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Anti_W
03-23-13 04:03 PM
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Anti_W
03-24-13 08:11 AM
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Here is the best RPG on the Game Boy Advance

 
Game's Ratings
Overall
Graphics
Sound
Addictiveness
Depth
Story
Difficulty
Average User Score
9.5
8.6
8.6
9.4
8.8
9
7.8
Anti_W's Score
9
8
9
9
9
10
9

03-23-13 04:03 PM
Anti_W is Offline
| ID: 761941 | 1245 Words

Anti_W
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Fire Emblem came out in 2003 for the Gameboy Advance and it
has been hailed as one of the best games in the Strategy and Role-playing genre,
if not for the console. Although this game was the debut for the series in
Europe and America, the Fire Emblem series has actually been around since the
days of the NES back in Japan with massive success. In fact it was the
popularity of Super Smash Bros Melee characters Marth and Roy, who were from a
couple of these previous games, which caused this particular game’s worldwide release.
Although those characters aren’t here, anybody lucky enough to still own this
game will agree with me that it is brilliant in all departments and, for the
most part, hasn’t aged at all.

 

The story of Fire Emblem is split into two parts, set in the
world of Elibe. Upon selecting New Game and a save slot the player has to name
your character, a tactician who will direct the characters’ actions, as well as
select the month (each corresponding to a different affinity) they were born in
The first ten chapters focus on your character being found by one of the main
characters named Lyn, a lone surviving tribeswoman of her clan. Lyn and your
tactician set off to avenge her parents’ slaughter by brigands, but ultimately
she finds out that she is an heir to a Marquis through her mother, so she must
make her way to a council. Lyn’s story is pretty linear and as you can guess
she succeeds in defeating her evil uncle. However, despite being a longwinded
tutorial to the main portion of the game, these ten chapters do tie to the plot
in that you meet many characters who return later on.

 

The actual story of twenty or so chapters follows Eliwood,
the son of another Marquis. At the time the game starts his father is missing
and Eliwood decides to find him with his own team including you, his best
friend Hector, Lyn again and many more minor characters to form your fighting
party. Along the way Eliwood encounters an ill-intentioned assassin group
called the Black Fang who are involved with his father’s disappearance and plan
to bring destruction to the world. My description may sound lacking to some,
but in fact Fire Emblem’s story is amazingly well-told, with minor but clever
plot twists and complex characters that you will learn to love and hate, in a
game that can make you laugh or cry.

 

So let me explain the main gameplay system in Fire Emblem.
Each battle takes place on a grid-like map; you deploy and equip your characters,
all of whom have different strength and weaknesses, from a menu before starting
the battle. Once ready you and the enemy take turns moving your units across
the map to attack. Attacking an enemy has a zoom in where you see how much
damage is inflicted between each unit as well as how many experience points
(used for levelling up) are gained. The overall objective is either defeating
all the enemies or “Seize the throne/gate” which means putting a main character
on that tile once you’ve defeated the boss unit sitting there. There are many
factors affecting combat, including the terrain which your units are on
(mountains and forests will provide better defence both damage and
accuracy-wise compared to open plains), the type of weapon being wielded and
the basic stats of the unit attacking. There is a “weapons triangle” and a
“magic triangle” with each weapon/spell book being strong and weak against
another element, whereas bows are strong against flying units but cannot attack
adjacent to a unit.

 

It is important to remember all this information since the
game is quite difficult compared to others in its genre on this console, mainly
because in the Fire Emblem series, if your characters die in battle they are
gone for good, so if you want to keep all your characters alive then you’ll
have to restart the chapter. You can’t revive them and they aren’t automatically
available at the start of the next battle- it is permanent! This “permadeath”
as it has been nicknamed carries into other aspects of the game as well; if you
miss rare treasure items on a map you can’t ever find them again, and if a
weapon runs out of uses it will break, meaning that when unique weapons are
finished, they’re finished! Winning battles requires persistence and a tiny bit
of luck so that the enemy boss doesn’t kill your character in the off-chance he
scores a critical hit and make you have to restart the whole level. That
scenario can happen a lot in this game if you’re careless with how you move
your characters, so expect to restart on the harder levels many times.

 

Yet the difficulty is one of the many reasons why Fire
Emblem is so compelling. After all as turn-by-turn you will have to risk your
characters to make sure they can survive swarms of reinforcements,
long-distance spells and sneak attacks in Fog of War, you will soon find
yourself dedicating hours of spare time to this game. With opportunities to
promote each character’s class to make them more powerful and increase stats
temporarily with the game’s Support system (where putting two characters next
to each other over many turns gives an insight to their relationship) you become
even more invested in the story as well as your characters’ abilities, meaning
that gameplay and story elements aren’t segregated at all.

