Angell Soul Reviews: Fire Emblem

Hello dear readers, I’m a friend of Rpg Soul and you can call me Angell Soul (it’s a pun on my actual name, trust me it’s funny). RPGs can be time consuming endeavors for even the most dedicated gamers. With some titles taking as much as 60+ hours to complete the main story alone, not many have the time to play every game that’s out there. I’ll be contributing reviews to the blog as much as I can to help make Rpg Soul’s job a little easier and making it possible for this blog to cover a wider range of topics.

Today’s review will focus on one of the most successful and well known series of tactical role playing games, Fire Emblem. Previously, Nintendo had shied away from translating the games into English because they were afraid the series’ notorious difficulty would turn off Western gamers. However, the inclusion of two characters from the series, Marth and Roy, in Super Smash Bros. Melee generated enough interest in the property to justify a localization of their next title in 2004. So, let’s take a good look at Fire Emblem for the Game Boy Advance, the game that made Fire Emblem a staple of tactical rpgs the world over.

The most famous gameplay element that most people probably know about Fire Emblem (until the introduction of casual modes in the most recent games) even if they haven’t played it before is the fact that characters stay dead once they die in battle. If any of the three main characters die the game ends and you have to restart the level, if any of the supporting characters die they are gone from your party for the remainder of the game. For anyone with even the slightest OCD tendencies this element of the game can be infuriating: especially, when a lucky critical strike from an enemy takes out one of your favourite characters with a single hit. We’ll go into more detail about the gameplay later on. For now let’s go on to discussing the story elements.

Plot: Most people would probably tell you that the plot of a tactical rpg really isn’t that important, what really matters is the tactical depth and difficulty the game provides. The story of Fire Emblem is pretty much a straightforward jrpg plot that doesn’t provide many surprises. A small group of heroes and their band of followers are drawn into a conflict that quickly evolves into a fight to save the whole world from a shadowy sorcerer and his evil army. The group eventually rescues a pair of siblings who the big bad wants to sacrifice for nefarious purposes. Eventually, the secret of the brother and sister is revealed and evil is defeated. The setting is typical of a medieval sword and sorcery style fantasy world and includes mystical creatures like pegasuses and wyverns.

Opinion: The plot provides very little that is particularly memorable. It checks all the usual boxes: brave heroes, fight against evil, grand consequences. It’s truly the rewarding gameplay and the memorable characters that make people continue to sing the praise of this game. The story is nothing terrible, but nothing notable either.
2/5 Soul

Character(s): The characters in Fire Emblem are probably as equally forgettable as the plot is. However, the aforementioned permadeath feature of the game does keep you strangely attached to them. The key way you learn about the individual stories of your faithful companions is through character conversations that can be triggered in combat. That means if you want to learn more about your favourite characters you have to use them in combat, which then means that they might die before you get to see their relationships flourish! 

There’s an element of dating sim to the matching of characters. If you successful get their relationships up to the max level and keep them alive to the end, then certain characters will have special paired endings. Most of those endings usually involve some sort of romantic outcome like marriage.

Despite most of the supporting characters being basic anime stereotypes the way we learn about them does have a tendency to make us get invested in the characters. However, this doesn’t apply so much to the three main characters who are fairly bland.

Lyn, the lead heroine, is a brave and honest warrior who believes in what is right and fights for the greater good. Elliwood and Hector are basically the same but they have penises instead. The player character is a nameless and faceless tactician who the main characters consult with before battles. Your character has no personality whatsoever.

3/5 Soul


Gameplay: Gameplay is of course where Fire Emblem shines at its best. The battles are challenging and the game provides you with a variety of different kinds of settings and win conditions which keep the game feeling fresh all the way to the end. Combat is based around a simple to master rock-paper-scissors system for weapons and magic. There are a limited number of stages available so you also have to be careful how you use your characters to make sure they level up appropriately. You also have limited weapons stock and money that you have to keep an eye on to make sure you are equipped properly for battle. The battles in Fire Emblem provide a fun mix of storytelling and character building with challenging high stakes combat because of the permanent death feature. This is the winning formula that made Fire Emblem the enduring hit it has become today.

5/5 Soul

Overall: Fire Emblem has definitely become a classic as the first English language version of the game to be released. The battles are still challenging and fun to play even to this day. However, the story doesn’t quite hold my interest as much as other tactical rpgs. The Final Fantasy Tactics series have shown that tactical rpgs don’t have to sacrifice story for gameplay, you can have the best of both worlds. Despite its sometimes generic packaging, Fire Emblem remains a great game well worth your time, I cannot wait for the new Fire Emblem Fates. 4/5 Soul

Sci-fi Soul Review (Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope)

Where do I start with this one. My reaction while playing it on my xbox 360 was very mixed, I enjoyed and lauded aspects of the game while loathing others. The Star Ocean was a series that mirrored the Tales series in its fast paced battles and anime designs. Let's dive into this one shall we?

