Fire Emblem 7

[Carthrat]

Fire Emblem is another of those games which has only recently hit Western shores. Despite it having an incredibly successful following in Japan, the first 5 games for SNES and NES never made it to us, and this one was a near miss, released only because of the popularity of 6 for GBA. It was developed by Intelligent Systems, the same guys responsible for the Advance Wars series of games (another series that only recently hit our shores).

It's a tactical-roleplaying game, wherein you command a group of characters through various missions in order to beat the bad guy and save the world. Sounds typical, right?

The first difference you'll notice when comparing to other tactical RPGs is the viewpoint. A top-down, 2d view is used instead of the more tradition 3d isometric view, ala Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea. The battlefield animations aren't elaborate, but they are easy on the eyes, and there's something hypnotic about watching all the little people bob in sync to each other. The game looks very similar to Advance Wars, sporting the same style of look, simply in a fantasy genre. It also sports some nice backgrounds with regard to combat scenes and conversations. The character portraits are also very well done, fully equipped with facial animations, cool hair, and nice descriptions.

The combat animations are particularly neat for this sort of game. You can turn them off, but chances are you won't want to, as the critical hits of the game simple *look* funky. They scream 'I'm elite' like nothing else.

The interface, a key point in any game, is also solid. Very simple to navigate through, and it's simple to identify what everything is for. This spills over into the gameplay; it's intuitive and simple to understand as a result.

The combat system is pretty simple, using a rock-paper-scissors style for both standard combat and magic. Swords beat axes, axes beat lances, and lances beat swords. However, you'll soon find that these are loose definitions; special weapons reverse the triangle, and if a character is skilled enough, they'll win out anyway. There's a typical slew of attributes, ranging from strength to luck. Standard RPG fair here.

Much like Shining Force, units can be promoted once they reach a certain level. Promoted units truly scream 'I rock!'; they're capable of inflicting quite henious amounts of damage when properly deployed.

The sound and music of the game is decent. There are some quite nice tracks that don't tend to get boring, though for the most part they're pretty forgettable. They don't jar like some games do, and the noises the game blares out are pretty appropriate.

As far as plot goes, Fire Emblem's is pretty typical. However, it's very nicely executed; the game doesn't try too hard to be wonderful, packing some solid storyline fun. It's your typical 'Stop Evil Mage Gaining Ultimate Power' thing, this time in the form of a mad mage trying to summon dragons to do his bidding. The title is sort of strange; there's very little to do with the actual Fire Emblem. Each character you can recruit is personalized. However, only a select few have real roles in the main plotline. The game compensates for this, though, by introducing 'support' conversations; have two units with an affinity for each other stand side-by-side for a certain number of turns, and you'll be able to see them have a conversation. This sort of characterization is clever; it allows you to choose what characters you want to see and disregard others.


For all this, the game has a few flaws, the first of which is the 10 mission tutorial that you have to play at the start of the game. To most gamers, this is a waste of time; the interface is so simple that it doesn't take much working out. Another problem I disliked was the fact that you can only use weapons a certain number of times before they 'break'. The problem is that this applies to the legendary weapons of the game as well.

Durandal, for instance, can be used, what 20 times? That's a pretty pathetic legendary sword. Supposedly, this adds balance, but it really serves to be annoying. Watching how many uses your sword has left just doesn't reflect how things really are at all.

Characters die when killed. They don't come back. Personally, I like this, as it demands greater tactical attention, however, others may not. There's no way to ressurect, either.

There's a token multiplayer mode in the game, but it's fairly lacklustre; it's just pitting characters against each other in a direct fight rather than having any real tactical depth to it.

Overall, Fire Emblem is a pretty solid title, and a surefire first hit. It's not a perfect game, but it's certainly a fun one, deserving of a look. Combined with several modes of gameplay (and the hardest mode is truly henious) it's got quite a bit of replay value, especially if you're perfectionist and aspire to get all the characters, all the support conversations, and all the secret missions (of which there are several.


Carthrat gives this game 86%! It is stamped with the Big Blue Approval Stamp! Play it now!