PRE-ORDERS OPEN 5th December = EU release + importing to America details

[hyde]

*-Formerly Virgin Megastores

Well, that would certainly explain why I couldn't find any on my trip to London >_>

But anyway, I still can't get over how excited I am. I really liked the game but I never seem to be able to fully enjoy the game if it's in a different language, even if I ignore the storyline altogether.

[Lemurian]

Woot!! Awesome news for us Europeans.

[Jeffer]

Awesome news! 5 December is the day of Sinterklaas (Basically, the day we get presents, though we do celebrate Christmas and many also give presents then.) in Holland, so I can't ask it for that day. Unless my parents won't mind getting it on the same day.

But who cares? It's not going to be 2009!

Unless stuff is that crazy north of the border, I do believe sinterklaas in on 6 december o_O. Maffe hollanders...

It's nice for European FE Fans, but it doesn't say much for Nintendo's hope in the series...

[hyde]

Unless stuff is that crazy north of the border, I do believe sinterklaas in on 6 december o_O. Maffe hollanders...

It's nice for European FE Fans, but it doesn't say much for Nintendo's hope in the series...

It used to be, but these days it's the 5th of December. Though some still celebrate it on the 6th. Must be all the cheese we consume ...

[Rewjeo]

Meh. I'm in the states, but I really don't care. Quite frankly I'd have to say this is the worst FE ever. Why? The same reason I hate almost all new games now. They try so hard on the graphics that they end up making it look like there's a bunch of balloons fighting, and then they spend no time on the controls so they almost always get butchered as well. The one thing this has going for it is that since it's a remake of an older game, the storyline probably'll end up good.

[hyde]

Wait. They try so hard on graphics? Have you even looked at PoR or RD?

If this is the best they can do in terms of graphics we shouldn't be getting our hopes up at all for the future.

And controls? Since when have controls been an issue with Fire Emblem? I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, this game is as easy to control as Wii Sports Tennis.

Also, isn't it a bit soon to dub this "the worst Fire Emblem ever" without ever having played it?

[FE3_Player]

FEDS is the perfect example of what to play when one preaches Gameplay > Graphics.

The graphics, while pre-rendered, are still decent (the legitimate concern is that there are no unique unit graphics other than different hair color, since it shows laziness), and the battle animations are very fast and concise, so they actually make the game much more fun to play.  More fun to play = Bonus points for the gameplay department.

Controls?  Does this even matter?

Despite the complaints, FEDS is not the worst FE ever.  I would rank it pretty high, because it is so freaking good.

[Superbus]

My own review will be readable probably next week - it scored decently, though I can imagine FE3_Player putting a hit out on me - and I basically said it best there: the graphics are simple and the battle scenes suck, but the character art is so beautiful that it doesn't really matter.

[FE3_Player]

but the character art is so beautiful that it doesn't really matter.

Hah.  This more than makes up for anything bad you say, heh.  Most people seem to hate the portraits/art.  The maptiles/backgrounds are also beautiful, and it's clear that a lot of the graphical effort went into those..

[Rewjeo]

Okay, maybe the whole worst ever one was a bit too soon, but I'd say the worst to watch battles in. But, seeing as (in my view) all the fire emblem games are pretty even, and as such the only real difference is the graphics. And as for controls and trying super hard on graphics, well at that point I was just talking about in general. Now, the gameplay is still probably good, and I don't care much about graphics, but when the graphics are so painful to watch, (at least for me) it's much more worth it to just stick to FE1 and FE3. After all, the only major differences are graphics and the whole Book 2 thing. However, I stand by the fact that games nowadays just don't compare to older games.

[FE3_Player]

FEDS is much better than FE3 Book 1, and probably obsoletes FE1.  There are some gameplay differences and Class Swap, as well as the whole Hard 1-5 modes that FE1 doesn't have.  You would have to play it to realize that it lives up to the classic games well.

As for the battle graphics.  They're much more fun to watch than FE1/3.  I'm glad they kept the SNES style, even if it meant pre-rendered sprites.

