Hello, and here's my review of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones on the Game Boy Advance.
For those who don't know, Fire Emblem is a long-running tactical RPG series made by Intelligent Systems and all games have been published by Nintendo. You may know the series from Smash Bros., where Marth (from Dark Dragon and The Sword of Light and Mystery of the Emblem), Roy (from Sword of Seals), and Ike (from Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn) have all been playable. You may have also picked up Awakening a while back, and know the series from there. Well this is the 8th entry of the series, and it stars siblings Eirika and Ephriam. Now, onto the review.
GRAPHICS
The animations are wonderful, not much to complain about there, except the new animations lack the over-the-top flashy stuff that's the best part of the graphics. Like I stated the animations are flashy and over-the-top (excluding the ones for the new classes like the Great Knight or the Summoner) and I love every single bit of the animations. Not much to really complain about here.
SOUND
The sound's great, however I really don't remember any of the tracks like I remember some from the previous game (Blazing Sword) like Attack and Together We Ride, and really for a part of the game I didn't play any sound so I really can't tell you much. All I know is that there weren't any bad songs.
ADDICTIVENESS
Like most strategy games, Fire Emblem's formula is VEEERY addictive, and keeps you coming back for more. I don't know how but I could probably play this game every day for a year. Seriously. I don't know how to describe it but the game should get an 11 for addictiveness.
STORY
Oh god, now I'm going to have to be negative here. The story is...meh. The twists weren't very much, and a lot of the characters felt very bland, especially our leads, Eirika and Ephraim. There were a few good characters like Amelia, Joshua, and L'Arachel, but compared to Blazing Sword where you had Florina, Sain, Serra, Hector, Matthew, Rath, and so many more it's just pathetic.
DEPTH
Where it makes up for the story is the depth that this game has to offer compared to it's predecessors. First, Skills are in this game, however there are very few and all class-specific, compared to Awakening where there were so many skills it was unbelievable. Second is the introduction of branched class promotions. Oh. My. God. These...are amazing. It adds so many different classes like Great Knight, Wyvern Knight, Summoner, Mage Knight, Ranger, and Rouge to name all of them, and it gives the option of what you'd want more on your team. Want more cavalry? Consider making your Armour Knight a Great Knight instead of a General. Want more Dark magic instead of Anima magic? Maybe make your Pupil a Shaman instead of a Mage. It gives you so many options on how to play your game. Speaking of the Pupil class, this game also introduced three "trainee" classes the Recruit, the Journeyman, and the Pupil, all of which have some of the best characters in the game, and have so many options into how you want them to end up. Finally, there is the World Map, which allows for a more convenient way to buy items instead of having to waist your turn count.
DIFFICULTY
It's probably not a good thing where the last is the least, but this game can be pathetic at times because of how easy it is to grind. Not only is there an arena early on, but there's also the Tower of Valini and the Lagdou Ruins, which can easily get any unit up to Level 20 in no time. Sure, you have to unlock more rooms to get to the better enemies that give more exp, but you can just clear the same level over and over again. The only reason this isn't lower is because it is very difficult to go without losing a unit, and that can require a decent amount of resetting.
OVERALL
I like this game. Sure, it's easy and the story is meh, but the key factor into liking a game should be how fun it is, and this game is very fun. Go play it. Now. Please. I BEG OF YOU.
Hello, and here's my review of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones on the Game Boy Advance.
For those who don't know, Fire Emblem is a long-running tactical RPG series made by Intelligent Systems and all games have been published by Nintendo. You may know the series from Smash Bros., where Marth (from Dark Dragon and The Sword of Light and Mystery of the Emblem), Roy (from Sword of Seals), and Ike (from Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn) have all been playable. You may have also picked up Awakening a while back, and know the series from there. Well this is the 8th entry of the series, and it stars siblings Eirika and Ephriam. Now, onto the review.
GRAPHICS
The animations are wonderful, not much to complain about there, except the new animations lack the over-the-top flashy stuff that's the best part of the graphics. Like I stated the animations are flashy and over-the-top (excluding the ones for the new classes like the Great Knight or the Summoner) and I love every single bit of the animations. Not much to really complain about here.
SOUND
The sound's great, however I really don't remember any of the tracks like I remember some from the previous game (Blazing Sword) like Attack and Together We Ride, and really for a part of the game I didn't play any sound so I really can't tell you much. All I know is that there weren't any bad songs.
ADDICTIVENESS
Like most strategy games, Fire Emblem's formula is VEEERY addictive, and keeps you coming back for more. I don't know how but I could probably play this game every day for a year. Seriously. I don't know how to describe it but the game should get an 11 for addictiveness.
STORY
Oh god, now I'm going to have to be negative here. The story is...meh. The twists weren't very much, and a lot of the characters felt very bland, especially our leads, Eirika and Ephraim. There were a few good characters like Amelia, Joshua, and L'Arachel, but compared to Blazing Sword where you had Florina, Sain, Serra, Hector, Matthew, Rath, and so many more it's just pathetic.
DEPTH
Where it makes up for the story is the depth that this game has to offer compared to it's predecessors. First, Skills are in this game, however there are very few and all class-specific, compared to Awakening where there were so many skills it was unbelievable. Second is the introduction of branched class promotions. Oh. My. God. These...are amazing. It adds so many different classes like Great Knight, Wyvern Knight, Summoner, Mage Knight, Ranger, and Rouge to name all of them, and it gives the option of what you'd want more on your team. Want more cavalry? Consider making your Armour Knight a Great Knight instead of a General. Want more Dark magic instead of Anima magic? Maybe make your Pupil a Shaman instead of a Mage. It gives you so many options on how to play your game. Speaking of the Pupil class, this game also introduced three "trainee" classes the Recruit, the Journeyman, and the Pupil, all of which have some of the best characters in the game, and have so many options into how you want them to end up. Finally, there is the World Map, which allows for a more convenient way to buy items instead of having to waist your turn count.
DIFFICULTY
It's probably not a good thing where the last is the least, but this game can be pathetic at times because of how easy it is to grind. Not only is there an arena early on, but there's also the Tower of Valini and the Lagdou Ruins, which can easily get any unit up to Level 20 in no time. Sure, you have to unlock more rooms to get to the better enemies that give more exp, but you can just clear the same level over and over again. The only reason this isn't lower is because it is very difficult to go without losing a unit, and that can require a decent amount of resetting.
OVERALL
I like this game. Sure, it's easy and the story is meh, but the key factor into liking a game should be how fun it is, and this game is very fun. Go play it. Now. Please. I BEG OF YOU.
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