Quick Look: Fire Emblem: Awakening

Can't wait to watch this Dave Quick Look and can't wait to pick up this game (hopefully tomorrow)!

@Andorski said:

So... is Marth a chick in this one?

I'm so confused. I'm thinking it's just a girl in a mask pretending to be Marth, but I have no idea.

And that Fredric guy shouldn't have a weapon! Just use him as a meat shield and make everyone else suck up that delicious XP.

Chrom laughs at your four winds.

Man that was painful to watch, if they'd moved the healer closer I think the recruitable thief would have took a swing at her hopefully not killed her and then Chrom coulda recruited him.

Still like they said they wanted it quick, does anyone know the size of the e-shop download for this?

@Village_Guy said:

Yay Dave!

That one http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f278/katietiedrich/comic257.png

@SikNastiWitIt said:

Why don't those characters have feet?

JPN

I can't wait to get my hands on this game! Unfortunately, Amazon still isn't shipping, and I don't think any stores around me have any copies. I would just download it from the e-shop, but I've been burned by Nintendo's lack of proper account transfers in the past and lost stuff like that.

Played this mission on the way in. Can't believe I've missed out on Donnel and Gaius. Blerg. I won this mission with a miraculous crit from Lon'qu, who had like 3 HP left. Lost Sully to the boss, though.

I hope Dave can do a bit more video content once the site launch is out of the way. He's great at showing off games like this as well as, of course, random, old PC games.

Gotta go play Shining Force 2 for Genesis now...

uugghh cant wait for the EU release :( why make me wait when an english digital version exists already?!?!

This game fucking rules. Good QL, and good to hear from Dave. The whole "enenykite" goof made me laugh so hard - get some rest, Snider! :)

I just finished the mission they showed off here, and haven't lost anyone or restarted yet, I must be better at FE than I thought. Admittedly, I've played a couple of these before. Kinda wish I'd played on Hard, but I see myself spending a lot of time with this game, so it's cool. Probably my favorite in the series out of any I've played, I love the relationship/team up mechanic here, and it looks great!

@heatDrive88 said:

Oh man, I was lolling when I noticed "EnenyKite".

haha yeh i was just now thinking "thats not right"

Not sure I'm about to go buy a 3DS for this, but it's given me a renewed interest in that fire emblem game I bought for the gamecube awhile back... hope I still have it :/

@Splodge said:

Yeah, job interview tomorrow, maybe I can finally afford one :D

Good luck!

I ran this one by setting up two bottlenecks at those corridors in the middle and the right, damage takers in front, mages and archers in the back, and sent Frederick to deal with everything on the left side. He needed one heal.

I'm loving this game, and I'm so sure that it's getting another play-through, which is rare. I've been a huge Advance Wars fan since Dual Strike, I've got Sacred Stones from the Ambassador Program, but this is the first Fire Emblem game I've really sunk my teeth into and cared about. Totally regret not playing Fire Emblem on my GBA and forward.

EnenyKite, Hardcore Dave's alter ego

@Pierre42 said:

Does anyone know the size of the e-shop download for this?

I bought it on the eshop and still have no idea. It just said HEY THIS IS GONNA BE A BUNCH OF BLOCKS, HERE ARE THE BLOCKS YOU'LL HAVE OVER, as if that means anything to me.

@Rmack said:

@Pierre42 said:

Does anyone know the size of the e-shop download for this?

I bought it on the eshop and still have no idea. It just said HEY THIS IS GONNA BE A BUNCH OF BLOCKS, HERE ARE THE BLOCKS YOU'LL HAVE OVER, as if that means anything to me.

Good thing I have a 32 gb card begging for stuff to be put onto it at least. It doesn't even give me an estimated amount that will be left over.

@year199X said:

@Rmack said:

@Pierre42 said:

Does anyone know the size of the e-shop download for this?

I bought it on the eshop and still have no idea. It just said HEY THIS IS GONNA BE A BUNCH OF BLOCKS, HERE ARE THE BLOCKS YOU'LL HAVE OVER, as if that means anything to me.

Good thing I have a 32 gb card begging for stuff to be put onto it at least. It doesn't even give me an estimated amount that will be left over.

That's a lot of blocks!

Wait a sec. Is the 'Marth' character in each Fire Emblem game actually a different guy named Marth? I always thought there was a continuity where they just constantly go back and revisit his life or something. Is he more like Link, where he's a different person in each game?

Because I know this dude wasn't a girl in the last couple Fire Emblems.

That lady can't be Marth! Marth is a prince! This game does want me to get a 3DS if I had the money.

This is the game that finally made me snap and buy a 3DS. Props to Nintendo for not only bringing the game over, but also the bundle with the awesome looking blue 3DS.

dude i think patrick is over-hyping the complexity of fire emblem games.

he wrote off disgaea games as too complex too i think he just got this notion and can't let it go and these kinds of pre-concieved ideas (which i think are wrong) end scaring off a lot of people from trying these kinds of games which is a shame.

disgaea or fire emblem is no more complex than a western rpg it just has a different approach

Fuuuuuck there goes 200 bucks Now I need this.

