N-Philes

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

Posted by Matt Crowl.

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is the eighth installment in the long-running Japanese Fire Emblem series. However, this is only the second title to reach the States (2003's Fire Emblem on GBA being the first). This is all somewhat superficial information, because Sacred Stones carries its own self-contained story, cast of characters, and an optional tutorial for beginners. Still, this is the most refined version of the series and fans of the previous Fire Emblem will find a lot to love here: A memorable story that competes with the previous game, a deep cast of colorful characters, a number of gameplay tweaks, and a lengthy, rewarding campaign mode are all densely packed into this GBA cartridge. On the other hand, folks who have already played the Fire Emblem may find it slow to get into. This is because the game sports most of the same animation, sound effects, and basic gameplay as the last. However, once you get sucked back into the mix, you'll be considering whether this game has a better cast and story than its predecessor.

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stone is a turn-base strategy game with traditional RPG stat-building elements. In other words, it is somewhat similar to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, except with the faster, more hectic gameplay of Advance Wars. The basic concept of a battle is; each side (normally your group, the enemy, and sometimes a separate group of allies) takes turns moving their forces across a 2-D gridded plane, while attacking enemies that are in range. However, there are plenty of other elements to consider, which add a lot of depth to the game. Variations in terrain, for example, can affect your characters' accuracy, defense, movement, and sight; depending on whether they're wide-open on the plains, laying low in the woods, or high atop a mountain. Weather, is another natural factor in the game. Fog hides units from the opposing sides, while snow and rain decrease the movement range of your troops.

Your main arsenal of melee weapons consists of lances, swords, and axes. Swords are best against axes, axes are best against lances, and lances are best against swords, essentially following the "rock-paper-scissors" ordeal. Magic attacks follow a similar concept as well. It is worth noting that there is no advantage to attacking your opponent from different sides like in Final Fantasy Tactics.

Also more like Advance Wars than Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, the game does not feel too overwhelming. Soon after the tutorial, many will feel right at home and begin customizing their small army's inventory or fighting on multiple fronts with ease. Nevertheless, while the game play is very user-friendly, the game won't take it easy on you.

The game's AI can be a formidable and intelligent foe. It will most definitely keep you on your toes, but more so because of something the series is rather notorious for: once a character dies, they're gone for good. There is no such thing as a revival potion, so if a character's HP is reduced to zero, say goodbye. The game even goes so far as auto-saving every turn, in order to prevent you from evading death. Therefore, if this does happen you can either restart the entire mission or accept the loss as a necessary sacrifice.

The turn-based missions are connected by an intricate, carefully woven story that feels familiar in theme to the last Fire Emblem. Nonetheless, Sacred Stones takes place on a completely different continent called, Magvel. War breaks out across this once peaceful continent when the kingdom of Renais is suddenly overtaken by its own ally nation, Grado. The story follows two siblings who are the royal heirs to Renais, and are among some of the few survivors of the cold-blooded invasion. The two siblings, Eirika and Ephraim, head on a crusade to restore their broken county and uncover the reason behind Grado's betrayal. The game flows in a simple format of mission-cinematic-mission, which works effectively. Just as in the old days of gaming, the cinematics are treated like a reward for a successful completion of a mission.

Surprisingly, the dialogue and character development is done very well for a handheld game. Major kudos goes out to the individuals who took the extra effort in translation and writing, because it really paid off. A fair warning, however, the game contains a ton of dialogue. All of the dozens of unique character that join your party have their own personality and background. Unlike most other games of this nature, there are no nameless, expendable grunts. Almost all the characters have their own unique purpose and strength to bring to the table.

During the beginning of the game, your group will start out small with only two characters: Princess Erikia and General Seth. Seth, a lance and sword-wielding paladin, will be your front line juggernaut, kicking butt on your behalf for at least half of the game. Relatively early on, your duo will grow into a small army comprised of knights from other friendly kingdoms, rescued locals, and even persuaded soldiers of Grado.

The game features over sixteen base classes such as; ranged archers, on-foot tank-like knights, swift cavaliers, flying Pegasus knights, dual axe-wielding pirates, and magic-wielding mages... to name a few. Once one of these units reaches level ten in growth and you are carrying the right item (a crest, medallion, etc), they can upgrade to a stronger, more advanced class. For example: Franz, one of your first cavaliers, can choose between becoming a fast Paladin or the slow, but stronger and more versatile, Great Knight. In addition to the new branching classes are the trainee classes. These characters start out very weak, but have a broader range of class choices down the road and if taken the extra time, can become some of the strongest units.

Fire Emblem games, in the past, have made it fairly hard to level up, because the games would only move from mission to mission. In Sacred Stones, that is no longer the case. Most likely thanks to the feedback from fans, there is now an open overworld map. So, in between missions, at your leisure, you can fight new groups of monsters that appear in previous battlegrounds and shop for equipment at certain cities.

Aside from the customary weapon-equipping and experience-gaining found in the majority of RPGs, the Fire Emblem series adds another way to improve your characters' stats through something called ‘supports.' Supports occur when two certain characters are side by side through a number of turns. It's important for players to remember that selecting the support option has some real advantages. Once communication occurs between two characters, a bond is formed that strengthens each character's stats when they fight together. This can be done only five times per character, so choose wisely.

With a wide range of likeable characters and many ways to develop them as you see fit, the inability to revitalized characters becomes a prominent feature. Any of them can live or die based on your decision and mistakes (although Eirka or Ephraim dying will result in a game over), affecting the story in the end. Although this can be frustrating to some, it does make the game feel very open-ended.

Graphically, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones looks great, and more polished then recent installments. While the cinematics consist of talking heads and text against a nicely done background, it works unexpectedly well to deliver the story. Thanks to the wonderful artwork for each of the characters, blended with the clever dialogue, the personalities of the characters are quickly defined once you meet them. Yet, the battle animations are what really steal the graphical show in Fire Emblem. They are all carefully detailed and exciting to watch for the first time.

As far as sound goes, it is exceptionally high quality for a GBA game. Even sounds of footsteps and such really get the job done. Moreover, the sound effects in battles work well to heighten tension and add realism to the attacks. The quality of the epic musical score is a pleasant surprise coming from the GBA speaker.

Extras like a sound room, link area (you can take the team you've trained into battle, and pit them against three of your friends), and the ability to continue playing after you have beaten the campaign mode really add up to some solid replay value.

This game gets an N-Philes score of A-.

This is easily one of the finest and most refined GBA games to date (maybe one of the last, too). It contains a narrative that takes the audience seriously (yet provides good comic relief) and a superb cast of characters. Nice graphics, in addition to a solid musical presentation, are features that compliment the outstanding gameplay. This game is most definitely worth every penny. provided you have the time to play it. There is a great deal to see and do in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.

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