The Fire Emblem thread

[Nindo]

Fire Emblem has always been in active competition with a few other series for my top video game series of all time. However, with the recent Fire Emblems (Shadow Dragon and up) and this newest Kakusei/Awakening, they are really changing quite a few things that are really bugging me to no end. The art style is something I've long held as a pinnacle of pixel art, especially with the GBA titles. I recognized with Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn that the console versions would be higher-res art, and the style fit quite well, but it lacked a lot of the raw power and emotion that the over-the-top battle animations are well known for. Then these most recent DS ones continue in that line, and the art style slowly shifted to a more anime-ish/Final Fantasy look. Don't get me wrong, Fire Emblem as a game is still great, and as long as the true core mechanics stay intact (though that is becoming increasingly worrying with the advent of the "perma-death" having an off switch) I'll still get the games. It just seems to me that Fire Emblem is losing part of its soul, and this series should take up a different name for it's mantle in order to preserve Fire Emblem's "honor".