History EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / FireEmblemTheBindingBlade

** After each chapter's narration, the game pans over the chapter map much like in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' before battle preparations kicks in. ''Blazing Blade'' and ''Sacred Stones'' jump to the preparations menu first before allowing the player to view the map.

* The funds ranking in this game had an unusual way of being calculated, as it is based on the ending that is viewed, and, if necessary, whether Roy and Lilina have an A-Support together or not. This is due to the fact that if the game is loaded on a map that plays an event, that map's funds value is used for the funds ranking. [[spoiler:The best ending to get the highest funds ranking is by clearing the game on the final chapter if Idunn is spared.]] Though the Funds ranking itself returned in the prequel, this oddity was never used again, as said prequel lacked different endings.

** They revert to not being able to class change, even though the Jugdral games allow them to do so. Later GBA games allowed to them to promote into Assassins and Rogues, with other Thief-like class changes being introduced later, though 21 years later, they once again revert back to this status in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage''.

** They revert to not being able to class change, even though the Jugdral games allow them to do so. Later GBA games allowed to them to promote into Assassins and Rogues, with other Thief-like class changes being introduced later.

* While the game does introduce the support system that would become a franchise cornerstone, the game curiously only supports paired endings for Roy; everyone else's endings are unaffected by supports, which can lead to a few narrative oddities (such as Fir, for example, being a heartbreaker, as she goes off to further her mastery of the sword after the game's events, leaving her potential suitors in the dust). Units who don't participate in the endgame also get a very simplified versions of their endings. There's also no support conversation viewer after beating the game, which the prequel and ''Sacred Stones'' would include. The protagonist being the only one to get paired endings was a feature that [[LaterInstallmentWeirdness ended up returning]] in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'', though.

* Thieves get two counts of being weird for previous ''and'' subsequent games:

* The funds ranking in this game had an unusual way of being calculated, as it is based on the ending that is viewed, and, if necessary, whether Roy and Lilina have an A-Support together or not. This is due to the fact that if the game is loaded on a map that plays an event, that map's funds value is used for the funds ranking. [[spoiler:The best ending to get the highest funds ranking is by clearing the game on the final chapter if Idunn is spared.]] Though the Funds ranking itself returned in the prequel, this oddity was never used again, as said prequel lacked different endings.

* While the game does introduce the support system that would become a franchise cornerstone, the game curiously only supports paired endings for Roy; everyone else's endings are unaffected by supports, which can lead to a few narrative oddities (such as Fir, for example, being a heartbreaker, as she goes off to further her mastery of the sword after the game's events, leaving her potential suitors in the dust). Units who don't participate in the endgame also get a very simplified versions of their endings. There's also no support conversation viewer after beating the game, which the prequel and ''Sacred Stones'' would include. The protagonist being the only one to get paired endings was a feature that ended up returning in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'', though.

* The funds ranking in this game had an unusual way of being calculated, as it is based on the ending that is viewed, and, if necessary, whether Roy and Lilina have an A-Support together or not. This is due to the fact that if the game is loaded on a map that plays an event, that map's funds value is used for the funds ranking. [[spoiler:The best ending to get the highest funds ranking is by clearing the game on the final chapter if Idunn is spared.]] Though the Funds ranking itself returned in the prequel, this oddity was never used again, as said prequel lacked different endings.
* ''Binding Blade'' is the only game in the franchise where Boots are purchasable at Secret Shops, and for good reason. This is because extra movement, particularly on characters who already have high movement and/or flying mounts completely breaks apart the last few chapters and you can keep buying and using them on the same people (up to 25 movement!) as long as you have cash. The conspicious removal of Boots (but not other stat-boosting items) from future games' Secret Shops indicates that they probably learned their lesson here.

* The funds ranking in this game had an unusual way of being calculated, as it is based on the ending that is viewed, and, if necessary, whether Roy and Lilina have an A-Support together or not. This is due to the fact that if the game is loaded on a map that plays an event, that map's funds value is used for the funds ranking. [[spoiler:The best ending to get the highest funds ranking is by clearing the game on the final chapter if Idunn is spared.]] Though the Funds ranking itself returned in the prequel, this oddity was never used again, as said prequel lacked different endings.

* Thieves revert to not being able to class change, even though the Jugdral games allow them to do so.

* While the game does introduce the support system that would become a franchise cornerstone, the game curiously only supports paired endings for Roy; everyone else's endings are unaffected by supports, which can lead to a few narrative oddities (such as Fir, for example, being a heartbreaker, as she goes off to further her mastery of the sword after the game's events, leaving her potential suitors in the dust). Units who don't participate in the endgame also get a very simplified versions of their endings. There's also no support conversation viewer after beating the game, which the prequel and ''Sacred Stones'' would include.

** The cutscene backgrounds were drawn like the sprites and the overworld. ''Blazing Blade'' and ''Sacred Stones'' would later use either photographs or paintings ported into the system instead.

