Anyone else disappointed they decided to use the Awakening engine?

[Hong]

If this game could be developed in a Hyperbolic Time Chamber with a blank cheque, I'd love an HD epic with GBA-style animations, 60 chapters, Radiant Dawn-quality character art, and the best in graphic fidelity...

But we all know IS has only so much time and money to work with.... So I'm thankful they have committed what they have to push out a quality product.

[Trickster]

I think it was a good move.

One of things I noticed they already changed was the cavaliers, which have a more pleasing design; and if we did see a knight in the trailer and not a hal. they also got one too, things just look nicer now.... except the bandits (bandit thongs), but hey, you win some you lose some.

[The Geek]

FE games that use the same engine as previous games almost always improve on the previous title.

FE7 and 8 both had cleaner art and sound than FE6

FE5 had better sprites and map design than FE4

FE12 had better basically everything than FE11

Your mileage may vary on whether Gaiden or Radiant Dawn were improvements on their predecessors, though.

[PuffPuff]

Reusing the same engine on the same console minimizes effort and ensures that everyone who bought and liked Awakening has the chance to play the new game. If they had to rebuild it from scratch we would definitely not be seeing this title in 2015.

No we wouldn't.

But...it's worth the wait for the better graphics. ^_^

Fire Emblem is growing more popular and more known, but the sales of the Wii U still need to pick up a bit more. Smash helped with that, and hopefully future Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon titles will too. So I think next time we should get a Wii U Fire Emblem.

I'd love for it to use an updated RD engine. ^^

Not for like what...3-4 yrs. :/

It's pretty common for FE games on the same system to reuse the engine of the previous game on the same system, so I'm not exactly surprised that this game looks to be doing the same. I guess I'm a little dissapointed, but honestly I can't say it was likely to be any other way. :/

Edit: Vincent, you ninja! *shakes fist*

Of course.

It'd be stupid to change the engine to a sequel of the same story. Although the protagonist wasn't announced yet.

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I was looking forward to it being released on the Wii-U as it would be nice to see the game in HD like in Radiant Dawn. Maybe it'll exist on the Wii-U after we get this game!

[darkkfan]

Fire Emblem is growing more popular and more known, but the sales of the Wii U still need to pick up a bit more. Smash helped with that, and hopefully future Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon titles will too. So I think next time we should get a Wii U Fire Emblem.

I'd love for it to use an updated RD engine. ^^

Not for like what...3-4 yrs. :/

Personally I wouldn't mind that. I mean, prior to Awakening it had been a 5 year drought in NA since Shadow Dragon (which arguably doesn't even count), so I would prefer waiting 3 years for an updated RD style game on WII U to getting another Awakening. But I'm definitely biased since RD was my favorite game.

Of course.

It'd be stupid to change the engine to a sequel of the same story. Although the protagonist wasn't announced yet.

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I was looking forward to it being released on the Wii-U as it would be nice to see the game in HD like in Radiant Dawn. Maybe it'll exist on the Wii-U after we get this game!

I mean, granted they were pretty similar but RD and PoR were on different systems, so I don't think they'd be opposed to split up the platforms. Then again I am confident this isn't a sequel. But yeah a HD Wii U game would make up for it.

Edited January 27, 2015 by darkkfan

[Honey Bunny]

No. I actually rather liked Awakening, and just from what we know it seems this game will at least be on par with Awakening. Besides from what little I know of Fire Emblem history it seems like this would be the right choice.

I also liked several aspects of Awakening's art style: The fact that the map had sprites and the combat had models, how everything was cel shaded, and the color everything had. Really just make the equipment a lot more realistic, give everyone feet and I'd be good.

[The Geek]

No. I actually rather liked Awakening, and just from what we know it seems this game will at least be on par with Awakening. Besides from what little I know of Fire Emblem history it seems like this would be the right choice.

I also liked several aspects of Awakening's art style: The fact that the map had sprites and the combat had models, how everything was cel shaded, and the color everything had. Really just make the equipment a lot more realistic, give everyone feet and I'd be good.

Wat

[Honey Bunny]

Wat

I know, how crazy right?

More seriously though I legitimately did like that aspect of the game. With how brown, gray, and dark and gray every other game was trying to be it kind of endeared me to Fire Emblem. Plus the sprites paired with the cel shading and color tugged on my nostalgia for old games and cartoons in all the right ways. While I would like a return to realistic arms and armor I hope that the series will keep the more cartoony look it has now. I'm sure that statement seems paradoxical to many, but that is actually how I believe this series should go from an art standpoint.

[Radiant head]

Awakening's engine is fine by me, though yeah it's hard to play other FE games after the Tellius games (esp. Radiant Dawn) spoil you with nice 3D graphics, and those aren't even high end compared to other console games. I tried playing Shadow Dragon after Radiant Dawn, and it was just a chore to get through because of the bland overworld.

I'm really hoping we can still get an FE installment on Wii U.

Edited January 28, 2015 by Radiant head

[The Geek]

I know, how crazy right?

More seriously though I legitimately did like that aspect of the game. With how brown, gray, and dark and gray every other game was trying to be it kind of endeared me to Fire Emblem. Plus the sprites paired with the cel shading and color tugged on my nostalgia for old games and cartoons in all the right ways. While I would like a return to realistic arms and armor I hope that the series will keep the more cartoony look it has now. I'm sure that statement seems paradoxical to many, but that is actually how I believe this series should go from an art standpoint.

