FIRE EMBLEM 11: Shadow Dragon Retrospective - ShaneBrained
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 มิ.ย. 2024
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0. Title 0:00
I. Return of the Hero (Introduction) 0:14
II. Finding the Way (Development) 2:24
III. Fang and Blade(Story Synopsis) 8:11
IV. Sticking to Theme (Story Analysis) 18:04
V. Breaking a Legacy (Gameplay Analysis 1) 23:58
VI. To Persevere (Gameplay Analysis 2) 30:12
VII. A Worthy Renewal 38:32
Special thanks to my script editor, Minute Rice!
Follow me! / shanebrained
Game: Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon - เกม
Still watching this but great retrospective so far! One quick correction: the C-A support system is in this game, it's just really well hidden to the point where there's no conversations and no visible clue that they're there other than the very minor bonuses they give. They are built up in the same way as Path of Radiance.
Cheers, I never noticed that.
***THREE BALLISTICIANS***
Glad to see you enjoyed it. I think over the last years people have really started to appreciate Shadow Dragon's strong points.
One thing I'm surprised you didn't mention along with all the QoL features is the dual screen which works just perfectly in a game like Fire Emblem, where on harder difficulties you have to constantly check numbers to make sure the enemies die and you do not. Switching back and forth between stat and map screens is weary to both players and viewers, but with the dual screen you don't have to.
That is something that I liked about it too! I'm not a fan of how often my eyes need to switch back and forth, something which really became frustrating during editing, but that is definitely another reason why this game and the next play so smooth and quickly. Having now finished Awakening, I think they improved it by having maps and animations on the same screen, I think I'll take the chance then to mention it.
"Don't get caught up trying to play perfectly."
Could you imagine the madness that would ensue if a Fire Emblem game had missions other than a prologue that forced you to sacrifice a unit? Permadeath has truly created some of my most memorable sub-stories for these games.
you'd keep gordin alive just to sacrifice him later on 🤣
That's the tension in the whole Permadeath system. On the one hand it's great for telling your own stories within the framework of the game, on the other hand it makes it very hard on the developers to tell the game's story if they want those characters to be around for it. At the same time, the whole 'can't fight anymore' deaths feel weird and incongruous to me when they try to both have the Permadeath system but also need those story characters around.
Shadow Dragon and even new mystery to an extent are the vanilla icecream of Fire Emblem.
And I love vanilla icecream
New Mystery is like... one of the finest bowls of vanilla ice cream you could ever have
But someone dropped a pickle on it
I believe they're talking about Chris 😅
I always reset when my units die, not because I particularly care about the little bit of dialogue at the end, but rather because nothing hurts me quite like having a permanent missing character in my list of units. It's a permanent mark of failure that does not go away until the end of the game.
Granted, I also refuse to play any FE without permadeath, because the challenge of having to keep every unit alive is part of what makes succeeding at it all the sweeter. I love a game that can kick my ass
Agreed, perma death used to scare me. But realizing that it adds more levels to the strategy, i started to appreciate it more
I think the reason perma death was added was so there’s a challenge, even in the original theme song it says something about resetting if you’re unit dies, the developers knew that people would do that
Jus don't suck bro
@@solidsalt3412 sucking is the fun part
32:02 Matthis: "Lena my dear sister clearly i love you a lot, where are you I want to see you"
Also Matthis: *stabs Lena, who is right in front of him*
definitely a brother
Fe 11 is a fun game, has a wide variety of difficulties a charming script and cool stuff through reclassing
This was definitely a fun way to experience Marth's story! However, the admittedly barebones story and ugly artstyle, it's hard for me to say I love this game. It's probably my second least favorite (beating out Fates). Still, it's undeniable that the gameplay is great.
@@nova338 Caeda looks beautiful af though (besides being the best unit as well) and I don't even suffer the waifu syndrome (I think)
@@nova338 the portraits look great though
"It's not a big problem if some of your characters die... Don't get caught up trying to get a perfect ending. Have fun! "
-Shouzou Kaga
I love this quote! I slowly started to realize this when replaying this game and remember it was hard for me to understand that back then when this game was new and was my first FE game. super happy more people know this :)
Jose Rachi Well, for me, having fun is having the perfect ending. That being said, once I saw the final map for Shadow Dragon, I said “fuck this shit,” and just warped Marth and maybe some other units to the boss, and just killed him and seized the throne. Some of my units died, but it was worth it to cheese the boss.
It's a shame Shouzou Kaga is criminally detested by the fandom. He is a true hero, akin to Shu Takumi, Dan Povenmire and Jesse Schelle.
@Ced von noish >I don't understand why though
Because he sees your characters as disposable pawns to sacrifice for the sake of your victory and not characters with actual personalities that you as a player care about and don't want to see die? That famous quote by him shows his disconnect from the players, that he doesn't understand that there are reasons to keep characters alive beyond their numerical value. Fuck that, who does he think he is, Kreia? As I said in another comment, this isn't X-COM where they're personality-less disposable soldiers whose sole purpose is to win or die. These characters actually having writing behind them.
