Fire Emblem: Kakusei (Fire Emblem: Awakening)

penev10

Saw this last week when I was in Tokyo and got very excited!

More details here:
http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Fire_Emblem:_Kakusei

The combo battles where an ally can aid you if set up correctly will add a whole new dimension to the game. A lot of new classes too which is nice.

Shame 3DS games are region locked as its out this week in Japan.

Retr0gamer

Hope it gets a US or EU release. Fire Emblem hasn't really taken off here and seems to get released at the worst times (when the GC and GBA was dying and when piracy had ruined the DS market). We've already missed out on some DS and GBA fire emblem games

penev10

Well here's hoping. According to an early trailer the game is due in Europe this year. Usually the translation of FE games takes the best part of a year so that seems over-optimistic.

We missed out on the last FE game on the DS after the lacklustre remake that was "Shadow Dragon".

Sacred Stones is now available for download on 3DS which is well worth playing and would be a good introduction to the series for anyone interested.

manicmonoliths

This will probably be the game that finally tips the scales in the 3DS buy or not to buy argument for me.

Path of Raidence was one of the best games on the Gamecube, such a shame it went unnoticed by so many people. Radiant Dawn on the Wii was an excellent follow-up in terms of gameplay, but I felt the story let it down a lot, this could have something to do with lack of proper support conversations between units (hope this is something that's remedied in the new title.) The two GBA titles were also excellent, though holding my hand up, I never did manage to finish 'Fire Emblem', the one with Eliwood and Lyn, I could never manage to beat some of the later chapters, even on Easy to my great shame.

I never managed to get the DS remake of the original FE, what was it called Shadow Dragon? Couldn't find it in any shops at the time and it's now quite pricey on amazon and the likes. Is it any use?

Retr0gamer

Got the DS game for peanuts from ebay. Have a look for US copies.

penev10

manicmonoliths wrote: »

I never managed to get the DS remake of the original FE, what was it called Shadow Dragon? Couldn't find it in any shops at the time and it's now quite pricey on amazon and the likes. Is it any use?

I remember taking umbrage with the difficulty, cant remember if it was too easy or hard, probably the former. Probably my least favourite FE but still worth playing if you're a fan.

penev10

This is the video I saw in Tokyo (I knew the one in the OP wasn't right), more details on the combo attacks and mariages:

ShaneU

This is getting brilliant reviews. not out here til April though. Tried to pre-order on amazon and found this? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pokemon-Fire-Emblem-Awakening-Nintendo/dp/B00B7JT57W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1359672320&sr=8-2

penev10

I can't find anywhere to pre-order only the vague date of April 2013 announced in December.

They have a special model of the 3DS for the games launch in the US next week:


If I had the money I'd definitely be importing it.

megaten

I haven't played fire emblem before but reviewers seem to have beem fairly impressed and I was listening to the soundtrack on youtube ant it was pretty fantastic. Anyome know if this one is a good place to dive into the series.

Retr0gamer

megaten wrote: »

I haven't played fire emblem before but reviewers seem to have beem fairly impressed and I was listening to the soundtrack on youtube ant it was pretty fantastic. Anyome know if this one is a good place to dive into the series.

Fire Emblem is a superb series, if you have played Advance Wars it's basically advance wars turned into a RPG. Sure it's made by the same people.

This is probably the best place to jump into the series since it's notoriously tough and has a perma death mechanic, if a unit dies they are gone for the rest of the campaign and the game auto saves every turn. The new game has the option of turning perma death off.

penev10

Since all of the FE games are quite expensive to get hold of you might be best off starting with the latest one!

The Sacred Stones (GBA) is allegedly available for download and would be a great introduction to the series. There have been a fair few additions like tiered classes, customising weapons etc. in the subsequent games but SS has the basic formula down and is a tight little gem of a game.

I wouldn't compare the series to Advance Wars though but then again I'm a SRPG pedant :P

Retr0gamer

penev10 wrote: »

I wouldn't compare the series to Advance Wars though but then again I'm a SRPG pedant :P

Well it uses the same engine and is made by the same team. It also has the same rock paper scissors mechanics. It always seemed very similar to me

megaten

Is the AI's moves always predetermined like advance wars? That would kind of kill my interest in the gameplay.

penev10

megaten wrote: »

Is the AI's moves always predetermined like advance wars? That would kind of kill my interest in the gameplay.

