This review originally went live in 2015, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack GBA library.
Before Fire Emblem: Awakening kicked off 2013 (the Year of Luigi, you'll recall) with a bang, there was a great deal of concern at Nintendo regarding its future viability as a franchise. Sales were at an all-time low, and series producer Hitoshi Yamagami was given an ultimatum: at least 250,000 copies of the latest entry needed to be sold in order to ensure the franchise had a future. Of course, we know now that the 3DS masterpiece went on to sell more copies in the US than any other series entry at the time, bringing the game to a bigger audience than ever before and cementing the Fire Emblem brand's value.
Many newcomers drawn to Awakening's brilliant take on the strategy RPG genre were eager to familiarise themselves with earlier entries via Virtual Console, including Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (which also appeared on 3DS via the Ambassador Program) and the series' first Western entry from 2003, Fire Emblem.
It's worth explaining that this entry — which in Japan bears the translated title Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade but was dubbed simply 'Fire Emblem' as the series' introduction in the West — is the franchise's seventh title and a direct prequel to the previous game, Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, which introduced series favourite Roy and has never received an official Western release. For what it's worth, the fact that there were six previous titles in the franchise certainly shows: Fire Emblem is a masterfully designed SRPG with tight gameplay, impressive graphics, and a colourful cast that helps the adventure stay fresh throughout.
The structure smartly allows new players to quickly pick up genre basics while also establishing the foundation of the narrative. While there is an enormous cast of characters to recruit and eventually use in battle, there are three major players whose stories are told across the sprawling chronicle: Lyndis, the granddaughter of a lord who is surprised to find herself next in line to take the throne; Eliwood, a noble who joins Lyn's quest to find her grandfather; and Hector, Eliwood's best friend and frequent sparring partner.
The game splits up the first playthrough into two sections: the first, smaller section introduces Lyn's quest to meet her grandfather (and a subsequent battle for the throne with her maligned great-uncle), while the second concerns Eliwood and Hector as they chase down the nefarious Black Fang group and attempt to unravel their sinister plot. After you've completed the main campaign once you can then play the latter half of the tale from Hector's point of view, adding extra challenge and a good handful of exclusive chapters.
Pacing any role-playing game can be a challenge, especially when there are as many things to learn as there are in Fire Emblem. However, the aforementioned structure does a lot to ease the pain for those who want to jump in but are intimidated by some of its harsher aspects (permanent character death, anyone?). In each of Lyn's initial chapters, the game introduces a different handful of concepts and ingeniously matches it up with story events and character introductions that are currently going on. For example, in the first chapter, a humorous pair of knights help you fend off bandits while also teaching you about the weapons triangle; in the fourth, a mercenary desperate to make money for his injured wife can be swayed to join your party, illustrating the process of recruiting enemy units.
For all its ingenuity, though, there's likely to be a certain element of frustration early on for players who are familiar with strategy RPGs. The pacing of combat is deliberate, to say the least, and the dialogue abounds with explanation and exposition, but since each successive chapter builds on previous concepts while simultaneously focusing on new elements, there's a definite increase in difficulty and required strategy that keeps things from getting too bogged down.
Once you've completed Lyn's tale, Fire Emblem really hits its stride. It may not have revolutionised the genre, but it certainly mastered its elements in a way which would make most developers nowadays — let alone those made in 2003 — green with envy. Like many strategy RPGs, the gameplay boils down to grid-based combat. Playing as the party's hired tactician, you and the enemy will take turns using your knowledge of your party, the terrain, and each other's weaknesses to gain the upper hand. To bolster your strategic choices, you'll have access to a wide variety of unit classes, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. For example, cavaliers have access to both swords and shields, but only so-so combat ability, while pegasus knights can travel across any terrain but are extremely vulnerable to projectile attacks from archers.
