Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Fire Emblem singes GBA RPG-lovers once again!
Tags: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones Categories: GBA Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Craig "American Idle" Hansen on May 25th, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (title page) | 1-2 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Role-Playing | No | ||
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Thankfully, for those of us in America, the first Fire Emblem on GBA did well enough that “the Big N” decided to keep installments coming, releasing the next chapter in the series, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. Those who are familiar with the series will find that little has changed since the previous installment; the battle system and graphics are largely unchanged and the only notable difference is that the gamer is not addressed directly by characters in the game as an unseen, off-screen character.
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That’s not to imply that the game is lacking in innovation, as there is an expansion to the character progression and jobs system, as well as an all-new, solid story to delve into. The plot plays out like this: Centuries ago, five great warriors used the sacred stones to save the continent of Magvel. The continent was then peacefully divided into five separate empires. Now, the ancient empire of Renais is in distress as twin heirs, Eirika and Ephraim, have fled their home in search of armies to help free their kingdom from the Grado Empire, who have invaded Renais.
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From there, you begin by following Eirika’s story as she journeys to find her brother in the midst of the burgeoning war. It’s no easy task, but fortunately she picks up plenty of help along the way. For the first time in the history of the Fire Emblem series, gamers are given traditional fantasy monsters, such as skeletons, zombies and gargoyles, with whom they can do battle. While going old-school on fantasy-themed monsters may not seem a wild innovation, it is new to the series – and it makes a heck of a lot more sense than, say, battling “intelligent, evil seaweed,” as is the case in Suikoden 4 for the PlayStation 2. Give me a good ol’ skeleton over seaweed any day!
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One of the unique appeals of Fire Emblem is the concept of permanent death; when a character falls in battle in Fire Emblem, there are no phoenix downs or resurrection spells to revive them; you lose them, they’re gone forever. The unique bit about this is the way the game helps you get to know each character who joins up along the way, so that when someone does fall in battle, it means something; consider Fire Emblem the anti-Mortal Kombat – sensitizing gamers to the value of life, rather than desensitizing them.
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New to the series is the way in which characters can level up; as before, when you reach level 20 and have a special item, you can progress from your base class to a new, more powerful class. But in contrast to the first GBA Fire Emblem, which offered only one progression per class, in Sacred Stones, you are given more choices of what type of character you want each member of your party to become. Your cavalier, for example, could become a paladin or a great knight; the choice is in the hands of the gamer. In addition, new classes such as Mage Knights, who can use both heavy weapons and magic at the same time, keep things fresh as well.
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While the game still restricts you, Final Fantasy Tactics-style, from roaming towns freely, there are now more ways to level up. Not only is there a battle arena as before, but there’s a new Tower of Valni that offers up multiple floors to conquer, each one a battle, giving gamers that extra added source of experience for properly leveling up prior to the final confrontations of the game.
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Offering up 50 hours or so of game play, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is a valuable addition to the library of any RPG-loving GBA owner. And until the RPGs start showing up on the Nintendo DS, this game is a great tide-over title until XenoSaga DS finally appears. It may not look as nice as true DS titles, but it’s still a great-playing title that’s well worth your hard-earned sheckles.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
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+ Great new story that lasts longer, offers more locations and even an experience-building Tower challenge. + Improved character progression system offers more choices for the direction your characters go in. + The permanent death theme evokes real emotions when a party member falls in battle. |
8.9 |
| What Doesn't | |
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— The Link Arena battles are nothing special. — Not as much innovation as one might expect from a sequel. |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| A solid follow-up to the first GBA Fire Emblem title, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is a must-have for any RPG-loving GBA owner. Even DS owners might want to give it a gander, since their first true DS-era RPG has yet to arrive. | |
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Tags: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Posted by Craig "American Idle" Hansen on May 25th, 2005 and is filed under GBA Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