Plot: The game starts with exposition explaining and showing the effect World War 3 had on Earth. The amazingly named Edge Maverick (...) is chosen along with his (sigh...) childhood friend Reimi Saionji to find an appropriate environment for humans to move to. They meet and join up with aliens from other planets as they make their from planet to planet with varying technological states.

Opinion: When I went into the previous installment of Star Ocean (3), I went into it with promise of being able to explore various different worlds with different states of technology and politics, instead I was horrified to find out 3/4 of the game was spent in the medieval world. This one actually delivers but falls into a very formulaic style plot with each world being like an episode of a series. It's not exactly a bad thing though, just not for everyone.
4/5 Soul



Setting and Graphics: Oh my god the graphics looks amazing even with 2016 standards. Tri-ace did an amazing job as always. The settings varies according to which world you're currently in and it really works for the game as each world feels really fleshed out and gives the feeling of being in a different time on Earth. 5/5 Soul





Character(s): Okay, here's where the game hits a wall for me. The character designs look very very very very weird! Look at them, they look like a horrible Frankenstein monster of western and anime influences. The little Loli, Lymle scared the hell out of me and they all have dead eyes.

The characters all unfortunately give nothing outside their anime/jrpg archetypes, like the brave but headstrong leader, the childhood friend, the deadpan loli. I was thoroughly unimpressed. Also I only played the Xbox 360 version of the game so I was not given the ability to change to the Japanese audio and let me just say, the English voice acting is atrocious. 

2/5 Soul



Gameplay: The battles is where this game shines. It has a very fast-paced ala Tales series 
battle. Introduced in this series is the Bonus Board and the ability to avoid an attack and move behind an enemy to blindside it. The battle is fluid and action packed, and does not get old even during character grinds.

The pacing of the gameplay is very odd, one minute you have a 3 hour dungeon only to finish it with a 45 minute cutscene. At least it's done beautifully as long as you glaze over Lymle's dead soulless eyes.

5/5 Soul

Overall: I liked Star Ocean 4: The last Hope despite it's very questionable character designs. I played it all the way to the end and enjoyed a lot of it. All in all a very solid Jrpg and I can't wait for Star Ocean 5! 4/5 Soul

Pokemon 20th Anniversary Soul (Road to Misty)

Previously on Pokemon Soul...

And now on Episode 2: The road to Misty!


The road to Misty was a long one filled with Trainer battes and Zubat filled caves.

Top 10 Best Jrpg Openings EVER! (Part 2)

Number 5: Wild Arms 3 The 3rd Advanced

Back in the heyday of the PS1 and PS2 Era of Jrpgs, not many could match the Tales series' openings, that is, with the exception of Wild Arms. An Rpg set in the fictional world of Filgaia, each game has a heavy Wild West theme, with cowboys and guns being intricate to the plot and gameplay. Wild Arms 3's opening captures it very well with the song having a very western sound. This was also the 1st and only game in the series to have the song re-recorded with English vocals.


Number 4: Tales of the Abyss

Tales of the Abyss is no where close to my favorite in the series but damn it if it doesn't have a close to perfect opening. If it was shown to most anime fans, it would be mistaken for a really good anime opening. The song is KARMA by Bump of Chicken and it's amazing! It showcases the characters and setting perfectly with the visual and movement matching the tempo of the song. Thumbs up!


Number 3: Chrono Trigger

The Playstation 1 port of Chrono Trigger added little outside of the amazing opening! Which was fine because the game was near perfect to begin with. The opening has the feeling of a massive adventure and shows off the fighting style and to a lesser point, the personality of the characters. 


Number 2: Tales of Graces f

In my opinion, the best Opening for a Tales game, by the best game in the Tales series. Sung by the amazing BoA, they managed to get her to re-record her smash hit 'White Wishes' (used in the Japanese vers.) in English and it sounds amazing. The visuals are mostly a mix of fighting scenes and scenes from the game. They start the opening with quick glimpse into each character's personality. It is an amazing opening.


Honorable Mention : Thousand Arms

Number 1: Wild Arms 2 The 2nd Ignition

Arguably the best game in the Wild Arms series, it also plays host to the best Opening in Jrpg EVER! It is perfect in the context of showing off the setting and characters via compelling visuals and  theme appropriate music. There's not much I can say that playing the youtube video I've hotlinked doesn't. It is perfect. 

