This is like the cheap, pirated version of B7's FRAK. Hah! Ahoy Mateys!
I hate Role Playing Games - it's true. Not because it's geeky, nor because I think they do an awful job at entertaining people. It's actually due to the fact that the stories in majority of RPGs tend to be exceptional ones. Stories I want to hear, or see, or experience. Except the trouble is they use the game part to advance the story - and I find that tedious. With books, I need only exert minimal effort in turning the pages, and even easier with TV as I only need to wait for everything to happen, or at worst, ignore commercial breaks. Roleplaying videogames require me to run all over the place, retrace steps, comb virtual maps, etc. etc - just to see what happens next.
safe enough to look at your tits?
No, that's the other guy who also does GBA reviews. My name is neil.
This is where Fire Emblem is different, in the sense that it doesn't put the burden of controlling the story entirely upon your hand. Similar to Choose Your Own Adventure books, it only gives you choices of possible paths to take in crucial points of the narrative. It's a lot less like a game and more of an interactive fiction in that respect, and I liked that. It felt comfortable being able to sit back, relax and just enjoy the story scroll on your tiny LCD screen. It also helps that the story - while cliched, is still solidly written. It started as a tale of country politics and slowly found its way into an epic about the war between humans and dragons. And hot chicks.
But what about the game?
at first glance: simple
at second glance: also simple. See where I am going with this?
It comes in the form of a complex strategy game that only looks simple at first glance, that being caused by the verity that the game itself is a set of simple scissors, paper, stone rulesets(i.e. lances beat swords, swords beat axes, and axes beat lances - knights are strong against archers, archers are strong against magic users, and magic users are strong against knights etc. etc.) coalesced into a chess game. You can't cheat by leveling up too much, since the game rarely gives you the opportunity to do so. It's all about military strategies; knowing when to send which type of troops, and in what formation etc. etc.
One noteable thing about Fire Emblem is its ability to make you care about the characters - they're not just one-dimensional caricatures of famous archtypes replete with cheesy catchphrases, but rather, each comes with a complex sidestory that the game doesn't tell out front. This is hinted at by dialogues with their fellow characters during battle, or even with NPCs or enemies which can even be recruited to join your party. And if you're not into cheesy sentimentalities, it will also make you care about character preservation because each has their own attributes which are useful and maybe they will even provide access to a couple more recruitable characters.
All in all, Fire Emblem is an engrossing strategy game with an equally absorbing story to back it up. If you're a fan of things that trick you into believing that your brain has a six-pack, try it out.
