Fire Emblem looks better in screens than scans

by Candace Savino { Jul 8th 2008 at 5:00PM }

While we're still not completely sold on the look of Fire Emblem DS, we have to admit that the screens do the game much more justice than the scans we were basing our opinions on before. While we're forced to sit here and gawk at such temptations, though, lucky gamers in Japan will get to nab this title in one measly month. If anyone needs to get this game more, it's those of us outside Japan who never got to play the original NES title in the first place. Not that we're bitter or anything ... really.

Putting all our envy aside (or at least most of it), we have to say that we're really looking forward to New Dark Dragons and the Sword of Light. While we love the console versions, too, having Fire Emblem back in handheld form just feels right. What about you, though? Do you prefer the series on consoles or handhelds?

In any case, until the glorious day that localization is announced (and the even more glorious day of its actual international release), you can check out the newly added screens in our gallery below.

Gallery: Fire Emblem DS

Tags: fire-emblem, fire-emblem-ds, intelligent-systems, new-dark-dragons-and-the-sword-of-light, srpg, strategy

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Roto13 @ Jul 8th 2008 5:14PM

I dunno, it still looks pretty bad.

Nightrunner @ Jul 8th 2008 5:39PM

Considering the intensive amount of time one has to spend playing Fire Emblem, I'd rather have it on the handheld. I remember taking the GBA Fire Emblems to the park and playing there..no better way to waste a summer day.

The Gamecube version was pretty good, but I think having it on a console caused me to become a pasty-faced otaku...where as before I was just an otaku who got a lot more sun.

Anyway, these new scans do look a lot better. Better the real test will be seeing some video. I'm thinking that the animation must be pretty smooth, being on the DS now. The GBA animations were pretty good, so it can only get better.

I wonder why they decided they do away with facial features on the sprites? This makes them seem somewhat anonymous. Although, I'm sure it'll be just as painful when a character dies...

Robert27 @ Jul 8th 2008 8:44PM

"The Gamecube version was pretty good, but I think having it on a console caused me to become a pasty-faced otaku...where as before I was just an otaku who got a lot more sun"
Same, besides i hated to lose my partners so I always restarted all over, no real deal when playing while waiting for a doctor or in a travel but when I losed in the GC i felt i was wasting so much time.
So yes I love portable Fire Emblem, and that images from the post just don�t look even good.

Zealot @ Jul 8th 2008 6:07PM

I don't mind the redesigned portraits so much, but, even with this small set of new images, the sprites are still ugly. They all kind of look like they're made out of Play-Doh.

I'm biased in favor of handheld FEs only because I had zero knowledge of the franchise before Melee, so the original Fire Emblem (aka FE7: Rekka no Ken) for the GBA was my first, and my favorite in the series. I've actually beaten it more times than I have any other game. The Gamecube version was acceptable, but it had stiff character animations, useless new gameplay elements like weapon forging and biorhythm, potential game-breakers like the BEXP exploit, and an all-around weak story (I just couldn't bring myself to like the Laguz element.) Path of Radiance for the Wii was a little better, but the segmentation of the story was disruptive and the intense difficulty likely scared away potential new fans. Graphical quirks aside, Shin Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Tsurugi looks like it's going to be largely a return to form, for which I'm glad.

deadlylife @ Jul 8th 2008 6:49PM

I read the title, all I have to say is a comment about captain obvious.

deadlylife @ Jul 8th 2008 7:00PM

I loved the handheld versions. The Gamecube version just didn't fit, when I look at a TV, I expect action and something well paced. I'm not saying that FE games are not like that, they are very well paced (still hoping for no time limits). After the Gamecube being somewhat of a dud, I never even game the Wii version any thought.

It started as a GBA RPG (in America) so that's what I got into, the console version does not feel right.

In my opinion, the graphics look more appealing to me in this style. Fire Emblem seemed like the kind of game that still wanted to be a game, as much of a game without flat-out breaking the fourth wall. If they make a step up graphically (looking nicer), it seems like cutting some area of graphics down would keep it feeling like a game and less of a war simulation.

I don't know if that came out right.

Mr Khan @ Jul 8th 2008 8:06PM

You can't miss the Wii version, it has some of the most epic battles in the franchise to date

deadlylife @ Jul 8th 2008 8:52PM

so you're saying I should get it?

117 @ Jul 8th 2008 8:19PM

I'll say what I said before: As long as the gameplay's as goos as it's been before, I don't especially care about the graphics.

Fiefdom @ Jul 8th 2008 8:24PM

I don't care on what platform a Fire Emblem game is on. None of them feel right or wrong. It's not like Zelda where the platform dictates the game mechanics. All of the Fire Emblem games feel distinctly Fire Emblem, and I enjoy playing them.

Alaska Nebraska @ Jul 9th 2008 11:11AM

You said it way better than I ever could've! Though I do admit to enjoying the portability of tactics games a bit more. Racking my brain for hours sitting in front of a TV just doesn't feel as good. At least with the GBA/DS and I can move about and put the thing on hold at any moment.

And I'm 100% certain that the game will look better in action. Screens hardly do justice for handheld visuals.

Fatass of Rebuttalness @ Jul 8th 2008 9:01PM

New Dark Dragon? Sword of Light?

Man, I'm really aching for a new Shining Force...

Fatass of Rebuttalness @ Jul 8th 2008 9:03PM

Oh come on, just try and tell me that the guy in pic 18 with the Dark Dragon doesn't look like Darksol...

xjl @ Jul 8th 2008 9:28PM

Oh yeah, Fire Emblem on DS just makes too much sense. I mean, I haven't even finished Radiant Dawn yet, because it requires me to stay glued to the TV for at least an hour at a time, and I'm just not disciplined enough to do that (anymore). By contrast, I've completely played through The Sacred Stones two times at 60 hours apiece, because I can play anywhere around (or out of) the house, including in bed!

OtakuReborn @ Jul 10th 2008 10:35AM

Being a long time fan, I'm used to seeing it on consoles (back with FE4). Though I'd have to say, playing it on a console, you tend to play less at a time (or at least for me). On a handheld, I'll play through many resets (I'm a slight perfectionist, I can't stand losing ANYBODY) whereas, using FE9, for an example, I'm less likely to retry a battle in a sitting.

In the end, it's still Fire Emblem, and it's still awesome.

feandit93 @ Aug 5th 2008 2:06PM

I think that the graphics look fine. I mean, it flows nicely. I read something at serenesforest.net and it said that somebody has to die in the prologue disguising as marth to lure away enemies. Does anybody know if this is true?