Get fired up about Fire Emblem after watching video footage
by Candace Savino 
{ Jul 25th 2008 at 12:30PM }
If we lived in Japan right now (or had enough Japanese skills to import it), we'd be able to play Fire Emblem: New Dark Dragons and the Sword of Light in two mere weeks. Since that's not the case, though, we'll just have produce puddles upon puddles of drool while watching video footage (seriously -- we're that excited). We're sure that many of you don't need to be convinced to join the hype train, though, and are anticipating this one as much as we are.
The two videos (one is posted after the break) are in Japanese, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out what's being highlighted. For one, you can see that the game will utilize the stylus to move around the grids. The announcer also talks about a few of the different classes, as well as features in the game (like class changes), but those are all things that Fire Emblem fans will be familiar with. Lastly, you'll get a glimpse into the Wi-Fi battle system, which put to rest our fears about the dreaded countdown timer. As it turns out, the dwindling clock is only a factor when it comes to online play.
After the break, check out the Japanese TV ad which makes us want something else entirely -- Fire Emblem: The Board Game.
Gallery: Fire Emblem DS
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Danny F. @ Jul 25th 2008 12:59PM
Am I the only one who still thinks the character designs were better off the GBA way?? :-\ The animation of the fights look awesome, but the portraits of each char. just look so lifeless or pale..
Mr Khan @ Jul 25th 2008 1:17PM
I've never played the GBA games, just the GC/Wii arc, but still find something not-quite-right about how they look
It promises to be awesome, though. It is Fire Emblem in the end, the games that started it all
gary yo @ Jul 25th 2008 1:10PM
i so want that board game
Mr Khan @ Jul 25th 2008 1:20PM
I don't know if i'm down with WiFi battling, because the way Fire Emblem works, the challenge is often based on how you tackle a given, CPU-controlled scenario. Much of Fire Emblem depends on the idea that you're going to have units that are much stronger than the average enemy units that you can use as tanks, while allowing your weaker guys and support units to clean up the exp
The concept of re-working it into a vs game wouldn't be much fun, unless they handicapped one side or the other and made it into a "capture the flag" sort of deal
Really, vs battles would work better in something like FFTA, or Disgaea, among turn-based titles
Josh @ Jul 25th 2008 2:15PM
Advance Wars multiplayer is one of its best aspects (speaking about the GBA version, though).
stalepie @ Jul 25th 2008 1:26PM
Nice music there towards the end
Mass @ Jul 25th 2008 1:30PM
Maybe I'm seeing things because I want them to be true, but the icons illustrating the buttons, all look different then their real life counterpart. The A was an ovoid, the B was a rectangle, the R a small squarish rectangle. Are these the buttons on the DS redesign ? Or just horrible programming ?
Mass @ Jul 25th 2008 1:33PM
Case in point,
Advance Wars Days of Ruin
http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/844/844298/advance-wars-days-of-ruin-20080108032338126.jpg
Note the proper representation of buttons, in this screen shot
Josh @ Jul 25th 2008 2:30PM
Wow, yes, a board game would be cool.
The only problem is, it would be *exactly* like the video games, just more difficult and inconvenient to play. =/
chibi_wings @ Jul 25th 2008 2:55PM
I am definitely looking forward to this game! And I don't mind the new art direction either. I've never played the original FE, so this will be like a new entry for me.
Makkah @ Jul 25th 2008 4:20PM
This game looks really cool. I love how fluently the characters are animated, and the backgrounds look pretty nice as well. :)
117 @ Jul 25th 2008 4:44PM
Jeigans new look=Awesome. What are those shoulder spikes for, anyway?
Alexisonfire @ Jul 25th 2008 6:33PM
Dear Intellegent Systems,
Fire the one who thought up your new art direction.
Love,
The Fans.
xjl @ Jul 25th 2008 7:40PM
Come out in the US already!
CloudLink @ Jul 28th 2008 4:51PM
Wow!
I must say, when I first saw screens for this game, I was excited that it was being remade, but the images of the in game sprites disappointed... however, after seeing these videos, I just can't believe it... most everything looks beautiful... the only thing I dislike, as others have said, are the character portraits... I'd rather have something drawn up than a 3d render showing no emotion >_<
But, man... I'm really excited now... and YES a Fire Emblem Board/Card game would rock... I know Japan already had Fire Emblem cards, but we need something here!
A Fire Emblem game sorta like HeroClix (which I used to love until it got so expensive >_>) would be great!
WiFi Fire Emblem would prolly be like the multiplayer modes on the GBA, not a real battle, but some Arena type thing, right? I'm glad though, makes up for FFTA2 not having any multiplayer T_T
Well, these videos have made my day, I'm real excited for this!
Peace...