^Back
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Introduction
In ancient times, a powerful
demon
existed at the continent of Magvel. Five
heroes sealed away the demon using the Sacred Stones and built their
own countries protected by the Stones. However, in the year 803, the
long-lasting peace is broken when the powerful Grado Empire suddenly
invades the Kingdom of Renais. Renais, a nation that has been long-time
friends of Grado, is taken
by surprise and is seconds away from being conquered. Princess of
Eirika,
of Renais, leaves
her homeland to warn their ally, the Kingdom of Frelia, and to seek her
twin brother, Ephraim, whom she has lost contact with.
About the game
The Sacred Stones is the
third Fire Emblem title for
the GBA, and the second to be released in English. It featured many
subtle improvements over its predecessor, Blazing Sword, and is possibly one
of the most complete Fire Emblem
games yet. However, more isn't always better and the game suffers from
a few flaws, such as low difficulty and a short storyline, which
has led some fans to consider it one of the weaker games in the
series. Still, the game is of very high quality and is well worth
checking out for its interesting features alone.
Instead of continuing the story and setting of the previous two
games, the game begins an unrelated storyline set in the new continent
of Magvel. This time, the main heroes are royal twins Eirika and
Ephraim, and the game follows their journey to reclaim their homeland
and prevent the destruction of the titular Sacred Stones. Early on,
players can choose which of the twins to
follow and the storyline subsequently branches for several
chapters, before joining up towards the final part of the game. From
there,
the twins focus on the increasingly difficult trials ahead.
The story isn't the only thing that's new though, as there are
plenty
of new gameplay features, most of which are borrowed from Fire Emblem: Gaiden, which this
game is clearly inspired by. The most prominent additions are the
ability to move around the game's World
Map and branched
promotions, both of which add more variety and replayability. For Fire Emblem
novices (or those who need a refresher), as well as a few tutorial
chapters, there is an
in-game Guide, which can be accessed at any time if you ever need
help understanding gameplay features.
Features or changes
Branched promotions
When promoting characters, players can now choose one of two higher
classes for them to upgrade into. Which class you pick only has a
minimal effect
on character stats, as character growth is unchanged. However picking a
particular class over another may award more movement, a different new
weapon type
or an extra Skill.
Skills
Last seen in Thracia 776,
Skills make a return, although in a somewhat watered down form.
Some promoted classes have their own unique Skill, which can give them
an advantage during battle. For example, the Pierce Skill possessed by
Wyvern Knights has a chance of negating the enemy's Defence for one
strike.
Trainees
Three characters in this game belong to a Trainee class (Journeyman,
Recruit and Pupil), which exist below the regular lower classes such as
Fighter or Cavalier. As such, these characters are considerably weaker
than most, however they also have the most potential, as they can gain
more Levels than other characters. When these characters reach Level
10, they automatically promote at the start of the next chapter and
players can choose to upgrade them into one of two lower classes.
World map
A feature last seen in Fire Emblem:
Gaiden. Unlike most other games in the series, the World Map in
this game isn't just for show. Here, players can choose to enter story
battles to advance the storyline or EX Maps (optional battles) to
train their characters.
They can also visit shops to purchase weapons and items for their
characters.
Monsters
Another feature that was previously unique to Fire Emblem: Gaiden. Besides the
usual human enemies, there are also enemies that are monsters. These
enemies appear in EX Maps and often appear in the main story as well.
Besides
their appearances, they don't differ much from human enemies though.
Creature Campaign
After completing a Fire Emblem
game, there isn't usually much more to do besides starting a new game.
However, in this game, you can continue your progress from a completed
Epilogue file, in the Creature
Campaign mode. This mode never ends and places you back on the
World Map, where you can do pretty much everything you could do in the
main story (except there is no longer any story). So you revisit all
the EX
Maps, continue
building up Supports and etc.