Fire Emblem the sacred stones

SCORE: 65

My personal favorite genre has been the turn based tactical role playing game. Shining Force is the top dog in that genre, even though there has not been a Shining Force game for awhile. The second Gameboy Advance Fire Emblem title to make it to America is Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones. Nintendo has made some improvements the franchise, and gone backwards in some other areas. The inclusion of summoners - those who summon monsters to fight for the team is one such step in the wrong direction. The lack of originality is another one. Players are now able to fight monsters over and over again to be able to level up their characters (editor: a much needed feature).

Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones has okay graphics, but they are rather repetitive, and just like the last game. There are times I like graphical styles to remain the same, and this is not one of those cases. I really was looking forward to some improvements especially in the female characters attire. There are nice colors used, and some bland graphics used as well. Plenty of role playing violence as players watch their commands acted out.

The sounds in Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones are good, but essentially rehash. They sound rather majestic, but not that different from the last game. There is also some name calling that was not needed in this game at all. There are plenty of sounds of characters dying as well.

The leveling up of characters is the major replay value. If you get into this game, then there is a decent amount of playable time in it. Battles can be extremely lengthy, and the death of one character may make you return to the start of it (in order to preserve their life).

Fire Emblem controls well in all aspects. The layout of the levels exhibits quite an intelligent design. The one flaw in the gameplay is the characters dying. One mistake is punished harshly by the game, and repentance is not allowed. The lengthy talking between lengthy battles made this game no fun for me at all.

Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones was quite a chore to play, and even review. Using evil to fight evil is one concept that I consider offensive. The occult themes found later in the game are also present and take a lot away from this game. If Nintendo wants to do anymore hand helf sequels to the Fire Emblem series they need to come up with some different ideas, and themes. If they need to borrow, they should borrow from the Shining Force series.
- Paul

Graphics: 70%
Sound: 64%
Replay/Extras: 62%
Gameplay: 72%
Family Friendly Factor: 58%
System: Gameboy Advance
Publisher: Nintendo
Rating: 'E' for Everyone
{Fantasy Violence}

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