If I played this game back when it first came out it would have been a 5 out of 5 experience for me, but that's just not how it all panned out for my experience. It's an old game, so of course things in it have not aged well, and I could technically say the same for a game like Super Metroid if I were to play it and judge it without my nostalgia glasses on just to be fair.
Instead of doing a pros and cons list like I generally do, I will just talk about the good and bad about each thing I think is important for the game below:
1. Maps- The maps are big, and are the biggest of any Fire Emblem game I have played, so it definitely has that to set itself apart from the other entries. There are multiple objectives and castles to seize, and you could say that seizing each castle is its own chapter in itself. It does a good job of making each map feel like a war with how long and drawn out they are. I won't get into specifics about each map, but of course some are better or worse than others in the game and you can tell the creators tried their best to have different things happen in each chapter. The only thing that makes having maps this big bearable or fine is it being coupled with a save feature, so you do not have to worry about spending way over an hour or even multiple hours to beat a chapter in one sitting or leave the game running. Typically you cannot save in the middle of a chapter in a FE game, but the maps in this one are so big I see why they let you do it. Some maps can be boring, and some can be awesome, but most feel like a slog unfortunately. The maps feel too big at times, even for cavalry units. Foot units are so bad in this game because of their lack of movement, so unless the unit is really good you are not going to want to bother waiting for them to catch up. There were a good bit of times for me where I just spent turns moving units trying to get to the next objective. It is what it is, the map size is a preference thing overall, but it could be improved with a remake.
2. Hidden Items- Let me preface by saying you do not need any of the hidden items to beat this game, as overall it is not a hard game (Mostly because of the built-in save feature, although this game's difficulty is harder than most of the newer FE games), but this game suffers from the old cryptic game syndrome where it has hidden items, conversations, and other secrets that the game does not tell you about at all or does not do a good job of telling you about. The only ways you are going to encounter these secret items and conversations are by getting lucky and stumbling across them, using a walkthrough or official Nintendo guide if there was one. Some hidden items are fine to stay hidden as they make the game too easy, but I am of the mind that the holy weapons should not be hidden with how important to the story they are. I know they are not as well-hidden as other stuff after looking at a guide after beating the game, but I missed them myself and it just feels crazy you can miss them, like Forseti and Yewfelle.
3. Unit Balance- I ain't saying FE has generally good unit balance in most of its games, but I think it's worse or more obvious in this one. Cavalry units are about the only ones worth using, unless the foot units are broken in someway like Shannan. Some cavalry units are still not good in both generations where you struggle to make them work to where you feel like you would have an easier time just having your busted units run through the game instead of trying to use your other weaker units.
4. Story- I see why people say the story in this one is the best of the series or at least up there. I think it's either the best story in the series for its time that it came out (Meaning the story got worse as it aged due to advancements in storytelling and what you can do in video games now), or still among the best in the series. There are some things in this game that should have been better explained or not left vague, and some plot holes or what not, but what happens in chapter 5 is one of those wow moments if you have not been spoiled on this game's story yet. I unfortunately was to a certain degree before I played the game, so it is what it is.
5. Arena- This is a fun mechanic, but later on it drags and gets boring with how many units you have to use it for and how you can't skip the animations for each round.
6. Trading- Sucks that you gotta sell items to a pawnshop to then buy it for double the value with another unit in order to trade. Gold is easy to get in this game cause of the arena for units that can complete it, but it's definitely a product of its time. If this game were made today I believe you would be able to freely trade without using this as a mechanic.
7. The bandits pillaging the villages are on it in this game. You gotta be on your toes to get every village safe from them, as they do not play around and wait for you to turtle or take your time.
8. Generations- My first time playing this game I did not bother stressing about any love matches for kid stats and all that, I just played the game and what happened, happened. I found Generation 1 to not be as fun as Generation 2. Generation 1 is more for the story and to gawk at how cool Sigurd is I feel. Generation 2 I feel has better designed maps and more fun units to use than in Generation 1.
9. Combat speed- Even with combat speed set to fast and animations off each turn takes a while to get through. It has the same issue that most older FE games have, and that is turn speed. I literally went to go take a dump during one of the enemy phases, and when I came back the enemy phase was still going on.
10. Sleep staff- Bro, just bro. The sleep staff is busted for the enemies. They have infinite uses, and its range is yuuuge, and has a 100% success rate?! This really slows the pace of the game down on the last few chapters where enemies abuse it. I'm glad I had a restore staff, but still when you got 6 or 8 ppl lullabying you to sleep every enemy phase, just oof man, oof. I got through it, but that was not fun. It was definitely an experience.