@@torri776 I don't hate Kaga
I hate his map desing
@@SeruraRenge11 do you turn off a movie every time a character you like dies? No, it's part of the story and the experience.
Shadow Dragon is a game overlooked by a lot of players. I too disliked its more murky artstyle at first, but reclassing and forging are the keys that give you a lot of fun options to mess around with. Its sequel is a lot more polished (at a cost you'll see next week) but FE11 has a lot of merit.
FE11 also has a VERY good script imo. The prose is great.
The writing in Shadow Dragon is incredible for how little of it there is. "Tick-tack, now move that frock!” is one of my favorite lines in the series.
@@andrewkos5560 yeah that!
i also REALLY like caeda's "do you believe in love?" but also her whole convo with Lorenz.
I don't want my characters to die because they're characters I care about and I don't see them as nothing more than pawns for me to sacrifice for the sake of my success. That's Kreia talk. This isn't X-COM where they're personality-less disposable soldiers whose sole purpose is to win or die.
True but few days ago I finished Crimson Dawn in three houses. In order to make it on the last level I sacrificed everyone. Sad reality.
That's one of the reasons of why permadeath may be impactful in games where your units carry over. You are supposed to grow attached to your characters so there is an emotional impact if you decide to go on without them.
I never really do this because I am too much of a perfectionist.
@@ericamborsky3230 No, I just don't go on without them because I refuse to just lose a character I put so much time and effort into building.
Do you. You’re not meant for war.
@@jimsface Surprised you replied to something years old. Regardless, I did my mandatory military service irl, you don't leave servicemen behind.
31:00 Not only is this game about building your army, it is also about trusting nobody. Fire Emblem.
"What happened to Dorcas?"
Can’t even trust yourself
My favorite of the entire series, I’ve replayed this bad boy like nothing else, lol. I find it rather unfairly judged, and it showed me that you can still make a fantastic Fire Emblem without supports. Your retrospective has been amazing, every single episode of it, and I can’t wait to see a fresh take on this game. Thank you so much for making those videos, really. They reignited my love for the franchise.
Yeah, I do enjoy supports time to time but I follow the story most. So I rather not halt the story to hear character banter that may or may not expand their background which usually doesn't affect the story at all. But then again seeing Marianne more is always a pleasure.
@Partyharry I do feel like supports are a bit overrated, especially regarding their quantity v. quality (Awakening and Fates rely too much on quantity for example, while FE 4 ~ FE 9 and 3H feel more meaningful), but there are always really well executed ones that can flesh out characters a lot more and make you more engaged, though I’d argue that they are a bit rare.
The way they’re executed lends a lot to their quality, too; I pretty much never develop supports in the GBA games since they feel very obtrusive, with little mechanical gain, which is not the case for FE 4. PoR did it best, though: before battle there can be many conversations, you get valuable information, character development and even some goodies. The game even rates the importance of them to you.
Although the method I like most is definitely optional conversations throughout a map, like FE 4 did. It can show much of a character with fewer lines and less buildup than a support, and it’s the reason why I don’t think all characters in Shadow Dragon are blank slates. Keyword being “all”.
Edit: Seeing character interactions is the idea, but while supports take some time, which even though it does reinforce the concept of them getting to know each other, optional dialogues can convey the essence of the characters when they are recruited/ meet someone they know, etc. Although which someone would prefer plays into how much they need their characters to have... character, or how much they want to feel invested in the plot, which ends up in creating characterization for his/her units, as the player experiences the game alongside them.
@@gtdfg4594 I agree PoR/RD did it best with the base conversation idea. Three Houses does an amazing job with supports but it feels theres way to much of it. Three Houses is not a game to return to, when looking for gameplay since a lot of it is spent more in the monastery and if you like to watch all supports... yeah, you got a lot of time to take watching every single one, sometimes its best to skip them to get to the gameplay in my opinion.
I liked your take on the "accessability" features of the game, such as the gaiden chapters designed specifically to help players who lost units, and the reclassing system to replace lost classes. I never thought of reclassing that way, though I'm pretty much an FE perfectionist. And that the sacrifice in the beginning was supposed to be the game telling you that it's okay to lose units makes sense.
I had so much fun with SD. Giving all my stat boosters to tiki, warping a swole sedgar in mass of enemies, ceadas nuclear power. Lots of tools for a mad fun time
For me, permadeath is an important part of the challenge of Fire Emblem, which is why I still always put on classic mode in the newer entries. But I'm also the exact kind of person who resets every time I lose someone. That probably sounds like an oxymoron, especially when casual mode is right there. But I enjoy the challenge permadeath presents me and how it makes every move feel like it counts.
