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Capella

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Fire Emblem, where are you going?

I'm feeling pretty disappointed since I heard that the twelfth release in my favorite game franchise is...another remake in the style of the 11th one.  While I was excited when I first heard about Shadow Dragon (finally! Akaneia for the western world! Marth exists outside of SSB!) , after playing it, that was all I needed on terms of old Fire Emblem games. 
 
Of course, I'll still buy Mystery of the Emblem because it will be a Fire Emblem game and there is nothing I like to play more than Fire Emblem games, but I wish Intelligent Systems would go on to a new a setting. I firmly the believe that the story in the series has improved over time - I'm obsessively attached to the cast of Tellius games, fond of the world and characters of Sacred Stones, somewhat entertained by Elibe and Judgral, and as I found with Shadow Dragon, couldn't care less about what happens to anyone in Akaneia. It's the Fire Emblem story at its most basic "excuse to have a bunch of battles," and Marth, being the proto-Lord, has all the nobility-at-the-cost-of-anything-resembling-human-personality that has defined almost all of the Lord characters since then.  Not to mention how much the support system from games 6-9 enhanced the games' ability to characterize and make the player care about their units.
 
Sure, that's story and this series isn't really a story-focused one, but I feel that player investment in the characters is important to Fire Emblem's gameplay. Much of the challenge in the series comes from the fact that all the units are unique and that they're gone for good if they die. In Shadow Dragon, there were far too many characters, most of whom had nothing resembling characterization, and essentially no incentive for me to bother to keep them alive. So I didn't. And then there was the way the remake added bonus chapters if you had below a certain number of characters, which more or less incentivized letting people die. I suppose at least I can hope that Mystery of the Emblem will avoid that. 
 
Honestly, I think only an entirely new game has a chance of not being disappointing for me compared to the Tellius games. I really do hope this is the end of the remakes.

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Capella

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Edited By Capella

I'm feeling pretty disappointed since I heard that the twelfth release in my favorite game franchise is...another remake in the style of the 11th one.  While I was excited when I first heard about Shadow Dragon (finally! Akaneia for the western world! Marth exists outside of SSB!) , after playing it, that was all I needed on terms of old Fire Emblem games. 
 
Of course, I'll still buy Mystery of the Emblem because it will be a Fire Emblem game and there is nothing I like to play more than Fire Emblem games, but I wish Intelligent Systems would go on to a new a setting. I firmly the believe that the story in the series has improved over time - I'm obsessively attached to the cast of Tellius games, fond of the world and characters of Sacred Stones, somewhat entertained by Elibe and Judgral, and as I found with Shadow Dragon, couldn't care less about what happens to anyone in Akaneia. It's the Fire Emblem story at its most basic "excuse to have a bunch of battles," and Marth, being the proto-Lord, has all the nobility-at-the-cost-of-anything-resembling-human-personality that has defined almost all of the Lord characters since then.  Not to mention how much the support system from games 6-9 enhanced the games' ability to characterize and make the player care about their units.
 
Sure, that's story and this series isn't really a story-focused one, but I feel that player investment in the characters is important to Fire Emblem's gameplay. Much of the challenge in the series comes from the fact that all the units are unique and that they're gone for good if they die. In Shadow Dragon, there were far too many characters, most of whom had nothing resembling characterization, and essentially no incentive for me to bother to keep them alive. So I didn't. And then there was the way the remake added bonus chapters if you had below a certain number of characters, which more or less incentivized letting people die. I suppose at least I can hope that Mystery of the Emblem will avoid that. 
 
Honestly, I think only an entirely new game has a chance of not being disappointing for me compared to the Tellius games. I really do hope this is the end of the remakes.

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Hailinel

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Edited By Hailinel

I'd agree with you, but then again, this game is the second half of Marth's story.  If they remade the first game, it's worth revisiting the third, if only for completionist's sake.  I would like to see Intelligent Systems move on to a new universe without being hamstrung by the narrative limitations of the early 1990s, though.

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Capella

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Edited By Capella
@Hailinel: 
That is true, though I don't feel like the first game really left a lot of loose ends in the narrative. Then, maybe there were some and I've just forgotten them. Point taken.
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AgentJ

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For western gamers, I think these remakes are nothing if not a good thing. We haven't really gotten a chance to connect with Marth and crew, and we missed a lot of apparantly fantastic games. That said, I wouldn't be against another console entry in the series. Path of Radiance is one of my favorite games of all time.

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Capella

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Edited By Capella
@AgentJ: 
I absolutely think the first remake was a good idea, because of what you said about Marth. As for missing good games, I can see that for Seisen no Keifu, that game is so unique within the series that I think we could all benefit by having it, but I see more potential in games that could be made in the future than games the west missed out on in the past. That said, the things they've added to this second remake (supports and such) have me more interested in it than I was when I wrote this post.
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AgentJ

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Edited By AgentJ
@Capella said:
" @AgentJ:  I absolutely think the first remake was a good idea, because of what you said about Marth. As for missing good games, I can see that for Seisen no Keifu, that game is so unique within the series that I think we could all benefit by having it, but I see more potential in games that could be made in the future than games the west missed out on in the past. That said, the things they've added to this second remake (supports and such) have me more interested in it than I was when I wrote this post. "
Seisen no Keifu is the one that is supposed to be brilliant, the one that VideoGameKing keeps on raving about, right? Because they really need to remake that one so I can play it. Frankly, remake or not, I'll buy anything fire emblem that Nintendo crosses the ocean with, just to show them that we want it.
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Capella

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Edited By Capella
@AgentJ:  Well, I don't know about brilliant, but Seisen is certainly interesting...it's the one with really huge maps, two separate generations, character breeding, all that jazz. It's also the one with the incest plot, which...I don't know, do we still avoid things like that in E rated franchises? 
 
 

Path of Radiance is one of my favorite games of all time.

  Forgot to say: me too. I wouldn't say I'm someone who's played loads and loads of games, but Path of Radiance is my very favorite of those I have.
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AgentJ

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@Capella: You haven't played many games? I have :P
I'm sure Nintendo could find a workaround, like making the love interest a friend instead of a family member. Not like a change of that sort would change much. Regardless, I'm waiting with bated breath for an announcement of a 3DS remake.
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Capella

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Edited By Capella
@AgentJ:  
 I am certainly not questioning your gaming expertise, sir, only my own! 

Heh, actually it's essential to the game's plot that the two characters be related, as it's a issue of concentrating Holy Blood in their offspring.  Maybe they could change it to a more distant relationship than siblings, second cousins or something, if they were going to work around it, but that might alter some plot points about their parents, etc.
 
Man, 3DS Fire Emblem...would they make the character portrait conversation animations 3D? That would be a sight to see...
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AgentJ

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Edited By AgentJ
@Capella: Ack, your ideas are blowing my mind! 3D character portraits... and when you adjust the level of 3D-ness, their eyes come bursting out at you! eww, eye goo...