Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

"Laziness at it's best."

Overview:

Fire Emblem is a long running series of SRPG games that started off promisingly enough, but in many people's opinions, has since fallen from grace. This is, in fact, a remake of the original Fire Emblem game that sparked so much. Unfortunately for those die-hard fans who've been waiting for this, it certainly leaves things to be desired.

Story: 3/10

I'll be honest here, I wasn't expecting much new stuff in relation to the story when comparing to the original, but not much is still better than the nothing I received. Seriously, they could have at least added a few minute little scenes for character development, or added in the character conversation feature from later installments in the series, but they didn't. In the end, we come out with the same, bland, cliche plot of a prince rescuing his kingdom from a tyrant ruler. Even the dialogue is the same, word for word.

Gameplay: 4/10

While their have been minor changes in the gameplay throughout several of the later games, through new additions and whatnot, this game sticks with the way it was at the start, losing what little originality they had brought into it over the past two to three games. In fact one of the only things that wasn't in the original, that they put into this game was the gaiden chapters. Basically they are extra chapters with little backstories. Unlike the other games with gaiden chapters, however, these little backstories can only be unlocked if a large portion of your characters are dead. Basically, rather than reward you for playing well, they've decided to reward you for playing poorly, and never getting any better. What's more is that, while having added in the weapon triangle from later games, the calculation system for evasion has been torn asunder to the point where most attacks on either side will hit regardless of what weapons you or your enemy is using. The two features almost entirely contradict themselves. The only redeeming features to the addition of the weapon triangle is the occasional increase in number of strikes made (which won't matter at the end of the game anyway) and the minuscule differences in damage dealt. The only addition to the game that's never been done in the series is the class swap. This allows you to switch a characters class to an entirely different one in between chapters. While this does make for some customization most characters suffer from it far more than they benefit from it. All in all, the gameplay has been almost entirely rehashed from the original.

Graphics: 6/10

I'm being generous here, and that's only because graphics have never been all that relevant to me. The fact is, graphics shouldn't make or break an experience for a real gamer. However, I was disappointed, and that's saying a lot when it comes to this field. Fire Emblem graphics have never really been up to par with other games, even so they could have done a lot more with the DS's capabilities than they did. They just revamped the maps to make them look a little more pretty, while leaving the 8-bit sprites exactly as they were. The GBA installments looked better than this, which is absurd considering how much more advanced this piece of hardware is. Laziness, my friends. Pure laziness.

Sound: 4/10

All that was really done hear was...nothing. The music and sound quality are exactly the same as they were originally. Personally, I have no problems with the original soundtrack. In fact I encourage it's use, but the least they could have done was upgrade the music to make it a little more symphonic, and improve the sound quality.

Length: 5/10

It's the standard length for most Fire Emblem games. Another sorry aspect is that the last installment of Fire Emblem had improved upon this area, but not this game. It is a remake of course, but they still could have added in some new chapters, easily. Especially with the lack of effort they put into everything else.

Replay Value: 3/10

What do you have here? The usual for Fire Emblem. Multiple difficulties that offer little to mediocre challenge. The ability to get different characters, which I suppose has been enhanced (in quite a poor way) by the fact that several have to die just to get a few others, etc. Inevitably there isn't much that's new or interesting no matter what you do. It's not like those new characters do anything for you other than fight, since there's no conversation feature in this installment.

Overall: 5/10

For all it's flaws the game is at least playable, although it's not a recommendation, by any means. For old fans of the series, stay away. You're just going to be disappointed, and that's coming from die-hard fan who liked the last few installments very much. For those of you who are new to the series, stay away. If you've played any of the more recent installments you'll just flounder about at the loss of so many of your precious little features. If you've never played it, and are looking to start, don't start with this one. Please, for the sake of all that is good and holy, don't start with this one. All in all, this remake is just a product of lethargy.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 12/08/08

Game Release: Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Ken (JP, 08/07/08)