I've certainly found it frustrating at points, but it isn't a frustration that takes away from my enjoyment (believe me, if it did, I wouldn't do it - I do agree with Kaga's sentiment to "have fun!", but I'd argue that different people have a different view of fun). It's similar to how I imagine the frustration of losing against a boss in a Dark Souls game just makes the player feel more determined to beat it (that's what Dark Souls players have told me anyway, I've never played it myself). I want perfection because then I feel like I've really learned the game's mechanics and systems, and because I care about the characters. I imagine every character has someone they want to go back to, and letting them die just feels... wrong, to me.
I think it's nice that we have a casual mode nowadays, for players who don't want to lose units, but also don't want to force perfection. It's great for those players who just want to enjoy the story and characters without that threat hanging over their heads, and I will never understand why people rail so hard against casual mode when they're not being forced to use it. It's a single player game, play the way you want to play.
Correction, Supports do exist in the game! They simply are not displayed. It's an invisible system you have to discover and pick up on yourself.
They simply act as invisible boosts that build up in secret thorought the game. No conversations or anything but it's still there for tactical purposes.
Idk why this game gets such hate, I loved it when I played it. I never found it ugly, the combat graphics reminded me of toy soldiers which I’m sure we all played with as kids.
I mean have you look at the hard mode of the game when one of the best strategy to defeat the bosses are range them to death or break their weapons. ??? You think that's good for a games perception. Murky lifeless characters, units due to lack of support are really just bag of hit points. Marth is awful in this game one of the worst lord's in the series bar none. The game sets you up for failure with it's story with Marth. Ballista and many other things make the game a joke in the endgame. So yea not hard to see why it's not well liked. From a gameplay perspective your units are as lifeless as the enemies (you can even cheese the game by killing most of your units). The harder mode is not fun in the early where you have literal trash tactics most people hate other aspects and than the endgame is so cheesible it's not even fun. Wich other games has had levied against them.
First time I’ll be watching one as it comes out, I’ve binged through all the others great work man!
FE11 is an extremely solid game, it doesn't try to be anything it isn't, and works well because of it. Not my favorite, but not anywhere near my least favorite, either.
8-4 are the goats of FE localization. The character writing in thier localizations is so much better than Nintendo's have been. Props to them for sure
8-4 also localized Shadows of Valentia. Nough said, there's no debate.
@@unstablepc5913 Echoes is such a work of art. Doesn't have the most amazing gameplay or overarching narrative but goddamn if the writing, voice acting, character design, UI, music & more aren't all some of the best I've ever seen in video games.
Another great retrospective. F'ing incredible work so far!
I honestly LOVED this game. This was a fantastic game for introducing Marth and co. to new fire emblem fans who jumped on board after awakening. Between, this, shadows of Valentina, awakening, and fates, you can experience a lot of the fire emblem universe on just one console!
Yeah everything from good map design to bad map design, from good writing to bad writing.
Tho tbf them + NMoTE aint a bad roster
Great review!! I'm so glad that a video like this for this game finally exists now, and with all the stuff that I usually hear people say about this game it's really refreshing to watch this vid as well as go into the comments and find people who enjoy this game as much as I do. It was my first Fire Emblem game after all.
Now I feel like replaying it, so I'm gonna go do that.
See, I can't let a character die because I get sad over their dying words.
I'm okay with restarting because it offers more play time, and in 3H - I just recruited everyone I possibly could
Cain’s hits me the hardest. “Prince Marth… tell them… I did not run…”
The sole survivor of King Cornelius’ force, reluctantly retreated from the battlefield under the orders of the king to tell the tragic tale, he’s really the one to stand his ground and never run from danger. These words are just perfect for him.
@@vaximillian9460 he died in the prologue for me since i was new to the game, and damn did that hit hard
@@vaximillian9460 I remeber a hard 3 playthrough where I had to finish off the dragon. Marth couldn't do enought damage, but using Cain damage him enough in exchange for his life. That makes that death quote perfect for him in that case
They’re definitely memorable.
Nghh, Coyote…
This has become the first thing I do on Saturday. I'm sad to know that next week is the last for a bit. But you have helped me learn so much about my own favorite franchise and really helped put the whole thing into a different light. Thanks so much for these.
Don't get caught up in keeping them all alive, but bro, I love them!
If you thought 1 Caeda with Wing Spear was broken just imagine a Caeda and Xane transformed into Caeda both with Wing Spears. It's basically autopilot at that point lol.
This game is my absolute favorite fire emblem and one of my 5 favorite titles on the nintendo DS library. The UI design is phenomenal; with each and every statistic and detail available at the push of a button. The save points are far better than later "turnwheel" mechanics, as it allows you to reset with nary an inconvenience. Hell, you can even rig level ups with this. It's tons of fun to break and even more fun to try something new.
