They Seriously Couldn't Have Come Up With a Better Title for FE7?

[Shaky Jones]

I've ranted many times about FE7, the title being among one of many things that baffles me. Blazing Blade, or at least I think it's Blazing Blade? Maybe it's Sword. That's the description for FE7 here in Serenes, aka Fire Emblem. Great. Don't even try to create a title! This won't confuse new players down the line!

 

First of all, why is it even called Blazing? Well the only possible answer is that the chapter where you get the Durandel in Binding Blade is referred to as that, and I don't get that either! Sure, the chapter has fire in it, but you don't see the blade go up in flames like you do with, I dunno, the Binding Blade. There's no thunder gimmick with the Lightning Axe, so what gives? Whatever, it's probably some spirit of the previous user lore that I'm unaware of, but I can't find anything about it on the wiki. Unlucky.

That's not the primary concern. No, the real fiddle me riddle is "why is this game named after the main weapon at all?", which also leads into a secondary question: "Can you even call the Durandel the main weapon?". With Shadow Dragon and the Title that is Way Too Long, the blade of light that I omitted for the sake of a crappy joke, which as we all know is the falchion, plays a pretty important role in Marth's journey. It's quite important to his kingdom, and he searches for it much earlier than in endgame. Granted, he fails to find it and only receives it during the penultimate chapter, but when you do get it, you feel like a Seth. All non dragons straight up cannot damage Marth, leaving the stupid AI that always targets him into being target practice for the next Excelblem steam, and actual manaketes will just get obliterated by the dragon slaying tooth. The hype built up around the sword really pulls off as now you feel the culmination of your efforts rewarding you with what you can use to decimate your way into reaching and defeating the seemingly undefeatable Earth Dragon Medeus. You can certainly kill him without it, but it's really difficult and requires the best of the best. The Binding Blade is similar to where as long as you don't get the bad ending, you get a few chapters to use it, and it's incredibly powerful. It's one of the only times you'll ever see Roy actually being your boy, which really shows how legendary this weapon really is. A ton of manaketes are present in the penultimate chapter of the good ending, and the Binding Blade sweeps. It's really stupid that the thing only has 20 uses though. Come on. Even story wise, it plays a major role in being combined with the other weapons to reveal the truth about yada yada good ending stuff and is of course encouraged to be used to not kill off dragon girl that is now way too popular in Heroes and I fear will impact how she is used in an FE6 remake. Of course, I kill her anyways. Bartre gaming and all that, but the point still stands. Those games deserve to have the legendary weapon be what the title tells the player about. 

Then FE7 happens. 

How long do you use the weapon for? One chapter. Just endgame. How strong is it? Arguably worse than a brave sword. Who's it effective against? One enemy. How much hope does it give you for slaying what lies at the end? Eliwood doesn't know. The final boss just showed up unexpectedly. Really, the only thing it accomplished was: 

Spoiler

killing off le dragon girl dev favorite ship. Wow.

Spoiler

EXCEPT IT CAN'T EVEN DO THAT EITHER!!!

Yeah she was only revived because of puppet dude whose name I can't be bothered to type, but holy crap does this game just love finding ways to undermine everything that happens and reduce the severity of most situations. 

Why does the Durandel even magically react to a dragon like that anyways? Since when was that a thing the regalia could do? That was never mentioned in 6, nor does it really matter for any other moment in 7. Like, they really just forced that moment in just for the sake of drama, and it's not even real drama!!! What's even the point!?!?

 

There have been multiple runs where me or people I know straight up never use the darn thing! Why even bother!? And if I've learned anything about FE7 players, it's that nobody plays Eliwood mode after their first run. In other words, the Durandel doesn't even matter in your eyes! You still get the thing, but based off the lord you've been following, you're more excited about Armads, but the game isn't called Fire Emblem: Fire Dragon and Axe of Lightning, is it!?

Why would you name the game after one protag legendary weapon in the game where there's more than one!? I don't get it! That seems so obvious! It's like if FE16 was named after only one route instead of "3 Houses" to signify....4 routes. Man IS sucks with titles. Given how the game's main thing that has it stand out both on a gameplay perspective and narratively speaking is the fact that there are essentially 3 protagonists, why not name the game after something that tells you of that, and while we're on this subject, why not make Eliwood use lances like he does in FE6 to fully utilize the weapon triangle!?!? Making him a carbon copy of Roy isn't clever. It's lazy! He could've been the first Ephraim lance lord. Were they THAT set on making the weapon the title of the game that they didn't do it because FE Maltet sounds dumb? Heck, most people who haven't played 6 will see the title and assume that the Durandel shoots out fire, and then gets disappointed when it doesn't. I sure was disappointed when I first played this game a decade ago! I don't even remember what the fire chapter looks like anymore, because we all just do Hector now, and even that's the one in Engage. Hector and Lyn are chosen over Eliwood, the guy who's supposedly the only one whose weapon is worthy of the title.

The significance of the Durandel falls flat even from a pure story perspective. It's not like you're tearing manaketes left and right to get to Nergal, and Nergal doesn't take dragon effective damage, so you going out of your way to obtain the Durandel would've been the same as taking a gaiden map detour to get a brave axe for Hector. There's no family generation thing like with the falchion, nor is it one of the most powerful weapons of the regalia of Elibe with its own story of sealing to stand out from the rest. It's just a demotion, and you're only getting that and the Armads because "there is no time!". Squadala! We are off! It could've been any weapon really. You just want something strong. Too bad Eliwood was just another swordie. I suppose there was the fear of "what if he opens the gate before we make it!?", but I thought in basically every scenario that wasn't coincidentally where it barely opens right when they arrive and can be closed with the help of terrible plot device removing most of the few dragons that slip out because apparently the weapons made to kill dragons can't kill dragons would've ended in certain doom. Admittedly, it's been too long since I've played FE7 so I'm not 100% certain how the game convinces you that you NEED the Durandel in particular, if at all. Perhaps I'm missing critical information about the Durandel actually being the keyblade from Kingdom Hearts and it was used to seal away the Door to Dragons, but from what info I'm willing to gather online, Athos really just got faceless boy to destroy the seal because 22 might lmao. 

And now we talk about fighting the "final boss". 

