Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is an old but beloved game by many veterans of the Fire Emblem series. This is a game that is good in its own right, but really shows its age as you play it.

Without going into too much detail, Genealogy of the Holy War introduces a number of mechanics that will take some adjustment for any player, even if they are experienced with other games in the series. This is also the first game in the series to feature child units, alongside inheritance for those child units. This game also introduces the skills and support systems that have since become staples of the franchise. The maps of this game are also incredibly large, and there are only 12 chapters to playthrough because of it. In spite of this, Genealogy of the Holy War still fits in a great deal of lore and story in those 12 chapters.

Much of the praise of this game is centered around its narrative, which is typically praised as having one of the best in the series. While there are certain aspects of the narrative that have not aged well, it still has some great emotional and tragic moments. Both of the main characters, Sigurd and Seliph, have great moments, with Sigurd serving as a great tragic protagonist during his arc of the story. It also has a strong antagonist, but also features some typical plot elements for the series that more experienced players will have come to expect.

This game has a surprising amount of worldbuilding, and those who have played Fire Emblem: Three Houses will likely recognize the similar elements that inspired the lore in Three Houses.

While the age and mechanics of this game will turn many away, I think this is a game that might be worth trying for those interested. However, there is a high chance that this game will receive a remake in the near future, so it may be best to wait for that to arrive rather than playing this version of the game.

>incestual pairings
>eugenics
>child murder
>patricide
>immolation
>jihad warriors
>dense politics

Yeah, I'm thinking five stars.

KINO
PEAK FICTION
GREATEST OF ALL TIME
This game is pretty much fucking perfect like holy shit
The maps
The characters
The story
I thought that second gen wouldn't be able to live up to first and that the children would feel like a worse version of their parents
But that's not at all what happened, Almost every character feels complete in story and battle with the children feeling like their own distinct characters even when there are some with identical roles
And every one feels good to play and manoeuvre around these massive maps
The size and scale of the maps is probably my favourite thing about this game and is sorely missed in every other FE game I've played
The multiple capture points expands the scope of the game as well as add heightened strategy especially in the later parts of the game
Fucking hell mate it just felt fucking good to play like holy shit it's amazing

Loptyr felled
Belhalla Seized
Jugdral liberated

I'm gonna be completely honest, I hated Gen 1. The story felt flat, most of the units felt awful to use, the maps weren't fun, the game as a whole didn't pick up. I don't even think Sigurd is that great of a protagonist and is pretty highly carried by how cool he is.

Then we got to Gen 2, and my opinion on the game DRASTICALLY shifted. Seliph is such a fucking good protag, dealing with the struggles of legacy and living up to it. The maps felt more well thought out, the units felt more balanced, the game was generally just more fun. Gen 2 got literally everything right, even selling me on Arvis after I didn't really care for him outside of the chapter 5 scene.

As far as I'm concerned, Gen 1 holds this game from its true potential, and that's the exact reason I am fully supporting the push for a remake. Great game once you push past the halfway point

It truly feels like Kaga had so much planned for this game both in story and in gameplay and he succeeded and failed in various areas in my opinion. The weakest part to me is the maps as most of the time I feel like I'm just moving units. Doesn't help that for about half of the game its a breeze to go through while the other half feels like it's map are just ok in difficulty or they have some BS thrown in the mix. I feel like the maps exist to serve the story more than the gameplay which is nice but as someone who loves gameplay more it definitely makes me less excited to go through maps. It says a lot when my favorite part of the game is doing the arena in turn 1 since micromanaging to get everyone to complete the arena is so fun and makes me think quite a lot. The story is where I feel Kaga truly wanted to make this game shine! Unfortunately it's quite apparent that Kaga had more story to tell but he was limited from SNES memory space so he went for a more "general" story approach where the story doesn't quite go into the small details too often and instead feels like it's telling you a tale of Jugdral as a whole which is cool but not my preference. That said, I hope this game gets the Echoes treatment so it can have the storage needed to expand Jugdral even more.

