Fire Emblem

Genre:	Turn-Based Strategy/RPG
Developer:	Intelligent Systems
Publisher:	Nintendo
Release Date:	3 November 2003
Released On:	GBA

Amazing Ben Describes the Plot in 10 Words or Less: 

A noblewoman and her knights battle some evil dudes.

Overview: 

Fire Emblem is a long-running and incredibly popular series of Japanese strategy RPG games that before now had never made it to America, largely because of the failure of titles such as Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy I in U.S. markets and the fact that Americans aren't usually into some of the weird shit that's popular in Japan.  Well now that Japanese RPGs are finally starting to take hold over here and Americans aren't as turned off by cartoon snuff porn as they should be, Nintendo has gone ahead and introduced us to the Fire Emblem series that has been popular over there since the days of the NES.

Fire Emblem is a strategy RPG that plays a lot like the Advance Wars or the Shining Force series.  You basically lead your army of knights, archers and sorcerers from battle to battle in an effort to wipe evil off the face of the Earth and probably accomplish some other stuff also.  You're given a battle map indicating the various terrain and units you have at your disposal and it's your job to get your troops in position to defeat your enemies.  It's essentially a more complicated version of chess only with giant magical swords and a lot more half-naked chicks.

You play as a tactician working for a nomad swordswoman of noble birth who is seeking to return to her homeland and visit her ailing grandfather.  Along the way you'll meet a throng of different characters looking to join you in your quest, and each will their own unique story and abilities.  It's up to you to manage your party's resources and guide your troops to victory by winning a series of set-piece battles against those who would choose to stop you.

There is a basic dynamic that you must keep in mind while you're making your tactical decisions.  The entire game is based around a rock-paper-scissors style "weapon triangle" - axes beat lances, lances beat swords, swords beat axes.  There's a similar thing for the different types of magic.  It seems like a lot to keep track of, but after a few battles you will get the hang of it pretty quickly.  There are also weapons that reverse the triangle and characters who can carry more than on type of weapon.  It's complicated, but it all combines to make an excellent experience that will either get you pumped-up with Tactical Genius and Blood Lust or give you a headache.

One thing that makes Fire Emblem an excellent buy for a handheld system is its battery backup feature.  After every single move in the game, the cartridge autosaves so that you can literally shut the Game Boy off at any time and pick up right where you left off again.  This is perfect for some of the late-game battles that can last the better part of forty-five minutes or an hour apiece.  However, there's an ulterior motive for this feature as well - in Fire Emblem, when one of your party members is killed in combat, they're dead.  Forever.  You will never get to use them again.  So when your Level 18 Paladin is slain by a stray arrow towards the end of a wicked long battle, the autosave function makes you decide whether to restart the entire battle over again or say goodbye to your most powerful fighter forever.  It's devious, but it certainly makes you think twice about sending your Axeman out after the evil Wizard to "take one for the team", especially when you already know that his prime reason for traveling with your party is to raise enough money and pay for medicine for his sick wife back home.

Another thing that sets Fire Emblem apart from the other strategy games out there is its promotion system.  All of your characters gain levels and stat points as you progress through the game, but on top of that there are items you can acquire during your travels that allow you to promote you unit into something better.  For instance, when you upgrade your Knight into a General, he gains tremendous bonuses to hit points and defense and also gets the ability to use axes in addition to his lance.  It's a simple concept but it just makes the gameplay that much deeper.

The graphics are about what you would expect from a game with an emphasis on combat.  They're not great, but you get the point.  There are some pretty slick battle animations when you get involved with combat, but generally speaking this isn't going to blow you away by any means.  Regardless, it's a great game that I highly recommend.

X-Tremeness Level: 

Shooting a fireball out of your hand and incinerating everyone in line infront of you at the grocery store with it.

Overall Badassitude Score: 

There are so many damn characters in this game with such diverse skills and personalities that the law of averages mandates you'll have to think someone is awesome.  There's a hard-as-fuck Axeman who chops peoples brains out for no reason other than that he wants to help out his long-time friend, a Cavalier who spends all of this time hitting on anything with tits and time, a grizzled old Knight who's so heavily armored that you couldn't hurt him with a nuclear missile, and a ton of others who are pretty much awesome.  Even some of the chicks and magic users (two notoriously wussy groups in RPGs) are pretty badass.  If you're into turn-based strategy and aren't totally sick of the medieval/fantasy stuff yet, you're probably going to think this game rules.

        

SCORE:  4 out of a possible 5 giant double-sided battle axes.

Addictiveness: 

RATING:  Hot Coffee on a Monday in December.

The game clock indicates that I've dumped over thirty-five hours into it over the last month or so.  Granted, a lot of that time was put on while I was on two sixteen-hour flights to and from China, but a lot of that also came while sitting on the train on the way to work or just in the confines of my own home.  This is one of the few Game Boy games I have ever picked up outside of the train to work, and one of the only games I've ever started over again immediately upon completing.  There are just so many characters and strategies that you can play the game three times in a row and use almost none of the same party members.  Plus, your troops never level the same way twice, so the game ends up being different every time you play it.  All of these things will keep you coming back for more.

Multiplayer Component: 

There's a deathmatch mode you can play over the game link.

Hot Andrea's Take: 

"This game looks stupid."

Awesometer Score: 

+7

If you have the time and the patience for a strategy wargame you owe it to yourself to pick this game up.  The sequel is already out there (I haven't played it yet), so you should theoretically be able to find the original pretty cheaply, too.  You won't regret it.  It's the best Game Boy game I've played yet.