Let's be real. We all just Athos luna it nowadays. 

The "Blazing Blade" is not the weapon you use. It's just one of them. The Armads can be used. The Sol Katti can arguably be used. Athos can be used. With my history of bad Eliwoods, it's actually rare for me to use the Durandel on the final boss. It feels unnecessary, but nope, it's still the title of the game. When I think of games where I don't even bother to use the legendary weapon, I think of FE11, which is funny, because that's the remake that omitted the "blade of light" part! It's like they knew no one would trade off the starsphere for it, so they just didn't bother! I don't even know if that was the intentional reason, but that just makes this post all the funnier. Freaking Path of Radiance would be a more fitting title to use the weapon as the name of the game! It'd probably be called The Twin Blades or something. Just copy the boxart of MGS Twin Snakes while you're at it. 

Spoiler

Okay, so it's really not hard to kill Iduun without the Blinding Blade, but that probably has to do with the unused stat buffs for her that was likely not used so a broken BB doesn't equal an unbeatable boss. Even if not, the BB makes a huge difference and with how it impacts the ending, the intent of the Binding Blade being the primary weapon used against her is still present, even if the sad attempt of a final boss is extremely pathetic. 

Maybe you could be simple and just call it "FE Dragon's Gate" or "FE Quintessence" (as much as I hate the premise of it) or "FE Druid of Alzheimer's" or even "FE Trust Nobody" because I sure can't trust the people who made this game to make competent choices making their game! Most of these titles kinda suck, I know, but honestly I mostly just say this just so I'm not told "well if you can't think of anything, then it's clearly the right name" because I hate that argument. But it's also because I really think just about anything is better than "Blazing Weapon".

That and in order for there to be any kind of possible ongoing thread discussion here, I need to follow this up with "What do you guys think the game should've been called?".

The only thing more sad than "Blazing Blade" is well, nothing. OH WAIT...

At least try to give the game a name in English! It's not like FE1 was just called "Fire Emblem" and nothing else! It's not an obligation to just call something by the base title to signify that it's the first of the series to a specific part of the world. You're just creating confusion to future mentions of the game! Now we just have this game here on Serenes called "Fire Emblem" as the 7th Fire Emblem. Yeah, by the time you're stuck in this hell, you probably know now and just accept it, but I sure as heck was super confused getting into FE when it came to Elibe. I was sometimes even getting FE6 and FE7 confused together (Is 7 blazing or binding? 6 does have the fire sword after all. Why even make the games sound similar when this doesn't apply to any other FE game sequel/midquel/prequel nonsense?), but I still preferred calling FE7 that over just FE. That would've made more sense as a title for FE11, just so people knew their basic shipping-less game was based off the first game (not saying I want that to be the title). It's not like the fire emblem is THAT integral to the plot. Yes, I know the whole Bern plot, and you can argue that without getting the fire emblem, you would've been boned, but it sure isn't big enough a role that it should be all the title is. You're not carrying it all game like Marth or held onto by Guinevere in FE6. It's just....dude I am just yapping at this point, but I can't help but feel the need to become Dr Ranty Bones when I think about how this game made a crappy title for itself TWICE!

 

Tl;dr: They named their game "Blazing Blade" just to have the duology be Blade games, and it's f**king stupid.

And the worst part is that this game is unironically a better choice for the title of "3 Hopes" than 3 Hopes.

[Integrity]

man and i thought i had scorn for fe7 lol jesus

e: we should renormalize bullying imo

Edited February 11 by Integrity

[Florete]

It's Blazing Blade. Serenes is stuck in the past.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

This is one of the most nothing topics I've seen in a very long time on these forums. The name is fine? Completely fine? Not one single time, from any FE fan I've seen on any website over the last 15 years, have I seen an outcry of confusion about the name...until this strange rant. You're really reaching to complain here.

[Capt. Fargus]

1 hour ago, Integrity said:

 

e: we should renormalize bullying imo

Speakin as one who’s been on the receiving end of that shit before... no. That crap is never ok, and bullies deserve every bit of whatever comes to em 

[Jotari]

I'm in full agreement. Maybe not as ranty or emotionally charged, but full agreement. Blazing Blade is a piss poor title made only worse with Binding Blade's existence. For my alternate suggestions

*Fire Emblem: Fangs of Death

*Fire Emblem: Dread Isle

*Fire Emblem: Elibe 776

*Fire Emblem: Scions of Lycia

*Fire Emblem: Trinity of Fate

...names are hard. Best I've got.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

I'm partial to Fire Emblem: Blades' Chosen. Since that's the one thing our three lords have in common.

[Shaky Jones]

1 hour ago, Integrity said:

man and i thought i had scorn for fe7 lol jesus

You can keep the crown. My main hatred is for FE4 anyways.

1 hour ago, Integrity said:

e: we should renormalize bullying imo

35 minutes ago, Capt. Fargus said:

Speakin as one who’s been on the receiving end of that shit before... no. That crap is never ok, and bullies deserve every bit of whatever comes to em 

I understand where you're coming from. Really, I do.

 

Counterpoint: 3 Houses fans.

1 hour ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

This is one of the most nothing topics I've seen in a very long time on these forums. The name is fine? Completely fine? Not one single time, from any FE fan I've seen on any website over the last 15 years, have I seen an outcry of confusion about the name...until this strange rant. You're really reaching to complain here.

30 minutes ago, Jotari said:

I'm in full agreement. Maybe not as ranty or emotionally charged, but full agreement.

It's the Shaky Special. Comes with the package.

31 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Blazing Blade is a piss poor title made only worse with Binding Blade's existence. For my alternate suggestions

Hey, thanks for being the first person to actually have suggestions for this travesty of a game title. They already seem way better than most of the basic ideas I threw out. Let's see what you got.

31 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Fire Emblem: Fangs of Death

We all do love the Black Fang, although wouldn't this be similar to calling an FE games based off their elite squadron of generals like FE Riders of Daein or FE 4 Thousand Hounds? I feel like there has to be a little more to it than just a reference to the Black Fang, as they aren't the pivotal conflict. Maybe it'd work more if that one place was called Death Isle so you could have it reference 2 very important aspects of the game, and Fangs of Dread doesn't sound quite right to me.

