ruadath Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Since playing Radiant Dawn (extensively) as a young teenager, I've taken a pretty long break from Fire Emblem and have only come back to it as a serious player this past summer. I've heard things about how Awakening (which I haven't played, but from what I hear is not in line with my nostalgic view of FE) was a necessary sacrifice to "save the series" from extinction. But what went wrong? As far as I remember, Radiant Dawn was a huge success and everybody love it. Did the remakes of FE1/3 for the DS suck that badly? I'm currently playing FE11 and haven't particularly enjoyed it so far (besides LTC purposes), but if Shadow Dragon didn't have good sales, why did they remake FE12? It doesn't really make sense to me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Mir Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 (edited) Since playing Radiant Dawn (extensively) as a young teenager, I've taken a pretty long break from Fire Emblem and have only come back to it as a serious player this past summer. I've heard things about how Awakening (which I haven't played, but from what I hear is not in line with my nostalgic view of FE) was a necessary sacrifice to "save the series" from extinction. But what went wrong? As far as I remember, Radiant Dawn was a huge success and everybody love it. Did the remakes of FE1/3 for the DS suck that badly? I'm currently playing FE11 and haven't particularly enjoyed it so far (besides LTC purposes), but if Shadow Dragon didn't have good sales, why did they remake FE12? It doesn't really make sense to me... I think FE's decline actually started with FE8. Though a lack of advertising for the series didn't help... Edited October 16, 2015 by Levant Colthearts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HF Makalov Fanboy Kai Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 (edited) the tellius games if i remember, despite that i love them, actually didn't do great, FE11 had pretty great sales tho. and it was less "it saved the series" and more "it just had the sell the normal amount that the series sold (so higher then tellius), which it did succeed. honestly with how much advertising they did for 11 and 13 compared to 9 and 10, i think 13 would've saved the series even if it didn't have all the fan service stuff. lets remember, advertising is how you truly make money. Edited October 16, 2015 by HF Makalov Fanboy Kai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Mir Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 honestly with how much advertising they did for 11 and 13 compared to 9 and 10, i think 13 would've saved the series even if it didn't have all the fan service stuff They actually advertised Shadow Dragon? Because I don't remember anything of the sort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Horace Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Radiant Dawn (and Path of Radiance to some extent) actually sold pretty poorly (from what I recall it was the worst selling FE game released worldwide), but that's probably attributed to it being released on console rather than handheld. Shadow Dragon actually sold reasonably well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HF Makalov Fanboy Kai Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 They actually advertised Shadow Dragon? Because I don't remember anything of the sort. maybe it was just in my country, it at least had something, being released not too long after brawl helped for people wanting to know marth. Radiant Dawn (and Path of Radiance to some extent) actually sold pretty poorly (from what I recall it was the worst selling FE game released worldwide), but that's probably attributed to it being released on console rather than handheld. Shadow Dragon actually sold reasonably well. i believe you recall correctly, and yeah the handhelds generally sell better then the consoles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardin Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Radiant Dawn was not a success at all. Domestically it only sold about 170,000 units, with only Path of Radiance and Thracia 776 selling less. For years the franchise was on a downward trend, exacerbated by the fact that the cost of development was going up, and Fire Emblem was reaching the point where the costs of development was outweighing the potential profits to be had. Add in that the last original Fire Emblem game to sell over 250,000 units was FE7, and the future was not looking bright for the franchise at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solrocknroll Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Since playing Radiant Dawn (extensively) as a young teenager, I've taken a pretty long break from Fire Emblem and have only come back to it as a serious player this past summer. I've heard things about how Awakening (which I haven't played, but from what I hear is not in line with my nostalgic view of FE) was a necessary sacrifice to "save the series" from extinction. But what went wrong? As far as I remember, Radiant Dawn was a huge success and everybody love it. Did the remakes of FE1/3 for the DS suck that badly? I'm currently playing FE11 and haven't particularly enjoyed it so far (besides LTC purposes), but if Shadow Dragon didn't have good sales, why did they remake FE12? It doesn't really make sense to me... Did anyone else's sirens just go blaring? Pretty sure mine did. Letting nostalgia blind you is the worst thing you could ever do. It's like those who trash Wind Waker because it doesn't match their nostalgic view of Zelda or something like that. Spoilers: FE7 isn't the cornerstone of the series. It's actually really my least favorite even though I played it first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maybe Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Did anyone else's sirens just go blaring? Pretty sure mine did. Letting nostalgia blind you is the worst thing you could ever do. It's like those who trash Wind Waker because it doesn't match their nostalgic view of Zelda or something like that. Spoilers: FE7 isn't the cornerstone of the series. It's actually really my least favorite even though I played it first. he didn't even play the game yet I doubt he actually meant that nostalgia would affect his opinion of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Mir Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Did anyone else's sirens just go blaring? Pretty sure mine did. Letting nostalgia blind you is the worst thing you could ever do. It's like those who trash Wind Waker because it doesn't match their nostalgic view of Zelda or something like that. *raises hand* Radiant Dawn was not a success at all. Domestically it only sold about 170,000 units, with only Path of Radiance and Thracia 776 selling less. For years the franchise was on a downward trend, exacerbated by the fact that the cost of development was going up, and