I have the next two days off! For the first time in what seems like forever, I have two consecutive days off. It seems like a really privileged and silly thing to whine about, but I really dislike only having one day off, even if I never work two days consecutively. I feel like I can't sit down and really enjoy my free time--at least not as much as I otherwise would. I don't mind working several days in a row if it means I get consecutive days off at the end of it. I feel like it really helps me to relax.
It's happening now though, and for that I am grateful. I'm worried about a lot of things in my life right now such as the status of my job, my health, and my social life, but for the next two days, I feel like I can just shove that stuff aside and concentrate on the things in my life that make me happy. Tonight I'm going to try to make a lot of progress on Front Mission 3 and maybe even finish it if all goes well. If not, I should have plenty of times to do so over the next couple of days, even if a fair chunk of those days will be devoted to Divinity: Original Sin, a game that I find I quite enjoy! I'm eager to return to it after taking a couple of days off and I think my co-op partner is as well.
If I manage to finish Front Mission 3, there's still Fire Emblem left to be completed, but I'm not sure how long that's going to take me. I technically have in the neighborhood of ten missions to go. Judging by the difficulty of some of the missions I've completed so far, they could take me a lot of time. On the other hand, I feel I've already gotten past the hard part. Most of my units are promoted and the majority of the important plot-related items have been gathered. The most difficult thing at this point is going to be training Est, the final pegasus knight sister. Without her, I can't perform the pegasus knight triangle attack. Unforunately, she's level 5 unpromoted on a team full of characters a good 20 levels higher than that. I'll probably stick her with the Starsphere to boost her stats and abuse the Drill Grounds to get her up to speed, because I'd really like to use her.
I haven't thought a lot about what handheld game I'll be playing after I finish Fire Emblem. Bravely Default is an option, but that game's length is intimidating to say the least, even if I have already logged quite a few hours on it. It might be my best best though, since my other primary option is another strategy RPG, a genre that I feel I may be overdoing it on lately. Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis is a game I've been wanting to finish for years but I've just never found the right time. In fact, the only game in the whole series I've finished is Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber. Considering how much I love that game, it's baffling why I haven't finished any of the others. All of them honestly seem like pretty good games.
I'll figure that out when the time comes. For now, I'm going to dive into Front Mission 3 and watch The Office. I decided on a whim that I'd start a rewatch of the series while playing FM3 because I did something very similar when I played Front Mission 4. Now the show will forever remind me of giant robots.
Showing posts with label fire emblem: shin monshou no nazo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fire emblem: shin monshou no nazo. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Dilaudid (Day 345)
I think once I finish Front Mission 3 I'm going to go ahead and move on to PlayStation 2 as my next console. I have five or six games left still to complete on the platform and I expect I'll enjoy most of them pretty well. My new video card should make emulating these games a lot easier than before. Since I've played so many strategy RPGs recently, I feel I'll probably play something more traditional, which leaves me with the option of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne or Digital Devil Saga. Of the two, Nocturne definitely seems more intimidating, but I also think I could probably think of a lot to say about it.
Other than the two Digital Devil Saga games and Nocturne, I also have a slew of Nippon Ichi strategy RPGs left to complete on the PS2. I think I lost interest in them initially because they weren't really all that different than Disgaea and there's only so much I can play a game like that without getting burned out. I've never successfully played two Disgaea titles in sequence and the same is also true for any two games by the developer. Actually, I've never finished any of their games except for those in the Disgaea series. I've actually finished all four of the main games in that series, although I haven't yet played Disgaea D2.
It's possible I may write some of those games off if I revisit them and decide they're not for me, but there are few strategy RPGs that I can't at least give a playthrough. La Pucelle: Tactics predates Disgaea and therefore features some prototypical elements that would later become refined and expanded upon in later NIS titles but it still seems valuable as a frame of reference. Still, after juggling Front Mission 3 and Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem, I'm ready to move on to a slightly different genre.
