West vs East themes

[ClassyWolf]

You're not alone. The "Western" faction's knights + the conquistador/tercio-esque foot soldiers is what made me suspect that they're Renaissance inspired.

Yet Marx for some reason wears the pseudo roman banded armor (which isn't really accepted as historically correct):

Really seems like they couldn't decide which time period they wanted to go for with the west,

Regarding the Roman helmets, one other distinctly Roman thing about them was the masks the Cavalry in the beginning had. I can only think of two cultures that are known to have used such masks - Japanese Samurai, and Roman cavalry. Though the Roman masks weren't quite so demonic looking.

You are quite right, and they where apparently not that common (edit: on the field of battle), due to that they narrowed the wearers field of vision, so I would guess that they were predominantly worn by officers and military leaders.

And for hose curious how they looked like, here is the Crosby Garrett helmet as an example:

Edited January 21, 2015 by that one person

[Jedi]

Am I missing something? I didn't see anything in the trailer that looked particularly Roman. Was it just the helmet crests? If this was really a Roman inspired faction, there shouldve been a much bigger emphasis on heavy infantry formations rather than cavalry. The Romans were not particularly known for their cavalry until much later (ie ERE/Byzantine cataphracts, etc). IMHO the "western" units look late Medieval.

If I were to guess, the inspiration would be Renaissance Europe and late Muromachi/early Sengoku Japan maybe in the 1500s? These were not fun times due to the chaos of the European Wars of Religion and Sengoku Jidai.

In any case, so long as it's a Knight vs Samurai affair, I expect the "West" to have generally tankier units with an emphasis on heavy cavalry while the "East" focuses more on the speed and skill stats (probably with myrmidons, Naginata "halberds," ninja, and "bow knights"). The trailer also suggests that the "Samurai" faction might have the monopoly on Pegasus troops while the "Knights" have dark knights.

It was the crest. I apologize for my first view being inaccurate.

[IGdood]

The helmet didn't actually throw me of, the armor did, I wonder why they couldn't use something like lorica hamata or lorica segmentata for the armor, which is more recognizable and more correct, than banded armor, which has dubious historical correctness,

Am I alone in thinking they kinda look like Spanish soldiers? probably because of the Morion style helmets, which if my memory serves me right, is often associated, something like this:

Segmentata in FE? I'd....I'd be willing to pay DLC for that. You're not alone in thinking of Spanish soldiers. The morion design is really noticeable, I think it showed up in Awakening too.

Guild Wars Factions was a game taking place in a fictional pseudo-Asia, and was a mix of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean influences. It wasn't well received in Asia because, unlike European cultures, fusing various East Asian cultures is apparently regarded as highly unsavory, even in a purely fictional context. When the developers made Guild Wars 2, there was originally going to be an area in the game that was sort of a "China Town" type deal, that kept the same fused culture from the past game, but the publisher, a Korean company, made them remove the whole area.

Unfortunately, in order to have multiple East Asian influences, they need to be kept separate in order to avoid controversy over there.

Regarding the Roman helmets, one other distinctly Roman thing about them was the masks the Cavalry in the beginning had. I can only think of two cultures that are known to have used such masks - Japanese Samurai, and Roman cavalry. Though the Roman masks weren't quite so demonic looking.

Yeah, generally it's pretty bad to lump all the East Asians together since nationalism is so strong there and there's always an ongoing dispute that dates back to WW2.

I do recall Roman cataphracts in the later period to use masks, perhaps that's what they were going for?

Yet Marx for some reason wears the pseudo roman banded armor (which isn't really accepted as historically correct):

I didn't even realize banded armor like that was considered Roman.

It was the crest. I apologize for my first view being inaccurate.

Nah man you did nothing wrong. Now somebody go change the January analysis!

[Jedi]

Next thing we need obviously is some SPARTANS :P

[IGdood]

Next thing we need obviously is some SPARTANS :P

Wouldn't mind a FE set in Antiquity. Halberdiers are Hoplites now? I'm down.

[Jedi]

Wouldn't mind a FE set in Antiquity. Halberdiers are Hoplites now? I'm down.

Hoplite Halberdiers would be pretty legit, would they also be generals in groups? (Shield wall and such)

[IGdood]

Hoplite Halberdiers would be pretty legit, would they also be generals in groups? (Shield wall and such)

Hm, that would be nice. The thing about FE is that it's still about single combat though Awakening has modified it with pairing up. Combat in antiquity was very group and formation oriented. If FE takes a step in Yggdra Union's or Langrisser's direction then it could do an antiquity theme justice but...