I am super glad you touched on the writing quality of this entry as well. Apart from thracia and Path of Radiance, Shadow dragon has the best localization ever concieved in the franchise, with very applicable dialogue and prose-like speech that keeps the world fresh and real.
This is truly a great game and everyone takes a dump on it just because of the gaiden chapters having bs requirements or the artstyle being bad (it is not imo). The game feels like a painted history book that you're going through and each move you make is crucial to securing your own story as you play and have fun.
Amazing review/retrospective.
Agreed on all points. The writing and visuals both contribute to this classically aged feeling the game has. There’s so much left to the imagination that you feel like you’re playing a legend recorded in the pages of a history book. It’s so damn cool.
I just came across your channel. Keep up the great work man and I look forward to your retrospective for echoes!
My summary for FE11: A low budget game with low expectation that is fun to play.
I tried the hardest difficulty and the very first thief killed my entire army... hehe
Even though I don't like the art direction of this game it's still a pretty good game.
*like really the sprites look so muddy and washed out*
I've found that turning up the brightness really helps with the muted colors. The sprites end up looking so much better.
@@ggrapperhaus nothing can help the sprites. they try way too hard to look realistic while forcing anime anatomy
Oh yeah, the graphics are fugly as hell.
I love the washed out feeling, it looks more real. it looks like it's in ancient england
Thank you for making this retrospective! I find that Shadow Dragon is easily the most underrated of the series, mostly due to people too focus the lack of story and the gaiden chapters. I appreciate someone pointing out the purpose of the gaiden chapters being a safety net for inexperience players like getting Etzel to cover a mage quota to fight Gharnef and the final gaiden requirement being losing to 2 best methods of dealing with Medeus, and not getting a "reward" for kill off your units. I feel that people have gotten to used to the getting every character and getting a perfect run, that the idea of gaiden characters rub them the wrong. And I think people to understand that the games (not just this game, but the other games of the series) wasn't design with resetting in mind.
Shadow Dragon is my most played game in the series 5 playthrough with a 6th one going right now. One normal run and one another normal run with the underused characters, and 4 ironman runs. I absolute love for this game was my first ironman before ironman runs were popular 7 years ago on hard 3 and was terrible at it, getting every gaiden chapter except the last one with 7 units left in the end, but it was my favorite FE playthrough ever that I still keep the file til this days. I remember Athena and Caesar helping me pull through the entire game and Athena sacrifice for helping me kill Medeus and a generic Sniper helping me out until the end, and Caesar has became one of my favorite character because of it. Now that I am more experience with tactic and just seeing the contrast of my current Ironman (where I lost less than 10 units mostly from bad luck, or dumb ai) to my first Ironman I just see how much I have improve in this game.
Anyone who has never tried an Ironman, I highly recommend it, especially in Shadow Dragon.
wow, you put so much work into this great content...merci for that :)
Amazing video. I just beat the game for the first time, and I had very similar thoughts about it in a lot of things. But you managed to put it in words incredibly well.
I'll definitely check the other videos on the playlist (at least the ones of FEs I already beat)
Great work, man!
First fire emblem game I played and beat so it has a special place in my heart.
“The most alluring lies of all are the ones we tell ourselves.” Is an INCREDIBLE line- especially for being about anime chess. 😂
I really never understood resetting for a character as I never do it but I love yours and chaz’s explanations on permanent death.
Its because its a lot more satisfying to finish a map with everybody alive rather than a few dead. Its a huge mental judge of skill and I think most of us feel compelled that we couldve done better or make better choices during the map since permadeath is a thing. At least I hate losing characters even if I dont wind up using them in the long run.
Thats just the nature with permadeath so many of us reset when someone dies
@@atelierbagur3831 I honestly don’t care if people reset, I just personally like leaving a character dead, feels more realistic and makes for a more unique run in my opinion.
@@fyl9539 and thats fine. Just that also understand that people enjoy playing these games with no deaths and thats also perfectly viable too. Otherwise they shouldve implemented a hard save after a character died so that even when you restart a map that optional unit is still dead.
I beat this game twice many years ago. This was an incredible video that really said what needed said about this game.
(Copying my comment from the patreon exclusive video)
I wouldn't call SD my very favourite, but it was my first FE game, and I think many of its aspects are very overlooked and underappreciated outside of the core FE fandom.
I really like the take on permadeath; as a non-native English speaking pre-teen I was able to play through the game multiple times without issue due to its clever and deliberate introduction to the idea of permadeaths being a feature. I still reset for Shiida etc. (European localization had some different names, also Navarre->Nabarl and Macedon->Medon for instance), but I distinctly remember at least getting access to the Athena, Horace and Etzel paralogues (I must have been shit at the game lmao.)
I always had a hard time playing this game due to the art shift. Though I did appreciate the class change system.
