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GBA

North America

Fire Emblem

by Zosha Arushan - March 15, 2004, 7:49 pm EST

8.5

For the first time in gaming history, there is a legal copy of Fire Emblem in English. And the people rejoiced.

I have to be perfectly honest. When I first booted up Fire Emblem on my SP tears nearly came to my eyes as the Fire Emblem theme played. For the first time in the series history, I had a legitimate, translated copy of my favourite Nintendo series that never made it outside of Japan. After years of complaints and possibly being spurred on by the apparent popularity of Marth and Roy within Smash Bros., NOA finally capitulated and brought over the latest game in the remarkable series to English speaking audiences. It has been well worth the wait.

Fire Emblem’s graphical style hasn’t changed all that much from its humble beginnings. Character units are fairly lacking in detail on the map screen, but they improve considerably when in battle. Though the sprites are still not among the most impressive, the animation is incredibly smooth, with tons of frames to show off the fighting prowess of your favourite fighters. Cutscenes are often dramatized with art stills, showing off the great “un-Nintendo” art style of the franchise. While speaking, characters have a variety of facial portraits, depending on their current mood.

In the sound department, FE doesn’t disappoint. Stirring battle tunes and majestic overworld themes abound, and every piece is a joy to listen to. In addition, there are quite a large number of tracks. Sound effects are standard but do well to convey actions onscreen.

The story begins with a young woman named Lyn finding a person unconscious in the Lacaen plains. That person is you. You’re a young tactician who has been traveling in order to improve your skills. Lyn offers to travel together, and you become fast friends. Lyn reveals that she is the last of the Lorca tribe, of which her father was the Clan Chief. Unfortunately, bandits attacked their settlement and her people were slaughtered. Soon after, Lyn and her tactician ran into two Cavaliers named Kent and Sain. They believe that Lyn is the grand-daughter of the Marquis of Caelin. Of course, meeting her grandfather won’t be so easy, as her great-uncle is determined to take the throne after her ailing grandfather passes away. Only Lyn’s band of friends and her tactician have any hope of fouling those evil plans.

Fire Emblem is the great-great-great-grandmamma of the SRPG genre. Move over Tactics Ogre. Shining Force? You can wait in line. Final Fantasy Tactics? Don’t make me laugh. Fire Emblem was there when it all began. As such, its gameplay is a bit different than what many SRPGers are used to. Using map designs which gamers are more familiar with in the WARS series, Fire Emblem has individual character units fight alongside each other. Unlike more modern-style SRPGs, which use an isometric view of battle, the way a character is facing has nothing to do with the success of an attack. Instead, when one unit engages another, a different screen pops up and battle ensues, much like in the WARS series. Depending on certain variables, characters will either win or lose the match. One of such variables is the weapon used when in combat. While it may seem too simplistic, the Fire Emblem triangle of power works quite well. Spear beats sword beats axe, etc. For the magic system, Elemental (called “Anima” in-game) beats Light magic, which beats Dark magic, etc. Simple enough? Don’t worry, it gets much more complicated.

Campaigns can have a variety of objectives, from killing the enemy leader, to capturing a specified area or surviving a certain amount of turns among others. There are also a variety of classes, and though characters come pre-defined in profession, every character grows uniquely. In addition to their stats, characters also have Weapon Grades. The higher the grade, the more apt they are with that arm in battle. The same applies for the Mage classes. As characters use weapons more often, the grade will increase accordingly.

Classes are greatly differentiated from each other. Cavaliers work best on the open plain, where their low movement cost will eat up terrain no time. Pegasi Knights have the highest movement of any class, but their weak defense against arrows will cause players to guard them closely. Archers can only attack two squares ahead of them, and are unable to retaliate against a direct attack. Mages are obviously weak physically, but they can conjure up great magic to subdue their enemies from a distance. Clerics and Troubadors heal injured units but are not only unable to fight; they also have the lowest HP and DEF stats. Later on within the game, players will discover the Crests. These can upgrade a character into a much more powerful secondary class.

