The probably the best of the fire emblem GBA games. Decent story with pretty decent support conversations. Characters are archetypes that aren't deep but have a way into worming into your mind and the game has a enough subtext to them to make them stand out. Really addicting SRPG elements spiced up with the fear of permadeath. However, the best thing about an handheld Fire Emblem game, to both of its detriment and benefit, that its just a well done JRPG that doesn't really break any bounds. Blazing Blade is what probably the epitome of what I want from a good Fire Emblem game. A story that doesn't overstay its welcome, the usual difficulties in trying to navigate the levels, and very good mechanics that make playing it a joy.

+Varied objectives
+Multiple objectives per map lead to side-quests and impactful moments
+Charming team-mates and recruitable units
+Challenging, grid-based combat
+Perma-death enhances importance of choice
+Balanced, controlled combat

-Exploitable bosses allow for grinding of EXP

I like this Fire Emblem a fair bit, despite some rough spots that didn't land for me.

The Blazing Blade looks amazing, with super expressive, smooth animations and lots of unique flourishes for each unit type depending on weapon use, hitting a critical, dodging, etc... The character designs are reminiscent of 90s high fantasy anime, like Record of Lodoss War, rather than the more extreme modern anime style of recent Fire Emblems. I like this approach better -- I can take the characters and events a bit more seriously.

Narratively, the game is fairly generic, but works well enough. The main plot is predictable, made more interesting (and a bit cheesy) by how far they are going to set up relationships and characters that appear in the game Blazing Blade serves as a prequel for, The Binding Blade. The majority of it is simple though overlong. There is a lot we are doing that feels like busywork, rather than something that makes sense in the story. It simply goes on for too long without enough motivation.
Additionally, the first third of the game is a sort of tutorial, where you play as a different character, which I think is a cool narrative device to introduce some major players, but it doesn't really have enough relevance to the main story.

The gameplay is, of course, the driver here. Map designs are mostly interesting, with a mix of small-scale castle assaults and broader field-based battles that are very different, but all feel tactical. Choke points, interesting terrain, and enemy troop placements reward forethought and planning. The weapon triangle is in full effect here, with the addition of a magic triangle that also works pretty well. Advancing your characters feels great because they gain access to new weapons, which lets them cover weaknesses or exploit enemy weaknesses.
Units have linear upgrade paths (cavaliers will always become paladins, warriors will always become knights), but it works fairly well because of the scarcity of upgrade resources. You don't diversify your army by choosing different specializations, but by choosing which specific units you want to advance and when. It really feels like there are a lot of viable units (even the pre-promoted paladin is viable until the end here!) so your army feels like it is truly yours.
Blazing Blade unfortunately does the Fire Emblem thing where the leader of every army has incredible stats and usually doesn't move, so you just have to get your most leveled character up there and hope you can kill them before they kill you. I don't find this to be particularly engaging or challenging and this game in particular ramps it up in the extreme in the last few chapters. It absolutely marred what was otherwise an enjoyable and challenging playthrough.

Blazing Blade holds up super well and is one of the better Fire Emblem games I have tried. It is a stripped down game in comparison to modern entries and lacks some quality of life features, but it is still a solid tactics game that is worth playing.

After a long break from the series since binding blade being extremely difficult for me, blazing blade was a much better introduction to the series as it teaches you the various mechanics well through "Lyn mode" where you start off the story with one of the main lords of the series. The levels in this game are more fun to go through as they are less brutal than the ones in binding blade. It was introduced in binding blade, but I really did supports starting off with this game and it really gives more depth to the 3 lords and characters with the only downside being that a character can only A rank with one character so you will end up not seeing most of the supports. I thought the story is great and especially if you completed a certain support it would blend in well with the storyline.

The pinnacle of handheld gaming for me. I would have my GBA SP ready to go on my breaks at work, fire it on, and would be back in whatever battle I left off in about 5 seconds later. I'd then quick save again at the last possible second after squeezing in "just one more turn".

Giving this series a try is a definite no-brainer for anybody into grid-based strategy games or RPGs. Something about the pacing of battles just feels right. The mechanics aren't overly cumbersome or complex, while also not feeling shallow. There is a permadeath system which is really motivating in making you want to make just the right moves, though it is easy enough to just restart a battle if you lose somebody that you don't want out of commission for the rest of the game.

