I had a chance to sit down at this years E3 and give Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones for the GBA some serious playtime. I skipped through all of the text and cinemas since I didnt want to spoil too much of the storyline for myself, so the forty minutes or so that I played were pure gameplay. For those not familiar with the franchise, the Fire Emblem games are a series of strategy-based role-playing games that hail from Japan. Much like in the Advance Wars series (coincidentally made by the same company, Intelligent Systems), you control a variety of units and characters on a battlefield.

Your role in the previously released Fire Emblem for the Game Boy Advance was that of a tactician. You advised your characters and told them what to do in battle. As you progressed through the chapters of the game, new members would join your party while others departed. Also, if one of your secondary units happened to be killed in battle, they were gone for good. If youd grown to like the character, your only option was to start the chapter over again and try to complete it without any casualties. If the characters death didnt bother you, you could simply continue with the game. If a main character happened to die, however, youd have to start the chapter over again regardless.

 

The only real difference from the prior installments of the series that I noticed while playing The Sacred Stones was that you can choose a difficulty level of your liking when starting a new file. You can choose from easy (where the controls and rules will be explained as you play), normal (for experienced gamers where no hints will be provided) and difficult (for players seeking a real challenge with no instructions and more difficult battles). One tidbit about the game that I found interesting is the inclusion of traditional fantasy monsters such as skeletons, zombies, gargoyles, and gorgons that youll be able to fight to gain experience and build your characters levels endlessly. I greatly enjoyed the first Fire Emblem, and this new one looks and plays pretty much the same. Not that thats a bad thing. Like the saying goes, if it aint broke, dont fix it.

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones follows the journey of Eirika and Ephraim, twin heirs to throne of Renais. Its neighboring kingdom of Magvel, an age-old ally, suddenly decides to invade. Eirika and Ephraim have to fight in order to free their kingdom and unravel the mystery behind their former allys treachery. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is now available in stores.