My favorite fire emblem
Yay! this was my first fire emblem game I completed on classic without divine pulse. Truly frustrating but fun and especially rewarding. I abused Warp so much in these games, but thats how you play fire emblem.
-----------
Edit: I do love these entries and want to revisit them! Marth is one of my favorite lords and he has some depth, not a lot but theres some. The Artstyle isn't much but I would've loved to see a original entry for ds with it though.
19:23 Thank you
This was my first Fire Emblem. I enjoyed it, and looking back I'm glad such a simpler one was my initial experience with the series.😁👍
~ Adam
People give negative points to the DS fire emblem games for being to simplistic, but honestly thats why I like them so much. Because they don't weigh themselves down with needless gimicks or new mechanics. Its fire emblem in its purest form. The GBA games are also that way. But I prefer the DS games more because the pacing of battles is typically alot smoother due to combat animations not being so damn slow. Yes the GBA games have better animations. But the games in general are alot slower paced in general.
And despite the lack of support coversations to truly flesh out the roster. The archanea series still has my favorite roster.
I finally beat this game last night. It took me 3 years on H5..the hardest game I have ever played. And the most fulfilling, challenging, and frustrating.
I'm going to attempt some of the others, hope they live up to this one. I kept coming back to this video countless times, you did a good job on this series.
And with this we are near the games that shot the series into the mainstream, which are unironically some of my favorites alongside Blazing Blade and Path of Radiance. I'm eager to see your take on them.
i am excited for this
I really loved a lot playing Shadow Dragon, I find it very challenging at some points but wasn't hard at all, the only minor problems I had was with units diying randomly and be unable to recruit certain characters, however, the reclassing system and the forging systems were the most funniest thing to do in the game, like, reclassing Gordin to a Myrmidon to make him finally a good unit or making the Killing Edge a 100% critical weapon are things that I will love of this game. Nice review, I liked a lot the little chat you give about the "perfectionist players" and all, it kinda makes me think about how I played FE games.
This game does a lot right. It isn’t the most epic game in the series but it is a lot of fun to come back to and use different units and classes out of this large cast. Also this is game does do permadeath really well while still making it accessible for new players. I also really like the save points in this game. It is far better than the turnwheel of later games as there is still a penalty for losing a unit but if u want to reset u don’t have to play the whole map again. Despite having hundreds of hours in three houses my biggest problem is the game doesn’t take permadeath into account at all and u should always turnwheel or reset for a unit. This makes going back to the older games much more appealing to me.
I really like how you explained the gaiden chapters. Everyone seems to blindly bash them, but you actually went in to why they exist. This retrospective is great!
Allowing units to stay dead is something I’ve been wrestling with playing through Three Houses for the first time. I think in subsequent playthroughs I’ll give this a try. I’m a FE perfectionist since Sacred Stones back like 15+ years ago, it’s a very enjoyable challenge to see how I must navigate to achieve no deaths etc.But what you said definitely made me give it another thought! Great series you got here. You got a good voice for this stuff
Three houses isn't really made for that playstyle though.
@@kentknightofcaelin4537 Could you elaborate on this a bit
I've been following these retrospectives with great interest as someone who's only finished a few Fire Emblems and still doesn't feel truly "in" to the series and its mechanics. All I've done so far is Echoes on Casual mode, followed by The Sacred Stones and then a Classic mode replay of Echoes; permanent death on, but with grinding and still resetting upon character death. Hearing your theorizing on why someone might play the games in that fashion is interesting; my own perspective on doing it is a creeping anxiety that, if I get TOO sloppy and let the poor tactical decisions pile up, I'll make the game unwinnable and have wasted a great deal of time. That being said, it's remarkable to see the intriguing design decisions at play here in Shadow Dragon to help alleviate that; not only do you get extra chapters and new content if you're struggling, but being able to reclass sounds super relieving and accessible, while still keeping the theme of "it's okay if you lose someone along the way". It almost makes me want to give this one a shot, and get one step closer to shattering the glass ceiling of "you're not really into Fire Emblem, you haven't done a real one without making it easy for yourself" that I've unfortunately built up in my own head. Great work as always, and keep it up =)
Around 32:00 and the whole idea of lost characters. I used to love this feature and I wouldn't restart. I would craft the story that was my story with the characters I had remaining and what they could do. Some of my best time spent in the earlier games. I think what changed for me is that they now have so many 'story essential' characters that literally can't die that it kind of cheapens both the permadeath system and the way it could make your own experience unique.
I don't like when a unit is 'lost' but they're still there every cutscene, etc. It just feels weird and wrong to me. I know it is hard to tell interesting stories if they don't know what characters will still be alive, but there has to be a better way to do it. I'd rather they make story essential characters dying a fail condition for the maps instead of having them be 'unable to fight' anymore.