I'm told that Nocturne is a very long and difficult game. The last time I played it, I struggled with my sense of direction. I had a hard time actually figuring out where it was I had to go. I expect this time I"ll keep a walkthrough close at hand so as to avoid losing interest as I progress. I love the art style and atmosphere of the game and have historically enjoyed Shin Megami Tensei games--though admittedly I've only finished games in the Persona series. I've heard from multiple sources that Nocturne is one of the best in the main SMT series so it would likely be a great game for me to invest seriously into finishing.
I've definitely been splitting my focus lately though, and my progress on my backlog has suffered as a result. I have complete confidence that I will finish both Fire Emblem and Front Mission 3, but I'll be doing so a lot later than I'd originally planned. Fire Emblem in particular is taking a tremendous amount of time because of my questionable decision to play the game on hard mode. I haven't hit any huge roadbumps in FM3 and to be honest the pace is a lot faster than FM4, so hopefully that'll be done in the next few days.
Other than the two Digital Devil Saga games and Nocturne, I also have a slew of Nippon Ichi strategy RPGs left to complete on the PS2. I think I lost interest in them initially because they weren't really all that different than Disgaea and there's only so much I can play a game like that without getting burned out. I've never successfully played two Disgaea titles in sequence and the same is also true for any two games by the developer. Actually, I've never finished any of their games except for those in the Disgaea series. I've actually finished all four of the main games in that series, although I haven't yet played Disgaea D2.
It's possible I may write some of those games off if I revisit them and decide they're not for me, but there are few strategy RPGs that I can't at least give a playthrough. La Pucelle: Tactics predates Disgaea and therefore features some prototypical elements that would later become refined and expanded upon in later NIS titles but it still seems valuable as a frame of reference. Still, after juggling Front Mission 3 and Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem, I'm ready to move on to a slightly different genre.
I'm told that Nocturne is a very long and difficult game. The last time I played it, I struggled with my sense of direction. I had a hard time actually figuring out where it was I had to go. I expect this time I"ll keep a walkthrough close at hand so as to avoid losing interest as I progress. I love the art style and atmosphere of the game and have historically enjoyed Shin Megami Tensei games--though admittedly I've only finished games in the Persona series. I've heard from multiple sources that Nocturne is one of the best in the main SMT series so it would likely be a great game for me to invest seriously into finishing.
I've definitely been splitting my focus lately though, and my progress on my backlog has suffered as a result. I have complete confidence that I will finish both Fire Emblem and Front Mission 3, but I'll be doing so a lot later than I'd originally planned. Fire Emblem in particular is taking a tremendous amount of time because of my questionable decision to play the game on hard mode. I haven't hit any huge roadbumps in FM3 and to be honest the pace is a lot faster than FM4, so hopefully that'll be done in the next few days.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
You or Your Memory (Day 344)
I have a massive headache! Today was stressful and I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. The latter is mostly my fault, but being told that my schedule was changed at the last minute so I couldn't come in until noon when I'd already arrived by 8:45 AM was a little disconcerting. I didn't want to waste any money on gas, so just hung out in the break room and played Fire Emblem until it was time for me to clock in. Once I actually started working, I was assaulted for the rest of my shift by problem after problem--and no less than four warranty exchanges, three of which were the same model of phone.
The only thing moderately positive to come out of this day so far is the progress I've made in Fire Emblem, though it's still going very slow. I've begun to regret my commitment to play the game on hard mode, if I'm being honest. Every mission requires intense preparation and foresight and the smallest of mistakes frequently results in a restart. I should probably just cut my losses and focus on strengthening a small core of units. It's far too late to try to coddle the weaker members of my team and wait for them to develop.
I'd thought originally that New Mystery wouldn't take me very long. I've only racked up 11 or so in-game hours (over the course of about 12 missions, not including prologue chapters) but the amount of time spent on restarting missions and blankly staring at my screen thinking of a way to proceed adds an immeasurable amount of invisible hours. I've had to claw my way to where I am now and even though I'm starting to promote some of my units, the difficulty hasn't necessarily let up. I still find it difficult to one-shot most enemy units, especially when it comes to powerful foes like wyverns and ice dragons.
