I remember back in 2003 getting this Gameboy Advance game Fire Emblem and playing it on my Gameboy Player adapter on my Gamecube system. I have never heard of Fire Emblem until 2003 when Nintendo translated it into English.
In this game, you first play as a female character Lyn playing in each chapters Lyn discovers she is the heir of Caelin and she sets out to save her Grandfather from Lundgren who wants to take over the throne, Then you can also play as Eliwood or Hector who sets out to defeat Nergal and the dragon.
This game plays out like Final Fantasy Tactics, you have to plan your moves for your characters like in a game of chess. You have to engage the enemy and kill them with your dagger, sword, axe, spear, javelin, bow and arrows, and you can cast magic spells like fire, lightning, holy light, holy dark to kill your enemies, but be careful, for you have limited uses in weapons and magic spells, and you have a limited amount of money, if your character loses all HPs, then he or she is gone for good and if your main character dies, then it's game over.
I like the combat battle speed in this game, it's super fast even better than the slow speed of Final Fantasy Tactics advance. I also like that you don't have to grind as much on Experience points gaining a level for every 100 exp points, you can also promote or upgrade your character between level 10-20 using a crest item to make them even more powerful. Now my review for best and worst character to use in the game.
My best characters to use in the game.
Rath the horse archer: He is the best unit in this entire game, he can attack enemies with bow and arrows from 2 to 3 spaces and can take out flying horse and dragon units and is very fast, later on in his upgrade, he can use a sword and has high HPs, use him whenever you can in every chapter except for the desert campaign.
Armored Knights like Oswin and Wallace: They are good for defending weak units like Merlinus tent, they have high HPs and defense but are not very good for arena battles and are usually slow. Use them to protect Merlinus.
Horse Knights like Cavilers, Paladins like Sain, Kent, Lowen, Marcus, Isadora: They are fast in this game and can wield both a sword and a spear, later on when they're upgraded they can use an axe, I highly recommend using them for charging though the castle halls, however don't use them in the desert area and be aware of the rain that can slow them down, they're also useful in the arena battles and they have high HPs and defense as a paladin.
Priscilla the horse magician: She is the best possible fire magician unit in this entire game next to Rath, she can ride her horse while healing units with her staff and in the upgrade she will use fire or thunder spells 1 to 2 spaces, she can use magic staffs including torch and unlock which is very helpful in this game, I highly recommend using her in every chapter of the game.
Pegasus Knight like Florina, Fiora, Farina: First of all you'll get Florina and she's a really good flying unit, you can use her to fly over all terrain except for walls, she is useful for flying quickly to villages to warn them, has high speed and can attack twice and can hurt magician enemies, however she is weak against archers arrow attacks and ballista arrows and has weak HPs, defense, as for Farina she is expensive to recruit so if you can pay her 20,000 gold, then by all means get her she's useful, but if not then you'll have to skip her.
Wyvern Riders like Heath and Vaida: They are the best flyers in the game they can fly over all terrain except for walls and doors, they can wield spears and later on swords in the Wyvern Knight upgrade, they can easily kill enemies, however they're weak against archers and magic spells. You'll also have to level them up, but when they're leveled enough, they're a powerhouse in the game, I highly recommend using them in every chapter.
Sword Lords like Lyn, Eliwood and Hector an Axe Lord: You will be forced to use them in the game whether you want to or not, they can carry weapons that can land critical blows or attack twice, they're useful for protecting Merlinus Tent. But be careful as they have weak defenses, limited movement, low HPs, don't let them get killed in battle or it's game over.
Archers like Wil, Rebecca and Louise: They are very good archers to use in the game and can ride the ballista to take out enemies, they can attack 2 to 3 spaces, they're good for arena battles and they can protect Merlinus tent. Unfortunately they downside is they can't engage in hand to hand combat in 1 space, they have low defense and will need to be protected.
Axemen like warriors pirates including Dorcas, Bartre, Dart, and Hawkeye: They are very powerful units with high strength, high HPs, they can throw axes, travel over mountains and peaks or even travel over water as a pirate or berserker and land critical blows, and as a warrior can use a bow and arrow which makes them useful in the game. However, they have slow speed, low defense and can miss so be careful using them in the arena, also swordsman can attack them twice or land a critical blow. But Warriors can use both the axe and bow which makes them useful to have and can protect Merlinus Tent.
Magicians like Serra the Cleric, Erk, Nino, Pent the Mage, Lucius the monk and Canas the Shaman: While these magicians can't ride horses they can attack with fire, light and dark spells, also Serra can heal with her staff, but when they get upgraded they can use both attack and healing magic making them useful for the arena battle healing. They are the best to use in the desert chapter.
Matthew and Legault and Jaffar the thieves: You'll usually want to have Matthew or Legault in almost every chapter of this game, especially when you deal with fog or darkness limiting the vision, they'll see far away, they can pick locks on doors and chests, and steals items from other enemies, find items in the desert and attacks twice and dodges enemy attacks, Have them in your party and you'll get rare items, however, they can't use other weapons other than a sword but they're more useful than Guy is. You'll also get to recruit Jaffar the assassin but he can't steal items.
Merlinus the merchant: You'll want to meet up with Merlinus the merchant in the side quest chapter 13X and recruit him in your party, otherwise you'll struggle with too much stuff and drop stuff you didn't want to drop, You'll want to have him in every chapter and he upgrades every level, yes he's vulnerable but he will hold onto items you don't need. Make sure you have an armored knight like Oswin or Eliwood or Hector protecting his tent from enemy ambushes. At a certain point in the game he will upgrade to a wagon which is the best you can have.
My worst characters to use in the game.
Nils and Ninian: First of all I do not like using them, they're a waste of a character space, second, I could just easily let the enemy have their turn and then I'll have my same character like Lyns and Eliwood or Hector act. Why do they need Nils playing his flute or Ninian dancing just to give a character their second turn? They have limited movement and they're weak meaning they can't fight back. Unless you want to use Ninians Filla's Might ring to fight the final dragon boss and use boots on them to speed them up, skip using them.
Guy the swordsman: You can recruit him but I never bothered to use him as he's weak and can get killed easily, he's good for axe man enemies and fights twice, otherwise I leave him out of battles since he sucks later on especially on the spear men enemies. Don't bother upgrading him, he can't use other weapons other than his sword, I'd rather pick Raven, Matthew, Legault and Jaffar or Eliwood or Hector, or Lyn over this useless swordsman character in other words skip him.
Karla the swords woman: She is very much the same as Guy, she does have a good sword Wo Dao, in other words skip her.
Anyways if you haven't played it, buy a Gamecube with the Gameboy player adapter or buy a Gameboy Advance system and buy the 2003 Fire Emblem Gameboy advance copy or better yet, buy it on the Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console which allows for save state battles for arena fights. Anyways, best Fire Emblem game ever by Nintendo.
My rating for this game is Rated E-10 for violence, mild language, mild intense gameplay, level grinding.
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