Sheikah

I think you're being very politically correct with the language here. Dumbing down does not mean you are making it for dumb people. Having an easier difficulty mode when you've never put one in before means you've dumbed it down, because yeah, you've made it easier. Again going back to Dark Souls because it's easy to show examples; if they put in an optional easy mode then you can bet your ass people would say they dumbed the game down. You wouldn't even be referring to the people, just the product. No, it always refers to the product. You would say "this TV show is going for the lowest common denominator". As in, everyone can understand/play it because it's pretty dumbed down, low grade trash. Also, I didn't cast it in a positive light because, if you noticed, I did not view this is a positive feature. Why aren't they the same? They are both video games and both provide a challenge over your usual games; both require careful thinking to avoid big consequences. Importantly, people enjoy the unique traits of those games. Why would I have a point if they added an easy mode for Dark Souls, but not for FE? There seems to be some implication here that FE players would not be able to handle the enforced increased difficulty, but DS players can? If not, what's your point here...? The proposed sim aspects here sound massively different to the far more subtle choice making of past games. It just sounds really bad to me. I went over that in my last few posts, but essentially, I think that options like this can detract from this sort of game. I respect game developers that can make a challenging game that players must work hard to complete. If Dark Souls or Megaman had easy modes where you could breeze through the game with no difficulty then there would unquestionably be criticism. To me, perma-death in FE has been one of the hallmarks of FE and something I always thought was cool. Yeah, it's still there, but the fact it can not be there...it just feels like a difficulty option now, you know? Like if I selected hard mode in any game; a lot of people never pick the hard mode of games by default (especially newcomers), and so may never really experience one of the cool things about this game. To me, the Pokémon-amie like sim bit isn't to dumb down for casuals. It's for the hardcore geeks who get obsessed with the characters and want them to be their waifus/whatever and write fan fiction. It's fan service, and it's very japanese! It doesn't appeal to me at all, but it isn't going to ruin the game for me. As with anything, it can be taken to the next level. But when I refer to 'core' I'm more or less saying that this series has always felt like it focuses on the pure gameplay. This feels like a really unnecessary tacked on load of r

But you can play without any real thought with no perma-death. it's just a bit silly, really. They have an excellent game that requires strategy and thought, then they make it possible to not really use much of that at all. It turns from strategic placement of all your units to "send the big fucker to the base and rinse the commander". Yeah, I get some people want an easy ride and all that, but I respect games that say "Here is the difficulty of this game. Good luck".

Lowest common denominator just refers to a dumbing down of an aspect so that it appeals to more people; e.g. people who do not like difficulty. That's exactly what happened to FE; where's the insult? It has nothing to do with the people buying the game. Those sim-like aspects definitely sound like they're pandering to a non core audience, to me. Not sure what else I can say about it. They're all different games, but the same reasoning applies to each. That being in FE of past; if you screw up, you die. And you lose people. By making it optional it's essentially like most other games - you have easy/normal/hard modes. Of course the game becomes technically more accessible by having an easy mode but I disagree that this game needs to be easier. Dark Souls shows there are a lot of people who want the challenge. And I'm willing to bet those same kinds of people aren't exactly enthused by the sim elements, either.

You are a man with an agenda and you won't stop until the world has heard it. The world must be positive about Nintendo! Don't dare come into a topic and disagree, or I'll bore you to within an inch of your life! You want balance? How about when you go into the PS4 topic to complain about how there OS is shit, how there are no games and how you don't like what you've been playing bar a few titles. People don't instantly downplay what you're saying based on who you are; they challenge your points. I really don't get the need for balance anyway. You're not balanced about the PS4, because you prefer Nintendo, and I prefer what Sony are doing. Doesn't mean we can't post negatively about things we own or have interest in though, does it? Or maybe it does, if it's about Nintendo! Yeah, I go into topics about games I don't like. Despite the fact I have Fire Emblem Awakening and enjoyed it, in spite of that one feature that I wasn't exactly thrilled was there. Your whole argument is just such absolute bullshit. The idea that you should not go into a topic and leave a negative view is ridiculous. Why not? If Fire Emblem is going down a pretty crappy path, why can't I say that in a short post? Why must I pepper my post with niceties to stop the near militant Nintendo fanboys getting enraged? What the fuck is this forum coming to, really?