36 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Fire Emblem: Dread Isle

I mean honestly that works. Only issue I could really see is that it'd stand out a little due to no other FE game directly using the name of a location within the nation of its given setting. 

Harry Potter and the Isle of Dread.

39 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Fire Emblem: Elibe 776

This is just IS getting back at Kaga for making a carbon copy of FE with TRS. Gottem.

40 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Fire Emblem: Scions of Lycia

Okay okay. That, that's just awesome. This one wins. I love that title. It has the pizazz. It highlights the relevance of Lycia around FE7, tying the involvement of Hector and Eliwood's nation together (Lyn was a secondary lord to them and her mode could literally be skipped in Japan if you had an FE6 save file, so having her be strictly referenced in the title isn't a necessity). This wouldn't be the first time the series would mention important figureheads as scions. It uses the name of a previously established nation of the previous game as to entice fans of expanded worldbuilding, much like for Thracia. I think you diddled the riddle!

47 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Fire Emblem: Trinity of Fate

This one also has its perks, but let's be honest. Fire Emblem has ruined the word fate, and every time I hear it now, I want to drown myself in an ocean's gray waves.

3 minutes ago, Zapp Branniglenn said:

I'm partial to Fire Emblem: Blades' Chosen. Since that's the one thing our three lords have in common.

Of course. Hector's famous S rank swords. How could I forget? 

49 minutes ago, Jotari said:

...names are hard. Best I've got.

Hey, those were far better than whatever I could've come up with, except the Druid of Alzheimer's of course. Too bad we both lost to Swordy Lordies.

[ARMADS!!!]

(it's Durandal, not Durandel, btw)

 

Actually the game is called Blazing Blade, not beacause there's fire in the chapter you get Durandal, but beacause each of the 8 legendary weapons of Elibe have a subtitle, that were invented back in FE6: 

- Durandal, Roland's Blazing Blade.

- Armads, Durban's Thunder Axe

- Forblaze, Athos' Infernal Truth.

- Aureola, Elimine's Glorious Ascension.

- Mulagir, Hanon's Tempest Bow.

- Maltet, Barigan's Blizzard Spear.

- Apocalypse, Bramimond's Elder Revelation

 Of course, it looks a bit stupid in the end because the sword that actually catches on fire is the sword of seals, lol, but anyway.

 They wanted the main lord to get the sword so they had to pick Durandal, they chose one of the Legendary weapons of Elibe as the lord's prf because the first of Fire Emblem the west knew was seeing Roy in Smash so the westerns created an interest in FE, and instead of simply localizing FE6 to the west, IS made a whole new game: FE7, that was made to be as related to FE6 as possible (that's why it's about Roy's dad, has the 8 legendary weapons of Elibe, obligatory quick mention to the actual fire emblem of Elibe, etc) BUT in a way that'd be understandable if you hadn't played FE6, BUT make some sense to people that DID play FE6 (the japanese), so the title matches FE6's and so the japanese can see it's a duology and in the west it became known as just Fire Emblem (because it was the first FE for westerns, though I don't think that ONLY Fire Emblem was ever the actual title, just how it became known) but was called Blazing Blade because they translated the original title in japan (and because it looks cool). So yeah, basically it's just to match FE6's title for the japanese (and show it's a duology) and to look cool for the westerns.

 In regards to the plot holes and things that are not mentioned in FE6? Well, FE7 is known for having plot holes so not a lot I can say here. They probably just wanted to make the game related to FE6 but also didn't try to chain themselves to the established lore of Elibe too much and instead allowed themselves to change some stuff, in the name of looking cool or dramatic (like the deal with Durandal and Ninian) because that was the first Fire Emblem that non japanese would play so they wanted it to look as cool for them as possible.

 It's really just because of that, to show it's a duology and to look cool, I personally don't think a title has to be a lot more than that. I'd find "Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade and the Axe of Thunder/Thunder Axe" a fitting title as well, but you'd probably have the same problem with it, and it'd match FE6's title less. Path of Radiance and Radiant dawn also use the same word to indicate continuation, but what the fuck is even the "path of radiance" on the game? (I didnt play FE9 but it there really such a thing called like that there? Or is the title even that significant? Could've very well been called the Twin Blades as you said).

 It'd have been nice if the Durandal was more plot important in the game, but at the same time they likely just didn't think of a way, since the game is about a secret effort to stop a war. They tried with the Ninian thing, but again, not a completely suceeded effort. But I don't think that Durandal not being completely relevant makes the title awful, as it's just supposed to be a homage to FE6 and to look cool, though I think that if they knew that FE7 would have been named after Durandal's subtitle, back when they were making FE6, they'd have called it something else instead of Blazing Sword, to avoid confusion with the sword that actually catches on fire (the Sword of Seals).

 The reason they tried to draw attention to Eliwood, and to Eliwood's weapon is just because he's Roy's dad and they wanted to make the main chatacter be as similar to Roy as possible (but couldn't be Roy himself in a sequel to FE6 either, since they decided on making a new game to introduce FE to the west instead of just localizing FE6, THAT is what I don't understand), so he gets the sword, he gets to be the "main" lord (even though we have other two, and in the end both Hector and Lyn became more popular than Eliwood), and he gets a mention to his sword in the title. They used Eliwood as the main lord and the one whose story you'll follow the first time you play the main plot, Lyn as the tutorial lord and Hector as the replay value lord. I think that they learned with this when they decided to give equal importance to Ephraim and Eirika in FE8 and let you choose which route you play first. If they wanted to cover the weapon triangle with the lords, they'd have given a lance to Lyn and given her Maltet (instead of random sword that never existed in FE6) because the point was always to make Eliwood like Roy (actually the title: The Blizzard Spear would be pretty neat if Eliwood had gotten a lance), it was lazy, yeah, but was the whole point (though again and again and again, I don't get why they simply didn't localize FE6 instead of even making FE7, maybe they thought it wouldn't be popular outside of japan for some reason, but I don't know). One thing I seemed to notice though, is that Lyn and Hector are more popular because they have more atitude, while Eliwood is more of a "vanilla FE protagonist", I think they wanted to try both types of lords to see which the westerns would prefer, so Eliwood resembles Roy (so westerns who played smash and saw Roy would find Eliwood familiar), Hector would be a more american-friendly badass lord and Lyn would be like Hector but a woman (to appeal to girls), FE8 already had the male lord be more like Hector and less like Eliwood too, probably in part because they saw that that's what the westerns liked, FE7 looks pretty experimental when you consider all of this.

