Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is a Japanese Super Famicom tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It was released on May 14, 1996 in Japan. It is the fourth title in the Fire Emblem series, the second Fire Emblem title for the Super Famicom, and the last game produced by the late Gunpei Yokoi. It was released on the Japanese Virtual Console service on January 30, 2007. The game was originally to be titled as Fire Emblem: Light Inheritors.
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Sigurd keşke gerçek olsa da adamı olsam
Substitute run!
Gen 2 took me a lot longer to get through than it usually does, I honestly had a better time with gen 1 tho since I didn’t have to worry about pairings
Still one of the greatest games I’ve ever played
Gen 2 took me a lot longer to get through than it usually does, I honestly had a better time with gen 1 tho since I didn’t have to worry about pairings
Still one of the greatest games I’ve ever played
Puedes jugarlo una sola vez y considerarlo una obra maestra, o lo juegas más de 3 veces y aceptas los numerosos cambios forzosos de ritmo que rompen la inmersión del juego haciéndolo aburrido de rejugar, y eso en un Fire Emblem es simplemente horrible.
Sigue siendo un gran juego, más no uno que se debe tomar como ejemplo para juegos posteriores o como el pináculo de la franquicia.
Sigue siendo un gran juego, más no uno que se debe tomar como ejemplo para juegos posteriores o como el pináculo de la franquicia.
Fire Emblem 4 (FE 4) to keep it short and sweet for the review. This is the 4th Fire Emblem on my personal journey with playing the games by their production order which has been a real good time so far. First things first, the game itself already stands out on its own with the topic of the gameplay. After the success of Fire Emblem Mystery of the Emblem, Shouzou Kaga wanted to expand further and intended on making the next game more open-world heavy, with the romance mechanic too originating from this game alongside the two generations that plays a key role in the game. As well, a journey that's not like any other Fire Emblem, welcome to the continent of Jugdral.
The game has 12 Chapters but each map are a whole continent of the kingdoms, usually taking a good while to beat as a result compared to the average FE map in other mainline entries. Alongside the animations being pretty standard here (tho the crit animations are underrated for the game) , not being able to skip and all that. The continents of the game make each chapter feel like you are really experiencing the world of the Jugdral continent. However, the game can feel extremely slow at times because of the maps. For instance, the best travel in the game are usually horse-based units while foot units tend to be behind, especially in the pre-promotions. As well the game introduces the current Weapon Triangle System modern FE uses, tho the game is unusual like it has no limit on the amount of units who can be used and everyone has their own gold to worry about than the normal everyone sharing it with a limit of 50,000. The unique systems themselves are weird and while I don't think they the worst thing, I think it works well with the game but the movement is a big annoyance since some chapters require a lot of prep time before conquering the castle. The main system though is the romance system, this is essential to know as the game before a certain point allows you to have two characters get together and have children that affect their stats/skills depending on the couple's level. I think the system is really good, it offers a lot of replayability as each couple's child varies. Now they do give you a substitute child if they die or don't get together with anyone in the gen 1 cast, which doesn't affect much outside of skills, stats, inventory but you do miss out on the blood system that allows for the use of the holy weapons. The holy weapons are the best weapons that can help out with the endgame. You can do a lot with both substitute and actual children outside of that, FE 4 is a game that allows you to do any run, especially the funny Sigurd carry run. Overall on the gameplay, it definitely was ahead of its time but it needs some clean-up on some notes like the movement, though I'd say the game isn't the most difficult FE, it has its hard and intense moments but I'd say its still pretty balanced with well thought strategy and some annoying things like Sleep Staffs.
The story itself, FE 4 begins with the history of the continent the game is set in, Jugdral. It begins like a normal FE timeline wise until the mention of the Dark God Loptous and the Loptr Empire/Church comes in and easily brings up the darkest moments in the FEs by far and the many rebellions and eventually the Twelve Crusaders. These Twelve Crusaders play a key role in the story and build off to the current state of the game. The story sets up a conflict that slowly builds up and up in the escalation from the behind-the-scenes politics, the dialogue with the main couple Sigurd and Deirdre, and finally the big moment happens that then begins the 2nd half of the game, the second generation, which from that point plays like the normal FE story. Saving kingdoms and making sure things get fixed. The first generation in my opinion has the best FE story elements that I love in a game that makes sure you feel the pain, the funny from people you love, and the tragedy of the journey. The story isn't perfect like how rushed Sigurd and Deirdre's relationship feels and the antagonists being one-off grunts as always but it has a story that is top tier and stands out on its own as a story worth experiencing, even the dialogue with the cast are full of personality such as the couple dialogue. Second generation playing out like a normal FE works given the context of the story imo, the game makes it clear that the mistakes made will be fixed and the theme about how hope blooms in the darkest places is a beautiful one, especially in a dark continent like Jugdral.
