Fire Emblem: Awakening, or why you have this mysterious boner for 2013

So, with that shitfest of an E3 behind us, we are left wondering why the hell we even still play video games. Better yet, why do we even own a 3DS? Etrian Odyssey 4, Monster Hunter 4, Bravely Default, Shin Megami Tensei IV-- none of this shit has been announced for the US. Paper Mario looks great but continues to shed more and more traditional RPG elements with each new installment. Luigi's Mansion will be a ballin' time-killer, but likely won't have much in the way of depth or longevity. What the hell is Nintendo doing.

Quote:

Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime confirms that Fire Emblem: Awakening for the 3DS, already out in Japan, will be getting a US release.

...

Indeed, we finally get Fire Emblem! Not just something substantial, but something well and truly fantastic. I have rarely been as engaged and entertained by an RPG before as I have with this one. Ask Tritoch, I've been pestering that guy for weeks about crazy and awesome shit I've discovered while playing. This is nothing short of a gem, and let me tell you a few reasons why.

Introduction



Now, you might ask, "What should I be expecting from this game?" I'll tell you what not to expect. Goddamn Shakespeare. This shit is pretty straightfoward. Millennia after Marth defeated the Shadow Dragon Medeus, the continent of Akaneia is now the continent of Iris. Krom is the prince of the Kingdom of Iris, which still worships Naga as the protector of humanity. Suspicious activity is seen near the border with Perezia, which just so happens to worship the Dark Dragon, Gimle. Definitely no correlation there! When setting out to investigate, Krom stumbles upon an unconscious man/woman dressed in clothing covered with the mark of Gimle. This is your created character, the awkwardly titled My Unit. At the start of the game, you will get to go through some customizations.

Creating My Unit



Besides My Unit's name and sex, you will choose height/age (roughly corresponds to short/mid-teens, medium/early-20s, tall/mid-20s), hair style, hair color, eyes/facial features, and voice type. Afterward, you will pick your character's best stat and worst stat. The former will give an extra point or two in that stat to start and give a permanent boost to that stat's growth percentage, and the latter will do the opposite. You can't pick the same stat to cancel it out, so choose wisely.

Anyway, you and Krom quickly hit it off, and the two of you go off to start a wonderful broship and investigate Perezia. IN THAT ORDER. Also, a dude claiming to be the Hero-King, Marth, appears. So, yeah, they also have some questions about that.

What else can you expect? Battles? Oh my, yes.

Combat



Battles work mostly the same as they always have. You take your vigilante force into battle, pick their placement, take advantage of the weapon triangle, etcetera. There are some new perks, though. Gone are the days of Rescue, and in its place comes Dual. What is Dual, you ask? When it's two strangers, a neat way to rescue someone from danger and give slight stat bonuses to the leading unit. When it's two well-leveled people who like each other, a goddamn wrecking ball.

In the picture above, Olivia the dancer has used Dual to join with Krom. The two don't know each other very well and Olivia has just joined at level 1, so Krom gets a modest boost of 1 and 2 to stats Olivia excels in, like speed and accuracy.

"Well, what if you use two bros like Krom and My Unit?"

First of all, you better be playing on Hard or Lunatic like some kind of non-asshole, because that will just break Normal. Like, 'duo the entire game' break. But yes, this shit will fuck up some people. Here's what My Unit looks like when Krom joins up with him:



As you can see, stats are hulked out (with the exception of Mag, which obviously a Lord doesn't normally excel at). In addition to this, the joining unit (which is considered the "linked" unit) will grant small buffs to the other character when combat begins; critical evade and things like that. Another perk is dual actions-- depending on how close the characters are (ie, their support level), the linked unit can parry incoming attacks against their partner or even join in an attack to tag-team enemies. On higher difficulties, which are balls hard, Dual is pivotal to winning battles. I tried to take pictures to show what it can do, but My Unit kept triggering Astra and criticals at the same time.







