Most of my general reference for Fire Emblem comes from the current era of the games. My first game was Awakening, and I've played every game since. Fire Emblem was the series that helped me get out of my Pokemon shell, as before I got Fire Emblem Awakening, I religiously only played Pokemon games. This is to point and laugh at my past self here, as I really don't know why it took me this long to play the older Fire Emblem games. And I only started FE7 cause it was on NSO, and I was like "sure, why not?". It's a bit comedic to me how the first classic Fire Emblem game I played was the first one released in the west. And I do really think playing this game was worth it.
It's definitely a bit odd going from the more streamlined gameplay of the modern Fire Emblem games, to the more complex gameplay in the classic games, but I really loved it. Definitely one of the biggest things that I needed to get accustomed to was the lack of grinding options. I'm used to being able to grind enemies that spawn in the overworld like in Awakening or Shadows of Valentia, but the lack of those options here makes things really interesting. There's a really interesting level of strategy when you have to think "oh, which unit deserves the XP from this battle the most?". Experience being a resource you need to manage on top of everything else is such an interesting thing to me, and by the end of the game, I really appreciated it.
And in a similar vein to XP management, another resource that needs to be managed are the weapons. Each weapon has its own durability, and though some modern Fire Emblem games also had weapon durability, they also had reliable ways of re-obtaining lost weapons. And of course, The Blazing Blade doesn't do that. Managing your inventory, and the durability of your weapons continues to strategize which characters you should use, and I really love it. The game definitely allows you to prepare for certain difficult challenges, but obviously not all of them.
Now to the actual characters themselves, I really like the classes of the characters you can obtain through the game. Ultimately I think the class I used the lease was the Knights, but aside from them, I used a lot of the other ones. I really like how there's different types of magic users, each having a unique type of magic. In fact, there being a magic weapon triangle is super refreshing, especially since most magic in the modern Fire Emblem games are quite simple in comparison. I definitely found Canas, who was my Druid one of the absolute best units in the entire game, he was able to destroy some of the endgame bosses and it was so worth it. Archers were also just surprisingly good for me, and though obtaining early in the game, I brought Rebecca all the way to the final chapter and she was always useful. Though I may be biased, I overall found Lyn the best of the 3 lords to use, her crit chance was absurd.
I love how classes promote in Fire Emblem games, getting special items in order to promote a character's class is really fun, especially with the upgrades that the character gets. What I didn't know going in was that there were unique promotion items for different classes, and yet again, that makes management much more interesting. For example, one of the rank up items is the Guiding Ring, which can promote Clerics, Troubadours, Mages, Monks, and Shamans. I could have promoted any of my offensive magic users at the time, but promotion items are rare, and so I saved my Guiding Ring so I could upgrade my Troubadour, Priscilla, so that she can be a better healer, while also gaining offensive magic options. And, I dont know, I think that sort of strategy is really interesting.
Now, to the actual maps and levels of The Blazing Blade, I'm a bit uncertain about how I feel on them. They're not bad by any means, and when they're good, god are they good. I definitely was shaped by my experience playing the game. I was an extreme perfectionist, and I didn't want any of my units dying. That means constantly redoing things in order to get the outcome that would keep everyone alive. It made a lot of the strategy really interesting, trying to find the best possible outcome, but I definitely feel like I was cheesing it at times. The Fog of War I'm not certain I like, though I think if the visibility changed before your unit ends it action, I would've been fine with it. But I really love how the maps in The Blazing Blade have varying goals to them. A lot of modern Fire Emblem I found was either "beat ALL the enemies" or "beat this one guy". And of course while The Blazing Blade has those wind conditions, there's more as well. Seizing a specific location, talking to a guy, and absolutely my favorite one, the survive levels. Surviving for a set number of turns entirely puts things on its head, and provides for some really interesting strategy that other levels don't have to me. And they ultimately were my favorite chapters whenever one appeared.
The one thing I feel mixed on, I would say are the Bosses in The Blazing Blade. Though I'll say at the same time, I feel like I might've just not have understood things. Bosses in The Blazing Blade definitely fluctuate in difficulty throughout the game. Some bosses are really tough, and you have to whittle them down while they nearly kill a unit every turn, while some are super easy to beat. One example being that the boss in Chapter 27 was way harder for me than the bosses in Chapters 29 and 30. I have to ask, did I miss something, or does the difficulty just fluctuate like that?
The Blazing Blade has a great story I feel. It's definitely not complex by any means, but through that lesser complexity, the story itself is far more polished and the world of Elibe feels far more alive. A lot of the modern Fire Emblem games have serious issues with their stories and their worlds, so going to this one feels far more refreshing to me. Elibe feels lived in, and stuff is able to occur without the hands of the main cast, though the main cast does witness some of it. I also really love the main trio of Lords, I find that they're able to play off each other really well. I wasn't able to see many of the supports, due to not knowing how to get them, but I really got attached to the allies I gained throughout the game. Some of my favorites were definitely Canas, Rebecca, Jaffar, and Erk. I really loved the Black Fang as a set of villains, and having them be major players throughout the entire game is so nice. I love villains who have a presence.
