Fire Emblem (series)



Fire Emblem is a popular turn-based tactical RPG video game franchise, developed by Intelligent Systems, and published by Nintendo. It is the first of its genre (the tactical role playing game), and it is based on numerous different mythologies and usually taking place in a medieval style setting.

The series currently has 14 games, which cover the Famicom (NES), Super Famicom (SNES), Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS.

International Release
From the first game (released in 1990) to the 6th game (released in 2002), this series was only released in Japan. In 2001, Nintendo released Super Smash Bros. Melee, a fighting game with characters from many different Nintendo games. The Japanese version included Marth and Roy, from previous Japan-only Fire Emblem releases. In North America, the game went through debug testing, and Nintendo of America decided to keep them in the North American version. It was because of their popularity in North America that Nintendo of America decided to localize and market the Fire Emblem franchise to North America and Europe.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl brought back Marth and included Ike as a newcomer. Sadly, Roy did not return, though was once considered through hidden codings on the Brawl Disc. Later in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, the series received further representation with the addition of Robin and Lucina from Fire Emblem Awakening along with Marth and Ike returning as veterans. Roy and and Corrin from Fates were later added back into the game as downloadable characters.

Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken, the seventh title in the series, became the first Fire Emblem game outside Japan, though it was simply titled "Fire Emblem". So far, seven Fire Emblem games have been released in North America; Fire Emblem Fates being the seventh. Europe currently has six, with Fire Emblem Awakening being the most recent there. Fire Emblem Fates is slated to be released in Europe on May 20th 2016.

Games
The series currently has 12 original games, 2 enhanced remakes, and 1 Satellaview title.

Games predating Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken were released only in Japan.

Characters
The Fire Emblem does not take place in a singular world, instead taking place in several universes, and sometimes, different points in time. Most games have an original cast of characters that are completely unique to that game, creating hundreds of playable and non-playable characters throughout the series. Several games serves as direct sequels or prequels to others, meaning that several characters make multiple appearances in other games, both as playable characters, such as Marth, Tiki, and Ike and unplayable versions of certain characters, such as Eliwood, Roy, and Largo. The series is loosely tied together thanks to several characters that appear in multiple Fire Emblem games, including Jake, Naga, and the reoccurring shopkeeper character Anna.

Permanent Death
"If the enemy reduces a unit's HP to zero, that unit will be removed from the game. Lost units are gone for good; you won't be able to use that unit again after that point."

- Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon in-game guide.

In the Fire Emblem games, when a character's health points reach zero, they will die permanently and be left out of play for the rest of the game. This is a deviation from most traditional RPGs, where characters would reach zero health and be merely incapacitated or can still be revived. This leads players to be mindful of their units and use care in deploying them into battle, keeping back any significantly injured units. If a character other than the primary protagonists (whose deaths result in a game over) who are important to the story have their health points hit zero, they end up receiving a crippling injury that prevents them from ever fighting again instead of dying (an example is Soren from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance). Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon features side chapters (also called Gaiden chapters) that necessitate loss of units.

There is a mode in FE12, FE13, and FE14 called Casual Mode, which brings characters back to life in the next chapter if they are defeated. This is to ease the difficulty, letting new gamers into the game more easily. FE14 introduces Phoenix Mode, which allows characters to come back to battle right after the turn with full health if their health reaches zero. Avoiding loss of units is made easier using emulators, since many of them can create "save states" that overrides the save mechanics of many Fire Emblem games. If a character's health points reach zero, players can load save states to recover the data where the character was last alive.

In Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken, units that are killed in Lyn's story are brought back to life in Eliwood's or Hector's story, although this may be excused due to this game being a prequel. NOTE: Units that are killed come back without the stats that were given to them.