Fire Emblem

Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Intelligent Systems
Genre: Strategy RPG
Release Date: November 3, 2003
Platform: Game Boy Advance

Reviewer: Eric

If there was one thing the GBA had it was role-playing games. Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance has a huge selection of games and to this day people are still trying to collect some of the rarer games. One of the more sought out games is Fire Emblem.

Fire Emblem was the first game in the series to come out in the United States. The seventh game in the series has the same gameplay as all of the other games have had before. This game was actually a prequel to Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi, the sixth game in the series. Fire Emblem takes place twenty years before the events in the sixth game.

The game takes place in Elibe. Peace has once again been tampered as a man fought against a dragon in the Scouring War. The human race once again flourishes as the dragons vanished after the war. As Lyn you must prevent your grandfather’s brother from taking over the Caelin throne. During the second part of the game the real story takes place as Hector and his part hunts down the Black Fang’s.

My description of the story might be a little strange at first, but if you have played the game then you’ll understand. Half of the game has you controlling one character while the last part has you controlling somebody different. Since the game is broken up into two parts it is a little hard to give away certain aspects of the story. Trust me Fire Emblem is not lacking when it comes to the plot.

Like every other strategy RPG you controller a set amount of units. In order to win battles you have to defeat all of the enemies. The biggest difference between this game and every other turn based game occurs when one of your teammates dies. Once they die in battle that’s it, they’re gone forever.

This is one of the biggest let downs to the game since Fire Emblem can become real challenging after awhile. To make matters worse certain classes can’t even attack, all they have is their magic. So make sure you protect your healers because they’ll usually die in one hit.



Your soldier’s weapons vanish after awhile too, just like the old Final Fantasy Legend games on the original Game Boy. Once you run out of your weapon you are most likely screwed. Carrying more than one weapon is mandatory. You are able to buy weapons in certain stages, but you also have to make sure you have plenty of room your healing items, just in case you run into a rough situation.

Fire Emblem’s fighting system is just like rock-paper-scissors. The sword defeats the ax while the ax defeats the spear and then the spear defeats the sword. Magic users and bow users don’t have to worry, though their defense is extremely weak. If you mess up and attack an opponent with the wrong weapon that leaves your character wide open. Your defense will drop along with a “miss” attack. There are some rare occasions where you won’t miss your opponent, but for the most time, even if they have one health point left, you will miss.

When new characters join your cause it is a real challenge trying to level them up. Since they can die for good you will need to rely on your strong units to weaken the enemies, then they can finish them off. I should mention that main characters that are currently in the main plot won’t die if they are defeated in battle. Still if they talk during a cut scene, once or twice, that doesn’t mean they are a main character. When you play Fire Emblem just try not to let anybody die.

If you are up to the challenge there is a hard mode. This mode is pretty much impossible, but now there is a fog across the battle field. Enemies have higher levels, less units will join you in your quest and earning money is difficult. I’ve never been able to get too far in this mode, it seems like a waste, but I’m sure a few people have beaten it.

Multiplayer in Fire Emblem lets four players link up to do battle with their teams. You can only pick from fire of your members. It plays a lot like any other stage, each person takes a turn and then you do battle. It might have been a little better if more gameplay features were added, but then again this was the first game to be release with multiplayer.

Final Verdict
I might have talked a lot about the games harder features in here, but you need to know what you are getting into before you play Fire Emblem. The game is challenging, even today I struggle at certain stages. If you can beat this game then you shouldn’t have any problems playing other strategy games. There is a reason why RPG fans pays more than they should for this game; it really is a damn good video game.

Rating
8 out of 10

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