You too will soon be able to send horses flying.

Class Changing and Growth

"Alright, cool. I notice your My Unit is a Hero. Did you get to pick your class like in New Mystery of the Emblem?" Firstly, I'm impressed with your knowledge of the unreleased (in the US) sequel to Shadow Dragon. But no, My Unit was Class Changed into a Hero.

"Class Changing? Like from Fire Emblem DS? Ugh. Isn't that shit pointless, since few classes can utilize it correctly?" Not this time. Unlike Shadow Dragon, where Class Changing should only be done to characters who have complimentary growths for the class they're going to become, most anyone can Class Change and be able to hold their own in combat. To accomplish this, Intelligent Systems implemented two different kind of growths: Base Growth and Class Growth. All characters have their own unique Base Growths, which are then stacked with the growths of their current class.

So, while a unit may only start with a 35% Mag growth, they can still become quite an effective Mage, because being a Mage adds +20% (totaling, yes, 55%. yaaaay math). Obviously, physical fighters with low Mag Base Growth aren't going to be as deadly with Rexcalibur as Miriel or Richt, but thanks to Class Growths, they can at least become passable. This is in addition to stat changes brought on by a Class Change, which help to bring a character more in line with the stats they should have as that class. Here is an example, with Lucina Class Changing from a nimble Master Lord into a bulky Great Knight.

Here, we see Lucina gain points in HP, Str, Def, and Mov. We see drops in Mag, Skl, Spd, and Res. We can see dramatic changes in stats like Def and Spd to help bring her in line with the Great Knight class. These changes are static (Krom would see the exact same changes if he went from Master Lord to Great Knight), and the game always remembers to give/take away those stat gains/losses once I Class Change back into Master Lord-- no matter how many classes I change into in between.

Generations and Inheritance

"Okay, so Dual and Class Changing sounds neat, but what about characters? I hated bullshit recruitments from previous games." Well, there's good and bad news about that. I happened to like being surprised with new units when I enter a new map, but in this game all recruitable characters join by default. You can't miss anyone.

However, that only applies to the first generation of characters. "What's that supposed to mean?" Well, this game was meant to be a so-called 'greatest hits' Fire Emblem, bringing back a lot of features fans loved in older games. One such feature was children and skill inheritance from Genealogy of the Holy War. Do you know what this means?



What? No, I-- well. I guess? Maybe. I don't know! I was going to say marriages. With the exception of a few characters, basically anyone can marry anyone from the opposite sex (provided, of course, they are from the same generation). Krom is an exception, having to choose from one of five girls in the game (only four if your My Unit is a male). But besides that, love is in the air in the Kingdom of Iris.

Of course, marriage options aren't just for the creepy people to get their jollies. They serve a purpose in the game by allowing the recruitment of the second generation. In my second playthrough, I made a female My Unit and had her marry Krom.



Little scene where Krom confesses his feelings. D'aww. Here's a brief look at what the parents looked like at around the time of marriage.





So yes, happy day for them and all that. After a few chapters, a new map appears on the screen! Who joins after this?



Why, it's Mark, My Unit's son! Seeing as his father is Krom, he inherits his blue hair. As Lord is an exclusive class, Mark could not inherit that, so instead he starts out as a Strategist like his mother. Here's what's Lucina, Mark's older sister, looks like with this heritage:

Ordinarily, she would have access to only six or seven different classes, but because she is the offspring of My Unit, she gets access to just about every class in the game. That includes Strategist/Grandmaster, My Unit's unique class line. Nifty stuff!

More substantially, the two children have inherited improved stat growths in their parent's strong attributes (basically goddamn everything), and their skills. In Mark's case you'll notice that he's inherited Royal Weapon, a skill Krom will hand down to any son he has, and Lethality, a skill My Unit learned from her time as an Assassin. Lucina inherited Lethality as well, along with Aether from her father. By marrying certain units, second generation characters can learn skills that would otherwise be impossible for them to learn. However, in most cases, the child can class change into whatever classes are available to their parents and learn those skills on their own, so it's not like you need to freak out and start charting out some vidya eugenics. So how are these children fighting alongside their parents as adults? Play the game.

