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Turn Based Strategy series developed in-house by Nintendo's Intelligent Systems. The series innovated strategic role-playing games, later popularized in the west by games such as Final Fantasy Tactics. The series has spanned eleven games so far on six systems.
The series was originally released only in Japan until two characters from the series, Marth and Roy, appeared as unlockable fighters in Super Smash Bros. Melee, introducing the series as a whole to western gamers. They proved to be very popular fighters, and subsequent games in the series have been released worldwide. (Incidentally, they were originally only supposed to be in the Japanese version, included to promote the upcoming release of The Sword of Seals, but the localization team at Nintendo of America liked them and decided to leave them in; this is why the original Japanese voice actors are used.)
The series' appeal comes from its unique flavoring of the typical grid-based strategy game with Final Fantasy-esque RPG Elements. The games emphasize Character Development and story in addition to strategy and unit building — even relatively minor characters, included mostly just to flesh out the player's army, receive lots of Backstory and interaction with the other characters. Fans of the series spend just as much time admiring the depth of the characters and setting as they do debating the Character Tiers.
The series is semi-linear, as each verse will feature one to three interrelated games before moving on to a new universe.
- Fire Emblem: The Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light is the first game in the series, released for the Family Computer in 1990. Prince Marth of Altea (who would appear in Super Smash Bros Melee and Super Smash Bros Brawl before the remake of the first game was released internationally) flees invasion from the neighboring kingdom
Dolua Dolhr. With the help of his various allies, he searches for the legendary sword Falchion that will allow him to strike down the evil dragon Medeus.
- Fire Emblem Gaiden was released for the Family Computer in 1992. It takes place in the same world as the first game, but on a different continent, and its plot has no bearing on the first game. It's the odd duck of the series, featuring a lot of unique gameplay elements that haven't been seen since. Fan Translation as of November 2009.
- Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem was the first game in the series released for the Super Famicom, in 1993. It is both, a retelling of the original game and a sequel, giving players the option to skip to the sequel if they're already familiar with the original game. It was the subject of a two-part OVA series in Japan. Fan Translation as of March 2008.
- BS Fire Emblem: Akaneia War Chronicles is a set of four maps that was released for the Satellaview and uses the previous game's engine. It was released in 1994 and was the last game set in Marth's universe. Fan numbering of the games (no games are officially numbered) generally do not count this one.
At this point, the series moved to a new world... (Recently noticed Word Of God places it in the same world, chronologically first)
- Fire Emblem: Genealogy of Holy War, released for the Super Famicom in 1996, is a game that spans decades — after several chapters with one party, the game continues with the children of the original characters. The game contains a lot of unusual elements for the series, but it has many fans and is argued by many as the best game in the series as a result of its engrossing plot and deep character development system.
- Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 has its fans as well. The last game released for the Super Famicom in 1999, it takes place in between the two halves of Genealogy of the Holy War. It uses the same gameplay system as the previous game, with the addition of Fog Of War — now a series staple — and a fatigue meter. This game is also notoriously NintendoHard.
With the Super Famicom in its last throes, the series was retired for three years, making the N64 the only Nintendo console not to see a Fire Emblem release, though one had been announced (different accounts have this as either becoming The Sword of Seals, Path of Radiance, or a completely-abandoned fourth game in the Akaneia saga). The series reemerged in a new world and in portable form, on the Game Boy Advance.
- Fire Emblem: The Sword of Seals (also translated as The Binding Blade) stars Roy, Fire Emblem's other representative in Super Smash Bros Melee, as he attempts to repel the invading forces of Bern. The game received a mixed reception among fans, as it was forced to drop (due to technological constraints) many of the complexities the series had picked up on consoles, and the characters lacked depth in the opinion of some players. It did, however, introduce the super-popular "Support" feature, which allows characters to build their relationships by spending a lot of time together in battle and remains a big draw for the series.
- Fire Emblem, known as Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword (also translated as The Sword of Flame) in Japan, was the first Fire Emblem game to see release outside Japan; thus, it was simply called Fire Emblem internationally. A prequel to Sword of Seals, it stars Roy's father, Eliwood, as he investigates the actions of the Black Fang brotherhood of assassins with his friends Hector and Lyn. This game remains the favorite of many western gamers because it features the longest quest and most replay value by far of the English-language games.
- Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones took place on a new world, Magvel, and starred the vaguely incestuous twins Eirika and Ephraim as they tried to stop the resurrection of the Demon King. While by no means bad, the game is derided by fans because the story mode is comparatively short and rather easy, especially due to the ease of Level Grinding.
The series made its long-awaited return to consoles in 2005 with the release of...
- Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, for the GameCube. Switching universes again, this installment stars mercenary Ike, the first non-noble main character of the series (and who replaces Roy as a Fire Emblem representative in Super Smash Bros. Brawl), as he aids Princess Elincia in reclaiming her kingdom of Crimea from the militaristic nation of Daein. Introduced in this universe are the Laguz, a human-like race with the abilities to shapeshift into animals. The series brought back many of the gameplay elements from the Super Famicom games that had to be dropped from the GBA ones, such as the skill system and hit-and-run tactics.
- Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn is the tenth title in the series, released in 2007 for the Wii. Taking place three years after the conclusion of Path of Radiance, the title features many characters of the previous game and is divided into four plot arcs with each part having a different main character. The game starts with a new character, Micaiah, the leader of the Dawn Brigade, and her friend Sothe, who was a minor character in Path of Radiance. Their goal is to liberate the country of Daein (the enemy nation in the previous title), from the Begnion Empire (who aided Ike in the previous title). Following arcs feature Elincia, now queen of Crimea, dealing with rebellious nobles, and Ike and his mercenaries aiding the Laguz Kingdoms against an apparently corrupt Begnion, with the final arc bringing all the characters together in order to avert the destruction of their world.
- Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, is a Nintendo DS remake of the original Fire Emblem. It is the first game in the series to have a half decent multiplayer, complete with online play, and has a new feature that lets the player switch the classes of their units. With the release of Shadow Dragon, Marth is now the record holder for "longest delayed solo debut after a debut in another series".
In addition, as noted above, Fire Emblem is one of the featured series in Super Smash Bros. Melee had Marth and Roy, Brawl has Marth and Ike, Lyn ( Fire Emblem) as an Assist Trophy, and the Castle Siege stage that features some of the typical locales encountered in the games.
See also: Fire Emblem Character Sheet
This series provides examples of:
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