Fire Emblem’s biggest difference with many strategy games and RPGs is that once a character dies, it is permanent. There isn’t any way of reviving characters, and as such, many players might become frustrated at how they got to the Leader and nearly defeated him, only to lose one character. The only real option is to restart the chapter and go through the entire stage again. In addition, Intelligent Systems added a new saving system that saves after each character’s turn. This was to provide a Suspend Data so that players can just turn off the game when needed. It also helps prevent cheating. A popular strategy in Advance WARS was to save whenever you had the upper hand, within a scenario so that if mistakes were made after, you could simply reload the data. In Fire Emblem, the Suspend feature completely nullifies that. If you lose a character, and reset immediately, you will be treated to seeing the character die again; as the die is cast before the battle even starts.

As for the translation, NOA did a very good job of bringing FE to life. Though I have not played the Japanese version of this game, many scenes I suspect would have been censored or altered in some way, have not. That was one of the largest fears many fans had when NOA finally announced its intention to release Fire Emblem in English. People who have played this game have expressed disbelief that it is a Nintendo game, in that there are many “mature” themes, expressions, and suggestive story elements. (There’s even a hint at “yaoi” that made it through to the English translation. I won’t spoil it by saying who.) Bravo, NOA.

With a noble history on the Famicom, Super Famicom, and now the GBA, Fire Emblem holds up the tradition of excellent gameplay, interesting scenarios, and an engaging storyline. The only real complaint I have as a Fire Emblem fan is that the game is very easy. This is understandable since this game was designed with the novice player in mind. The good thing is that Intelligent Systems added a Hard mode, which becomes available after beating the game once. I have nothing but praise for the way the designers implemented the extensive tutorial. It blends seamlessly with the rest of the game, and introduces players to many characters that will be part of their entourage later within the game, and how to use them to your advantage.

It’s great to finally have one of Nintendo’s best franchises available to those who don’t speak Japanese. Fire Emblem has been a long time coming, but it’s been well worth the wait.

Score

Graphics Sound Control Gameplay Lastability Final
8 9 8 9 8.5 8.5
Graphics
8

Unit sprites don’t look all that impressive, but the battle animations and copious amounts of artwork certainly make up for that. The presentation is top-notch, and looks very “un-Nintendo”-like.

Sound
9

An epic score for an epic game. Featuring high quality samples and enjoyable melodies, Fire Emblem’s music doesn’t disappoint. Sound effects are predictable but certainly not intrusive.

Control
8

Nothing to complain about.

Gameplay
9

While the beginning game is extremely easy, the game’s difficulty does ramp up with time. Fortunately, there is a Hard Mode, which is unlockable after you complete the original game.

Lastability
8.5

Though it doesn’t have the millions of things to do like the WARS series, Fire Emblem does have extra missions and multiplayer to keep gamers coming back for more. Also, once players have completed the first campaign, a Hard mode opens up.

Final
8.5

It isn’t the strongest entry into the series, from a veteran’s point of view. However, this game is the perfect tutorial for newcomers to Fire Emblem and will hopefully be a sign of more games to come.

Summary

Pros
  • Addictive SRPG gameplay
  • Animation options that should be standard in any SRPG
  • Good cast of characters and engaging story
  • It’s Fire Emblem… in ENGLISH.
Cons
  • Auto-save can become annoying, though it helps prevent cheating
  • Simply too easy for anyone who has played Fire Emblem before
  • Unit sprites and battle maps could be nicer
Review Page 2: Conclusion

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Genre Strategy
Developer Intelligent Systems
Players1 - 2

Worldwide Releases

na: Fire Emblem
Release Nov 03, 2003
PublisherNintendo
RatingEveryone
jpn: Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken
Release Apr 25, 2003
PublisherNintendo

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