"A fire Emblem game that is much like the ones before it"

ARE ROY AND MARTH IN THIS GAME!!?!

No, no they're not. Roy was in the sixth fire emblem, while Marth was in the first and third. They make no appearance in this game at all. Still, don't let that force you to run away from the game- it's a strategy RPG worthy of its legacy (The fire emblem series is a prestigious series of strategy RPGs- each new FE has a lot to live up to.) Those of you who played the first Fire Emblem released in the US will not be disappointed, either- it's completely different from the last one.

Maps
Fire Emblem: The flaming sword (Eliwood/Hector FE) was a mission to mission game- you went from one mission to the next with no down time at all. All interaction happened on the map; if you wanted to go shopping at a store, it had to be done while at that specific location. It was often irritating, especially in a map where you only have X number of turns, or once every enemy dies, the battle ends.

Such is not the case in the new fire emblem- a world map has been introduced. Similar to Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced, you travel from city to city, each with its own unique shops. Random battles have also been introduced as enemies that show up on the map. Fighting the fight is mandatory, which can make traveling from place to place somewhat tedious when there are 3 or 4 battles between you and your destination. (As a nice countermeasure, you can retreat from any random battle at any time.)

Another new aspect to the map is the tower and ruins. These areas are riddled with enemies, and you can replay them over and over again, as many times as you like. Older FE players remember arena abuse, and the tower and ruins are very similar. However, the designers neatly countered this, because if you level up in the towers you'll find yourself going through weapons like mad. The rewards of the tower (which comes earliest) are very small, and don't come close to compensation for the weapon durability that you lose. Seeing as your money flow is woefully small, don't expect to abuse it TOO much until later on.

Battling
The weapon triangle is back, and it remains unchanged. Swords still best axes, which best lances, which best swords. Reaver weapons to reverse the triangle are still around, and they still have weapons designed to destroy certain enemies. They've added several new weapons, most of which are simply variations on the weapons from FE7.

If you're confused because you didn't play any other Fire Emblems, let me start over: Battling is done on a world map, with your units in blue while the enemy units are red (NPCs that fight alongside you are green.) The game is turn-based: you move your characters all at once, and then the enemy moves all of their characters at once. Due to this technique of fighting, definite strategy is required. Fire Emblem has a unique aspect to it- when a character dies, they never come back. Therefore you have to position your units in such a way that at the end of each turn, your characters are protected by each other. That is, they stand foursquare or in a line with the strong in front of the weak. If a weak character is left unprotected in the front lines, the enemy will ALWAYS go for the person that they can do the most damage to, and will more than likely kill said character.

In order to save your ass early on (later on it becomes irrelavent), you have to take advantage of everything you've got. Put the high defense people in front, use the weapon triangle to best your opponent, and stick with terrain that will give advantages over your foe. (This is all taught in the in-game tutorial, but it's a reinforcement that you should listen to the tutorial.)

Storyline

I'm not going to review the story itself, as that creates too much bias. Instead, here's a synopsis:

Many years ago, an ancient evil demon roamed the earth and created havoc for the people of the world. Five heroes with five sacred stones combined forces with the dragons of old to seal the evil demon away.
The five heroes divided the planet into 5 parts, which each one took rule of. The five countries lived in harmony for many years, and the demon was all but forgotten.

Ephraim and Eirika are the twin heirs to the throne of Renais, one of the five countries in the Fire Emblem realm. A neighboring country, Grado, has recently been causing uprisings against the other four countries. Out of the blue, Grado's forces attack the Kingdom of Renais. The king of Grado is not himself, seemingly possessed. He sends his troops to destroy the five sacred stones and bring the evil demon back upon the realm.

Those of you who played the last Fire Emblem will notice a striking resemblance in storylines. The ups and downs are nearly identical; the new enemies, the betrayals, the manipulations… all bear striking parallels.

Graphics
The graphics are what you'd expect from a Game Boy game. Frankly I prefer these graphics, because I feel as if good graphics just give the writers and excuse to make a bad game (as is proven by the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube… though it fails to explain all of the horrible NES games… that's neither here nor there).

Music
The music was all right- many people don't like it, and many people do. It's no better than any other GBA game, and it's no worse, either.

If you're a Fire Emblem fan, I say you should get it. If you've never played them, then ask yourself this- does this review paint a picture of a good game? If the answer is yes, buy it! If the answer is no, then don't buy it! There's always Shining Force…

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 05/25/05, Updated 06/06/05