The West’s introduction to Nintendo’s storied tactical JRPG franchise, Fire Emblem 7 is perhaps the best-presented Fire Emblem game, containing some of the best animation and sprite work on the GBA. It has some glaring issues, though, like a story full of painfully generic fantasy JRPG tripe that can’t help but fizzle out every time it threatens to go somewhere interesting, battles that are best played on an emulator with a fast-forward button, cutscenes that inexplicably autoplay dialogue at a dismally slow speed, and a late game full of inconsistent difficulty spikes if you're not aware of how best to min-max your party, how to get the good equipment, or which characters turn out to be useless or outclassed later on. I appreciate a challenge, but this game frequently isn’t, until it is.

I love the series’ trademark permadeath system, but I find it better in theory than I do in practice. It adds weight to your decisions, ups the challenge, and forces you to make tough calls about who you’re REALLY attached to. It also results in the game handing you a lot of useless duplicate class characters which frequently either replace ones you have or add little of value. Besides that, there are simply too many for all but a few to get any real character development. The way they’re referred to as “units” rather than “characters” is telling. Yet several plot-centric characters are capital-R Required, so upon “death,” either they become incapacitated so as not to affect the story, or you get an unceremonious game over. Now go replay the past twenty minutes because another swordsman with no personality died. See, this one has red hair, so he’s important.

I'd rather Fire Emblem take a page from western RPGs and give us a story that adapts to how we play, offering multiple endings and branching paths as consolation for our mistakes--and as a reward for our successes. Instead, FE7 opts for half measures. Choices have substantial gameplay weight, but are let down by a narrative that doesn't care about them. I understand this kind of design is a big burden on development, but I’d gladly take 10-20 chapters in a world that reacts to my choices, has characters worth caring about, and allows me to fail forward over this game’s set of 30+ linear, occasionally bland, frustrating chapters.

Of course, that’s asking a lot of a Game Boy Advance game. The gameplay, when everything falls into place and the challenge feels tuned precisely to your skills, is still sublimely satisfying. A character surviving almost-certain death with a lucky dodge or crit is as exhilarating as it is frustrating to lose an essential one to the same things. Out-maneuvering the opponent feels supremely rewarding, which makes it all the more annoying when an unannounced reinforcement punishes you for simply playing how the game had encouraged you. (Some Fire Emblem games have reinforcements that can move and attack on their first turn--at least I don’t recall this happening in this game.) Fire Emblem at its best--when it lives up to its promise--is incredibly fun. I just wish this one did so more often.

Likely the first Fire Emblem game for many (myself included), Blazing Blade (or FE7) is a perfect introduction to the franchise thanks to its simple and straightforward systems. Unlike most modern FE entries, Blazing Blade has no reclassing (each character has a set class and promotion) and no skill system, meaning that you won't spend hours thinking about how to build your heroes and, instead, you'll just focus on how to best use them during battle. FE7's story is also pretty straightforward but, thanks to a fun cast, quite enjoyable. Recommended.

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!