Notes for my series replay:
- Pretty par for the course on GBA Fire Emblems in terms of presentation, looks a little bit more polished than the other two in some areas but ultimately plays the same.
- First game since Gaiden to have a world map, kinda neat throwback to Gaiden but just like in Gaiden it's mostly novelty and not super meaningful. If we're being technical, it actually has less purpose than Gaiden because it's a straight line and you never really have to deal with monster encounters unless you go to grind. Gaiden at least had branching paths in some cases that took you to different dungeons and maps. There are like 3 dungeons in FE8 and they don't really reward you with much of anything except for post game content.
- The easiest game I have played so far, even easier than FE7. I played Ephraim's route for my replay, and even the hardest chapter in that (chapter 14) was still mildly frustrating due to poor luck with status staves.
- Speaking of which, this must be the most straightforward entry thus far, as there are maybe like 3 maps with ballistas, occasionally siege tomes, and mostly just reinforcements to worry about, but they don't move on EP so it's not a huge deal. Yeah there are status staves, but their accuracy is kinda shoddy and you get PLENTY of restore staves, so proper positioning and burning the staves is easy enough.
- Given what I just mentioned, maps are hardly memorable or impactful. They feel pretty devoid of any real thought except for enemy placement and general setting. The bravest Sacred Stones gets with map design is putting you on three small boats in fog of war. Frustrating, sure, but not exactly engaging.
- To give credit where it's due, FE8 has an absolute slapper of a soundtrack. It goes extremely hard for absolutely no reason in some tracks. "Powerful Foe" is a awesome boss theme, "Truth, Despair, and Hope" fucking blew me out of the water the first time I heard it and it still makes me get hyped even on replays, and of course "Prince of Despair" is my favorite GBA main antag theme. In fact, of the three GBA titles, I would say either Sacred Stones has the best OST overall. It starts very mid, but picks up in the mid game and starts to blow your socks off.
- My last critique of Sacred Stones is that the cast of characters is kinda sleepy. I think there are a few awesome standouts like Joshua and Cormag, but otherwise I feel like this game has the most white bread cast up to this point, as without farming supports for dozens of turns, I get almost no characterization from most of the cast when they're recruited. And the few that you do get characterization from are just like knightly types, which is fine but it gets old after a few of them. None can touch the GOAT Seth, granted.
Overall, the best way I can describe Sacred Stones is that it has neat OST and presentation, but man is the game bland. It has a few neat departures from the standard, but ultimately they're making an already too easy game even easier. For me, I opted out of those features for the most part, and I felt like even as a standard FE game this falls a little flat in most places. Ephraim is funny though because he feels like a Michael Bay movie character in Fire Emblem which is kinda epic.
- Pretty par for the course on GBA Fire Emblems in terms of presentation, looks a little bit more polished than the other two in some areas but ultimately plays the same.
- First game since Gaiden to have a world map, kinda neat throwback to Gaiden but just like in Gaiden it's mostly novelty and not super meaningful. If we're being technical, it actually has less purpose than Gaiden because it's a straight line and you never really have to deal with monster encounters unless you go to grind. Gaiden at least had branching paths in some cases that took you to different dungeons and maps. There are like 3 dungeons in FE8 and they don't really reward you with much of anything except for post game content.
- The easiest game I have played so far, even easier than FE7. I played Ephraim's route for my replay, and even the hardest chapter in that (chapter 14) was still mildly frustrating due to poor luck with status staves.
- Speaking of which, this must be the most straightforward entry thus far, as there are maybe like 3 maps with ballistas, occasionally siege tomes, and mostly just reinforcements to worry about, but they don't move on EP so it's not a huge deal. Yeah there are status staves, but their accuracy is kinda shoddy and you get PLENTY of restore staves, so proper positioning and burning the staves is easy enough.
- Given what I just mentioned, maps are hardly memorable or impactful. They feel pretty devoid of any real thought except for enemy placement and general setting. The bravest Sacred Stones gets with map design is putting you on three small boats in fog of war. Frustrating, sure, but not exactly engaging.
- To give credit where it's due, FE8 has an absolute slapper of a soundtrack. It goes extremely hard for absolutely no reason in some tracks. "Powerful Foe" is a awesome boss theme, "Truth, Despair, and Hope" fucking blew me out of the water the first time I heard it and it still makes me get hyped even on replays, and of course "Prince of Despair" is my favorite GBA main antag theme. In fact, of the three GBA titles, I would say either Sacred Stones has the best OST overall. It starts very mid, but picks up in the mid game and starts to blow your socks off.
- My last critique of Sacred Stones is that the cast of characters is kinda sleepy. I think there are a few awesome standouts like Joshua and Cormag, but otherwise I feel like this game has the most white bread cast up to this point, as without farming supports for dozens of turns, I get almost no characterization from most of the cast when they're recruited. And the few that you do get characterization from are just like knightly types, which is fine but it gets old after a few of them. None can touch the GOAT Seth, granted.
Overall, the best way I can describe Sacred Stones is that it has neat OST and presentation, but man is the game bland. It has a few neat departures from the standard, but ultimately they're making an already too easy game even easier. For me, I opted out of those features for the most part, and I felt like even as a standard FE game this falls a little flat in most places. Ephraim is funny though because he feels like a Michael Bay movie character in Fire Emblem which is kinda epic.