I think part of my problem is that my most developed characters are pegasus knights--all of which have tremendously high stats, mind you. However, now that I've promoted a couple of them, it's become pretty clear that their stat caps are actually quite low. Palla ended up capping her unpromoted strength at 20. Only 4 levels into her promotion, she's capped her strength for good at 26. How much more powerful could she possibly get with 16 more levels to grow? It is conceivable that she could cap every stat except for Res, as Dracoknights have awful growths for that stat.
My avatar character (Brea) is also a swordmaster whose strength is quite low. Even after acquiring a couple of promoted levels, her strength is sitting at a miserable 12. The Swordmaster cap is probably around 23 and I just don't see her hitting that given her previous track record, even with almost 20 levels to grow. Barst on the other hand could promote to a Berserker or Warrior, whose strength stat caps at 30. He has a chance to hit that cap and he could end up being one of my most powerful fighters--if I could actually get him some levels, that is. I might have to reclass him to pirate for the speed bonus so he doubles foes more often and secures those kill that gets him the XP he desperately needs.
The only thing moderately positive to come out of this day so far is the progress I've made in Fire Emblem, though it's still going very slow. I've begun to regret my commitment to play the game on hard mode, if I'm being honest. Every mission requires intense preparation and foresight and the smallest of mistakes frequently results in a restart. I should probably just cut my losses and focus on strengthening a small core of units. It's far too late to try to coddle the weaker members of my team and wait for them to develop.
I'd thought originally that New Mystery wouldn't take me very long. I've only racked up 11 or so in-game hours (over the course of about 12 missions, not including prologue chapters) but the amount of time spent on restarting missions and blankly staring at my screen thinking of a way to proceed adds an immeasurable amount of invisible hours. I've had to claw my way to where I am now and even though I'm starting to promote some of my units, the difficulty hasn't necessarily let up. I still find it difficult to one-shot most enemy units, especially when it comes to powerful foes like wyverns and ice dragons.
I think part of my problem is that my most developed characters are pegasus knights--all of which have tremendously high stats, mind you. However, now that I've promoted a couple of them, it's become pretty clear that their stat caps are actually quite low. Palla ended up capping her unpromoted strength at 20. Only 4 levels into her promotion, she's capped her strength for good at 26. How much more powerful could she possibly get with 16 more levels to grow? It is conceivable that she could cap every stat except for Res, as Dracoknights have awful growths for that stat.
My avatar character (Brea) is also a swordmaster whose strength is quite low. Even after acquiring a couple of promoted levels, her strength is sitting at a miserable 12. The Swordmaster cap is probably around 23 and I just don't see her hitting that given her previous track record, even with almost 20 levels to grow. Barst on the other hand could promote to a Berserker or Warrior, whose strength stat caps at 30. He has a chance to hit that cap and he could end up being one of my most powerful fighters--if I could actually get him some levels, that is. I might have to reclass him to pirate for the speed bonus so he doubles foes more often and secures those kill that gets him the XP he desperately needs.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
This Year (Day 343)
I have finished Borderlands 2! Next on the agenda for co-op will be Divinity: Original Sin but I won't be able to buy that until Friday. Until then we'll probably continue to play Borderlands 2 here and there. I don't expect to hit the level cap or anything, but maybe I'll still jump on from time to time to progress. I like the game a lot, but I can't see investing too much more time into it. I'm in the mood to go out and conquer as many games as possible, as should be patently obvious from the content of this blog over the past few months.
That still leaves me with the two single-player games I'm currently playing to finish. I made some progress on Front Mission 3 today and I played a bit of Fire Emblem last night. FM3 is going smoothly for the most part, but they did just throw a mission at me that requires me to split my eight-man roster into two different squads. Since I've only been using the same four characters for the majority of the game, this prospect is a little troublesome. Some of those characters have really outdated equipment and not a lot of proficiency in their weapons. If this becomes a common trend in the game, I might have to invest a lot more time into training, which will certainly lengthen the game.
