Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi

"The series' first step onto the GBA is a highly successful one."

Fire Emblem games are fun. That's a fact that, unless you dislike the genre, is almost completely undeniable. The series formula is fundamentally simple yet complex where it counts, and the lack of radical change from game to game ensures that the quality is always preserved. Some may view this creative stasis as a downside, or may start to find the series stale, but the creativity and overall effort in each title makes them all a unique and enjoyable experience in their own right. Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi represents a fairly new direction for the series -- a shift to the Game Boy Advance from the series' previous Super Nintendo home. The transition was nothing but positive, because it meant the games were now portable...Fire Emblem fun on the move! You can't go wrong with that.

And on that note, you can't really go wrong with the Fire Emblem gameplay staples of yore. Since 1990, we've seen a lot of recurring elements in each of the games, which some gamers embrace as tradition. Fire Emblem has never truly broken free of its comfortable SRPG mold, at which it excels fantastically. Fuuin no Tsurugi, though not terribly different from most of its counterparts, does a great job with this. It is worth mentioning that this game made quite a few changes from the final installment on the Super Nintendo, however: the most notable one is the absence of Skills, which caused a great outcry. A couple of minor stat-related changes were made, but this was the big one. Instead, characters were now distinctified solely on their growth rates, weaponry and personalities.

This doesn't water down the gameplay, however: there are still many ways to customize and compile your personal dream team, even with the absence of skills. There's still a wide array of characters and classes to pick from, some more useful than others...though I've always been the odd kind of person who uses the less useful people just for the hell of it. Unfortunately, I learned quickly that Fuuin no Tsurugi is also one of the hardest Fire Emblems as well, and I had to swallow my pride and force myself to use some of the powerhouses. This game is certainly the least forgiving of the GBA Fire Emblems, with powerful enemies that attack in droves and comparatively stifled growth rates for each character. The last boss is a joke as always, but the game still proves itself to be a backbreaking challenge...especially on Hard. The difficulty has always been a hallmark of the Fire Emblem series, though, so I view this as nothing but an advantage.

Aside from these traits, the game still largely remains the same. There's little I can tell you that hasn't already been covered in my review of the seventh Fire Emblem title. Gameplay basics have changed minimally, with the weapon triangles still in place as well as terrain penalties and the ever-changing hit and avoid rates. Supports still stand to add a few stats and a sparkle of life to the game, and there's a bevy of characters to fill your roster with. There's plenty of replay value present not only in the selection of new warriors with each run through, but there are also two paths for you to take that change the plot and the characters significantly. As it stands, this Fire Emblem is just as worthwhile as its compatriots, if not moreso.

Unfortunately, this also means that the flaws from the rest of the games stand here too. The plot tends to get bogged down by dense, heavy-handed political intrigue and thick governmental processes. It can be extremely difficult to preserve all of your characters because when they die, as always, they die for good. This leads to many restarts and, most likely, temporary sojourns of frustration away from the game. And of course, if a character runs out of weaponry on a map where there are no shops, then they're very screwed until you can buy them a new weapon somewhere else. These are all relatively minor gripes, however, and Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi still manages to be a very entertaining installment in a long-standing series of quality.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/30/06