I don't know, man. There's plenty to like here—charming characters, a cute story, semi-compelling political drama, good (enough) maps, gorgeous GBA aesthetic, whatever. But I've been frustrated and dragging my feet playing this. There is a tiny little fence between me and having fun, and no matter what I do, I cannot hop over it and be compelled to finish this game. That fence is named Seth.

Let me be clear. Lovely guy. Seems really sweet. But he is a sponge on the hypothalamus of my brain. He sucks up every drop of serotonin produced while playing this game. Instead of pumping my fist and shaking hands with another comically muscular man before we ride in a helicopter and are tricked into a death battle with a technologically superior alien species that only one of us escapes alive, I'm sucking my thumb and honk-shooing in my nightcap and gown beside a brick-and-mortar fireplace. Seth is the single most overpowered character I have ever seen in any video game. Still, with like 5 or 6 chapters left in the entire game, he one-shots every normal enemy and two-shots every boss. What are we doing here? Seth bends the very map design around him. Choke-points are no longer threatening. I stand slack-jawed as I drop the red-haired menace in front of 300 enemy goons, praying they will be enough to end his reign. Yet he stands steadfast as they all line up and take turns missing every attack and dying instantly. The Australian government cannot produce enough iron lances to feed into the Seth-powered enemy chipper. He is less a man and more an industrial machine.

Seth has ruined the thrill of permadeath. He has ruined my investment in the combat. He has stolen my crops, and he has pillaged my coffers. I never want to see this man again!

There is a lot to be said about how novel the pacing of this game is and how much I enjoy saving only at the end of chapters (and the chapter structure itself), but I'll save it for when I actually finish one of these things.

One of the most accessible entry points to the Fire Emblem franchise, but it comes with a few foibles that might put established fans off.

Like many Fire Emblem games, our story here is centred around some heroic folk having to resist oppression and deal with a great big fantasy bust-up. In this case we take command of the twin scions of Renais, Eirika and Ephraim. The pair escape the invasion of their home by an evil empire and rally forces across the world to fight back, as well as investigating what caused their once-allies to turn so bad. The overall narrative's never really the draw in Fire Emblem though - it's all about the character writing! It's reasonably good stuff, and taking the time to do multiple playthroughs to find all the different interactions is as rewarding and satisfying as ever. The twins at the core of the story are a bit Game-of-Thronesy though, if you get my drift, and their interactions are just on the side of too uncomfortable.

The general gameplay is the usual Fire Emblem fare. It's a tactics RPG, so we've got a big grid around which we move our units, paying attention to terrain and the series' typical weapons triangle to make sure that you've the best chance each turn of winning your battles and not losing your units. Of course, this is Fire Emblem, so when I say "losing" a unit I mean that they die; yep, we've got permadeath as per the series' wont, and it's part of what makes any entry in the franchise brilliant for stat-obsessed weirdos who are happy to plan every turn meticulously and then reset through furious tears because one unit died (hi, it's me, I'm the problem, it's me). However, The Sacred Stones upsets some fans because it lets you level grind units in a repeatable dungeon; I personally love this because it helps alleviate some of the challenge, making the entire game more accessible. It is optional though, so you don't have to engage with it.