I love this game. It presents a really solid, and adjustable, challenge which makes it very fun to replay. It's one of the best games to play through while accepting every unit death. The music is also amazing. I know this game gets flak, but I honestly think it's one of the better entries.
thank you for your insight on perma death, i've been the type to either reset or savescum and honestly this made me want to try doing it as intended, while i will never touch casual mode, your reasoning made me want to try out the games as the devs wanted people to
great series
So EXCITED
I agree with your comments on death in the series. During my first FE4 run, many of those axe guys in Chapter 6 went after Arthur. He got hit and wrathed the other 5-8 dodging the rest of their attacks, a single one of which would've killed him. I messed up, and he somehow survived. Then, I made a mistake and triggered the Deadlords in the final chapter before I was ready. Arthur lost his life, along with Shannon and Larcei. Here I was, so close to the end, and he died. That was a unique experience that I will never forget.
Draco is a fucking scary unit
The first time I played through a Fire Emblem game I didn't care if my units died. I made it to the final boss with only about 10 characters left. It felt good to finally beat the boss and complete the game, but the moment the end credits started playing and all the dead characters appeared any satisfaction I felt evaporated. It felt like the game was telling me I could have done much, much better than I had. Every death is an avoidable mistake, and being shown the deaths at the end is like a showcase of your failures. I think for a lot of new players that's where the need to keep everyone alive starts.
Shadow Dragon is one of the last FE games I tried blind, and even then it has been my favorite game in the series by far. I love this game to death and I'm so glad to see some more content on it.
You've convinced me to pick up this game. It seems closer to what I've been looking for since Path of Radiance years ago. As simple as the story is, it seems like the story and the game play work together to form a sense of gravitas. I look forward to your thoughts on Awakening!
i think a big thing you're leaving out about people refusing to lose units is the fact that people just get straight up attached to these characters, especially in the later games when supports and characterizations got way more fleshed out and you feel more like you're not just losing your best sage or paladin but losing a character you really enjoy the portrayal of. like yeah i know i theoretically can replace a unit with a slightly less-trained version of the one i just lost but fuckin hell sometimes i just really wanna make sure this char sees it through the end of the game and gets to retire nicely
I haven't played the later games yet. That's the whole idea of this series
Wing fear, lovely
I’m waiting
I like your forge names
:)
Honestly, thank you for saying that it’s ok to lose units. That it’s ok to mess up so long as they aren’t essential to your run.
I started with awakening with easy casual because I wanted to experience everything the game had to offer. I got attached to characters, I wanted to make each of them a veritable god on earth.
It took me awhile to understand that it was ok to lose units.
Ironically, playing Pikmin put my thoughts into perspective and realize that as a tactician I had to make sacrifices.
32:03 ...aaaand now i have existential crisis
I'm so glad i bought this from a gamestop used for less than 30 bucks a couple years ago. I definitely don't like how disadvantaged all of the promoted class characters are. That's one major quirk with this game, but other than that I really, really enjoy it. I haven't played all of the FE games, still haven't gotten around to 3 Houses yet, lol, but the two Ike ones are my favorite.
Shadow Dragon is my favourite game in the series next to Thracia776. You really did both games justice! I hope more new players try out the more niche FEs
Very unlikely tho unless they get ported to Switch...
Emulation
@@DctrJimbo Most people including myself have no clue how/from where to emulate as it's not as simple and risk free as just buying the games without someone telling how/from where to get that first to avoid the bad sites.
There are several threads on Serenes Forest about how to emulate past FE game. It is an incredibly simple affair
@@DctrJimbo I have very little experience with that site so wouldn't really know about those and an average new FE fan wanting to play the old games have even less knowledge of that site naturally what really limits how many fans will even find out about those threads, tho could you maybe send a link to a good thread like that as you seem to know well about that as i do want to play the old games and like i said i have no clue how/from where to emulate?
Exactly 42 minutes. Nice
Bold of you to assume Ceada survived past the first chapter.
Honestly I think the problem came about because of The Support Conversations. Sure without them you could argue that it ain't a big deal... But... What happens when you flesh out said Characters? What happens when you get bonuses to keeping them alive and making sure that they are more worth living then dead? People want to reset because they maybe be a favorite. It may be because it's a hassle to replace that unit with another? It may be because you feel attached to them and you want to keep them alive... no matter what. Sure in this game they don't have those Support Conversations so you can argue that it's kinda pointless to do that. But... That ain't the case in all games. And a lot of people, like it or not do not like their characters they like die from anything. So... Yeah.
since they remade this and Gaiden, i wonder how long till Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776 are remade.
I am actually one of those people tbh lol, but I think some of that comes from originally playing this series as a kid back with FE7 where supports were in full force, and probably one of the most traumatic moments when I was a kid where Oswin got hit with a berserk staff and attacked Hector, only to get mowed down. Silly as it sounds that was super sad and traumatic for me lmao and I pretty much made it my mission not to let people die in most FE games I played after that. But I also realize I dig my own grave so you won't ever hear me really complain about resetting lol. It's honestly how I'm used to playing Fire Emblem.