In the case of Fire Emblem, I'm regretting more and more my decision to play the game on hard mode. It has been a nightmare just to get to Chapter 10x, where I am now. I've had to sacrifice a couple of playable characters that I otherwise might have ended up using until the end of the game. This is the kind of gameplay decision I do not relish being forced to make, but the difficulty made it close to impossible to go any other way. Combine this with a series of missable items that are required to make it pass chapter 20 and you have a recipe for frustration.
Still, I think that once I start promoting some of my units, things will start to go a lot more smoothly. Many of my higher level first-tier units have several capped stats already. Once they reach the next tier and get those stat bonuses, they'll become quite formidable. I'm hoping that my myrmidon avatar will gain a lot of strength as a swordmaster, because she is actually lagging behind in that department despite possessing incredibly high skill and speed.
I probably won't be able to start playing Divinity for real until Saturday night, although I"ll probably buy it the day before. I've heard some really good things about it and I'm excited to give it a try--but we've committed to playing the game co-op, so I'll have to wait on him before I really dive in.
That still leaves me with the two single-player games I'm currently playing to finish. I made some progress on Front Mission 3 today and I played a bit of Fire Emblem last night. FM3 is going smoothly for the most part, but they did just throw a mission at me that requires me to split my eight-man roster into two different squads. Since I've only been using the same four characters for the majority of the game, this prospect is a little troublesome. Some of those characters have really outdated equipment and not a lot of proficiency in their weapons. If this becomes a common trend in the game, I might have to invest a lot more time into training, which will certainly lengthen the game.
In the case of Fire Emblem, I'm regretting more and more my decision to play the game on hard mode. It has been a nightmare just to get to Chapter 10x, where I am now. I've had to sacrifice a couple of playable characters that I otherwise might have ended up using until the end of the game. This is the kind of gameplay decision I do not relish being forced to make, but the difficulty made it close to impossible to go any other way. Combine this with a series of missable items that are required to make it pass chapter 20 and you have a recipe for frustration.
Still, I think that once I start promoting some of my units, things will start to go a lot more smoothly. Many of my higher level first-tier units have several capped stats already. Once they reach the next tier and get those stat bonuses, they'll become quite formidable. I'm hoping that my myrmidon avatar will gain a lot of strength as a swordmaster, because she is actually lagging behind in that department despite possessing incredibly high skill and speed.
I probably won't be able to start playing Divinity for real until Saturday night, although I"ll probably buy it the day before. I've heard some really good things about it and I'm excited to give it a try--but we've committed to playing the game co-op, so I'll have to wait on him before I really dive in.
Friday, July 11, 2014
List of Demands (Reparations) (Day 339)
I am most likely going to be playing Borderlands 2 for a pretty long period of time tonight, so I may not get another chance to post this entry! I really need to get back to Front Mission 3 before I lose motivation, but there'll be plenty of time for that over the next week. I don't really like how my schedule is laid out because I'm working every other day. This means I frequently have days off but they're never consecutive. It's a very disorienting and uncomfortable schedule, but I guess it'll still leave me with plenty of time to make progress. Until then, I'm going to try to sync up with my friend who has a busier schedule than me and try to make as much progress on Borderlands 2 as possible.
I'm also trying to inch my way through New Mystery of the Emblem on lunch breaks at work, but the amount of preparation required to advance is pretty insane. I should have known it would be like this if I went with hard mode because I do have a lot of experience with the series. Every movement must be painstakingly calculated. To be honest, I could make things a lot easier if I was more restrictive with my character choices, but I want to buff up some of my weaker characters just because I really like them. That's half of the fun of a Fire Emblem game--babysitting your weaker characters until they turn into unstoppable monsters. I'm hoping this will be the case with some of my lower leveled characters like Norne the archer and Cecile the cavalier.