Now on the sound of the game, FE 4's OST and sound is just beautiful. The sound of the game is just satisfiyng to the ears, from the level up theme, the crit sounds and the wonderful menu clicks. Great stuff from the Super Famicon period. On that note, the OST is the best part of the game, each chapter has its own track and they all sound good to great. From Dragon Knights of Thracia to Disturbance in Agustria (the vocal version is also just as good) and finally the Ally Attack theme being one of the best battles theme so far in the FE journey. The music in general is its own beast on how good it is such as Glorious Grandbell, The Final Holy War and finally the absolute masterpiece the Fire Emblem Theme. You cannot go wrong with FE 4.
Overall, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is a game that I will absolutely recommend to any Strategy fan who wants something fresh yet unique, this game is something we'll never see in a future Fire Emblem which makes it stand out more in my opinion. It may be a old FE but its still a real good time to play for those who want to experience Fire Emblem at both its darkest and a solid strategy game. 8/10 P.S. do it for Ayra my beloved Myrmidon.
The game has 12 Chapters but each map are a whole continent of the kingdoms, usually taking a good while to beat as a result compared to the average FE map in other mainline entries. Alongside the animations being pretty standard here (tho the crit animations are underrated for the game) , not being able to skip and all that. The continents of the game make each chapter feel like you are really experiencing the world of the Jugdral continent. However, the game can feel extremely slow at times because of the maps. For instance, the best travel in the game are usually horse-based units while foot units tend to be behind, especially in the pre-promotions. As well the game introduces the current Weapon Triangle System modern FE uses, tho the game is unusual like it has no limit on the amount of units who can be used and everyone has their own gold to worry about than the normal everyone sharing it with a limit of 50,000. The unique systems themselves are weird and while I don't think they the worst thing, I think it works well with the game but the movement is a big annoyance since some chapters require a lot of prep time before conquering the castle. The main system though is the romance system, this is essential to know as the game before a certain point allows you to have two characters get together and have children that affect their stats/skills depending on the couple's level. I think the system is really good, it offers a lot of replayability as each couple's child varies. Now they do give you a substitute child if they die or don't get together with anyone in the gen 1 cast, which doesn't affect much outside of skills, stats, inventory but you do miss out on the blood system that allows for the use of the holy weapons. The holy weapons are the best weapons that can help out with the endgame. You can do a lot with both substitute and actual children outside of that, FE 4 is a game that allows you to do any run, especially the funny Sigurd carry run. Overall on the gameplay, it definitely was ahead of its time but it needs some clean-up on some notes like the movement, though I'd say the game isn't the most difficult FE, it has its hard and intense moments but I'd say its still pretty balanced with well thought strategy and some annoying things like Sleep Staffs.
The story itself, FE 4 begins with the history of the continent the game is set in, Jugdral. It begins like a normal FE timeline wise until the mention of the Dark God Loptous and the Loptr Empire/Church comes in and easily brings up the darkest moments in the FEs by far and the many rebellions and eventually the Twelve Crusaders. These Twelve Crusaders play a key role in the story and build off to the current state of the game. The story sets up a conflict that slowly builds up and up in the escalation from the behind-the-scenes politics, the dialogue with the main couple Sigurd and Deirdre, and finally the big moment happens that then begins the 2nd half of the game, the second generation, which from that point plays like the normal FE story. Saving kingdoms and making sure things get fixed. The first generation in my opinion has the best FE story elements that I love in a game that makes sure you feel the pain, the funny from people you love, and the tragedy of the journey. The story isn't perfect like how rushed Sigurd and Deirdre's relationship feels and the antagonists being one-off grunts as always but it has a story that is top tier and stands out on its own as a story worth experiencing, even the dialogue with the cast are full of personality such as the couple dialogue. Second generation playing out like a normal FE works given the context of the story imo, the game makes it clear that the mistakes made will be fixed and the theme about how hope blooms in the darkest places is a beautiful one, especially in a dark continent like Jugdral.