Mark is a nifty unit, though. With the exception of Lord, Dancer, and Overlord, Mark will start as the class that their other parent is-- even if it's one that you can't normally class change into. Say, for instance, I marry Velvet the Taguel (the last of a race that can transform into giant war bunnies). Taguel is a class that no one can class change into, obviously, as it's its own race. However, with a little romance...



D'aww, not sure if counts as furry. But yes, what then happens to young Mark?



For her, IT'S WAR BUNNY TIME. Yes, even My Unit's daughter will still be named Mark. deal

DLC

"Okay, that's pretty neat. But what about stuff to keep me entertained besides the main game?" Well, there are plenty of side chapters. Most of which are about recruiting the second generation, but there are also chapters for recruiting free DLC characters from SpotPass. Just today in fact, a new one was uploaded.


In it, I got to recruit Inverse, one of the main villains of the game.

SpotPass also provides you with free weapons, items, and even characters from previous entries in the series. I believe there are about 150 characters planned to be available for unlock in SpotPass, all of whom can be recruited by defeating them in battle. Most of them are novelties and not really effective when compared to your main units-- characters from older games can have support conversations with no one, and DLC story characters can typically only speak with My Unit. But still, they're nice to have! You can also use points you accrue during the game to purchase things like items and weapons in the SpotPass Shop (that green 990 you see is referring to how many points I have). Pretty cool stuff.

For those willing to pay real money, you can purchase DLC maps featuring redesigned versions of the heroes of previous Fire Emblems. Upon completing the maps --which are basically all-star mashups of previous heroes duking it out with one another-- you are rewarded with a new hero(ine) from the previous games. Announced last night was Lyn from Fire Emblem 7, for example.



Paris

Now for a bit of intrigue. In the Conversation menu, you can select a character and see everyone he or she can talk to. If a character you can potentially talk to hasn't been recruited yet, you simply see a silhouette. This is usually enough to deduce who it is, but one character had baffled the community. This asshole, right here.



Because this silhouette was completely foreign to everyone who's played the game, it was concluded that this character does not appear within the story. The credits, if you look carefully, list a character named "Paris." As you might guess, this is noteworthy because no one named Paris has any role (let alone a speaking one). So, this person had to be one and the same, and had to be a SpotPass (free) DLC character, like Inverse. His DLC map was released, and not only is it a MASSIVE BATTLE of 30 vs. 50...



...he helps tie together a previous Fire Emblem with this one.

The Identity of Paris:

You should be excited.

Other Stuff

There's tons of other cool shit going on that I'm sure I'm forgetting about or are too tired to comment on now. An explorable world map (ala Sacred Stones), free battles, all that jazz. I'll add more stuff if it becomes pertinent to me. For now, take some music from the game.

YouTube Video

(Skip to the one minute mark for DRAMATIC TENSION)

YouTube Video

"Thanks for the help. But, who are you?"
"...Marth."

YouTube Video

"You can't be trusted, but I can. So I'll go with you."

Jam it back in, in the dark.

After the bombshell of that 3DSXL recently, I am fucking amazed at how a complete clusterfuck Nintendo did at their E3. I still don't understand. I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND, NINTENDO!

But YESSSSSS. I WANT SOME MORE FIRE EMBLEM.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I think someone from Nintendo mentioned what I had suspected-- that Fire Emblem was left out of their keynote because they were focusing entirely on 2012 releases. My guess is that Fire Emblem will be mid to late spring 2013. I have NO idea why they didn't use E3 for announcing the 3DS XL. You'd think E3 was a great venue for, say, major announcements!

