BrightBow

I would say that this mode is unfair since it takes away interface conveniences, requiring you to patiently count tiles all the time. That gets old rather fast. Anyway, I say FE5. It has a very creative map design that is challenging, yet still manages to provide plenty of tools to approach them in creative ways, that go beyond trying to find a build to kill grunts in one round. However, it's held back by the issue that you can't place your units where you want, like later games. That feels rather cheap and unlike Monshu, you can't even rearrange how they are ordered on the list. Since later maps have your units start all over the place, the quality of the maps takes quite a dive later on. I would vote Tear Ring Saga for pretty much the same reason. But while Runan's levels are all excellent, some maps on Holmes route are just awful and tedious. I do give them credit for making opening chests occasionally a victory condition, though. That way you don't need to worry about the chapter prematurely ending and you don't need to hold back against the boss.

Personally I don't think so. So I am curious what others feel about it. In my case, it kept distracting me from the actual dialogue. It was a huge bother. Eventually I just turn voices off. Afterwards I found that the text was way easier to read. I guess that sending grunts along with the text can get a bit emotion across. Kinda like they do in the 3D Zeldas. But Awakening will sometimes use an entire line (that doesn't match anything in the actual text.). When that happens, it always throws me off balance. Plus, I don't think that having every line preceded by a grunt is a good idea either. It should probably be reserved for lines that need the additional emphasis. Well, at least I would guess that. The game has of course no "use grunts but not entire lines" setting. Edit: I updated this topic with a poll. Or at least I hope I did, since this is my first time making one. Alright, it seems to be working fine. I figured that it might be a good idea for this topic since you probably can't argue much about taste.

I guess it's not the best example. But I started to play without voices after a while, so there are only so many quotes that managed to burn themselves into my brain. Btw, I have to agree with "Oh gods no". Or really any "no" kind of line, for that matter. They always seem to either conflict with the previous text or with the previous voice clip. Which I guess makes the dialogue more entertaining from a certain point of view.

"I am NOT delicate!" "Do not put any faith in that destiny hogwash." It's just so irritating when they use entire lines that have nothing to do with what's in the text. I get that you can express a bit emotion with a noise or 1-2 words. But when it's done like this, it doesn't add to the text. It's just distracting from the actual text. Btw, I am aware that the first line i something she actually said. But it's a full line voiced by Lissa. That's reason enough.

Was this from chapter 13? At least I remember that there was one such hillarious pseudo conversation. Too bad there is no scene viewer. Anyway... "Hell, noooooooooohhhh!" Not sure why it isn't used in chapter 23. I even turned on voices for that scene, just to see if he would use it. It would have been awesome.

Megaman? That's kinda cool. Good move, Capcom. I am a bit suspicious about how they are going to handle a character who normally only fights by shooting. I always found Samus to be underwhelming in that regard.

Okay, why would anyone use Gaius again? Anna joins with high stats and staff utility. That's all kinds of neat. And it's definitely nice to have a staff user who doesn't get double attacked to death with a forged silver by reinforcements spawning out of nowhere. Her staff rank isn't so hot but from the get-go it's enough for Rescue and Mend, so whatever. And she can dish out a lot of pain with the Thunder Sword. And while her supports options are limited, a speed boasting pair-up boast is always nice in a pinch anyway. So yeah, tons of rare utility, best durability of anyone in both areas, needs no work put into her. Yeah, she is pretty damn good. 7.5/10 But she gets -1 bias to 6.5 Because while complaining about the annoying personality imitations of the Awakening cast is like shooting fish in a barrel, Anna's case weights heavier because she supposedly isn't even a new character. So, speaking only in trading related puns is in which way consistent with all her past appearances in the series? Just because she is always running the secret shop? ...really?