Now on the sound of the game, FE 4's OST and sound is just beautiful. The sound of the game is just satisfiyng to the ears, from the level up theme, the crit sounds and the wonderful menu clicks. Great stuff from the Super Famicon period. On that note, the OST is the best part of the game, each chapter has its own track and they all sound good to great. From Dragon Knights of Thracia to Disturbance in Agustria (the vocal version is also just as good) and finally the Ally Attack theme being one of the best battles theme so far in the FE journey. The music in general is its own beast on how good it is such as Glorious Grandbell, The Final Holy War and finally the absolute masterpiece the Fire Emblem Theme. You cannot go wrong with FE 4.
Overall, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is a game that I will absolutely recommend to any Strategy fan who wants something fresh yet unique, this game is something we'll never see in a future Fire Emblem which makes it stand out more in my opinion. It may be a old FE but its still a real good time to play for those who want to experience Fire Emblem at both its darkest and a solid strategy game. 8/10 P.S. do it for Ayra my beloved Myrmidon.
My favorite game of all time
What a cool, innovative SNES RPG, let's never do this again.
When I was in high school and well before the "good" English patch, Genealogy of the Holy War was my favorite Fire Emblem game. I played mostly blind and missed major chunks of the game outside of pairings. I gave the two main lords of the game as much experience and rings as I could, and I had very little issue with the game's more defining mechanics, because I didn't really have to engage with them. Why the fuck do I care about turn count? I never played this game without an emulator. Years later, I decided to try to pick up all of the side events and neat little tools that I skipped originally. It turned the game into a tedious ordeal.
Becoming aware of this game's mechanics and properly trying to utilize them, instead of becoming accustomed to them over the course of multiple playthroughs (because it's 1996 and what else are you gonna play?) directly hurt my enjoyment of the game. The map design/money system/etc are not fun to deal with in an optimal way. It feels worse not to constantly try to use Dew to get more cash (before he gets his 1-2 range sword), but it also means having to constantly babysit this vital unit made of tissue paper and dodge chance. Arden getting the pursuit ring in a casual playthough is a fun little sidequest. Arden getting the ring through rescue staffing in a reasonable time isn't. Chapter 2 has a ton of these little side objectives (despite being a very linear map!) that you can just fail due to being one turn behind (the game expects you to get the bargain ring, a very useful item in a very specific way) or the AI deciding to suicide before the map starts proper, forcing a reset and lengthy arena grinding before you can continue.
These side objectives and map designs also turn units that shouldn't feel that bad to use (like Arden) into benchwarmers because there's no feasible way that they could see action before my arbitrary lose conditions were fulfilled. I say arbitrary because you desperately don't need every single tool the game gives you, nor should you constantly reset for stupid shit like the knight ring. The money system is very generous on a casual level, and only feels restrictive if you're constantly trying to juggle the paragon ring across the cast, or staff abusing. At the end of the game, I had Jesus on Wheels Jr, I had multiple units with genetically exclusive weapons of mass destruction, I felt no pressure actually tying the game up in a bow.
Despite not having a good time with this last run, I still have a very positive opinion on FE4. I think that the music, while not exceptional like Tharacia, was really solid. The game looks stellar for a 1996 SNES release. The plot, for where the series was at that point, rules and is a great subversion and embrace of series tropes. Having bloodlines that are superior to others is outright reactionary, but it's Fire Emblem. It's like going into an Atlus game post Persona-2 and expecting them not to sneak in the f slur. Sucks, but we live in hell, you should know this by now.
Outside of "if you try to play this with a hyper-optimized mindset 30 years after the game's release, it's gonna suck ass", you do start to see the limitations of the game's format pretty quickly. Characters that should have major plot relevance are given generic portraits. Dialogue between party members is greatly expanded from the previous games, but still have to account for the large potential roster and limited cartridge space (if you've beaten Final Fantasy VI before, similar to how all of the endings revolve around the characters needed to beat the game). The party members that aren't of the aforementioned problematic master race are (for the most part, Hannibal's son being the major exception) boring as hell, and their unique dialogue consists of "damn, I wish I was born an ubermensch, I suck and should just go home". It's sandpaper around the edges, and if you try to tear the game apart.
