Fire Emblem Review

The GBA has been blessed recently with a wide assortment of strategy titles, such as Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Advance Wars, Advance Wars 2, and Tactics Ogre. Fire Emblem is the newest in this list of great strategy games, and aims to please just as much, if not more, than the other titles of the genre that have been released.

Fire Emblem comes straight from the makers of the Advance War series and as such, many people who have played the Advance Wars games would instantly notice a similarity. Fire Emblem is very much similar in the basics of the game. You move each of your units over different terrain and engage enemy units in one-on-one fights. There are, of course, more similarities to these games, but it is unnecessary to list all of them; but it is needless to say that if you have played the Advance War games you would definitely have an edge on the competition.

Fire Emblem has some of the best graphics for a strategy game that I have seen for the GBA. Though there is one spot on Fire Emblem’s near perfect graphics. The over map and the sprites that are on it are the only things that do not look that good. Besides that, the graphics of the game are great with well drawn characters and good battle animations.

One of the more unique features that definitely is nothing like Advance Wars, is the fact that when one of your units dies he/she is gone for the rest of the game. The characters will show up in the storyline to help things progress, but they will usually comment on how badly injured and how they are unable to fight anymore. The only time that it is safe to lose some units during the first ten levels, is in the tutorial levels. This of course for most people will make you want to try hard to keep your units. The AI in Fire Emblem does not make this an easy job for you, as it punishes you every mistake you make. When you get to the more difficult levels of the game you will be playing through them over and over again, sometimes just to keep all of your units alive.

It is needless to say that Fire Emblem is great game and probably the best GBA strategy game that I have played. Fire Emblem’s story is engaging and helps carry you through the various chapters you go through. The makers can also congratulate themselves on making the AI, which is one of the things that make this game so great. With all things considered, I really think that Fire Emblem is a great game and that anyone who likes RPG’s or strategy games should purchase it.