Would you like to see blood?

[Jotari]

Fire Emblem depicts fantasy battle. By that I don't mean the dragons and magic but by the general style of it. Everyone looks super cool. They jump ten meters in the sky. Wind will cause Chrom's cloak to billow even if he's inside. People take arrows to the knee and don't go down because they still have HP. Astra strikes five times and still the character can counter attack. I think blood would ruin that image. If you stick a sword through someone and they start bleeding, being able to instantly counter attack and kill their foe would just break suspension of disbelief. I would however like to see Lehtality continue having blood. It makes a very striking contrast (especially with Awakenings inverted colour scheme) and does well to depict how dangerous the technique is. Of course I only talk of battle animations, as others have mentioned, having it in CGI cutscenes is a different matter depending entirely on how the game is styled.

I think it was red in the first version, but conservative whiny soccer moms wanted it changed

(Also why Sheik is now obviously a woman)

There's also blood covering the walls of the Shadow Temple that has been completely ignored by everyone. Maybe because of the style of the place or perhaps because it isn't actually showing anyone bleeding.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Jotari

[Snowy_One]

I don't want it. Seems like little more than a tacked-on, cheesy, way to make the game 'darker' and 'more mature' when all it really does is pander to the crowd of people who obsess over gore.

[Sentacotus]

Fire Emblem depicts fantasy battle. By that I don't mean the dragons and magic but by the general style of it. Everyone looks super cool. They jump ten meters in the sky. Wind will cause Chrom's cloak to billow even if he's inside. People take arrows to the knee and don't go down because they still have HP. Astra strikes five times and still the character can counter attack. I think blood would ruin that image. If you stick a sword through someone and they start bleeding, being able to instantly counter attack and kill their foe would just break suspension of disbelief.

Yeah that's a good point. I didn't think of that. It would look kinda silly to have someone gushing blood after five strikes only to then counter attack. If they put it in the cutscenes like if a major character dies it could still be effective. Either way FE is good enough without it but if they add it in i'm sure it'll be fine.

[Kon]

(Also why Sheik is now obviously a woman)

That had nothing to do with it. Nintendo just wanted people to stop saying Sheik was a man when she never was. Not that it really stopped anyone though >u>

[Shin]

I don't really think it would add much to FE, but I guess its inclusion wouldn't ruin things.

[Superbus]

Here's a little test, for those of age to watch this kind of thing: Go watch two episodes of adult sexual content. In both, the participants are nude. But in one, you see the action and the motions, and what is clearly sexual intercourse. The other, you see actual penis-in-vagina (or, if that's not your thing, substitute it because it's clear what I'm saying).

Is the latter more attractive than the other? In actuality, not really. Do you need to see a penis and a vagina to know what's going on? Watching a close-up of intercourse is kind of like watching a factory video; it's a repetitive motion of the same two things, over and over. The "wow! It's a cock!" shock wears off very quickly.

Now remember that my first example you can see on cable TV. You can't even watch the second legally in the United States unless you're 18. You can watch, say, the sex scene with Halle Berry in Monster's Ball after buying the Blu-Ray in Target. Good luck finding a porno there.

Why would you raise the ERSB rating - as Cerberus notes well - just to see blood? Is blood really that shocking? Why would you show blood in Fire Emblem, which is about medieval tactics, and not in, say, the Trauma Centre series, which is literally about operating on the human body?

[Perfect Infinitive Exitus]

Blood is just some red liquid circulating through our body, there is nothing unnatural or gory about it :/

i would say that you could define gore at very least when they would employ organs or stuff like that, flying through the screen and then landing on the fourth wall, which slides slowly down and leaving a bloody trail behind(imo it adds charme but is not gory) and i could understand, when people might not like it. But that is just my Opinion.

[Paper Jam]

As far as I'm concerned, it's the same game with or without realistic depictions of what swords, spears, bows, and axes do to people.

But I'm sure that the ESRB and PEGI and other moral guardians don't see it that way, and I don't see any reason why Fire Emblem games shouldn't have a rating in the E to T (ESRB) range, even if it means no blood.

Then again, I would assume that the ESRB's standards are similar to the MPAA's, and the MPAA saw fit to give the Lord of the Rings movies (which show, among other things, several people being shot and one person being beheaded) a PG-13 rating.

Edited November 23, 2014 by Paper Jam

[Axie]

the ESRB is kind of more uptight than the MPAA for lower ratings. remember when Sonic '06 was considered E10+ and not just E and the franchise has stayed 10+ ever since even though it's just effing Sonic? putting blood in FE would definitely make it T

Edited November 23, 2014 by Axie

[Sentacotus]

the ESRB is kind of more uptight than the MPAA for lower ratings. remember when Sonic '06 was considered E10+ and not just E and the franchise has stayed 10+ ever since even though it's just effing Sonic? putting blood in FE would definitely make it T

Isn't Awakening already T though?

[Axie]

wow, you are right, it is. how utterly ridiculous, no fire emblem since 6 has even remotely deserved anything higher than E10+ considering their usual criteria. FE9 is also T, for some reason, but the others are all E and E10+

this puts the rating argument in check because while blood solidifies fire emblem as T, it's definitely not enough to raise it to M

Edited November 23, 2014 by Axie

[Paper Jam]

this puts the rating argument in check because while blood solidifies fire emblem as T, it's definitely not enough to raise it to M

I don't think so. Even the FE games that have a T rating don't show any blood (not even in FE9 when the Black Knight runs Greil through), so there's no proof that blood would solidify Fire Emblem as a T.

