22nd May 2005, 10:11 AM
Okay, so you've played Advance Wars. Time to step it up a notch with this wonderful, until recently Japan-only series. Fire Emblem for the GBA is the first game of the series to see a US release, but it's the 7th game in the series from Japan.
The concept is simple, yet so very complex. As you start the game, you are a tactician, and you wake up in the house of Lyn, a nomad from the Sacae plains. As the two of you speak, you learn of her tragic past and of her limitless resolve. Then, a noise outside startles the girl, and she runs outside. Finding a small band of thugs descending on her house, she requests your aid as a battle tactician to fight them off. They pose little challenge (None actually, the game holds your hand through this entire battle), and afterwards Lyn decides to journey to find out who she really is. Little did she know how much there was to find.
If you only had Lyn (and further in the game, the game switches to two other characters, Eliwood and Hector, as the "main" characters), you wouldn't make it very far in the harsh, bandit filled world. As such, in your travels, you come upon dozens of soldiers willing to join your cause. The romantic buffoon Sain. The proud cavalier Kent. The axe-weilding Dorcas just looking for money to help his family. The male-fearing Pegasus rider Florina. The arrogant and annoying Serra. The list goes on and on, each character has their own personality and reason for joining you. Each party member becomes close to you, which makes it hard to see them...die.
Yes, die. Fighters who lose all of their HP aren't just "Phoenix Down" dead. They're "FMV Sequence" dead, and they ain't coming back (Although some who die in Lyn's chapter may reappear "healed" during Eliwoods chapter). This throws and interesting dynamic into the game. Do you really want to risk your archer getting near enough to a boss to kill him so they can get the experience, or send in your unstoppable Paladin for a guaranteed kill, but wasting the experience on someone who does't need it (you who've played, you KNOW what Paladin I'm referring to).
On to the weapons. Each character weilds three types of weapons and magic. For weapons, axes, spears, and swords, and most characters can only weild one or two types. As for magic, there is Light, Dark, and Anima (elemental) magic tomes. Now then, the easiest way to describe the weapon system is rock-paper-scissors. Rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, paper beats rock. In the same way, axes beat spears, spears beat swords, and swords beat axes. This is a *crucial* order to learn, so you know who to send in to take on what enemies. Sending in a swordfighter to attack an enemy with a spear will end badly for you, but send in someone with an axe, and now you're talking. There are some slight deviations though. Airborne units like Pegasus Knights take double damage from arrows. The same three-way hierarchy applies to magic too.
For a GBA game, Fire Emblem musters quite an epic story, and lasts quite a while too (30 individual battles in all, not counting extra ones that can be obtained). All things considered, this is one of the flagship titles on the Game Boy Advance right now. If you enjoyed Advance Wars, Fire Emblem will blow you away.
The concept is simple, yet so very complex. As you start the game, you are a tactician, and you wake up in the house of Lyn, a nomad from the Sacae plains. As the two of you speak, you learn of her tragic past and of her limitless resolve. Then, a noise outside startles the girl, and she runs outside. Finding a small band of thugs descending on her house, she requests your aid as a battle tactician to fight them off. They pose little challenge (None actually, the game holds your hand through this entire battle), and afterwards Lyn decides to journey to find out who she really is. Little did she know how much there was to find.
If you only had Lyn (and further in the game, the game switches to two other characters, Eliwood and Hector, as the "main" characters), you wouldn't make it very far in the harsh, bandit filled world. As such, in your travels, you come upon dozens of soldiers willing to join your cause. The romantic buffoon Sain. The proud cavalier Kent. The axe-weilding Dorcas just looking for money to help his family. The male-fearing Pegasus rider Florina. The arrogant and annoying Serra. The list goes on and on, each character has their own personality and reason for joining you. Each party member becomes close to you, which makes it hard to see them...die.
Yes, die. Fighters who lose all of their HP aren't just "Phoenix Down" dead. They're "FMV Sequence" dead, and they ain't coming back (Although some who die in Lyn's chapter may reappear "healed" during Eliwoods chapter). This throws and interesting dynamic into the game. Do you really want to risk your archer getting near enough to a boss to kill him so they can get the experience, or send in your unstoppable Paladin for a guaranteed kill, but wasting the experience on someone who does't need it (you who've played, you KNOW what Paladin I'm referring to).
On to the weapons. Each character weilds three types of weapons and magic. For weapons, axes, spears, and swords, and most characters can only weild one or two types. As for magic, there is Light, Dark, and Anima (elemental) magic tomes. Now then, the easiest way to describe the weapon system is rock-paper-scissors. Rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, paper beats rock. In the same way, axes beat spears, spears beat swords, and swords beat axes. This is a *crucial* order to learn, so you know who to send in to take on what enemies. Sending in a swordfighter to attack an enemy with a spear will end badly for you, but send in someone with an axe, and now you're talking. There are some slight deviations though. Airborne units like Pegasus Knights take double damage from arrows. The same three-way hierarchy applies to magic too.
For a GBA game, Fire Emblem musters quite an epic story, and lasts quite a while too (30 individual battles in all, not counting extra ones that can be obtained). All things considered, this is one of the flagship titles on the Game Boy Advance right now. If you enjoyed Advance Wars, Fire Emblem will blow you away.
The Earthworker Race has ended. Everybody wins.