Quick Look: Fire Emblem: Awakening

Looking forward to the launch of GiantNomb 2.0 this month.

I'm gonna play this, but I'll be honest gonna play with the no dying mode, at least for the first playthrough.

@Turambar said:

@Travan said:

I've been getting some mixed messages about character permadeath in this game. Some have said, like Drew, that you get enough characters over the course of the game that losing few isn't catastrophic, and is even part of the experience, while others have said that permadeath is an incentive to replay every chapter until you can beat it flawlessly without losing anyone. Anybody with some experience with the seires care to weigh in?

I've played every FE game other than the first 3 NES ones, so here's my take. Not all characters are created equal. Aside from their looks and personality, they also have different growth rates that, through general mathematics, places a limit on how good they will be in the game. If I lose Donnel, I'm gonna restart due to his absolutely absurd growth rate. If I lose Stahl, I won't really care since hes just one of many fairly good but not great units in the game.

So it's mainly a question of combat utility? From what I read it seems like you can miss out on major story beats by not hanging on to everyone.

EDIT: Just re-read @Scrawnto's reply. So its up to the player to decide how much they care about a character's interactions with others and how hard they want to work to keep them alive? Seems like that could be tricky. Any cases of seemingly bland/mediocre early characters revealing hidden depths three-quarters of the way through?

How the hell are people actually defending Patrick here?

Yes, Fire Emblem is tough, yes a lot of people will restart the game if they lose someone.

But don't say you play with permadeath on and it's the only way to play, then turn around and say you restart if someone dies. Newsflash! That's not playing with permadeath on.

A Dave Look is always welcome.

God-damn. I want this. I don't have a 3DS yet, though!

@FierceDeity said:

@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.

It's a descendant pretending to be Marth,

Actual Marth is also in the game via free (until March 6th) dlc, and is even more broken than Donnel.

@Laini said:

How the hell are people actually defending Patrick here?

Yes, Fire Emblem is tough, yes a lot of people will restart the game if they lose someone.

But don't say you play with permadeath on and it's the only way to play, then turn around and say you restart if someone dies. Newsflash! That's not playing with permadeath on.

Decent enough point, but why be a dick about it? As has been explained, turning permadeath on also alters the game's difficulty in other ways.

I agree that saying permadeath is the "only" way to play FE is kind of hilarious when you cheat it, but who cares? He shouldn't need to be "defended" because no one should be "attacking" him for something so utterly inconsequential.

Patrick's new favorite word: Clutch.

@LikeaSsur said:

Patrick's new favorite word: Clutch.

Add it to the list with "ostensibly" and "surfacing/surfaces" (i.e. "the way the game surfaces the story").

I smell an eventual chart, much like the charts for "time to death" on Brad quick looks.

Loved Sacred Stones, really want to play this game. I'm tempted to forego the hunt/wait for a physical copy and just download the damn thing.

I'll get this at some point, but I know I'll play it in the casual mode because i'd rather do it that way then just reloading over and over again and becoming frustrated with it. Sure it's not how the game is "supposed" to be played, but I play games to have fun and permadeath isn't fun to me.

i told myself i wouldn't restart after losing characters (have already lost like 5), but after the 5th chapter mission (i know everyone's gonna call me out on how easy it is, bring it on) where i lost like 3 characters every time i ended up restarting... and restarting... and restarting. guess the trick was occupying the forts so enemies would stop spawning; still ended up losing the new wizard kid but i felt it was a decent sacrifice. already lost the heavy armor dude, the pegasus chick, the other wizard girl with the flowery diction, and one or two others i can't recall off the top of my head so i think i did pretty well for myself even with save scumming, and i don't blame patrick one bit for doing it. even if you think it's a big deal it really isn't, so you should probably lay off. i just think it gets ridiculous when you end up losing so many people in one match and it becomes pretty trial and error (or i'm not a good strategist and i suck at this game, again come at me bros). i'll be more stringent about it if i choose to play through again (maybe on a harder difficulty).

Since Rayman is not coming after all I think I might just get this instead. First Fire Eblem game!! :D

@Turambar said:

@FierceDeity said:

@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.

It's a descendant pretending to be Marth,

Actual Marth is also in the game via free (until March 6th) dlc, and is even more broken than Donnel.

Is there any story to the dlc or is he just a unit?

NO FEET!!!! NO FEET!!!!!!!

i can't stand the idea of losing characters permanently, like... i want to see their stories!

@AxleFGK said:

i can't stand the idea of losing characters permanently, like... i want to see their stories!

Their stories begin and end on the battlefield...

Also, I think if any important story related character dies on the battlefield you lose and have to start the level over.

@Olu 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.

Difficuty of this games is tuned with permadeath in mind. In casual mode you can just rush your way to the victory, it doesn't matter, all of your units will be alive anyway. . Permadeath adds a completely new layer of strategy to the game, and there is nothing wrong with redoing a mission for a better results.

Doing that is no better than save scumming and save scummers are the lowest kind of person in the world.

@UltorOscariot: Radiant Dawn can really slow your roll. It is as tough as any Fire Emblem I have played, and doesn't feel as "Fire Emblem-y" as Path of Radiance or Shadow Dragon did. I say play Awakening first.

@msavo said:

@Turambar said:

@FierceDeity said:

@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.

It's a descendant pretending to be Marth,

Actual Marth is also in the game via free (until March 6th) dlc, and is even more broken than Donnel.