Whenever this game's remake is coming out, I felt like making a wishlist of things I'd like to see fixed and/or changed. I understand FE4 fans may not agree with everything here but hopefully this wishlist ultimately gets across a lot of how I felt about the original overall:
(also keep in mind I have only beaten this game once years ago, a lot of what I remember stems from me just being in the fanbase and hearing discussions about the game)
(also I'll probably edit this list now and then as I might think of more stuff or need to edit current points)

Writing changes I'd like to see
- while the character writing of the original is overall pretty solid, half the characters don't really have much characterization and Supports feel like an inevitable thing for the remake. hopefully they are consistently solid and well written, and there's no bad eggs; but I have no expectations, just hopes.
- Shadows of Valentia quality localization overall
- the main plot should be unchanged for the most part but it may be worth fixing some of the less tactful parts such as a certain two scenarios that have to do with Manfroy
- develop Miletos as a country somehow. like seriously it's just some place where important main story stuff happens but it itself is hardly compelling as the other nations.
- some of the love pairing choices in the original were questionable or problematic. get rid of them.
- no avatar pls

Gameplay changes I'd like to see
- (by far my biggest wish) add rescue-drop as the most elegant solution to making footed units more viable and just generally fix this game's issue of there being way too many turns spent tediously moving your army around. please if nothing else I hope they fix these two crippling issues however they do it.
- fix how bad axes and lances are. they were way too heavy and insanely outclassed by swords.
- make flyers stronger somehow. they're usually one of the best unit types in the series but they don't really stand out in this game much.
- add a battalion mechanic of sorts since it fits the narrative. just don't make it super busted or anything.
- keep all the secret events, but do hint at some better.
- tone down some of the maps where there are a stupid amount of filler enemies and reinforcements. less enemies in more interesting scenarios/formations = better. I'm sure they can pull that off while retaining the macro war-epic feel of the original game.
- tone down sleep staves in the late game. or at least provide more status effect healers or something. I think the sleep status spam felt tedious for many players.
- get rid of Pavise on bosses. it's stupid in every Fire Emblem.
- get rid of same turn reinforcements. it's stupid in every FIre Emblem.
- get rid of being able to save every turn. only should be able to save at Castles. that + Sigurd's OP-ness were the two things that made this game one of the easiest games in the series. (keep Sigurd's OP-ness though)
- make Dew/thieves at least somewhat stronger and easier to use. that alone feels like an elegant solution to solve some of the issues a lot of people have with the money system. but do please keep the money system at least because it was unique.
- 2rn or Fates/SoV/Engage quirky rn. 1rn sucks.
- explorable castles feel inevitable. hopefully they don't have the Monastery/Somniel issue of 30-50mins of preparation bloat and optional-but-helpful activities everyone feels obligated to do. I have no expectations though.
- also lighten the arena experience. I think FE4 arena in concept is cool, needing everyone to train a little before going out, but sometimes I think it leaned towards tedious in practice.

- unique map changes (could probably say a lot more about this but again I haven't played this game in years):
- Ch.1 and Ch.2: condense these. they feel way too long and tedious honestly. I know many fans consider these to be some of the worst maps at least.
- Ch.4: maybe re-design the whole thing (same scenarios, different execution). I know I didn't enjoy this one and I know FE4 fans generally don't either.
- Ch.5: make the desert less tedious to go through.
- rest of the layouts I don't mind being mostly the same. at least don't change Prologue and Ch.3 because they're arguably the most well designed maps in the game.

Presentation changes I'd like to see
- artist: Rika Suzuki or Mitsuki Oosawa (the FE4 manga artist). please.
- ost: Yuka Tsujiyoko's original compositions + modern IntSys sound team arrangements + bring back Rei Kondoh for some arrangements too pls = goat raw fire peak
- more detailed and varied map aesthetics. please don't bore the player with the same looking grass and mountains which comprised most of the original game. add more detailed things a country with good worldbuilding would have, within reason. add more colours too. make it look as visually great as SoV and Fates.
- Shadows of Valentia or Tellius tier character designs.