 

 I think they were after the Legendary weapons just in case Nergal opened the portal, they weren't sure about what his plans were most of the time so they played it safe, Athos picked as many of the Legendary weapons as he could: He came with Forblaze for himself, Aureola either for himself or for someone that could use it, Durandal for Eliwood because he can use swords, Armads for Hector because he can use axes, Sol katti (the random ass sword that is worse than Manni Katti because it weights a ton) for Lyn because he remembered that the game doesn't force you to promote her so she also only uses swords but Elibe only has 1 Legendary sword and Eliwood already called dibs on it, even after

Spoiler

He killed his girlfriend by accident and decided to not use it anymore.

 And after it he called it a day. I don't think they knew that only one dragon was gonna slip out of the portal, so they prepared themselves. I haven' played the game in some time too thought, but as I recall, this was why.

 

 

TLDR: As far as I know, "Fire Emblem" it's just how it was known in the USA/west but the actual title has always been Blazing Blade. The title was used literally just to show the japanese that the game was related to FE6 and to sound cool to the westerns (and because the Durandal's actual subtitle in FE6 was Blazing Sword), regardles of the sword being relevant. FE7 was created to appeal to americans after Roy showed up in Smash so instead of localizing FE6, IS made FE7 as a sort of experimental game that'd have enough to do with FE6 for the japanese to want but also be friendly to new players (the rest of the world) and they made the whole game about Elibe and Roy's dad precisely to appeal to people that liked Roy in Smash (instead of just localizing FE6...) so Eliwood's whole point in FE7 is to be Roy 2.0. For these reasons, Eliwood got a sword (like his kid) that is one of the Legendary weapons of Elibe (to find a way of shoving Elibe's lore into FE7) even if the sword was not particularly relevant to the story and the name is after his sword's subtitle (because Eliwood is supposed to be the "main" lord, even if Hector and Lyn are as important and more popular than him), and that circles back to the title being chosen to resemble FE6's and to look cool. 

 

Edited February 11 by ARMADS!!!

[Saint Rubenio]

Shaky, always lost in your grudges! What have I said about watching your rants?

Edited February 11 by Saint Rubenio

[lenticular]

On the one hand: yeah, Blazing Blade is a pretty bad title. I think my biggest problem with it is just how generic it is. It sounds like it should be the title of a bad pulp fantasy novel or something.

On the other hand: I find it really, really hard to care even a little bit about titles. I pretty much never think about them once I'm playing the game (or reading the book, watchign the movie, whatever). And I also basically never decide to buy something based on the title. I only really interact with titles as a way of identifying the thing if I'm searching for it or talking about it or whatever. So they could call it Fire Emblem: Turnips and Petticoats as far as I'm concerned. So long as it's distinct enough to talk about it, I'm content.

[Jotari]

2 hours ago, lenticular said:

So long as it's distinct enough to talk about it, I'm content.

Well at does kind of fail on that front too by having the exact same Acronym as it's predecessor >.>

[Capt. Fargus]

Fire Emblem - The Dragon’s Gate

 

[ping]

Of all the stuff one can lay at BlaBla's feet, Shaky decides to focus on a name decision already made by BinBla.

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

Well at does kind of fail on that front too by having the exact same Acronym as it's predecessor >.>

BlaBla vs BinBla  

5 minutes ago, Capt. Fargus said:

Fire Emblem - The Dragon’s Gate

That one's pretty good, actually. More evocative than "Dread Isle", where it's not really clear from the name what the Dread is supposed to be.

Edited February 11 by ping

[Shaky Jones]

Well I'm glad nobody seems to disagree with me. They just think I'm petty, which I very much am. 

 

10 hours ago, ARMADS!!! said:

(it's Durandal, not Durandel, btw)

10 hours ago, ARMADS!!! said:

Actually the game is called Blazing Blade, not beacause there's fire in the chapter you get Durandal, but beacause each of the 8 legendary weapons of Elibe have a subtitle, that were invented back in FE6

Yeah, figured that'd be the case. 

But why the heck are they called that? Glorious ascension makes sense. Infernal Truth, Elder Revelation, I can see the correlation. But why thunder axe, blazing blade, and blizzard spear? Their weapons don't project anything of the sort. Were they made using instruments within the chapters you find them in? Is Maltet made from ice? Armads is especially confusing because again, there's no link to thunder in the chapter 12x. There has to be a reason I'm missing here. Is it really "just because"? I have to know, FE6!

10 hours ago, ARMADS!!! said:

They wanted the main lord to get the sword so they had to pick Durandal, they chose one of the Legendary weapons of Elibe as the lord's prf because the first of Fire Emblem the west knew was seeing Roy in Smash so the westerns created an interest in FE, and instead of simply localizing FE6 to the west, IS made a whole new game: FE7, that was made to be as related to FE6 as possible (that's why it's about Roy's dad, has the 8 legendary weapons of Elibe, obligatory quick mention to the actual fire emblem of Elibe, etc) BUT in a way that'd be understandable if you hadn't played FE6, BUT make some sense to people that DID play FE6 (the japanese), so the title matches FE6's and so the japanese can see it's a duology and in the west it became known as just Fire Emblem (because it was the first FE for westerns, though I don't think that ONLY Fire Emblem was ever the actual title, just how it became known) but was called Blazing Blade because they translated the original title in japan (and because it looks cool). So yeah, basically it's just to match FE6's title for the japanese (and show it's a duology) and to look cool for the westerns.

Of course....

 

Smash Brothers....

 

I still stand by naming the game Fire Emblem due to being the first of the west to be an awful idea. 

I'd also mention that making the games sound similar is still very unnecessary and could be lead to further confusion down the road, but perhaps IS blamed the title of Thracia 776 for selling so poorly. It's because Kaga Kaga'd too Kaga.

