Gaiden is great. The story, gameplay, music, and visuals were all superb when it released and still holds up remarkably well today as well as having some of the strongest ludonarrative in the series.
The story is perfect for a Famicom game. A little context about the gods and "The infamous general Dozer has initiated a coup detat" is really all the setup you get and it's all you need. Celica's side is pretty similar. Something's clearly wrong with Mila, let's check up on her. It's far from an earth shattering story but I think it's quite a bit more interesting than the average Famicom game. The plot does get more complicated as FE2 progresses but because of the games structure, the pacing feels natural and there's a very satisfying buildup to the final encounter with Duma.
One of the more common criticisms levied at FE storytelling is how plot events have to be accompanied by a battle because that's how the video game is designed. Gaiden avoids this by having several smaller battles without any dialogue as well as breaks in between where you visit villages or shrines. Being even closer to traditional JRPGs also helps in this. Story scenes are no longer tacked onto the beginning or ends of battles, some of FE2's most important moments aren't even accompanied by a battle.
Last plot detail I wanted to touch on was it's connections to Akaneia. Having the Whitewings and Camus back (and playable for the first time in Camus' case) is cool and is a nice hint of what's to come in FE3.
The gameplay is where I believe this game really shines though. The lack of physical barriers in maps results in greater emphasis being placed in how you move your units, how you use terrain, and how you use what few barriers are present in each map. There's also the placement of enemies, which is often used to replace ambush spawns. For example, instead of 2 cavs spawning out of nowhere, they start waaaay far away from everyone else so that you know they're coming and when they'll be there. The enemy composition is also used to strengthen the ludonarrative. My absolute favorite example of this in the series is Grieth's Citadel in Celica chapter 3. You start outside of a heavily reinforced fort and need to break your way through their front lines using the whitewings and ranged attackers and then deal with the monsters summoned by the cantor before dealing with Grieth himself. It all comes together so perfectly and like damn, I really am storming an enemy fortress.
Like FE1, the soundtrack once again kicks ass and I think the visual presentation of this game is a huge step up. Finally, every playable character has a unique face and they all actually look good. They pull this off by only reusing parts of each portrait as well as limiting the amount of portraits for antagonists. It results in a much more memorable cast that's a lot easier to grow attached to because you don't have 3 Gordons (blessed though he may be).
The only problem I have with the game is its treatment of the female characters on Alm's route. Every single one of them has to be rescued before they join you which is unfortunate because Celica's side is free of this problem and is fairly progressive for a 1992 game. Est is the only female character who must be rescued, and she's being rescued by other women. Monkey's paw or whatever. I've seen people speculate that this might have been intentional, with Duma representing the extremes of masculinity and Mila of femininity, but the true machinations of Kaga cannot be understood by us mere mortals.
In regards to that last sentence, another possible reason for the stark difference between Alm's and Celica's campaigns could be for meta narrative purposes. Alm's route is traditional to an extreme. You play as a man who rises up to fight an empire, saving damsels in distress along the way. The gameplay reflects this, with the majority of battles (especially early on) consisting of you fighting generic knights in grassy fields. This leads to encounters feeling samey and the maps blending in with one another. Compare that to Celica's route which does much more to distinguish itself from the typical fantasy story. It features a woman as its protagonist and the only damsel in distress is rescued by other women. This experimentality is also seen in the gameplay. You start of with several mages and the map design feels like it was made to take advantage of the archers increased range (boat maps being the notable example) which results in a more engaging experience that really forces you to appreciate Gaiden's unique elements. The environments are also more varied and memorable. You go from a cemetery to a sea to a desert and then a forest which makes for a more interesting adventure. Whenever I replay Gaiden I find Celica's side to be much more enjoyable than Alm's which may be the result of Kaga crafting them as such to convey to the player the merits of taking risks and not sticking to tradition when designing games. Perhaps that's the case, or perhaps I'm just deranged.
So, yeah. Gaiden's really really good. It's a shame that so many view it as the worst in the series without really giving it a fair chance, but thankfully there are people equally as unwell as I who I can confide in about my love for this game.
Edit: I will be getting "most liked Gaiden review on backloggd" engraved on my tombstone.
