Developers: Intelligent Systems
Publisher: NintendoHi, this is my first review for romulation, and I have decided to choose the latest and eleventh instalment of Fire Emblem on the DS - Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon to focus on. I have been an avid fire emblem fan for years now and have always appreciated the inner conflict that most fans have - the pride at being part a lesser known "cult" and the relief that I don't have to sell my soul to get a proper translation (my collarbone still hurts after hours on the laptop getting FE 4 to work on my PSP) due to the series' recent localisation. So I must at this point say the thank you that every FE fan has while they see the series being much more recognised - thank you Super Smash Brothers, for alerting us Westerners to this glorious series. Now, onto this particular title.FEDS (as it is abbreviated by fans) is a turn-based strategy game made by the same folks that make the Advance Wars series: Intelligent Systems. However, unlike the Advance Wars series the little men tearing each other new ones will be gonzo forever if their HP reaches 0. The player takes control of Marth's army (He's the blue-haired guy from SSB) and must fight the opposing enemies with all of the cliched landscapes and simple weapons of a medieval game. Play can be achieved via the stylus or buttons if one wishes, which is good for those who don't want wrist cramps and would rather a workout for their fingers. Each character or 'unit' has a movement range, class, stats and can in some way or another help the player progress through the game's 24 chapters. The class system is also typical of the series and many others, but FE has taken a leaf out of Final Fantasy's book here and added a reclass option (no doubt for all the nerds who say 'Pegasus Knights should so be able to upgrade to Paladins because of their speed!') Anyone save for a few 'special' characters can be anything, which adds a new dimension to both the difficulty (see below) and strategy (the aforementioned nerds will be pleased to hear that growths change with reclassing also. YETH!)
Although they look related, Marth and Sheeda are this FEs 'couple who are so obviously meant to be together it's painful to watch.' Lilina and Roy are gonna be piiiisssed...The story cannot be faulted much in FEDS without jumping in a time machine to the 80s. For you see, the game is a remake of FE3, which is a remake of FE1 (lol wut?) It is your average 'evil guy is taking over your gutless peaceful empire and you are the chosen one destined to stop him and his badass pet dragon' plot. (Oh, and your sister decided to pull a Princess Peach too.) Been there, done that. Where Shadow Dragon (which is 'DS' reversed, by the way; ZOMG) shines is its character interaction and the realistic dialogue between characters. The game makes the characters seem more...human (which FE game doesn't?) It was a pleasure to begin each chapter, because the narration also shines as it is much more opinionated, lively and less monotonous which really gives FEDS a story-book feel. Cutscenes can also be skipped for those who don't want to listen to Ye Olde English and are not in the mood because they are in a particularly gruelling playthrough. This leads me to the localisation. Simply beautiful. Somebody knew what they were doing at Intelligent Systems - not a language error in sight (a nice break from all of the unofficially translated FE games I've been playing - no offence, but how do you confuse milk-brother with adopted brother? W.T.F)
FEDS had humble roots as a somewhat ugly looking JSRPG in the 90s. Now I see why it's a remake of a remake. I would be happy if Intelligent Systems put half as much effort into remaking FE4 and FE6 than they did on Marth.The graphics in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon were my favourite aspect of the game. They maps and background reminded me forcefully of the SNES titles (this may attest to the games' less cartoony feel.) The sprites are creepy, however as they have no faces and look like I could grate them on top of my macaroni. But the colours can be both dull and bright to suit their character which is lovely to see as most games of the genre stick with one and I've never imagined Generic Bandit in a full blown pink dress (at least not consciously...*drool*. Kidding.) Other than that, the only disappointment I can poke a lance at is the fact that only hair colour changes to distinguish units of the same class. I don't think it would kill Intelligent Systems to do Pallette swapping (save for portrait and name, I couldn't tell my dark mages appart because I couldn't see their hair.) Animations are about all FE has in terms of visuals, and thankfully these are soothly and impeccably done. They are realistic, but arguably a little TOO realistic (I wanted to see my swordmaster drop out of the sky :( ) They can be skipped to please the fanboys, however, which is a plus if I you're in a hurry and want a quick playthrough.
"Thanks for beating the bad guys, but now I'm going to stay here and wait for them to kill me."Despite all of the charming character interaction in FEDS the player is forced to be much less heartless when playing because they cannot go to the nearest shop and buy another purty Pegasus Knight. However, there is something lacking in this title compared to the rest of the series, which has some similarities with the aforementioned Advance Wars series - for the hardcore gamer to unlock the much loved gaiden chapters (that have set FE apart for 6 years now) and consequently certain new characters, they must say goodbye to a large portion of their existing units. So, a digression must be made at this point: you DO need to be heartless when playing this title if you want to unlock some extra shiz.
I used to know a guy called CON, but he got murdered trying to stay retro.This actually left me in two minds. I was initially very shocked when I read the requirements to get the gaiden chapters - I didn't want to part with some of my characters, because the FE series has steadily been gaining character development with each new release and I wanted to see how certain characters' stories panned out. But then I thought, as I sacrificed Jagen as part of the story (synonymous with 'useless' to most individuals familiar with the series) and wondered how the enemy could possibly be fooled by this old man disguised as Marth, that the game is being realistic. This is war. I'm sure whoever is controlling the buff red guys on the map is holding back a tear as well, but he has to be the bad guy :/ I guess I had to too.
"Mommy? When's daddy coming home?"
"He isn't. He died pillaging."