When you say Awakening has cel-shading, are you just talking about the conversation sprites? Because the models in game didn't have any cel-shading on them that I could see.

[Honey Bunny]

When you say Awakening has cel-shading, are you just talking about the conversation sprites? Because the models in game didn't have any cel-shading on them that I could see.

Umm, did we play the same Awakening? All of the portraits, combat models, and cutscenes look cel-shaded. Check out these videos here. I think you might be remembering incorrectly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb5y6lSAp34

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NpJ_afFukQ

That or we apparently have drastically different ideas of cel-shading.

[Book of Ereshkigal]

I agree that the ingame models don't really have cell shading, but pretty much everything else did.

[The Geek]

I have Awakening on right now, looking and not seeing any cel-shading on the in-game models.

Cutscenes: So much cel-shading

Sprites: Cel-shading is a technique that only applies in 3D. On drawings cel-shading is just called shading.

Models: None that I can see.

[Honey Bunny]

It would seem that I was wrong. Heck even what I thought cel shading meant was wrong. You're right, the combat models do have realistic shading. I don't know why thought the in game models were cel shaded. Normally I would chalk this up to remembering incorrectly, but I watched that entire combat montage video and still thought the game was cel shaded. Maybe my expectations tainted my perception?

Hwoops.

[The Geek]

No biggie. Cel-shaded FE would look pretty kickass though.

[paradiselost999]

Graphics-wise not a huge problem, but I kinda hate it that Awakening was about "team/skill building" than actual strategy. One OP unit can crush everything in the game even on Lunatic+ (with a little RNG blessing). Although I have to admit that the customizability of the game adds a certain flair to it.

Edited January 31, 2015 by paradiselost999

[darkkfan]

Awakening's engine is fine by me, though yeah it's hard to play other FE games after the Tellius games (esp. Radiant Dawn) spoil you with nice 3D graphics, and those aren't even high end compared to other console games. I tried playing Shadow Dragon after Radiant Dawn, and it was just a chore to get through because of the bland overworld.

I'm really hoping we can still get an FE installment on Wii U.

Exactly. I feel like everything since RD has been a step backward. Like why would they change anything after Tellius? It must just be because of strictly business reasons. I'm not sure exactly how much RD brought in but it definitely didnt make as much money as Awakening. Although it makes me wonder how much of that is because Awakening is actually more appealing to the average gamer and how much is due strictly to much better marketing.

[Book of Ereshkigal]

...you know, I'm curious now. Does Awakening have any status effect functionality at all? Unused, of course, but I'm still kinda curious. I'd say probably not.

[The Geek]

Exactly. I feel like everything since RD has been a step backward. Like why would they change anything after Tellius? It must just be because of strictly business reasons. I'm not sure exactly how much RD brought in but it definitely didnt make as much money as Awakening. Although it makes me wonder how much of that is because Awakening is actually more appealing to the average gamer and how much is due strictly to much better marketing.

IIRC, both Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn sold horribly.

[HF Makalov Fanboy Kai]

IIRC, both Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn sold horribly.

for extra humor, shadow dragon, the game that gets shat apon by way too many people, sold pretty damn well.

[Philranger]

IIRC, both Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn sold horribly.

I loved PoR and RD, but I will be the first to admit that they looked pretty terrible visually even for being GC/Wii games. I know graphics =/= gameplay (which is why I still enjoy those two) but the difference between those two games and other titles that came out for the systems is really jarring.

Awakening actually looks pretty good compared to its contemporaries.

Edited February 4, 2015 by Philranger

[Jotari]

I honestly would have been baffled if they did anything other than this. All the hard work is done making the engine. That allows them to focus on making a really good game. A ton of people consider Majora's Mask is a better game than Ocarina of Time and that was made in less than a year because they already had the engine and models. And just because it has the engine, doesn't mean it's going to be using the same gameplay either. Compare and contrast how different Holy War is to Thracia.

[powerserg]

Thinking about it they pretty much always reused the engine at least one time. The GBA games were all on the same engine, I the POR and RD were on the same engine although RD got buffed up, and Shadow Dragon and Mystery were on the same engine for sure. They want to make use out of what they develop.

[Jedi]

It would be nonsensical to use another engine from the Awakening one for various reasons.

A. It's on the same console

B. Awakening did very well

C. They can alter things in an engine to change mechanics still

D. This makes development take significantly less time.

[darkkfan]

I loved PoR and RD, but I will be the first to admit that they looked pretty terrible visually even for being GC/Wii games. I know graphics =/= gameplay (which is why I still enjoy those two) but the difference between those two games and other titles that came out for the systems is really jarring.

Awakening actually looks pretty good compared to its contemporaries.

I guess it is just a matter of preference then. I thought the RD graphics were great and I loved how the map sprites weren't pixelated and looked exactly like the battle models. That's why, to me Awakening seems like a step backwards. That's just me though, as you've said some people love the Awakening style.

Gameplaywise, I suppose Awakening would be fine if they removed things like pair up and all the unneccessary DLC and spotpass stuff. I mean, I get that those are optional and were part of the reason why Awakening was so successful, but if IS wants to spend that much time on extra fluff, I think they should spend a bit more on the actual game/story. People complain that RD was too long, but personally I love the fact that it felt like an actual story and more fleshed out than Awakening, which was more similar to the GBA games in terms of length.