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Dustin' off the GameCube... FIRE EMBLEM

So how does this rank with FE VII and FE VIII? Any cool new features, and was the story pretty good? I really enjoyed both the GBA games I've played, but The Sacred Stones is far shorter than expected (though with better replay value).
 
AniHawk said:
So how does this rank with FE VII and FE VIII? Any cool new features, and was the story pretty good? I really enjoyed both the GBA games I've played, but The Sacred Stones is far shorter than expected (though with better replay value).

I haven't actually beat any of the GBA ones (only played them for a few hours) so I can't rank it. Story was good but not great, the kingdoms and characters are likeable and interesting, but the plot is pretty standard and lacks an epic feel by the end. Game is a very good solid length and the battles never feel incredibly long (just finished a TWO HOUR battle in Namco x Capcom >_< I'm very thankful none of FE's went over about an hour). Gameplay is pretty much identical to the GBA ones except your knights can move again after attacking. I liked it quite a bit, very fun and addictive as hell, nice colorful graphics, good characters, good music, simple yet fun strategy gameplay. Definitely could've been better, but still a great game. About an A- in my book.
 
Bebpo said:
I haven't actually beat any of the GBA ones (only played them for a few hours) so I can't rank it. Story was good but not great, the kingdoms and characters are likeable and interesting, but the plot is pretty standard and lacks an epic feel by the end. Game is a very good solid length and the battles never feel incredibly long (just finished a TWO HOUR battle in Namco x Capcom >_< I'm very thankful none of FE's went over about an hour). Gameplay is pretty much identical to the GBA ones except your knights can move again after attacking. I liked it quite a bit, very fun and addictive as hell, nice colorful graphics, good characters, good music, simple yet fun strategy gameplay. Definitely could've been better, but still a great game. About an A- in my book.

Thanks. :)
 
At first I was going to give this game 4 stars (out of 4, you know, like the old movie rating system), but I think i'll settle for 3.5 stars, since while it's a great game, it had a lot of "same old same old" feel to it. They haven't really drastically improved the system, just given us Fire Emblem in 3D. If they want to make another 4 star quality FE, they'll need to give us something better than just a push command or pretty cut-scenes.
(for the record, the GBA games get 2.5 to 3 stars from me and all three SNES games are 4 stars)

Perhaps the FE team could stand to play some Berwick and see how they can come up with some unique scenarios that involve things other than just beating the boss. ;)

As far as chapter lengths though, chapter 26 alone took me 5 hours to beat, lasting about 32 or 33 turns. This game is really insane on maniac mode.

I didn't even know NxC was an SRPG, I'll have to check it out at some point, but not anytime soon. Got my hands busy with Berwick. Still stuck on chapter 27 in Souen though.
 
How is the battle animation? One thing I love about the GBA battle animations is that they try so much harder. I mean, it's not just a couple of two-tone sprites wiggling sticks and staves with 3 or 4 frames of animation, but surprisingly well animated characters with flowing attacks, sharp thrusts, and freaking awesome crits.

Did they capture that in 3D at all?
 
Is it just me or is this FE even more kanji-laden than previous games (including SFC). I'm having a hell of a time figuring some things out. I think I need to bust out the dictionary. :P
 
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