Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

"A good remake and a great addition to the series."

This is a remake of the original Fire Emblem. A modernization of the 1st game, designed to bring you the original experience without falling asleep from boredom.

Story - 6/10

Don't but this game for the story. Really, don't. The concept of the story is simple. Medeus, The "Shadow Dragon" has raised an army of mamkutes, or dragons. He has also recruited the assistance of pretty much every single nation of the continent, destroying every country that doesn't join him. The final country standing against him, Aritia, is destroyed and leaves Marth an orphan.

Years later, having been hiding on the island of Talys, Marth creates an army and fights to reclaim the continent. Not that the basic concept of the story is horrible, it's just that it lacks almost no depth after this point. While there are some small story details, it really isn't much to create an engaging plot. The game also suffers from the lack of character development. No minor characters in this game have any background or personality at all. While this is a sad loss, it doesn't greatly impair enjoyment of the game.

Graphics - 9/10

Even though the game is bashed for this, the graphics are astounding when compared to DS standards. They're easily reminiscent of Advance Wars of Ruin. Many of the tiles look as if they were specifically made for each map, creating some real detail (which is a quite an upgrade from the GBA games). The characters faces are really dependent on what you prefer. In my opinion, the headshots look great except for a few characters (such as Ogma) but you may feel nostalgic about the generic anime style.

The criticism comes from the battle animations. They're bland, unappealing to the eye, and don't mix with the rest of the game. However, this isn't even close to everything you see in the game. And you will turn these off anyway, as you will grow impatient with waiting for them rather than seeing the results.

Music - 7/10

The music itself is nothing of real note. Most of it sounds pretty somber, with some uplifting tunes when you are ready to win a chapter, in order to mix with the "theme" of the game. It's all remixed from the original FE1. It sounds good, but nothing that you'll be humming to yourself. However, I myself enjoyed the remixed boss battle theme, as it's played with an ELECTRIC GUITAR. HELL YEAH!

Oh, another nice touch was that when characters moves, different sounds are created. Such as armor clanking, horse hooves stomping on the ground or wings flapping as Pegasi fly.

Gameplay- 10/10

This is where Fire Emblem shines. An enjoyable experience is created. However, the major gameplay elements have stayed the same. It's still all about using the power of Math to save the world. The essential gameplay premise is the exact mathematical calculations. Each stat the is upgraded fits into a formula that can be used to find the exact damage you are about to do, removing a good element of randomness. You won't find your attack fluctuating between 1245 and 1438 like in most RPGs. Taking advantages of each character's strengths in each stat is the core of Fire Emblem gameplay.

You are placed on a map where you move in a grid placed on the map. All units have different movement range and patterns. Some can move far, but are easily gimped by forests or other terrain standing in the way. Some also have the ability to complete ignore terrain or even walk on water. These distinct differences between movement can determine whether you can hold your defensive line or finish off an enemy.

Each character is given a class and of course, each class has different skills, from Generals with huge defense or Swordmasters with enormous speed. The line between classes is made more distinct by the New Class Swap feature. This allows you to class swap your units into other classes (with limits). These switches will completely change your unit's growth rates and stats, essentially creating different units. However, this up to you to figure out of this makes a terrible unit or a one that trivializes the game (coughsedgarcough).

Difficulty. This game has SIX difficulty jokes, which can range from ridiculously easy (Normal Mode, which is the only mode that has Prologue chapters) to frustratingly hard (Merciless Mode). As you advance through each difficulty enemies become tougher and strategy becomes more and more prominent. I mean, when the enemy outnumbers you AND have better stats than you, then you know something is hard. BTW, did I mention that was the 1st chapter? This game has a difficulty for everyone, in order to satisfy everyone.

Wi-Fi is a new addition to the Fire Emblem series. The Wi-Fi involves you making a team of 5 units from your own team or free rental units that the game gives you. Then you fight the other team. Battles consist of a turn limit and a castle at the center. By placing your unit on the castle, it becomes your territory. By the end of all the turns, if you own the castle or have killed the entire enemy force, you win. Also adding variety to the Wi-Fi are Cards. Cards are bonuses you can choose to attach to your team. These will give your team a small bonus such as "+1 strength" or "no criticals". While they are a small bonus, they add some variety to your Wi-Fi Battles.

Another part of Wi-Fi is the online shop. The online shop is a shop that updates its items every day, based on a calendar. You need to know when to look in the shop so that you can buy some great items such as Brave weapons (automatic double attack) or Killer weapons (give your unit a +20% of a critical). While these do cost a lot, they can help you prepare for Wi-Fi or five you an extra push in a hard chapter.

As always, there are disadvantages, the ability to shove your own units to a different square or to pick them up in order to protect them from damage has both been removed, which also corresponds with the loss of the Constitution stat. Also, the new Gaiden, or side, chapters are only obtainable by killing off your units so you have 15 or less. This feature was added in order to help players who are bad at the game. This gives the some good items and a new character each time. Of course, this is also open to veterans as you won't be using more than 15 characters so losing some units isn't a huge loss.
All in all, gameplay is one of the best SRPG formulas out there. It focuses more closely on Strategy rather than RPG. While it shares the same core gameplay as previous games, it adds some nice variety and delivers a fun experience.

Replayability- 10/10

There are 59 characters in the game (each with random growth rates which makes stats different every time) and you use only 14-15 each playthrough. That's at least 3-4 playthroughs right there. And even then, there are the six difficulty levels to defeat. And even then there is class swap, making "themed" playthroughs much more plausible such as only using bows or never using healers. This game has so much potential to replay over and over and over, it's amazing. The best part is; no grinding is needed.

Overall- 8/10

This game is perfect for any Strategy veteran or anyone who wants to break into the genre. It is a good addition to the Fire Emblem series and is worth picking up.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/02/09

Game Release: Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (US, 02/16/09)