This game has no right being so good for the first entry in the series. You can see just how it created a legacy to SRPGs long ago. This is one of Kaga's best and I prefer it over the remake to be honest. Everyone should experience this game at least once!
The total lack of informational QoL (no battle previews! no ingame weapon stat display!) forces you to play fast and loose with your units, putting them into situations where they'll receive unknown and possibly lethal amounts of damage. In a modern FE game that would be horrible, but FE1 doesn't have support conversations and the like; with a handful of exceptions, the death of a unit means the loss of a gameplay asset and nothing else.
Inventory management is beyond awful. Units have four inventory slots, trading is one-way, and the convoy is tied to a static tile on the map, not Marth.
Pretty good game!
Inventory management is beyond awful. Units have four inventory slots, trading is one-way, and the convoy is tied to a static tile on the map, not Marth.
Pretty good game!
FE1 is outdated. I think that's just a fact of life, but I'm making my judgement on the game that exists, not the fact that modern technology is capable of and has created better games. I'm trying to be fair to the game because it's old.
So, with that said, FE1 is actually pretty good! You can see that the core Fire Emblem gameplay loop started off very strong from the original. Several of the maps, while ugly to look at and very green due to technical limitations, are actually well designed and clever. This game does have some oddities and UI jank, such as the way the game handles items (the storage system that is the early archetype of the convoy) and the way that magic works, but you get pretty used to it after a few chapters and honestly, it's not that bad.
The ending falls off a little bit. The last few maps (21, 24, 25) are not that great, throwing a lot of bullshit at you for you to deal with. The final boss is only susceptible to Marth with the Falchion, which creates two problems:
a) you can softlock yourself out of being able to win the game in Chapter 19 if you don't get the spheres, or Chapter 22 if you don't get to the village with the spheres
b) Marth is not an amazing unit and if he can't get to Medeus and survive, it's over
But overall, I think this is a good game and an excellent start to the series. If you can get used to the quality of the NES, it's a worthwhile play if you're into Fire Emblem the series, if only to experience a historical relic.
And also, Bantu is good in this game. Never forget what they took from us.
So, with that said, FE1 is actually pretty good! You can see that the core Fire Emblem gameplay loop started off very strong from the original. Several of the maps, while ugly to look at and very green due to technical limitations, are actually well designed and clever. This game does have some oddities and UI jank, such as the way the game handles items (the storage system that is the early archetype of the convoy) and the way that magic works, but you get pretty used to it after a few chapters and honestly, it's not that bad.
The ending falls off a little bit. The last few maps (21, 24, 25) are not that great, throwing a lot of bullshit at you for you to deal with. The final boss is only susceptible to Marth with the Falchion, which creates two problems:
a) you can softlock yourself out of being able to win the game in Chapter 19 if you don't get the spheres, or Chapter 22 if you don't get to the village with the spheres
b) Marth is not an amazing unit and if he can't get to Medeus and survive, it's over
But overall, I think this is a good game and an excellent start to the series. If you can get used to the quality of the NES, it's a worthwhile play if you're into Fire Emblem the series, if only to experience a historical relic.
And also, Bantu is good in this game. Never forget what they took from us.
1\10, This Series Is Called Fire Emblem But There Was Never An Emblem On Fire In Any Of The Games!
lol, lmao even
There's a core of a really good game here! Shame it's buried under very slow pace of play, a hilariously annoying amount of inventory management, and a final level that pulls out all the NES bullshit stops.
I'm in a weird spot here because I genuinely enjoyed a lot of my time with it, but the bits where it wasn't working were just the worst form of old video game jank that I can't really say I liked the game. Still, there is a core gameplay loop that could really turn into something great.
I'm in a weird spot here because I genuinely enjoyed a lot of my time with it, but the bits where it wasn't working were just the worst form of old video game jank that I can't really say I liked the game. Still, there is a core gameplay loop that could really turn into something great.
Honestly a great rpg for its time. I'd say that other fire emblem games overshadow this one but its still great.
Despite the hardware restrictions, its a fire emblem game through and through in that it captures the fun of fe combat. Heck, the map design are even better than some entries (awakening...). The character sprites are as charming as ever which helps ignore other outdated assets.
Its still an NES game and inconveniences abound. Its super slow, especially on enemy phase and inventory management wise (can only give not take) I would have docked 1 star if I didn't have access to fast forward.
Unit availability is still unbalanced due to encouraging iron manning but this should not be a surprise for those who played its DS remake.
I look forward to playing the SNES remake and its improvements
Its still an NES game and inconveniences abound. Its super slow, especially on enemy phase and inventory management wise (can only give not take) I would have docked 1 star if I didn't have access to fast forward.
Unit availability is still unbalanced due to encouraging iron manning but this should not be a surprise for those who played its DS remake.
I look forward to playing the SNES remake and its improvements
honestly could've been better for the first fe game but shadow dragon (the DS remake) is a better game and shows how the game is really goid
Look, obviously the Super Famicom remake is a better iteration of this game in every single way. Better graphics and sound, (slightly) easier and streamlined gameplay, and it also has the self-awareness to understand that 25 chapters is way too goddamn many and to be honest, maybe 20 is too. FE3 is better, faster, stronger, prettier, and above all, shorter.
Or is it? As a straight up game of a video nature released by a developer and played on a console system by a consumer, sure, this is by no means the ideal way to experience Fire Emblem, Shadow Dragon, OR the Blade of Light. But in Gare’s Retroarch collection of like a thousand games, well, maybe not so much.