There are over 30 classes to master, but only a limited number of troops can enter battle; finding the right combination of characters, and then using their specific advantages successfully in battle, is no small feat. As you might imagine, the game only gets more complex as it goes on, with more characters joining and enemy AI becoming increasingly relentless. It's incredibly gratifying to complete some of the later, harder missions, and the addition of both Hector's story and a Hard Mode for those who complete the main story is a fantastic reward that will help you test your strategy-building skills even more. This is a very tight SRPG, and the robust campaign will keep you busy for easily 20 hours (significantly more if you elect to try the game's additional modes). There's a good deal of replay value, too, since you'll likely want to go back to earlier missions and put your newfound expertise to use.
For a game that has to rely on rather small sprites to represent its characters and environments on screen, Fire Emblem manages to cram a lot of detail into each element. You'll have no trouble discerning who's who in the midst of battle, and the environments — while not exactly pretty — are certainly constructed and arranged well. On top of that, there are nice little touches that you might take for granted, like the zoomed-in view of two combatants when one chooses to attack another (lovingly recreated as Marth's Final Smash in Super Smash Bros. Brawl). The soundtrack has a good deal to offer, too, providing pleasingly catchy background noise for your epic war. Smash Bros. enthusiasts who haven't taken the plunge into the franchise yet will particularly enjoy the GBA version of Together, We Ride.
Conclusion
Fire Emblem is a tight, finely-tuned strategy RPG that is not to be missed by any self-respecting genre enthusiast. Thankfully, they're not the only ones invited to join this party, as more casual role-playing fans can get in on the action thanks to a brilliantly-designed tutorial section and the game's overall fantastic interface. A catchy soundtrack and nicely detailed graphics round out the impressive package with significant replay value. If you haven't experienced Intelligent Systems' first strategic strike in the West, now's the time to do so. If you have, well, now's as good a time as any to experience it again — but we don't need to tell you that, do we?
Comments 49
The best one imo
The one that introduced me to this serie. A great memory.
This is Fire Emblem at its purest and most accessible in my opinion.
It's not old and clunky like the NES games.
It's not full of unusual mechanics and brutal difficulty like the SNES games
It's not full of extraneous systems and grinding and romance/lifesim kinda systems like the 3DS and Switch games.
The GBA Fire Emblem games - all three of them - are at the perfect midpoint of the series, where things became accessible and playable, but not overly bloated with additional features and bells and whistles.
They are definitely worth playing.
(btw i'm not hating on the rest of the series - i also love three houses)
It's a decent Fire Emblem game and a particularly good first entry for anyone wanting to get into the series but it suffers for series veterans and those looking for a repeat playthrough since it forces you to play through Lyn's long winded tutorial campaign and you don't even unlock the toughest difficulty level until you've played through the full game two times.
Playing this on a fresh save just isn't an option for me.
"Not exactly the prettiest entry, but what do you expect?"
I happen to love the pixel art style and personally think this is the best looking game in the series. Sure it's not HD or anything but this art style and all just oozes Fire Emblem and I love it. Also why is this even there in the first place, why not place that in every retro game review as a point against the game lol.
Here’s to hoping they add in sacred stones.
currently on chapter 6 and yes this game is still really good I enjoyed Fire Emblem GBA when it first released and still enjoying it now
Not the prettiest? Perhaps, but you can’t beat the animations here. All the 3D ones we have and they all come second to this. Engage came real close, but just not enough.
This was a great introduction to Fire Emblem. I really hope we get an FE6 translation, sucks that Roy is still a Japan-exclusive character
And here I am still waiting on a Fire Emblem Advance Remake just like they did Advance Wars 1+2.
Up to this day it is still my favourite Fire Emblem game, simply a masterpiece.
It’s a fair enough score. It’s fine to be very nostalgic about this game especially if you are not a fan of the post Awakening games, but even this game was far from perfect objectively speaking. In some ways it’s hard to go back due to lack of QoL that is present in the more modern entires.
Perma death off!
@Axecon Yeah, I wouldn't count on an official translation release. This would had been Nintendo's opportunity to translate Binding Blade for NSO members, but they went NOPE here's your single FE game while we drop the Japan exclusive to our native audience.
Technically, Roy is in FE7 shown in the epilogue having a sprite and dialog. Same for Lilina, so he's not Japan-only as many people have overlooked.