For me, the number one thing I didn't like about this game from my perspective when I first played it, was coming off Tellius I was totally blown off by how underdeveloped these characters are. With hindsight I understand why since they don't want you getting too attached, but stuff like having Marth barely say anything in some recruit scenes, and some characters just joining without a huge amount of buildup was just odd, and I guess me as a teen at the time just didn't really get that it was sticking to it's NES roots.
I do love certain characters in this game though, like the pegasus sisters, Minerva, and Navarre that somehow stuck in my brain despite the issues. I kind of want to replay it, because it's been a loooong time.
Nobody dies in my watch
I just don't like having my guys die, that's all.
I know I’m in the minority here but Shadow Dragon is my favorite FE by far.
I just ordered it online. Been a fan since the the first gba FE. I may as well play the original adventure of the Hero King
I really love shadow dragon, to the point it colored my fire emblemeste world.
The best way to play, in my opinion, is the mod that unlocks the extra content without having to juggle the generic replacement system. Within reason.
Also, all Marth needed to keep everyone alive from the start was to have a mage with Excalibur!
I love this game's OST, and many of its characters, and so many people say this game sucks and have no clue what they're talking about
I'm genuinely confused by people who say this game is ugly or has bad animations. Sure, it's different from any other game in the series, and it can be a bit jarring if you've only played the GBA ones, but that doesn't make it bad.
I hate when people say a game is overrated or underrated. Usually, what they mean is that they either liked a game less or more than most people, which is exactly how averages work. If a game has an 80% on Metacritic, and you would give it a 50%, that doesn't mean it's overrated, that means your opinion on the game is below the average. I don't like Earthbound (though I love Mother 1 and Mother 3), but I don't go around saying it's overrated. If you're going to say something is overrated or underrated, you need to give a reason other than you disagree with other people's opinions.
With all that said, I believe Shadow Dragon is underrated. Not so much anymore, because with the benefit of hindsight we know that Fire Emblem lived on, but back then things looked bad, and we knew Shadow Dragon wasn't the game that was going to turn things around. Fire Emblem was struggling. The last two games were these grand adventures where Intelligent Systems went all out.....and they flopped. We in the fandom were worried. Then we got Shadow Dragon and it was a "remake" of Fire Emblem 1, a lot of the mechanics were taken out, it was back on a handheld, and it was ugly. It seemed like Fire Emblem was nearly dead, and that sort of affected the fan reaction to the game. It's a good game, but like I said earlier, it wasn't a game that was going to create a bunch of new fans, and at the time it really did seem like Fire Emblem's dying breath.
Or maybe I'm completely wrong and it's a combination of two other things:
1. Shadow Dragon is not a meaningful game so there is no reason for the haters to stick around and tell people why they think it's bad. The game came out, it failed, and the haters moved on. So all that's left are the people that like the game, and an echo chamber has been created.
2. Mekkah said he liked the game while co-commentating Mangs' Shadow Dragon let's play, and people like to feel smart by repeating what Mekkah says, as long as he's not bullying a cute girl like Lyn or Amelia.
It's probably a combination of all three.
At least in the Western fanbase, I don't think there was an air of dread of the series dying. The Western fanbase was at it's biggest with Radiant Dawn at this time. It was only the lack of localization of FE12 that people started to worry. And it was less they thought the series was going to be cancelled, and more they didn't think it would be localized anymore. I remember there was definitely surprise at "FE13 could have potentially been the last game in the series" because things didn't seem that bad. Actually even though FE9 and FE10 have the most financial trouble for IntSys, FE11 was blamed for it instead, because people just didn't like the game and assumed it sold poorly when it didn't. It didn't sell that well in the West and Radiant Dawn actually sold more in the West so that may have something to do with it. Either way, people at around this time didn't really think the series was dying.
Recent playthroughs of it by FEtubers may have something to do with the fanbase opinion softening. Mangs ironman on it was one of the best and really showcased it's gameplay.
Lackluster story and localization with Fates probably has something to do with it, because now FE11 is the standard localization is held to.
Even with this change of opinion, the game is still the least popular because of the art style, lack of supports, the Gaiden chapter requirements, and the class changing. It's divisive to say the least in the Western fanbase. In the Japanese fanbase, it's FE10 that was divisive instead.
I don't understand how you can say the Western fanbase was at its biggest, when RD bombed in the West and every game since FE7 was sliding downhill in sales
@@GamesBrained Tellius didn't sell well but brought in several very dedicated fans. Even to this day you see Tellius overrepresented in favorite game polls in comparison to how many people played it.
There was multiple FE fansites at the time that only died after the release of FE11.
