Awakening is the most light hearted Fire Emblem game I played

[themistermanguy]

Wheather it's Lissa talking, character recruitments, Support Convos., or even some of the music. Awakening seems to have a more light-hearted & "Nintendoey" feel to it than some of the previous Fire Emblem games. I've played Sacered Stones & for some reason, I felt that a lot of the characters were boring. Maybe it's just me, but they all feel..... Robotic, like 90% of their dialogue was just generic, but again, it's probably just me. Awakening however, has funnier & more distinct, albiet somewhat archetypical characters. The dialogue also gives off "Kid Icarus: Uprising" vibes a lot of times, especially in support conversations. That isn't to say the game can't go dark or serious when it needs to though.

 

[themistermanguy]

IMO:

Path of Radiance>Fire Emblem>>>Awakening=Sacred Stones>>>>>Shadow Dragon>>>Manure>>>>>Radiant Dawn

Anyway, I actually thought that Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem had better characterization than Awakening, though I do agree with you that the game has a

You didn't finish your post.

 

[Dragonbums]

Look man, you don't play FE:Awakening for the plot. You play it because deep down you are into shipping future hot dads and super moms.


(also my opinion on the series is invalid because FE:Awakening is the only game in the series I've played.)

 

[Erttheking]

Look man, you don't play FE:Awakening for the plot. You play it because deep down you are into shipping future hot dads and super moms.


(also my opinion on the series is invalid because FE:Awakening is the only game in the series I've played.)

Can't we do both?

(Honestly I feel like Awakening is the darkest Fire Emblem I've played with the whole bad future thing. Then again Shadow Dragon was the only other one I played)

 

[The Madman]

I like Awakening, it might just be my favourite Fire Emblem game so far. The story wasn't brilliant nor were most of the characters, the majority of which where pretty annoyingly one note (This one likes candy. This one's short. This one's often overlooked. That ones a womanizer. etc), but even so there were enough genuinely funny or heartfelt moments to keep me interested and make it memorable. If you play with Robin as a girl and romance Chrom for example, the scene where Lucinda confronts your character was quite well done.

I would also say it's probably the most outright dark of the games I've played, which isn't to say it isn't also without humour. For the record I've played Fire Emblem, Sacred Stones, and Path of Radiance previously. And while they've all often had some dark themes to them I can't think of any that have gone quite as far as Awakening with it's whole brainwashing and apocalypse stuff.

Also Lynn and Hector need to be Smash Bros fighters. Stop re-using the boring sword characters Nintendo, there are so many better options! Lynn could be the super fast type while Hector is a Ganon style slow bruiser, it would be great.

 

[sextus the crazy]

Look man, you don't play FE:Awakening for the plot. You play it because deep down you are into shipping future hot dads and super moms.


(also my opinion on the series is invalid because FE:Awakening is the only game in the series I've played.)

Can't we do both?

(Honestly I feel like Awakening is the darkest Fire Emblem I've played with the whole bad future thing. Then again Shadow Dragon was the only other one I played)

I'd be nice to have. Honestly, Geneology of the Holy War was the only one with a plot that I'd consider exceptional in terms of ambition and execution. Fire Emblem plots tend to be either basic or trying for something more and failing. The side characters are generally pretty cool though, at least in the ones where they bothered to give them personalities & support conversations(FE7, Sacred Stones, Path of Radience, maybe new mystery of the emblem, and Awakening).

 

[Fox12]

Wheather it's Lissa talking, character recruitments, Support Convos., or even some of the music. Awakening seems to have a more light-hearted & "Nintendoey" feel to it than some of the previous Fire Emblem games. I've played Sacered Stones & for some reason, I felt that a lot of the characters were boring. Maybe it's just me, but they all feel..... Robotic, like 90% of their dialogue was just generic, but again, it's probably just me. Awakening however, has funnier & more distinct, albiet somewhat archetypical characters. The dialogue also gives off "Kid Icarus: Uprising" vibes a lot of times, especially in support conversations. That isn't to say the game can't go dark or serious when it needs to though.

The interesting thing is that, frankly, it had the best plot. I wouldn't consider any of them masterpieces plot wise, but the characters in Awakening were far more memorable then in other games in the series, and I'm somewhat of a veteran. It's a nice change, since many people have fooled themselves into thinking that darker=better. If you care more about the characters, then you're more invested when things go wrong, and the dark moments have more emotional weight. Comedy is actually an essential part of tragedy. Besides, that game can actually get quite dark when it wants to. That's worth remembering.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I would agree to a certain extent. I really like Sacred Stones, but it has some really dark moments, especially revolving around Sir Orson and his wife. I wont' say why, but it is shudder worthy. Compared to Awakeing the characters in Sacred Stones leave a little more to be desired. However, Kyle and Forde from are a blast. Whether they are talking to each other or Ephraim, hilarity will most likely ensue. Plus, I really like Seth as the noble knight kind of character.