Either way, I probably should've made it more clear that the main idea of the post, besides ranting about thing I don't like, was mainly meant to point out why what they went with was illogical and counterintuitive in comparison to the rest of the series, not asking why Blazing Blade. I know why. It's pretty obvious. "It looks cool" and "Duology" as you say. It's a very simple way to make a title, and I just think they should've tried harder to make something that was unique to the game and actually made sense. It feels lazy and hashed out just to capitalize off the success of Roy's existence, just like 3 Hopes. 

5 hours ago, lenticular said:

On the one hand: yeah, Blazing Blade is a pretty bad title. I think my biggest problem with it is just how generic it is. It sounds like it should be the title of a bad pulp fantasy novel or something.

An apt description.

5 hours ago, lenticular said:

On the other hand: I find it really, really hard to care even a little bit about titles. I pretty much never think about them once I'm playing the game (or reading the book, watchign the movie, whatever)

Linking this with what I'm saying to ARMADS, I very much enjoy over-analyzing titles and covers for most things. You don't judge a book solely by its cover, but you sure can appreciate one when it's done right. I was gonna do a full ranking of every title in Fire Emblem, but this became so long, that it had to become its own post. I always loved the distinction that despite the series being called Fire Emblem, FE3 is called "Mystery of the Emblem", as it actually relates to the emblem itself and gives it lore. FE1 obviously does the same to a slightly lesser extent than Book 2, but the game being in 2 books with 1 included essentially ties Archanea together as "the one with the actual Fire Emblem" and the presentation during the intro sequence is one of my favorites in almost any game. This stuff alone already made it much easier for me to enjoy starting my journey through FE3, which was luckily supported by book 2 actually having decent gameplay and maps (Sorry SoV, no amount of presentation can fix your maps). I've already brought up how FE1 and FE6 work. Sacred Stones obviously fits. Thracia's a nice title too imo based off what I said about the intrigue of expanding the worldbuilding of Jugdral, and the timestamp of 776 could inform fans of how the game is a midquel, although I don't know how many people actually remember the years FE4 takes place in. Path of Radiance....

10 hours ago, ARMADS!!! said:

Path of Radiance and Radiant dawn also use the same word to indicate continuation, but what the fuck is even the "path of radiance" on the game?

"Ike, in order to obtain the Ragnell to vanquish the Black Knight, you must go through the Path of Radiance."

"What is this, some kinda Alm's trials?"

"Who the fuck is Alm?"

PoR and RD are done better because at least the titles are distinct enough while still having something in common. It'd be more like the problem with FE7 if you called FE10 "Wrath of Radiance". Seriously, I couldn't have been the only guy who couldn't stop confusing these games together. Making the lords look and play identical certainly didn't do any favors...

10 hours ago, ARMADS!!! said:

It'd have been nice if the Durandal was more plot important in the game, but at the same time they likely just didn't think of a way, since the game is about a secret effort to stop a war. They tried with the Ninian thing, but again, not a completely suceeded effort. But I don't think that Durandal not being completely relevant makes the title awful, as it's just supposed to be a homage to FE6 and to look cool, though I think that if they knew that FE7 would have been named after Durandal's subtitle, back when they were making FE6, they'd have called it something else instead of Blazing Sword, to avoid confusion with the sword that actually catches on fire (the Sword of Seals).

Well given the paragraphs of words words words above meant to justify why I do think it makes the title awful, all I can say here is agree to disagree.

 

We all play Hector mode man. Nobody sees Eliwood as the lord, not even IS!

10 hours ago, ARMADS!!! said:

I think they were after the Legendary weapons just in case Nergal opened the portal, they weren't sure about what his plans were most of the time so they played it safe, Athos picked as many of the Legendary weapons as he could: He came with Forblaze for himself, Aureola either for himself or for someone that could use it, Durandal for Eliwood because he can use swords, Armads for Hector because he can use axes, Sol katti (the random ass sword that is worse than Manni Katti because it weights a ton) for Lyn because he remembered that the game doesn't force you to promote her so she also only uses swords but Elibe only has 1 Legendary sword and Eliwood already called dibs on it, even after

I'll say it a million times. Give Lyn the Durandal and let Eilwood use his lance rank  that he has in FE6 for Maltet so you could have the weapon triangle set of FE6 regalia. 

Although chances are, an FE7 remake will just give Lyn the Mulagir. It's literally her Engage weapon.

11 hours ago, ARMADS!!! said:

It's really just because of that, to show it's a duology and to look cool, I personally don't think a title has to be a lot more than that. I'd find "Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade and the Axe of Thunder/Thunder Axe

Well that's why I believe a perfect title would've primarily focused on referencing there being multiple lords in this game, rather than just based off weapons. Whatever simple and marketable reasons they have to suggest otherwise doesn't provide as much care and passion for the game they're adding to this this franchise with varying narratives (insert laugh track) and gameplay elements. That's why I think Jotari's "Scions of Lycia" works really well. It still has something in it that involves Elibe while doing what Thracia does AND it indirectly references 2 of the 3 lords. Of course, I suppose that won't get too much attention of Smash fans, who will just see Blazing Blade and go "That's his B attack!", aka clickbaiting. How quaint.

6 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Shaky, always lost in your grudges! What have I said about watching your rants?

You wanna know what else me and Soren have in common?

We're both raging raci-

3 hours ago, Jotari said:

5 hours ago, lenticular said:

So long as it's distinct enough to talk about it, I'm content.

Well at does kind of fail on that front too by having the exact same Acronym as it's predecessor >.>

Yeah what he said.

2 hours ago, Capt. Fargus said:

Fire Emblem - The Dragon’s Gate

Yes, that was one of my first suggestions. 

I'm really liking Scions of Lycia though. I honestly don't think anyone will top that. Heck, whoever makes the next "FE7 rebalance" should call it that.

2 hours ago, ping said:

Of all the stuff one can lay at BlaBla's feet, Shaky decides to focus on a name decision already made by BinBla.

Listen to yourself! Blabla?

BLABLA!?

That's the worst form of an FE title I've ever heard! You can't even use BB as an acronym! That's how bad it is! Blabla. How fitting. Bla bla bla, shut yo prequal ass up. So what if I trade Armads to every axe user in FE6? Does that mean they're all doomed to die miserable deaths? Sure ain't what their endings told me!

I can keep going all day Ping. Do not underestimate how petty I can get.