Muarim shouldn't count, seeing how he had no foreshadowing and you fight him when you first see him and he joins the group immediately. Ena is probably a better example. While she was no recurring boss, she could have been. You didn't know any better until the end of the game. Despite not suffering a permanent defeat, defeating her nevertheless meant something because it had actual consequences. She only got away because Nasir helped her out. He revealed himself as a mole in the process, a ruse he started all the way back in chapter 11. But if she was fought again, I probably would have preferred seeing her reduced to mini boss. Anyway, compare that to Aversa, who just runs away offscreen. She is dismissed in the cheapest way possible just to be fought later in a filler chapter. So I say that like most things, the effectiveness of this trope depends more on the "how" and less on the "if". In general, I definitely like it, when important antagonists have some presence on the map on occasion. Of course, if there is stat fluctuation, I want it to be justified. Like Lyon being defeatable because his body hasn't adjusted to the demon king yet, so he can't use his full power. I definitely do not want to see a supposed badass general see with 10x the stats latter in the game without explanation.

You are asking for a lot here, Even if I had the equipment for that, by the time I finished the game again, made the necessary recordings and uploaded them, the thread would have moved past the issue, making it pointless. So yeah, I can't prove that. Though I hope you have at least noticed that the game applies skills randomly to the enemies. Easy to tell because they are different after every reset. And of course, I do not have access into the games coding either, but would anybody really argue that the chapter 12 AI goes beyond the usual "Attack the unit who takes the most damage" routine? I do grand that 12 is a good example. I don't have access to screenshots and I obviously can't just replay it but I believe that the map had a theme towards cavalry. Which is frankly more then I would say about most maps. And chapter 21 has the unreachable mages to force you to drive forward instead of sitting on the stairs for all eternity, taking your time getting to the chests. So that was nice, I guess. I also liked chapter 13, since it was easy to use the terrain to my advantage. It was literally the only time in the game where I felt accomplished. That victory was a result of my cunning and not just because the game simply decided to let me win. For once I actually felt like I deserved victory.

That wasn't actually what I was arguing in the post you quoted. The Void was arguing that the outfits of the female characters weren't any worse then the ones from PoR/RD. It's an entirely different discussion. Though while I still do not understand why The Void suddenly started focusing on PK's mini skirts and pants, I figured I could address how the new PKs are different from the old ones and taking a closer look on those supposed modest characters he listed. But if it's just about my views about metal bra's: Yes, I do in fact think that armor looks better when it looks semi-believable that the user might actually wear it for a reason. And it's not like there isn't anything between "perfect realism" and "running around a battlefield in a Victorian dress with pointy metal spikes dangerously close to the soft skin of your legs.". However, personally I would rather focus on the point in the review saying that the maps are bland. Because I think that the game's biggest flaw is that it is unbelievable boring. I don't feel very motivated to play when every map looks just like the last one: A wide open field with an entirely random enemy placement. Honestly, I find it difficult to believe that anybody could go through this game more then once.

If I might note: Her dirty tactic that everyone considered to be cowardly and cruel and stuff, was to throw oil down a canyon and setting it on fire. So yeah, even everyones favorite Mary Sue doesn't exactly get congratulated for such brilliant strategies like Robin was. Except by Soren of course. Soren: That was impressive. You killed thousands of beorc soldiers with your little ambush. Well done. No wonder the tome named after Micaiah is a fire tome. I also wonder if DLC Micaiah's conversation with Robin revolves around killing.people with burning oil.

If it's only about the Pegasus Knights, why didn't you you choose Marcia from PoR as an example? Personally, I never even liked any PK designs except for the ones from FE5, Still, Awakening did change the breast plate from armor that just so happened to cover the chest area to formfitting metal bras, that are likely to deflect attacks right into the vital areas rather then away from it. The armor they had worn before, wasn't actually to different from those worn by some male characters during the Jugdral games. So while I never liked them much, I definitely see this as a change for the worse. Plus, I think they now look like salt shakers. Anyway, if I might give my take on the characters you listed: Lissa has a hole in her skirt that just so happens to be at the focus of the automatic camera when she uses a staff, As I mentioned already, I don't remember the PoR/RD camera doing stuff like that. Tharja is running around in her underwear. Your above examples don't compare to tat. Nothing in the series compares to that except FE4 dancers. Cherche is absurdly revealing from what I've seen of her. (neither her promotional art or her in-game art show her front.) But she wears a french maid headdress in exchange. Again, nothing compares to that but FE4 dancers. Miriel does wear pants... until she promotes. After that, she gets to show of her absolute territory or whatever it's called. This is noteworthy because she is using a custom model and not the normal sage outfit. Lucina is supposed to make you believe she is male, so she doesn't count. But I would like to note that once she joins and promotes, her outfit gets more revealing instantly. Unfortunately, I don't know any of the kids, so I can't judge them. And while Tellius had a bit too much of a liking to show of the absolute territory of their characters for my very personal taste, that's usually were it stopped. No such bullcrap as with Nowi, Tharja, Panne, Cherche, etc. Not to mention that Tellius has all their knights wear the same armor then their male counterparts: Titania, Jill, Astrid, Fiona. You don't see that in Awakening.

