Browny

Is it just me, or is Mirabel's left eye larger than her right in that image?

It's weirding me out...

It's likely just Three Hopes, especially if they consider Heroes a "main" entry. Probably retroactively numbered 18 after release or something.

Doubt it's some big deal.

Ahh, the initial reveal for the SMT x FE project that eventually morphed into a game that few people liked, it seemed. How our minds went wild at the possibilities of a strategy RPG with instakill magic spells and permadeath.

And instead, we got Persona lite with FE characters as the "personas". 😂

All in all, I think TMS turned out to be a good experience. Though I do miss Iwata's presentation. He added something extra to the experience.

If only the pins had actual artwork of each character, rather than the character renders from the game. I'd have gladly used the points for that.

@Hejiru
Boooo I'm so disappointed. (For no reason since I wasn't even going to buy the game.)

I guess the lategame tune ain't so bad, but it lacks the nostalgia factor for me, personally.

If this ends up getting a macOS version, I'll definitely look into it. Love these kinds of games, and this one looks super fun.

Because of how song names are sometimes translated differently, I wonder if any of these songs are from Binding Blade, specifically the first theme for Roy's campaign (translated on my playlist as Beyond the Sky)?

Which I don't see anything on the list remotely named similarly, so again it feels like Roy Our Boy was shafted.

Did we seriously expect a rabid launch day? For Fire Emblem of all things?

This isn't Mario, Smash or Zelda. You'll get fans, but not a doorbuster experience.

I remember when I went to the MH4U events at the store. So much more engaging than what I've heard and seen here.

I don't care anymore in general. I still hunt down the Smash series amiibo, just because I'm only missing the newest releases to complete the collection.

Other than that, I collect Splatoon (again, because I have them all), but I'm not interested anymore beyond that.

I think Nintendo has moved on from the concept themselves, only trotting it out in an effort to make a few extra bucks here and there.

Clearly they were a fan of Red version instead...

Nintendo always does something wacky, so it's just as likely to be a home console instead of a hybrid.

But I think they would benefit from keeping the same concept for another generation, given the success it's had. I think tech has advanced to such a degree that the benefits of the hybrid model outweigh those of going back to a grounded machine. Adding in backwards compatibility would be the icing on the cake.

And my suggestion for the name? The Super Nintendo Switch.

@JohnnyMind
Ehh, siding with Garon is more of a side effect. It's the Nohr siblings that ask you to remain with your family when the decision is thrust upon you (that I can recall).

As for the Revelations path, the issue there is how vehemently both sides turn on Corrin when he refuses to choose. You'd think at least one side (probably Nohr, given the history they share with Corrin) would be a bit more willing to hear them out, but again the conflict feels forced to justify the plot they want to tell. It's contrived.

Like I said previously, the premise isn't bad, just poorly handled through and through. It's more disappointing than anything.

@JohnnyMind
"Corrin grew up in isolation, only visited by their Nohr siblings, because of Garon."

All the more reason why the idea of Corrin (and the player) turning on their adoptive siblings, their only REAL family, made so little sense. Garon was the monster all along, but to lay the blame at the feet of the siblings who made an effort to be there for Corrin? Just makes no sense outside giving the obvious choice for the sake of different versions of the game.

Even if the Birthright and Revelations versions made virtually no sense as a result.

I won't comment on the rest of the post you made, only because my memory of the experience is extremely hazy, having been six or seven years now since I played the games.

I don't think Fates was a bad premise, far from it. But it was executed poorly, to say the least.

@roy130390
Even from the pre-release materials, I argued with those friends at the time that unless they really hit it out of the park with the narrative, it was going to be the dumbest thing in practice. The game release, I called it, and those same friends labeled me a "hater' for it.

I agree that the choices didn't have to be strictly equivalent for the sake of game parity. They already treated each version differently, with Birthright owing more to the likes of Awakening, and Conquest being more akin to the GBA/GCN games. Why not make the stories flow more organically as a result? Allowing Corrin to recruit some of the Nohr siblings to his side in Birthright, and vice versa where the natural development of the characters allows. Instead, you get no Nohr siblings in Birthright, or Hoshido siblings in Conquest. It reeked of "we can't allow this because it wouldn't be fair to the other version".

