Fire Emblem: The Sacred StonesNow, I love the previous Fire Emblem released for GBA, and Path of Radiance as well. So it truly pains me to see this abomination of a game. There are few games that I've played that have left such a sour aftertaste in my mouth, but I'm afraid that I will have to add FE2, also known as Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, to this list.
I spent my £29.99 on this with joy, hoping to receive a strategy RPG adventure on par with the masterworks that were FE1 and FE3. I've only played up to Chapter 4 so far, but I must say that the developers were on some kind of drug when they were working on FE2.
The Fire Emblem games have always been about challenges; your handful of troops, maybe a dozen or less, against hordes of enemies. But what challenge is there when the enemies have a staggering Speed stat of 0? The lackluster graphics of the FE series have paled in comparison to the PSP's library, and up until now, I've found this tolerable. Up until now. I'm willing to pay $30 for a pile of steaming crap, but only if said pile of steaming crap is incredibly pretty. I've played for less than an hour, and I can only come up with a single pro for this atrocity, compared with nearly infinite cons.
Pros:
- The graphics, while not astoundingly better than FE1's, have been slightly cleaned up and look more polished. However, in the long run, this doesn't matter, because you can get XBox games that are much prettier than this.
Cons:
- There is next to no character development. The R in RPG stands for Role. Combined, the entire cast of characters have as deep a personality as the cardboard box their game is shipped in. You feel no sympathy for these bland, personality devoid, drone-like peons you send off to fight. You feel no anger against your enemies. It's mind-numbingly dull.
- Difficulty. Or lack thereof. As I mentioned before, the FE games, at least as evidenced by FE1 for GameBoy Advance and FE3 for GameCube, are supposed to be about difficulty. In HHM, or even on some chapters in the easier modes in Fire Emblem, you're fighting tooth and nail against enemies who easily outnumber you three to one for victory. The same applies for the GC's Path of Radiance. In the atrocity known as FE2, or The Sacred Stones, you have some of the most ridiculously overpowered allies ever seen and stupidly weak enemies. Why have the developers made enemies with stats that may reach three at the very highest?
- My DS is equipped with X and Y buttons for a reason. This reason is for them to be used, not to be utterly useless. Now, FE3/Path of Radiance was released on the GameCube, so it doesn't apply to this. Nor does FE1, because while it's also a GBA title, it was released far before the DS was shipped out. I see no reason why the perfectly functioning X and Y buttons on my DS are rendered useless for this trash heap of a game.
Countless other cons I could name but don't come to mind right now.
umm.. dude this isnt fire emblem 2, its fire emblem 8/ fire emblem the scared stones.... fire emblem 2 was made like 16 years ago on the super nintendo plus this game is classic its awesome i think you were on some kind of drug when you wrote this review! fire emblem sacred stones wasnt as good as fire emblem 7 but it was still good. fire emblem 1 through 6 werent released in the u.s. the fire emblem 1 and 3 you are really 7 and 9 but beleive what you want i mean everyone has there own opinion... but dude seriously if you dont like this game there something seriously wrong with you... ps you have no taste in in RPG stradegy games....
1) He knew this was FE 8, but not everybody that has played all the Japanese games would know that. To them, this is FE 2. 2) He is right. The game is pretty reaaaaly bad.
1) He knew this was FE 8, but not everybody that has played all the Japanese games would know that. To them, this is FE 2.
2) He is right. The game is
prettyreaaaaly bad.