This review contains spoilers
One of the best games in the series, in my opinion. And it’s not just for the nostalgia factor – it's just a fantastic game that does so many things right. Known nowadays as Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword, AKA FE7, this game was initially released as simply Fire Emblem to the West. This is a somewhat strange, albeit understandable decision considering it's not only a prequel to a Japanese exclusive game, but it’s also a very nuanced game with multiple pathways and protagonists, making it one of the most replayable games in the series, which is far more appealing to a veteran than a beginner. This is an incredibly awesome duality to have considering the game had to be made easier than Fire Emblem 6, because for many of us, this would be the first time we would ever lay our hands on this series, as FE7 would later become the best-selling True Fire Emblem.
The maps are obviously well designed, but a lot of people take issue with the story being “dull.” I don’t really see that as an issue, considering Fire Emblem is not a series that relies entirely on the complexity of its stories, rather it’s contingent on the quality of its character writing, which FE7 delivers in spades. You would think with so many characters and protagonists, it’d be easy to have the writers overwhelmed, but here they persevered and gave us a fantastic cast. One of the coolest things about this game is how the returning FE6 characters act like they did in FE6, with the only notable exception being Hector, who was much more stoic and reserved in FE6. Now, before anyone says this is a contradiction to FE6, hold your horses, because it isn’t. In one of FE7’s endings, we see Eliwood talking to Hector about life and family, as they are now older with children of their own. In that ending, we see Roy and Lilina as little kids, which is fantastic attention to detail. Hector has grown a beard and is speaking in a more serious tone, meaning he’s taking his duties (which includes taking care of his daughter) more seriously, which is a FANTASTIC transition to who he becomes in FE6. This is why the Elibe Duology is so well written – it's because the writers clearly thought about how to develop a character using a PREQUEL. They essentially asked themselves how they could give Hector more personality when he was younger, without contradicting who he would become in FE6, so they added this amazing ending to show a believable transition. This contrasts heavily with Marth in FE11, who took a complete 180 from the depressed, saddened teenager who’s lost everything, into a stoic and ultra-confident hero without a meaningful transition explaining HOW he got to this level, which could’ve worked considering the 2-year timeskip. I know people criticize the FE11 Prologue for not providing this transition, but the Prologue itself is still fantastically written on its own. The writers should have added that transition in between the Prologue and Chapter I.
Back to FE7, we have three main characters, which is something Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies would replicate a decade later. Lyn is a nomad from Sacae who is partially descended from nobles. Eliwood is the standard Fire Emblem lord, and his mission is to find his missing father, Elbert, which is a generic RPG trope sure, but the way it was executed in this game is fantastic. More on that later. Finally, Hector is a hot-headed heir who was added to the team to be a tough fighter and act as a punching bag for humor, with a personality that mirrors Apollo Justice from the Ace Attorney Sequel Trilogy. Together, they would fight against the Black Fang to save the world from another Scouring. Sounds generic at first glance, but again, this game was the first Fire Emblem to be distributed worldwide. What makes this game’s story so good is the writing surrounding it, especially its characters.
