Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon – Flickroom

2008 video game
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon [ bacillus ] is a tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It is the eleventh installment in the Fire Emblem series [ c ] and a remake of the Famicom title Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, the inaugural entrance in the series. It released in 2008 in Japan and Europe, and 2009 in North America and Australia.

Shadow Dragon retells and expands on the events of Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. Set on the continent of Archanea, the floor follows the narrative of Marth, prince of the kingdom of Altea, who is sent on a quest to reclaim his enthrone after being forced into exile by the evil sorcerer Gharnef and his night headmaster Medeus, the titular Shadow Dragon. Forming new alliances with neighboring kingdoms, Marth must gather a new army to help him retrieve the sacred sword Falchion and the Fire Emblem shield in arrange to defeat Gharnef and Medeus and save his kingdom. The gameplay follows the established Fire Emblem recipe of turn-based battles played out on grid-based maps. Returning features include a character class system which evolves based on fictional character custom, and permanent death for units defeated in struggle. Development began in 2007, overlapping with the final months of production on Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. many staff from earlier entries returned, including conductor Tohru Narihiro and original composer Yuka Tsujiyoko, who handled the remixed and expanded soundtrack with Saki Kasuga. Character artwork was redrawn by original quality interior designer Daisuke Izuka, with especial contributions by Masamune Shirow. First announced in late 2007, it was released internationally the following class and localized by external company 8-4. The plot features many quality-of-life improvements over the original Famicom interpretation, including color tiles for movement and approach roll, the Weapon Triangle, a newly classify swap feature of speech, and on-line multiplayer, a first base for the franchise. Upon dismissal, critical reception was generally positive, with common points of praise going to the gameplay symmetry and multiplayer functionality. however, sales remained low for a good while after launch, despite intelligent Systems saying they were satisfied with the game ‘s sales in Japan .

Gameplay

Shadow Dragon: two units engage in a battle during the player’s turn. A battle in : two units engage in a conflict during the musician ‘s turning. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is a tactical role-playing game where players take dominance of main protagonist Marth and his army on missions across the continent of Archanea. [ 5 ] The gameplay and cosmopolitan crippled information is separated between the two screens of the Nintendo DS : the map is located on the bottom sieve, while the top screen features history sequences, unit statistics ( stats ) and battle animations. [ 6 ] The crippled is divided into chapters, with each chapter being the stage for a single large-scale conflict that advances the history and can lead to the recruitment of newfangled units. “ Gaiden “ ( side narrative ) chapters are increasingly unlock depending on how many units have been lost in battles. [ 7 ] Prior to each chapter, players can prepare for battle, including changing a unit ‘s presently assigned weapons, forging new weapons, and managing the stock. [ 8 ] The game besides features express multiplayer functionality. Using the DS ‘ Wi-Fi connection or convention local radio, players can engage in spokesperson chat with other players, engage multiplayer matches with groups of five units each, and lend units to use in the campaign. [ 5 ] [ 8 ] Battles take invest on a grid-based battlefield, with objectives which range from clearing enemy groups to capturing points of importance. Each map has unique terrain to be negotiated in battle ranging from mountains to rivers and bland plains. Viewed from an overhead perspective, there are castles and locations such as shops that the player can visit, the latter of which provides a mean for obtaining items. [ 5 ] [ 8 ] Each chapter has a different fit of victory conditions, which can be related to the number of turns taken or how the enemy force is deal with. [ 5 ] Battles play out using a turn-based system where each whole on both sides is given their luck to move and act. During conflict, the combat sieve appears, showing the crusade from a sidelong perspective. Both sides move at least once, after which the battle screen fades. [ 5 ] [ 8 ] Battles between individual units are governed by the serial ‘ recurring Weapons Triangle, a rock–paper–scissors system where certain weapons have advantages over others – lances are stronger than swords, swords are stronger than axes, and axes are stronger than lances. [ 8 ] As they participate in battles, each unit gains feel points ( EXP ) from their actions : they raise their experience level by one when they have accumulated 100 EXP. EXP can be earned in both convention battles and challenge fights in extra arenas. [ 5 ] [ 8 ] Players can save at the end of each chapter or outside struggle. They besides have mid-chapter saves available at certain points. [ 5 ] [ 7 ] All units are subject to permanent death : If a unit dies in struggle, they are removed from the remainder of the campaign. [ 5 ] Units each have a character classify which determines their weapon, skill set, apparent motion and attack rate, how much effect they have on other units, and whether they use passive or aggressive skills. [ 7 ] There are thirty classes available to choose from : these include mounted units such as the Pegasus Knight, Sorcerers and Healers that wield magic for attack and healing respectively, soldiers who wield swords and axes, and archers who specialize in long-distance attacks. The only class that is character exclusive is the Lord class, which is used by Marth. [ 5 ] [ 8 ] When a whole has reached Level 10, their classify can be evolved using an detail called a master Seal. [ 5 ] Units can besides be re-classed, changing to a completely unlike classify or binding to their original class at the player ‘s discretion : the re-class option has limits as there are alone a limited number of available classes for a unit to change into, and limitations are placed on how many of one class can be used at a time. [ 7 ] If a class change is reversed, all the unit ‘s previous stats will be retained. [ 5 ] [ 7 ] Each whole ‘s weapon crying, which is directly associated with its course, has its grade raised based on the total of weapon use, while besides decreasing weapon lastingness — unless merged with another identical item, a weapon will break after its maximal number of uses. [ 5 ]

