^Back
Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword
Introduction
At Sacae, a vast grassland
spreading across the east of Elibe, a
traveller collapses on their journey. This traveller (the player
and Tactician) is rescued by Lyn, a swordfighter of Sacae, and the two
journey together, eventually fighting to prevent the Lycian territory
of
Caelin from falling into villainous hands. Along the way, they meet
Eliwood, a noble of
Pherae, who lends them his strength. However this journey is just a
prelude to a much larger adventure. Eventually Lyn, the
Tactician, Eliwood
and Eliwood's close friend, Hector, must join forces to tackle a
powerful enemy who wishes to bring chaos upon the continent.
About the game
Blazing Sword was
released just over a year after the previous game, and once again for
the GameBoy Advance. It continued the gameplay of the previous game,
but improved it, slightly,
in almost every possible way. This was a very important game, as it
was the first Fire Emblem
game to be released in English. Known as just Fire Emblem in the West, it
introduced a wave of new English fans to the series. Luckily for new
players, this was a
great game to start with, as it was well executed and contained an
indepth
in-game tutorial to ease them in.
The game was a
prequel to the previous game, Sword
of Seals, taking place on the
continent of Elibe. Because the huge war has already taken place in the
future, the story's focus is smaller but, at the same time, deeper.
The dialogue is as rich as ever, and the Support conversations, now
improved in detail and length, continue to provide expanded character
development. Meanwhile, despite looking and playing almost identical to
Sword of Seals, there are
plenty of
changes and improvements.
The game's opening scene
This time, players can be involved directly, as the group's
Tactician,
which helps to immerse them into the story. Additionally, three
main
characters feature, each who have their own story and views. Otherwise
there have been improvements all round, especially in the graphics
department. Character portraits are more polished, and characters
finally blink when speaking. Several battle sprites have also been
reworked.
The addition of
CG artwork, which appear at spaced intervals in the game, was a welcome
bonus.
Features or changes
Stories
The game begins with Lyn's story, a prelude to the main story that
takes play a year ealier. As well as providing extra background to the
story, Lyn's story acts as a tutorial to guide new players or remind
experienced players. Eliwood's story is the main story, and can be
played after finishing Lyn's story. After completing Eliwood's story,
Hector's story is unlocked, which is a slightly longer
variation of Eliwood's story.
Tactician
Before beginning the game, players are prompted to create a profile for
themselves, as the army's Tactician. They can choose their name,
gender and
month of birth (in the Japanese version, blood type could also be
chosen). These affect the Affinity of the Tactician, which gives a
small bonus to characters with the same Affinity. Also, characters
often speak to the Tactician during the game, which helps the story to
feel
more
personal and involved.
Weather
In certain maps the weather may change, with rain or snow greatly
reducing movement on the map. The weather changes randomly but
characters, such as the fortune-teller, may hint at the changing of
weather.
CGs
CG (computer generated) artwork had already existed in earlier games in
the series, but they were small and usually only appeared in the
ending. Blazing Sword
introduced larger and higher-quality CGs, which appeared at key points
during
the main storyline. CGs seen in the main story can be viewed in the
game's Sound Room.
Support viewer
A minor, but useful addition. After completing the game once, a new
option, Support Conversations, appears in the Extras menu. There, you
can re-read
Support conversations seen in the main story, and keep track of which
conversations have been obtained or not.
^Top