Fire Emblem

Storyline: The story is immersive. Great characters, dialog, everything! The opening tutorial (not really a tutorial) has a story of its own that just leads to the main story later on. Overall, I had a hard time putting this game down.

Graphics: Personally I enjoy the anime-style graphics of this game more than some 3-D titles on other systems. Battles are colorful and all of the character designs are great (well one character, a monk named Lucius, looks like a girl, but it is no big deal).

Gameplay: The strategy system in the game is very similar to the Advance Wars titles, but in my opinion even better (played both Advance Wars games, there good but FE is better). You play on a grid-based map where you direct your characters in battle. The addition of rpg elements (leveling up) is a great feature. Gameplay is easy enough and challenging enough for everyone.

All I have left to say is BUY THIS GAME! I promise you won't regret it!


THE REAL GAME OF THE YEAR   November 9, 2003
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Only a fool would own a game boy advance and not own Fire Emblem.

My initial impression is that nothing can stop this from being GOTY aside from the fact that game boy games are usually snubbed and fire emblem will be snubbed too.

The localization for this game is much better than the localization for Intelligent System's other popular strategy series advance wars. According to a review I read, Fire Emblem is better than Advance Wars as a single player game, and so far I have to agree with that comment.

I haven't been this immersed in a game since Chrono Trigger for the super nintendo. After several hours of playing the game I feel that the character development and dialogue is probably the best in any game boy game ever made or at least any game boy game I have ever played.

Presentation 10 out of 10
Flawless presentation. All the menus are top-notch and the game is designed to near perfection.

Graphics 10 out of 10
Beautiful hand-drawn backgrounds and excellent character design. The graphics are technically and artistically wonderful.

Sound 9 out of 10
I was amazed at what I heard coming from my gba speakers.

Gameplay 10 out of 10
Flawless turn based strategy.

Lasting Appeal 9/10
The multiplayer is only bested by Advance Wars.

Intelligent Systems is now my favorite game development company.


Oh My God.   February 16, 2004
Aleandra (in mine own place and location, thank you very much)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Oh My God this game is oh so cool. Time flies when you're having fun and that's definitely the case with Fire Emblem. In this game, there are SO many people and you become friends with ALL of them. If you lose one, GOODBYE. Ya won't see him/her for the rest of the game, PERIOD.

I've seen reviews of Fire Emblem complaining about the graphics, but personally I think they're fine. They aren't better or worse than any other games I've ever played, and it's actually quite funny the way they look on the battlefield. Course you can't tell two people of the same class from one another, like say, Batre from Dorcas. That's a problem, but it doesn't really make a huge effect on the game.

There's things like Weapon Levels, Support Levels, and all that, but you don't have to worry about getting armor for any of your chars. You do have to worry about weapons breaking and magic items disappearing, but it's all worth it for this game.

The battles and strategy are pretty easy in the tutorial and at the beginning of the real story, but in the later chaps of 23+ they are really difficult. For those people who enjoy a challenge and using their heads, this game is for you. ENJOY!


Not living up to its name   November 26, 2003
8 out of 23 found this review helpful

When I got Fire Emblem, I thought It would be great. I have a thing for fantasy and sword games so I was naturally drawn to it. Plus i have heard that fire emblem was a big hit in japan. I was so wrong. The graphics are medicore, although the characters are tiny on the screen. During battles, you are looking down on the characters with a birds-eye view, and they are really small. the sound was the usual cheap japanese music with a few sound effects of flying arrows and clanging swords. Talking is described with rapid beeping noises. The game play was crude and simple, but it still worked. A big downfall is once a charater is defeated, they may NEVER come back. So it gets really frustrating that i have to keep repeating the chapter over and over again to finally win the battle. Another noticable fault is the fact that you can't go back to redo battles. There are also no random battles either. This makes it extremely difficult to spread experience throughout your charaters. The story was about a plains dweller girl named Lyndis (or Lyn). You meet her in the very beginning and your party expands very rapidly throughout the game. You play as a tactician and tell you r units what to do. Apparently, Lyn is heir to her kingdom called Rikea, but her greatuncle will do anything do get the king dom for himself. Each battle is a new chapter, and its gameover if one of your lords are defeated (Eliwood, Lyn, and Hector).
Graphics 3.0
Sound 2.5
Gameplay 2.5
Fun Factor 2.0
Overall, if you're going to get a tactical strategy game, I'd suggest Final Fantasy Tactics Advance or one of the Advance Wars games. Don't be lured by the cool name or the awesome reputation it has earned. Fire Emblem is definitely not a good choice for the holidays.


The Best NonRPG Game There Is!   March 30, 2004
Tim8729 (Fire Emblem Fan Club)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

This game is the bomb because of its difference to other games. Below show my overall rating of the game.

Graphics 8/10-I only gave it ten because a lot of the enemies look the same as some of your own team. Only some of your team (with the exception of your lords)look different than enemies, such as theifs/assasins.

Storyline 10/10-The storyline was original not like some other games where you have 5 or 6 levels with barely any storyline and the objective for each level is "Beat the boss" (rolls eyes and sighes)In this game you have 31 chapters I believe and each one plays a role in the game.

Gameplay 10/10- The game is intresting to play but not like some games such as "Megaman Zero" and "The Hobbit" that are easy to beat in a few hours. This game is hard hard hard!!!!!!! I have had this game for 1 month and i am still on chapter 26x (I am only allowed to play on the weekends)

Characters 10/10-The characters all have different looks if not on the battlefield. The characters can die and by the time they do you are so attached to them you restart the chapter.

Music 7/10-There is music for different things but only like 10 tracks are used most of the time so the music is pretty repetitive. Even so the music is good so that makes up for it.

I hope this review helped you decided whether or not to buy the AWASOME!!!AWASOME!!!AWASOME!!! game called ~~~Fire Emblem~~~ (^_^)