I won't comment further on Revelations, as that version I played the least, and am happier for it. That whole entry felt like a weird third leg to the whole mess.

Ultimately, I do feel that Fates was this rather divisive entry in the series, though this is based on nothing more than pure speculation and anecdotal evidence on my part. Clearly it held sway, seeing how prominently the cast featured in the Warriors spinoff, and the mobile game too; no doubt fueled by the inherent tribalism of the fanbase. "Did you side with Hoshido, or Nohr?"

And personally, more than anything, it was the breaking point for me in regards to the series. After this entry, I felt that Intelligent Systems lost their way, and every game since has further added to this feeling. That Engage has apparently pruned back the qualities of the series I genuinely dislike is nice, but I also don't want to go back to it. I'll always have the GBA titles to replay, if the mood strikes.

I remember watching the anime for Tales of the Abyss and finding it to be a decent substitute for the game. I'll probably give this a go over the next few weeks just to see what it was like.

A lot of Symphonia's story is pretty hazy to me. I just remember the game being super long, dragging at lots of points.

I skipped on Sunbreak, despite a bit of hype leading up to the release. I completed everything the original release on Switch had to offer, and had a blast doing so.

However, the group I played with dispersed, so I never got invested enough in playing the hardest content, since doing so with random people online is not as fun as doing it with a group of friends.

Base Rise was probably my last Monster Hunter experience; it's been a great run from MH3 till now.

@roy130390
Back during the release window of Fates, I remember getting into heated arguments with my friend group of the time about why the very existence of Birthright (and Revelation) was absolutely stupid compared to Conquest.

Establishing that this is all opinion, it just never made sense to me that Corrin, as established, and the family from Nohr, as initially presented, would turn on each other upon the revelation (ha) that they were from Hoshido. I suppose there will always be those that feel that blood trumps upbringing, but to say that after going through the first five or six chapters with the Nohr family, and then choosing to turn on them?

I don't know, felt like it would say a lot more about the player than anything else. And the way the Nohr family would turn on you was just as... mishandled.

Granted, I'm discussing this as someone who only lightly played every version, and not to completion, as I genuinely hated two of the three, with Conquest being the exception. Funny how even then, and now looking back, Conquest is the one that most closely resembled the classic FE old school fans cut their teeth on, versus those that came in later.

tl;dr Conquest was the best of the three, because it was the one that made the most sense if you're actually a human being with empathy for people you "grew up" with.

@Gregeo
You can download the uncolored scan from here: https://ibb.co/KD1s0f1

And my hot take with this is: the original version of P4 was better, and the additions here were mixed at best, trashy at worst.

But I still think the game is well worth the price of admission and worth playing if you've never had the chance.

I think the score is fair. As a fan of both, P3 is inferior in a number of ways to P4, whether we like to admit it or not.

But I also don't think the answer was just to port FES; rather, if Atlus put in a bit more effort, they could have reworked and combined FES and Portable into a definitive package, even if it did come with a higher price tag.

But they didn't, they took the easy route, and now we have a PSP game on Switch in all its nerfed glory. Still worth playing, but you can't fault people for pointing out how "scaled back" it feels coming from the likes of 5 (Royal) or 4 (Golden).

@Gregeo
To be fair, couldn't stop you if you did do it.

I could provide you the original scan if you'd prefer to do your own coloring, too.

I managed to find the Sephiroth amiibo in a store, but not Kazuya. I'll track him down before long.

Oh wow, I did not expect the review to pan out this way. Very interesting.

Still passing on the game, though. I've firmly left the series behind at this point. Hope those that do buy, enjoy.

Okay, but where's Chloe?

I want her illustration, please. And thank you.

@Gregeo
It's Alice, from a version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland published by Seven Seas with illustrations by Kriss Sison.

