Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade

Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi (ファイアーエムブレム　封印の剣) is a Japanese tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. The game was released on March 29, 2002 in Japan, is the sixth game in the Fire Emblem series and the first of three games in the series that have appeared on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance handheld. As of now, it is the last Fire Emblem game to be released exclusively in Japan. It is the only Fire Emblem game for a handheld that has yet to see a release outside of Japan. Its previous title was Fire Emblem: Ankoku no Miko (暗黒の巫女).

Setting
The game takes place in the fictional continent of Elibe, which is split into six nations of diverse ruling styles: Lycia, Bern, Etruria, Sacae, Missur, and Ilia. There is an archipelago to the northwest called the Western Isles, and is composed of Caledonia and Fibernia.

Lycia is ruled by a collection of noble houses that include Ostia, Pherae, Thria, Laus, Worde, Khathelet, Araphen, Caelin, Ryerde, Santaruz, Tuscana, Tania, Badon, and formerly Cornwell. Each one is ruled by its own Marquess. Ostia, the most militarily powerful territory within Lycia, functions as the central ruling territory. This system of government known as the Lycian League was founded by the Champion Roland, one of the eight legendary heroes, after the Scouring.The country is fighting a huge scale war with Bern.

Bern is a monarchy notable for its powerful military, located in the southeast mountains of Elibe. It was founded after the Scouring by the Hero Hartmut, one of the eight legendary heroes. It is the only nation in all of Elibe that employs Wyvern Riders in their army. It is also the home of the Black Fang mercenary company. It is revealed in the game that King Desmond was killed by his son Zephiel after Desmond's attempt to assassinate Zephiel failed.

Etruria is the base of St. Elimine’s church. Most of the nation's residents are naturally blonde; a trait passed down to them as descendents of Elimine, one of the eight legendary heroes. Saint Elimine herself founded Etruria after the Scouring, and her legacy continues to live on in her people. It is home to many sorcerers and monks that have spent their lives studying the magical arts.

Sacae is a country of nomadic clans such as the Lorca, the Kutolah, and Djute that roam the land on horseback; Sacae is known for its vast fields and open plains. It is the final resting place of Hanon, Sacae's founder and one of the eight legendary heroes. It has no central government, but a number of clans that govern themselves. The mountains that separate Sacae from Bern house several bandit groups that lie in wait to prey upon unsuspecting Sacaeans. It is said that the people of Sacae are unable to ever be dishonest.

Nabata is a massive desert covering the entire peninsula of Missur, the Nabata Desert is home to the great city of Arcadia. This oasis utopia is populated by both humans and dragons in harmony. The region is also home to the archsage Athos, one of the eight legendary heroes. The ruthless desert climate deters most travelers from visiting the region, serving as a perfect natural defense for Arcadia.

Ilia ' s snowy climate hampers agricultural development, and as a result, the nation's citizens commonly live mercenary lifestyles in order to survive. It is home to the renowned House of the Pegasus Knights. It was founded by the Great Knight Barigan, one of the eight legendary heroes, after The Scouring had ended. Ilia is located in the northeastern fraction of Elibe, and it is known for its beautiful pegasi that roam the lands freely.

The Western Isles, located in the northwestern ocean, house several bandit groups. Durban the Berserker, one of the eight legendary heroes, founded the warrior clan here and retired here a while after The Scouring. It is currently run by the pirate clan, vicious warriors known for their brutal strength. Fibernia and Caledonia are the most important regions of the Western Isles.

Valor, also known as the Dread Isle, this small island is feared by most seafarers. Covered in dense fog is the Dragon's Gate, a mysterious portal to the realm of dragons.

Plot synopsis


Fūin no Tsurugi takes place on the fictional continent of Elibe and stars Roy, the son of Fire Emblem protagonist Eliwood. Roy leads the League of Lycia's army against the forces of the militant country of Bern shortly after his father falls ill.

The story begins when King Zephiel, ruler of the kingdom of Bern, finishes the brutal conquest of Ilia and Sacae and sets his sights on Lycia. With the war coming to his own country, Roy is sent home to lead Pherae's army to oppose Bern, but soon after he meets Guinevere, the princess of Bern and Zephiel's younger sister, who has escaped from her homeland to search for a way to stop the imminent war between Bern and Lycia. Upon the death of marquess Hector, Roy carries on the Lycian League and makes many promises: to protect Princess Guinevere and Hector's beloved daughter, the mage Lilina, and most importantly, to save the entire continent from Zephiel's mysterious thirst for world domination.

Connection to Fire Emblem

 * Fūin no Tsurugi is set twenty years after its prequel, Fire Emblem.


 * Many characters from the former reappear in the latter in younger forms, including Hector, Eliwood, Bartre, Karel, Merlinus, Murdock, Marcus, Zephiel and Guinevere.


 * Among the playable characters are several relatives of the Fire Emblem cast: the Lord Roy is the son of Eliwood; the mage Lilina is the daughter of Hector; the archer Wolt is the son of the archer Rebecca and nephew of the pirate Dart; the swordswoman Fir is the daughter of Bartre and Karla and the niece of Karel; the twins Lugh and Ray are the sons of Nino; Klein and Clarine are the children of Pent and Louise; the nomad Sue and the nomad trooper Dayan are the daughter and father of the nomad Rath respectively; the mage Hugh and the druid Niime are, respectively, the son and mother of Canas; Igrene is the daughter of Hawkeye; the pirate Geese is the younger brother of Geitz.


 * The playable characters Sophia and Fa from Fūin no Tsurugi also make cameo appearances in Fire Emblem chapters, but are not playable.

Because Fire Emblem takes place two decades prior to Fūin no Tsurugi and was designed to introduce western audiences to the gameplay of the Fire Emblem series, its plot is structured so that no knowledge of Fūin no Tsurugi is required to enjoy the storyline.

Characters
Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi has an immense number of playable characters. Including usable units in both the main game and in the Trial Maps, the number of players totals 62, which is currently the most in the series. Each class is represented by many units, usually including "prepromoted" units. For example, there are four recruitable cavaliers and two paladins, three recruitable knights and one general, four axemen and one berserker, and two pegasus knights and one falcoknight. Certain classes, like the Lord and Holy Dragon, serve as exceptions with only one unit in each. This vast collection of characters makes Fuuin no Tsurugi one of the most replayable games in the series.

Musical score
The soundtrack was composed by series mainstay Yuka Tsujiyoko. In addition to its original music, Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi also features versions of songs from Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu; the character recruitment theme of Seisen is reused as is the general battle theme, which is used as Fūin no Tsurugi's arena and multiplayer battle themes.

The player turn's music for the Trial Maps was also taken from the player turn's music from Fire Emblem Gaiden. The arena battle theme was originally the player battle theme of Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu. The recruitment theme was also borrowed from Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu.

Relation to Super Smash Bros. Melee
Roy appears as an unlockable character in the Nintendo GameCube brawler Super Smash Bros. Melee. He was originally intended to be included in the Japanese version of the game in order to promote the upcoming release of Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi along with Marth, the classic protagonist of the first and third Fire Emblem titles. Both characters were expected to be dummied out of the U.S. release of SSBM, but their popularity proved to be great enough in the west that Nintendo of America included them in the U.S. release as well. The appearance of Roy and Marth in the game can be credited with helping bring Fire Emblem games to North America, beginning with Fire Emblem. Both Roy and Marth speak Japanese in the North American version to reflect upon the fact that the games they appeared in were only released in Japan.