If the remake has at least a majority of the above, I'd be happy, and it could potentially be one of my favourites in the series.

FE4 walked so Three Houses could run.

Still the Fire Emblem game that hasn't been topped. It has by far the best lore, worldbuilding, a brilliant timeskip and introduced many mechanics that we see today in modern Fire Emblem games. It introduced the weapon triangle, Physical and magical units now had separate stats and the addition of skills. The maps are HUGE and it turns a lot of new players off but to me it makes it a little more realistic. Because of that, the game only has 12 chapters so I like to think of each castle like a different chapter since it takes a while to clear 1.

The game literally slaps you with a shitton of lore before even beginning the game. It tells you about the different countries, the political climate of the Jugdral continent, and the many important faces of each country. FE4 tackles a lot of mature/dark theme for its time (and even today) and I love it for that reason, too.

One of the most interesting games I've played, further showing what a leap the SFC was in terms of getting really creative and unique games, especially RPGs.

Older FE games are stuck with the limitations of having to tell a lot of the story through gameplay scenes, which makes it all the more impressive how compelling this game manages to make its plot. The whole game really flexes its ludonarrative power constantly. I love how the giant maps make it feel like a truly epic war always, how the support conversations always really add to the lore and worldbuilding, and how there are points where the game makes you purposefully powerless to stop a story moment from happening on the field.

The pairing system is one of the coolest mechanics in anything I've played though. It's funny to see how IntSys tried to replicate it in Awakening and Fates but it's really done the best here, since its downright made to sell that fantastic mid-story shift. Insanely cool overlap between story and gameplay mechanics and I love how the impact of each character is shown through their children.

Kaga thought that the gameplay was sacrificed a bit for the story and unfortunately he is a little bit right. I don't think it's actually bad, there are a lot of really fun levels and I appreciate this game specifically for how unique so many of the mechanics are and how they tie in thematically. I will point out the most obvious complaint though and say that the big maps definitely can limit the fun a lot. It's a really cool idea and I respect that they did it but SOOO much time is spent just moving troops around large stretches of land and there is really a ridiculous amount of backtracking at times too.

It's a bit of a hard game to give any score too but I still really enjoyed Genealogy and I think it's one of the most impressive games I've ever played in terms of creativity. I think it would benefit from a remake honestly, would love to see them give it Echoes level presentation and also make a lot of the cool mechanics a bit more clear. So many of the unique parts are integral enough to the game that I don't worry too much about them being too dumbed down. Either way, definitely one of my favorite FE games I've played so far.

If I played this game back when it first came out it would have been a 5 out of 5 experience for me, but that's just not how it all panned out for my experience. It's an old game, so of course things in it have not aged well, and I could technically say the same for a game like Super Metroid if I were to play it and judge it without my nostalgia glasses on just to be fair.

