Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade

Apparently this was the first Fire Emblem game that ever made it stateside. And while I really enjoyed it because I of course loved turn based tactics games (I adored Advance Wars) I found it a little too hard to my liking.

The big problem with the game is simultaneously the biggest draw of the series. You have units in your party that level up between missions. The more they kill, the more experience they get. With experience comes levels, with levels comes increased stats and, with enough levels, new classes. And, boy, were the new classes amazing. You'd get real powerhouses when they classed up. So that all sounds great but the problem is if they die that's it. They're gone. And once you beat a mission you can't go back (as far as I can remember). There was no way to grind. If you did the wrong thing or leveled the wrong character you could back yourself into a corner where you basically just lose the game. I really didn't like that about the game. It was just too hard for me at that age.

I think if I went back to play it now I might likely love it. But lord, you end up save-scumming like XCOM which is just no fun.

Sucks because the art was phenomenal. It seems like people still regard those animations for the attacks as some of the best in any game.

2024-02-19
Apparently I finished this. Wild. I don't remember but maybe I used a guide. I really don't remember. But I must have liked it a lot to stick with it. And it really did kind of kick off my love affair with SRPGs.