2 hours ago, ping said:

BlaBla vs BinBla  

vs BreBad 

2 hours ago, ping said:

That one's pretty good, actually. More evocative than "Dread Isle", where it's not really clear from the name what the Dread is supposed to be

"This one has dragons in it".

Nooo....

[Original Alear]

Obviously it's meant to parallel Binding Blade...maybe theres' something going on with Ninian being revived when slain with Durandal, and Idoun not dying when slain with the Sword of Seals.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

15 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

First of all, why is it even called Blazing? Well the only possible answer is that the chapter where you get the Durandel in Binding Blade is referred to as that, and I don't get that either! Sure, the chapter has fire in it, but you don't see the blade go up in flames like you do with, I dunno, the Binding Blade.

This part, I agree with. Why is Durandal called "The Blazing Blade"? It has no visible affinity to fire. Closest I can think is the fact that you acquire it from an active volcano. Still, I think a name like "The Gleaming Blade" or "The Piercing Blade" would be just as appropriate, while avoiding any confusion with the Binding Blade. Y'know, the sword that spits fire?

15 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

There have been multiple runs where me or people I know straight up never use the darn thing! Why even bother!? And if I've learned anything about FE7 players, it's that nobody plays Eliwood mode after their first run. In other words, the Durandel doesn't even matter in your eyes! You still get the thing, but based off the lord you've been following, you're more excited about Armads, but the game isn't called Fire Emblem: Fire Dragon and Axe of Lightning, is it!?

I'm gonna disagree here. Sure, the player doesn't get to make much use of Durandal. Even when acquired, its atrocious weight stat doesn't help its case. However, it has a story signficance, as you mentioned.

Spoiler

The Sword is what slays Ninian, in her Ice Dragon form. In so doing, it replicates the violent conflict of the past. Man against Dragon. The scars from the past reopen, and rapprochement between the two kinds seems an impossibility.

Bathed in the shadow of Ninian's death, and filled with guilt over what he's (sort of) done, Eliwood gives Durandal back to Athos. But in the final hour of battle, he takes the Sword back up. Just as Nils will aid his friends in spite of his grief, so too will Eliwood. A better future is possible, but only if they work together and make it happen.

So, yeah. While I wish Durandal had a different name - one whose initials weren't also "BB" - I think it's story role has enough thematic significance to make it a titular object.

14 hours ago, Jotari said:

*Fire Emblem: Fangs of Death

*Fire Emblem: Dread Isle

*Fire Emblem: Elibe 776

*Fire Emblem: Scions of Lycia

*Fire Emblem: Trinity of Fate

These all have potential! But what about Fire Emblem: Children of Roland? That would go with what Athos calls the three, while also tying their mission to the Scouring from almost a millenium before.

1 hour ago, Shaky Jones said:

That's the worst form of an FE title I've ever heard! You can't even use BB as an acronym! That's how bad it is! Blabla. How fitting. Bla bla bla, shut yo prequal ass up. So what if I trade Armads to every axe user in FE6? Does that mean they're all doomed to die miserable deaths? Sure ain't what their endings told me!

Nope, it's a "hot potato". Only the last one holding Armads is in trouble. Try to bring an Axe user you don't care about to the endgame of FE6, just in case.

42 minutes ago, Original Alear said:

Obviously it's meant to parallel Binding Blade...maybe theres' something going on with Ninian being revived when slain with Durandal, and Idoun not dying when slain with the Sword of Seals.

I think Ninian's revival just came down to "Bramimond is magic". Perhaps he had an ersatz Aum Staff? Regardless, I don't think there's anything special about Durandal that would "preserve" Ninian. It's not as though he extracts her from the blade, or anything of the sort.

[ping]

2 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

Listen to yourself! Blabla?

BLABLA!?

That's the worst form of an FE title I've ever heard! You can't even use BB as an acronym! That's how bad it is! Blabla. How fitting. Bla bla bla, shut yo prequal ass up. So what if I trade Armads to every axe user in FE6? Does that mean they're all doomed to die miserable deaths? Sure ain't what their endings told me!

I can keep going all day Ping. Do not underestimate how petty I can get.

A silly name for a silly game. SImple as that, ShaJon.

The silliness is precisely what convinced me of that abbreviation scheme. BinBla and SacSto I don't care too much either way, but BlaBla is wonderfully, fittingly stupid.

[Jotari]

6 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

Well I'm glad nobody seems to disagree with me. They just think I'm petty, which I very much am. 

 

Yeah, figured that'd be the case. 

But why the heck are they called that? Glorious ascension makes sense. Infernal Truth, Elder Revelation, I can see the correlation. But why thunder axe, blazing blade, and blizzard spear? Their weapons don't project anything of the sort. Were they made using instruments within the chapters you find them in? Is Maltet made from ice? Armads is especially confusing because again, there's no link to thunder in the chapter 12x. There has to be a reason I'm missing here. Is it really "just because"? I have to know, FE6!

Of course....

 

Smash Brothers....

 

I still stand by naming the game Fire Emblem due to being the first of the west to be an awful idea. 

I'd also mention that making the games sound similar is still very unnecessary and could be lead to further confusion down the road, but perhaps IS blamed the title of Thracia 776 for selling so poorly. It's because Kaga Kaga'd too Kaga.

Either way, I probably should've made it more clear that the main idea of the post, besides ranting about thing I don't like, was mainly meant to point out why what they went with was illogical and counterintuitive in comparison to the rest of the series, not asking why Blazing Blade. I know why. It's pretty obvious. "It looks cool" and "Duology" as you say. It's a very simple way to make a title, and I just think they should've tried harder to make something that was unique to the game and actually made sense. It feels lazy and hashed out just to capitalize off the success of Roy's existence, just like 3 Hopes. 

An apt description.

