Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

"If the Sacred Stones and Blazing Sword Adopted a Child, This Would Be It"

If you enjoy the occasional Turn-Based Strategy game like the previous 2 Fire Emblems for GameBoy Advance, then be weary about this one. Keep in mind that Blazing Sword (1st) and Sacred Stones (2nd) were made much differently than Shadow Dragon.

==Audio== 6/10
It is the basic GameBoy music. The sound is rather tinny, but what else would you expect? The music itself does add to the occasion and the situation, but becomes repetitive after a while, and usually, you hear the same thing. But sound is only a bonus; after all, there is a volume control. Fans of the series will recognize some familiar tunes and maybe some new ones.

==Graphics== 7/10
Going from the game's predecessors on the handheld, the graphics aren't that bad. The top and bottom screens are utilized quite nicely and a flowing motion is always present whether your character is fighting or sitting idly. The motions appear to be smooth, but some things are a tad overdone. Regardless, for a GameBoy game, the graphics are nice.

==Story== 3/10
It is the generic story of "Betrayal and Revenge", but that's a given with ANY fantasy themed game. Honestly though, the story seems to progress slowly and hastens up at parts. For instance, your main enemy appears only once, has 3 lines of dialogue, and is spoken of about 5 or-so times. Not to mention that the amount of meaningless treks to different areas become mundane after not much time. It becomes repetitive and after a while, you WILL lose interest. It is also hard to follow. You gain the gist of it, but without really trying to understand, you won't get the storyline.

==Gameplay== 6/10
It is all relative to its predecessors. However, some things have changed. Now, you must babysit your characters so they don't die. If you are familiar with Fire Emblem games, then you know, if your characters die, they don't return. Unlike in the other ones, one person could take on a whole level or two by them self. No longer is that possible. Character's stats have taken a hit and they don't seem to be those all-powerful juggernauts you were used to. A completely used and fully leveled character can easily be taken down by 5 or 6 enemies even if they are using terrain-advantages or advantageous tactics.

The game is based wholly on percentages; Your chance of hitting the opponent, the damage, the chance of a critical strike. And this is accomplished perfectly with the top screen showing all the stats you could ever want, and also, conveniently changing into the map with the push of a button. The touch screen is utilized nicely as well with a click and drag or click and click method of maneuvering. However, the percents seem to be rather misleading. Often, you'll find that a single digit's worth of percent will yield better results than of 2. Whereas, it seems that you will hit more often on a 40% than you would on a 60%. That can become slightly frustrating at times.

Also, characters aren't akin to one class-type anymore. They can be whatever you want them to be. Some people will find this fun and make the game more-in depth, while others will find this horrible, because when you think you've found a class that you like, you may find that the character you've assigned it to doesn't. And their stats will change and possibly be ruined for the entire game. All in all, its a mixed bag. Some things will come out good, others, maybe not. Its all in the luck of the draw.

This time around however, you aren't limited to 30 or so characters. There are an unlimited amount of people. The game will provide you with nameless/faceless characters if you have become careless and lost some of your characters. HOWEVER, this will be a common occurrence, as the game REWARDS you with extra levels and extra goodies for having a less-than-adequate sized army. So for completionists and for people who enjoyed getting every character in the previous games, it will not happen again. The game even FORCES you to abandon one person and never see him again. In theory, if you do well as a tactician and don't sustain any losses, you're still missing out.

==Replay Value== 5/10
Yet again, another mixed bag. As you play through, you begin to catch onto who is superior to who. Eventually, it becomes a straightforward list of about a handful or so of people who dominate the game. Though creativity is abound in the class-type system, the same results usual come about. The story has no significant chances in it save some unique dialogue, so the only reason to replay it would be to change up your character roster. Desire may sway on whether or not to go on and play through the story again. One second you may not be able to wait to try something a different way, and then the next second, you realize you might rather be happier watching paint dry.

But there is a catch. With Wi-Fi capability, you can make a team from your story and pit it against someone else's. When finished with your first time playing the story, you may realize some mistakes you made or ways to improve your team, and then be compelled to fix them or make them better. -BUT-, the game is susceptible to cheating devices, and if you are unfortunate enough to encounter someone who used one, there is no chance that you could win, and then the game again becomes frustrating.

==Overall== 6/10
It isn't that it is a horrible game, its just that it becomes repetitive after an amount of time. It also requires constant concentration and focus, whereas the others, you could slide a tad if you knew what you were doing. The fact that you have to pick and choose whom you want at an instant is a major turn-off and not being able to decide without knowing what might come of it doesn't really help. The small variation of gameplay also effect your enjoyment. At one moment your characters can die within one hit, at the next, they beat everything with one hit, but can then take two themselves. If you enjoyed the first two Fire Emblems for GameBoy Advance you shouldn't mind playing this. After you get the hang of the changes and the extremes of the game, then it could be enjoyable. But if you intend for this to be your first Fire Emblem, don't let it spoil your ideas of the series.

Speaking from experience, I was disappointed with how poorly I was doing when I could beat the other 2 games on the hardest difficulty without losing anyone but having so much difficulty on this game. But as I stomached through the changes, I got used to it and adapted and had some fun. Just stick with it and you might enjoy yourself.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/27/09

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