There are lots of different units to recruit and try out, for the most part they are standard for a fantasy setting, though the weapon triangle (swords>axes>spears>swords, etc) gives it a unique flair.

Each unit also has distinct personality, and every Fire Emblem player will always find their favorites. It's fun to experiment with different party combinations. Some units will complement others better than others, to the point that some pairings will unlock bonus dialogue that gives further backstory and a stat bonus to each. It's a creative way to add actual camaraderie to your squad.

The story isn't anything too out of the ordinary, but it is engaging, competent, and most importantly, does not get in the way of the gameplay.

Definitely worth a play for any S/RPG enthusiast!

A pretty solid entry
Got some decent balancing
at least in the harder difficulties
offers both an accessible experience for newcomers and a more difficult experience for veterans (though its far from the most difficult game in the series)
Overall an enjoyable experience, though it can be a bit of a slog at times

Now that I actually consider myself to be pretty good at Fire Emblem, I thought I'd revisit the first one I played to see how much better I've gotten, this time on Hector Mode. My skills have improved a lot, but this game still remains a great time. Thanks to the in-depth tutorial and fair difficulty, it is easily the best game in the series to start with. It helps that the maps are very well put together, and the characters are very loveable. It may be held back from excellence by a weak story and occasional BS design, but it's still a great SRPG that is well worth your time. I can't think of a better Fire Emblem to be the first one released worldwide. Aside from the original, of course.

I can really appreciate a game series as dense as Fire Emblem finding a comfortable home on Nintendo’s premiere handheld platform, giving players an opportunity for more intensive experiences between the more bite-sized games most conducive to portable play. There was actually a number of RPGs which flourished on the Gameboy Advance, so it seems only natural now that Fire Emblem would see similar success, despite not yet having been tested in the west. Hindsight has demonstrated now that the series has actually performed best on handheld systems over here, between the still-treasured reputations of the two localized GBA titles, the series’ resurrection from imminent death in Awakening, and now two smash hits on the Switch. But Fire Emblem 7 (or, the Blazing Blade) really started it all, in the west anyway. The earlier entry on the system remains a Japan exclusive title, but it may have been for the best that way, as it left room for Intelligent Systems to learn first how to make the series work on a handheld platform, which then allowed for refinement and a more structured introduction to the series to be produced with a follow up prequel title consciously geared towards introducing new players to the series.

FE 7 is especially strong in this way, without hampering the experience for veteran players in the process. All the mechanical developments and evolutions the series has thus far introduced remain here, and are methodically tutorialized through a prologue section of the game (which can be skipped in subsequent playthroughs on harder difficulties). There isn’t a great deal of challenge in these early chapters, and it comes with a distinct lack of consequence for shoddy positioning as the permanent death feature the series is known for doesn’t occur in earnest until after these initial ten chapters have been completed. For new players this is a great way to slowly learn the mechanics and stakes of the series without getting overwhelmed or overly punished out the gate, and for experienced players it’s a mostly harmless easy mode to start with. This lengthy segment of the game might have ended up feeling tedious if the story and characters weren’t strong enough to compensate for the very basic gameplay and difficulty early on, but thankfully FE7 grabs you quickly with an eclectic cast of endearing character archetypes and stunning design work radiating with personality. The animation and character portrait work are perhaps FE7’s most astonishing feature. Battle animations especially stand out as dynamically exciting and impactful expressions of the skirmishes playing out on the battlefield. When they’re not shaking the screen to simulate an earth-shattering blow they’re often humorous and cheeky, building off a character’s established personality and further distinguishing them from other tactics games’ generic infantry analogue.

Where FE7 falls short is less in its overt flaws and more in its lack of outstanding strengths measured against its peers. Solely from a gameplay perspective, FE7 doesn’t bring anything especially of note that other entries in the series had not already or did not go on to provide in equal measure. The main element that sets it apart from other Fire Emblem games is its role as an introductory game for the franchise, which it accomplishes quite admirably. It never sacrifices vital components of the series’ identity in doing this, including the famed difficulty often associated with the games. After the cakewalk tutorial section the gloves come off and the player is forced to be a lot more methodical in their unit deployment and placement. There’s a touch of mechanical difficulty for players used to later titles in which enemy ranges can be turned on and off to view throughout the battle, as that particularly useful function has yet to be implemented here. It’s advised, then, to be extra cautious in one’s consideration of enemy movements, as it’s much easier here to make a tragic mistake, and without the rewind features of more recent entries, these costly errors can be especially devastating. Although the difficulty of the series remains a fixture of FE7, it is disseminated rather sporadically. There’s a pretty natural spike in challenge about five or six chapters before the endgame, but then the difficulty mellows out again right up until the last chapter, where the game ratchets up to an astronomical degree. It’s not so imposing as to be insurmountable, however, and in a way it felt properly epic to have my strategic skills tested to the limit as the ultimate obstacle to completing the game.

