Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 is the fifth game of the series, made by Intelligent Systems, and came out on the Super Famicom in 1999. Like its predecessors, this is a strategy RPG released when the franchise was still Japan-only. Fortunately, a lot of these games now have translated ROMs... mostly. The game is frequently described as a “midquel” in that it takes place between Chapters 5 & 6 from FE 4: Genealogy of the Holy War (Seisen No Keifu). There are significant differences between the two games, but I can't help but compare between the two as they take place in the same world and were released relatively close to each other. I'll describe their differences more in depth as each section is explored. In terms of the ROM itself, the menu screen alone has mixed English & Japanese. It's decent enough that you know your character's stats, but it still helps to use a reference to know all the dimensions listed. Also, specific weapon descriptions aren't fully translated and just show a jumble of mixed characters/letters. I used Serenesforest to fill these gaps of information. Knowledge of weapons from playing other FE games also helps here.

Graphics: 8/10
The sprites and portraits are detailed very similarly to that of FE4. The terrain detail is even better, particularly in the levels that take place in villages. New to this game are levels that take place in doors with good design of said castle/prison/etc. The combat animation, if enabled, is the same as FE4. During the credits, you can get one of several portraits or scenes depending on your file's overall rank.

Sound: 9/10
The music of Thracia 776 is wonderful. There are a range of tracks to fit the occasion and emotion of its associated plot. There are different themes across the chapters, both for your army and the various enemy armies. The sound effects are appropriate for the respective weapons, similar to FE4. To be honest, I prefer the soundtrack of the prior game a little more to this one. The music between FE4 and FE5 are very different from each other. Admittedly, this game's soundtrack has really grown on me as I progressed throughout the campaign.

Addictiveness: 9/10
For anybody who is a fan of Fire Emblem games, you know how addictive these games can be. I feel this is a common attribute among any good strategy RPG. Seriously, when you finish a given chapter, you're ready to just keep going on to the next level, advance the story, make preparations for the next map, and play it out. Rinse and repeat. Also fueling the addictiveness, you'll have units die a lot, or at least I did. Right after that, I would be compelled to try the map again. You can easily replace “unit dying” with “secondary objective failed” prompting a level repeat.

Story: 7/10
As mentioned above, Thracia 776 takes place in the middle of events during Genealogy of the Holy War. Prince Leaf's parents were killed, and he was raised by Finn and Eyvel. Leaf is living on the run as the Empire is hunting him throughout the Thracian peninsula. After two people close to Leaf are kidnapped, he must embark on a journey to rescue them. And in the process, he realizes the time has come for him to lead a rebellion against the Empire by gathering a rag tag group of mercenaries and exiled nobles.
Throughout his journey, he will have to fight off pirates, brigands, the armies of various nations, and the nefarious cult of Lopto to take down the Empire. Other than the main plot, the elements of the story are mostly explored through each character you recruit, and subsequent characters that have a relation to someone on your team. There are other dialogues that enrich certain character's back story, but you must initiate these. There are some plot twists thrown in, but the main story is otherwise a pretty linear progression of these objectives. In contrast to FE4, the story focuses on a smaller scale of interactions with a much larger cast of characters.
I actually enjoyed the story of FE4 more, as I felt there was more character development, as well as some other major events. However, that game takes place on the scale of armies, so the context is very different. I want to mention here some of the limitations of this translated ROM. Starting at about chapter 20, the translation reverts to a jumble of letters and characters. Suddenly, in the last level, the English translation returns, then the ending & epilogue reverts to characters. For these parts, I referred to the translation from Serenesforest in order to follow along the story. The only translations not provided were villager dialogues within the above chapters.

Depth: 7/10
Thracia 776 introduces some new mechanics to the FE series. Among my favorite, the ability to rescue + drop off a unit, and ability of units to trade inventories with each other. Gold is now a collective amount shared by all units, as opposed to individual values like in FE4. Also new to FE5, weapon levels can increase with use (e.g. using axes will increase your axe weapon level).  In this particular game, mounted units have the option to dismount, which you must do when the unit is inside a building. A given unit's max level is 20, and their base stats are capped at 20 (the “magic” stat entails both M.attack and M.defense). Unit promotions based on an item (e.g. Knight's Proof) and  Gaiden chapters (extra levels if a condition is fulfilled) started here, too. Plus, fog of war.