The story is perfect for a Famicom game. A little context about the gods and "The infamous general Dozer has initiated a coup detat" is really all the setup you get and it's all you need. Celica's side is pretty similar. Something's clearly wrong with Mila, let's check up on her. It's far from an earth shattering story but I think it's quite a bit more interesting than the average Famicom game. The plot does get more complicated as FE2 progresses but because of the games structure, the pacing feels natural and there's a very satisfying buildup to the final encounter with Duma.
One of the more common criticisms levied at FE storytelling is how plot events have to be accompanied by a battle because that's how the video game is designed. Gaiden avoids this by having several smaller battles without any dialogue as well as breaks in between where you visit villages or shrines. Being even closer to traditional JRPGs also helps in this. Story scenes are no longer tacked onto the beginning or ends of battles, some of FE2's most important moments aren't even accompanied by a battle.
Last plot detail I wanted to touch on was it's connections to Akaneia. Having the Whitewings and Camus back (and playable for the first time in Camus' case) is cool and is a nice hint of what's to come in FE3.
The gameplay is where I believe this game really shines though. The lack of physical barriers in maps results in greater emphasis being placed in how you move your units, how you use terrain, and how you use what few barriers are present in each map. There's also the placement of enemies, which is often used to replace ambush spawns. For example, instead of 2 cavs spawning out of nowhere, they start waaaay far away from everyone else so that you know they're coming and when they'll be there. The enemy composition is also used to strengthen the ludonarrative. My absolute favorite example of this in the series is Grieth's Citadel in Celica chapter 3. You start outside of a heavily reinforced fort and need to break your way through their front lines using the whitewings and ranged attackers and then deal with the monsters summoned by the cantor before dealing with Grieth himself. It all comes together so perfectly and like damn, I really am storming an enemy fortress.
Like FE1, the soundtrack once again kicks ass and I think the visual presentation of this game is a huge step up. Finally, every playable character has a unique face and they all actually look good. They pull this off by only reusing parts of each portrait as well as limiting the amount of portraits for antagonists. It results in a much more memorable cast that's a lot easier to grow attached to because you don't have 3 Gordons (blessed though he may be).
The only problem I have with the game is its treatment of the female characters on Alm's route. Every single one of them has to be rescued before they join you which is unfortunate because Celica's side is free of this problem and is fairly progressive for a 1992 game. Est is the only female character who must be rescued, and she's being rescued by other women. Monkey's paw or whatever. I've seen people speculate that this might have been intentional, with Duma representing the extremes of masculinity and Mila of femininity, but the true machinations of Kaga cannot be understood by us mere mortals.
In regards to that last sentence, another possible reason for the stark difference between Alm's and Celica's campaigns could be for meta narrative purposes. Alm's route is traditional to an extreme. You play as a man who rises up to fight an empire, saving damsels in distress along the way. The gameplay reflects this, with the majority of battles (especially early on) consisting of you fighting generic knights in grassy fields. This leads to encounters feeling samey and the maps blending in with one another. Compare that to Celica's route which does much more to distinguish itself from the typical fantasy story. It features a woman as its protagonist and the only damsel in distress is rescued by other women. This experimentality is also seen in the gameplay. You start of with several mages and the map design feels like it was made to take advantage of the archers increased range (boat maps being the notable example) which results in a more engaging experience that really forces you to appreciate Gaiden's unique elements. The environments are also more varied and memorable. You go from a cemetery to a sea to a desert and then a forest which makes for a more interesting adventure. Whenever I replay Gaiden I find Celica's side to be much more enjoyable than Alm's which may be the result of Kaga crafting them as such to convey to the player the merits of taking risks and not sticking to tradition when designing games. Perhaps that's the case, or perhaps I'm just deranged.
So, yeah. Gaiden's really really good. It's a shame that so many view it as the worst in the series without really giving it a fair chance, but thankfully there are people equally as unwell as I who I can confide in about my love for this game.
Edit: I will be getting "most liked Gaiden review on backloggd" engraved on my tombstone.
2 Comments
Yet another instance of the earnest proletariat being crushed beneath the unforgiving heel of the bourgeoisie.
Fortayee
1 year ago