Starting off with Lyn’s route, the most beautiful and elegant way to start a game is to show you a picture of a girl whose name you don’t even know introducing herself, taking the role of a self-inserted tactician who doesn’t even speak. Because while the idea was pitched by Kouhei Maeda, the absolute moron who later destroyed the series, the way the idea was executed was done by Taeko Kaneda. Kaneda was one of the greatest geniuses of all time, and I genuinely miss the days when she directed Fire Emblem games, because she greatly respected Kaga’s vision. We face off against meme character Batta the Beast, and a fun tale ensues. This is the prologue/tutorial of the game, where we learn the core mechanics of Fire Emblem, but I don’t think you should skip it, even if you’re a veteran. It explains who the people of Sacae were, and sets up the act in which Lyn joins Eliwood in the Eliwood route. It also explains who Lyn is, which makes sense because she’s the main character on this route, coupled with a fun story about racing to save her grandfather’s life from her granduncle, Lundgren. This route is so good it had its own satisfying sendoff prior to the main game, and the picture of Lyn saying goodbye was so gratifying, seeing how thankful she was to have had you, not just because you carried her team through your strategic prowess, but because you were also a great friend. This writing is amazing, and I had tears in my eyes when I saw it for the first time, because the characters are just so lovable. This plot is undeniably simple, but character writing will ALWAYS beat story in my book. While Lundgren is a simple villain, he is incredibly fun, serving to motivate Lyn to learn about her true lineage, which was done with immense tact and grace. I also vividly remember how this game not only used Eliwood and Hector briefly to foreshadow later parts of this story considering Lyn’s route is most likely the earliest to happen chronologically, but also Matthew’s expressiveness being carried over into the tutorial aspects. That’s right, the characters are guiding you without sacrificing their personality, which is an incredibly neat detail that prevents this game from being dated, and makes these characters even more lovable. Even Harvester of Eyes, a person who deems FE7 inferior to all True Fire Emblems except for Gaiden, acknowledges that the character writing in FE7 is incredible, and he isn’t wrong about that one bit.
Eliwood’s cliché story aside, his route is when the game really begins, and has a lot of nice continuity details, such as fighting a younger Erik and revealing the ruler of Ostia to be Uther, Hector’s older brother. It’s incredibly fun to explore the wonderful world of Elibe, which started in FE6 sure, but FE7 goes into greater detail using the Black Fang, who originated in Bern, to show and explain how they took control over so much of Elibe and have so many hidden bases. This one detail regarding Bern being the birthplace of the game’s main antagonistic force is brilliant foreshadowing to FE6, which a lot of scenes in FE7 assist greatly. Back in the early 2000s, the ending that shows Zephiel’s evil face must have come across as strange to a lot of Western players because FE6 did not have a fanmade translation patch at the time. In addition, the very second game we would get was FE8, which was set on Magvel, a completely separate continent. To Japanese players at the time however, I can’t help but imagine how happy this ending must have made them feel considering many of them most likely played the Japanese version of Binding Blade before picking up this game. But back to the story. Nergal and the morphs are cool villains, and though one would think the former is just generically evil, he actually has a deep backstory with Athos, this game’s version of Gotoh, which explains and shows why Nergal became villainous. Nergal’s goal is to reawaken the Fire Dragon to bring about a new Scouring, which was shown at the opening cutscene of the game. This is how wonderful FE7 is – it’s not the most ambitious narrative, but man does it have a lot to offer in its presentation. Eliwood eventually loses his father to Jaffar after reuniting with him, and although he refuses to forgive the killer, Jaffar would later be redeemed with the help of Nino, the adoptive daughter of the Black Fang leader, Sonia. Sonia is a seductress whose design fits her personality, and the fact the GBA game chooses to not boast about her design is a tasteful decision. And yes, Ursula is on my profile picture, because forcibly tacked on cleavage aside, she’s another cool minor villain whose design was fixed by yours truly. I assure you that some of the character design choices were done by Kouhei Maeda, but even then, Sachiko Wada delivered on these demands without oversexualizing them, keeping them grounded. The only real gripe I have with FE7’s story would have to be Ninian. She’s not a bad character, and her brother Nils gives great insight into their past, but she’s a living plot device who is abducted by Nergal to progress his plans, but she has enough personality that you can still care for her. I sure felt bad when she was kidnapped, though I wish FE7’s writers made her less of a damsel in distress used by the villains and more of an actual person. She’s basically an infinitely better Espella Cantabella from Layton VS Phoenix Wright.
Considering the overall solidness of the story, there isn’t much else I can say other than it’s one of the best, not even counting Hector’s hard mode helping to enhance other elements of the story, rewarding replay ability. The supporting cast have great conversations, with the only weak one being Rath. I can assure you that Maeda wrote his conversations with Lyn, forgetting what kind of character Lyn is supposed to be, which is a very minor blemish you would have to search far and wide for across this massive game. The soundtrack is excellent too, especially for a GBA game, considering the GB and GBA have the weakest soundchips out of all the consoles. Had it not been for FE12’s existence, FE7’s OST would be my personal favorite.
