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.

its that time of the year when i remember fire emblem exists and i play a new installment so im gonna be real with you binding blade left me with a sour taste in my mouth and i ended up dropping the series marathon for the time being that could actually give you a clue to what i generally think about fe6 without reading my review

since i actually am a madman and actually wanted to explore some more of the gba titles i ended up booting blazing blade and while it could be argued that this is by no means a masterpiece in the series (ive only played a few games so i cant really say much about this) its pretty interesting to see that they managed to fix some of the issues i had with binding blade

in the great scope of things this is a prequel to fe6 it takes place in the same land and stars most of the parents youre gonna see during your time in elibe and a new entry in the whole franchise and also ready to become the favorite girl of a lot of guys in the entire series lyn

i definitely enjoyed the characters in this one way more than the other game since they actually feel more fleshed out with some more understandable motives diving the game setting into 2 completely different campaigns where in the first one youre gonna play as fan favorite lyndis trying to save his grandfather which is actually a general tutorial to the entire game and fire emblem as a whole and the second part of the campaign stars eliwood whos the father of the other fan favorite roy from fe6 and hector whos the father of MY FAVORITE SWEET LITTLE CHILD lilina

this rooster of character is probably one of the strongest ive seen in the entire franchise till now lyn is as determined as she is brave but her story shines the light on a scarred and emotional woman who found in her independence a way to work through life

while i definitely think lyns story is the weakest one of the 2 this doesnt mean it didnt touch some high highs here and even though it just acts as a tutorial for the entire game that doesnt mean its gonna be devoid of any challenge or fun to play through and the idea of dividing the actual game into different parts made both of the stories more digestible since i usually just play one chapter of fire emblem then get stuck and replay it after like 3 months this is the usual praxis

so all in all lyns side of the story is pretty great if you ask me but the real meat of the game is eliwoods part of the story (i have no idea if hector hard mode is actually just the same story beats or an entire new storyline maybe with hectors POV because i havents played it since “hard mode” made me shit my pants as soon as i read it) and this is actually where the game stops handholding you and gets into unknown territory and a real trial to see if you actually learnt some shit from the tutorial

eliwoods tale sees him going in a search for his father but as youre gonna guess in fire emblems usual flair the plotline is gonna escalate into the whole dragon lore and shit like that but im not gonna say anything here because im not the most competent guy to actually talk about fire emblems story and in general the best stuff always comes at the end so youre advised what im gonna say though is that compared to fe6 both lyns side and this one actually have some tighter pacing and characters are usually more fleshed out than its sequels counterparts and eliwood and hector make for an intoxicatingly good pair and also as incredible lords for the entire party eliwood is more on the usual “shonen ish protagonist with a lot of empathy love for his land and people and a pacifist and charismatic leader” or some shit like that but its pretty evident that they gave him a lot more nuance compared to his son maybe also for his age and for how hot he is sorry uwu what REALLY makes it worth is though are his interactions with hector which not so different from him but definitely on the more aggressive and belligerent side of things (hot) hes more of an act first think later type of guy (hot) with some beefy arms and an axe bigger than a tree (hot) and the friendly rivalry they create (or better the homoerotic tension they create) actually steals the spotlight for any other character to actually shine i love these two with all my essence and being while i do agree that eliwood is the bestes boy hector is in the archetype of my fictional boyfriend type so im always gonna take his side and take his mmmmm i cant say this here moving on

this game continues the tradition of the other gba title to actually throw at you countless and countless playable characters so of course some of them are gonna shine above the others and it is no surprise that i fell in love at first sight with ninian and shes definitely one of the highlight of the games beside being an incredibly effective plot point throughout she has a design beaten for the gods and while she doesnt end up fucking XXX i can definitely be his husband i cook i clean i pay the taxes and watch the kids and before you say it no unfortunately i dont like nils i prefer his hot sister teehee sooooooorry yall

if you know me you know i had no other choice but love jaffar and what i was definitely not expecting is the fact that i would end up loving him not only because hes hot but also due to the fact that he has some of the thickest character development in the entire game compared to the other guys in the circus and also his relationship with nino made me absolutely tear my hair off i love those two like my own babies but unfortunately i wanted jaffar all by myself so i need nino to step right off right about NOW

