Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

Man, I forgot how demoralizing it is going through MGS2's VR Missions. I never completed them fully on my Essential Collection, but now I have to on my HD Collection, cuz that's the only thing preventing me from Platinuming the damn thing. There's so many of them..! Good thing I moved on to replay MGS3 and MGS4 (personal faves to play, as is Peace Walker) otherwise I'd be stuck in a bad lull before Raiden's game comes out next year (so long!). I get a feeling I still won't have all the VR done by the time Revengeance is out...

I've also decided that since I'm going through every interesting/big/favorite/recommended/acclaimed movie in existence using Netflix (there's quite a bit - I started last Fall and I'm only in 1955!), I can also rank certain series and whatevs that are relevant to my interests. Prolly do that next week, alternating between lists, because I like lists and ranking things! Makes me realize why I like certain aspects of something and whatnot.

Anyways, Turn-Based Strategy!

The start of a beautiful franchise.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is the enhanced remake of the original Fire Emblem that came out on the Famicom back in 1990 only in Japan. The series stayed Japan-only until a little Gamecube game called Super Smash Bros. Melee introduced International Nintendo fans to Marth and Roy, two characters that kept their Japanese voices and were from a game series few knew about, myself included. Roy himself hadn't even debuted in his own Fire Emblem game before Melee came out, basically being a promotion for their first Game Boy Advance game, and was the catalyst for Nintendo releasing Roy's prequel game as our Fire Emblem. However, because I'm doing this by release year and not by local regional order, I begin with Marth's debut game.

At its core, Fire Emblem is a turn-based role-playing game with a large amount of replay value and strategy, obviously. Despite being a remake of an NES game from 23 years ago, the game still holds up rather well as a Beginner's Fire Emblem. Granted, one doesn't need any prior knowledge to enjoy most Fire Emblems, Shadow Dragon is most definitely the most bare-bones of the series. It's not a real detriment, because it's still a decent game regardless, it's simply a byproduct of being a remake of the series' first title. As such, Shadow Dragon was enhanced with much of Fire Emblem's signature qualities.

Being the first, I'll assume you're a newcomer to the series and start from there.

I prefer button controls, but stylus is a nice option.

The setting of each Fire Emblem game usually rests on a continent with heavy influences of European Sword and Sorcery tropes with a hint of Japanese flair. The player plays the role of a Tactician (invisible in most games, Shadow Dragon included, though a few include the player as an actual Tactician unit) that controls an army of units to fulfill certain requirements through Chapters. Shadow Dragon has the player controlling Prince Marth, who must gather up an army to take back his stolen kingdom and defeat the eponymous Dark Dragon who wrecked havoc centuries before. Fire Emblem plots are typically full of political intrigue and are well-written, in part due to the colorful characters.

Which brings me to the signature aspects of Fire Emblem. The units take on various classes (Lords, Mercenaries, Fighters, Mages, Thieves, Dancers, Manaketes, Pegasus Knights, etc.) which an be upgraded and reclassed to a degree. While the classes themselves someone dictate a unit's predetermined stat boosts, it's their characters that set them apart from other strategy games. Each unit has a distinct name and back story and can converse and mingle with certain other characters. By building these Supports with other characters, characters can assist each other with stat boosts in battle as well as additional character development. Each unit has a slew of classes they can become and each class uses a particular weapon set, ranging from the physical weapons (Swords, Lances, Axes, Bows) to magical tomes (Anima, Dark and Light Magic) and can wield more powerful versions of said weapons through constant usage, upgrading a Rank D sword user to use Rank C weapons.

Speaking of, most weapons are not finite. Each weapon has a limited number of uses before they break, which means careful management of their type must be considered when shopping for weapons and items. Typically, the more powerful the weapon (Steel, Silver), the less they can be used compared to weaker types (Bronze, Iron). In addition, Fire Emblem employs the Weapon Triangle, a form of Rock-Paper-Scissors hierarchy, where Sword beats Axes, Axes beat Lances, and Lances beat Swords. Certain weapons are also more effective against certain types of classes (Bows deal more damage to flying units like Pegasus Knights, Armorslayers are super-effective against Knights), giving lots of strategic possibilities to battle.

Gotta love official artwork. Fire Emblem played at 'normal' speed!

On top of all of this, Fire Emblem also employs what is probably its most infamous staple: permanent death. When a character loses all HP, they cannot return to the game barring few plot-related exceptions. A reckless player can continue on, but constant disregard for units will result in a much harder time, as weaker units are typically the most powerful when leveled up properly. Not to mention the characters themselves will never be able to live happy lives, you heartless monster. Granted, Shadow Dragon characters aren't as chock-full of life as 'later' games, but they're still people with distinct characteristics, dammit.

Add to that various maps that deal in everything from Deserts to Forests, some with specific Stat boosts for friend and foe alike, each Chapter can hold real consequence by leaving your army's units entirely up to your skills; or lack of. Fire Emblem has cemented itself as one of Nintendo's most 'hardcore' series in the sense that one mistake can make you redo your last half-hour+ of work and preparation. It can be nerve-wracking in a good way, for when you finally beat that one map by using that lower-leveled Archer for her to gain those two levels she needs to reclass into a more competent Sniper can fill you with an unmistakable elation of a job well done even if you will never get those head-banging hours back as long as you life, and it was all on Normal difficulty and not Hard, where you begin to despair at the folly of Life and the pointlessness of it all. Good times!

You show that dragon, Marth!

I'd recommend Shadow Dragon to a certain type of newcomer to turn-based strategy. As an introduction to Fire Emblem, it does its job very well. It introduces how the Weapon Triangle works, what units' specialties are, how to easily view stats, and all the basic tutorial stuffs. While the GBA Fire Emblem (no subtitle for us non-Japanese!) was designed specifically for newcomers as well, with the first 10 Chapters being a literal tutorial and prelude to the main plot, if one were to really like Fire Emblem I'd recommend them here first and then enjoy the other games' advancements. It looks and sounds decent, and even the most basic Fire Emblem comes with very high praise from me!

Main Series
1. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

---

Dunno why I listed it as 'Main Series' for the series only does one thing and it does it exceptionally well. Who knows, I'mma just gonna leave it there. Nobody cares, anyways!

Now if only we can get that Fire Emblem: Awakening over on our shores. Since we prolly won't get this game's sequel (which is a remake of a remake and a sequel to this game which is also includedasdfpoihas;lk.ghpiosdfnASDGH;;ALHAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH-), I'd love to play the newest within the year. 3DS means better presentation, teammate attacks(!!!), hopefully some StreetPass action, and it seems to be Nintendo's first foray into DLC. Let's see how they do and convince me to buy them.

Until next time!