[ClassyWolf]

I didn't even realize banded armor like that was considered Roman.

It's supposed to be some kind of combination of the lorica segmentata and splintmail, and of what I know, is usually considered roman, though heavily doubted to ever have existed in actual use.

But yeah, with the roman era style leaders, and the late medieval, early renaissance Spanish soldiers, I really don't know what era they thought of going for, it's not like Europe was lacking in different designs and types of armor and protection, and definitely not during the high medieval period.

The morion design is really noticeable, I think it showed up in Awakening too.

Yep, you'r right, awakening had the same design.

Wouldn't mind a FE set in Antiquity. Halberdiers are Hoplites now? I'm down.

That would be really fun to see. I would really support that.

[Surge247]

You're right on the practicality part but does that ONE Eastern culture have to be Japanese?

I don't know about anyone else, but I never really found any video games where there were other Eastern-influences besides Japanese ones, unless we're talking Age of Empires or games where the player cultivates an empire/multiple civlizations. I've never seen a case where you have only one Eastern-influenced country and the theme isn't Japanese.

I don't know about you, but I would find it pretty weird if a game featured a mashup of mainland U.S., Mexico, Hawaii and Cuba, then labeled it as "the West". Just as I think that would be a horrible idea, the East must think an Asian casserole is ridiculous.

[hammerene]

I don't know about you, but I would find it pretty weird if a game featured a mashup of mainland U.S., Mexico, Hawaii and Cuba, then labeled it as "the West". Just as I think that would be a horrible idea, the East must think an Asian casserole is ridiculous.

Well, to be honest... I'm not really thinking of a mash-up persay. I didn't really mention a mashup in my post, but you make a rather amusing point.

I'm just saying that yeah sure, there can be one Eastern-themed nation. That's totally fine; I don't have a problem with that. However, does this Eastern themed nation have to have Japanese influences? I get that many companies who make RPGs are Japanese so of course, the natural course of action is to make said Eastern-themed nations... Japanese-esque. (Like Aiddon said before, write what you know.)

But honestly, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm just personally kinda tired of seeing so many Eastern themes just being modeled off medieval Japan. It's just so overdone. And considering how East Asia is now... I wouldn't know if it's the most friendly environment where one can go and re-create the medieval culture of another country.

And again, I wasn't really thinking of an Asian mashup or anything like that and I apologize if I wasn't clear enough in my other post.

Also, Crixler does have a really solid example of what happens when you do make an Asian casserole haha.

Guild Wars Factions was a game taking place in a fictional pseudo-Asia, and was a mix of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean influences. It wasn't well received in Asia because, unlike European cultures, fusing various East Asian cultures is apparently regarded as highly unsavory, even in a purely fictional context. When the developers made Guild Wars 2, there was originally going to be an area in the game that was sort of a "China Town" type deal, that kept the same fused culture from the past game, but the publisher, a Korean company, made them remove the whole area.

Unfortunately, in order to have multiple East Asian influences, they need to be kept separate in order to avoid controversy over there.

[Bobobarrel]

I will be disappointed if there isn't a Japanese delinquent-inspired character or 2, especially if Kanabos have become a weapon type. Think about it: long coat, sarashi (cloth breast/abdominal/torso binding), bandana, an Oni-themed samurai face mask, and a spiked mace?? It'd be perfect.

Not enough links to history? Make her a Pirate/Brigand class. There is a long history of Wako/Wokou pirates and their activity peaked in the 1500's, again coinciding with the whole Renaissance and Sengoku Jidai thing.

[IGdood]

I will be disappointed if there isn't a Japanese delinquent-inspired character or 2, especially if Kanabos have become a weapon type. Think about it: long coat, sarashi (cloth breast/abdominal/torso binding), bandana, an Oni-themed samurai face mask, and a spiked mace?? It'd be perfect.

Not enough links to history? Make her a Pirate/Brigand class. There is a long history of Wako/Wokou pirates and their activity peaked in the 1500's, again coinciding with the whole Renaissance and Sengoku Jidai thing.

An Eastern, female Dart? I'm totally fine with this.

Perhaps even have Wako as a class.