Top 10 Best Jrpg Openings EVER! (Part 1)

Hello everyone! Rpg Soul here back with another gaming list :D. It's no surprise that Jrpg shares alot in common with Anime. From character archetypes to plot twists and villains, Jrpg is essentially an Anime you can play. 



Along with all the similarities are the Openings, you know? Cool visuals accompanied by upbeat J-pop music or a full blown song with vocals! (essentially an animated music video meant to introduce you to the characters and setting). Unlike Anime openings that plays at the start of every episode, you tend to see Jrpg openings after you've booted up the system and before the main menu (with some exceptions) So let's get to it! 


Number 10: Suikoden 3

The opening for Suikoden 3 is by far the best in the series with beautiful music and visuals that make the game look a lot more exciting than it actually was. It does its job in introducing the characters and to a small extent their background, with some characters running through a dessert while others stand in a forest or city. 

Number 9: Valkyrie Profile

The very underrated Valkyrie Profile takes the 9th spot with ethereal music that quickly turns into a quick tempo electronic track, the start of it matches the Norse Mythology lore of the game. It shows bits and pieces of the game without giving too much away and introduces us to a few of the many many characters in Valkyrie Profile. 

Number 8: Tales of Destiny

I love the visual and the music in this opening for another underrated game from the Playstation 1. I would've placed it higher had the music fit with the rest of the themes of the game, but on it's own it looks and sound amazing.

Number 7: Final Fantasy 8

Unfortunately, the only Final Fantasy that makes the list. Final Fantasy 8's opening sets the tone for the rest of the game perfectly, with foreshadowing and a kick-ass fight with Seifer. Also the chanting is amazing! So much love.


Number 6: Tales of Vesperia

It's no surprise to find another Tales game in this list as the Tales games are known for their amazing animation. Vesperia also has the amazing advantage of having Bonnie Pink record an English version of 'Ring a Bell'. The visuals in this opening looks amazing! I still rewatch this from time to time.

More of the list in the next post!

Pokemon 20th Anniversary Soul (Leaf Green) Road to Brock!

Hello everyone! Rpg Soul here with a new series commemorating the 20th Anniversary of Pokemon by replaying Pokemon the first generation! I will be playing the remake for the Gameboy Advance so the pictures look a little more colorful. 

This NEW Series will be divided by gyms and a quick overview of what I went through before fighting the gym leaders. I will try and catch as many Pokemons as I can manage along the way but I will not be attempting the insane task of  'Gotta Catch em' All'. Also the format and how I write these posts might change as I do them. Let's GO!

So I named my character Soul (ik cute) and my Rival, Xillia after the worst game I've reviewed so far. After the intro, I'm introduced to prof. Oak who asks me to pick one of 3 pokemon.

I chose Squirtle as it's the most obvious choice because 1) it's a water squirrel! and 2) it leaves the rival with the worst pokemon of the 3, Bulbasaur! Now with our pokemon in tow, let's head towards the first gym leader, Brock~

Along the way, Pokemons were caught (+1 Weedle, I forgot to take a picture of it)

Pokemons evolved. (P.S: My soul is always free like a Butterfree)

Finally I arrived in Pewter City to challenge the sight impaired Gym Leader.

But not before sightseeing and visiting the Museum of extinct Pokemons.

Finally I was ready to face the Gym leader and my Pokemons we're pumped and ready.

The battle was short with both Mankey and Squirtle being strong against Rock type Pokemons.

Sorry Brock, but with you down it's time to make my way to the always wet Gym Leader, Misty!

Anime for the Soul (Charlotte)

Charlotte starts off with an interesting premise then gets confusing and ends the anime in an inconceivable plot hole. It steals heavily from the far superior Puella Magi Madoka Magica in terms of plot in the second half. Without further ado lets begin!

Plot: Yuu is a normal teenager with a twist, he's able to take command of someone's mind for a few seconds. He uses this power to cheat in school exams and try to look up girl's skirts (basically things any teenager would do if they had his power). His life gets turned upside down when he runs across a girl name Nao who blackmails him and his sister into joining a school for people with supernatural abilities. Together with Teen Idol, Yusa and comic relief Jojiro, they form an after school club to try and find other supernatural users abusing their powers in the city.

Opinion: The premise sounds interesting enough until you realize their superpowers are not very interesting. And what starts off as a lighthearted slice of life fantasy anime turns into something much more complicated and darker later on. I personally wasn't a huge fan of the storyline all the way through and found it hard to finish the anime. 2/5 Soul



Setting: The anime is set in modern day Japan and while the animation looks beautiful, a lot of the time the anime plays out in the dull looking high school. Not that an anime mostly set in a high school is bad it's just I would've liked to see the world they live in in more detail. There are scenes in the final episode that go far and beyond the high school. 3/5 Soul




Characters: Many consider the characters in Charlotte to be the weakest link in the show and I have to agree. I'll list them one by one and give my general thought on each.