I would strongly disagree with it not being the prettiest, imo all 3 GBA Fire Emblem games have the most appealing graphical design in the series. Not to mention the animations are still amazing, better than any of the modern games. For me only Engage has even come close to matching that level of dynamic animation quality.
@SwagaliciousJohnson Personally, I really do not want FE6 and FE7 to be in the same remake. A double remake would mean less resources for each game individually. Advanced Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp cut corners to include both games, one example is the partial voice acting; I feel like if it was a remake of the first game, they'd gone full voice acting. FE3 Mystery of the Emblem cut out characters and maps to include both Book 1 and 2. So that's why I fear of double pack theoretical releases, just because the stories intertwine doesn't mean they should be remade together regarding FE. One entry is a full fledged game on its own.
Another thing, I do not look forward to how they would explain all of the plotholes that FE7 created for the game that is the prequel to. Potential for FE7 pairings is also something that I really struggle to see working well in practice. I don't want FE6's characters and canon to be muddied up for vain fanservice.
@EarthboundBenjy I haven't liked FE since the GBA games really, I do not enjoy all the extraneous crap. If a new Advance Wars arrives, it better not add that stuff.
@Yosher
"may be a bit '2D' for some" 😆
i just read the conclusion section and skip the joys/cons, they tend to make me mad lol.
CON#1 "Not exactly the prettiest entry, but what do you expect?"
most "pretty" modern games age worse than these pixel perfect GBA games, and they are aging all the time.
it grosses me out that this site (and almost every games publication ever) constantly conflates "pretty" with "modern."
if that is your framing, then you have no objectivity (or arguably, taste) and no business reviewing old games, or really even new games.
i hate to sound harsh, but "new = pretty" is a really immature take on an artform. NFTs are not van gogh, even though they are more hi tech, newer, and shinier. 👍 thanks for hearing me out.
PS - so i dont triple post: just want to point out that these screen shots seem to be drawn from a hat 😂 this game is 90% grids and menus, where are they?
Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn remaster/remake please.. I love Micaiah.
Now make Lyn a playable character in the next Smash game and I’ll be really happy.
I'm just bad at games (especially older ones) so I won't be playing this despite me wanting to. My first FE was Engage (Loved it) Though I technically bought 3 houses first and it's still in the backlog despite picking it up on release (heh everything is fine)
Though this game looks nice to me. How you feel about a game depends when you grew up/your first experiences with games I I think, and it's not an opinion that can be changed, despite people being vocal about it. (Maybe I'm way off base IDK)
I know I have soft spots for modern GB style games (A vast future and squidlit) because of my time with RBY Pokemon as well as GBA games (Minish Cap and games like this) Though I also adore blocky N64 graphics. They are completely different styles, have aged differently (GBA being the best at being long in the tooth IMO) but I love them all the same because that was my childhood, and you can't compete with nostalgia.
If you think this is punishing, boot up the Japanese GBA app and play Binding Blade. I started that one first so I'll complete it then move on to Blazing Blade. At least we have a pseudo Turnwheel with rewind 😂
I recently replayed this on Wii U and it holds up very well. It's a true Fire Emblem classic and just as good as I remember it.
It's a great game aside from the slightly condescending tutorial. Love the classic crit animations in all the GBA FE games.
Classic, a game I can always go back to.
@-wc-
Agreed, but it's so ingrained in the discourse I just despair. And it's not just graphics, it's everything.
There are only two values systems, two poles: nostalgia or accepting modern market trends.
We could do the hard work of analyzing games and figuring out what they mean and what kind of experience they provide, whether it's through graphics or gameplay. But no, let's point out the obvious and note that a 20-year-old game is 20 years old. That's what consumers want, surely. And that's where the conversation is stuck right now.
Not a series I'm familiar with, the closest thing I've played is probably Shining Force 2 on Genesis. Now seems a good a time as any to give it a go.
@-wc- Additionally, those NSO screenshots are taken in the early maps of Lyn mode, the tutorial portion of the game.
@TheBigK True that. Also, play the Japanese version of this entry. Localization thought the game may be too hard for us western players, so they changed the effectiveness of weapons like Armourslayers, Halberds and the like from 3x to 2x damage, severely gutting those weapons, nerfing Bow class units and making Flyers even better than they normally are... If you want a rise in difficulty and know Japanese, play the Japanese version 😅.