As it stands, Awakening is my favorite. It feels and looks great, Chrom is a fun main character. He has his serious and goofy side, and is far from perfect while being the noble, seemingly perfect Lord character at the same time. Going back to the Sacred Stones, Ephiram and Erika are a bit bland in comparison. Not that I mind, I am totally cool with the super good, noble, but slightly bland characters anyway.

Just as a side note, if I recall, Awakening was supposed to be the last Fire Emblem right? At least until they saw how much people(particularly in the west) actually loved the series once they tried it. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's not surprising. You can tell they wanted to make Awakening the best it could be.

Shadow Dragon on DS just arrived in the mail a few days ago, but that will have to wait for Christmas. :3 I'm interested to find out why Marth is the poster child of the series.

I really want to play more Fire Emblem games. It also helps that they just released one on the Wii U virtual console. I'll probably download that in the near future.

 

[Avalanche91]

I would agree to a certain extent. I really like Sacred Stones, but it has some really dark moments, especially revolving around Sir Orson and his wife. I wont' say why, but it is shudder worthy. Compared to Awakeing the characters in Sacred Stones leave a little more to be desired. However, Kyle and Forde from are a blast. Whether they are talking to each other or Ephraim, hilarity will most likely ensue. Plus, I really like Seth as the noble knight kind of character.

As it stands, Awakening is my favorite. It feels and looks great, Chrom is a fun main character. He has his serious and goofy side, and is far from perfect while being the noble, seemingly perfect Lord character at the same time. Going back to the Sacred Stones, Ephiram and Erika are a bit bland in comparison. Not that I mind, I am totally cool with the super good, noble, but slightly bland characters anyway.

Just as a side note, if I recall, Awakening was supposed to be the last Fire Emblem right? At least until they saw how much people(particularly in the west) actually loved the series once they tried it. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's not surprising. You can tell they wanted to make Awakening the best it could be.

Shadow Dragon on DS just arrived in the mail a few days ago, but that will have to wait for Christmas. :3 I'm interested to find out why Marth is the poster child of the series.

I really want to play more Fire Emblem games. It also helps that they just released one on the Wii U virtual console. I'll probably download that in the near future.

From what I remember, Awakening was supposed to be the final FE game due to the dwindling sales of the franchise. Then it became one of the best-selling 3DS games and Nintendo became a bit more open-minded.

OT/spoilers: Personally I think Awakening has some of the most light hearted movies but also some of the darkest. That moment Lucina attempts to kill you is pretty heavy (especially if you're her mother or lover). Not to mention how dark that one DLC got (days of future past? Iunno, the one where you help the children survive). What about the fact that the PC turns out to be the herald of destruction and has to fight his alternate timeline self, which really is a form of elaborate suicide?

Sacred Stones had its dark moments but a lot less heart and character so I didn't pay it much mind. Sealed Sword was good but other than killing Ninian and the general uncomfortable feeling the morphs give off there wasn't much darkness in it. Path of Radiance does have some dark moments, particularly in the treatment of the Laguz but it's usually subtext (like figuring out the truth of Ashnard's mount, which is pretty much optional). And Radiant Dawn just wasn't very good...... At all.

The light moments in Awakening create character and make the dark ones stand out that much more.

 

[cleric of the order]

Wheather it's Lissa talking, character recruitments, Support Convos., or even some of the music. Awakening seems to have a more light-hearted & "Nintendoey" feel to it than some of the previous Fire Emblem games. I've played Sacered Stones & for some reason, I felt that a lot of the characters were boring. Maybe it's just me, but they all feel..... Robotic, like 90% of their dialogue was just generic, but again, it's probably just me. Awakening however, has funnier & more distinct, albiet somewhat archetypical characters. The dialogue also gives off "Kid Icarus: Uprising" vibes a lot of times, especially in support conversations. That isn't to say the game can't go dark or serious when it needs to though.

?Why? Why must I lose? More power... I must be...stronger... I... Why? Why did I... want power? ......Aenir? ...Don't...under...stand... but... Gaa... Not like this... I will not die...like this. With my last breath... tremble...and...despair. Hwah ha ha... Ha...ha ha ha...?

I don't disagree, it is robotic it lakes the flair or thematic depth of the earlier games (at least the better half of the ones I played).
The villain dialogues seemed forced, there was a large focus on stereotypes, the combat was made paradoxically more difficult and a hell of a lot easier. referring to the instant reinforcements (I never paired up until the later levels and good god is it easier).
There was an emphasis on grind, having recruitment centered on the leader as opposed to characters for character development and the like was dumb.
I'll give it credit i did like a couple things i did like but all an all it was the weakest entry.
Also don't get me started on the dlc.

