every chapter unlocked to get to the end game (*cough* FE7 and FE6). Kill all theves before they escape? Ok. Use X item? Ok. Go west four spaces, use the red jewel, conjure up a raging windstorm to whisk you away, MAKE SURE you attack the theif with the Master Sward on turn 14 and get exactly 29 damnedge in? A challenge I shall accept!!!!! Kill off all your units? O- Wait WHAT? WHOS BRIGHT IDEA WAS THIS? Someone is fired at NoJ. The whole point of a Gaiden Chapter is to reward the player for completing mundane, difficult, and/or sometimes nonsensical tasks (How was i supposed to know not to kill the enemy clerics?), but this game says "Ya'know, wouldn't it be a great idea to reward the player for sucking?", Let's rip into this too: everyone is alive in the sequel yes? I can't check their pulse, but i'm pretty sure that is a living tone of skin they have. So, the sequel inexplicably has the events of the Gaiden Chapters, where EVERYONE IS DEAD, apparently have happened rather than having them say "this is the first time Marth meets them because noones dead", apparently the Gaiden Chapters happened with everyone alive.....(5...4...3..2...1..and...) (WTF BOMB scene) :angry: JESUS CHRIST NINTENDO, ARE YOU THAT THICK?!?!?!?!?!??!!??!?!? A DEAD PERSON IS DEAD!!!!!!!!! SOMEHOW EVERYONE IS DEAD, BUT NOONE'S DEAD, AND CHAPTER 24x NEVER HAPPENED BUT IT HAPPENED AN JUST, JUS, WHAT THE F#$% I CAN'T EVEN RAP MY BRAIN AROUND IT!!! MY BRAN IS MELTNG RIGHT NOW!!!!!! ........... :facepalm: I don't know, maybe they forgot to program another way to get into these chapters and put it on the market, released a sequel, and THEN realised that they made that error. BUT WHAT ABOUT 24X?..... Let's just assume that the SD gaiden chapters are non-canon and let inconsistencies fall where they may.

That's the cons but those are some REALLY big cons. Before anyone brings it up, I have a rebuttle for:

Pre Promoted Unit Overkill

Really, it's not that bad. Most are really quite good, except for Jagen, who actually i was able to use well into Chapter 8. Look at sedgar and wolf. Look at Jeorge. Look at Lorenz. And the series just started, so newcomers might not have found the items for promotion, so they put in pre promotes, and made promos one item in the remakes to rectify this (not counting the previously mentioned Elysion Whip of course)

Thanks for reding all that! Overall, i'd say this is a solid game that has some gaping flaws, but i'd expect that from a NES game. we'll need 1.21 gigawatts to rectify the Gaiden Chapter Paradox, and i don't think i'll be able to predict a direct lightning strike. This is Hero of the Fire Emblems, yes all five of them, signing off, and asking your opinions about it, otherwise it wouldn't make sense for this to be a topic!

Edited by Hero of the Fire Emblems
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Translaters, Heroes of Shadow, people WHY HAVEN'T YOUFIXEDYOURPATCHESYET?!?!?

Too much effort, too many versions floating around, etc. Inevitably some guy sitting around on this forum will think he/she can do a better job (and is more than welcome to!) so I personally don't see the point in it.

First official Translation of a Japanese Fire Emblem :Japan:

Aren't they all Japanese?

No offense, but "Maris" sounds like very fruent engrish now

You might, appropriately, see the beginnings of my malice towards you. We chose "Maris" because A. it's a real name and B. malice is a noun meaning "ill will". Faced with those two options, which would you pick?

especially now that i think he quotes a Bible verse in Chapter 10X that was overlooked (I am Legion, for we are many).

Are you thinking of this line?

We are Roro.
One is all, and all is one.
If so, that's a direct translation of the Japanese line, and I don't have a Japanese bible handy, but I sincerely doubt that "roro" is "legion" in Japanese... or any other language, really.
オレたちローローは一人で全員、全員で一人。
Edited by Agro
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I think SD had the best replay value of all FE games. My only complaints about this game were that most characters were just too weak to use outside of normal mode and that you had to lose too many characters to be able to play the gaiden chapters.

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I believe that Shadow Dragon, despite having a small script does wonders with it. It presents its story far better than FE13 because it even though there might not be nearly as much quantity to it, the quality is certainly far better.

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Eh, considering how good the NMOE patch is, I can't complain about a few names anymore.

If someone does go back and change, great. If not, then oh well.

If only some people had that mindframe about the other patches... ahhh whatever

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Having played through FE12 more than once, I can safely say that it fixes almost all of the problems of Shadow Dragon. For some strange reason, that game felt so much better, even if it didn't get an international release.

Also, I didn't mind replacement units. Just make em knights so they tank everything. >.> <.<

EDIT: Another reason I love FE12 so much is the existence of supports. It's makes everyone more unique. Hell, even Rody Radd of all people get character in that game through supports so now you know just what the hell he's even doing.