Simple way to avoid this issue though? Don't tear the game apart. Pair up your units in the first generation, accept the fact that trying to keep Patty alive in chapter 7 might require a few resets (atrocious half of the chapter), and try to beat the game in the least painful way possible. The game's going to give you enough wacky tools to turn all but five enemies in the game into a fine pink mist if you so much as look at them. I'm very glad we got FE4 in the state that we did, and going forward the series would learn from this game's major experiments. Just, don't go for a ranked run, there are better games in the series for that mindset.
me hanging out with the flunky squad at belhalla like
When I was in high school and well before the "good" English patch, Genealogy of the Holy War was my favorite Fire Emblem game. I played mostly blind and missed major chunks of the game outside of pairings. I gave the two main lords of the game as much experience and rings as I could, and I had very little issue with the game's more defining mechanics, because I didn't really have to engage with them. Why the fuck do I care about turn count? I never played this game without an emulator. Years later, I decided to try to pick up all of the side events and neat little tools that I skipped originally. It turned the game into a tedious ordeal.
Becoming aware of this game's mechanics and properly trying to utilize them, instead of becoming accustomed to them over the course of multiple playthroughs (because it's 1996 and what else are you gonna play?) directly hurt my enjoyment of the game. The map design/money system/etc are not fun to deal with in an optimal way. It feels worse not to constantly try to use Dew to get more cash (before he gets his 1-2 range sword), but it also means having to constantly babysit this vital unit made of tissue paper and dodge chance. Arden getting the pursuit ring in a casual playthough is a fun little sidequest. Arden getting the ring through rescue staffing in a reasonable time isn't. Chapter 2 has a ton of these little side objectives (despite being a very linear map!) that you can just fail due to being one turn behind (the game expects you to get the bargain ring, a very useful item in a very specific way) or the AI deciding to suicide before the map starts proper, forcing a reset and lengthy arena grinding before you can continue.
These side objectives and map designs also turn units that shouldn't feel that bad to use (like Arden) into benchwarmers because there's no feasible way that they could see action before my arbitrary lose conditions were fulfilled. I say arbitrary because you desperately don't need every single tool the game gives you, nor should you constantly reset for stupid shit like the knight ring. The money system is very generous on a casual level, and only feels restrictive if you're constantly trying to juggle the paragon ring across the cast, or staff abusing. At the end of the game, I had Jesus on Wheels Jr, I had multiple units with genetically exclusive weapons of mass destruction, I felt no pressure actually tying the game up in a bow.
Despite not having a good time with this last run, I still have a very positive opinion on FE4. I think that the music, while not exceptional like Tharacia, was really solid. The game looks stellar for a 1996 SNES release. The plot, for where the series was at that point, rules and is a great subversion and embrace of series tropes. Having bloodlines that are superior to others is outright reactionary, but it's Fire Emblem. It's like going into an Atlus game post Persona-2 and expecting them not to sneak in the f slur. Sucks, but we live in hell, you should know this by now.
Outside of "if you try to play this with a hyper-optimized mindset 30 years after the game's release, it's gonna suck ass", you do start to see the limitations of the game's format pretty quickly. Characters that should have major plot relevance are given generic portraits. Dialogue between party members is greatly expanded from the previous games, but still have to account for the large potential roster and limited cartridge space (if you've beaten Final Fantasy VI before, similar to how all of the endings revolve around the characters needed to beat the game). The party members that aren't of the aforementioned problematic master race are (for the most part, Hannibal's son being the major exception) boring as hell, and their unique dialogue consists of "damn, I wish I was born an ubermensch, I suck and should just go home". It's sandpaper around the edges, and if you try to tear the game apart.
Simple way to avoid this issue though? Don't tear the game apart. Pair up your units in the first generation, accept the fact that trying to keep Patty alive in chapter 7 might require a few resets (atrocious half of the chapter), and try to beat the game in the least painful way possible. The game's going to give you enough wacky tools to turn all but five enemies in the game into a fine pink mist if you so much as look at them. I'm very glad we got FE4 in the state that we did, and going forward the series would learn from this game's major experiments. Just, don't go for a ranked run, there are better games in the series for that mindset.
me hanging out with the flunky squad at belhalla like