Fire Emblem was reaching the point where the costs of development was outweighing the potential profits to be had. Add in that the last original Fire Emblem game to sell over 250,000 units was FE7, and the future was not looking bright for the franchise at all. Where did you get those numbers from? Anyway, that kinda fits with my belief that FE's decline started with FE8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardin Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I got that sales data from Famitsu Levant. FE8 wasn't the start of the decline, FE7 sold significantly less than FE6, which in turn had sold significantly less than FE4, which sold significantly less than FE3. The franchise peaked with FE3, and only with Awakening did it climb above the 400,000 mark which no game since FE4 had achieved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twice Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 It mainly has to do with the advertisement. (I bet....topics like these just blow up into a huge debate... lol but I may be wrong) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Mir Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 (edited) I got that sales data from Famitsu Levant. FE8 wasn't the start of the decline, FE7 sold significantly less than FE6, which in turn had sold significantly less than FE4, which sold significantly less than FE3. The franchise peaked with FE3, and only with Awakening did it climb above the 400,000 mark which no game since FE4 had achieved. Wow, wow, wow. I didn't know that the decline was going on for THAT long... Though what really gets to me is why did Path of Radiance in particular do so poorly (I assume Thracia's poor sales were because by the time it was released, its console was pretty much irrelevant)... Edited October 16, 2015 by Levant Colthearts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radiant head Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I would personally argue that the 3DS as a platform is what saved the series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruadath Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 I don't understand why console games were received so badly. Do people really favor the portability that much? I really liked the big screen, awesome graphics that the GameCube/Wii provided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 1. Handheld games sell better in Japan, and PoR came out at the tail end of the Gamecube era. 2. Personally, I prefer handhelds, so I can play while on the bus/in bed. So it was mostly circumstance that led to Awakening. I don't think Awakening was a mistake, because I still managed to squeeze quite a bit of entertainment out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garnef Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I still honestly think advertising was the key to keeping the FE franchise well known. I mean, at the most, I saw an FE7 commercial, but saw like zero advertisement for any FE entry that wasn't Awakening. Shadow Dragon had a minor amount of exposure in the form of a website but that was about it, from what I've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Mir Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I still honestly think advertising was the key to keeping the FE franchise well known. I mean, at the most, I saw an FE7 commercial, but saw like zero advertisement for any FE entry that wasn't Awakening. Shadow Dragon had a minor amount of exposure in the form of a website but that was about it, from what I've seen. Huh. I do remember seeing some commercials for Path of Radiance waaaay back when, when I was still in high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I remember seeing a Radiant Dawn commercial too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingddd Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 (edited) I saw Fire Emblem Awakening in the theatre advertisement here. It was a rare sight. Even Splatoon had it too. Edited October 16, 2015 by kingddd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Geek Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Another thing that helped Awakening along was that this was after the online community had really boomed and so there was also a lot of word of mouth about how good Awakening was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HF Makalov Fanboy Kai Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Another thing that helped Awakening along was that this was after the online community had really boomed and so there was also a lot of word of mouth about how good Awakening was. meanwhile if you tried to spread the word years ago the biggest reaction you'd get is "are marth and roy in this game?" followed with a 'w-well no..." "not interested" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 So you're saying the reason for Awakening's success was that both Marth and Roy were playable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonretic Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 So you're saying the reason for Awakening's success was that both Marth and Roy were playable? No. People didn't knew that Marth and Roy would have been playable in Awakening when the game was announced or at its launch, because they became available only through SpotPass and DLC's. As others posted on the topic: 1.They advertised the game to its best possible, advertisement being the main reason people knew about it so well. 2.Nintendo 3DS helped a lot, as the 3DS wasn't that popular at the beginning, enters 3DS XL that boosted the sales of the console, and then after few months came out FE Awakening, being one of the best games for the 3DS people would buy. 3.Word of mouth became a big thing for the game, so it spread like fire. 4.Intelligent System gave it all they got for this game as it was planned to be the last game in the entire franchise. I'm also a nostalgic gamer, but from my stand point of view FE Awakening at its time was the best in the entire series; improved sound, graphics, gameplay, child system coming back, interesting story, astonishing characters artwork to appeal to everyone, looking back through all the FE games before, Awakening had around 60 hours of gameplay (without DLC's), the most of all FE games; meaning a lot of content for the player to dive in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HF Makalov Fanboy Kai Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 (edited) So you're saying the reason for Awakening's success was that both Marth and Roy were playable? its less that and more of the casual video game fan would have no idea what fire emblem was about other then its smash reps due to questionable advertising. as time goes on the public got a better grasp of the series, which helped with later sales. Edited October 16, 2015 by HF Makalov Fanboy Kai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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