I think people need to buck up a little. Sometimes people will swear in their posts, but that doesn't mean they're issuing a ticket to receive bullshit. I'm up for discussion around my views, but being told "hey, you're negative! Your posts are all trolling crap!" is totally the opposite of what we should be aiming for round here. Don't be that guy who defends him, because whatever you think about the way I express myself, this guy is in the wrong.

Yeah, there are negative feelings in this thread, but he jumped on mine (as he has done in 2-3 other topics recently). Maybe you can see the alternative perspective now? The point is that he shouldn't be jumping on anyone for posting negative views. He can challenge me for sure, I enjoy a good debate with people giving their points of view. But calling out negativity for negativity's sake is total bullshit. Why do people care so much if your views are negative; is it spoiling their fun? FE is receiving some rather dubious changes; of course my view will be negative!

Very much agreed. If you look back to say, the N64, when there was so much new being released and Nintendo were at the top of their game...oh man. It feels these days that Nintendo are mostly about tightening and polishing their existing IP and constructs. I'm a little bored of it all, to be honest. Smash and Super Mario Bros-esque titles in particular have not advanced sufficiently to remain interesting to me 15+ years on.

Um, I'm not sure that works as a defence for the person you think it does!

@dazzybee, your way of challenging people is to undermine them, not by engaging them in meaningful discussion. Why not be like "So why do you think that"? Instead of pointing out "Oh, another negative comment, let's just ignore him" as a means to completely write off anything I say. It's poor form, and you get so much more out of people by treating them with a bit of respect. Saying I go into any Nintendo thread possible purely out of desire to be negative is also bullshit, and actually quite disrespectful. Look back and you'll see my positive views on Pikmin 3, Zelda ALBW (which I loved), Wind Waker HD and in the Nintendo bargains topic (because hey, I actually like seeing people grab a good deal on a Nintendo console to play those games). But the fact remains; my output will never be balanced, so long as Nintendo continue to do more in the way of things I disprove than approve of. Acknowledge that some people have different wants from their games and know that ultimately, any negativity shouldn't be spoiling your fun.

The captain type enemies are the ones who tend to follow me and always one hit kill me anyway. That sounds like it might not be too bad. That said, we could just wait for a good (positive) roll on it before we bother, because it's such a waste of time. :/ Any word on the L34 boss?

This is pathetic. Yet another topic being ruined by your protests; rather than challenge me or try to discuss it, you just complain "wahh it's Sheikah being negative, wahhh". My initial point was so blunt because I don't believe everything needs its own thesis; people were posting about a number of changes to FE that sounded pretty damn crappy, so I commented! Am I not allowed to say that I don't like these changes? Positive posts only yeah, otherwise I can look forward to your (ironically, boring) carbon copy retaliations each time? Of course I knew; where did I say this was new to the next game? Both you and Jonnas made the same assumption, great minds eh? My point about optional perma-death was that it's a recent change along with this other stuff that shows FE is moving from something more challenging that I liked to a slightly dumbed down franchise. The sim aspect sounds like total bollocks.

Yeah, I knew they had already implemented optional perma-death (since I played Awakening). But it still forms a part of my gripes, because it's still a pretty recent dealio. I don't really get what you're arguing here. Because people use thing, thing must be...good? The topic of optional difficulty reduction has risen before when talking about more challenging games (for example, save states and Megaman; you previously couldn't just reload your game save state during Megaman and that was the challenge). What it comes down to is whether you believe game series that were more challenging in the past (and in fact, unique because of that challenge; your characters would always die) should remain challenging for everyone, or whether they should become more accessible to everyone by having optional difficulties. It may seem odd to you that I think the former, but I can best provide an example with something like Dark Souls. If they had the option of cheesing through the game by lowering the difficulty, it wouldn't be Dark Souls. I actually think the same way with FE; by having perma-death as the only option, it makes the game solely that thing. That is what the game is, not just something the game can be. You also focused on only one thing I put forward (optional perma-death) when I was making my point in order to, I'm guessing, try refute the whole point. Unbreakable weapons and the sim-like features alone still make my point for me pretty well. It's basically stuff that I don't think fits well in the series and devalues it somewhat. And I think we really have been told enough to form that conclusion.