I’ve done it, I’ve said it. This game is a personal masterpiece, and I’m going back to play it on Hector Hard.
The maps are obviously well designed, but a lot of people take issue with the story being “dull.” I don’t really see that as an issue, considering Fire Emblem is not a series that relies entirely on the complexity of its stories, rather it’s contingent on the quality of its character writing, which FE7 delivers in spades. You would think with so many characters and protagonists, it’d be easy to have the writers overwhelmed, but here they persevered and gave us a fantastic cast. One of the coolest things about this game is how the returning FE6 characters act like they did in FE6, with the only notable exception being Hector, who was much more stoic and reserved in FE6. Now, before anyone says this is a contradiction to FE6, hold your horses, because it isn’t. In one of FE7’s endings, we see Eliwood talking to Hector about life and family, as they are now older with children of their own. In that ending, we see Roy and Lilina as little kids, which is fantastic attention to detail. Hector has grown a beard and is speaking in a more serious tone, meaning he’s taking his duties (which includes taking care of his daughter) more seriously, which is a FANTASTIC transition to who he becomes in FE6. This is why the Elibe Duology is so well written – it's because the writers clearly thought about how to develop a character using a PREQUEL. They essentially asked themselves how they could give Hector more personality when he was younger, without contradicting who he would become in FE6, so they added this amazing ending to show a believable transition. This contrasts heavily with Marth in FE11, who took a complete 180 from the depressed, saddened teenager who’s lost everything, into a stoic and ultra-confident hero without a meaningful transition explaining HOW he got to this level, which could’ve worked considering the 2-year timeskip. I know people criticize the FE11 Prologue for not providing this transition, but the Prologue itself is still fantastically written on its own. The writers should have added that transition in between the Prologue and Chapter I.
Back to FE7, we have three main characters, which is something Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies would replicate a decade later. Lyn is a nomad from Sacae who is partially descended from nobles. Eliwood is the standard Fire Emblem lord, and his mission is to find his missing father, Elbert, which is a generic RPG trope sure, but the way it was executed in this game is fantastic. More on that later. Finally, Hector is a hot-headed heir who was added to the team to be a tough fighter and act as a punching bag for humor, with a personality that mirrors Apollo Justice from the Ace Attorney Sequel Trilogy. Together, they would fight against the Black Fang to save the world from another Scouring. Sounds generic at first glance, but again, this game was the first Fire Emblem to be distributed worldwide. What makes this game’s story so good is the writing surrounding it, especially its characters.
Starting off with Lyn’s route, the most beautiful and elegant way to start a game is to show you a picture of a girl whose name you don’t even know introducing herself, taking the role of a self-inserted tactician who doesn’t even speak. Because while the idea was pitched by Kouhei Maeda, the absolute moron who later destroyed the series, the way the idea was executed was done by Taeko Kaneda. Kaneda was one of the greatest geniuses of all time, and I genuinely miss the days when she directed Fire Emblem games, because she greatly respected Kaga’s vision. We face off against meme character Batta the Beast, and a fun tale ensues. This is the prologue/tutorial of the game, where we learn the core mechanics of Fire Emblem, but I don’t think you should skip it, even if you’re a veteran. It explains who the people of Sacae were, and sets up the act in which Lyn joins Eliwood in the Eliwood route. It also explains who Lyn is, which makes sense because she’s the main character on this route, coupled with a fun story about racing to save her grandfather’s life from her granduncle, Lundgren. This route is so good it had its own satisfying sendoff prior to the main game, and the picture of Lyn saying goodbye was so gratifying, seeing how thankful she was to have had you, not just because you carried her team through your strategic prowess, but because you were also a great friend. This writing is amazing, and I had tears in my eyes when I saw it for the first time, because the characters are just so lovable. This plot is undeniably simple, but character writing will ALWAYS beat story in my book. While Lundgren is a simple villain, he is incredibly fun, serving to motivate Lyn to learn about her true lineage, which was done with immense tact and grace. I also vividly remember how this game not only used Eliwood and Hector briefly to foreshadow later parts of this story considering Lyn’s route is most likely the earliest to happen chronologically, but also Matthew’s expressiveness being carried over into the tutorial aspects. That’s right, the characters are guiding you without sacrificing their personality, which is an incredibly neat detail that prevents this game from being dated, and makes these characters even more lovable. Even Harvester of Eyes, a person who deems FE7 inferior to all True Fire Emblems except for Gaiden, acknowledges that the character writing in FE7 is incredible, and he isn’t wrong about that one bit.