outline

Shadow Dragon follows the events of the original game. In ancient times, the Shadow Dragon Medeus led a predominate of terror over the celibate of Archanea, before a young man named Anri used the divine sword Falchion and the mysterious Fire Emblem shield to defeat Medeus and restore peace to the continent. One hundred belated, Medeus is resurrected by the evil sorcerer Gharnef, reestablishing his empire and reclaiming his former territories. The kingdom of Altea, the original home of Anri and the birthplace of protagonist Marth, comes under approach from Gharnef ‘s forces. Marth is forced into exile in the adjacent kingdom of Talys. several years former, together with the kingdom ‘s daughter Caeda and a small band of soldiers, Marth returns to the mainland to reclaim his kingdom and defeat Medeus once again .

Development

The original version of Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light was released in 1990 for the Famicom by Intelligent Systems, who had previously created the military scheme game Famicom Wars. It was designed and written by series creator Shouzou Kaga, who envisioned a new type of role-playing experience unknown at the time. The achiever of Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light launched the Fire Emblem series, [ 2 ] [ 9 ] of which he parted ways with after the free of the fifth installation. According to co-director Masayuki Horikawa, development started on Shadow Dragon during the development of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, which released in 2007. The exploitation period was estimated at “ one and a moment years ”, although full development lasted ten months as the first partially of development overlapped with Radiant Dawn. It was decided by Intelligent Systems to remake Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light so more players could experience software from their early days. They besides wanted players outside Japan to experience the game for the beginning time. [ 10 ] The effect staff included manufacturer Tohru Narihiro and director Masayuki Horikawa from Intelligent Systems, and producer Hitoshi Yamagami and director Masaki Tawara from Nintendo. [ 2 ] [ 11 ] When developing Shadow Dragon, the team did not see it as a simple remake, but rather a “ refilling ” of the original on a new platform with new and update mechanics. The most unmanageable part was balancing this with maintaining the original adaptation ‘s atmosphere. [ 2 ] numerous features were added to the experience, such as displays for bowel movement and attack range, the ability to change classes and unit recruitment if besides many of the original united states army fell in conflict. Expanded difficulty options and tutorials were besides added to help ease newcomers into the series. [ 10 ] The by-then well-established Weapon Triangle was besides introduced, replacing the unbalance systems from the original. [ 2 ] The accession of a individual mid-battle write was intended to help ease newcomers into the series, so they would not need to restart the entire battle if a key unit fell. [ 3 ] [ 10 ] The dual-screen display of both map and unit placement and status was indirectly inspired by the original interpretation, which allowed players to view character stats without dropping out of the map. [ 2 ] The fib and script were handled by Kouhei Maeda, Koji Kawasaki and Toshiyuki Kusakihara. [ 11 ] Minimal additions were made to the history, as the team felt it was already a well-told narrative and did not want to complicate things for players by adding “ ruffle ”. Rather, the floor contentedness was cut down a much as possible from the original, in line to the expanding content and stories of belated entries. Despite this, gaiden chapters were added indeed players could gain fresh characters to help them beat the bet on. [ 2 ] [ 12 ] Redesigns for main characters Marth and Caeda, along with other leading characters and some promotional artwork, was handled by Ghost in the Shell artist Masamune Shirow. [ 13 ] other redesigns were handled by Daisuke Izuka. [ 14 ] The staff ‘s draw a bead on with Marth ‘s redesign was to update his appearance while keeping him true to expectations from the fan base. [ 2 ] The graphics and character models for battle animations were handled by external company Alvion. [ 15 ] The music was supervised by Yuka Tsujiyoko, the composer for multiple Fire Emblem titles including the original version. together with raw composer Saki Kasuga, Tsujiyoko both remixed music from the original interpretation and added a large number of new and original tracks. [ 16 ]