There are some unique mechanics that are only in this game.
-Capturing: you can select this option if your build (later called Constitution) is higher, in which you will attack with reduced stats (melee range attacks only). If the enemy dies, they are captured. This allows for trading away their inventory to yours. The enemy can then be released which is functionally the same as dying, but will get a different dialogue than their death quote if it's a boss character. Characters without a weapon will be captured without a fight. This is necessary to get some  amazing weapons, but can be used against your unarmed units. This is also required in specific levels to move onto the gaiden chapter.
-Fatigue: every time a unit attacks or gets attacked, they gain 1 fatigue point. After a certain level, if fatigue exceeds Max HP, the unit will be fatigued and must sit out the next battle unless they have a Stamina drink item. I liked this feature as it forces you to be mindful of overusing some units and switching around others. The main drawback is that you could easily tire out a unit otherwise vital to the next level.
-Movement stars: Some units have from 1-5 stars (different from leadership stars). Each star is a +5% chance to immediately get an additional turn. This is amazing when it happens to you, but can completely destroy when it happens for certain enemies.
-Crusader Scrolls: These items influence the chance (positively or negatively) of gaining a point in certain traits upon leveling up. Plus, they protect against random enemy criticals. Also, as a general note, units have a chance to upgrade their movement range on leveling up.

Other than in-game mechanics, there are branching paths in the campaign (only lasts for 2 levels), which allows for different opportunities to gain items and recruit characters. This game features a large cast of characters, which lends itself to more replay value. However, there are many characters that aren't as viable so your team will likely have most of the same units. There are skill tomes that can be acquired, which can further add variation. Though this is still a little less variation possible than in FE4 due to their pairing system.

Difficulty: 10/10
I've only played Fire Emblems 4-8, and I would say this one is the hardest. One of the first difficulties is getting gold. You start with 0 and villages don't give you money. What you must do is capture lots of enemies early on and sell their items. Later on, you can get a lot of gold by abusing the coliseums when they appear. Obtaining the best weapons often comes from capturing some later bosses. Later in the game, there are more opportunities to get items by using sleep status effects. The enemy will get greater access to status effects as the game goes on. By the way, status effects last for the entirety of the map unless restored. Also, be prepared for enemy reinforcements that spawn and ambush you.

What really made this game difficult was the luck factor. Be prepared to miss attacks that had a 99% chance to hit, or suffer a critical hit from an enemy who had a 10% chance to land a hit, and even less for it to be critical. Yes, I know it's statistically possible, but these kinds of events seemed to happen more often than would be expected. Also, refer to the movement stars section above. I rarely ever use save states. I didn't use them in the other FE games I've played, but I eventually caved in and used them here to stave off frustration and prevent more additional repeats.

Overall: 8.3/10
FE5: Thracia 776 is a strategy RPG gem exclusively released in Japan late in the history of the Super Famicom. I feel that many of Fire Emblem's modern mechanics took root in this game, and were further refined, especially in FE6 for the GBA. I would have preferred a completed translation, but there are enough sources out there that have translated scripts and item descriptions.
This game stands well enough on its own, but to fully appreciate it, I strongly recommend checking out FE4: Genealogy of the Holy War (also a difficult game) to get more acquainted with the story. Between the two, I would describe Thracia 776 as the more difficult game with superior game mechanics. Their graphics match up equally, and the music of each respective game is great in their own unique way. If you're new to the Fire Emblem franchise, I recommend starting on an easier game (i.e. Blazing Sword or Sacred Stones). If you're a fan of the series, definitely play through Thracia 776. Let's face it, if you're a Fire Emblem fan, you are likely already planning to play this game if you haven't yet done so. Now try to beat it in as little turns as possible to get that SSS rank. Just kidding, save your sanity!

I have always been intrigued by Fire Emblem; I mostly read about it in Nintendo Power. But thanks to modern technology, I can play them in English, and you make them sound VERY interesting.

You earned yourself a 5. Your structure is perfect, you give it a lot of details AND you compare the game to other FE, which is always a big plus in my book. I can not wait to read your next review!