The Fire Emblem collection and discussion thread *UPDATE*

[ckendal]

Well the 4th installment in my thread mini-series just happens to be my 4th favorite game series, Fire Emblem.

Here is a pic of my collection:



It includes:
1) Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo (SFC - complete)
2) Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu (SFC - complete)
3) Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword (GBA - complete)
4) Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA - complete)
5) Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (GCN - complete)

Yes I know the collection is quite small, but there aren't that many Fire Emblem games out there, even though the series spans back to the Famicom days.

I am currently looking for Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 (SFC - complete) and Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi (GBA - complete). I also plan to pick up the Fire Emblem Wii game the day it drops!

Translation Legend:
1) Monshou no Nazo = Mystery of the Emblem
2) Seisen no Keifu = Genealogy of the Holy War
3) Fūin no Tsurugi = Sealed Sword

Notice that I gave the first GBA game a subtitle, Blazing Sword, even though it did not have one here in the West. It did however have one in Japan, Rekka no Ken, which translates to Blazing Sword. I listed it like this as it is obviously not the first Fire Emblem game and I did not want to confuse it with the original Famicom game.

Another cool tidbit of information is that Thracia 776, the third Fire Emblem game on the Super Famicom, was the last Super Famicom game to get a commercial release. There were 3 versions of it:
1) Pre-Write version (from Nintendo Power)
2) Regular version
3) Deluxe version (this version included a pre-write version plus lots of cool Fire Emblem extras)
No matter what version you get though, it is going to cost you an arm and a leg as there weren't many made of any version.

Also, some may say why not collect the original Famicom game? Because Monshou no Nazo is a remake of it with better graphics and as a bonus contains a continuation of the story. This continuation had nothing to do with Fire Emblem Gaiden though, which was the 2nd game in the series. FE Gaiden is a side story, Gaiden literally means "side story" in Japanese.

What do you guys think? Any other Fire Emblem fans out there? If so, show me what you got!

Enjoy!
-Carl

UPDATE!!! (Jan 28th, 2007)

Added a new game to my collection today:
1) Fire Emblem Gaiden (FC - complete)



I am still looking for Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 for Super Famicom and Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi (GBA - complete).

What do you guys think?

[suckerpunch5]

I'm a pretty big fan of the Fire Emblem series. It won me over on the GBA. I have all 3 U.S. releases. Are the SFC versions very similar? Anyways, cool thread for a really cool series.

What do you like most about Fire Emblem? The art direction? The gameplay? The lack of pheonix down?

[ckendal]

I'm a pretty big fan of the Fire Emblem series. It won me over on the GBA. I have all 3 U.S. releases. Are the SFC versions very similar? Anyways, cool thread for a really cool series.

What do you like most about Fire Emblem? The art direction? The gameplay? The lack of pheonix down?

First off, I love strategy RPGs and the stories that the Fire Emblem games tell are truly brilliant. It helps though that the art direction is also awesome.

Secondly, the SFC games are very similar and I suggest you try to pick up the first one, Monshou no Nazo, and give it a shot sometime. It will give you a really good idea of what the series was about at the beginning because as I stated above it is a remake of the original Famicom game with a continuation of the story.

[suckerpunch5]

Yeah, I have seriously considered trying to get that game. I'm kind of hoping they will come to the Wii virtual console. Even though I know they won't.

[ckendal]

Yeah, I have seriously considered trying to get that game. I'm kind of hoping they will come to the Wii virtual console. Even though I know they won't.

It is on the Virtual Console in Japan. If you can somehow trick your Wii to thinking you are in Japan (maybe by changing Country), you can buy it! Then just switch your Country back and it should still work.

EDIT: I just tried and you can only set a US NTSC Wii to North and South American countries. If somehow you could switch it to Japan or a NTSC-J region, you could get Monshou no Nazo. Maybe someone here can shed some light!

[Drag0nsfyre]

Another cool collection. in your on going mini series
I have Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (GCN - complete) I need to get the GBA versions still. I also have to try out Path of Radiance because I havn't played it yet. I picked it up a few weeks back for $14.99 sealed new. could'nt pass up the deal.

[Daria]

I own a grand total of one Fire Emblem game... and I haven't even played it. I'll spare you all the photographs.

[RegSNES]

I'm not a serious strategy game player but I do like to play a good game in the genre from time to time. I'd thought about getting into the Fire Emblem series but I wonder if it'd prove to be too overwhelming for me. I played a few hours of the first Advance Wars and I enjoyed it. Think it would be possible that I'd like the FE games?

[ckendal]

I'm not a serious strategy game player but I do like to play a good game in the genre from time to time. I'd thought about getting into the Fire Emblem series but I wonder if it'd prove to be too overwhelming for me. I played a few hours of the first Advance Wars and I enjoyed it. Think it would be possible that I'd like the FE games?