Much like the refined, exemplary, yet undistinguished gameplay, the story of FE7 is servicably terrific. One of the foundational appeals of the series since its inception has always been the medieval setting and design of its world and characters, with just a sprinkling of fantasy elements thrown in for a sense of spectacle. FE7 executes this philosophy flawlessly, presenting a cast and conflict that is distinctly appealing but which falls short of being especially memorable. The continent of Elibe isn’t sketched in quite enough detail for me to properly envision it as an interconnected world with a rich history as other Fire Emblem games have achieved, but the primary characters of the narrative and their complementary dynamics fill in some of the blanks left by the bigger picture storytelling going on in the grand scheme. The central villains of the game being a dark cult seeking to harness an all-powerful magic is a nice, relatively grounded conflict compared to where the series has gone since this entry, and a reminder of how a simple story can remain engaging by means of deft execution and strong presentation. Those dual facets are ultimately the indefatigable ethos of FE7: a strong iteration of the iconic and unparalleled tactical RPG franchise that makes up for its lack of innovation through sleek refinement and winning personality. It’s easy to see how it became a fan favorite, as even beyond being the first game for many in the western hemisphere, its qualities have stood the test of time and revealed but a few flaws the series has continued to refine away since this quintessential title was first placed into our hands.

The first Fire Emblem game released outside of Japan. The second produced without the series creator, Shouzou Kaga. The third Fire Emblem I’d ever played.

Blazing Blade is a good game. To prematurely summarize my feelings, I believe it is the most quintessential and “standard FE” in the series. Not Shadow Dragon, this game, feels like it exemplifies the very very core of Fire Emblem without a ton of extra flourishes for better and worse.

While I did say this was the third FE I played, it was the first I fully completed, I only made it to the Ghost Ship of Sacred Stones as a little kid, and not far into Mystery of the Emblem after. I bring this up because I think Lyn Mode is a fine enough tutorial and boosts up a new player’s confidence by giving them so many tools, even if you’re not a Fire Emblem master by the end of it, you feel like you learned a lot and completed a big story objective. It’s a great tutorial, even if too easy for veterans.

I like the variety of map objectives in this game, the general character balance, and the characters. It might be nostalgia talking on the last two but this game’s immense presence in online circles around unit discussion and character writing sticks with me.

The plot itself is just fine to me. It’s not my favorite, but it’s good enough. As I stated earlier, it’s very standard. The standouts are the trio of main characters, Eliwood, Lyn, and Hector. They’re always fun to see interact and their differences in personality are entertaining, Hector especially. To be honest I feel that way about the soundtrack too, there aren’t many standouts to me but I don’t dislike it, the whole OST is just “fine”.

However, a big comparison that doesn’t often come up, is how often this game rips straight out of Tear Ring Saga, you can find an analog to damn near every plot element from this game in Tear Ring Saga, except that game has better map design, more fun mechanics and units, and a more compelling story. I could list them all out but I don’t want to bloat this review too much, however if anyone’s interested I could list them in replies.

I do have a big soft spot for Fire Emblem The Blazing Blade. It is a very fun game, solidly designed. The biggest flaw this game shows is just, not being super standout. It’s good but not exceptional. Definitely worth a checkout and the one I always recommend as a perfect starting point for the series.

The first Fire Emblem game to be localized in the West, it's the seventh installment but better late than never.
This one is a great introduction too because the first campaign doesn't require any previous knowledge and serves as a tutorial for the rest of the game. I should probably mention The Blazing Blade is a prequel to Fire Emblem 6, but it's not necessary to play that in order to understand the plot.
Overall, I really liked Fire Emblem 7. I don't think it's necessary to explain any further since the game speaks for itself and this isn't a particularly obscure series. I'd say it's even good for SRPG beginners.