STACK #219 January 2023

FEATURE GAMING

ENGAGE! Everything that fans love about the Fire Emblem series returns in the hot new adventure Fire Emblem Engage for Nintendo Switch. A thousand years prior, a ferocious war raged between the people of Elyos and the Fell Dragon. With a lot of help from the Emblems, the people of Elyos imprisoned their attacker, but now it looks as if the Fell Dragon is returning. Emblems from past adventures can be summoned – including Marth and Celica - and their power can be harnessed by the player’s character Alear, who is selectable in male or female variants, and their companions to assist them in battle, as they fight to prevent the Fell Dragon’s resurrection and, ultimately, save Elyos.

For 33 years now, the Fire Emblem series of epic fantasy tactical RPGs has captivated players, serving their desire for strategic gaming.With the latest iteration, Fire Emblem Engage , arriving this month, we take a quick look back at the much-loved franchise. Words Amy Flower Where it began… FIRE PLAY WITH

its native Japan. In 2001, however, its popular characters Marth and Roy were included as fighters in the GameCube release Super Smash Bros. Melee , and soon proved to be a hit worldwide. This led to Nintendo deciding to open up Fire Emblem to the world, with the series’ seventh title, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade , reaching western Game Boy Advance handhelds under the guise of simply Fire Emblem . Proving to be extremely popular, all subsequent titles – except for one, the Famicom remake Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem on DS - have received worldwide releases. So much Fire Emblem! Since that first outing back in 1990, there have been 16 mainline Fire Emblem games – three of which were remakes – as well as four spin-off titles. Of the latter, one of the most intriguing was for the Wii U, a collision of Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE . It later arrived on Switch as Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore ,

DID YOU KNOW? The Fire Emblem of the series title refers to a super powerful element that’s usually represented by either a royal weapon, crest, or shield, symbolising the strength of war and dragons.

“permadeath”, or indeed the game mechanic, it’s fairly self-explanatory in that once you’re dead, you’re gone from the game – permanent death. The concept remained a staple of the Fire Emblem series right up until 2010’s twelfth entry, Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem on the Nintendo DS. From then on, a compromise was reached whereby players could choose between a “Classic” mode, which

Way back in 1990, the first Fire Emblem game, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light , was released in Japan for Nintendo’s Family Computer, or Famicom console (which we knew as the Nintendo Entertainment System). The game was a labour of love for a group of four likeminded developers, headed up by Shouzou Kaga, who came together in 1987 over their desire

to create their own world, after having fallen heavily for Square’s Final Fantasy series. While that first game didn’t fare so well with reviewers, it did act as a kicking off point for what is now one of Nintendo’s most enduring franchises, and it also established several

continued the permadeath tradition, or ‘Casual’ mode, where their fallen character would be resurrected and ready to fight again in the next battle. Go west! For more than a decade, the Fire Emblem series remained exclusive to

tactical RPG tropes that have become staples within the genre, including the oft frustrating “permadeath”. You’re gone! If you haven’t encountered the term

to many rave reviews. In 2017 we also had all the fun of the first of two crossovers with the Dynasty Warriors series, Fire Emblem Warriors .

• Fire Emblem Engage is out on Jan 20

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