Eliwood’s cliché story aside, his route is when the game really begins, and has a lot of nice continuity details, such as fighting a younger Erik and revealing the ruler of Ostia to be Uther, Hector’s older brother. It’s incredibly fun to explore the wonderful world of Elibe, which started in FE6 sure, but FE7 goes into greater detail using the Black Fang, who originated in Bern, to show and explain how they took control over so much of Elibe and have so many hidden bases. This one detail regarding Bern being the birthplace of the game’s main antagonistic force is brilliant foreshadowing to FE6, which a lot of scenes in FE7 assist greatly. Back in the early 2000s, the ending that shows Zephiel’s evil face must have come across as strange to a lot of Western players because FE6 did not have a fanmade translation patch at the time. In addition, the very second game we would get was FE8, which was set on Magvel, a completely separate continent. To Japanese players at the time however, I can’t help but imagine how happy this ending must have made them feel considering many of them most likely played the Japanese version of Binding Blade before picking up this game. But back to the story. Nergal and the morphs are cool villains, and though one would think the former is just generically evil, he actually has a deep backstory with Athos, this game’s version of Gotoh, which explains and shows why Nergal became villainous. Nergal’s goal is to reawaken the Fire Dragon to bring about a new Scouring, which was shown at the opening cutscene of the game. This is how wonderful FE7 is – it’s not the most ambitious narrative, but man does it have a lot to offer in its presentation. Eliwood eventually loses his father to Jaffar after reuniting with him, and although he refuses to forgive the killer, Jaffar would later be redeemed with the help of Nino, the adoptive daughter of the Black Fang leader, Sonia. Sonia is a seductress whose design fits her personality, and the fact the GBA game chooses to not boast about her design is a tasteful decision. And yes, Ursula is on my profile picture, because forcibly tacked on cleavage aside, she’s another cool minor villain whose design was fixed by yours truly. I assure you that some of the character design choices were done by Kouhei Maeda, but even then, Sachiko Wada delivered on these demands without oversexualizing them, keeping them grounded. The only real gripe I have with FE7’s story would have to be Ninian. She’s not a bad character, and her brother Nils gives great insight into their past, but she’s a living plot device who is abducted by Nergal to progress his plans, but she has enough personality that you can still care for her. I sure felt bad when she was kidnapped, though I wish FE7’s writers made her less of a damsel in distress used by the villains and more of an actual person. She’s basically an infinitely better Espella Cantabella from Layton VS Phoenix Wright.
Considering the overall solidness of the story, there isn’t much else I can say other than it’s one of the best, not even counting Hector’s hard mode helping to enhance other elements of the story, rewarding replay ability. The supporting cast have great conversations, with the only weak one being Rath. I can assure you that Maeda wrote his conversations with Lyn, forgetting what kind of character Lyn is supposed to be, which is a very minor blemish you would have to search far and wide for across this massive game. The soundtrack is excellent too, especially for a GBA game, considering the GB and GBA have the weakest soundchips out of all the consoles. Had it not been for FE12’s existence, FE7’s OST would be my personal favorite.
I’ve done it, I’ve said it. This game is a personal masterpiece, and I’m going back to play it on Hector Hard.