Some of my characters are already monstrous either due to their natural stat growths or a considerable amount of luck on my part. Palla the pegasus knight, for instance, has a whopping 17 strength at level 17 unpromoted. This is insane for a pegasus knight because they generally are a lot weaker to compensate for their sky high speed and mobility--and the fact that they use spears which have high damage and accuracy. She is by far my strongest character, but Marth is progressing quite well also. Fire Emblem protagonists can sometimes be very weak. I'm thinking of characters like Roy and Eliwood in particular. I'll admit I don't really remember how strong he was in Shadow Dragon, but it looks like his stats are going to end up being really solid here, even though I doubt he'll be anywhere near as strong as Ike from Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn.
My avatar character (whom I've named Brea) is a myrmidon and the only sword user in my current roster aside from Marth himself and Cecile the cavalier who more commonly uses lances. Her skill and speed are monstrously high but her strength is really lagging behind. This is really common for the class but I'd feel a lot better if it was a few points higher. I think of classic Fire Emblem myrmidon/swordmasters like Guy, Rutger, and Joshua and I feel like their strength was generally quite a bit higher than that. If anything, her growths remind me a lot of Mia from Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn. I did like her a lot, but her strength was lacking. I'm hoping I'll get a pretty nice bonus to her strength when she promotes--and a passive bonus to crit would be great too. I know Swordmasters get that in later games but I'm not sure about New Mystery of the Emblem.
I'm also trying to inch my way through New Mystery of the Emblem on lunch breaks at work, but the amount of preparation required to advance is pretty insane. I should have known it would be like this if I went with hard mode because I do have a lot of experience with the series. Every movement must be painstakingly calculated. To be honest, I could make things a lot easier if I was more restrictive with my character choices, but I want to buff up some of my weaker characters just because I really like them. That's half of the fun of a Fire Emblem game--babysitting your weaker characters until they turn into unstoppable monsters. I'm hoping this will be the case with some of my lower leveled characters like Norne the archer and Cecile the cavalier.
Some of my characters are already monstrous either due to their natural stat growths or a considerable amount of luck on my part. Palla the pegasus knight, for instance, has a whopping 17 strength at level 17 unpromoted. This is insane for a pegasus knight because they generally are a lot weaker to compensate for their sky high speed and mobility--and the fact that they use spears which have high damage and accuracy. She is by far my strongest character, but Marth is progressing quite well also. Fire Emblem protagonists can sometimes be very weak. I'm thinking of characters like Roy and Eliwood in particular. I'll admit I don't really remember how strong he was in Shadow Dragon, but it looks like his stats are going to end up being really solid here, even though I doubt he'll be anywhere near as strong as Ike from Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn.
My avatar character (whom I've named Brea) is a myrmidon and the only sword user in my current roster aside from Marth himself and Cecile the cavalier who more commonly uses lances. Her skill and speed are monstrously high but her strength is really lagging behind. This is really common for the class but I'd feel a lot better if it was a few points higher. I think of classic Fire Emblem myrmidon/swordmasters like Guy, Rutger, and Joshua and I feel like their strength was generally quite a bit higher than that. If anything, her growths remind me a lot of Mia from Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn. I did like her a lot, but her strength was lacking. I'm hoping I'll get a pretty nice bonus to her strength when she promotes--and a passive bonus to crit would be great too. I know Swordmasters get that in later games but I'm not sure about New Mystery of the Emblem.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Challenger Deep (Day 325)
It's possible I'll play a little Vagrant Story tonight, but what's on my mind for the moment is this Fire Emblem game. Now that I've made a little progress (I'm on mission 3x), I feel like I can start making some choices on characters I'm going to use in my final roster. I think I've already pretty much decided that I'm going to use all of the pegasus knights the game throws at me. I've always really liked the class thematically and functionally. I enjoy hard-hitting highly mobile units that nevertheless drop to a stray breeze and pegasus knights fit that archetype to a T.