Well, it's partly my issue. What I think is more important, is that their design is often at odds with their character. Sully for example, is all macho. She has to be responsible for like 75% of curse words in the game, wants to be better then her male counterparts, constantly goes on how she is not interested in "lady stuff", etc... Yet for some reason, she is wearing a revealing custom uniform. One that just so happens to make her look like she is wearing knee length stockings and lady gloves. I don't see how it fits with her character, that she would risk her life just to come across as more feminine. And because of that, I actually have more issues with Olivia then I have with Sylvia. Because being an entertainer and not being able to endure people's looks don't go well together at all. While on the other hand, Sylvia is always enthusiastic about dancing in her underwear and seems to enjoy expressing herself that way. Of course, if she was in a cast were every woman was running around in their underwear, I wouldn't let that excuse slide. But more then anything, when I made that statement, I actually had the promotional art in mind. And not all things that apply to them are relevant to the art that's actually in the game. The art between the male and female characters is fundamentally different. The male characters have universally very expressive poses and facial expressions. The female characters can be lucky if they get even one of those things. A lot of those faces can be described as dull surprise. But even if they do have an actual face, it doesn't necessary express their character. For example in Cordelia's art, I don't see any expression in her body language. Her body bends in the most nonsensical way possible and at the risk of tripping or penetrating herself on her own lance. On her face, she has an absolutely maniacal grin. That is an expression but not one that matches her portrayal in the game. I was surprised to see her crying when she was first seen and that she was mostly defined around being skilled, professional and having a crush on Chrom, rather then something like, let's say a female Ashnard.

Even those two cherry picked examples don't compare much to the majority of the Awakening art. Speaking off FE9/10, while they had it's fair share of mini skirts and stuff, I remember that the camera there at least didn't align itself in such a fashion that you could see the color of their panties every time they charged forward to snuff out the live of some poor schmuck, unlike a certain other game.

Being potential rally bots in a few very specific builds is a bit meager for me to justify their existence. But yeah, I probably underestimate them because I didn't get anyone but Morgan in a a decent amount of time. Not to mention that normal mode exists. But personally I would guess that they are less useful then late joiners in other games because enemy stats in this game are just so much higher. For a weak unit in this game, it's difficult to even damage an enemy. And it's difficult not to die in one blow because everything doubles you. And even if they can, having allies weaken enemies for them, rarely works because double attacks and skills keep kicking in to screw over your calculations.

I probably wouldn't have made it through hard mode if I didn't. Enemies seem to be able to double PC units of the same level unless they have outstanding speed. Like I said above, Frederick and Sumia were glued together all the time, which allowed Sumia to grow so quickly that I never even considered using Crodelia. And they still didn't get an S-Rank until the very end.

But in the GBA games, you don't need supports to recruit like a third (admittedly useless third) of the cast. A more valid comparison would be the FE4 marriage system. And I had never any trouble getting everyone married there.

Fire Emblem is more antiquity for the most part. But admittedly the difference is hard to tell these days. But personally I don't consider that theme overused at all. And Awakening being Victorian era themed was also pretty nice and kept things fresh. I am still hoping for that Fire Emblem Mars setting, though.

