Fire Emblem

[Macheath]

Let me tell you how much I loved Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (Gamecube) and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (Wii).

I don't own a 3DS, I have very little interest in a 3DS, and yet I'm contemplating buying one to get my hands on Fire Emblem: Awakening. If this game were downloadable on the Wii U hardware, I'd already own it.

Anybody else have a good/bad experience with this series? It's quite a few games dating all the way back to the NES, I guess, but I've only played the two. I bought one of the older ones on GBA, but I haven't played more than a few minutes of it. I should dig into that, if I'm so desperate for more Fire Emblem. Apparently that was the first FE game released in North America (#7 in the series), which explains why the cartridge just says "Fire Emblem" on it.

Anyway, if you play Smash Bros. and have ever wondered where Marth and Roy were from, this is it. Neither were in the two FE games I played, though.

Those starred Ike.

I think all three of them appear in DLC for Awakening. And it has a 91% at Metacritic. The two games I loved so damn much only have 85% and 78% respectively, sheesh.

[bret]

I know the thread is about fire emblem, but did you play xenoblade chronicles for the wii? That's the first RPG that kicked my ass besides that crap they called FF13 game. I still haven't quite finished it yet but should next week. I really enjoyed this far. I'll have to check out fire emblem.

[Macheath]

I have Xenoblade, but haven't played it yet. I made sure to grab a copy when it finally got here. People were calling it the best JRPG... uh, ever, actually. Hearing some similar buzz about Ni No Kuni, so I bought that too. I'll get around to them both sooner or later.

Fire Emblem is a strategy RPG. It has great writing (which is actually what hooked me), but it's much more in the vein of Shining Force than Final Fantasy.

If you go out looking for used copies of the console-based Fire Emblem games, start with Path of Radiance (the Gamecube one). Radiant Dawn is a direct sequel.

[Drewbie]

If you buy a 3DS just fornthis game, you're in good company. Chris Kluwe just did the same thing.

[Macheath]

Nice. The man has taste.

[Macheath]

I came reeeeeeeeeeeeeally close to buying a 3DS tonight, when I found copies of Fire Emblem: Awakening at Best Buy. I managed to stave off the impulse, but only just barely. I wish they'd release a DS emulator on Wii U, sorta like the GBA Player on Gamecube. Wii U has two screens and everything, it's goddamn perfect! Just release it!

[Macheath]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Fire Emblem: Awakening

[Macheath]

I'm playing Awakening on Hard/Classic mode. I'm on an early map where a little villager kid with a pot for a helmet joins you. If he gains a level, he'll join the team (and his growth potential is large, shitty though he may be now).

There's some big bandit with an axe and 3 HP left, and I send the kid in to vulture the exp that will level him... He has an 85% chance to hit and deal 3 damage. If he misses, he WILL die.

He misses. But the archer standing next to him goes "ugh, very well" and pegs the bandit with an arrow. Normally units don't assist each other like that unless they've built a relationship, so this is some super lucky stuff. The kid says "you saved my bacon!" or some shit like that.

Kid, you have no idea. I probably would have restarted the entire mission if it weren't for that archer.

[Macheath]

Heh heh, I get all these jokes now

[Macheath]

I'll be damned:

Due to the declining sales of the Fire Emblem series, Fire Emblem Awakening was meant to be the last title developed in the series, if the game didn't reach at least 250,000 copies sold. Under such a huge pressure, Intelligent Systems had elaborate concepts that were new to the series, such as setting the game in the modern real world or on Mars, but in the end they opted for the usual classic medieval fantasy setting.

I guess that explains why it's such a whizz-bang affair, with all the crazy DLC and "reunion tour" type shit. Fortunately for those of us who enjoy the games and wouldn't mind seeing one set on Mars, Awakening has sold very well. It almost busted that 250,000 mark in its first week in Japan, and sold 180,000 in its first month in NA (making it the fastest-selling FE title thus far). Closing in on 1 million worldwide!

That's what heavy marketing and good buzz get you. Well, that and being a profoundly well-made entry in a popular series I guess.