Yuu: While I found certain problems with the character's writing, I do appreciate the writer trying to show character development with him. He starts as a generally unlikeable character and tries to go through a transformation towards the end.

Nao: The main heroine and the biggest flaw of the series. A weird mix between cheeky and a tsundere, outside of the first few episodes she contributes nothing. Her power is to be able to turn invisible to a single person and she's bullied for it because...(?) 

Yusa: Yusa is a teen Idol and unfortunately her personality doesn't stray too far from what you would expect. Instead character growth is given to her sister who resides in her. I'll explain, she has the ability to play host for the dead, but the dead has to be her sister. When her sister takes over, she has the ability to wield fire. She along with the next character contributes nothing to the story outside of comic relief and a little character drama.

Jojiro: Contributes absolutely nothing to the show outside of a few failed jokes. 

Character wise this anime lacks a lot. You don't care what happens to these characters at all because while there is a semblance of character development, they're not interesting characters to begin with. 1/5 Soul



Overall: It's hard to talk about why I disliked this series as a whole without talking about (and spoiling) the second half of the anime. I decided I would not spoil animes that came out recently (2015,1016) so I just need you to take my word for it, the second half of this anime (especially the final episode) kinda sucked. That does not mean this anime is without merits, the music and the animation is beautiful. 2/5 Soul

Nostalgia Soul Series (Beyond the Beyond Review 1994)

Beyond the beyond was the first ever RPG I played and left me confused as a kid. What genre was this and why did the opening music make me feel like I was about to embark on a massive adventure? I decided to replay it for this review and expected epicness and nostalgia instead it's pretty meh in terms of Jrpgs even compared to the games on the SNES at the time. It breaks no new ground in terms of characters, storyline and gameplay and basically plays like a poor man's Dragon Quest. There will be leeway in terms of scoring because it was the first ever RPG released in America and was released at the start of the Playstation era, back when the system's true potential has not yet been reached.


Plot: Unnamed silent protagonist lives in a quiet town with his adoptive parents and sister. He trains with his father who is a knight for the Kingdom once a month. One night, his adoptive brother comes home to warn them about enemies that have taken over the castle and captured the prince. Together with Annie (his adoptive sister) and Percy (the brother), they leave the quiet town to check on protagonist's father and accidentally saves and travels with the kidnapped Prince.

Opinion: The plot is your typical run of the mill fantasy Jrpg. It never strays too far from the norm and not much I can comment about other than the story feels very traditional but that's not necessarily a bad thing, just very niche. 3/5 Soul




Setting and Graphics: The setting is medieval with lots of forest and caves and wooden houses. Typical for a Jrpg during that time period. 

The graphics are honestly butt ugly, it looks like a slightly better version of a SNES Rpg and one could mistake it for a port. Not that SNES games are ugly but games are also judged on the capabilities of the system they came out on. Of course this game came out at the start of the Playstation 1's life and you could make the argument that they did not know the full capabilities of the Playstation 1. 2/5 Soul


 

Gameplay: The game plays a lot like Dragon Quest in it's interface and interaction with people and objects, it is all done via a menu or the triangle button. Each character has a role and there are no customization which is normal for early Jrpgs. Also this game is littered with FUCKING random encounters! Can u imagine doing a somewhat complicated puzzle with random encounters occurring every two steps??!! It was a nightmare! 

The battle is turned based and has a Legend of Dragoon style 'hit the button at the right time' system but other than that there not much to note about it. 1/5 Soul


Characters: There are five slots in the party and two of them tend to be revolving doors for short term party members. In the other 3 slots there is silent protagonist who has no personalty to speak of, Annie and Edward the prince.

Annie: Bullheaded and stubborn, I quite like Annie. She thirsts for adventure and defies her conservative parents to be able to play with the big boys. Unfortunately, she falls into the typical adoptive sister stereotype that won't stop obsessing and in turn having romantic feelings for her silent brother...gross.

Edward: Boring.


Overall:  Boring, ugly and with a stupidly broken random encounter meter, I cannot give this game higher than 1/5 Soul I thought this review would be filled with nostalgia-filled scores and comments seeing as how this was the game that started my RPG obsession but I can't do it without feeling dirty after.   