Overall good game that is still good despite its age. Hoping for a remake eventually, as I think one would really give this game a time to shine overseas, since it never was officially localized.
Instead of doing a pros and cons list like I generally do, I will just talk about the good and bad about each thing I think is important for the game below:
1. Maps- The maps are big, and are the biggest of any Fire Emblem game I have played, so it definitely has that to set itself apart from the other entries. There are multiple objectives and castles to seize, and you could say that seizing each castle is its own chapter in itself. It does a good job of making each map feel like a war with how long and drawn out they are. I won't get into specifics about each map, but of course some are better or worse than others in the game and you can tell the creators tried their best to have different things happen in each chapter. The only thing that makes having maps this big bearable or fine is it being coupled with a save feature, so you do not have to worry about spending way over an hour or even multiple hours to beat a chapter in one sitting or leave the game running. Typically you cannot save in the middle of a chapter in a FE game, but the maps in this one are so big I see why they let you do it. Some maps can be boring, and some can be awesome, but most feel like a slog unfortunately. The maps feel too big at times, even for cavalry units. Foot units are so bad in this game because of their lack of movement, so unless the unit is really good you are not going to want to bother waiting for them to catch up. There were a good bit of times for me where I just spent turns moving units trying to get to the next objective. It is what it is, the map size is a preference thing overall, but it could be improved with a remake.
2. Hidden Items- Let me preface by saying you do not need any of the hidden items to beat this game, as overall it is not a hard game (Mostly because of the built-in save feature, although this game's difficulty is harder than most of the newer FE games), but this game suffers from the old cryptic game syndrome where it has hidden items, conversations, and other secrets that the game does not tell you about at all or does not do a good job of telling you about. The only ways you are going to encounter these secret items and conversations are by getting lucky and stumbling across them, using a walkthrough or official Nintendo guide if there was one. Some hidden items are fine to stay hidden as they make the game too easy, but I am of the mind that the holy weapons should not be hidden with how important to the story they are. I know they are not as well-hidden as other stuff after looking at a guide after beating the game, but I missed them myself and it just feels crazy you can miss them, like Forseti and Yewfelle.
3. Unit Balance- I ain't saying FE has generally good unit balance in most of its games, but I think it's worse or more obvious in this one. Cavalry units are about the only ones worth using, unless the foot units are broken in someway like Shannan. Some cavalry units are still not good in both generations where you struggle to make them work to where you feel like you would have an easier time just having your busted units run through the game instead of trying to use your other weaker units.
4. Story- I see why people say the story in this one is the best of the series or at least up there. I think it's either the best story in the series for its time that it came out (Meaning the story got worse as it aged due to advancements in storytelling and what you can do in video games now), or still among the best in the series. There are some things in this game that should have been better explained or not left vague, and some plot holes or what not, but what happens in chapter 5 is one of those wow moments if you have not been spoiled on this game's story yet. I unfortunately was to a certain degree before I played the game, so it is what it is.
5. Arena- This is a fun mechanic, but later on it drags and gets boring with how many units you have to use it for and how you can't skip the animations for each round.
6. Trading- Sucks that you gotta sell items to a pawnshop to then buy it for double the value with another unit in order to trade. Gold is easy to get in this game cause of the arena for units that can complete it, but it's definitely a product of its time. If this game were made today I believe you would be able to freely trade without using this as a mechanic.
7. The bandits pillaging the villages are on it in this game. You gotta be on your toes to get every village safe from them, as they do not play around and wait for you to turtle or take your time.
8. Generations- My first time playing this game I did not bother stressing about any love matches for kid stats and all that, I just played the game and what happened, happened. I found Generation 1 to not be as fun as Generation 2. Generation 1 is more for the story and to gawk at how cool Sigurd is I feel. Generation 2 I feel has better designed maps and more fun units to use than in Generation 1.
9. Combat speed- Even with combat speed set to fast and animations off each turn takes a while to get through. It has the same issue that most older FE games have, and that is turn speed. I literally went to go take a dump during one of the enemy phases, and when I came back the enemy phase was still going on.
10. Sleep staff- Bro, just bro. The sleep staff is busted for the enemies. They have infinite uses, and its range is yuuuge, and has a 100% success rate?! This really slows the pace of the game down on the last few chapters where enemies abuse it. I'm glad I had a restore staff, but still when you got 6 or 8 ppl lullabying you to sleep every enemy phase, just oof man, oof. I got through it, but that was not fun. It was definitely an experience.
Overall good game that is still good despite its age. Hoping for a remake eventually, as I think one would really give this game a time to shine overseas, since it never was officially localized.