No, and thats why I wouldn't compare it to AW. AW is more akin to a puzzle game (especially the later more challenging levels) as you try to solve the fixed problem set in front of you rather than react and to the emergent tactics as they unfold. The enemy still makes the odd stupid move but it's overall strategy is usually quite challenging.

Sephiroth_dude

penev10 wrote: »

I can't find anywhere to pre-order only the vague date of April 2013 announced in December.

They have a special model of the 3DS for the games launch in the US next week:


If I had the money I'd definitely be importing it.

Is there any website I can buy that on?

Retr0gamer

videogamesplus.ca should have it.

ShaneU

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Is there any website I can buy that on?

You realise 3ds games bought here won't work on it?

Retr0gamer

ShaneU wrote: »

You realise 3ds games bought here won't work on it?

US games are generally cheaper, it's win-win. Also you don't run the risk on missing out on Atlus or XSeed games (although I guess those will get digital releases here if a euro publisher doesn't pick them up.

Sephiroth_dude

ShaneU wrote: »

You realise 3ds games bought here won't work on it?

Ya I'm aware it's region locked,I want that DS Package though if its going anywhere,doesn't seem to be on videogame.ca though or at least I can't find it anyway.

penev10

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

doesn't seem to be on videogame.ca though or at least I can't find it anyway.

Apparently it's sold out and even people with pre-orders are having to wait for a re-stock.

Sephiroth_dude

penev10 wrote: »

Apparently it's sold out and even people with pre-orders are having to wait for a re-stock.

Aw nuts

Sephiroth_dude

Seems its sold out everywhere,gamestop.com have it alright but won't ship here,bestbuy sold out and future something sold out too,Damn.

penev10

I'm noticing the difficulty of the series is really being exaggerated on the gaming sites. Permadeath is now the equivalent of a Dark Souls SL1 run!:rolleyes:

I've played all the FE games released in the west and the only badly judged challenge was the early game of Radiant Dawn (which later turned into a cake walk!)

Don't let the hype put you off this game or any of the series. They all have a gradual learning curve and are rarely frustrating. (Hard mode is always punishing and exacting for those who do like that sort of thing though:D)

Retr0gamer

Typical exaggeration from awful game journalists as usual.

Then on the other end of the spectrum you have Kat Bailey writing her editorial for joystick saying how the first GBA game and the new 3DS game is the perfect introduction for beginners to SRPGs.

ShaneU

Release date is April 19th and Europe are getting an xl bundle with the game

Sephiroth_dude

ShaneU wrote: »

Release date is April 19th and Europe are getting an xl bundle with the game

Yes! what retailers will be carrying it do you know?

Retr0gamer

I'd definitely pre-order it just in case.

ShaneU

It's just the standard blue/black ds xl with the white design on it, bit half-assed really.

Sephiroth_dude

nevermind it's on amazon

FLOODY777

As per what some reviewers have said...I wonder if it's really worth getting a 3DS just to play this game?

Also, any thoughts - The XL bundle with pre-loaded game vs buying the original 3DS with a physical copy of the game?

penev10

FLOODY777 wrote: »

As per what some reviewers have said...I wonder if it's really worth getting a 3DS just to play this game?

FE isn't for everyone. Maybe try one of the GBA titles on an emulator to see if you like it.

ShaneU

Demo on eshop 28th march

penev10

I see from the Nintendo site they're really pushing the new Pair Up and revamped Support features.

I hope the pair up is balanced because if, say, you can get a Knight to defend for a Mage every turn you've got a fairly broken mechanic there. I'm sure it's not that simple but I'm wary of looking at the US forums lest I unleash spoilers!

The more transparent support system is a real winner. In earlier iterations you had to leave 2 units side-by-side for up to 20 turns in order to get a dialogue option which then, unbeknownst to the player, increased stats when they were near each other! The GC/Wii games let you do this back at base camp but it was still all fairly obtuse.

ShaneU

This is out on friday.

Gamestop's website are asking for €55! are they taking the piss?

€40 at smyths

Eurogamer review 10/10 http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-04-15-fire-emblem-awakening-review

penev10

Another review obsessed with the perma-death element! I really don't see what the big deal is about this feature. It used to be referred to in one line in reviews of the previous games in the series.

One of the DS remakes (I think Shadow Dragon) had the ability to switch off perma-death so this isn't the first game in the series to feature this option although the reviews seem to think it is.

Anyway another glowing review which is great. I amazed at how much mainstream attention this game is getting. It's probably just lucky timing as the 3DS desperately needs a good RPG. (Although the Wii game, Radiant Dawn, came at a time when that console was crying out for anything that wasn't shovelware and it was universally ignored)

FLOODY777

ShaneU wrote: »

This is out on friday.