Top 10 Soulful Final Fantasy Games Part 2

Number 4




Final Fantasy 5 was not the first game to introduced a job system but it was the first title that let you delve into the changing of jobs and character customization. I played it when it came out for the Playstation 1, along with Chrono Trigger and til this day it's still the funnest of the SNES FF Triglogy.

Top 10 Soulful Final Fantasy Games (Based on my PERSONAL OPINION) Part 1

Final Fantasy has grown and evolved over the years with the recent games being near unrecognizable to fans of the old installment of the series. With Final Fantasy 15 coming out this year, I've decided to make a top 10 list of my favorite games in the main flagship titles. I will start with...


Number 10

Despite being a sequel, many fans consider this game part of the main series. With bizarre Jpop music and a job changing system involving dresses, the game comes off more like a love letter to the fans of Final Fantasy 10 and boy did we enjoy the journey. Amust play if you're a fan of FF 10 

Number 9

The first FF game to come out for the Playstation 2 and the return to turn based battle for the series since FF3. A jumble of plots and twist, some make sense while some created plot holes. It was a beautiful game for its time but was marred with bad voice acting and strange creative choices. I still enjoyed it.

Number 8

One of two Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game to carry the flagship title. An online game second only to World of Warcraft and boasting upwards of 5 million account subscribed. It helped recoup the loss Final Fantasy 13 had on Square Enix and a good game in it's own right. If you're into MMORPGs, this is a must-try!

Number 7

Notice how I used Ashe's picture instead of one with Vaan for Final Fantasy 12? Had she been the main character I would have placed this game much higher. Vaan had no interesting story or character arc and instead followed Ashe around as the story revolved around her. And yes FF10 had the same concept but Yuna was no main character material, Ashe was. The battle system was hot off the heels of their first MMORPG FF11 and it showed. The game and world felt huge and had a sense of grand adventure.

Number 6

In the number 6 slot is Final Fantasy 4. I know a lot of people, my brother included would place this game a lot higher on their list and honestly I would have too but I was not a fan of switching out the party members constantly to fit the storyline. It's still a very good game and was the first in the series to have a proper narrative and paved the way for the rest of the series.

Number 5

With graphics that leave the games that came before it in tears, Final Fantasy 6 is the title you'll find in the top spot for a lot of Final Fantasy lists. The story took risks and it boasts one of the biggest cast of playable characters in the series. Featuring the first female main character in the flagship titles, Terra had paved the way for stronger and bigger females for the games after it. Kudos FF6.

End of part 1.

Sad Soul Strikes Back (Dragon Quest IX Review)

Let me start this review by saying I liked this game, I played it and finished it but I felt like certain parts of the game failed while the good parts were expected from a flasgship DQ title. There will be no character section for this game and immediately gets a 0/5 Soul from me because of reasons I will state in the gameplay section. Ready? Let's tango!

Plot: The plot for DQ9 is centered around angels and the world tree Yggdrasil. The angels are trying to get into a higher plane via a fruit called Fygg. They earned it but right before take off, the train is shot down by a mysterious force causing the main character to lose his/her wings and ending up in the human realm. It's up to him/her to help the humans, as a human him/herself.

Opinion: I like the story, I love the lore surrounding angels and I think it's done tastefully in this game. Also I like the idea of angels losing their wings and learning to adapt and fight their way back to the top. 5/5 Soul



Setting and graphics: The setting for Dragon Quest 9 does not stray far from it's predecessor. It's a fantasy medieval world that is full of life and cute quirky feeling to them. It's done very well and the graphics looked so well done for a massive game on the Nintendo DS. 5/5 Soul



Gameplay: The game retains most of its charm and adventure from the previous installments. The game feels massive and grand and the areas are beautiful. The towns feel lively with npcs bustling around and has an interesting cast of supporting characters.

The biggest flaw in my OPINION is the main characters. The playable characters in your party are created by you and have 0 impact outside of battles. I know a lot of people like this feature but I'm sadly in the minority. It felt lonely travelling with hired puppets. This feature was added to encourage multiplayer, but this required having friends with their own Nintendo DS and I never had gamer friends. The only one I had was my brother and we shared the same DS. Big sad face!

As I've already given the character section 0/5 Soul , I will be judging the gameplay separately and give it a 4/5 Soul


Overall: Dragon Quest IX was a fun play and I enjoyed being able to re-enter the world of Dragon Quest. This is not my favorite in the series as that honor belongs to Dragon Quest VII, but it's a solid addition. I wanted to be able to rip into this game (as its supposed to be my bad game review) but I cant. Despite giving the character section 0/5 Soul, I will have to give the overall game 4/5 Soul just for being everything I know and remember from Dragon Quest.

Join me soon as I review Beyond the Beyond (1995) for the Nostalgia Soul Series!