Linking this with what I'm saying to ARMADS, I very much enjoy over-analyzing titles and covers for most things. You don't judge a book solely by its cover, but you sure can appreciate one when it's done right. I was gonna do a full ranking of every title in Fire Emblem, but this became so long, that it had to become its own post. I always loved the distinction that despite the series being called Fire Emblem, FE3 is called "Mystery of the Emblem", as it actually relates to the emblem itself and gives it lore. FE1 obviously does the same to a slightly lesser extent than Book 2, but the game being in 2 books with 1 included essentially ties Archanea together as "the one with the actual Fire Emblem" and the presentation during the intro sequence is one of my favorites in almost any game. This stuff alone already made it much easier for me to enjoy starting my journey through FE3, which was luckily supported by book 2 actually having decent gameplay and maps (Sorry SoV, no amount of presentation can fix your maps). I've already brought up how FE1 and FE6 work. Sacred Stones obviously fits. Thracia's a nice title too imo based off what I said about the intrigue of expanding the worldbuilding of Jugdral, and the timestamp of 776 could inform fans of how the game is a midquel, although I don't know how many people actually remember the years FE4 takes place in. Path of Radiance....

"Ike, in order to obtain the Ragnell to vanquish the Black Knight, you must go through the Path of Radiance."

"What is this, some kinda Alm's trials?"

"Who the fuck is Alm?"

PoR and RD are done better because at least the titles are distinct enough while still having something in common. It'd be more like the problem with FE7 if you called FE10 "Wrath of Radiance". Seriously, I couldn't have been the only guy who couldn't stop confusing these games together. Making the lords look and play identical certainly didn't do any favors...

Well given the paragraphs of words words words above meant to justify why I do think it makes the title awful, all I can say here is agree to disagree.

 

We all play Hector mode man. Nobody sees Eliwood as the lord, not even IS!

I'll say it a million times. Give Lyn the Durandal and let Eilwood use his lance rank  that he has in FE6 for Maltet so you could have the weapon triangle set of FE6 regalia. 

Although chances are, an FE7 remake will just give Lyn the Mulagir. It's literally her Engage weapon.

Well that's why I believe a perfect title would've primarily focused on referencing there being multiple lords in this game, rather than just based off weapons. Whatever simple and marketable reasons they have to suggest otherwise doesn't provide as much care and passion for the game they're adding to this this franchise with varying narratives (insert laugh track) and gameplay elements. That's why I think Jotari's "Scions of Lycia" works really well. It still has something in it that involves Elibe while doing what Thracia does AND it indirectly references 2 of the 3 lords. Of course, I suppose that won't get too much attention of Smash fans, who will just see Blazing Blade and go "That's his B attack!", aka clickbaiting. How quaint.

You wanna know what else me and Soren have in common?

We're both raging raci-

Yeah what he said.

Yes, that was one of my first suggestions. 

I'm really liking Scions of Lycia though. I honestly don't think anyone will top that. Heck, whoever makes the next "FE7 rebalance" should call it that.

Listen to yourself! Blabla?

BLABLA!?

That's the worst form of an FE title I've ever heard! You can't even use BB as an acronym! That's how bad it is! Blabla. How fitting. Bla bla bla, shut yo prequal ass up. So what if I trade Armads to every axe user in FE6? Does that mean they're all doomed to die miserable deaths? Sure ain't what their endings told me!

I can keep going all day Ping. Do not underestimate how petty I can get.

vs BreBad 

"This one has dragons in it".

Nooo....

I don't think IS ever expected Thracia to sell at all. It was a SNES game released just before the Game Cube came around and for the first half year it was a Nintendo Power subscription exclusive. We're lucky both that it was made at all and that they gave it a public release. There's a decent chance it could have become lost media.

[JimmyBeans]

19 hours ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

This is one of the most nothing topics I've seen in a very long time on these forums. The name is fine? Completely fine? Not one single time, from any FE fan I've seen on any website over the last 15 years, have I seen an outcry of confusion about the name...until this strange rant. You're really reaching to complain here.

If you can't handle this rant, don't mention the British to him. I've seen things you haven't...

[AnonymousSpeed]

34 minutes ago, JimmyBeans said:

If you can't handle this rant, don't mention the British to him. I've seen things you haven't...

Bit fishy and chippy, init?

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Not much to do with the topic, but you all don't need to tell me "oh you haven't seen..." "you don't know my lore..." etc. I've been on this site since 2013, I've seen the other rants from Shaky Jones and rants from other people in the past lol.

[ARMADS!!!]

18 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

Well I'm glad nobody seems to disagree with me. They just think I'm petty, which I very much am. 

 

Yeah, figured that'd be the case. 

But why the heck are they called that? Glorious ascension makes sense. Infernal Truth, Elder Revelation, I can see the correlation. But why thunder axe, blazing blade, and blizzard spear? Their weapons don't project anything of the sort. Were they made using instruments within the chapters you find them in? Is Maltet made from ice? Armads is especially confusing because again, there's no link to thunder in the chapter 12x. There has to be a reason I'm missing here. Is it really "just because"? I have to know, FE6!

Of course....

 

Smash Brothers....

 

I still stand by naming the game Fire Emblem due to being the first of the west to be an awful idea. 

I'd also mention that making the games sound similar is still very unnecessary and could be lead to further confusion down the road, but perhaps IS blamed the title of Thracia 776 for selling so poorly. It's because Kaga Kaga'd too Kaga.

Either way, I probably should've made it more clear that the main idea of the post, besides ranting about thing I don't like, was mainly meant to point out why what they went with was illogical and counterintuitive in comparison to the rest of the series, not asking why Blazing Blade. I know why. It's pretty obvious. "It looks cool" and "Duology" as you say. It's a very simple way to make a title, and I just think they should've tried harder to make something that was unique to the game and actually made sense. It feels lazy and hashed out just to capitalize off the success of Roy's existence, just like 3 Hopes. 

 Oh, my bad then, I felt like you were genuinely asking why, I could've made it a lot shorter if I had seen this was the case. Well, just to make clear, I don't exactly disagree with you, I mean, I don't personally dislike the title, and I get where they were coming from, but at the same time I feel like it's objectively sorta silly (and I hate the Blabla thing too). Now I googled the japanese titles of FE6 and 7 and they are... "fuuin no tsurugi"  and "rekka no ken", so I guess the choice of making them similar was made much later, when they decided to make an official translation to FE6's title (which I don't know when the hell was, but I figure it was usually called "Sword of Seals" and not "Binding Blade" in most fan translations). I agree on 3 Hopes too, I almost threw up when I saw that this was the title, it looks so disgusting and lazy, guess it's easier to understand your feelings if you hate FE7's title as I hate 3 Hopes' (and I didn't even play 3 Houses or 3 Hopes, if I did, I'd want to go into IS's building, call whoever came up with the name and repeteadly stab them in the chest with a butter knife, but then leave them alive, on the verge of death intead of killing them, a la Ephidel, then leave).  I usually tend to pay attention only to the titles I find sick as sick as fuck™(with a few exceptions like 3 Hopes, or things that are particularly unhelpful in google searches like NANA), so I now I'm reflecting about FE7's title and it's a bit more silly than I initially judged.