I find myself agreeing with most points in the review. Well, I have no issue with the art, except for... well, any single female character. And the villains. And objectives aren't that big of an issue, seeing how it alway comes down to the same thing anyway. And of course, his observation about pair-up is obviously flawed. And his statement that the characters are "fairly well developed and have fun personalities" just makes my rolling on the floor with laughter. ...Okay, let's just skip to the points that I actually agree with. I especially liked him noting that the spoken lines don't match what's said in the dialogue Sometimes it's just a little moan to get some emotion across, which is good. But then other times, they shout entire lines that have nothing to do with anything, while you are trying to read. It makes it so painful to read the text. The game became so much better when I turned them off. Of course, this also disabled the voices during combat. But that is also for the better. Maybe they would have worked in the other games but with the current music direction, they simply don't. The goofy lines of the characters make them come across as if they treat the whole "kill or be killed" thing with the same seriousness as a Star Craft match. They destroy the atmosphere that the music is so hard trying to build. And it does take ages to build supports. I didn't get a single paralegal besides Morgan's. In the second to last map I finally got Frederick and Sumia to S-Rank. The two of them were effectively glued together for the whole game. And yeah, the kids are useless. Why bother raising this amateurs into decent units when you could use the same time to turn your regular units into demi gods? The whole mechanic is such a waste. And the point can the maps have no variety is spot on. This is what absolutely buries this game. The options menu can't fix that one. The maps are just a wide open field. Well except for a few random tiles that offer absolutely insignificant defense boasts. The enemies are so randomly scattered, that they seem to be placed by the same scripts that places street pass teams, who have to be random by their very nature. And doing the same thing over and over again, just with higher states on both sides, doesn't keep the game fresh for very long. In fact, for that reason I would say that just by playing the demo, you have seen anything that the game has to offer.

From what I remember, Barbossa has always decent critical. Wouldn't it be a bit to risky to resort to live and death? Sure, there is the save staff but wouldn't the hammer and the needlespear work just as well?

Why not? If the map is anything like infinite Regalia, it's pretty much post-game anyway. From there, it's just about grinding and srewing around. And I don't see how it would be IS job to limit that. Because there is nothing more annoying then having to restart the whole game after hundreds of hours because of some minor mistake when planning pairings.

For now, I guess that I just want to see Marth. Seeing how not only he and the Falchion got completely redesigned but he is also at the risk of being replaced by another lord with the exact same body build, I would like to see clarification about his fate as fast as possible.

I would say that FE5 is the only game in need of a remake. It's awesome and all but it suffers heavily from the fact, that you don't get to choose where your units start on the battlefield. It's not even like in Monshu, where the characters re-arrange, depending on who is selected. They all stay in the same position on the list. The only way to manipulate starting positions, is to use or not to use certain units. And later chapters have your characters start all over the place. You will effectively need to use warp just to get everyone into place. Either way, you will never feel like your set-up is particular optimal. All other games work fine or are already remade.

Battle for Wesnoth It's Open Source and freeware and stuff. So there is not much reason not to play it. I am actually kinda surprised how little you hear about it on a Fire Emblem forum off all things. I would say that it's immensely well designed. Character Levels are never a substitute for actual strategy. You might want to consider looking into Tear Ring Saga, seeing how it's virtually indistinguishable from the Fire Emblem series. Especially compared to Thracia 776. Heck, I would say that Kaga was practically begging to be sued by his former employee with this one. Anyway, It's definitely more my idea on how the series should have developed from Thracia. Unfortunately, at this point the available translation patch requires a lot of masochism past chapter 10. I personally would also claim that most infinity engine games (Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale) are pretty much SRPGs. Heck, the engine itself seems to be almost more designed for RTS games anyway. The parties can be pretty huge and mindlessly rushing into enemies goes about as well as it should. Baldur's Gate as actually characters as potential PCs while Icewind Dale has you create a whole party from scratch.

Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!... I don't think my laptop is suited for this and I kinda expect countless compatibility problems with non-english versions and stuff but... man, I just got to get this to work, I can't believe that I hadn't even heard of this project. I also wonder how NW could possibly handle 5 AI allies at once without them tripping over their own feet all the time.