Think before you kill a random banditBut nevertheless, I ended up killing only one guy on purpose and non-canon, all because I wanted the faster archer girl. I brought him back later because his pixelated ghost was giving me nightmares. So no gaiden chapters for me. But this did not concern me as much as my next finding. There are no supports in this game. Characters talk, sure, but there are no benefits from their liaisons, no obvious flirting, no secretive kitten petting coming from the buff guy on the front lines. If it weren't for the event sequences and the "talk" option I'd say Advance Wars has more humanity that FE: Shadow Dragon. I wanted the cliched fairytale stories and endings on FEDS - from every character, not just pudgy-faced Marth - and I got zilch. Perhaps I'll play TWEWY after this to placate myself (Just kidding rabid fans.)Another disappointment for me was the lack of a rescue option. No con (constitution stat.) While this upped the difficulty for me, I must admit I like to finish my epic pixelated battles quickly, and my flying units' movement range seemed wasted when I couldn't transport other units (also, no way in hell I'm wasting my warp staff on Marths' skinny armour plate.)Weapons take their GBA counterparts (Iron, steel, silver) and a weapon triangle can now be found in FEDS which naturally adds more strategy to the title as well as something fresh compared to the past two remakes. FEDS has also borrowed the concept of weapon forging from its bigger brothers (FE 9 and 10) which can basically turn an iron sword into a silver one for the low, low price of 3000 gold. It was a nice feature, but one I overlooked because I'm cheap.
New awesome character Frey not only has a ruggedly handsome face but badass stats too.To add further guilt in making its players murderers, Intelligent Systems has added new characters to Shadow Dragon, and improved the stats of old ones from the first and third Fire Emblem titles, which I am grateful for. It is easier to level characters due to the improved difficulty level (more on that later) and the fact that Healers now get much more experience. Plus, there is no rush like other titles to complete chapters early to get the gaiden chapters, which allows for more level grinding from reinforcement enemies, and watching two 2.5 D images fight to the death makes this process more fun (not.) But it's needed, as difficulty can be a b*tch.
Selectively killing someone because they're inferior sounds familiar to me...Oh yeah, it's Zephiel's crazy plan for humanity in FE6!Another added aspect which left me in two minds was the process of saving. For some unknown reason, there are now "save points" on the map which must be reached in order to saving the game. The game can be "suspended"but like most games that have this feature this is lost once you reboot the cartridge. So, what we are left with is a system where you don't have to restart the chapter if someone important dies (yay) and can resume from when you were about to kill Random Buff Axe-Wielder. This takes away from the games' play length but at the same time makes the title much more pleasant and condensed.
"I thought you were dead?"
"Nope!"FEDS's difficulty is by far what caused me to keep playing, however. The 'normal' option comes with for extra mini chapters for giving you a head start and thus easing newcomers much more easily than the 10 chapter tutorial that was Lyn's mode in FE 7 (annoying, to say the least.) For the hardcore gamer who wishes to relive the 90s and can somehow get through being killed by a 20% chance hit 5 times in the one chapter, there are the more strenuous difficulty levels which off the top of my head start at "hard" and end in "brutal" (perhaps they were trying to be funny here? After three game overs I had to refrain from hysterics.) Either way, it's good that they give players a complete choice of whether to turn off tutorials and help windows. Intelligent Systems seems to read the rants on nerdy FE forums quite diligently...It is also good to see that unlike a lot of games *capcommegamancoughcough* Intelligent Systems does not forget its old titles. This is particularly evident in the game's soundtrack. While it was nothing special, the title boasts remixes of popular FE tunes (hearing "Together We Ride" made me so happy I had to change my pants afterwards) and of course rehashed tunes of FE 1 and FE 3 The songs reflect on the games medieval genre and are quite smooth and generally not too midi-y . I can actually bear to listen to the map music with the sound on unlike in FE6, which is always a plus. While nothing stood out too much, nothing made me want an ear transplant either, so to surmise I shall say so-so.Multiplayer is incredibly simplistic but deep. There is an arena-style game to play with friends or all over the world which stays true to the other titles. But there are also a number of map-styled games which different objectives to play with rental or original characters. It seems they listened to all the forum geeks on this one too. Definitely adds to the longevity of the game.To conclude (some of you may be thinking finally) FEDS was a bit of bite-sized version of console FE with its sprawling maps and mature feel. It was fun to play and I can compare it adequately to a hot bath - weird once you get in, but you get used to it after you put in all your favourite bubblebaths.My Scores:Presentation: The screens are very adequately used, which proves that the dual screens were made for this genre. Battle animations character stats and other are on the top screen and the bottom screen houses a sprawling map. Exactly the way I would've done it! (10/10)Graphics: The maps are a blast from the past, which I loved. The sprites are aesthetically disgusting and pallettes are not fully used, but the animations are flawless and the colours are quite dull, but can be colourful in appropriate places. All to do with the mature feel, I think (7.5/10)Sound: Contains rehashed BGM from the earlier titles, the best of the best from each, remixed quite fairly on the DS. They are nice, but aren't anything particularly brilliant. FEDS shines in the sound effect department, which made me think of noble steeds (flying or non flying variety) and charging knights. Oh, and impaled torsos. Ew. (8/10)Gameplay: Kept to the hardcore FE mechanics that we know and love. Difficult, fun and requires deep thinking. Everything is at your control: animations, stylus or buttons, sound. Reclassing, forging and the usual turn-based strategy ensured a breath of fresh air while keeping to the norm in this remake of a remake. No supports, however, which is disappointing and pretty much makes the 1.5 loss in this rating (8.5/10)Lasting Appeal: Deep. Really deep. The multiplayer will keep you playing, trying to get all gaiden chapters and the characters that go with them will keep you playing, playing on all difficulties will keep you playing, Wi-Fi will keep you playing. Wonderful lasting appeal! (10/10)All up: 44/50. Didn't expect anything less from this franchise...*Disclaimer: All pictures are the property of their respective owners. Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon is property of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.