Edited by Nexas
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Shadow Dragon. What can I say? My favorite FE, and the first I happened to play. Truly, it is the ultimate form of the game that started it all. But i'm not going to mercilessly defend every flaw like a fanboy. Any game is going to have flaws. Blazing Sword had that incredibly forced tutorial that Japan loathed it for. The Radiant series had the Biorythem and the infamous Easy mode memory transfer glitch.

Genealogy had it's "Never turn off, no reseting" love system that permanently swapped upon power down.

And Mystery had the removal of key elements from Book 1. But still, most people overlook these flaws because these can be amazing games if you power through the crap spots, kinda like Wonderful 101. Why didn't people do that with Shadow Dragon?

All i usually hear from engish players is that this game sucks and it's nowhere near the Radiant Series. I set out to find: is it really that bad? So, I compiled a list of the pros and cons of Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon to conduct a written review and comparision, and ask what you think about it. What do you like and dislike about it? Here's my input:

THE PROS

First official Translation of a Japanese Fire Emblem :Japan:

Technically 7 was

Reclassing

It made the characters seem less unique, awakening handled it far better

The Controls

I agree

Blade of Light, Mystery of the Emblem Style

The more the merrier

Most of the characters are worthless

Online Features

They were ok

The tutorial

It was ok

THE CONS (BUM BUM BUUUUUUUUM!)

Who the fuck is Whymp?!?!? He's Auffle!

This was actually one of the better features

THE GAIDEN CHAPTERS THAT EVERYONE NEVER PLAYED

If they could be accessed by speedy completion or dead units it would be cool

Pre Promoted Unit Overkill

oh well

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This thread is bad...I was expecting a smart, informed post addressing the actual issues of the game and the pros, but was disappoint.

Go ahead and express your opinion, but please explain what you didn't like about it (objectively).

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Go ahead and express your opinion, but please explain what you didn't like about it (objectively).

That the OP is more or less a rant about stuff unrelated to the pros and cons the title promised me. Guy goes and calls out the Heroes translation team on something randomly in one of the supposed pros of the game. That same pro shouldn't count, seeing as it really isn't the only Japanese title translated to English... he didn't adress the most common issues people have with the game:

removal of skills and mechanics people had grown accostumed to (consequence of the being 1:1 remake), being a 1:1 remake, the art style, the lack of dialogue for most of the cast, the growth rates being bad making people not feel very satisfied with the reward for their efforts/training, among others. He did mention the gaidens, but missed a bunch of cons of the game and the pros mentioned are a joke.

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Personally I like the replacement units a lot. I think they do a good job of preventing new players from getting stuck without giving the impression that the death of the characters is meaningless.

As for Reclassing, the way it's done here, it sucks. With little more but a unique portrait and a hair color, characters feel so replaceable.

I have little motivation to play this game again just so that I can play with Thomas because he plays no different then anyone else with his class kit.

I would really like to know how this game ties together with New Mystery. Personally I got the impression that the game really wasted that opportunity.

For example, they could have made Hardin a main character to match the way he presents himself later on. As somebody who was vital for Marth's success. The few lines after his recruitment chapter don't cut it.

The biggest flaw I see with this game is how casually IS copied all the old bases and growths of the characters with no consideration on how this works with Reclassing. Consequently, weired stuff happens.

For example every single Armored Knight sucks at their job because in order to match their old def bases, they have no actual base def or growth themselves.

Back then, they still had the highest def around but now they are outclassed by everyone with their class kit.

Another one is that they included a bunch of new mechanics with zero consideration on how this affects the old game.

So now we have the weapon triangle in a game where just about every enemy uses lances, so sword users face a permanent disadvantage.

EXP gains are also a problem now. In the old games, Prepromotes would have gotten levels at the same speed as everyone else. So technically their bases weren't low for their level. But now they grow slow on top of having shitty bases. And they should have at least raised their bases on hard mode.

And the models feel cheap. For once because they have no individual color pallets (making all Paladins look like Marcus of all people.) but also because they didn't make a model with Marth wearing the Shield of Seals And they copied all the weapon icons from FE3. They didn't even make a new icon for the Falchion, so the blade is still all gold. Kinda funny, given how the new redesign looks like.

It also annoys me that IS has limited the classes for female characters to those possessed by characters of the original game or one of the new characters.

Like, Midia was a Paladin, so they have access to Paladin but no access to Cavalier. Now, they might have made the models before coming up with Reclassing. But after New Mystery, I think they did this deliberately.

Because in NMystery, they got General but not Knight. And there was a Female General in the original game. They probably only got Cavalier because of Cecil.

And both General and Cavalier use the same model as their male counterparts, so there was no reason not do the same thing for the Knight and make them all available for female characters.

And they don't display the stat boasts of Dragon Stones.

Maybe they originally intended to have actual transformations like in FE3 so they designed the interface without displaying such stat boasts. But that makes it no less annoying.

Edited by BrightBow
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