OK, going to post yet again for today! And it's something cool: a game review. Enjoy.
Review:
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA)
OK, before I start, you should know that I didn't play the first FE at all. So, I'm new to the series... but that's OK.
Anyway, this is a turn-based strategy game, but it differs from others in the genre in an important way: your force has a commander, and they actually fight on the battlefield. If they are destroyed, the game is over. Also, rather than an infinite supply of units purchased with your massive stock of funds, you get a party of vassals who must be trained and used with care - if they die, you lose them for good.
Now, you would expect a complex system because you have only a few characters, and you'd be mostly right. Each character has their own stats, and also their own set of which weapons they can use. These are dictated by their class. Therefore, you only have a certain number of each general group: a few archers, a few knights, a few mages, etc. But as they fight, they gain EXP, which in turn causes them to level. The cap is 20; most characters can class change at half that, with the right item. Changing classes can do a number of things, from adding new skills like Silence (which grants occasional guaranteed one-shot kills); to allowing a character to use new types of weapons; to giving them a mount to increase their movement distance.
There is a diverse set of weapons in the game: the physical set includes swords, lances, axes, and bows; the magical set is anima (elemental) magic, dark, light, and then staves. Aside from bows and staves, the three weapons in each group are related to each other by the weapon triangle and the Trinity of Magic, which give each of the six exactly one weakness, and one strength. But there are special weapons that can turn the triangle on their head.
Bosses are bosses for a reason, right? They're meant to not get hit so often, and to take less damage. Aside from their already high stats, FE: TSS addresses this by dropping them on a throne or gate, which boosts their defense by three, and gives them an extra 30% chance to dodge your attacks. This makes boss battles actually MEAN something, rather than everything else that just dies when out of HP.
The other thing is, math makes a difference here. Everything is based on mathematical equations, and revolves around a random number generator. But as a general rule, hit ratio is your accuracy, minus any weight penalties for using too large a weapon, plus or minus the advantage or disadvantage from the triangle or Trinity, plus or minus the larger boost or loss from weapons with special advantages (like Eirika's Rapier is especially strong against knights), minus the enemy's Avoid, minus the enemy's terrain bonus. (Get all that? You'll start with only two or three of these, then work up to the whole scenario.) You can also score a critical hit for 3x damage, and attack two or four times in the same strike, but that comes later.
Graphically, this is a great game. Every character has a detailed sprite, a good attack animation, and a cool critical hit animation. (Check out the anims for the Swordmaster's critical, the Warrior's critical, and for the Assassin's Silence. They're neat to watch.) All the areas are detailed, and effects like teleportation and moving water look good.
The sound is pretty good, but a bit repetetive. The battle music is generally the same, barring bosses and battles that don't enter the battle screen. But most levels have their own unique music, and the music for when there's just one enemy left adds to the feeling that there is hope for a better future. Listen to this one with stereo sound.
Got friends? Link up to play against buddies who have FE: TSS in the Link Arena, where characters from your saved files can duke it out without having to worry about stuff like weapon durability - or items or support, as your only choices to make are who to attack with, who to attack, and what weapon to use. Good luck!
All in all, you'll find that Fire Emblem is a great play that can keep the good times rolling for hours on end. Remember to bring (or charge) batteries for this one.
Neo's rating:
9.5/10
+ Deep character system
+ Finally, your fighters have NAMES!
+ Good sound, music, and graphics
- Can't play Link Arena over DS
