Fire Emblem

The US version of Fire Emblem takes place in "Roy's storyline" but Roy isn't really in the game. Instead it revolves around Eliwood, his father and Prince of Pherae, his good friend Hector, Brother of Marquess Ostia, and a new friend Lyn, granddaughter of Marquess Cailen. A dark power in the form of the Black Fang rises, kidnapping Eliwood's father. Eliwood sets out with his friends too find his father and stop the Black Fang.

The gameplay is technically RPG based but is tactial strategy. In your turn you select your characters to move to certain locations based on the map. When your turn is over, your opponents do the same thing on their turn. It repeats until the mission goal is achieved. Leveling up is in the form of battling your enemies.

The gameplay is fun and the storyline is wonderful. There are several challenges for the advanced gamers, like support conversations and fully leveling up, or if you're pretty straight forward, that works too. The game's graphics are good and cinematic sequences are shown in artistic format, which is very effective for the storytelling game.

Overall, if you're an RPG fan, this is a must have game. It is the best game I played that came out in 2003. I reccomend it to anyone with a GBA/SP.

In the game, you are a tactician, and it is your job to direct your army to victory through many hours of wonderful gameplay (divided into chapters). There are three main lords, and each has their own story line (Lyn's is the "tutorial" stage while Hector's and Eliwood's are very, very similar with the exception of a few different stages). Each chapter starts off with a little clip about the storyline, and then after making preparations, you are off to war.

Each map is different, and on the map there are many kinds of terrain (different terrains offer different advantages), shops, houses, and enemies galore. You have your characters on the map ("sprites") and you direct them where to go, whom to talk to (if possible), what items to use, and so forth. Yes, it's turnbased. When you attack, the enemy is given the chance to counterattack (unless it can't).

Fire Emblem has a nice hierachy when it comes to weapons and magic. Lances beat Swords, Swords beat Axes, and Axes beat Lances. Anima (Nature) beats Light. Light beats Dark. Dark beats Anima. Like rock paper scissors, it is not hard to get the hang of.

What I like (unlike its counterpart, Advance Wars) is the fact that every character you acquire is unique with their personality and looks. As you may know, when a character dies in battle (except for the tutorial stage), you lose that character forever, and if you're like me, you develop a fondness for them, so losing one could cause you to turn off the game immediately and starting over :) One thing you must be careful: if any of your three Lords die (Hector, Eliwood, Lyn), it's game over.

There are many classes, each with their own advantages/disadvantages. For example, archers must strike at least two squares away, and they cannot counterattack in melee. Most of these classes can upgrade to more powerful units, and you'll have fun leveling up.

The graphics are really nice (if you like anime). When they talk, they show their heads, and they even blink and show facial expressions/turn their heads when appropriate. The sprites on the battlefield are, in my opinion, adorable, although some people beg to differ.

The music is riveting and fits the mood. You feel like you're really about to go to war. Not to mention the storyline is beautifully written, and you'll be anxious to play through the chapters.

There is also a "support" system, where on the battlefield, you put two characters next to each other for several (cumulative) turns, and after awhile, they can talk (Support) each other, thus increasing stats. If you get two characters' support levels high enough, they may have a special ending, ie: they get married :) This gives the game yet another great replay value because support conversations are recorded.

However, if you're looking for great multiplayer action, you might want to look somewhere else. You pick 5 characters from your file, and you fight your opponents' 5 characters. A little unfair, since the person who gets the first strike often sets the tide of the battle. Plus, you can't take healers in, and there's no terrain advantages, just a little square of an arena.

All in all, Fire Emblem is a wonderful RPG/strategy game that fans of these genres should not pass up.

Story
To discuss the story in great depth would certainly lead to spoilers. I do not want to ruin the intricate attention to detail that the authors have so lovingly crafted into this title.

Without going into great story-ruining detail (beyond the ''Tutorial'' chapters), you are placed in the role of a Tactician. As such, you are responsible for assisting Lyn, a woman who is attempting to rid her locale of invading hordes. Along the way, you meet up with several like-minded characters who wish to help you with your quest. Some first appear as enemies, however. If you choose to attack them rather than talk to them (which are different menu commands), you will find yourself possibly missing out on their contribution to the storyline.

As your cabal increases in number, you have a choice as to which characters to choose from. There is an ''old woman'' who can do a reading for you where she occasionally recommends that you take someone along (usually because they will be needed to talk to another character). This ''Augury'' costs you money, but is very helpful to the newbie turn-based strategist.

Characters
The story really has strong character development, and a wide range of characters you will encounter:
* Archer
* Cavalier
* Paladin
* Monk
* Magician
* Lord
* Wyvern Rider
* Pegasus Knight
* Nomad
* Fighter
* Thief
...

Most of the characters have a deep back-story that unfolds throughout the game. Like many RPGs, the characters level-up through an experience-based system, which automatically improves their personal statistics as well. Items throughout the game also act as power-ups, allowing your characters to evolve into a ''super'' class based upon those which they started from.

Gameplay
This is a turn-based strategy game. When two characters are near one another, they have the opportunity to attack one another (depending on their attack range). Each class of character has their own type of attack (largely dependent upon the weapon or magic that they wield).

The fighting in the game is based upon a triad, much like rock-paper-scissors:

* Axes beat Lances
* Lances beat Swords
* Swords beat Axes

The same can be said for magic, where you have 3 types of magic and each has one type that it is strong against and one that it is weaker against:

* Elemental Magic beats Light Magic
* Light Magic beats Dark Magic
* Dark Magic beats Elemental Magic

This makes for very interesting gameplay, as you can have a relatively low-level character with light magic beat the heck out of a higher-level Dark Mage, simply because of the magic balance.

SNES Level Animation and Good Attention to Detail
I expect GBA games to have decent animation and sound, and Fire Emblem does well on this platform. The music is great, the sound effects are appropriate and well-timed.

What really caught my eye was the attention to detail. If a unit is holding one type of weapon, when you cut to the battle sequence, they fight with that weapon (not their default). I was especially impressed with the fighting sequences, although I eventually turned them off for the later chapters so I could spend less time watching fights and more time strategizing!

A really great feature of this game is the ability to save almost any time. At any time that you are in control (e.g. not when computer or ''other'' is moving), you can choose to ''Suspend'' your game. This means that all moves up to that point will be saved, and you can continue from that point on. This was very important to my enjoyment, as later battles can take upwards of an hour a piece. If you want to try a silly ''blitz'' approach to map out the level, you can have a throw-away save spot and use it to store your explorations.

Well worth noting is the automatic saving feature. A couple of times I found myself up very late at night, trying to finish a level before the power of my GBA ran out. Ignoring the orange light, I continued to battle. When the machine ran out of power, as all batteries inevitably do, I was very worried that my progress would be lost! Luckily, all moves up to the point that the power went out were saved to the slot I was working on. I wouldn't recommend this approach, as I am sure I jeopardized the stability of said save file, but it is good to know that if you get too involved, you won't lose everything!

Will This Gather Dust?
It certainly won't in my collection. I have played this game to death, and still have a few chapters left to conquer. This is the kind of game you play, then rethink how you completed the chapter...could I have saved more guards if I had only...could I have reached that village before it was sacked by barbarians???

Well worth its price, and I do truly wish this series had been brought to North America earlier. I look forward to the next Fire Emblem game reaching our shores!

Overall Recommendations:
You'll like this if:
* You like RPGs.
* You like medieval-themed games.
* You liked Warcraft I or II or StarCraft.