* ''Binding Blade'' was the first ''Fire Emblem'' title to feature a convoy that is accessible on the map from a unit (''Geneaology of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'' had map locations where units could interact with the storage) and only one of two (the other being ''Binding Blade''[='s=] prequel, ''Blazing Blade'') where the convoy would be a distinct, deployable unit, making Merlinus the only character to ever hold the Transporter class. Starting with ''Sacred Stones'', the convoy would be accessible from the main lord.

* For unknown reasons, whenever an enemy is defeated, items do not drop at all, which affects four of the weapons that debuted in this game. The then-newly-introduced Tomahawk, Fimbulvetr, and Runesword, which would've been droppable, wounded up being unobtainable in the main story, and are exclusive through Trial Maps, while the Spear couldn't be obtained at all without hacking. This was fixed in the prequel.

* For unknown reasons, whenever an enemy is defeated, items do not drop at all, which affects four of the weapons that debuted in this game. The then-newly-introduced Tomahawk, Fimbulvetr, and Runesword, which would've been droppable, wounded up being unobtainable in the main story, and are exclusive through Trial Maps, while the Spear couldn't be obtained at all without hacking. This was fixed in the prequel.
* This is the only game in the series where it's possible for the player to buy Boots. In this case, they can be bought in a Secret Shop in Chapter 21. This is a stark contrast to how this item is obtained in all other games, where it's extremely rare and only one or two can be obtained.

* Due to ''The Blazing Blade'' being a prequel, there are several instances where characters are ignorant of elements that were also key plot points twenty years ago, although it's not difficult to rationalize things away given the time the heroes spend undercover, Canas' determination to keep the events ''out'' of the history books, and the fact that Eliwood would probably not want to talk about the painful events his InfinityPlusOneSword caused. In ''particular'', there's the fact that Lyn, the heroine of the prequel, is completely absent and unmentioned. That's because, when ''Binding'' was developed, she simply didn't exist; Rutger, Fir, and Karel are the fast sword-swingers of this title, and Lyn came into existence for ''Blazing'' as a good point-of-view character for the planned Anglophone-friendly intro campaign and was "meant" to simply fade into the background after the game, but the way ''Blazing'' plays out makes this notion farcial. As such, this has always stood out a little bit, but with the passing of time, the advent of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'', and with Lyn becoming one of the most popular characters in the franchise, her complete absence from ''Binding'' is now an elephant in the room. Between a few snatches of info in ''Blazing'' and ''Heroes'', there are guesses as to what happened to her (the most popular being that [[spoiler:she's the mother of either Lilina or Sue and, either way, perished trying to defend Sacae from Zephiel after taking up the Mulagir]]), but since she simply didn't exist when ''Binding'' was written, there's no definitive answer.

* Due to ''The Blazing Blade'' being a prequel, there are several instances where characters are ignorant of elements that were also key plot points twenty years ago, although it's not difficult to rationalize things away given the time the heroes spend undercover, Canas' determination to keep the events ''out'' of the history books, and the fact that Eliwood would probably not want to talk about the painful events his InfinityPlusOneSword caused. In ''particular'', there's the fact that Lyn, the heroine of the prequel, is completely absent and unmentioned. That's because, when ''Binding'' was developed, she simply didn't exist; Rutger, Fir, and Karel are the fast sword-swingers of this title, and Lyn came into existence for ''Blazing'' as a good point-of-view character for the planned Anglophone-friendly intro campaign and was "meant" to simply fade into the background after the game. This has always stood out a little bit, but with the passing of time, the advent of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'', and with Lyn becoming one of the most popular characters in the franchise, her complete absence is now an elephant in the room. Between a few snatches of info in ''Blazing'' and ''Heroes'', there are guesses as to what happened to her (the most popular being that [[spoiler:she's the mother of either Lilina or Sue and, either way, perished trying to defend Sacae from Zephiel after taking up the Mulagir]]), but since she simply didn't exist when ''Binding'' was written, there's no definitive answer.

* This is the only game in the series where it's possible for the player to get more than one or two pairs of boots. In this case, while one can be found in the sand in Chapter 14, multiple can be bought in a secret shop in Chapter 21. This is a stark contrast to how this item is obtained in all other games, where it's extremely rare and sought after due to how busted it is.

* For unknown reasons, whenever an enemy is defeated, items do not drop at all, which affects four of the weapons that debuted in this game. The then-newly-introduced Tomahawk, Fimbulvetr, and Runesword, which would've been droppable, wounded up being unobtainable in the main story, and are exclusive through Trial Maps, while the Spear couldn't be obtained at all without hacking. This was fixed in the prequel.

* For unknown reasons, whenever an enemy is defeated, items do not drop at all, which effects four of the weapons that debuted in this game. The then-newly-introduced Tomahawk, Fimbulvetr, and Runesword, which would've been droppable, wounded up being unobtainable in the main story, and are exclusive through Trial Maps, while the Spear couldn't be obtained at all without hacking. This was fixed in the prequel.