You know the fanbase current obsession with tier lists? That was solidified with Radiant Dawn with a literal 400 page thread on Serenes Forest you can view today, where you can see how people changed how they evaluated units. It was so infamous online it was linked on Encyclopedia Dramatica, an old wiki where people would post about petty internet drama.
There were active debate tournaments where two people would pick two units and debate who is better in gameplay.
Lots of discussion on shipping, ironic considering Tellius doesn't really allow for shipping with it's support mechanics. But it might have been because of the ambiguity of Ike's sexuality and plain old homophobia against Ike/Soren shippers.
Rom hacking was starting to take off at around that time.
Ike was in Brawl, which definitely attracted some new fans to Tellius.
But Shadow Dragon came out, the then current fanbase was disappointed, the game didn't bring in much fans to defend it, and the many FE fansites consolidated into the few the remain today. The fanbase seemed so lively before Shadow Dragon, and with the absence of sales data, people kinda assumed Shadow Dragon sold so bad that it was the reason New Mystery wasn't going to get localized and later on was blamed for nearly killing the series. It wasn't seen as a glimmer of hope to the Western fanbase, it was seen as the harbinger of doom.
I remember during Project Rainfall to bring in Xenoblade to the West there was a chart of "hardcore" Japanese games that sold better in the West and Radiant Dawn was included. Looking at it in context, we know it didn't sell to expectations and it's a terrible example to show Nintendo how there was a demand for those sort of games. But it definitely paints a picture of how the sales were perceived by the fans.
The Tellius fanbase was pretty dedicated and really liked talking about the games, that it very much skewed perception of how popular the games actually were, a loud minority.
Could ya believe I barely to never used Caeda at all in this game?
This comment doesn't have much to do with Shadow Dragon, but I am curious as to how you'll structure the story section for games with multiple routes, such as Fates and Three Houses.
I'll probably cover the start first, then announce to which time stamp I'll be covering which path. The order I choose will be arbitrary, especially with 3H
Bring a massive army with you. I wonder if they intended to make the game more like Warsong? With a general and different units assigned to that general.
I should do ironman fates conquest one day. Its my favorite game, and i actually think a lack of a certain mechanic makes it more fun.
32:18 the biggest tragedy
RIP Mathis
1337-776
“A bad unit”
I almost actually cried
@@megakoopa2361 I did cry
I do get what you are saying about accepting perma-death. It can make for a good experience. The issue in later games is: The characters become dear to you. Not just because of the ending. In Three Houses the Support stories and Paralogues add a lot to the story. So, if one of the characters whose story. Whish is probably why later games, even on "classic mode" does have systems in place to mitigate this effect.
For the creators I'm sure there's a balance they need to pull off - how much story are the secondary characters allowed to have, VS how disposable are they.
That said. There is value in letting people die I guess? In Fire Emblem Engage I have a way too big roster of characters, there's even overlap in what they are good at. So I shouldn't be sad if someone dies. But, you know as heck I will use the systems given to me to avoid those deaths (Which in Engage is a tad too easy)
Many people forget that most of the games are designed and balanced under the assumption that you won't reset when a character dies. That's why it's funny when people complain about there being too much dialogue between maps, like... duh, the game assumes that some of the characters have died. I'm not trying to gate-keep, but playing a fire emblem game blind without save scumming is a once in a lifetime experience that I wouldn't want to take away from anyone. And it's not too difficult either, I usually play it on normal the first time (unless reports say the game is super easy). I save scum the game on my second playthrough on the hardest or harder difficulty.
While your FE12 video pissed me the hell off this one is actually really accurate
Shadow Dragon was my first game in the series and everything you've mentioned here is true, it's fascinating to know other people can appreciate the strong points of this game and not dismiss it at first glance cause ''haha shadow dragon ugly''
I really liked seeing Darros with a refined axe and some clips of Horace and Etzel in the video, kudos for that as well
Thank you for the video, I'll make sure to share it with people who don't appreciate FE11 enough.
(reads up on Kouhei Maeda) Guess that's not going to "awaken" for a while.
34:34 unintentional self awareness, Shane~?
21:30 Say it again for the people in the back.
The faceless characters don't count as units for the 15 or lower requirement.
Shadow Dragon plays it entirely safe, for better or worse.
It's a bit paradoxical, because in some ways it doesn't play it safe enough. The weapon forging and class swapping makes it feel like an unbalanced fan game. Same with the unbalanced higher difficulties (not complaining about it being too hard, but clearly not play-tested enough.)
Why did the dark magician even keep the sword? If I were him I would go very far out into the ocean and throw it there to drown. Am I missing something?
During shadow dragon it was planned an Anime and different art style but it was scrapped maybe because of the budget
I can't belive you diddnt nickname the wing spear the "glue factory".
shadow dragon is my favorite fe so damn good