Is there any story to the dlc or is he just a unit?

Just a unit. The dlc thus far just seem to be bonus stages that use characters from previous games without any real plot involved.

@Laini said:

How the hell are people actually defending Patrick here?

Yes, Fire Emblem is tough, yes a lot of people will restart the game if they lose someone.

But don't say you play with permadeath on and it's the only way to play, then turn around and say you restart if someone dies. Newsflash! That's not playing with permadeath on.

Except fear of losing your unit (regardless of whether it will be met with a subsequent reload or not) will still significantly change how you approach the game play.

Oh, you, Dave!

This would be the game that I would buy a 3DS for. Thanks for the great QL!

@Turambar said:

@Laini said:

How the hell are people actually defending Patrick here?

Yes, Fire Emblem is tough, yes a lot of people will restart the game if they lose someone.

But don't say you play with permadeath on and it's the only way to play, then turn around and say you restart if someone dies. Newsflash! That's not playing with permadeath on.

Except fear of losing your unit (regardless of whether it will be met with a subsequent reload or not) will still significantly change how you approach the game play.

Exactly. With permadeath on, even if you're restarting when the characters die, you are playing the game a lot more defensively, and every move counts a lot more.

I may need to put my hand in my wallet.

ITT: Dudes trip over each other in revealing their ignorance of this franchise in their haste to hate on Patrick.

,,,,

I could probably paste this into the comments of every QL Patrick has or will be in and have it fit, couldn't I?

There is a masterpiece of a game waiting to be made that combines the powerful emergent storytelling of Fire Emblem's particular form of strategic gameplay with actually compelling characters and narrative.

If you're playing normal difficulty, it's well tuned for classic permadeath mode, but if you don't mind greater challenge with less "annoyances" try hard mode on casual. You will have to learn advanced tactics quickly, but you won't ever have to replay whole missions or worry about every single character.

Restarting with permadeath is totally fine in my book, it allows you to develop your strategies. Also, I adore everything about the game except for the bizarre exclusion of feet. Did Japanese Rob Liefield design it?

turning permadeath off makes the game completely different. Without it the game has little challenge, especially when you start to understand even the BASIC strategies. If you cant have fun with permadeath on go play casual, but you are really are doing a disservice to yourself.

@MyNiceIceLife: classic normal. you will have to restart but you will actually learn to play the game.

keep pegi away from archers, group up, bottleneck, move slow, etc.

@Amafi said:

@Olu 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.

Difficuty of this games is tuned with permadeath in mind. In casual mode you can just rush your way to the victory, it doesn't matter, all of your units will be alive anyway. . Permadeath adds a completely new layer of strategy to the game, and there is nothing wrong with redoing a mission for a better results.

Doing that is no better than save scumming and save scummers are the lowest kind of person in the world.

watchoutwevegotabadassoverhere.jpg

They need to do an endurance run of this game

Why in the seven hells is this not coming out in Europe until late April????

Good to see EnenyKite in a quick look for a change.

I really want this game now.

@Dizzyhippos said:

@Morningstar said:

Why in the seven hells is this not coming out in Europe until late April????

if it makes you feel any better its impossible to find in the US right now

I want to have it, I dont want you to not have it, but thanks for trying :)

Everything is "clutch" for Patrick

Can we please please please have a shinning force ER?

Allow me to remind people of Jeanne D' Arc.

@Chibithor said:

@cwJoe said:

@Benny said:

@Morningstar said:

Why in the seven hells is this not coming out in Europe until late April????

Try and get a hold of Persona 4 Arena.

Atlus don't give a fuck about Europe though, so that's to be expected. This though, is published by Nintendo. What the hell, Nintendo?

It's not like Nintendo necessarily has a superb track record with EU releases, I think their stuff is generally a couple months late. Rhythm Heaven Fever was February in NA and July in EU. I remember SSBB being like that as well. At least we get the best stuff like NSMB and Mario Party in time.

Very true, but Nintendo have just made a big song and dance about how Pokemon XY will be released world wide on the same day! Went to get a copy from GAME's site and they don't even have the box art image yet! Come on Nintendo, get your head in the game!

Is it advantageous to feed Lords last hits in this game?

If so, do you strategize with this in mind?

@OriginalGman said:

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

what i understand ( from the wiki ) is that most fire emblem games are in a different universe. only direct sequels are in the same universe.

disclaimer: never played the fire emblem game's. purely got it from the wiki

Game looks great. I haven't played any of the Fire emblem games before, but just watching the Quick Look is giving me a huge Advance Wars boner.

MECHANICALLY SPEAKING, I wish X-com used the movement/attack overlays that this game, and like, every other Turn Based Tactical game has used for the decades the genre's existed!

(Yes it can work with Fog of War (Hi Advance Wars)

I love this genre of games. They're all kind of the same, but with their own charms and this one is definitely fun, too.

@pyrodactyl: Watching this made me want to go and get a 3DS. Fuck.

@White said:

Allow me to remind people of Jeanne D' Arc.

Awesome game. I've never been one for strategy RPG's but I really liked the gameplay and the story of that game. One of the best games on the PSP.

In a any fire emblem save, there shouldn't be anyone dead. If you don't restart immediately when a character dies, then you are playing it wrong.

Ugh you guys are missing out on not using the pegasus knights, they always start very week but once they are leveled up they are just amazing.

@Gerhabio said:

Everything is "clutch" for Patrick

This is when it's best used!