Eleven seconds of Fire Emblem beats eleven seconds of anything else
by Candace Savino 
{ Jul 10th 2008 at 9:00PM }
Anyone who's ever played a Fire Emblem game knows that what's shown in the video above is the most basic of scenarios -- a simple battle, with no alarms and no surprises. On the other hand, if you've played a Fire Emblem, there's a good chance you're as in love with the series as we are and found yourself ecstatic after watching this clip, even if it was nothing but a big tease.
The other wonderful thing about this short but sweet video is that we now have an idea of what the game will look like in motion. Not a completely accurate idea, since the resolution is a little out of sorts, but an idea nonetheless. While New Dark Dragons and the Sword of Light doesn't include super-wow graphics, we do think it looks better in motion. Granted, the mage is masking his face and the armored knight is wearing -- well, armor -- so we didn't have to be creeped out by any faceless sprites. Even so, we're warming up to the aesthetics bit by bit as time goes on; especially since the gameplay is going to rock us hard.
Gallery: Fire Emblem DS
[Thanks, Kane!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ryan @ Jul 10th 2008 9:22PM
The graphics look much better in the clip.
Zealot @ Jul 10th 2008 9:28PM
After seeing that, the lack of detail in exchange for smooth, fluid motion seems a fair trade-off.
Do we know if this encompasses the plot of Monshou no Nazo or not yet?
Makoto99 @ Jul 10th 2008 9:30PM
Do people actually play Fire Emblem with the combat animations on? Heck, I shut them off after about 2 missions...
Anyway, I could care less what the graphics look like. Give me a good choice of class units and some funny Support convos like the original US GBA Fire Emblem (Guy and Priscilla's exchanges come to mind) and I'll be hooked. Even without those, I'd still be hooked.
Not that I'm not already.
Zealot @ Jul 10th 2008 9:38PM
I watch 'em first time through every level. If one of my units dies and I have to restart, impatience and frustration set in and I usually turn the animations off. There may be an exception in cases when I've just promoted a unit I use a lot and their new animation is still pretty exciting to watch.
SephFinale @ Jul 10th 2008 9:44PM
Man, I LOVE critical hit animations. Not something worth missing out on.
Though that art style...that the 3D face... D: It's kind of ugly...
Alexisonfire @ Jul 10th 2008 10:29PM
I find that the animations are what makes the game interesting to watch. The animation work is so well done in the GBA games that I never tire of them.
The same cannot be said about Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn. Both games had such boring and stale animations that just bogged down the game so much.
I hope that intelligent systems implements the ability to skip the animations on the fly, like they have in Advance Wars. Because watching the healing or dancing animation is just tedious by the time you get halfway through a title.
Zealot @ Jul 10th 2008 11:57PM
As far as I know, at least in the GBA versions it was possible to go into advanced options and set which units went to battle animations and which didn't. I actually did have healers and dancers permanently turned off because I used them every turn whether I needed to or not, just for the EXP.
Alexisonfire @ Jul 11th 2008 4:38AM
True enough. And that is what I did do. I was more using them as an example of how the series would benefit from a feature.
OtakuReborn @ Jul 11th 2008 7:55AM
I personally watch them every time. In any of the games. Turning it off makes the game a bit boring, as it becomes like every other Strategy RPG out there, except more heavily turn based.
Subsequently, the critical hits are always fun to watch. The one on the Gamecube was especially fun to watch a 4x hit because it was so half-assedly done. You would see the first hit normally, and then you'd see the second hit from a different angle. The third and fourth hit replay the same animation as the second (this is for pegasus knights) and you can see the camera "jump" back to second hit.
Mr Khan @ Jul 10th 2008 10:15PM
"Oh and by the way, Eleven seconds at Mach Five?"
T-bone; SWAT Kats, Episode 1: The PastMaster always Rings Twice
Josh @ Jul 10th 2008 10:58PM
It's like...prerendered 3D sprites.
Dan @ Jul 11th 2008 2:35PM
Especially the portraits of the characters.... doesnt look great... to be honest the style makes it look boring kinda...
Im sure the game will be awesome, but the graphics are gonna hurt this one badly on reviews for sure...
I miss the old style from the GBA, atleast the portrait drawings gave them character and personalities..
Mr.ESC @ Jul 11th 2008 12:14AM
I have never played a Fire Emblem game but they are highly recommended I might check this one
Ipsum @ Jul 11th 2008 9:40AM
I love the music. Fire Emblem music has always been good. I'm psyched.
Nightrunner @ Jul 12th 2008 4:52PM
No offense to anyone, but I think we're being a little too critical. Fire Emblem has always been about strategic gameplay, even more so when your characters actually 'die'. As long as the game has that basic strategy down, it'll appeal to fans of the franchise. It's been a good while since we've had a portable Fire
Emblem, and this is the first on the DS - so I'm excited. But I understand the complaints about the graphics on the 'next-gen' systems. They definitely could have done better. Maybe that's why everyone is worried about this version.