 I don't think that the Legendary weapon's subtitles are bad, maybe except for Armads (ironically, my username...), mainly cause the subtitles were mentioned like just once each in FE6 anyway so I know they probably took 5 seconds to think of them and that it was never supposed to become important, the stupid part was making it the title of the next game... Really, as much as I don't hate the title like that, they could've gone with something else. I liked Jotari's suggestions as well.

 

18 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

Well given the paragraphs of words words words above meant to justify why I do think it makes the title awful, all I can say here is agree to disagree.

 No worries, I wasn't trying to prove I was right there, just saying my personal opinion.

 

18 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

Linking this with what I'm saying to ARMADS, I very much enjoy over-analyzing titles and covers for most things. You don't judge a book solely by its cover, but you sure can appreciate one when it's done right. I was gonna do a full ranking of every title in Fire Emblem, but this became so long, that it had to become its own post. I always loved the distinction that despite the series being called Fire Emblem, FE3 is called "Mystery of the Emblem", as it actually relates to the emblem itself and gives it lore. FE1 obviously does the same to a slightly lesser extent than Book 2, but the game being in 2 books with 1 included essentially ties Archanea together as "the one with the actual Fire Emblem" and the presentation during the intro sequence is one of my favorites in almost any game. This stuff alone already made it much easier for me to enjoy starting my journey through FE3, which was luckily supported by book 2 actually having decent gameplay and maps (Sorry SoV, no amount of presentation can fix your maps). I've already brought up how FE1 and FE6 work. Sacred Stones obviously fits. Thracia's a nice title too imo based off what I said about the intrigue of expanding the worldbuilding of Jugdral, and the timestamp of 776 could inform fans of how the game is a midquel, although I don't know how many people actually remember the years FE4 takes place in. Path of Radiance....

"Ike, in order to obtain the Ragnell to vanquish the Black Knight, you must go through the Path of Radiance."

"What is this, some kinda Alm's trials?"

"Who the fuck is Alm?"

PoR and RD are done better because at least the titles are distinct enough while still having something in common. It'd be more like the problem with FE7 if you called FE10 "Wrath of Radiance". Seriously, I couldn't have been the only guy who couldn't stop confusing these games together. Making the lords look and play identical certainly didn't do any favors...

 I like over-alanalyzing covers too, titles only when they're specially sick as fuck™ (speaking of which, they're releasing the third Sonic live action now and are making a series about Knuckles too, and a bunch of people are suspecting that they're only doing it to one day rerelease both of them together and call it "Sonic 3&Knuckles", THAT be a genius title idea and sick reference), the title in Fire Emblem that I find the coolest is Genealogy of the Holy War, it's just so aweome, "Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light" and "Thracia 776" are cool too but FE4's will always be my favorite, looks so glorious, well thought, alegoric! Also, I remember the years FE4 takes place in so it's nice that FE5's title shows it's a midquel like that. I'd actually like to see what you have to say about the names of the rest of the titles (I mean, you sorta already did, I meant if you said it in longer detail, I'd read it, because I like reading analysis and rants).

 It'd be hilariously awful if RD's title was Wrath of Radiance. PoR's japanese title is "Path of the Blue Flame" and that looks pretty cool, I don't find the localized title bad but the japanese one definitively looks cooler, no clue about RD down though but I figure it must be something of the sort too (yeah, I'm too lazy to make one single google search now).

 

18 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

 

I'll say it a million times. Give Lyn the Durandal and let Eilwood use his lance rank  that he has in FE6 for Maltet so you could have the weapon triangle set of FE6 regalia. 

Although chances are, an FE7 remake will just give Lyn the Mulagir. It's literally her Engage weapon.

 I actually like Lyn with Mulagir and think she deserved it in FE7 (along with a forced promotion to force her to use it), don't think the lords HAD to cover the weapon triangle (though Eliwood with Maltet would have been pretty cool too). Perhaps you already know this but Lyn actually has battle animations with the Durandal (that are different from her regular battle animations), they look pretty cool. also hahahaha the video has 69.000 views.(sorry, I'll stop)

 

 

15 hours ago, ping said:

A silly name for a silly game. SImple as that, ShaJon.

The silliness is precisely what convinced me of that abbreviation scheme. BinBla and SacSto I don't care too much either way, but BlaBla is wonderfully, fittingly stupid.

 All true, as much as the title has reasons to be complained about, I think that the actual game has a lot more. Also guess you gave a reason to actually like saying "Blabla", in an ironic way.

 

On 2/11/2024 at 5:22 AM, Capt. Fargus said:

Speakin as one who’s been on the receiving end of that shit before... no. That crap is never ok, and bullies deserve every bit of whatever comes to em 

 I didn't answer you in my other response here because it was already too long and then I forgot in the middle of writing my point, but yeah, I feel you too, I'd argue that the exception is bullying bullies, I never felt pity when I found out that some bully at my school started suffering bullying later, but apart from that... yeah, no. I cringe at cringe stuff, I laugh respectully when someone does something laughable, but I don't bully people (specially because I'm an adult so that'd be even less respectable of me).

Edited February 12 by ARMADS!!!

[Original Alear]

21 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

I think Ninian's revival just came down to "Bramimond is magic". Perhaps he had an ersatz Aum Staff? Regardless, I don't think there's anything special about Durandal that would "preserve" Ninian. It's not as though he extracts her from the blade, or anything of the sort.

No, I don't mean that durandal was actually involved in the resurrection, just that there's something thematic going on w/ both Idoun and Ninian being killed by legendary swords.

[Etrurian emperor]

On 2/11/2024 at 12:10 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

Shaky, always lost in your grudges! What have I said about watching your rants?

I see. Interesting maneuver.