 

[Gustavos]

I wouldn't say light-hearted and, nintendoey, or robotic are synonymous terms. Listen, most of us that didn't start with Awakening started with the GBA era. The gameplay was dumbed down to be accessible, the support conversations were introduced, they really improved on the design of Fire Emblem, and its hard to look at them critically. Robotic characters and a lack of motive for the heroes isn't so much of a series staple as it is a plague of the series. I loved the games for years, don't get me wrong, but the folks working on it just don't know how to write three-dimensional, interesting characters. Every protagonist is a bleeding heart liberal with little to no reason to save the world. The only interesting angle they've taken is with Ike, who is not royalty, but gets roped into an international conflict because of war politics. There was no destined prophecy to be fulfilled based on his bloodline, he came around to playing the hero because it was the right thing to do. Heck, he didn't even focus on revenge as a primary motive where most JRPGs would have.

Fire Emblem became a series worth playing because the soldier units you moved around had a face and dialogue. Story and characters are important when your franchise is known for that pedigree. However, Awakening I would still cite as the best in the series because of the amount of content and features it has. Drawing even older concepts like marriage and a world map from previous games in the series. It wasn't until this game where I could confidently recommend a game of the series to any random gamer.

And don't get upset at the "bleeding heart liberal" thing. It just so happens that I'm one of those in real life and don't like being parodied by a game series I like.

 

[DrOswald]

Fire Emblem: The Eugenics War does generally have a lighter tone to it, but I would say this makes for a better peaks and valleys in the drama. The dark, drama moments are pretty much just as dark and dramatic as before but the general background noise is more positive. Which I think works better for a game that just isn't going to be deep or dramatic. It at least adds some contrast to the proceedings which gives the game a little life.

 

[Hades]

My experience with Awakening has been overwhelmingly positive but I do have some mixed feelings about some aspects.

I found Awakening to have a very charming cast with very few characters I do not care for but I agree with their most common criticism. The characters tend to be far to comfortable in their archetypes. The immature kid, klutzy girl, the Tsundere and sad womanizer all did little to surprise us. I don't really mind though because one note characters don't have to be a problem if they are executed right and I think they are. The characters come off as a charming bunch and that makes their supports fun to read. I don't think the cast is inferior to any of the ones in past games. I even think characters like Lucina, the Morgans and Henry are among the very best.

The story is the main point I would hold against Awakening. Its true fire Emblem has always been full of cliche's but Awakening seems to have taken it a step further where Tellius dialed it back a bit. The plot has its good moments but it feels rushed with villains coming and going with only a few chapters of screen time. The world of Ylisse is also one of the most underdeveloped of the series, especially compared to Tellius which did try to develop their countries for the player. Enemy nation Plegia never really developed from its description of evil, demon worshiping nation, its described as such from the beginning and no new light is shed on it. Ally nation Ferox also never goes beyond its description of warrior kingdom and the Valm empire has so little screentime I really don't remember much about it apart from its emperor being badass.

The villains are also cliche by fire emblem standards. We already had a mad king, at least 10 evil cult leaders and i'm pretty sure 3 seductive mistresses over the course of the series. Nergal was a generic evil dark mage as well (until that one point) but worked because he was a personal villain with plenty of screen time and an established sense of ''dread'' weaved into the story. Nergal's big twist was also executed very well, masterfully even. Fire emblem can do lots with a simple archetype but in this game they didn't seem to try.
I must give one villain credit though. The redemption plot one gets in the dlc was one i found hard to swallow as ''canon'' when i heard of it that one scene really did make me believe he sincerely regretted all his crimes and wanted to redeem himself.

The gameplay I can only describe as good. Its fire emblem with a new mechanic added to to what we already have and that's just all I need. Fire emblem just needs to be fire emblem and I'm more then happy with it.

 

[themistermanguy]

My experience with Awakening has been overwhelmingly positive but I do have some mixed feelings about some aspects.

I found Awakening to have a very charming cast with very few characters I do not care for but I agree with their most common criticism. The characters tend to be far to comfortable in their archetypes. The immature kid, klutzy girl, the Tsundere and sad womanizer all did little to surprise us. I don't really mind though because one note characters don't have to be a problem if they are executed right and I think they are. The characters come off as a charming bunch and that makes their supports fun to read. I don't think the cast is inferior to any of the ones in past games. I even think characters like Lucina, the Morgans and Henry are among the very best.

Archetypical doesn't necessarily mean bad or shallow though. Alot of TV shows have archetypical characters. Awakening's cast was archetypical and somewhat one-noted, but the character also had several additional traits to back them up. That's what made them interesting IMO.

 

[Hades]

My experience with Awakening has been overwhelmingly positive but I do have some mixed feelings about some aspects.

I found Awakening to have a very charming cast with very few characters I do not care for but I agree with their most common criticism. The characters tend to be far to comfortable in their archetypes. The immature kid, klutzy girl, the Tsundere and sad womanizer all did little to surprise us. I don't really mind though because one note characters don't have to be a problem if they are executed right and I think they are. The characters come off as a charming bunch and that makes their supports fun to read. I don't think the cast is inferior to any of the ones in past games. I even think characters like Lucina, the Morgans and Henry are among the very best.

Archetypical doesn't necessarily mean bad or shallow though.

That's what I said. Its done well so I don't mind. I praised the cast more then I didn't.