Instead of doing a pros and cons list like I generally do, I will just talk about the good and bad about each thing I think is important for the game below:
1. Maps- The maps are big, and are the biggest of any Fire Emblem game I have played, so it definitely has that to set itself apart from the other entries. There are multiple objectives and castles to seize, and you could say that seizing each castle is its own chapter in itself. It does a good job of making each map feel like a war with how long and drawn out they are. I won't get into specifics about each map, but of course some are better or worse than others in the game and you can tell the creators tried their best to have different things happen in each chapter. The only thing that makes having maps this big bearable or fine is it being coupled with a save feature, so you do not have to worry about spending way over an hour or even multiple hours to beat a chapter in one sitting or leave the game running. Typically you cannot save in the middle of a chapter in a FE game, but the maps in this one are so big I see why they let you do it. Some maps can be boring, and some can be awesome, but most feel like a slog unfortunately. The maps feel too big at times, even for cavalry units. Foot units are so bad in this game because of their lack of movement, so unless the unit is really good you are not going to want to bother waiting for them to catch up. There were a good bit of times for me where I just spent turns moving units trying to get to the next objective. It is what it is, the map size is a preference thing overall, but it could be improved with a remake.
2. Hidden Items- Let me preface by saying you do not need any of the hidden items to beat this game, as overall it is not a hard game (Mostly because of the built-in save feature, although this game's difficulty is harder than most of the newer FE games), but this game suffers from the old cryptic game syndrome where it has hidden items, conversations, and other secrets that the game does not tell you about at all or does not do a good job of telling you about. The only ways you are going to encounter these secret items and conversations are by getting lucky and stumbling across them, using a walkthrough or official Nintendo guide if there was one. Some hidden items are fine to stay hidden as they make the game too easy, but I am of the mind that the holy weapons should not be hidden with how important to the story they are. I know they are not as well-hidden as other stuff after looking at a guide after beating the game, but I missed them myself and it just feels crazy you can miss them, like Forseti and Yewfelle.
3. Unit Balance- I ain't saying FE has generally good unit balance in most of its games, but I think it's worse or more obvious in this one. Cavalry units are about the only ones worth using, unless the foot units are broken in someway like Shannan. Some cavalry units are still not good in both generations where you struggle to make them work to where you feel like you would have an easier time just having your busted units run through the game instead of trying to use your other weaker units.
4. Story- I see why people say the story in this one is the best of the series or at least up there. I think it's either the best story in the series for its time that it came out (Meaning the story got worse as it aged due to advancements in storytelling and what you can do in video games now), or still among the best in the series. There are some things in this game that should have been better explained or not left vague, and some plot holes or what not, but what happens in chapter 5 is one of those wow moments if you have not been spoiled on this game's story yet. I unfortunately was to a certain degree before I played the game, so it is what it is.
5. Arena- This is a fun mechanic, but later on it drags and gets boring with how many units you have to use it for and how you can't skip the animations for each round.
6. Trading- Sucks that you gotta sell items to a pawnshop to then buy it for double the value with another unit in order to trade. Gold is easy to get in this game cause of the arena for units that can complete it, but it's definitely a product of its time. If this game were made today I believe you would be able to freely trade without using this as a mechanic.
7. The bandits pillaging the villages are on it in this game. You gotta be on your toes to get every village safe from them, as they do not play around and wait for you to turtle or take your time.
8. Generations- My first time playing this game I did not bother stressing about any love matches for kid stats and all that, I just played the game and what happened, happened. I found Generation 1 to not be as fun as Generation 2. Generation 1 is more for the story and to gawk at how cool Sigurd is I feel. Generation 2 I feel has better designed maps and more fun units to use than in Generation 1.
9. Combat speed- Even with combat speed set to fast and animations off each turn takes a while to get through. It has the same issue that most older FE games have, and that is turn speed. I literally went to go take a dump during one of the enemy phases, and when I came back the enemy phase was still going on.
10. Sleep staff- Bro, just bro. The sleep staff is busted for the enemies. They have infinite uses, and its range is yuuuge, and has a 100% success rate?! This really slows the pace of the game down on the last few chapters where enemies abuse it. I'm glad I had a restore staff, but still when you got 6 or 8 ppl lullabying you to sleep every enemy phase, just oof man, oof. I got through it, but that was not fun. It was definitely an experience.

Overall good game that is still good despite its age. Hoping for a remake eventually, as I think one would really give this game a time to shine overseas, since it never was officially localized.

Beat this game without many preconceptions about it besides knowing it was divisive among hardcores and it was the origin of FE "Child Mechanics".

As the earliest entry I've played I was genuinely shocked at the QOL the series had on the SNES, and was shocked again when the immediate tedium of running across the prologue chapter kinda gave way into a type of trace-like hyperfixation on the game. I didn't expect to love the music so much, to like so many of the characters, or to be so on board for Gen 2's straightforward redemption story where the context of Gen 1 gave it so much more texture. Even if some of the mechanics are kinda odd, you can at least understand the reasoning behind why they're like that.

Shoutout to my homie on Discord for telling me about the secret events in the first few chapters though, definitely made Gen 1 a lot less of a grueling push. Also, if I replay this I am definitely trying that mod that gives foot units extra Move (even if I used them here despite it).
Also Noish!Fee with the Leg Ring goes hard.