[Neofox]

I fail to see how the games have been putting a greater focus on graphics than gameplay as of late... The animations have been getting better, yes, but I don't see anything else getting neglected at the same time, so I'm not seeing the "sacrifice" of gameplay and control that is being described here.

[Cold Popcorn]

The graphics in this game are excellent, for crying out loud. They by-pass the issue of dodgy N64-like blocky 3D or GBA quality graphics that plague DS games brilliantly (Case in point, recent SRPGs: FFTA2 looks like a GBA game, Disgaea DS's 3D environments look horrible and out of place with the 2D sprites). The only problem I have with the graphics is the lack of palette swaps for characters in battle. The only thing that changes is the head, which is fucking hilarious if you make Riff a Myrmidon. And if you don't like it you can always skip it (and even entire enemy turns), which if you ask me is one of the best features in the game.

And whoever said the controls were crap? It's probably impossible to botch FE's controls. It's actually better, since the touch screen controls do work, and they added the auto attack thing from Advance Wars for when you click on an opponent. Hell, compared to other SRPGs in general the whole interface would really have to go down the drain to be worse than anything else.

From a technical standpoint, it's probably one of the best FE games, up with Thracia and FE7/8.

[Mekkah]

And whoever said the controls were crap?

iono, the controls seem like the best ever to me. Touch screen, auto attack, swapping weapons at the combat window, multiple scrolling options...and the interface is much better as well, with the map visible at all times and such.

[Superbus]

The "controls" of Fire Emblem are so simple it'd be near impossible to fuck them up. C'mon. To fuck that up takes effort.

[FE3_Player]

The graphics in this game are excellent, for crying out loud. They by-pass the issue of dodgy N64-like blocky 3D or GBA quality graphics that plague DS games brilliantly (Case in point, recent SRPGs: FFTA2 looks like a GBA game, Disgaea DS's 3D environments look horrible and out of place with the 2D sprites). The only problem I have with the graphics is the lack of palette swaps for characters in battle. The only thing that changes is the head, which is fucking hilarious if you make Riff a Myrmidon.

Exactly, the lack of diversity in the body of units needed to be improved, but everything else works out fine as a remake in SNES style battles.

Actually, I was overjoyed when I saw that the hair changed color depending on unit.  FE3 didn't even do that.  Every Pegasus Sister looked like Sheeda, every Mercenary was Blonde, etc.

From a technical standpoint, it's probably one of the best FE games, up with Thracia and FE7/8.

This.  If they don't take away H5 mode, it'll also be the most difficult FE we'll get in America as well, while Normal mode being easy enough for everyone else to enjoy.

And if you don't like it you can always skip it (and even entire enemy turns), which if you ask me is one of the best features in the game.

Controls get 10/10 based on skipping enemy turns alone. Anybody who says otherwise can screw themselves.

[Jedor]

Controls get 10/10 based on skipping enemy turns alone. Anybody who says otherwise can screw themselves.

Isn't that a gameplay issue rather than controls? >_>

[Areth]

I fail to see how the games have been putting a greater focus on graphics than gameplay as of late... The animations have been getting better, yes, but I don't see anything else getting neglected at the same time, so I'm not seeing the "sacrifice" of gameplay and control that is being described here.

I'd say that the battle scenes in PoR and RD were w a y... t o o... s l o w... Particularly if they involved Armor Knights. I'd say that's an example of graphics getting in the way of gameplay.

Well, they did bring back the option to skip the battle scenes entirely in RD, so maybe I can't complain.

[FE3_Player]

FEDS' battle scenes are much, much faster than PoR/RD.

Trust me.

[Neofox]

I'd say that the battle scenes in PoR and RD were w a y... t o o... s l o w... Particularly if they involved Armor Knights.

What, you expect armors to be running around in DBZ-levels of speed during combat?

I can understand animations can be slow at times, but sometimes they're like that for a reason.