The only real way to experience modern Fire Emblem properly is Hard / Classic anyway. Easier settings literally make the game worse for the player. Fire Emblem without stakes would be a snoozefest.
"Smash Bros. enthusiasts who haven't taken the plunge into the franchise yet will particularly enjoy the GBA version of Together, We Ride."
Ummm... you linked the SiIvaGunner version. Try again lmao
Those Serra supports again. Here we go!
Prior to this game I was aware of the series, but the moment I heard it was finally coming West, I was all over this game. A friend of mine was big on Shining Force years before and I told him he simply has to try Fire Emblem-- He's been smitten with it ever since.
@Iconoclysm my friend, I come with good news; there was recently an advance wars 1&2 remake released and it’s a great play. Enjoy
Thought I had played this one, but on reading the review realised I was thinking of Sacred Stones. Am now very excited to play this game for the first time .
The series has strayed too far away from Awakening. In Engage you don't really care if a grand majority of the characters die. There aren't any really emotional stakes, bonding has become a chore because it doesn't really mean much in the game other than Stat boots. The only thing that really pushes you use the time crystal for is if someone strong dies.
I'm not sure how different this one is from Engage or Awakening but I want to play it and see.
Had so much fun, nice round story.... Turned out that was just the tutorial!! 😂❤️
@Kiliomp A lot of prior Fire Emblem fans were complaining about Awakening having too much character interaction, I think Engage has a good balance. I would prefer if it had a smaller cast of characters though.
@kid_keo I’m aware, that’s why I brought it up
Little did I know, I was at GameStop, buying random game boy advance games that looked cool... With my Nintendo DS... I also had game boy micro...
I picked up two games that day. I had never heard of either one of them. Fire emblem and Castlevania aria of sorrow.
Little did I know of the gems I went home with that day!
This is my first fire emblem game, I had no idea what I was getting into when buying it, and this is one of the best games I have ever played in my life. You get so involved, so emotionally invested in all of your peeps. The soundtrack is banging. This has some of the best pixel work I have ever seen in any game.
Truly wish they would just make new fire emblem games just like this. No fluff. Maybe some quality of life stuff like a home base where you could train... But this art style is the f****** pinnacle of gaming.
I truly truly wish they would release at least some sideline of fire emblem games that look like this.
The animations, the battle animations... F****** chef's kiss!! And the critical animations?? Good Lord! The pixel art during cutscenes, ALL GORGEOUS!
Everything, this game is a 10 out of 10!
One of my favourite Fire Emblem games! Characters, story and music were all on point. There was a good balance in the gameplay, not too simple nor complicated. It may not be my absolute favourite, but it's hard to point out any obvious flaws in this entry. I should definitely replay Blazing Blade at some point. Engage tried to do something similar to the four fangs and Nino with the ''four hounds'' but failed rather miserably. Engage copied way too much homework from older games and tried to sell it with a vibrant new coat of paint. If someone who never played a Fire Emblem game asked me where to start, I'd probably recommend Blazing Blade over any of the newer games.
I quit when I died from literally the first turn I did once the tutorial ended. It didn't teach you particularly well. Played Final Fantasy Tactics a few days later, what a blast that was. And I'm never looking back to Fire Emblem.
@Iconoclysm sorry I misunderstood. I thought you weren’t aware a remake had come out period but you were implying if a sequel to that occurred. Oh well, was just excited to be excited for you 🥲😅
@msipanda Agreed. I am playing through this now on NSO and am just amazed by the pixel art in some of the cutscenes, and how lively the battle animations are. I haven't played the modern FE games, but am really enjoying this one!
Ahhh.... perfection. Looks old? None of that please, Nintendo life. This is how games should look. Pixel art is timeless imo.
@Thirteen1355
More fool you, perhaps SRPGs are not for you.
@Rosona Just a game teaching you the wrong things. Horrid game design.
On my 2nd playthrough and on ch.27. My 2nd favorite game only to Chrono Trigger.
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