 

Fire Emblem’s graphics are 16-bit
and 2D design and therefore not spectacular by recent standards. Yet given this
is a Gameboy Advance game this is forgivable. Furthermore what did impress me
were the attacking sequences; on the map your units would be represented by
basic sprites, but when you or the enemy attack each other it zooms into a
close combat sequence where the actual characters will hit the other with their
weapon/spell. Although contact with weapons in the sequence aren’t great
(surely an enemy brigand cleaving into my cleric’s head should kill them in one
hit, not just take off half their HP?) critical hits look amazing, with
characters making more powerful or just plain awesome gestures/fancy moves
before taking off huge chunks of the opponent’s hit points. Equally remarkable
is the game’s soundtrack, with the main characters having their own theme songs
and different scenes having an orchestrated tune that perfectly reflects each
scene whether it’s something horrifying or sad.

 

In general, Fire Emblem is simply
brilliant. It has a deep story, relatable characters and easy to pick up but
hard to master battle system. Even if you complete the story first time you can
come back and play harder versions of the game that will challenge even the
most hardened strategy players, or attempt to beat your final ranking. I have
long since moved on from Fire Emblem but it’s easily one of the best games I’ve
played. If you should ever come across this game at a car boot sale or
something then by all means pick it up and pop it in your Gameboy Advance or
DS, as Fire Emblem blows many current games out of the water!
(This review may be posted on other sites under the name 'Anti_W'. It is still mine, I have chosen to also put it here. I hope that it is within the guidelines as it is my own work).




Fire Emblem came out in 2003 for the Gameboy Advance and it
has been hailed as one of the best games in the Strategy and Role-playing genre,
if not for the console. Although this game was the debut for the series in
Europe and America, the Fire Emblem series has actually been around since the
days of the NES back in Japan with massive success. In fact it was the
popularity of Super Smash Bros Melee characters Marth and Roy, who were from a
couple of these previous games, which caused this particular game’s worldwide release.
Although those characters aren’t here, anybody lucky enough to still own this
game will agree with me that it is brilliant in all departments and, for the
most part, hasn’t aged at all.

 

The story of Fire Emblem is split into two parts, set in the
world of Elibe. Upon selecting New Game and a save slot the player has to name
your character, a tactician who will direct the characters’ actions, as well as
select the month (each corresponding to a different affinity) they were born in
The first ten chapters focus on your character being found by one of the main
characters named Lyn, a lone surviving tribeswoman of her clan. Lyn and your
tactician set off to avenge her parents’ slaughter by brigands, but ultimately
she finds out that she is an heir to a Marquis through her mother, so she must
make her way to a council. Lyn’s story is pretty linear and as you can guess
she succeeds in defeating her evil uncle. However, despite being a longwinded
tutorial to the main portion of the game, these ten chapters do tie to the plot
in that you meet many characters who return later on.

 

The actual story of twenty or so chapters follows Eliwood,
the son of another Marquis. At the time the game starts his father is missing
and Eliwood decides to find him with his own team including you, his best
friend Hector, Lyn again and many more minor characters to form your fighting
party. Along the way Eliwood encounters an ill-intentioned assassin group
called the Black Fang who are involved with his father’s disappearance and plan
to bring destruction to the world. My description may sound lacking to some,
but in fact Fire Emblem’s story is amazingly well-told, with minor but clever
plot twists and complex characters that you will learn to love and hate, in a
game that can make you laugh or cry.

 

So let me explain the main gameplay system in Fire Emblem.
Each battle takes place on a grid-like map; you deploy and equip your characters,
all of whom have different strength and weaknesses, from a menu before starting
the battle. Once ready you and the enemy take turns moving your units across
the map to attack. Attacking an enemy has a zoom in where you see how much
damage is inflicted between each unit as well as how many experience points
(used for levelling up) are gained. The overall objective is either defeating
all the enemies or “Seize the throne/gate” which means putting a main character
on that tile once you’ve defeated the boss unit sitting there. There are many
factors affecting combat, including the terrain which your units are on
(mountains and forests will provide better defence both damage and
accuracy-wise compared to open plains), the type of weapon being wielded and
the basic stats of the unit attacking. There is a “weapons triangle” and a
“magic triangle” with each weapon/spell book being strong and weak against
another element, whereas bows are strong against flying units but cannot attack
adjacent to a unit.

