Fire Emblem looks hideous, we still want it

by Candace Savino { Jun 27th 2008 at 5:00PM }

When we first saw screens for Fire Emblem DS, we weren't too worried. They may not have been the prettiest screens on the block, per say, but there was plenty of time for Intelligent Systems to fix things up. But now that the game is set to release in, oh, six weeks, uneasiness has started to settle in.

The new Nintendo Dream scans of Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Ken, for example, are more like a nightmare. While we've seen many of these images before, Nintendo Dream shows some comparisons with the original Famicom game that Fire Emblem DS is based on.

Yet, just because it looks better than a NES game doesn't mean it looks nice. Check out the image above -- those battle animation sprites? Many words come to mind, but "ugly" is the predominant theme. We're not sure if Intelligent Systems realizes that Nintendo's hardware has improved since the GBA days.

It's not all doom and gloom, though. The backgrounds are definitely an improvement over what we've seen before, and we like the more serious tone of the artwork. Not even all the sprites look terrible (the armored knights look fine, for one, since you can't see their facial features). But really, Marth? They couldn't have done a better job with the game's protagonist?

We have complete faith in Intelligent Systems when it comes to delivering a great gameplay experience, though, so we'll swallow whatever distaste we have for the sprites and buy the game when it comes out here, probably on day one (whenever that may be).

Gallery: Fire Emblem DS

Tags: fire-emblem, intelligent-systems, new-dark-dragons-and-the-sword-of-light, nintendo-dream, scan, scans, srpg

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Roto13 @ Jun 27th 2008 5:09PM

"We're not sure if Intelligent Systems realizes that Nintendo's hardware has improved since the GBA days."

Those characters look much worse than their GBA counterparts.

117 @ Jun 27th 2008 5:37PM

As long as the gameplay is good, then I'll buy it. I usually turn off the animations after a while, anyway.

jsutcliffe @ Jun 27th 2008 5:56PM

Exactly, and the battle map graphics look much nicer.

Covarr @ Jun 27th 2008 5:46PM

Of course it looks like crap when it's zoomed in so much. I assure you it will look better on the smaller DS screen, especially in motion.

It might not look good, but it'll at least look better than this.

nil @ Jun 27th 2008 5:59PM

The animations in the GBA versions needed no help at all. They were beautiful and kinetic and really drove home the damage done. The GBA quality should have been kept for the DS remakes and a higher-res version implemented for future Wii games.

Jenni Lada @ Jun 27th 2008 6:10PM

Know what it reminds me of? Screen shots from the SNES Fire Emblems.

It could be better, but it could be a whole lot worse too. I don't think it is that bad, and I'm still eager to play.

Alaska Nebraska @ Jun 27th 2008 6:48PM

When I saw the earlier screenshots, I was a little dissatisfied with the character art; I really did like the original FE "charm," but...as the poster above me said, I hope it turns out to be prettier than what we're being shown here, 'cause I'm sure IS will make the motions nice and fluid.

...I hope.

sapient @ Jun 27th 2008 7:53PM

Although I am a bit disappointed, FE doesn't really need awesome graphics. Its a must buy for me.

Vincent @ Jun 27th 2008 9:01PM

Yeah, I'm glad ppl commenting also don't care about the graphics. Even though that's a Nintendo fanboy saying, it's quite true for FE.

PoR? The graphics were pretty fugly and the animations were stiff as hell. Turned off the battle screens and it became one of the most addicting games I've played in while.

Kefka @ Jun 27th 2008 9:34PM

I'm always the first to jump on the "gameplay > graphics" bandwagon (is it a bandwagon when it's what people should be on to begin with?) but I gotta agree with DS Fanboy here...

Those are some pretty ugly looking sprites. Now, I've not played a FE game before so I'm assuming from what people say that the screen above serves the same purpose as the battle animations in the Advance Wars games... i.e. a short snippable bit of flavour to break up the monotony of staring at a map covered in icons.

I thankfully bad graphics in this is not a game-breaker, and if the animations are top notch then people wont mind too much. Still, ugly.

deadlylife @ Jun 27th 2008 10:05PM

Guys, guys, calm down. One pressing thing about graphics these day is "x has poor graphics". Graphics are not defined by realisticism. Graphics are just like paintings, drawings, or photographs. They're intended to get a message across, not always look good. Even if they don't look realistic the can still look good, Mario has a cartoony style. Would you say that his games have bad graphics because they do not look realistic? I sure wouldn't. It seems to me that his games have always conveyed the atmosphere of where he is and been able to show you what is going on, camera bugs aside.

Even games like the Wind Waker look good and not realistic.

Let's face it, Gears of War does not look realistic. It is heavily stylized by grunge effects and exaggerated proportions. If you were in an urban environment during a war would you see huge, chunky, muscle men running around with guns? I don't think I would. I'm not saying it does not look good, but, things in our world just do not look like they do in the Gears series.

This is clearly a different style, the proportions and shading on the sprites are different from previous games. In my opinion, I like it. The more accurate proportions (over the previous GBA games) with what looks like cel shading appeals to me.

ryan @ Jun 28th 2008 9:36AM

I don't think people are upset that it doesn't look realistic... just that it looks terrible.

Dan @ Jun 29th 2008 12:52AM

I agree with Ryan... they look too outdated to fit with the game. Not only the sprites look bad but the character profile pics look soo lifeless.... I mean the characters looked like they had life and personality... Look at marth and this girl in the shots and they look....boring and lifeless....

Dan @ Jun 29th 2008 12:53AM

**I mean compared to the GBA games.

waigore @ Jun 29th 2008 5:28AM

The character expressions do look a bit wooden to be fair, but any SRPG fan worth his salt will judge the game on its gameplay and interface, both of which should be rock-solid, since it's Intelligent Systems and its flagship series after all.

I'll be honest with you, I can't fragging wait for this one.

OtakuReborn @ Jul 1st 2008 9:51AM

I'm not sure why you're complaining. You guys do realize that the only game to really feature faces in battle are the recent console iterations, right? By this, I mean FE9 (Path of Radiance) and FE10 (Radiant Dawn). To be honest, it looks like the SNES era of Fire Emblem, which I am thrilled to have, as FE4 (Seisen no Keifu) on the SNES was and still is my favorite Fire Emblem to date. Not to mention you're also looking at a static picture, instead of one that is usually moving.

The biggest graphical upgrade from the last GBA iteration (FE8, The Sacred Stones) is the inclusion of a battle background, instead of floating platforms ala Pokemon. It also looks a lot cleaner and in a more serious art direction than its GBA counterparts, which I prefer.

Joe @ Jul 26th 2008 5:57PM

I don't care how the graphics look, I only need it to be bearable, which it is. Plus, the official artworks are very good if you've seen them. If you haven't, go to Serenes Forest (EXTREMELY good FE fansite)

bebester @ Aug 19th 2008 6:06PM

The graphics from the gba games were great, I loved the awesome sprite action. In fact, the generic 3D graphics used in the gamecube game really turned me off. I'm kind of disappointed to see the route they've chosen for this game; it appears they're going for a 2.5D thing.