Collection essentials #62: Fire Emblem Gaiden (NES)

This is another sequel where the developers tried to experiment. Fire Emblem Gaiden is still a strategy RPG, but makes a number of changes which make gameplay feel very different from the first game. Some of these changes had good ideas behind them, but unfortunately it’s another case where it didn’t quite translate to a better experience. 


First, the cool stuff. Fire Emblem Gaiden has two main characters instead of the usual one, something that’s pretty rare in RPGs, especially back then. The two characters also get a fighting bonus when they’re near each other on the battlefield, which was the start of something that would be a defining element of the series down the road; your units’ relationships to one another providing gameplay benefits. Unlike the first game, where every character’s class (i.e. what type of unit they are) was fixed, Gaiden lets you choose from multiple options as your characters grow, another thing that eventually was brought back. They made the game feel more like a normal RPG by giving you a world map to move around in and pick your next destination, which is not a bad idea, but it does mean you can find enemies to fight and grind with, thus forsaking the cool gameplay structure of the first game that had no grinding, where every battle really mattered a lot. Weapons and magic work differently in this game too, but like with yesterday’s post, I don’t want to spend much time describing gameplay mechanics. 


Fire Emblem Gaiden has always been met with mixed reception, and I’m sad to say I’m not a big fan of it. I’ve tried to get into it a couple times, but I just find it boring and I don’t think the map design (i.e., the places you fight in) is very good. Fire Emblem Gaiden also got a modern remake a few years ago on the Nintendo 3DS, and I was excited for that, but…I got bored of that one, too. 


So, yeah, this one’s essential only because it’s a historic part of a series that’s dear to me. My collection would just feel incomplete if I had all the old Fire Emblems but not this one, so with me it will stay.

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