I would say you should give Fire Emblem a try regardless if you are not a serious SRPG player. The story line and art direction alone are enough not to miss these games. If you are a fan or liked the Shining Force series then I would definitely say you'd enjoy Fire Emblem!

[ckendal]

UPDATE!!! (Jan 28th, 2007)

Added a new game to my collection today:
1) Fire Emblem Gaiden (FC - complete)



I am still looking for Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 for Super Famicom.

What do you guys think?

[Aussie2B]

Very nice collection. I have a lot of love and respect for the Fire Emblem series, and I always thought it was sad that the series used to get no attention from US gamers. Then people became obsessed with Marth and Roy in Smash Bros. and the second GBA got a US release, which created a lot of American Fire Emblem fanboys, but they still didn't really "get" the series because their only exposure to series was the derivative (yet still enjoyable) second and third GBA games. So I'm always happy to see the older classics get some love.

In fact, the second Super Famicom game was one of the first strong influences that pushed me towards getting into importing. Nintendo Power had a really slick article on it back in the day, and they always had a knack for making SFC imports sound so fascinating. Plus the amazing art and screen shots captured my imagination too. Ironically (and sadly), I still don't own it. Monshou no Nazo is the only Fire Emblem I actually own, but I've played a good number of them via emulation. It's kind of strange because I normally stay away from emulation, but they're so darn good that once I gave them a quick try I just kept playing. I really need to get on the ball and add them to my collection.

[ckendal]

Thanks Aussie2B!

I got really into Fire Emblem after playing the US GBA games and Path of Radiance. They are very similar to the Shining Force series by Camelot (which I love). That is the sole reason I decided to go after some of these earlier import Fire Emblem games. It does not hurt that, to many FE fans, the SFC ones were/are the best. It made it an easy choice to try and get them. It is still truly a shame that we never got these gems in the West.

Any other FE fans out there?

[RegSNES]

I bought my very first FE game yesterday:

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Sontes. Got it used, but complete for $11.99 at Game Crazy.

Now I just need to find the first GBA US released FE game. The GC's Path of Radiance shouldn't be too dificult to come by.

Any chance Nintendo will release the Japanese versions on our shores?

[64Bits]

Very nice collection. I have a lot of love and respect for the Fire Emblem series, and I always thought it was sad that the series used to get no attention from US gamers. Then people became obsessed with Marth and Roy in Smash Bros. and the second GBA got a US release, which created a lot of American Fire Emblem fanboys, but they still didn't really "get" the series because their only exposure to series was the derivative (yet still enjoyable) second and third GBA games. So I'm always happy to see the older classics get some love.

In fact, the second Super Famicom game was one of the first strong influences that pushed me towards getting into importing. Nintendo Power had a really slick article on it back in the day, and they always had a knack for making SFC imports sound so fascinating. Plus the amazing art and screen shots captured my imagination too. Ironically (and sadly), I still don't own it. Monshou no Nazo is the only Fire Emblem I actually own, but I've played a good number of them via emulation. It's kind of strange because I normally stay away from emulation, but they're so darn good that once I gave them a quick try I just kept playing. I really need to get on the ball and add them to my collection.

I actually remember that NP article, now that you mention it.

I've only played a bit of my brother's copies of these 2 games (the GBA ones). Maybe I should give 'em some playtime.

[ckendal]

Any chance Nintendo will release the Japanese versions on our shores?

Congratulations on your first FE buy! Let us know what you think of it sometime.

As for Nintendo releasing these stateside or in the West in general; I wouldn't hold my breath!

[suckerpunch5]

Fire Emblem: Goddess of Dawn for Wii is set to release in the U.S. November 7th, 2007.

pretty exciting!

But I'm gonna bet it gets delayed into 2008

[exit]

Fire Emblem is probably the only Strategy RPGs I can actually stand. I remember playing them back when I first go into emulation and played the partial translations of them, I eventually stopped when everything became unreadable.

Up until recently, Fire Emblem was one of the most neglected and underrated series. Now if only Ys could gain the following that FE was able to achieve here.

[Volcanon]

probably unlike most ppl here, I have played only the 3 SFC games.

Nazo -> remake of 1 is really easy. sequel is moderately hard.
Seisen -> if you don't plan right or get the secret characters/weapons it's rather hard. mildly annoying on some maps because those maps are 400x400 and the game makes you travel to different points that are far from each other several times.
776 -> most gorgeous SFC game ever, but DAMN is it difficult. The only way I beat it was savestate abuse (like... the last few levels and the last gaiden level all of the opponents have some crazy hit and critical % (like 50%) and 2-hit axes, so every character dies in 1 hit. Oh and poison is really annoying.

I also played Tear Ring Saga, which is basically FE by the FE team after nintendo kicked them out or something. It's similar to FE Gaiden and really damn hard too. Never got very far because I got tired of redoing early levels over and over.