You see, on Retroarch, there are no useful codes for the Super Famicom remake, just like, character and item modifiers that almost never work. If you want to play Shadow Dragon on the sneese you have to play it for real. But this game, THIS GAME, has a wonderful little code that, if you so choose to enter it, allows you to kill all enemies with one hit. It’s not a gameplay style for everyone, but maybe, you know, after struggling with one chapter or another on a different version, it might float your boat to punch it in and experience a diverting little epic fantasy tale with top-notch 8 bit NES sights and sounds that might take you four hours or so to beat, easily completable with a single day off. Chapter 7? Ten, maybe fifteen minutes tops!
There’s a time and place for both versions. It’s the two wolves inside me that are always fucking
Or is it? As a straight up game of a video nature released by a developer and played on a console system by a consumer, sure, this is by no means the ideal way to experience Fire Emblem, Shadow Dragon, OR the Blade of Light. But in Gare’s Retroarch collection of like a thousand games, well, maybe not so much.
You see, on Retroarch, there are no useful codes for the Super Famicom remake, just like, character and item modifiers that almost never work. If you want to play Shadow Dragon on the sneese you have to play it for real. But this game, THIS GAME, has a wonderful little code that, if you so choose to enter it, allows you to kill all enemies with one hit. It’s not a gameplay style for everyone, but maybe, you know, after struggling with one chapter or another on a different version, it might float your boat to punch it in and experience a diverting little epic fantasy tale with top-notch 8 bit NES sights and sounds that might take you four hours or so to beat, easily completable with a single day off. Chapter 7? Ten, maybe fifteen minutes tops!
There’s a time and place for both versions. It’s the two wolves inside me that are always fucking
This game was an unforgettable experience.
It may be old, clunky and it's filled with a ton of bullshit and pain (fuck ambushes) and cryptic garbage that screws you over 20 stages later. The sequels may be better in every way, but holy shit it was one of the most special experiences i've ever had with a game regardless of it's quality.
I played this a few years ago (when 3 Houses came out) blind, as my first Fire Emblem game. I didn't use any guides and didn't use save states or restarts.
I actually really like permadeath mechanics because they can make for very unique and tense experiences, you can have your own story with them, so instead of restarting for perfect levels without deaths i beat them no matter who died.
Playing like that made for many, MANY memorable moments. Units dying to bullshit, the sacrifices, the very tense moments were it felt like everyone was about to die, having to change the startegy mid-stage and its repercussions, etc. The tension is great, it's exciting, i loved it.
And those situations helped me "bond" with those characters. Yeah, they don't even say anything but with all the shit we've been through and cool shit we manged to pull off at critical moments i got more attached to these guys than any 3 houses character with their social links and stuff.
The most tragic moment was an event i called "the critical massacre". At the start of one of the last stages, i had most of my best units INSTAKILLED from full HP by crit after crit in a single turn. I didn't have many units left, but those guys? I know i could win as long as i had them. And they were gone, in a single turn of awful RNG. I almost restarted but i got to far to start doing that shit now.
In the last map only 5 characters survived. In a game with like +50 total units. Only 5.
Marth, Tiki, Marth's sister, Gato and motherfucking Wyrn of all things because i never used him.
Wanna know the funniest part? I couldn't damage the final boss. I didn't have the falchion because i didn't know about the mcguffins until Gato told me once it was too late. Even though i gave Marth all my status boosters and best sword he couldn't hurt the dragon. The dragon had a hard time killing Marth too. It was a stalemate.
I know i didn't finish the game but i consider it completed. That's MY ending, and ending fitting for a catastrophic playthrough.
I had my revenge in FE3 and Shadow Dragon later anyways.
I loved this experience, i don't care how objectivly bad or good the game was (i think it's fine btw), i can't give it any less than 5 stars.
It may be old, clunky and it's filled with a ton of bullshit and pain (fuck ambushes) and cryptic garbage that screws you over 20 stages later. The sequels may be better in every way, but holy shit it was one of the most special experiences i've ever had with a game regardless of it's quality.
I played this a few years ago (when 3 Houses came out) blind, as my first Fire Emblem game. I didn't use any guides and didn't use save states or restarts.
I actually really like permadeath mechanics because they can make for very unique and tense experiences, you can have your own story with them, so instead of restarting for perfect levels without deaths i beat them no matter who died.
Playing like that made for many, MANY memorable moments. Units dying to bullshit, the sacrifices, the very tense moments were it felt like everyone was about to die, having to change the startegy mid-stage and its repercussions, etc. The tension is great, it's exciting, i loved it.
And those situations helped me "bond" with those characters. Yeah, they don't even say anything but with all the shit we've been through and cool shit we manged to pull off at critical moments i got more attached to these guys than any 3 houses character with their social links and stuff.
The most tragic moment was an event i called "the critical massacre". At the start of one of the last stages, i had most of my best units INSTAKILLED from full HP by crit after crit in a single turn. I didn't have many units left, but those guys? I know i could win as long as i had them. And they were gone, in a single turn of awful RNG. I almost restarted but i got to far to start doing that shit now.
In the last map only 5 characters survived. In a game with like +50 total units. Only 5.
Marth, Tiki, Marth's sister, Gato and motherfucking Wyrn of all things because i never used him.
Wanna know the funniest part? I couldn't damage the final boss. I didn't have the falchion because i didn't know about the mcguffins until Gato told me once it was too late. Even though i gave Marth all my status boosters and best sword he couldn't hurt the dragon. The dragon had a hard time killing Marth too. It was a stalemate.
I know i didn't finish the game but i consider it completed. That's MY ending, and ending fitting for a catastrophic playthrough.
I had my revenge in FE3 and Shadow Dragon later anyways.
I loved this experience, i don't care how objectivly bad or good the game was (i think it's fine btw), i can't give it any less than 5 stars.