Although Fire Emblem is a well-known series in Asia, the West’s first real glimpse of the game was the introduction of Marth and Roy as playable characters in Super Smash Brothers Melee. Finally, though, it’s beginning to make itself known via the introduction of a new game for the series on the Game Boy Advance.
Tactical RPGs are becoming evermore common, especially in the handheld arena. Fire Emblem, although not really offering anything new, is a ‘nice’ game to play – easy to pick up, easy to pause mid battle and resume at a later date, plus it really sucks you in – which is definitely a bonus as with many tactical games back stories can be very weak, and gameplay monotonous.
Although most of these stories are pretty similar – lands warring, angry lords etc, this tale (although it does involve lands warring and angry lords) has quirky characters that are enjoyable to watch within the cut scenes that move the story forward. Sain for example is a lustful lord who tries to offer assistance to any female that crosses his path. Character led, you’ll find that unlike some games, they don’t begin to grate after a while as each character has its own well written dialogue, plus the infusion of new travellers from time to time will continue to keep the story fresh.
You become involved as an apprentice tactician, who is cared for by the main character Lyn, after a slight ‘incident’ on your travels. You decide to continue onwards together and as the story unfolds, new characters join you and you begin to become a group of travelling mercenaries. Within the game you personally do not fight, but instead give orders to your chosen units and lead them to victory.
A downside to Fire Emblem is the fact that it has a tutorial-esque feel to it, as the first ten chapters into the game are there just to teach you all the possibilities; taking away your freedom ever so slightly. Within each battle, at some point you will be told to do something specific with a particular character, but I suppose it is fair to say that these handy hints help you to play the game as well as you can, although it can feel very patronising at times and you just want to get on with it!
The way to be successful within Fire Emblem is to take this advice, as it is all about using the right person or item for the right job. There is a Weapon Triangle for example, that refers to the attributes of each weapon and their affinity with one another. These strong and weak affinities affect hit percentages and attacks so you have to learn quickly what weapon to use against each opponent. Similarly the Trinity of Magic shows you which type of magic is most affective in each situation. By considering these, you’ll find you can win much quicker and with hopefully no casualties. The battles are turned based, but just to be slightly different there is no advantage to attacking foes from the side or behind.
In addition, your objectives differ within each battle rather than just continuously having to kill all enemies, and depending on your actions, side quests will open to you which you will have the option of taking on or continuing with the main story.
An interesting aspect of the game is the fact that there is no free time to explore or shop between battles, which at times can be aggravating. Instead, you have to move your characters away from the front lines to stock up in a local store or improve weapons at an armoury. This is a must as if a character falls you will no longer be able to use them in battles, so you need to be stocked up with health, plus weapon eventually weaken and break, so regular trips to an armoury are a necessity.
The resume function is great - while nearly all GBA games have some way for players to quickly save their game due to the fact it's on handheld machine: your journey has ended, the battery’s about to die, lunch is over... etc, Fire Emblem does so automatically and constantly. Should you for some reason turn off your GBA in the middle of an attack, the next time the game is turned on, an option will be present to resume the battle.
A worthy 15-30 hours gameplay is possible, and a harder difficulty level is also available after completing the game as an added bonus.
All in all, although nothing spectacularly new, Fire Emblem is a very accessible game which is easy for all ages to pick up and get involved in. I'd very much recommend it as a introduction to the genre for the uninitiated, as the tutorials teach you everything you need to know, and to be truthful, it isn’t too hard to pick up. A challenging and satisfying tactics game, we hope to see more of the Fire Emblem series hitting our shores soon!
Keri Allan