This QL should be called "Here comes the BOOOOOM" :P

Ah to be young again, and more importantly, have a 3ds.

DERP for patrick being in his high horse about not turning permanent death off, but then shutting his 3DS off every time someone dies and restarting the chapter.

@Orange_Pork said:

Wait a sec. Is the 'Marth' character in each Fire Emblem game actually a different guy named Marth? I always thought there was a continuity where they just constantly go back and revisit his life or something. Is he more like Link, where he's a different person in each game?

Because I know this dude wasn't a girl in the last couple Fire Emblems.

There's only one Marth. As I understand, he was in the DS game that came out over here, and was the star of a couple of Super Famicom games we'll never see in English. Marth is popular because of Smash Bros, so they worked the name into this game for that familiarity. It's not like the Zelda timeline, thankfully.

@Pierre42 said:

Man that was painful to watch, if they'd moved the healer closer I think the recruitable thief would have took a swing at her hopefully not killed her and then Chrom coulda recruited him.

Still like they said they wanted it quick, does anyone know the size of the e-shop download for this?

Forgot the exact block amount, but it's ~1.1 GBs when I did the conversion. It will fit on the default 2 GB SD card, but you may want to grab a bigger one if you want to download more stuff.

Guys, Marth is a dude...

@casper_ said:

dude i think patrick is over-hyping the complexity of fire emblem games.

he wrote off disgaea games as too complex too i think he just got this notion and can't let it go and these kinds of pre-concieved ideas (which i think are wrong) end scaring off a lot of people from trying these kinds of games which is a shame.

disgaea or fire emblem is no more complex than a western rpg it just has a different approach

From looking at this, fire emblem doesn't seem complex.

Played a fair amount of disgaea though and there're stupidly unintuitive. 4 billion systems overlaping and next to no tutorial isn't really approchable for your non initiated. I can get through that fairly easily but I can see why some people might have problems with it. Just think of the multiple quicklooks and endurance runs (particularly the chrono trigger one) where members of the staff struggled to figure out systems that seemed painfully obvious. With that in mind there is no way any of them could even aproach a disgaea game without some heavy research and practice.

These guys are totally right when it comes to Donnel.When FE characters level up, their stat gains are randomly determined based on their growth rates...Donnel has crazy growth rates and a skill that boosts those growth rates.

Oh, and seriously, check out the options screen. The level of customization you get is reminiscent of a PC game. You can even turn off the anime grunts!

@Orange_Pork said:

Wait a sec. Is the 'Marth' character in each Fire Emblem game actually a different guy named Marth? I always thought there was a continuity where they just constantly go back and revisit his life or something. Is he more like Link, where he's a different person in each game?

Because I know this dude wasn't a girl in the last couple Fire Emblems.

Nah, Marth's a dude and he only shows up in the NES Fire Emblem and their remakes.

@casper_ said:

dude i think patrick is over-hyping the complexity of fire emblem games.

he wrote off disgaea games as too complex too i think he just got this notion and can't let it go and these kinds of pre-concieved ideas (which i think are wrong) end scaring off a lot of people from trying these kinds of games which is a shame.

disgaea or fire emblem is no more complex than a western rpg it just has a different approach

I kind of agree that Patrick is pretty hyperbole on the complexity of Fire Emblem games. Hell, when the first FE game that came to NA/EU I played it at the hardest difficult when I was like 11-12 years old, but again that's just a slight hyperbole on my part. The underlying "problem" is just genre discomfort and personal preferences/views on these kind of turn-based games.

@Meepasaurus said:

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but is the thumbnail for this quicklook spoiling the fact that Marth is a girl?

Yeah, that bit sort of bugs me. I mean, it's a twist that could not be more obvious, but still one I wouldn't want to spoil for people. Oh well, there are much, much more insane things that happen later that make that plot point a drop in the bucket

Hooray for Dave content!

@MatthewTheBeast said:

@casper_ said:

dude i think patrick is over-hyping the complexity of fire emblem games.

he wrote off disgaea games as too complex too i think he just got this notion and can't let it go and these kinds of pre-concieved ideas (which i think are wrong) end scaring off a lot of people from trying these kinds of games which is a shame.

disgaea or fire emblem is no more complex than a western rpg it just has a different approach

I kind of agree that Patrick is pretty hyperbole on the complexity of Fire Emblem games. Hell, when the first FE game that came to NA/EU I played it at the hardest difficult when I was like 11-12 years old, but again that's just a slight hyperbole on my part. The underlying "problem" is just genre discomfort and personal preferences/views on these kind of turn-based games.

You don't get to select difficulty until you complete the game in that one, though. Besides, Awakening is way more difficult than Blazing sword.

@mutha3 said:

@Orange_Pork said:

Wait a sec. Is the 'Marth' character in each Fire Emblem game actually a different guy named Marth? I always thought there was a continuity where they just constantly go back and revisit his life or something. Is he more like Link, where he's a different person in each game?