you can also see that the quality of the character design actually made a huge jump because the usual green and red knight actually have some nuance to them in particular im in love with sain who acts as the usual womanizer type of guy and somehow always manage to get zero pussy in the process which makes kent even more endearing because being an asexual virgin completes the duo and makes for a great chemistry (read: theyre gay and have a lot of sex)

some other highlight are florina my sweet little baby with fear of men (shes right to do so) matthew is a conniving bitch and im gonna bet my life he makes for an endearing power bottom marcus is still a bull even in this game rebecca is ,,, CUTE ! i like her i think and raven is a damn good hunk of a man older brother type of character with a lot of meat in his part and i love those overprotective bro figure because i always wanted one im so sorry yall fiora and isadora are my lesbian mothers and i want them to walk me with a leash hawkeye has big tits heath has big hair harken has a big fucking cock no half words i can feel his might through the screen love that guy im free on saturday

so theres that also honorable mention lloyd is probably one of the hottest guy in all fire emblem i was DROOLING dont get me started

as i was saying in general this is probably the tightest narrative in the gba trilogy (havent played sacred stones i dont know if i actually want to rn because im growing tired of these games) and i can see a lot more care being put in the story and character side of things that i unfortunately didnt see when playing fe6 not that its a bad game but i can say that blazing blade pisses in his mouth ong

cant really add anything more in the art direction and music department because its basically the same as fe6 and i already praised it at that time but TLDR the sprite works and animations are probably my favorite in the entire franchise the pixelated artworks and oversaturated art style really add a lot to the general sense of style and makes for an unforgettable view the music is pretty much usual fire emblem fanfares or world themes which are by no means bad but definitely dont reach the highs or tracks found in awakening or echoes (and they dont even have to because this is neither awakening nor echoes)

if i gotta be nitpicking i also think the character portraits have something more compared to the ones in fe6 but i cant go on and hate on binding blade or else fans of the saga will come here and bust my ass open one time and for all

so what else to say if it wasnt clear enough this is my favorite one of the gba bunch till now and probably one of the favorite of some people out there maybe im playing this series wrong because after awakening and echoes everything here sucks because OF COURSE it would but im still pretty curious to see what else this series have to offer at this point i got so many different games to branch off now i dont have a clue what im gonna play next stay tuned so that you can listen to me complaining about fe6 some more and saying how much i want to fuck the characters in this series byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee have fun segues a message just for lloyd hi babe im douching my ass come over at 9 pm i will be waiting xoxo

This game is like PaRappa the Rapper 2 of numbers go up gameplay to me. I know what is going to happen to a degree that I can plan and prepare in advance to the timing and requirements of the game that I can start to deviate in planned execution for imaginary stylish points on combos like "Used an Archer 4325 + A Healer got Mag on Level Up 1356 + Sent the Flier down mid 3693".

The plot is just as engaging as PaRappa the Rapper 2's plot as our lordlings do battle with an ancient evil in a medieval setting where once again a red haired boy must become a red haired man through watching those closest to him die. In some cases, this refers to the story, in all cases. I hate giving experience to Eliwood.

Let's talk about the logo and North American Box Art. Strong start as it shows us an axe, a sword but then, a staff? Not a Lance? What were they thinking??? Also we have some of our aforementioned characters, none of these characters matter unless your names are Hector and Lyn. They forgot to add Mark! These two hit on a good cadence of dialogue as Lyn is just constantly dunking on him for being a big slow guy. Well guess what Lyn, Hector gets the last laugh because they made a character that feels like playing as Sundowner with reactive tank armor shields, therefore, Axes (as a stat block of a weapon) are BACK BABYEEE.

Sadly, the only axe units you'd consider have to compete with Raven holding an axe. Doubly unfortunately for Axe stocks, the only woman that can use axes in this game is Isadora, which just doesn't hit the same as Echidna's hero sprite. Also, the number of cool special axes is lacking. High ranking Axe units now have the exciting options of: Hand Axe 2: We fit 6 Might in 2 Weight, Look Mom! Dorcas can Double! But wait there's more, connect your copy of Mario Kart Double Dash and we'll throw in these Emblem Weapons absolutely free! So it turns out axes aren't back, but Hand Axes are good and Hector having 20 Def with relative ease is good. Bust out the hammer for hard mode, or train any of the multiple viable magic units in the game oh thank god Pent showed up.