And yet, look at that; you just did. Rather than quiz me about why I think this way about the series based on what we know/recent decisions, you again go for ad hominem as a means to undermine. Because discussion is more difficult than being condescending, right? It's not at all difficult for someone to understand why someone might come out with such a comment about the series, providing the front four fifths of that person's body was not firmly lodged up Nintendo's metaphorical rectum. It's the dumbing down of a traditionally rather core experience to target the lowest common denominator that irks me. From optional perma death, to reuse of items, to the Pokemon-amie fashioned sim aspect; this is stuff we know is happening and I don't like it. So yeah; sue me!

This looks kinda cool. Seems like a game that was absolutely meant to happen, too.

Of course they are. It's a perfectly valid term.

Hey man, did the sequel have a demented time loop in it? I always thought the battle system in the original was good despite it being an altogether terrible game; felt like it could be fixable if they sorted their shit out (as well as fleshing out the towns/dungeons/characters). Interested to hear your thoughts.

It sounds like they have sold the fuck out. That's a huge shame because this was more of a core gamer franchise not so long ago.

Nah, it only removes the barriers for app games really. Nearly all the barriers for traditional games still exist - hardware requirement, online infrastructure, existing fanbase with accounts, big budget requirement, Nintendo's image. None of those are going away any time soon. App games would be cheap to push out since they're already out there and run on nearly all devices, so getting them out could help plug the holes. The only problem is that if they did that and found success, I doubt they'd really bother pushing for proper third party support. Again, this is all speculative and based on whether they adopt an Android OS.

No I think it could mean more of a "we don't need traditional third party games now we have all these app type games" situation which would be a real shame.

Correct me if I'm wrong though but considering Android as your OS is not the same as making game engines compatible with Android, is it? If Nintendo went with Android then it seems like they could bring a lot of popular Android app games to it for next to no effort. And if they started doing the business then it would be tempting for them to focus on that (both output and hardware...).

Awesome post. Would read again. For me the PS4 has been utterly amazing. It has brought 3 games in particular that have been utterly groundbreaking in terms of game design and social activity. And AC Black Flag isn't even one of them! The first and foremost is Destiny. This game is truly something else. Without Destiny, I would have never got to know several members on this forum. @Shorty, @Zell, @Eddage, @MilaGi, @Deathjam, @Map and @Daft and more; I didn't know these guys at all before we started playing. No game is quite like Destiny in not only bringing people together to share sweat and tears but most importantly keeping them together (9 months in and we all still play nearly every day...). The gameplay is the most fantastically polished thing I have ever played. You can tell how much work went into it because no other FPS gives you the feeling that every major weapon has been crafted with purpose (it's essentially an extreme opposite of Borderlands). And the content, man. The raids have been a totally new experience; this is what I game for, exciting things that I've never done or seen before. It's funny how some people give this game a bad rap based on content or story, because anyone who has devoted a reasonable amount of time to the co-operative/multiplayer aspects would tell you how good this game is (and the complainers usually complain based on things they've read). Bloodborne is another of the 3 I hold in such high regard; a masterclass in world design (which is why I found it balls to the wall hilarious when someone said the complete opposite the other day). The world is entirely crafted to connect up perfectly with shortcuts and everything is placed with purpose. In terms of world design, its direct opposite would be something like a 2D side scroller where you simply go from left to right. And the direction; starting in a town, with gradually the surroundings becoming more and more screwed up (in tandem with your insight). It's perfect. That's before I even get started on the gameplay; without doubt the best improvement over Souls. Fast, fluid and intelligent. It's one of the best games ever made. The last is The Witcher 3. I'm only about 10 hours in maybe, but I can already tell this it's amazing. Every quest and location has a purpose; dungeons are not randomly generated and every NPC has a story that feels both important and interesting. I haven't got much to say about this so far other than it smashes every box for an RPG and goes above and beyond anything we've ever had before in the genre. It's massive but also personal. It's a masterpiece.

If they go android, will they tailor their system to become some kind of mobile app compatible device? Worrying news indeed.

Hot damn, they need to give this series a rest until the next piece of hardware I think. Just how long these games are, the thought of buying the current one and then the next one being out again on the same system is kinda offputting. I also think one of the main areas it could majorly benefit is graphically/online/scale (e.g. more than 4 people in a party), which a new system might be able to do. It obviously prints money though so can't blame them too much.

Yeah I'd like the VoG Hard at 7:30PM tonight to still happen! @MilaGi @Eddage @Shorty @Jimbob signed up. There was still one more space, @Map, @Zell or anyone else fancy it?

Thanks again for the games, we got another 9 wins on Osiris last night. Solar scout rifle.