Because I know this dude wasn't a girl in the last couple Fire Emblems.

Nah, Marth's a dude and he only shows up in the NES Fire Emblem and their remakes.

He's in this game too. He's in the Quick Look. Except He's a She.

Wait, Marth actually IS a chick? What the hell is going on?

@mutha3 said:

@MatthewTheBeast said:

@casper_ said:

dude i think patrick is over-hyping the complexity of fire emblem games.

he wrote off disgaea games as too complex too i think he just got this notion and can't let it go and these kinds of pre-concieved ideas (which i think are wrong) end scaring off a lot of people from trying these kinds of games which is a shame.

disgaea or fire emblem is no more complex than a western rpg it just has a different approach

I kind of agree that Patrick is pretty hyperbole on the complexity of Fire Emblem games. Hell, when the first FE game that came to NA/EU I played it at the hardest difficult when I was like 11-12 years old, but again that's just a slight hyperbole on my part. The underlying "problem" is just genre discomfort and personal preferences/views on these kind of turn-based games.

You don't get to select difficulty until you complete the game in that one, though. Besides, Awakening is way more difficult than Blazing sword.

Not sure I agree with Awakening being more difficult. Awakening lets you grind out levels on random battles if you want, a feature that inherently makes it quite a bit easier. Even if you don't grind, the game gives you far more access to equipment shops making managing equips and durability much more simple. It's not Sacred Stones easy, but I'm finding it to be an easier time than Blazing Sword.

@yami4ct said:

Not sure I agree with Awakening being more difficult. Awakening lets you grind out levels on random battles if you want, a feature that inherently makes it quite a bit easier. Even if you don't grind, the game gives you far more access to equipment shops making managing equips and durability much more simple. It's not Sacred Stones easy, but I'm finding it to be an easier time than Blazing Sword.

If you're playing on the lowest difficulty and choosing to grind, maybe.

Otherwise: no. On lunatic+ the only games that are comparable are Thracia 776 and FE12 Lunatic Reverse.

@Orange_Pork said:

@mutha3 said:

@Orange_Pork said:

Wait a sec. Is the 'Marth' character in each Fire Emblem game actually a different guy named Marth? I always thought there was a continuity where they just constantly go back and revisit his life or something. Is he more like Link, where he's a different person in each game?

Because I know this dude wasn't a girl in the last couple Fire Emblems.

Nah, Marth's a dude and he only shows up in the NES Fire Emblem and their remakes.

He's in this game too. He's in the Quick Look. Except He's a She.

Perhaps the fact that she hid her gender points to her not being who she says she is? :P

I've found that it helps to keep your dudes bunched together as frequently as possible. Keep those relationships up and keep a bit on the defensive until enemies are close and you can make a quick push. It works surprisingly well, especially if you keep your armies varied so if you have split groups you can still take down whatever you're up against. That works really well for me.

Going to watch a let's play of this to calm this urge to run out and buy a 3DS RIGHT NOW for a single game. Again, fuck you nintendo and your handheld buisness

Is it just me or does this look worse than the GBA version?

@mutha3: As I stated before, a slight hyperbole. If I recall correctly I pretty much beat the game first, replayed at the harder difficult and then onto Hector's mode; of which I am not sure if it's a inherent hard mode or not, but it was breeze for me by that point. As

@JeffGerstFan said:

Is it just me or does this look worse than the GBA version?

New fully 3D art style takes some getting used to. It does lack some of the charm of the 2D art from the GBA games. Still, once you start playing it, it looks great on screen. Especially with 3D on. It has some awesome 3D effects and it doesn't give me a headache like some of the early 3DS games. The character animations are still charming and the sprite view on the battlefield looks better than ever.

@cbarnes86 said:

ENENYKITE!!!!

I personally play games like this and XCOM where I don't replay missions just because I lost someone. If I lose someone, I roll with the punches.

That's the way to go brother - me too.

Just started another shot at Classic Hardcore mode on XCOM - then THIS comes out!

@Dredlockz said:

DERP for patrick being in his high horse about not turning permanent death off, but then shutting his 3DS off every time someone dies and restarting the chapter.

EXACTLY. If you're going to do that, just play Casual mode and be done with it, it's not like the game is ruined because all of a sudden your characters don't die. I'm 20 hours into my game on Casual mode rolling around with a huge posse of dudes and I'm having a much better time with it than I did with the GBA games which I ended up playing on emulators just so I could have save points.

I LOVE everything about Fire Emblem except the permanent death, so Casual Mode was basically the only reason I could pick up and enjoy this series again, and it's REALLY annoying when the entire Bomb Squad is vilely opposed to playing the game that way. More games, especially in the strategy genre, should work as hard as this to expand their audience to people who don't enjoy running scenarios 50 times.

EDIT: Also, the story of this game is just a premise? Really? Maybe I just get too invested in my games, but that's half the reason I play, support conversations and the ongoing story. I am flabbergasted that anyone would even bother with this game if they're going to skip the dialogue.