I'm just really glad I was able to finally play a classic Fire Emblem game. I've been meaning to for a long time now, and thanks to a impulse decision, I did exactly that. While I don't want to play another Fire Emblem game immediately, I really do want to play more of the classic games, as I think I'm starting to understand them. I'm debating between Sacred Stones and Path of Radiance at the moment. That aside though, I'm not 100% certain if The Blazing Blade was the best to introduce me to the classic Fire Emblem games, but hey, it's too late to change that. I really did love it though.
It's definitely a bit odd going from the more streamlined gameplay of the modern Fire Emblem games, to the more complex gameplay in the classic games, but I really loved it. Definitely one of the biggest things that I needed to get accustomed to was the lack of grinding options. I'm used to being able to grind enemies that spawn in the overworld like in Awakening or Shadows of Valentia, but the lack of those options here makes things really interesting. There's a really interesting level of strategy when you have to think "oh, which unit deserves the XP from this battle the most?". Experience being a resource you need to manage on top of everything else is such an interesting thing to me, and by the end of the game, I really appreciated it.
And in a similar vein to XP management, another resource that needs to be managed are the weapons. Each weapon has its own durability, and though some modern Fire Emblem games also had weapon durability, they also had reliable ways of re-obtaining lost weapons. And of course, The Blazing Blade doesn't do that. Managing your inventory, and the durability of your weapons continues to strategize which characters you should use, and I really love it. The game definitely allows you to prepare for certain difficult challenges, but obviously not all of them.
Now to the actual characters themselves, I really like the classes of the characters you can obtain through the game. Ultimately I think the class I used the lease was the Knights, but aside from them, I used a lot of the other ones. I really like how there's different types of magic users, each having a unique type of magic. In fact, there being a magic weapon triangle is super refreshing, especially since most magic in the modern Fire Emblem games are quite simple in comparison. I definitely found Canas, who was my Druid one of the absolute best units in the entire game, he was able to destroy some of the endgame bosses and it was so worth it. Archers were also just surprisingly good for me, and though obtaining early in the game, I brought Rebecca all the way to the final chapter and she was always useful. Though I may be biased, I overall found Lyn the best of the 3 lords to use, her crit chance was absurd.
I love how classes promote in Fire Emblem games, getting special items in order to promote a character's class is really fun, especially with the upgrades that the character gets. What I didn't know going in was that there were unique promotion items for different classes, and yet again, that makes management much more interesting. For example, one of the rank up items is the Guiding Ring, which can promote Clerics, Troubadours, Mages, Monks, and Shamans. I could have promoted any of my offensive magic users at the time, but promotion items are rare, and so I saved my Guiding Ring so I could upgrade my Troubadour, Priscilla, so that she can be a better healer, while also gaining offensive magic options. And, I dont know, I think that sort of strategy is really interesting.
Now, to the actual maps and levels of The Blazing Blade, I'm a bit uncertain about how I feel on them. They're not bad by any means, and when they're good, god are they good. I definitely was shaped by my experience playing the game. I was an extreme perfectionist, and I didn't want any of my units dying. That means constantly redoing things in order to get the outcome that would keep everyone alive. It made a lot of the strategy really interesting, trying to find the best possible outcome, but I definitely feel like I was cheesing it at times. The Fog of War I'm not certain I like, though I think if the visibility changed before your unit ends it action, I would've been fine with it. But I really love how the maps in The Blazing Blade have varying goals to them. A lot of modern Fire Emblem I found was either "beat ALL the enemies" or "beat this one guy". And of course while The Blazing Blade has those wind conditions, there's more as well. Seizing a specific location, talking to a guy, and absolutely my favorite one, the survive levels. Surviving for a set number of turns entirely puts things on its head, and provides for some really interesting strategy that other levels don't have to me. And they ultimately were my favorite chapters whenever one appeared.
The one thing I feel mixed on, I would say are the Bosses in The Blazing Blade. Though I'll say at the same time, I feel like I might've just not have understood things. Bosses in The Blazing Blade definitely fluctuate in difficulty throughout the game. Some bosses are really tough, and you have to whittle them down while they nearly kill a unit every turn, while some are super easy to beat. One example being that the boss in Chapter 27 was way harder for me than the bosses in Chapters 29 and 30. I have to ask, did I miss something, or does the difficulty just fluctuate like that?
The Blazing Blade has a great story I feel. It's definitely not complex by any means, but through that lesser complexity, the story itself is far more polished and the world of Elibe feels far more alive. A lot of the modern Fire Emblem games have serious issues with their stories and their worlds, so going to this one feels far more refreshing to me. Elibe feels lived in, and stuff is able to occur without the hands of the main cast, though the main cast does witness some of it. I also really love the main trio of Lords, I find that they're able to play off each other really well. I wasn't able to see many of the supports, due to not knowing how to get them, but I really got attached to the allies I gained throughout the game. Some of my favorites were definitely Canas, Rebecca, Jaffar, and Erk. I really loved the Black Fang as a set of villains, and having them be major players throughout the entire game is so nice. I love villains who have a presence.
I'm just really glad I was able to finally play a classic Fire Emblem game. I've been meaning to for a long time now, and thanks to a impulse decision, I did exactly that. While I don't want to play another Fire Emblem game immediately, I really do want to play more of the classic games, as I think I'm starting to understand them. I'm debating between Sacred Stones and Path of Radiance at the moment. That aside though, I'm not 100% certain if The Blazing Blade was the best to introduce me to the classic Fire Emblem games, but hey, it's too late to change that. I really did love it though.