Old Review: Fire Emblem- The Sacred Stones (GBA)

My Review- Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA)

I have a confession to make- up until now, I had never played a Fire Emblem game. The Fire Emblem series is noteworthy in that they were the very first Strategy RPGs, although we only recently started seeing localizations of the games. The Sacred Stones is only the second game released in the US, despite being the 8th in the series. As my introduction to the series, how does it fare?

STORY

As is typical for the genre, Fire Emblem’s story is steeped in the political and military situation between multiple kingdoms. When the kingdom of Renais is attacked by their former ally, the Grado Empire, Renais’s prince Ephraim goes to fight the invaders, but goes missing. His sister, Eirika, manages to escape Ranais with the aid of a loyal knight, and attempts to gain the support of other nations while attempting to find her brother. Along the way, Eirika and Ephraim discover that the Empire is attempting to destroy the Sacred Stones that protect the land from a malevolent demon sealed away long ago.

Sacred Stones won’t win any awards for originality. It’s story is filled with clichés. However, despite this, the simple story is very well told, and the characters, despite their generic roles, are quite endearing. One staple of the Fire Emblem franchise is that the death of a character in battle means that they are lost forever, and because every unit in your army is a fully fleshed out character, you quickly grow attached to them, and losing them can be a saddening experience. I cannot tell you how many times I replayed a difficult mission so that a character could live to fight another day. Sacred Stones is unoriginal, but it’s tale has enough heart to be engaging.

GAMEPLAY

Fire Emblem sort of serves as a template upon which the SRPG genre is founded. Battles are fought turn by turn from an overhead perspective- during the players turn, all of their units can be moved. When they end their turn, the phase shifts to the enemy AI. When two units are within range of each other, they can battle each other. Battles have no direct input from the player other than what weapon is used- before battle, a series of statistics show the expected outcome of the fight, but other factors such as a lucky critical hit can change those. Most units need to be right next to a unit to attack it, but archers and other ranged units can be a space or two away. It is also important to consider terrain, as some units may have a harder time moving on certain types of terrain. Weapons adhere to a strict rock-paper scissors system which can drastically alter the course of a fight- Lances beat swords, which beat axes, which beat lances. Weapons break after a certain number of uses, but are easily replaced. Characters gain experience and level up, just like in a normal RPG, with a level cap of 20. To make certain characters even stronger, some characters can develop relationships with one another the longer they fight side-by-side in battle. It’s an interesting system, and if you’re invested in the story, these character moments provide some interesting dialogue in addition to gameplay benefits.

Sacred Stones usually provides a fair challenge level. If one of your units dies in battle, they permanently perish, adding an additional layer of tension. Often, if a unit dies, it is your fault for positioning them incorrectly. The enemy AI is sadistically unforgiving, taking advantage of the slightest mistake, especially later in the game. However, some units (particularly Seth) are ridiculously overpowered, allowing a player to rely on them for most fights.

Sacred Stones’ gameplay is addictive and fun, simple enough to learn but with plenty of depth. A slightly uneven difficulty balance won’t hinder a player’s enjoyment of the game.

PRESENTATION

For a Game Boy Advance game, Sacred Stones looks very good. The sprites during battle, in particular, are lively and well-animated. Each unit looks distinctive, adding to their already in-depth character. Cutscenes are performed using a basic style of ‘two animated faces on opposite sides of the screen’, which unfortunately don’t have any animations other than blinking. Musically, the game is pretty average. The music isn’t bad, but you probably won’t remember any of it.

CONCLUSION

Fire Emblem- The Sacred Stones is a perfect example of a game that is more than the sum of its parts. On their own, the story is clichéd if well done, and the presentation isn’t exceptional, but combined with engaging and challenging gameplay, The Sacred Stones becomes a very worthwhile experience. The game simply has no serious flaws, despite some unoriginal elements. If nothing else, this game puts the Fire Emblem series on my radar.

SCORE- A-