This is the seventh game in the Fire Emblem series, which serves as a prequel of Fire Emblem: Sealed Sword (unreleased in the USA), where Roy is the main character. In this game, Roy's father, Eliwood is the main character along with two more: Lyn and Hector. Roy is remembered for being playable in Super Smash Bros Melee, while Lyn appears as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. As a strategic game, Fire Emblem is like a combination of chess, checkers, and rock paper scissors.
Plot. A long time ago, man and dragon lived in peace and harmony, until the two races went to war against each other. This war was known as "The Scouring". Upon the defeat of the dragons, they were banished, and humans became the sole dominant species. 979 years later, a tactician is found by a girl named Lyn, from the plains of Sacae. They begin a journey with new friends in order to restore her throne against the tyrannical Lundgren. On the other hand, Eliwood and his friend Hector begin a journey to search for Eliwood's father, who was missing for some time. Along with them are two siblings with special powers, Nils and Ninian, who are pursued by a criminal organization known as the Black Fang. Now, the three heroes and their companions must fight together against an evil that plans to repeat the war between man and dragon.
However, players must be careful on how they plan their moves, because when an ally dies, he/she will never come back for the rest of the game, but in Lyn's storyline, they will just retire. If the hero or heroine of the game is killed, the game is over. It reminds players to be mindful of their strategies whenever they lose a unit. Some new allies can be recruited throughout the storyline, and most usually by talking to them.
Concept. As a turn-based strategy RPG game, players guide the hero or heroine of the game that leads a platoon of 10 to 12 units throughout 30 different chapters in the story. They also take the role of a strategist named Mark (default name and default gender is Male), to help Lyn, Hector and Eliwood achieve their goals. Some chapters require to defend an area while surviving a wave of attacks, seizing the area, defeating a boss, or routing the enemy. Players can also make support bonuses with characters, raising their morale, skill, friendship, and bonds. After beating the game for the first time, they have the chance to play Hector's storyline.
Design. The game is seen through an eagle-eye perspective and characters are rendered in sprites. Battle sequences are seen whenever their is a fight between the players unit and the enemy's unit. Conversational sequences are seen with characters having facial expressions, however, there can be some manga-like sequences while characters converse. The game has a very deep design for an RPG game, which is extremely cool and well made.
Tips and Strategies. Players must know when and when not to fight, because every wrong move can lead them to their doom, and it's their own fault. The best way to promote characters is by training them up to level 20, so that way they are much more stronger. Each warrior with weapons has a weakness: swords beat axes, lances beat swords, and axes beat lances.
However, some weapons can be super effective against swords, lances, or axes. In terms of magic, light and dark are opposed, just like elemental magic and light. Aerial units such as Wyvern Lords and Pegasus Knights are weak against lightning magic and bows, which can kill them with one shot. Ballista are greater threats to Pegasus Knights and Wyvern Lords.
Rantings. Well, some units can be very weak in the beginning, like Florina for example. Though Florina becomes stronger the more she levels up, she is always getting hit twice by the enemy, which is bothersome. Also, what bothers me is the Fog of War, I really can't stand fighting in that area, because you never know what comes around. Another thing that bothers me, is that some units can only be recruited in Hector's storyline.
Good Aspects. This game has many great qualities, and I really love this game due to it's great gameplay, and profound storyline, something that some RPGs do not have. The music was really enjoyable to listen, and most of it was very epic. The fight theme in the game was remade in Brawl, which was a great addition. This game also has replay value as well. The best place to train your units is through the Colosseum in some chapters.
Legacy. With the popularity of Marth and Roy in Super Smash Bros Melee, Nintendo was prompted to release Fire Emblem overseas, and so they released Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword (released as Fire Emblem) in the United States, and the second game released was Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. This game was highly praised upon it's release, garnering positive reviews from game critics such as IGN, Morgan Webb and Adam Sessler, and even GameTrailers.
Overall. This game is really great to play, though not as respected as Final Fantasy, this game rocks. My final score for Fire Emblem is a 9 out of 10.