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Thinking about hosting a Fire Emblem panel at a convention


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Since I've been going to conventions for the past twelve years, I thought it might be fun to try hosting my own panel sometime. I actually have some experience speaking in front of crowds, as I went to a special high school where we had to do five-minute Power Point presentation about a topic of our choosing at the end of each semester.

 

Anyway, since the Fire Emblem series has become such a big franchise over the past several years, I figured that there might be enough material to cover an hour-long panel.

 

The way I see it, I could cover the history of the series by describing each "era", as well as what new features each game brought to the table:

 

*The Beginning:

  1. Dark Dragon and the Blade of Light: The first game in the series. Describe the basic gameplay mechanics that were there from the start (i.e. permanent death, promotions, the different classes)
  2. Gaiden: Describe why it was considered the black sheep for so long, as well as the unique mechanics that later became more common (i.e. controlling two different armies, exploring the world map, repeatable battles)
  3. Mystery of the Emblem: The most successful game of the Japan-only era. Describe the changes it made to the story in Book 1, the new mechanics it brought to the table

*The Jugdral Saga:

  1. Genealogy of the Holy War: Describe the influence it had on later games in the series, along with the now-standard mechanics that it introduced (i.e. the weapon triangle, marriage, the second generation)
  2. Thracia 776: Describe the unique mechanics that were rarely ever seen again (i.e. stamina, capturing, escape maps)

*The Post-Kaga era:

  1. Super Smash Bros. Melee: Describe how Marth and Roy's appearance and positive reception among western audiences inspired Nintendo to begin releasing the series outside of Japan
  2. Binding Blade: Describe how it served as a "back to basics" approach after the more complex Jugdral saga, and new mechanics of its own (i.e. Support conversations, gaiden chapters)
  3. Blazing Blade: Describe how it introduced the mechanics of the series to western audiences for the first time
  4. Sacred Stones: Describe how it brought back several mechanics that hadn't been seen since Gaiden (i.e. the world map, monster battles, branched promotions)
  5. Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn: Describe how they brought back some of the complexities from the Jugdral saga (i.e. Skills, more politically-involved stories), and what mechanics they introduced (i.e. transforming Laguz, splitting Radiant Dawn's story into "parts" where you control different armies)
  6. Shadow Dragon/New Mystery of the Emblem: Describe the changes they made to the original games, and what new features they introduced (i.e. Reclassing, a playable Avatar)

*The Modern era:

  1. Awakening: Describe how it saved the series from cancellation by bringing together the best bits from every other game in the series and improving upon them
  2. Fates: Describe the differences between the three routes, and what new mechanics are shared among all three of them (i.e. My Castle, the new Hoshidan/Nohrian class system)
  3. Echoes: Describe what modern changes made to the original game (i.e. supports, improved presentation), and what new features it introduced (i.e. Mila's Turnwheel, Combat Arts)
  4. Three Houses: Describe how it takes bits and pieces from other games in the series and re-arranges them into something new, as well as the new features it introduced (i.e. the new Class system)

*Spinoffs, Crossovers, and Related Media:

  1. BSFE
  2. The OVA
  3. Super Smash Bros. series
  4. Tear Ring Saga: Describe how Kaga's legal battle with Nintendo paved the way for other creators to make derivative games of properties owned by other companies (i.e. Mighty Number 9, Bloodstained, Yooka-Laylee)
  5. Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.
  6. Tokyo Mirage Sessions
  7. Warriors
  8. Heroes
  9. Cipher TCG

 

What do you guys think? Am I missing anything important?

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Certain character dynamics maybe? 

 

Alm and Celica, Camus, Nyna, and Hardin, Cain and Abel, Palla, Catria, Est, Arvis and Julius, the three Elibe lords, Nino, her mother, and Jaffar, Katarina and her former crew, Leif and Tracant (right?), Eirika, Ephraim, and Lyon, Ike and Michaiah, Chrom, Sumia, and Cordelia, and the three lords of Houses. The games are not enough without great character development and backstory. And the archetypes we know today.

 

The music? 

 

We all know how iconic the "Come Together" themes was, but not much people talk about music. 

 

Themes? 

 

What are these stories all-about, in your opinion? Like of course Genealogy, ancestry and religion. 

 

I would say iconic moments, but that would be spoiler territory. 

 

What the games mean to you? 

 

You have your own history with the series, so maybe put in some personality of why you might love or hate one game over another. Everyone has opinions.  

 

I'm not sure about the length of a panel, though, since I've never done it, so I'm just throwing random stuff.  

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Memes might work if I allude to them while discussing the individual games that they came from, as long as they don't take up too much time:

 

*Alm's dong armor

*Sigurd and fire puns

*Kempf's trap (in America)

*"Are Marth and Roy in this game?"

*Black Knight coming out of a house even if you park someone in front of the door

*3-13 Archer

*Every time someone brings up an alternate translation for the name of a character, refer to said character as "Vergil" for the remainder of the panel

 

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5 minutes ago, blcdude1 said:

So, will you seriously be discussing the OVA, or will you just be showing the "But Mars" clip? 

Both.

 

I will discuss the fact that it was the first piece of Fire Emblem media to ever be localized in the west, pre-dating Melee by several years. Also the fact that the voice actor for "Mars", Spike Spencer, later went on to voice Excellus in Awakening.

 

But it's impossible to bring up the OVA without mentioning Gordin's fantastically terrible voice. I just can't ignore it.

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  • 1 year later...

So now that I've been to my first post-COVID con, I've become motivated to start working on this again, with the goal of hopefully having it finished in time for SacAnime Winter 2022 next January.

 

Here's some of the progress I've made from working on-and-off since last February:

 

Spoiler

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This slide is intended to go right after the first one.

 

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I wanted to note the differences between the two "styles", but am unsure how I should go about explaining the individual game mechanics of the series. Genealogy and Three Houses are in the middle because their "chapters" are structured so much more differently that I wasn't sure which side to put them on.

 

After going over the basic game mechanics, I start going over the most common classes:

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There are also slides covering Archers, Mercenaries, and Fighters, but I haven't written anything for them yet.

 

Then I go into the recurring archetypes:

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I just now realized that I only go into detail on the origins and namesake for the villainous archetypes. I'll eventually go back and do the same for the heroic ones.

 

I've also created slides for the following crossovers, spinoffs, and related titles, but haven't yet written anything for them:

*The anime and the various manga adaptations

*BSFE

*Tear Ring Saga

*Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.

*Project X Zone 2

*Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE

*Ciper TCG

*Heroes

*Warriors

*Dragalia Lost

*Super Smash Bros.

*The Reincarnation of Light and Dark

*Other Cameos

 

One joke that I absolutely want to do is to constantly hint at Smash, but not actually talk about it until close to the end. For example, "All right, now comes what you've all been waiting for: eventually, Fire Emblem would have a crossover with some of the most beloved characters in history, in a game called... Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.!" "What's that? Oh, you meant video game characters? Like, say, Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter, or Kazuya from Tekken? I gotcha! Project X Zone 2!" "Huh? That's not it either? Oh, you meant MegaMan and Joker from Persona 5! You must've meant Dragalia Lost!"

 

But when it comes to talking about each mainline Fire Emblem game, I'm afraid I've got writer's block.

 

One thing I'm debating is whether I should cut out all the text from the slides and instead have a physical script in front of me to read off of while giving the presentation. That way there'd be more space for the images.

 

What do you guys think?

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