At the moment I only have Palla and Catria, but I've heard of a third by the name of Est and of course there is Marth's fiancee Caeda who has already appeared in the prologue missions. I can only assume she'll eventually become a permanent fixture of the squad. I'd also really like to use Cecille as my only cavalier/paladin. This has traditionally been one of my least favorite classes, but I do tend to find female paladins more interesting. Marth himself is a requirement but I'm sure I'd be using him regardless--and there's also the character the game tasks you with creating. I named her Brea and made her a myrmidon. It has proven thus far to be a decent choice because myrmidons have so far been in relatively short supply. Then again, I haven't come across any mercenaries either.
I'd like to have a good fighter or two because I've always really enjoyed axe-wielding characters because they hit ridiculously hard and can take some punishment. However, I find Cord and Bord to be incredibly boring. Barst from Shadow Dragon evidently returns for this game, so I'll probably end up using him. It does make me wish I could have made my "main" character a fighter though, but unfortunately that option is not available for female characters and I was unaware of that at the time. I should have known though, considering there has never been a female fighter in the history of the series--nor a male pegasus knight, for that matter.
As for archers, I think I'm definitely going to use Warren, mostly because he has the unusual Hunter class. Although similar classes would resurface in future games, that exact class has not been reused since. Hunters evidently promote to mounted archers, which is nothing really all that special when you consider nomads from the GBA games and bow knights from the Gamecube/Wii ones--but it's still pretty cool. Warren also seems to have a bit higher strength than his standard archer counterparts.
New Mystery of the Emblem is supposed to be pretty short at only 24 chapters, but considering the amount of time I've spent on just the first three, I can't imagine I'll get through it at less than 20 hours. I could easily be wrong here, but I guess we'll find out.
At the moment I only have Palla and Catria, but I've heard of a third by the name of Est and of course there is Marth's fiancee Caeda who has already appeared in the prologue missions. I can only assume she'll eventually become a permanent fixture of the squad. I'd also really like to use Cecille as my only cavalier/paladin. This has traditionally been one of my least favorite classes, but I do tend to find female paladins more interesting. Marth himself is a requirement but I'm sure I'd be using him regardless--and there's also the character the game tasks you with creating. I named her Brea and made her a myrmidon. It has proven thus far to be a decent choice because myrmidons have so far been in relatively short supply. Then again, I haven't come across any mercenaries either.
I'd like to have a good fighter or two because I've always really enjoyed axe-wielding characters because they hit ridiculously hard and can take some punishment. However, I find Cord and Bord to be incredibly boring. Barst from Shadow Dragon evidently returns for this game, so I'll probably end up using him. It does make me wish I could have made my "main" character a fighter though, but unfortunately that option is not available for female characters and I was unaware of that at the time. I should have known though, considering there has never been a female fighter in the history of the series--nor a male pegasus knight, for that matter.
As for archers, I think I'm definitely going to use Warren, mostly because he has the unusual Hunter class. Although similar classes would resurface in future games, that exact class has not been reused since. Hunters evidently promote to mounted archers, which is nothing really all that special when you consider nomads from the GBA games and bow knights from the Gamecube/Wii ones--but it's still pretty cool. Warren also seems to have a bit higher strength than his standard archer counterparts.
New Mystery of the Emblem is supposed to be pretty short at only 24 chapters, but considering the amount of time I've spent on just the first three, I can't imagine I'll get through it at less than 20 hours. I could easily be wrong here, but I guess we'll find out.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Mosikiiton Wa Mou Kikoenai (Day 322)
I've been playing Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo very infrequently on lunch breaks at work so I only just today got through all of the prologue missions and finally got to play the first real mission of the game. I'm playing it on hard mode and the training wheels are now off--any characters who die in battle will die permanently. I hadn't let anyone die in the prologue missions either because I thought it might be important for some reason. I made my "main" character a myrmidon and her Speed and Skill are progressing about as well as I'd expect for the class. Unfortunately, her Strength hasn't gone up at all. If that trend continues, I'm hoping I'll be able to get my hands on some stat increasing items so she can become more of a legitimate threat.
