BrightBow

My favorite artstyle has to be the one from Thracia 776. It looked very consistent and I found the art to be surprisingly expressive given the limited amount of dialogue that most characters had. Also I liked the absence of highheels and the lack of bare legs. Pegasus Knights in particular look probably the least dumb here. I doubt that these tights are much better suited for riding then not wearing anything, but it's just so much easier on the eye. It's pretty neat that Tear Ring Saga kept this style. Even though that was really begging to be sued. I just wish we had more artwork so I could compare them better. The portraits were superior in Telius because they weren't limited to the face and all but I think that the battle animations worked better in Jugdral. I also really liked Telius. It just bugged me, that they applied a set uniform color for each faction. So now it looked all kinds of weired that most PCs have random colors. And I don't like the poses they strike after killing someone. Considering how Fire Emblem usually humanizes the enemies... especially in the game where they are actually playable... I found that a bit disturbing. Pretty much anything else is pretty cool. I also have to say, that I am kind of a sucker for the heavily ancient Roma inspired style of the first game. Probably because I used to read a lot of Asterix back in the day. I also love the cover art. I'd say, that it portrays the game better then any other, clichéd as it may be. My least favorite artwork is definitely from Awakening. Now admittedly, the males are great. Personally I think that Walhart and Validar look incredible goofy and I am not a fan of the toilet knights or the armored knight armor. But thats not a big issue. Everyones art is very expressive. They do an amazing job in getting their characters across. For the reasons listed above, it would never be my favorite. But there is no way around the fact, that this is some quality work. But the awesome artwork of the males really just highlights the double standard that is at work when it comes to the females. They hardly express anything. Like, what is Cronelia's maniacal grin while trying to break her own spine supposed to express? With few exceptions, they are all just trying to strike someone's idea of sexy pose, character or human anatomy be damned. Quite frankly, there is barely and Woman striking a pose that wouldn't look completely ridiculous when a male would do them... and I don't see how they are any less ridiculous just because the poser is female. I don't know much about the children yet, but thanks to the recent Interview, I got to see Severa and I don't see how somebody can have such a serious no-nonsense facial expression while bending over like that. So I don't think that I am missing much there. Considering Fire Emblem's focus on the characters, I believe that they really set the wrong priorities with their art this time around. For Battle animations... well, I don't think this chibi-sh style works very well. I found Cavaliers to look silly. They seem to be way to big for their horse. Frederick with his thick armor looked particularly weird. What also looked weired, was that the partner would always walk along the main unit, even when they weren't actually doing anything. Like, MU just walking along with Chrom, then merely watching him bash someones face in and then walking back with him and then merely watching as he takes a counter. It looked kinda off. Still, my least favorite Battle animations can be found in the GBA games. I really don't like those terrain-painted platforms floating over a black void. And it really bugs me, that the whole animation system is so primitive that arrows and fireballs just disappear when the target dodges and some sprites actually end up "dodging" right into the attack. Like the Paladin. And the animations are also very low on frames. Before I got to play the SNES games, I wondered how much better it would be if they would use the data to simulate something resembling an actual fight, rather then just having them perform their animations right where they stand without moving... ...And the I got to play them and found out that this is how they used to do it. I can't believe that they threw that away. It looked so cool and stylish. They even had unique sprites for each weapon. And there is other stuff with the sprites. Like how the Knights look nothing like the Knight armor worn in the artwork of the characters.

They have Moulder? Does he have a beard on his model in some fashion? No, really. I would find it to be wired of a character with such an imposing beard looses it to the limitations of the Avatar creation.

Where did you get that from? Edit: Was Micaiah ever stated to took the leadership from Nolan or simply being the leader? Edit2: Personally I doubt it. I just went through the script of chapter 1 again and Nolan acts pretty leader-ish there. Edit3: And the World Map narration says that Micaiah is a girl "among the company" of the Dawn Brigade. It says nothing about her being leader.

My favorite has to be Wendell. Insane speed, offensive magic, healing. He is just exactly what the doctor asked for. It's telling how awesome he is even after being nerved so much with each remake. As for the females, I like Midia the most, because she is all knightly and stuff.

"A Hero's Destiny". Dramatic, tragic and conclusive. And I absolutely love how they mixed the original map theme into it. It really hits you into the nostalgia. "Soldiers of Granada" (Tear Ring Saga). Mind you, the version from the actual game is a lot better then the one from the official soundtrack that we have on this site. It's just a rather unfitting dramatic theme for the wacky antics of Holmes' swimming kindergarten. "Adversity" was definitely used a lot better. "Leaf" (FE5) was just great. A triumphal arrangement of your leitmotif has to be the best way to accompany your last stand. "Land of Promise" (FE8) feels extremely mysterious and dangerous. It's just perfect. "Light Inheritors" (FE4) I don't like most of the game's map themes but this one is just wonderful. It beautifully symbolizes the legacy left behind by the first generation and gets you really pumped to get the rebellion rolling.