Anyway, I'll add snippets about My Unit creation and Class Changing soon, along with more meat in each area I discussed. It is without a doubt one of my favorite games ever, and I want people excited for it.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I really can't wait for this game. I was initially iffy about the pimped out character designs, but the game looks better every time I read about it. Gonna try to keep myself from learning too much of the game so that it's fresh when it is finally released stateside. Repressing the hype.

How ya doing, buddy?

Added new pictures and snippets relating to My Unit character creation and Class Changing. Next thing to add... possibly more pictures to better explain some of the mechanics. I'll figure something out, I'm sure.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I want this. I want this now. Seriously Nintendo why are you not making a bigger deal out of this game? And why is it not here, right now?!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I'm okay with them pushing Paper Mario and Luigi's Mansion for the holidays, but I would like Fire Emblem to immediately follow it up in early (like, really early) 2013. It just won't happen.

I think I'll add a snippet about the mystery of Paris next. Roughly three weeks until they reveal who it is, but that's only if they keep releasing SpotPass characters at this rate. Is it Ike? Is it someone new? Will he add to the story? I would like to know!

How ya doing, buddy?

I'm pretty sure I remember seeing one or two commercials for Shadow Dragon back when it was released, so maybe they'll give it a slight push. I can't seem to find the ad on Youtube, though there is this gem. Poor Dorcas.

YouTube Video

Originally Posted by A Sometimes Mountain

Ask Tritoch, I've been pestering that guy for weeks about crazy and awesome shit I've discovered while playing.

Yes. Yes you have. I've mainly been tempering my enthusiasm while you rave about it because it's going to be another year or so before I get to play it, and that's a long time to wait for something this awesome. The only thing disappointing so far is that there's only a single war bunny. I demand an ARMY of war bunnies Radiant Dawn style.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Oh fuck, I think I remember that Fire Emblem commercial from somewhere. Good times. And hey man, hey, the texts have stopped lately. Give it a rest! I'll probably annoy you one last time when they unveil Paris, though.

There's two war bunnies; Velvet and her son Chambray. Potentially a third, if you marry one of those two to produce a Taguel Mark (like above). Add the three Mamkutes and you've get a fair few shapeshifters.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

With Paris revealed, I added him to my post. Even though he's not involved in the story of Awakening at all, I did hide his identity and portrait in a spoiler tag.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

It's been announced today that Fire Emblem: Awakening will be launching in the US on February 4, 2013. I was not expecting to be able to play it before Etrian Odyssey IV, but this is welcome news.

To celebrate, here is the latest (and possibly last) DLC character to join you:



Katarina, the strategist of My Unit from Heroes of Light and Shadow. It's a somewhat fitting end, as she is the only DLC character to join as the Strategist class. She was also the only DLC character drawn by Fire Emblem: Awakening's own artist.

This also reminds me that Heroes of Light and Shadow saw a complete translation patch released last week. Maybe go play that for two months?

EDIT: Oh, also, Europe currently has an "April 2013" timeframe.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

New videos from Nintendo Direct. Here, our mildly enthusiastic narrator goes over various gameplay elements (most of which I've covered, though weapon naming and strengthening I forgot to talk about). Some interesting translations, too.

Iris -> Elis
Krom (pronounced like "chrome" from the element chromium) -> Chrom (pronounced, uh... like there's no e in chrome, I guess)
Liz - Lissa

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

Wondering if child brides and cousin marriage are still in the game. We'll have to find out.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Final Fantasy Phoneteen

Wondering if child brides and cousin marriage are still in the game. We'll have to find out.

Probably only if you name your main character Jimmy Saville.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Heyoooo!



The child thing is... kiiiind of easy to explain away. "Oh, she's older than she looks." I've already noticed Lissa's english voice is deeper than her Japanese voice. Nono would be tougher just because of how absurdly childlike she is, but maybe Nintendo will just go with the usual "she's actually centuries old!" explanation and call it a day.

