"Great Game, except for one, annoying, exception."

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones 9/10
Introduction
I haven't played the Japanese versions of the game but besides this one there is another one on the GBA and another coming out for the Gamecube. It is a Fantasy Strategy Role-Playing Game. In my opinion it is worth getting, with some exceptions.

Game play 8/10
Now it is a VERY hard game for first time players. It will annoy you beyond belief if you are not perfect. The Strategy of it reminds me of Advance Wars, very stable. It's a very easy battle system that they explain surprisingly well. My only problem with it is dying. If a character dies, it is dead forever. I know that makes it seem more realistic and all but it tends to get annoying if you want to keep all your characters.

Story 7/10
Story isn't THAT great. I mean against regular RPGs like Tales of Symphonia its complete crap, but for a strategy game not so bad. My favorite strategy game on the GBA is Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and that had a good storyline, so if your just looking for a game with storyline that is a strategy game, get that. Also the dialogue at the beginning and end of battles seem to go on forever. Luckily, you can skip it if you don't care what they are fighting for.

Graphics/Sound 9/10
Not half bad for a GBA game. Again, compared to FF TA it isn't that great. They have somewhat good soundtracks but sometimes during long battles it will get repetitive. There are great battle graphics that show the attacks pretty vividly but, after a while it seems like they take the bulk of your time. Of course if watching them isn't your thing you can just turn it off.

Playtime/Replayability 10/10
Best part of the game. There are numerous characters and maxing there levels out will take up a lot of time but the end result of massacring everything is worth it. And there are dungeon type things that you can play for loot/EXP. Then after you beat the game you can replay those dungeons and get locked characters. At one point in the story it branches two ways so you can choose which path to take. So you will be spending numerous hours getting all the different aspects complete

Final Recommendation 8.5/10
If you like strategy games, get it. If you kinda like them, rent it. If they are something you do when World of Warcraft or Everquest 2 are down, don't get it. My only criticism is that if you are not EXTREMELY careful your characters will die and you will have to reset. Besides that it's a great, stable, interesting strategy game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/01/05