It's a scan of an illustration in the novel, colored by myself in Photoshop.

I really, REALLY need to get back into this. But I've been hooked on my holiday backlog of PS5 titles, and during the week I really don't want to play anything after long, tiring days of work staring at monitors.

Spoiler alert but... rumor has it the final boss is a dragon. Which would be a massive departure from every other game in the series!

Ehhh... can't say either is really doing it for me. But if I had to pick, probably the NA/EU version.

These little animations bring back a lot of memories of the game's player's guide, which was one of my favorite possessions ever growing up.

I know this style may never come back, but sometimes I wish they'd tap it again. Yes, it's fueled by nostalgia. Like the darker art style used for Majora's Mask.

I'm looking forward to replaying P3 and P4 later this year. It's been a while since my last runs.

@DDFawfulGuy
Q2 was such a massive improvement over Q in almost every way, you're bound to have a great time. The music alone is reason to play that game, as I find the soundtrack to outclass any of the previous games, though I suppose your mileage may vary on that one.

@JonSpangler
Thanks for the info! Looks like I'll have to plan a nice excursion towards the end of the year 2025.

It looks super fun and cute. I hope it comes to the Florida park in the next few years, so I can plan a weekend trip.

As Tony is shooting down the ducks you can hear him yell, "COME ONNNN PELICAN!"

These crept up on me. I should probably pick them up sooner rather than later.

The Smash amiibo collection will soon be complete and I can die happy.

The games are over 10, nearly 15 years old. Seriously?

Not that I watch streamers for these kinds of games but seriously.

Path of Radiance being the best is correct. Don't much care for the rest of the list, as I hardly recall any of the narratives.

I was going to ask where Binding Blade was, until I remembered that one never got an official release in the West.

I like the way it looks.

But the biggest problem with the GCN controller was the button layout was abysmal for playing GBA games. So... this is definitely a weird controller to greenlight and sell.

I'm still waiting to see what comes about of that "leaked" Final Fantasy IX Remake, since it is my favorite game in the series.

I don't want or need much from such a project, to be fair. The original game, flaws and all, is a fantastic narrative experience. I feel that a remake would try to iron out some of the flaws, but only succeed in replacing them with new ones.

Voice acting is also likely to be added, which itself might not be a bad thing. Provided they keep the script as close to the original as possible, as the characterizations were absolutely top tier.

Beyond that, I'm expecting 13 to get the remaster treatment before long, but not for Switch. I could go without Tactics, as the War of the Lions port was decent and rereleasing that is all we really need. Short of rebuilding that game from the ground up, you can't polish that Tactics Ogre clone any better than it already got.

Ahh... the wild west of early video game era Nintendo. We'll never see its like again.

Still debating if that's for the best or not...

@ArcticEcho
I would have been about 14 when it launched? With those I played with being the same age or a couple years younger.

The thing is, for my experience, that Kirby Air Ride didn't give us anything to really sink our teeth into. We played the likes of Smash, Mario Kart, Mario Party... nothing of real substance but much more engaging that Air Ride.

Everyone will have had a different experience, which I get. But even looking back now, there's so little meat on this game that outside nostalgia... I just don't get the appeal. Which is fine; even Wii Music had fans, or so I hear.

Honestly, I expected Splatoon to beat it out in Japan. Maybe not by much, but just barely. Seems Pokemon still got weight outside the rabid fanbase online.

Also mad props to Mario Kart remaining in the top 10 despite it being its fifth (sixth?) year on the market. Longest legs.

Like a few others here, I never understood the appeal of Air Ride. It had no real grand prix mode (that I can recall), and City Trial was fun for all of an hour.

This felt like one of the greatest letdowns of not just Kirby, but Nintendo as a whole. Personally, I rank it alongside Wii Music for absolute duds in Nintendo's catalog.

No thanks to a low effort port of an inferior port.

I'll wait another couple years for Bandai Namco to "remaster" Tales of the Abyss for its 20th anniversary. There's a game I wouldn't mind going back to after 15ish years.