Jill and Nolan I found the lack of Jill a bit... puzzling. Given the amount of attention they gave her, I would have figured that the developers would have considered her important and stuff. In Nolan's case, it's just awkward that the Radiant Dawn group has Edward and Leonardo... but not the actual leader of their group. In fact, he is the only member of the Dawn Brigade, who is not represented. Oh well, unless confirmed otherwise, I am going to assume that he only doesn't appear because the My Unit model can't have a beard, let alone "the" beard.

Well, back in Silver, I encountered a shiny Ho-Oh. Unfortunately it was the first shiny I encountered, so rather then using the Master Ball to secure this rare catch, I restarted in order to find out what I did differently from all my catching attempts in order to cause this. I had no idea that it was entirely random. I also encountered a shiny Meowth. That one got caught, though.

Well, Sin and Punishment is a rail shooter, just like the flying stages in Kid Icarus. But each level in Kid Icarus Uprising has a flying part and a ground part. The ground part is an entire different animal. You have full control over your character on the ground parts. These parts are also a lot longer and it's usually where the bosses are fought. Personally I would prefer if you could simply skip the flying parts in Kid Icarus. Like I said above, they get boring quickly. While Kid Icarus: Uprising might be the superior game overall, Sin and Punishment is a LOT better at this kind of thing. Also, Kid Icarus has a wide variety of weapons with randomly applied attributes while your abilities in Sin & Punishment are set. You have 2 characters with different abilities and that's it. Which I personally prefer this way. In Kid Icarus, I spent way too much time in the weapon fusion screen. So many weapons but it's just so hard to fuse one that's actually usable. And as I said above, you can't separate these hard earned quality weapons from all the trash that you only keep around because they might have useful modificators for later fusions. And given how much work it takes to get such a weapon, that's really annoying. Not too mention, that the randomly applied modificators make it difficult to judge how good a weapon type actually is. I can definitely give a strong recommendation for "Sin And Punishment: Sucessor of the Sky" (or "Star Sucessor" for the US I think) for the Wii. Great action and great boss battles. And the controls are just perfect. Treasure really made the best possible use of the Wiimote and Nunchuck. Don't expect them to be anywhere near as good when playing the original N64 game. Available for 1200 points on the Wii E-Shop, btw. It's also surprisingly long for a rail shooter. Unfortunately, co-op is very limited. A second player only gets a second crosshair for continuous fire. He doesn't get his own character and can't use charge shots or reflect projectiles in any way. If you get it, one word of advice though: Play on easy. I played through the original game on the Virtual Console on Normal, so I thought I could handle that difficulty level on the Wii game. I was badly mistaken. And given that the Wii game has perfect controls and unlimited continues, that's saying something.

Personally I find it difficult to enjoy a game like that. It gets me upset and depressed, thinking about what it could have been. Especially after going through the sound files. Listening to the confrontation between the party and Traya at the end and stuff like that. To see that all the work of the actors and writers just rots there. It's just such a waste.

Well, Kotor 2 at least was incredible unfinished. Calling it disappointing is an understatement. To release a game in such a state is an insult to the customers. Going through the half-finished HK droid factory was an interesting experience, though. Developers notes all over the place.

-Kid Icarus: Uprising This game can't be recommend enough. Singleplayer and Multiplayer are equally great. Though, I do have three grieves. Each stage has a flight section and a ground section. The flight section is a very bare bone rail shooter segment and gets old way faster then the ground segments. It becomes a bit of a pain to go through it every time you want to do anything but Boss Rush. The ground segments are as good as it gets, though. And handling the massive weapons in the game, is a bit of a pain. There is no way to sort them after properties, so it can take ages going through them to find weapons you can fuse. There also is no way to separate fusion trash from weapons you actually want to use. Also, if you end the stage prematurely, you loose all the hearts you invested to raise the difficulty and the ones you earned during the stage. And the stages can drag on. A combination that I find rather troublesome for an handheld game. -Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance The combat is just great, the dreameaters are the most formidable grunts in the series so far and the most bosses are amazing. And Flowmotion has to be the best game mechanic ever. The drop mechanic is pretty controversial, though. And some bosses' strategy merely revolves around running away and waiting for your drop gauge to empty. Also, the game is very hard, by the series usual standards. -Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 3D There are other versions of the game available. But it's probably the version that plays the best, thanks to the addition of crouching. Definitely worth considering. Also, if you are on of those unlucky Europeans who didn't get the PS2 version, you might want to try out "Tales of the Abyss". It's just that it doesn't have much to show over the PS2 version besides heavily improved loading times. Also, they removed co-op multiplayer. And Starfox 64 3D and Ocarina of Time 3D are little more then the original games with improved graphics and framerate. Which should definitely be noted, given hat the originals can both be gotten for 1000 points in the E-Shop. The only notable change is that Starfox 64 3D has a mission select now. I just wish that the game wouldn't constantly pester you about the Gyro controls. It's like if this website would randomly ask you if you want to use a different theme before you can do anything else. And you always have to click yourself through several windows of explanation before you can finally proceed. Seriously, what kind of game does that?