** There are also mine and spike traps that only appear in Chapter 21x, and are completely invisible and placed in certain portions of the map, similar to how the warp traps worked, except that these hazards can be disabled by a thief, resulting in less frustration. The mine trap has a fixed damage of 10 like lava geysers, while the spike traps deal the same amount of damage, but can be nullified by high-defense units. While the spike traps haven't been seen again since, the mine trap was instead reworked into an item exclusive to the prequel.

** Strangely, some sprite animations have less FPS, which makes their animation speed slightly slower than most other animations. This is notable with the dark magic spell animations, where they move a lot more slowly, while Noferatu's has a long delay between the spell being casted and the target taking damage from/dodging it. There was also a delay in Fae's battle sprite that lasts for a few seconds for whenever she is attacked or dodging. This is absent from all other units and their classes.

* ''Binding Blade'' was the first ''Fire Emblem'' game to feature a Hard Mode, and it was mostly a fairly simple affair of autoleveling the enemies to be stronger, as opposed to later games making significant changes to map or enemy design or outright altering core mechanics. There was also the famous HardModePerks, which didn't show up again after ''Blazing Blade.''

** A specific amount of lava geysers and poison jets activate randomly at the end of enemy phase instead of activating where a unit is standing like in later games. Though it is more difficult for these hazards to target and damage enemy units, and can unexpectedly harm a player unit that stands in front of them, their randomized nature caused them to be too easy to spot, predict, and avoid for players, and therefore their function had to be altered a bit to add a bit more challenge. Heavenly arrows, on the other hand, retained their function when they were brought back in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''.

* Magic swords are weird in this game. The light brand deals 10 damage when attacking from 2 tiles, [[FixedDamageAttack regardless of the stats of the user and the victim]]. Later games would take into account the user's strength and the victim's resistance when calculating damage. Meanwhile, the runesword targets the foe's defense, doesn't count as being in the trinity of magic, and can inflict critical hits. Most of these features would be scrapped in later games.

* Magic swords are weird in this game. The light brand deals 10 damage when attacking from 2 tiles, regardless of the stats of the user and the victim. Later games would take into account the user's strength and the victim's resistance when calculating damage. Meanwhile, the runesword targets the foe's defense, doesn't count as being in the trinity of magic, and can inflict critical hits. Most of these features would be scrapped in later games.

* ''Binding Blade'' was the first ''Fire Emblem'' title to feature a convoy that is accessible on the map from a unit (''Geneaology of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'' had map locations where units could interact with the storage) and only one of two (the other being ''Binding Blade''[='s=] prequel, ''Blazing Blade'') where the convoy would be a distinct, deployable unit, making Merlinus the only character to ever hold the Transporter class. Starting with ''Sacred Stones'', the convoy would be accessible from the main lord.

** The character mugshots do not blink. The prequel and ''Sacred Stones'' would later add blinking animations to the character portraits.

* Due to ''The Blazing Blade'' being a prequel, there are several instances where characters are ignorant of elements that were also key plot points twenty years ago, although it's not difficult to rationalize things away given the time the heroes spend undercover, Canas' determination to keep the events ''out'' of the history books, and the fact that Eliwood would probably not want to talk about the painful events his InfinityPlusOneSword caused.
** In ''particular'', there's the fact that Lyn, the heroine of the prequel, is completely absent and unmentioned. That's because, when ''Binding'' was developed, she simply didn't exist; Rutger, Fir, and Karel are the fast sword-swingers of this title, and Lyn came into existence for ''Blazing'' as a good point-of-view character for the planned Anglophone-friendly intro campaign and was "meant" to simply fade into the background after the game. This has always stood out a little bit, but with the passing of time, the advent of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'', and with Lyn becoming one of the most popular characters in the franchise, her complete absence is now an elephant in the room. Between a few snatches of info in ''Blazing'' and ''Heroes'', there are guesses as to what happened to her (the most popular being that [[spoiler:she's the mother of either Lilina or Sue and, either way, perished trying to defend Sacae from Zephiel after taking up the Mulagir]]), but since she simply didn't exist when ''Binding'' was written, there's no definitive answer.

*** The credits roll in this game, compared to other ''Game Boy Advance'' titles, looks drastically different; instead of using text, it uses letter graphics, and appear in a slideshow instead of crawling upwards. Also, if the true ending has been reached, it will show full endings of 10 of the characters that participated in the final chapter.

** Unlike future GBA installments and beyond, base accuracy for the different weapon types are significantly more stratified in ''Binding Blade'', with lances and especially axes being much less reliable than swords or bows. Combined with tough opponents with the capacity to dodge and bosses on +30 Avoid thrones, this leads to low hit rates that often surprise players who started with later games.