The first oversees interation of the memorable series is also one of its finest outings
GRAPHICS:
Fire Emblem's graphics are adequate for the GBA. It has colorfull backgrounds, detailed character models and attacks look pretty nice. There is nothing to complain here. 5/5
SOUND:
The music in the game is extremely good. The tunes are incedibly epic, fitting really well on the levels, specially the main theme, which is just awesome and highly memorable. If there is a negative point here is that there is no voice acting here, as a game as text heavy as this one, it kind of hurts. 5/5
STORY:
The game tells the story of a war between the many counties of Elibe and the Black Fang, an institution corupted by the evil Nergal, who wants to get the power of the dragons to control the world.
This is the most basic premise of the story, since I myself have never payed attention to it, but that is not to say that it is not good. It benefits from strong character development, interesting plot story and overall satisfactory ending. It is just that there is not much to compel you into it, since the gameplay is so strong you justs want to get into it.
The game is actually a prequel to the last game release in Japan, Fuuin no Tsurugi, which stared Roy, the son of this game's protagonist Eliwood. There are many links between the two games, but since this game is a prequel, you didn't have to play the previous game in order to understant this game's storyline.
Regardless, those who pay attention to it will not be disapointed. 4/5
GAMEPLAY:
The game is a turn based RPG. You control an army of characters of diverse classes, such as swordsman and mages, to overcome the enemy's army. It is a system proven effective on the whole world by this game.
Considering this is the first game in the series to be released outside of Japan, the first thing that comes into the mind of anyone are its similarities to Advanced Wars, another popular series on the GBA. You move your character on grids, and have the option to just stand in front of him so this initiate the combat or attack them yourself. Besides that, you can also use items and trade them between others. It is very simple to just pick up and play.
Charaters, like I said before, come in many flavors. You can create a team with many magic users, with many physical attackers or make something balanced. It is up to you, and how you can make your party is a big plus of the game, since you can play the game many times and end up with different results all the time. You can use things such as light magic, axes, staves for healling, dark magic and others, and they are all cool on their own.
Winning a battle means that you have to reach a certain goal, such as not lose a certain character or kill all the other enemies. It has a nice variety, and it never becomes stale. It is also a pretty huge game, spawning more that 20 hours of play time, and an engrossing multiplayer, where you can put your characters against your friend's give the game more longevity, though you will have to find someone else with the game. Side stories between two characters, known as supports, also enhance the replay value of the game, since they can be quite interesting and require multiply playthoughs to be done.
There is not much more to say, since this is a rather simple game to play, though its simplicity doesn't imply something unfun or unawesome.
5/5
OVERALL:
Fire Emblem 7 is one of the best outing of the series, and one any strategist cannot miss.
The good:
-Amazing, highly addictive gameplay
-Huge amounts of replay value
-Sounds and music are quite nice
-Quite a bit of character devolopment
-Nice balance in the difficulty
The bad:
-Nothing makes you want to follow the story
-Lack of voice acting is one to blame