So I was wondering what longterm effects the outcome of chapter 4 has. If you kill only Roger or Mel, will the surviving one still turn up later? And will Mel still join but leave the group later, like she does when you don't recruit Roger? If Mel is dead or doesn't show up, can Sasha still become a Pegasus Knight?

Because Lissa wasn't insufferable enough already? No matter what the original script said, I prefer anything that tones her down.

Maybe the German translation was simply done from the original Japanese script this time around, instead of the English script as usual. It might have simply ended up being closer to the source, rather then the German translators being in any way creative.

They said in the "Iwata Asks" that they were going for the "ultimate compilation of Fire Emblem" or something to that effect. So it's not really the continuation of any specific title.

I can really do without accents. I still remember Dragon Quest IX and the village where everyone spoke with such a thick accent, that I hardly understood a word. Mind you, seeing a giant whale speak in a Frisian accent was comedy gold. Still, I would prefer to understand what is going on.

I would say that the only real problem with the translation is that they never fixed their "Elfire" translation. They somehow translated that as "ElfLight". And unlike the English translation, they never changed "Lightning" to "Light". So by the time of PoR and RD, we had light magic spells called "Lightning" and "ElfLightning" and a fire spell called "ElfLight". At least Awakening will avoid that mess either way, because it has no "lightning" magic in the first place.

Ike has no flaws. There was only this one time where he lost his temper towards Sanaki. But normally he is completely calm. And there is not a trace left of this by Radiant Dawn. Ike had become legendary. Everyone is in awe of him. Even he hotheaded fool like Skrimir. The Daein are the only ones who don't like them. But only because he defeated their nation. He is such an unbelievable badass, that he wins battles simply by stepping on the battlefield. Tauroeno: General Ike has reached us... We've failed. Micaiah is the only non-villain who doesn't like him. And even she learns in chapter 3-13 that Ike really is just as awesome as Sothe makes him out to be. Micaiah didn't join the rebellion for her personal fame but because she wanted to help the DAein people. Selfishness is the one flaw that she doesn't have. She is overreliant at her powers, as best seen when she trusts Pelleas order to go to war, simply because she felt that he is doing in for the best of Daein. A technically true assumption but overlooks the fact that Pelleas' perspective might be clouded. It also leads her to emphasized too with the Daein people. Because she saw them from her best side, she not only overlooks their rascism but also adopted their hatred of Ike. Her self sacrifice also goes far beyond what's sane, ending with her passing out during critical situations. And keep in mind, how the story judges her abilities when compared to Ike. She is the underdog in every encounter they are in. The only time she got a good hit in, was when she destroyed the Crimean army. But only because nobody in the Apostle's army could believe that Micaiah could be that evil. Well, she showed them. And even that battle ended instantly when Ike showed up. She only got away because Sanaki spared her. And the Daein people are irrational nutcases. Just look at this gem: Goran: Followers of the false apostle! Bow down to the miracles of our savior! As long as the Maiden of Dawn watches over us, we cannot be defeated! You think that those people are supposed to know what they are talking about?

The German translation is fine, though I didn't make a direct comparison with the English script yet because that would require me to leave the game and use up valuable tries. Not that I am to happy with the actual script. Lissa is just insufferable and Virion makes Zelos come across as down to earth. In fact, chapter 2 as a whole was just a collection of stupidity. I mean (Spoilers for the demo): Honestly, that was just awful. Does the writing stay that way?

Were there other artists working on No more Heroes? Unfortunately the English side offers no credits. You've got to keep in mind, that they are fictional Anime characters in an already cartoonish world. So of course they have to contrast with the real people there. And if you still can't remember them: Here a screenshot from a scene at the beginning of the game with Travis hugging a poster of them while making a creepy face while moaning "Moe". http://www.gamefaqs.com/wii/933024-no-more-heroes/images/screen-3 Of course, when No more Heroes sexualized little cartoon girls like that, it was a satirical take on the Otaku culture. When Fire Emblem did it, it was because... ...IS thinks really low from the people that buy their games?

I don't really like to link to something like this but whatever: If I may present: The Bizarre Jerry girls from Yusuke Kozaki's previous work on No more Heroes http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080506041935/nomoreheroes/images/b/b2/Nmh-cranberry_strawberry_blueberry.jpg See any similarities to Nono's wardrobe? http://serenesforest.net/fe13/img/1025/nono.jpg She is effectively Strawberry with a different haircut and color pallet. And more hearts and ribbons, which really just makes things worse.

You couldn't have missed them. Travis has them on his normal T-shirt in both games. And in Desperate Struggle, Henry catches him masturbating while watching their show.

Back online and still no Awakening.

I wonder if ty have to cancel active downloads during maintenance like this.

Well, as punishment, we could crash their servers by all trying to download at the same time. Oh wait, that's going to happen anyway.