The support conversations in this game allude to various past events that while they hold no relation for the main plot, fill out the world with systems of power that make their moves in the shadows. You also get the strongest sense of character driven vignettes as they talk about their present on the battlefield, their pasts laden in conflict of one another or their circumstances, and the future which they hold within themselves or others It's really funny when Hector tells Serra she's annoying. It's really sad when she cries about having to hope she has a noble loving family looking for her, and Hector clumsily tells her she already found one. I originally thought to make a jokey joke in this text dump about the game not having voice acting, being outdone by Namco in August of the same year with that glorious GBA sound quality. But I held out, typed that part about the healer girl and realized that this game's script is being refreshingly sincere with relatively simple presentation of talking heads against a background. I'm glad the series got a period of this tone where a game for game boy advance audience could get a swords and sorcery setting adventure. So no, it doesn't need voice acting. Do the voices in your head you bitch.

In addition to making me cry when Wil makes Rath laugh, something he's forgotten through a traumatic childhood of exile, the game is also fun to play. It's a decently sized campaign of resource macro and micromanagement. HP, Weapon Durability, War funds, turns before the thief escapes with the treasure. The game gives you a gratuitous numerical gap with which to slide between objectives to make your army stronger and thus make future encounters less daunting. It becomes a very engaging song and dance by which you are investing into your future success by weighing the benefit against the immediate risk of failure. And then you send Florina at the problem and win.

In summary. This series established a very strong title to warm up audiences to the idea of actually doing math in an rpg. As the series branches out in novel directions. This will always stand as "the one you start with if strategy games are not your wheelhouse". Give it a try if you haven't, but more important than seeing the ending is seeing the cool crit animations.

A gameplay do jogo é algo que eu não tava muito acostumado. Nunca fui de jogar jogos de estratégia como esse e pelo que eu vejo Fire Emblem VII é um dos mais difíceis de sua época. Mas foi divertido jogar, tive uma experiência bem boa com a história e principalmente as animações de combate e os aprimoramentos de personagem foram o que me mantiveram jogando.

Mas chega um momento na vida de uma pessoa que é necessário aceitar as próprias limitações. Fire Emblem não é uma franquia com a qual eu me relaciono, e a sua gameplay, apesar de nova pra mim, não me agradou tanto. Em outras palavras: o jogo é muito difícil, e por mais que eu goste do estilo de arte, das animações, de planejar algumas batalhas, o final especificamente se provou um pouco demais pra mim. Eu reconheço que isso é um problema meu, mas eu me diverti nas incontáveis horas que joguei mesmo sem terminar.

I don't really have that much interesting to say about this one to be honest so I'll just dump my thoughts lol. It's not really surprising to me that the gameplay wasn't as interesting to me as it was in Thracia though it's perfectly fine still. I probably enjoyed all of the unit variety the most, though it was a real shame that there weren't that many early units that were fun to build up over time. A lot of my army ended up being the endgame pre-promotes they hand you which is fine but not super interesting. I actually think this game is a bit more difficult than people give it credit for but I think the way it does gamefeel makes it not really matter. Handing you OP pre-promotes is a good example of this effect, since it doesn't really feel earned at all, and also the way they start shoving good weapons and items on you towards the end. I guess it doesn't help that 2 of the 3 lords aren't good units either.

I also thought this game was fine story-wise but pretty dumb. Like the gameplay, there was nothing I particularly hated but nothing I was a big fan of either. Hate to make another comparison but going from the Jugdral games to this felt like a pretty noticeable step down. Like a large portion of the story being dedicated to this generic magical essence just gets really old fast, and they add some really funny story diversions to try and stretch out such generic ideas. At least 40% of the cutscenes in this game have to be the one note villains talking about the magical essence and how they will harvest more of it and it's just like... goddamn I get it lol. The best part of the story is probably just Hector. Hector is awesome.

Anyways the more I write this the more I think I might not have liked this game so much but it was fine overall I guess. I spent my playthrough thinking "Yup, this is a Fire Emblem game alright. It sure does those Fire Emblem things that are neat" and that's the most praise I can give it for now.