• 28May 07

  How Fire Emblem opened my eyes to last-gen gradeur.

   I went to Wal-Mart yesterday after an unsuccessful "raid" of sorts at my neighborhood used game stores.  I was looking for Advanced Wars DS or even Meteos, but the well was bone-dry.  Deciding not to leave the day with a full wallet and the same-old games, I decided to head for the Wal-Mart and check out the bargain bin. 

  Lo and behold, I found Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stoneswith an extra game for $15!  I would've bought the game without the extra; I'm especially fond of the Fire Emblem series, even though I had a very bad experience with my first FE years ago...but, that's better left for later. 

  For those of you unacquainted with the series, Fire Emblemis one of the most beloved Strategy-RPG series of the Land of the Rising Sun.  Developed by Intelligent Systems, the makers of Advanced Wars, the basic mechanics are a swords-and-sorcery premise added with a Advanced Wars inspired game mechanics of turn-based strategy.  The game can be best described as one part AW and two parts Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced; a turned-based Strat-RPG with a flat 100 experience points system and a harsh death system where when characters die, they're worm-food dead, dead-as-a-doorknob-dead, etc.  There are no phoenix downs or anything; once they're dead, they're gone for good.  This will make even the most casual of gamers into anal perfectionists, but it's an ingenious system, nonetheless; how much your characters mean to you as a part of your army will determine how much effort you'll put into saving him/her. 

  For the sake of room, I suggest to look up the series on Wikipedia. 

  Playing FE after a long time away from the series, I was reminded on why I like the sereis so; the mechanics are much more simple than FFTA, but the story draws you in and the wide roster of characters are dynamic instead of the 2D fodder seen in most RPG's.  The game engine is second-to-none; developed straight from one of the finest RPG developers in the world.  It's a wonder why no future installments have been ported over to the DS so far; the series has flown the GBA coup and roosted into consoles (the most recent, Path of Radience, was a Gamecube exclusive, and a Wii instalment is on the way).  I would enjoy to see a DS instalment soon, but unfortunately, it's all wishful thinking. 

  My point is this:  just because we have a new generation of consoles, it doesn't mean you should abandon completely your last-gen games.  If you have a Wii, pick up a copy of Skies of Arcadia: Legends, or find a copy of RE4 and prepared to be awe-struck; if you have a DS, go to your nearest used-game store and reunite yourself with some yesteryear games such as Metroid Zero Mission or Golden Sun.  Spend your summer doldrums curled up on the couch with an old favorite.  Expand your gaming horizons, and you'll widen your palette as well. 

  P.S:  if anybody is interested in a petition to Nintendo for a Fire Emblem DS seqel, please sound off; I have now idea where to even begin. 

  • Posted May 28, 2007 11:02 am PT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 4Aug 06

  Hello to all

  Hi.  I'm new to gamespot.  Why do I call myself wildcard9?  Because I'm always the ace in the pocket! 

  A little about myself; I'm a gamer and starving artist (writer to be exact).  My hobbies are gaming, writing, and reading.  I like FPS, RPGs, puzzle games, turn-based strategy, and fighting games.  Right now, I'm currently employed as my McDonald's official gopher.  I've been working there since late December and I gotta tell ya; socialism doesn't sound too bad!

  Good game, everybody!   

  • Posted Aug 4, 2006 2:46 pm PT
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