The gameplay of Shin Monshou no Nazo is pretty much identical to Shadow Dragon, which is probably a big part of the reason it never received an official localization. That is not to say that the gameplay, art, or storyline is bad, but it's certainly not as eminently playable as Fire Emblem: Awakening or even the three Fire Emblem titles on Game Boy Advance. I really miss the slick animations from the GBA iterations of these games, but it's looking like at this point, they're not coming back. Awakening was an improvement on the DS Fire Emblem remakes in just about every respect, but Intelligent Systems chose again not to return to that stylish 2D art style for reasons that are completely unknown to me.
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| On the Android DraStic emulator |
Still, Shin Monshou no Nazo is a Fire Emblem game, and for that reason, I feel obligated to play it. To be fair, it does seem like it's pretty fun, but only time will tell if it improves on Shadow Dragon in any significant aspect. It was a decent game, but definitely my least favorite of the series that I've played. (I haven't played Seisen no Keifu or Thracia 776 enough to make a fair judgment.) The mechanics are obviously identical, so the burden lies primarily on the story and characters--and admittedly, this is a big aspect of the series that pulls me in. Many of the newer Fire Emblem titles feature huge casts of fun characters that interact with each other in interesting ways. Couple that with traditional (but well-polished) gameplay and you have some pretty addictive games.
I felt Shadow Dragon was significantly lacking in the plot and character development departments. Beyond that, the graphics lacked the stylistic flair of the GBA iterations without the polished art present in the GameCube and Wii titles to make up for it. As a package, it was mediocre--especially when considered as part of a really solid series. Despite all this, I still consider it a solid title, and I'm sure the same will be true for Shin Monshou no Nazo.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Elm (Day 303)
Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyu is a remake of Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo, both of which were never released in America. The original was the third Fire Emblem game and itself consisted of a remake of the first of the series, although the second half of that game was entirely new content. The DS remake covers only the second half of that game, ostensibly because the very first Fire Emblem game was remade not too long beforehand as Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. Nintendo of America even deigned to release that one in America!
Monshou no Nazo means "Mystery of the Emblem," whereas the new mouthful of a title translates literally to "New Mystery of the Emblem: Heroes of Light and Shadow." I'm torn on how to refer to it. Since it was never officially released in America and thus did not receive an official localization, it is perhaps inaccurate to translate the name. Whenever I refer to the fourth and sixth Fire Emblem titles, I typically use their Japanese subtitles: Seisen no Keifu and Fuuin no Tsurugi respectively. Even though these games have been translated by fans, I've never really been in the habit of using their translated titles, primarily because there is some disagreement on the correct translations. In the case of Fuuin no Tsurugi (Fire Emblem 6), I have heard several different possible translations, such as "Binding Blade," "Sealed Sword," and "Sword of Seals," none of which seem to take any real precedence over the others.
In the case of Seisen no Keifu, it is generally agreed upon that the correct translation is "Genealogy of the Holy War," but that's such a mouthful I'd rather just spout out words from a foreign language. It is for consistency's sake that I'll probably just continue to refer to Shin Monshou no Nazo by it's Japanese name--or maybe Fire Emblem 3 in certain contexts. I've never really considered Fire Emblem a numbered series, although I'm aware of what number each entry corresponds to. In this case, it's a little confusing considering the complicated history of remakes involved.
Shin Monshou no Nazo continues the trend that Shadow Dragon started by significantly updating and streamlining the graphics and gameplay of the originals. It makes sense that Intelligent Systems would choose to adapt this title for a remake instead of Gaiden (Fire Emblem 2) for a couple of reasons. Monshou no Nazo picks up right where Fire Emblem left off, whereas Gaiden was a departure from the main storyline--and indeed from Fire Emblem gameplay as a whole. It reminds me a lot of how Final Fantasy II completely redefined the previously established gameplay present in its successor--and then was subsequently ignored in future installments. I've never played Gaiden before but I've heard that it's very different from the series as a whole.