Gamestop's website are asking for €55! are they taking the piss?

€40 at smyths

Eurogamer review 10/10 http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-04-15-fire-emblem-awakening-review

Spied that Smyths price a few days ago too. Not showing on their website now! Has anyone picked it up from them today?

Also, Gamestop are selling it for €44.99 (in store)... It's €39.99 on their website. I presume it's slightly more with postage.

penev10

Gamestop postage is a flat €2 I think.

Edge review here:
http://www.edge-online.com/review/fire-emblem-awakening-review/

It encourages the use of your "tank" character early on, I would not recommend this unless you are playing on Hard etc. Every FE game you begin with 1 overpowered character and several weak ones. If you use the former you are only wasting much-needed EXP. The tank usually one-shots any early enemy netting feck all EXP where as if you use your weaker guys they may take two goes to take down an enemy but they'll probably level up every second one.

Retr0gamer

Seems this game is going to be as hard to find as it was in the US. My advice is to pick it up today. I had to cancel my order for the US version with playasia because after 3 months it stil hasn't been restocked and going to try my luck on ebay. Didn't realise it takes 10 working days to get the money back It would be cuelly ironic if they got it back in stock during that time.

penev10

Good advice. The GC and Wii Fire Emblems were impossible to find a few months after release.

But then again this is the first FE I;ve seen advertised on TV, surely they've sufficient stocks if they're going to run an expensive ad campaign?

Retr0gamer

The TV advert was shown in the US as well as far as I know. I've heard that nintendo were hoping that if they keep the stock low they would sell more digital copies but not sure the truth behind it.

A friend of mine got the last copy in Galway, they only had 3 copies in so I think that is more telling of how bad the stock problems are and I'm having woeful troubles myself with getting a US copy and no sign of a restock 3 months later.

ShaneU

FLOODY777 wrote: »

Spied that Smyths price a few days ago too. Not showing on their website now! Has anyone picked it up from them today?

Also, Gamestop are selling it for €44.99 (in store)... It's €39.99 on their website. I presume it's slightly more with postage.

Seen in another thread that smyths decided not to stock it. Seems like GameStop are the only option for B&M

penev10

ShaneU wrote: »

Seen in another thread that smyths decided not to stock it. Seems like GameStop are the only option for B&M

You can see from the cached page HERE on their site that they did have it at €39.99 but now it's just a blank page with product unavailable.

I have a €10 off voucher for Smyths and all :mad:

Digital version is €44.99

FLOODY777

Picked it up in Gamestop for €44.99.

They only had 3 copies...

I really hope this (like the Monster Hunter 'shortages') isn't a ploy to get more people downloading it instead!

RedXIV

Saw this in Tesco yesterday for 39.99 and just assumed it would be everywhere if Tesco had it I was only half considering getting it but all the great reviews and the Nintendo So Many Games promotion have pushed me over the edge into "I WANT" land.

Fingers crossed its still there next week on payday :pac:

Gunmonkey

RedXIV wrote: »

Saw this in Tesco yesterday for 39.99 and just assumed it would be everywhere if Tesco had it I was only half considering getting it but all the great reviews and the Nintendo So Many Games promotion have pushed me over the edge into "I WANT" land.

Fingers crossed its still there next week on payday :pac:

Saw one in my local tesco for €45, last copy and a big space where Luigis Mansion was, probably not gonna be any better anytime soon after the "So Many Games" promo Nintendo is running.

penev10

Finally getting around to playing this and it hasn't disappointed. The amount of optional grinding that is open to you is staggering. Side quests, skirmishes ala Sacred Stones, challenging armies from previous games, DLC maps..... Makes playing on hard a lot more bearable.

Sephiroth_dude

penev10 wrote: »

Finally getting around to playing this and it hasn't disappointed. The amount of optional grinding that is open to you is staggering. Side quests, skirmishes ala Sacred Stones, challenging armies from previous games, DLC maps..... Makes playing on hard a lot more bearable.

I really want to play this game and I'm considering buying a 3DS just to play it :eek:

penev10

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

I really want to play this game and I'm considering buying a 3DS just to play it :eek:

It's definitely living up to the hype so far. The pairing system is good but the improved support relationship aspect really makes it. It just seems a bit too easy to get support to S level. I already have 1 S level and 2 A level pairing on Chapter 6!

Perkinstock

is there a emulator for 3ds now?