The only blood that I actually saw in an FE game was on Hector's face in FE6, which was never officially released outside of Japan.

[Jotari]

You know a higher rating might actually be more beneficial to the series. I'm sure a couple of potential players have seen boxart of it and thought bright colours + Nintendo = some kind of Mairo or Zelda game. If it got an 18+ rating then it would probably stand out more plus it would probably help the sales for the under 18 age group too

[Perfect Infinitive Exitus]

You know a higher rating might actually be more beneficial to the series. I'm sure a couple of potential players have seen boxart of it and thought bright colours + Nintendo = some kind of Mairo or Zelda game. If it got an 18+ rating then it would probably stand out more plus it would probably help the sales for the under 18 age group too

actually this is true and btw there are too many underaged Cod, Bf and Gta fans (not just 14 year old, but also 10 or 8 year old, it drives me crazy) so they should really employ a lot of splatter, gore and horror some blood

[Superbus]

You know a higher rating might actually be more beneficial to the series. I'm sure a couple of potential players have seen boxart of it and thought bright colours + Nintendo = some kind of Mairo or Zelda game. If it got an 18+ rating then it would probably stand out more plus it would probably help the sales for the under 18 age group too

I fail to see how getting a few hundred sales from people dumb enough to buy a game because of a higher rating supersedes losing a few thousand who would never consider a game rated so high.

[Jotari]

I fail to see how getting a few hundred sales from people dumb enough to buy a game because of a higher rating supersedes losing a few thousand who would never consider a game rated so high.

I can't say for your part of the world but where I'm from there's very few people who would "never consider a game rated so high". Fire Emblem is an intelligent strategy and tactics based game with frequent emphasis on maturely themed stories. It fits in very well with an older audience. I'm not talking about people buying the game simply because it has a high rating. I'm talking about people who don't know what the game is and aren't aware it is actually something that would suit them. There's a lot more adults in the world than kids and unlike previous generations, the adults are playing games too.

[Superbus]

I can't say for your part of the world but where I'm from there's very few people who would "never consider a game rated so high". Fire Emblem is an intelligent strategy and tactics based game with frequent emphasis on maturely themed stories. It fits in very well with an older audience. I'm not talking about people buying the game simply because it has a high rating. I'm talking about people who don't know what the game is and aren't aware it is actually something that would suit them. There's a lot more adults in the world than kids and unlike previous generations, the adults are playing games too.

i don't see what's "adult" about "OOOOH BLOOD!".

Unless it's coming from Henry, of course.

[Jotari]

i don't see what's "adult" about "OOOOH BLOOD!".

Unless it's coming from Henry, of course.

I'm not necessarily talking about blood per se (as I said earlier in the thread, it is not something I want to see), a higher rating good easily be achieved with a more mature themed story. It'd be pretty crazy if Holy War managed to get localized intact and didn't have a mature rating. Though if they were interested in upping the rating adding in blood would be a surefire way to do it for whatever reason. It just tends to be the way these things work.

[Refa]

It's such a beautiful color, after all.

[Paper Jam]

I'm not necessarily talking about blood per se (as I said earlier in the thread, it is not something I want to see), a higher rating good easily be achieved with a more mature themed story.

I'm not sure about that. Did Path of Radiance or Awakening have a more mature storyline than FE7 or Sacred Stones?

[Axie]

FE4 mentions a lot of things that would warrant an M if they were shown... but all of it happens offscreen (just like most of the storyline lol) so it would probably land safely in T. Even E10+ if ESRB remains inconsistent.

[fengaridotdll]

I'm not sure about that. Did Path of Radiance or Awakening have a more mature storyline than FE7 or Sacred Stones?

Awakening was kind of dark, but the dialogue was really lightearted in some of the support conversations and stuff, but could be really depressing like

Emmeryn's death

. I am not sure about PoR, but Sacred Stones was kinda a midpoint between light and dark until the very last chapter, where it kind of started going into the valley of darkness

[Sentacotus]

If by some chance the next FE did have a bit of blood in it I doubt it would warrent getting it an M rating. Call it a hunch but after looking at the box for FE:A and seeing how they are more flippant about showing Tharja's ass on screen (at least in the North American version) I doubt they would give a crap if blood were in it as long as you didn't have gore and organs splattering everywhere.

[fengaridotdll]

If by some chance the next FE did have a bit of blood in it I doubt it would warrent getting it an M rating. Call it a hunch but after looking at the box for FE:A and seeing how they are more flippant about showing Tharja's ass on screen (at least in the North American version) I doubt they would give a crap if blood were in it as long as you didn't have gore and organs splattering everywhere.

Nintendo did get a little BUTTHURT over the Tharja swimsuit scene!

(That was a bad pun waiting to be made)

Edited November 25, 2014 by Mastergabe2000

[Sentacotus]

Nintendo did get a little BUTTHURT over the Tharja swimsuit scene!

(That was a bad pun waiting to be made)

I see whatcha did there. BUTT in all seriousness I think the ESRB is far more likely to raise the rating for something stupid like that then a little blood.