let go of

Shadow Dragon was first announced in October 2007 at a Nintendo conference, where it had so far to be given an official deed. [ 17 ] While a remake, Nintendo has included it in lists of Fire Emblem titles, variously calling it the eleventh [ 2 ] [ 18 ] or one-twelfth entrance. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] It was confirmed for a western free at a press acme in October 2008 for a north american spill the following year, with the european acquittance being planned for 2008. [ 19 ] [ 20 ] The game was localized for the West by external company 8-4 ; this was due to the large volume of text award in the floor, which made localizing it internally unmanageable for Nintendo. [ 21 ] Shadow Dragon was released in Japan on August 7, 2008 ; [ 22 ] in Europe on December 5 ; [ 20 ] in North America on February 16, 2009 ; [ 23 ] and in Australia on February 26. [ 24 ] The acquittance of Shadow Dragon marked the first clock any form of the foremost Fire Emblem crippled had been released outside Japan. [ 4 ] [ 25 ]

reception

The gameplay was broadly well received by reviewers. Famitsu broadly praised the gameplay elements. One reviewer found the double screen and mid-battle save features convenient, even though the latter diluted the latent hostility of struggle. Another felt that Shadow Dragon was the best Fire Emblem title to that date. [ 27 ] 1UP.com ‘s Kurtis Seid enjoyed the gameplay and strategic elements surrounding character management, but said that the multiplayer options risked upsetting the libra ; he besides noted that the inclusion of features for newcomers might alienate hard-core fans. [ 7 ] Tom Bramwell, writing for Eurogamer, praised the overall spirit of the game, from the double riddle functionality to the conflict and character class systems, although note nothing that elevated the game to fresh heights, and said that the inclusion of newcomer-friendly mechanics clashed with the permanent death machinist. [ 6 ] Shiva Stella of GameSpot enjoyed the tactical elements, openness to newcomers and multiplayer elements ; but found the weakness of new recruits and map restrictions detracted from the have. [ 8 ] Flickroom ‘s Daemon Hatfield, while again noting a miss of invention, found it one of the most balance strategy games available at the time. [ 28 ] Stuart Reddick of Nintendo Life greatly enjoyed the gameplay experience and praised the developer ‘s efforts at balancing the versatile elements, but noted that it felt dated compared to both late Fire Emblem titles and other holocene titles within the writing style. [ 29 ] Fred Dutton of Official Nintendo Magazine was highly convinced, praising the authoritative gameplay, new features, and multiplayer functions. His one major complaint was a miss of invention. [ 30 ] The report received assorted opinions. Seid said that, due to the story being taken immediately from the original, it was excessively short and simpleton by mod standards. [ 7 ] Bramwell felt the story was not arsenic nuanced as other entries, and noted the lower number of “ lovable ” characters. [ 6 ] Stella said that while the plot could get jumble, the prologue and “ sophisticate ” translation helped explain events. [ 8 ] Hatfield besides praised the translation, and while agreeing that the narrative was simpler than other Fire Emblem games, he found the telescope impressive for its origins as a Famicom bet on. [ 28 ] Reddick, in contrast to his praise for the gameplay, called the report fairly standard for the music genre, with most of its key moments being “ dull and forgettable ”. [ 29 ] Dutton, while not touching the overall story, found the dialogue excessively “ bum ”. [ 30 ] multiple critics besides mentioned its presentation. Stella praised the visuals and enjoyed the music despite it sounding dated, [ 8 ] while Hatfield praised the music but criticized the graphics as uninspired. [ 28 ] Reddick praised the ocular pass, despite restrict animation for sprites outdoor conflict. [ 29 ] Dutton echoed Hatfield ‘s sentiments about the visuals, finding them one of his chief criticisms of the presentation alongside the negotiation. [ 30 ]

Sales

According to Famitsu, Shadow Dragon sold 180,697 units during its debut workweek in Japan, coming in at No. 2 on their charts with a 90 % sell-through pace. [ 31 ] Media Create had a slightly different judgment, placing it at No. 2 with sales of 145,000 units. [ 32 ] By the be week, it had dropped to No. 6 with further sales of 35,000 units. [ 33 ] According to Horikawa, Intelligent Systems were satisfied with their sales in Japan : buyers included series veterans, players who had come to know Marth through the Super Smash Bros. serial, and series newcomers. [ 10 ] In Japan, the crippled has sold 274,000 units in sum as of 2012. [ 34 ] Upon its release in North America, the game reached No. 2 in the consecrated Nintendo DS charts. [ 35 ] As of 2013, the game has sold 250,000 units in the region. [ 36 ]

Notes

1. ^ extra graphic development by Alvion
2. ^ Known in Japan as Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Ken

   (

   ファイアーエムブレム　新・暗黒竜と光の剣

   ,

   Faiā Emuburemu: Shin Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Ken

   , lit. Fire Emblem: New Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light)

3. ^[1][2] and twelfth[3][4] installment in the series. Sources disagree on the claim count : it is variously called the eleventhand twelfthinstallment in the serial .

References