Tag: Marth

Are The Amiibo Worth Hunting For In ‘Fire Emblem Echoes’?

by Josh Jackson

All the amiibo hunters out there know the feeling running down their spine when they hear that new Fire Emblem amiibo are coming. As some of the rarest figures on the market, it’s usually a mad dash to track down Nintendo’s premiere swordfighters, as the characters have very few printings despite their series becoming one of Nintendo’s most profitable franchises. Once again, a new game asks you to track them down to use them in your game thanks to the release of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, but are they worth tracking down for it?

Early into the game, unlocking Mila’s Turnwheel gives you access to the amiibo menu, which asks you to tap the warriors from a distant time to join your battles as Illusory Heroes. Using the Marth, Roy, Ike, Lucina, Robin and Corrin amiibo, (when the latter is released,) gives Alm or Celica the added ability to summon them to the field for one turn at the cost of 10 HP. From there, the CPU takes control of your summoned warrior for one turn, allowing them to deal one powerful blow before returning to the ether.

If you ask me, (and if you aren’t why are you reading this?), the cost isn’t worth the reward. 10 HP can be what leads to a sudden game over, and considering that your main characters are the only ones that can use this ability, their deaths mean an instant game over regardless of the difficulty you’re playing on. Add to the fact that the heroes would sometimes waste their one turn by making some completely braindead moves, and you’re better off just powering through as Alm or Celica, since they’re likely to be two of your best units at any given time anyway.

But while the older amiibo aren’t very impressive, the actual Alm and Celica amiibo are much more exciting to use. Tapping them unlocks a special dungeon containing equipment that can make the early game much easier to manage. Once your main characters are powered up, you can also save their stats to make them Illusory Heroes for your game, or a friend’s game if they need an extra boost. But most importantly, these saved stats will carry over to new games, so if you want to speed run a second playthrough, saving their stats onto the amiibo and uploading them at the start of the game will help you plow through armies with your unstoppable power couple.

Aside from the game play functionality though, these amiibo are some of the best looking ones yet. Compare them to the laughably awkward looking Marth from the amiibo launch day, (also known as amiibogeddon,) and it’s clear that Nintendo upped the quality control quite a bit in the last two years. Check out the comparison for yourself.

Alm and Celica look like they’re silently judging Marth.

All in all, the old amiibo aren’t worth tracking down just to use in this game. However, the Alm and Celica figures are great additions both to the game itself and to your amiibo collection as some of the best looking ones to date. Word is they aren’t nearly as hard to find as previous Fire Emblem figures have been, so I say jump on them before they disappear.

Want to know more about the latest Fire Emblem title? Check out our full review here, and find out about all the goodies the limited edition includes over here. Let us know in the comments if you’re planning on adding this pair to your collection!

UPDATED! Rumor! Certain Amiibo Figures Are Already Discontinued!

by Josh Jackson

After a little over two weeks since release, it seems like Nintendo is already pulling the plug on some of their Amiibo toys to life figurines.

According to the Twitter feed for Canadian video game store Video Games Plus, Nintendo has officially discontinued Marth, Wii Fit Trainer & Villager Amiibo. When they looked to restock these already rare characters, Nintendo supposedly responded that they’ve been discontinued (along with the popular Gamecube adapter).

As many of us suspected would happen, Wii Fit Trainer, Villager and Marth have reportedly ceased production. While more popular characters like Mario, Pikachu, Link and Donkey Kong will still be produced, the more obscure characters aren’t likely to get another run, disappointing many a gamer while prices inflate online in the process (Marth hit $80 last night here in the US).

This decision is bizarre. I realize that not all characters will have the long term marketing power of others, but Smash Bros JUST came out! With only a few arriving in the launch shipments, and the apparent refusal to produce more, it looks like you might have missed out if you didn’t jump on them on day one.

Yet, I still can’t help be surprised by both Villager and Marth. The last Animal Crossing title solidified the series as a bonafide mega series, becoming one of the highest selling titles on the 3DS. While Marth himself isn’t terribly well known, the Fire Emblem series is definitely on the rise, not to mention that the swordsman is a Smash Bros icon, possibly being known more in the States for his role as a fighter than his own series!

If nothing else, this will just instill the fear in all of us over the rest of them selling out. Speaking of, I need to pre order all of Wave 2 now!

Source: nintendolife.com

UPDATE: According to a copy of an email by Nintendo of America’s Assistant PR Manager, David Young, posted to Twitter, this rumor is untrue and Nintendo is simply working to keep up with demand, especially on the rarer characters.

The letter states:

David from Nintendo jumping in here. We have not discontinued any of the amiibo figures. Naturally some are more popular than others, and stores will need to reorder these once they sell through. That said, I don’t know how long resupply will take, so I encourage people to pick up their favourite characters when they see them in this busy Holiday season.

Who do you believe? I guess we’ll have to keep checking store shelves to find out!

UPDATE #2: So now it turns out that some Amiibo actually HAVE been discontinued! According to Wired, Nintendo reached out and has confirmed in a statement that some Amiibo will not receive additional prints after their initial run.

“We will aim for certain amiibo to always be available. These will be for our most popular characters like Mario and Link. Due to shelf space constraints, other figures likely will not return to the market once they have sold through their initial shipment.”

While no specific figures are mentioned, it’s clear that more obscure characters like Wii Fit Trainer and Marth would be the first to go. What will this mean for characters who aren’t quite on the upper echelon of popularity, like Fox or Samus? What will this mean for future waves? Are we going to have to horde all the Captain Falcon and King Dedede toys? I’ve lost the ability to trust…

So now it seems like David Young lied to us and broke our fragile hearts. Either that, or Nintendo has no idea what they’re doing for sure. All I know is that after becoming such a huge hit, especially when you consider the profit they’re poised to make if Bloomberg is to be believed, refusing to re-stock stores with a product that’s in such high demand would be leaving money on the table, and would be one of the few times that I would agree that Nintendo is out of touch.

Then again, maybe the original plan was to discontinue them, but seeing the high demand will force them to have a change of heart. We can only hope!

Marth Returns to ‘Super Smash Bros.’ Still Androgynous as Hell!

by Josh Jackson

This morning, the folks over at smashbros.com treated us with the unexpected reveal of Marth, the main protagonist of the original Fire Emblem game in Japan. The blue haired, sword wielding pretty boy is the newest veteran to officially make his return, which caught some like myself off guard since most of the reveals have coincided with either a game’s release, or big news associated with the character, (like the Sonic: Lost World launch.)

After over a month without a significant new reveal, I have to say that Marth is making a welcomed return. Considering that the prince and his series as a whole came to achieve international attention specifically because of his Smash Bros. Melee appearance, it would feel weird at this point to release the game without him in it. Part of me was expecting him to get replaced by his Fire Emblem: Awakening counterpart, but with him now official, we’ll have to wait a little bit longer to see if the smash 3DS hit will get any representation outside of a stage. Either way, his immense attractiveness combined with the difficult task of figuring out his gender will surely continue to excite and confuse all who cross his path.

Until then, check out the screenshots released by Nintendo and see Marth in action, (when he’s not seducing Peach.) As always, check back with Geekscape as more Smash Bros. news becomes available.

SOURCE: Smashbros.com