hardcore fannish babble...
Okay, so I'm pretty much all gamed out at the moment (extra translations to come tomorrow or Tuesday), but having finished FE12, I began to wonder about something that's been bugging me for a while now. That is, the matter of Shouzou Kaga and how the franchise might look today had he stayed on with IS.
I've always been intrigued by Tear Ring Saga and Berwick Saga, but until last year or so, I've not really been confident enough in my language abilities to explore. Going through Gaiden and FE12 in Japanese has really given me a confidence booster though... and Tear Ring Saga, at least, has been at least halfway translated or so: http://sites.google.com/site/trstrans/
You see, as much as I love the GBA entries, in my opinion FE gameplay hit its peak at Thracia (which of course is the last game Shouzou Kaga was around for). Having now played entries 2-5, it's really interesting to me to see the evolution of the game mechanics. And one of the things I really do admire about that is, he (I say he though I'm sure there were other people involved as well) apparently wasn't afraid to experiment and do, well, interesting things with the gameplay. That creativity is something that, in comparison, I don't really see in the GBA games, though granted the GBA was probably not a good console to be experimental on. (I won't comment on the Tellius games because I haven't played them and don't have much desire to either, though I believe Skills come back in those games? Let us not speak of the beast people.) The DS remakes seem to me to have been "creative" in an entirely different direction -- that is, to appeal to a wider audience. Which is not a bad thing, but not nearly as interesting to me, personally, as what Shouzou Kaga seems to have done and continued to do with the Saga games. (He is also an insane storyteller who's not afraid to pull his punches and is pretty damn good -- though not perfect -- at pulling off complex politics with nuanced worldbuilding.)
(From my understanding of Tear Ring Saga, in fact, it combines various aspects of Gaiden, Seisen, and Thracia.)
So basically I've been drooling over videos on YouTube...
Tear Ring Saga theme song (Pretty song. Also showcases the characters -- same designer from Thracia btw.)
Five minute gameplay preview
Berwick Saga OP (This video makes me DROOOOOOOOL sfm. I seriously wish this is the direction modern day FE had gone in. *____*)
Four minute preview *______________*
(The cutscene style resembles GBA Tactics Ogre and FFT, and yes that is a plus for me.)
(Your mileage may vary I suppose, but I am actually really really really tempted to import this game. It looks so awesome based on the playthrough vids out there, and the music, in case you haven't noticed, is amazing. Alas, I do not own a PS2...)
I will admit to being amused that Shouzou Kaga haters appear to mostly be people who've never actually played the games he's responsible for, but only the later entries... Anyway, I wonder what he and his company are up to nowadays. I suppose I should look into it.
I've always been intrigued by Tear Ring Saga and Berwick Saga, but until last year or so, I've not really been confident enough in my language abilities to explore. Going through Gaiden and FE12 in Japanese has really given me a confidence booster though... and Tear Ring Saga, at least, has been at least halfway translated or so: http://sites.google.com/site/trstrans/
You see, as much as I love the GBA entries, in my opinion FE gameplay hit its peak at Thracia (which of course is the last game Shouzou Kaga was around for). Having now played entries 2-5, it's really interesting to me to see the evolution of the game mechanics. And one of the things I really do admire about that is, he (I say he though I'm sure there were other people involved as well) apparently wasn't afraid to experiment and do, well, interesting things with the gameplay. That creativity is something that, in comparison, I don't really see in the GBA games, though granted the GBA was probably not a good console to be experimental on. (I won't comment on the Tellius games because I haven't played them and don't have much desire to either, though I believe Skills come back in those games? Let us not speak of the beast people.) The DS remakes seem to me to have been "creative" in an entirely different direction -- that is, to appeal to a wider audience. Which is not a bad thing, but not nearly as interesting to me, personally, as what Shouzou Kaga seems to have done and continued to do with the Saga games. (He is also an insane storyteller who's not afraid to pull his punches and is pretty damn good -- though not perfect -- at pulling off complex politics with nuanced worldbuilding.)
(From my understanding of Tear Ring Saga, in fact, it combines various aspects of Gaiden, Seisen, and Thracia.)
So basically I've been drooling over videos on YouTube...
Tear Ring Saga theme song (Pretty song. Also showcases the characters -- same designer from Thracia btw.)
Five minute gameplay preview
Berwick Saga OP (This video makes me DROOOOOOOOL sfm. I seriously wish this is the direction modern day FE had gone in. *____*)
Four minute preview *______________*
(The cutscene style resembles GBA Tactics Ogre and FFT, and yes that is a plus for me.)
(Your mileage may vary I suppose, but I am actually really really really tempted to import this game. It looks so awesome based on the playthrough vids out there, and the music, in case you haven't noticed, is amazing. Alas, I do not own a PS2...)
I will admit to being amused that Shouzou Kaga haters appear to mostly be people who've never actually played the games he's responsible for, but only the later entries... Anyway, I wonder what he and his company are up to nowadays. I suppose I should look into it.