Shin Monshou no Nazo features what surely must be an identical graphic engine to Shadow Dragon, as well as the same art style. It functions as less of a sequel and more of an expansion. The original Monshou no Nazo was more of a leap from its predecessor, considering the fact that it practically contained the content of two full games. Although I haven't played very far into Shin Monshou no Nazo, I can't see that it's made any other leaps in gameplay. The reclassing system (later adopted and refined by Fire Emblem: Awakening) is still there, but it doesn't add a lot of strategic depth to the gameplay considering that most recruits are likely to be best suited for their initial class anyway.
Still, I can't fault Shin Monshou no Nazo for sticking to a tried and true formula, particularly since it's a remake of a classic game in the series. Fire Emblem games are typically more simple than other strategy RPGs, but that simplicity imparts more weight into every decision. One move could result in permanent death for one of your characters. That adds a lot of drama to the gameplay, especially if events of the plot have made you grow attached to them. I'm skeptical that the plot and dialogue in Shin Monshou no Nazo will win me over like Path of Radiance or Rekka no Ken, but I think I'll definitely enjoy the game regardless.
Monshou no Nazo means "Mystery of the Emblem," whereas the new mouthful of a title translates literally to "New Mystery of the Emblem: Heroes of Light and Shadow." I'm torn on how to refer to it. Since it was never officially released in America and thus did not receive an official localization, it is perhaps inaccurate to translate the name. Whenever I refer to the fourth and sixth Fire Emblem titles, I typically use their Japanese subtitles: Seisen no Keifu and Fuuin no Tsurugi respectively. Even though these games have been translated by fans, I've never really been in the habit of using their translated titles, primarily because there is some disagreement on the correct translations. In the case of Fuuin no Tsurugi (Fire Emblem 6), I have heard several different possible translations, such as "Binding Blade," "Sealed Sword," and "Sword of Seals," none of which seem to take any real precedence over the others.
In the case of Seisen no Keifu, it is generally agreed upon that the correct translation is "Genealogy of the Holy War," but that's such a mouthful I'd rather just spout out words from a foreign language. It is for consistency's sake that I'll probably just continue to refer to Shin Monshou no Nazo by it's Japanese name--or maybe Fire Emblem 3 in certain contexts. I've never really considered Fire Emblem a numbered series, although I'm aware of what number each entry corresponds to. In this case, it's a little confusing considering the complicated history of remakes involved.
Shin Monshou no Nazo continues the trend that Shadow Dragon started by significantly updating and streamlining the graphics and gameplay of the originals. It makes sense that Intelligent Systems would choose to adapt this title for a remake instead of Gaiden (Fire Emblem 2) for a couple of reasons. Monshou no Nazo picks up right where Fire Emblem left off, whereas Gaiden was a departure from the main storyline--and indeed from Fire Emblem gameplay as a whole. It reminds me a lot of how Final Fantasy II completely redefined the previously established gameplay present in its successor--and then was subsequently ignored in future installments. I've never played Gaiden before but I've heard that it's very different from the series as a whole.
Shin Monshou no Nazo features what surely must be an identical graphic engine to Shadow Dragon, as well as the same art style. It functions as less of a sequel and more of an expansion. The original Monshou no Nazo was more of a leap from its predecessor, considering the fact that it practically contained the content of two full games. Although I haven't played very far into Shin Monshou no Nazo, I can't see that it's made any other leaps in gameplay. The reclassing system (later adopted and refined by Fire Emblem: Awakening) is still there, but it doesn't add a lot of strategic depth to the gameplay considering that most recruits are likely to be best suited for their initial class anyway.
Still, I can't fault Shin Monshou no Nazo for sticking to a tried and true formula, particularly since it's a remake of a classic game in the series. Fire Emblem games are typically more simple than other strategy RPGs, but that simplicity imparts more weight into every decision. One move could result in permanent death for one of your characters. That adds a lot of drama to the gameplay, especially if events of the plot have made you grow attached to them. I'm skeptical that the plot and dialogue in Shin Monshou no Nazo will win me over like Path of Radiance or Rekka no Ken, but I think I'll definitely enjoy the game regardless.
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