 

It is important to remember all this information since the
game is quite difficult compared to others in its genre on this console, mainly
because in the Fire Emblem series, if your characters die in battle they are
gone for good, so if you want to keep all your characters alive then you’ll
have to restart the chapter. You can’t revive them and they aren’t automatically
available at the start of the next battle- it is permanent! This “permadeath”
as it has been nicknamed carries into other aspects of the game as well; if you
miss rare treasure items on a map you can’t ever find them again, and if a
weapon runs out of uses it will break, meaning that when unique weapons are
finished, they’re finished! Winning battles requires persistence and a tiny bit
of luck so that the enemy boss doesn’t kill your character in the off-chance he
scores a critical hit and make you have to restart the whole level. That
scenario can happen a lot in this game if you’re careless with how you move
your characters, so expect to restart on the harder levels many times.

 

Yet the difficulty is one of the many reasons why Fire
Emblem is so compelling. After all as turn-by-turn you will have to risk your
characters to make sure they can survive swarms of reinforcements,
long-distance spells and sneak attacks in Fog of War, you will soon find
yourself dedicating hours of spare time to this game. With opportunities to
promote each character’s class to make them more powerful and increase stats
temporarily with the game’s Support system (where putting two characters next
to each other over many turns gives an insight to their relationship) you become
even more invested in the story as well as your characters’ abilities, meaning
that gameplay and story elements aren’t segregated at all.

 

Fire Emblem’s graphics are 16-bit
and 2D design and therefore not spectacular by recent standards. Yet given this
is a Gameboy Advance game this is forgivable. Furthermore what did impress me
were the attacking sequences; on the map your units would be represented by
basic sprites, but when you or the enemy attack each other it zooms into a
close combat sequence where the actual characters will hit the other with their
weapon/spell. Although contact with weapons in the sequence aren’t great
(surely an enemy brigand cleaving into my cleric’s head should kill them in one
hit, not just take off half their HP?) critical hits look amazing, with
characters making more powerful or just plain awesome gestures/fancy moves
before taking off huge chunks of the opponent’s hit points. Equally remarkable
is the game’s soundtrack, with the main characters having their own theme songs
and different scenes having an orchestrated tune that perfectly reflects each
scene whether it’s something horrifying or sad.

 

In general, Fire Emblem is simply
brilliant. It has a deep story, relatable characters and easy to pick up but
hard to master battle system. Even if you complete the story first time you can
come back and play harder versions of the game that will challenge even the
most hardened strategy players, or attempt to beat your final ranking. I have
long since moved on from Fire Emblem but it’s easily one of the best games I’ve
played. If you should ever come across this game at a car boot sale or
something then by all means pick it up and pop it in your Gameboy Advance or
DS, as Fire Emblem blows many current games out of the water!
(This review may be posted on other sites under the name 'Anti_W'. It is still mine, I have chosen to also put it here. I hope that it is within the guidelines as it is my own work).


Member
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03-23-13 06:08 PM
Dragoon26 is Offline
| ID: 762018 | 66 Words

Dragoon26
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   That's a great review. I've only been on here a month or so but this is probably the best review I've read. Very detailed and organized.
   
   I just recently got into the SRPG genre. I've played the early Shining Force games and Final Fantasy Tactics. (And a little Bahamut Lagoon) This definitely makes me want to play this game/series. I've heard all good things about it. 
   That's a great review. I've only been on here a month or so but this is probably the best review I've read. Very detailed and organized.
   
   I just recently got into the SRPG genre. I've played the early Shining Force games and Final Fantasy Tactics. (And a little Bahamut Lagoon) This definitely makes me want to play this game/series. I've heard all good things about it. 
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03-23-13 07:15 PM
Sh0tee is Offline
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Agreeing with Dragoon this is the best that I have seen on the review side of this website. It is spaced out well, easy to read and is very detailed. Good job 10/10 from me!
Agreeing with Dragoon this is the best that I have seen on the review side of this website. It is spaced out well, easy to read and is very detailed. Good job 10/10 from me!
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03-23-13 07:21 PM
zelda2 is Offline
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zelda2
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Nice review! I love fire emblem! Golden sun is pretty good too.
Nice review! I love fire emblem! Golden sun is pretty good too.
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03-24-13 08:11 AM
Anti_W is Offline
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Anti_W
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Thank you very much guys. I've written several video games reviews before and as I said this was pre-written for another site but I wanted to post it here anyway. Glad it isn't 'TL;DR' for people either.
Thank you very much guys. I've written several video games reviews before and as I said this was pre-written for another site but I wanted to post it here anyway. Glad it isn't 'TL;DR' for people either.
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