When it eventually gets opened in the Orlando park, I'd be willing to give it a go.

I avoid the west coast like the plague as it is.

@Wexter
Strong response, I appreciate the other view.

Just so happens it was Fates that ultimately threw me off the train personally. I lay a lot of the blame on Awakening (unjustly so, I admit), and I both understand and agree that it saved the series by using a clever mix of concepts from the series whole. But my issue with the game was always the unbalanced Pair Up mechanic. Tangent for another day.

Nintendo's marketing is certainly also to blame, but I do point the finger at Heroes a lot because it's the F2P approach that has brought a lot more attention to the franchise, and Nintendo naturally will play up those same selling points to the gacha game's fanbase. Ultimately, it's a very deep blend of factors that has brought us to today.

I'll take your word for the scaling back of the elements in the likes of Three Houses; confess I skipped it entirely because the setting itself (as presented in marketing materials and discussions from the fanbase) made it seem like it was a much greater, almost encompassing aspect of the experience. That Engage is bringing back the feature dressed up in a new way and bigger than ever is not exactly enticing me to get back into the series.

But having these discussions as a pair of cranky old fans is always fun, because whether we agree or disagree, it's the discussion that makes it worthwhile.

Ugh... this will be the second Splatfest I miss, and it feels bad man. I suppose I should try to at least register and do a match or two to get credit for it, like I did with the last splatfest...

@jolteon23
It's not that the earliest entries didn't have these elements or influences. It's that those elements and influences have grown to such an extent they rival the core gameplay itself.

The old curmudgeon in me could yell at the clouds and say the old games were better, but that wouldn't be fair to the newer games. Those games still have a lot of the qualities that made the GBA or GCN titles great. I just feel those qualities have either been overshadowed, or at the very least tainted by the series' new direction pioneered by Awakening, and driven to an extreme through Heroes.

Which again: is fine. They're chasing the paying market, and that market happens to be those who are into the more "anime" and "waifu" elements. I cannot fault a company for chasing the profits when the series was historically a poor performing one.

@Tyranexx
See, I got into the series with Sword of Seals on GBA (actually played it in Japanese before the first localized entry came out). Most of my opinions stem from having that entry be the gateway drug; I can live with just a campaign with optional missions or branching paths. I don't need or even want all the fluff around that, like the stuff introduced in Fates, Three Houses, etc.

And from these early previews, it looks like they're adding even more padding and fluff, rather than reigning it in. At what point does the game go from strategy RPG with a dash of army management to equal parts dating sim and strategy RPG? That's the direction the series has been heading since Awakening, and like I mentioned, a perfectly understandable direction given that's what generates profits.

I'm a bitter crab about it, admittedly. But more than anything, I'm saddened that the series has evolved in this way. I'll always have the GBA titles to look back on fondly, at least.

Thank you for the great write up, it confirmed what I expected to be the case come the review later this month.

@Tyranexx put it best, it looks and feels like a EO Nexus type of game, something to please fans, but moreso fans that came in with either Awakening or Heroes, rather than those who have been with the series for longer.

It still feels like they put so much emphasis on the characters and getting to play with them rather than the narrative, or how naturally it felt in older games when characters interacted. I think IS lost sight of what made those interactions great in the likes of Path of Radiance; it was an extra look into your army, but at the end of the day, it was about the conflict, not having a fun time in the midst of said conflict.

This will be a pass, much like the last few games for me. I had hoped it would be more a return to classic form, but it's yet another show of fanservice to their new audience. And to be fair, this is the same audience that's currently lining IS and Nintendo's pockets. Not for the Fire Emblem, but for the Waifu Emblem.

How has there not been an influx of Nopon themed plushies?

I would spend ungodly amounts of money on Nopon.

Honestly, from afar, you can't even tell it's Pokemon themed. Kinda just looking like an elaborate design holding up the diamond.

That price is ridiculous however. There is no where close to $11k worth of gold on that tiny thing.