My Fire Emblem 12 Review: Part 1 - The Story and The Characters

                 

                  Nickname: Glass Cannon Emblem

                Plot: If you already read my Fire Emblem 3 Book 2 review  then you already know the plot for this game. The major difference here is that 12 added a side plot involving assassins that’s ultimate fluff. Fire Emblem 3 Book 2 didn’t have this side plot and frankly didn’t need it so that should tell you all you need to know.

                       Another element of this game’s plot has to do with the title ‘Heroes of Light and Shadow’. The idea is that Fire Emblem 3 Book 2 is considered the ‘official’ plot while Fire Emblem 12 is the ‘actual’ plot. The idea is that Kris (the My Unit of FE 12) accomplished a lot of things and then erased his / her name from history and gave all the credit to Marth. This really upset a lot people who liked the plot of Fire Emblem 3 Book 2 (I didn’t know these people even existed). I used to think the hate was undeserved, but after someone showed me the full extent of 12's changes I have to agree that it does read like a self-insert fanfiction. However, this doesn't upset me as much as other people because I was never a fan of Fire Emblem 3 Book 2's story to begin with.

                      Overall Summation: This game’s plot does read like a self-insert fan-fiction. However, I never much cared for the story of the original so it doesn't bother me as much as it does other people.

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                         Characters: This game has the same cast as both the original and Shadow Dragon. While it did bring support conversations back, they’re not up to par with the supports of Path of Radiance or the GBA games so don’t hold your breath. There still isn’t much to these characters so there isn’t much to talk about. However, I would like to talk about Kris, the My Unit of this game. 

                       What I find interesting about Kris is the variety of opinions that the fanbase has about him or her. For example, the people on Facebook seem to view Kris in a positive light. A lot of people here like the fact that Kris doesn’t play very much of a role in the story. Now compare and contrast that to the serenesforest.net forums where people HATE Kris with a burning passion. The argument over there is that Kris is the literal definition of a self-insert character that is awkwardly placed in a story that didn’t need him / her.

                          There is one criticism that I do agree with though. The criticism is that Marth’s character regressed from the development he got in Shadow Dragon. I never considered Shadow Dragon Marth to be a compelling character in the first place but even I have to admit that he at least got some character development. FE 12 Marth goes back to being really naive and it shows. This doesn’t bother me like it does with some people and frankly I don’t think it’s a big deal.

                         Overall Summation: The characterization isn’t the best thing about FE 12 either. Kris has to be one of the most controversial characters in the series and opinions about him / her are going to be different and varied. Marth’s character isn’t done very well either. As for the rest of the cast….they’re really not that special. Characterization is not a strong point for Heroes of Light and Shadow.