Cousin marriage is a tougher one. I think there's only one case of it in the game (Lucina/Eudes), but will Nintendo even remove it? In a lot of places it's not illegal. Not that legality is truly relevant, as murder is illegal and happens in plenty of games, but issues regarding sexuality seem to be so much worse in the US.

I'm genuinely curious to see how Nintendo approaches it.

FELIPE NO

Have you realized how much like Crash Landon you sound?

How ya doing, buddy?

Oh God dammit Skills, it's not like I want that. It's just Nintendo can get creative about how they hide things they consider too adult for western audiences, and I'm curious if they're going to cut content.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Alright, so we're three weeks away from release in North America. Some updates.

• The game will be getting both a physical and digital release. It will cost the same no matter what way you go.

• There will be a dual-audio voicetrack. This isn't such a huge deal since there's very little spoken dialogue in the game, but Japanese is there if your heathen ears can't stand listening to the glorious English language.

• There will be a limited-time DLC map offered for free at launch. My assumption is that this is the Marth recruitment map that was free in Japan after its launch there, but it wasn't described as "free map DLC," it was "free character DLC." Still, they should be one and the same-- Star Lord Marth free at launch.



• In a surprising move, the Fire Emblem 3DS bundle with limited edition 3DS (original model) will be coming stateside at launch on February 4. It will come with a digital copy of Fire Emblem: Awakening, and retail for $200.



Now, before you start in on the price or the digital copy, I have some advice for you.

YouTube Video

THIS IS THE BEST 3DS PRODUCED SO FAR. You will buy it, and you will legitimately like it. So, shut up.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

The demo went up in the eShop channel. I'm not sure how many chapters in it goes, but it covers the first chapter at the very least.

It's pretty limited, with no character creation options besides the default male. It does give you the time to see what difficulty you should start with, though. I'd recommend Hard. Normal is a breeze and Lunatic stomps on your balls.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

The demo has the Prologue and Chapter 1, so you get two fights.

Originally Posted by Final Fantasy Phoneteen

Lunatic stomps on your balls

I tried Lunatic four times and I never made it past the first round. Thought I had it the last time, but some jackass landed a crit that hit for more HP than my avatar (that's what they're calling My Unit) had total.

I would've kept trying on that difficulty but saving's disabled, so you have to restart the file every time you lose. So it's probably best to save yourself the heartache and play the demo on not Lunatic.

Shit is EXCELLENT

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

The furthest I've gone without casualties in Lunatic is Chapter 4. It becomes all too easy to lose Frederick, who is an absolute necessity to even survive the generic enemies until you reach the boss of a chapter (whom only Frederick can do any real damage to). With the way the game is designed, Lunatic and Lunatic+ become significantly easier once the world map opens up and you can take advantage of free battles to grind and promotion items to beef up. But it also means you have to somehow slug it out before then.

The voicework is acceptable and everything else seems pretty great. I am very pleased.

I was speaking idiomatically.

The demo was just as great as I'd expected, but what is going on with their feet? At first I thought everyone had sunk into the ground while talking, but during battle animations you can tell that they all have the tiniest feet ever. It's like their feet were chopped off at the ankle, and then they grew replacement heels.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Lunatic is BALLS TO THE WALL. I love it.

I haven't beaten the demo yet on that difficulty but it's certainly not fucking around any. DELICIOUS

FELIPE NO

As I recall, the best way to do it is have Krom join Frederick, let Frederick kill/wear down most guys, have My Unit pick off any stragglers, switch to Krom to kill off guys when he doesn't have to fear retaliation, and have Lissa heal anyone not at full HP.

Chapter 1 is pretty tricky. Obviously you'd use Frederick and a fort, but I can't remember what I did with Virion and Sully.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Huh. For some reason, GameStop pulled preordering for the game, so no more art books I guess. Ah well. I'll just use my reward credit and buy from Best Buy instead. In any case, we have only a week and a half left until release. Woo!

Jam it back in, in the dark.