Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem

Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo (ファイアーエムブレム　紋章の謎) is a Japanese tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It is the first Fire Emblem title for the Nintendo Super Famicom. It was released in Japan on January 21, 1994. It was the first twenty-four-megabit cartridge for the system. The game is divided into two distinct parts, or books. Book One is a remake of the original Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi, and Book Two is a continuation of events, following the same characters. In 1996 KSS released an anime OVA, Fire Emblem, based on Monshō no Nazo. Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo was released in Japan on the Wii's Virtual Console service on December 26, 2006. On October 10, it was revealed a remake is in the works for the Nintendo DS.

Gameplay
Monshō no Nazo drops many of the gameplay elements introduced in Fire Emblem Gaiden, such as explorable towns and a navigable world map. However, it does carry over certain features, such as a battery RAM save feature and the use of icons for weapons along with their names. The game's most prominent new feature is the Dismount command, which allows cavalier units to get off their horses and fight on foot. The limitation to this factor is that cavaliers can only wield lances when on horseback and swords while on foot. Furthermore, cavalier and airborne units are forced to dismount in chapters that take place in interior locations.

Plot
The game takes place in the fictional continent of Akaneia, which originally appeared in the first game of the series, Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi.

Marth is prince of Altea and a direct descendant of Anri, the warrior who slayed the dark dragon Medeus. However, after an attack from the neighboring kingdom of Dolua, Marth is forced to become an exile in the neighboring nation of Talis. His sister Ellis is taken hostage after his father is killed battling the evil priest Garnef. With the help of Altean knight and his mentor Jeigan, the Princess of Talis, Sheeda, and others, Marth embarks on a quest to find the sacred sword known as Falchion and the Fire Emblem that will allow him to wield it. Only then will he be able to confront Garnef and the resurrected Medeus, win the kingdom of Altea back, and rescue his sister. Along the way, Marth learns of Medeus's connection to the ancient Mamkute tribe, able to transform into dragons using special stones, and that Medeus is the king of the last remaining dragon tribe.

In the new second book of Monshō no Nazo, Hardin, former Prince of Orleans and ally to Marth in Book 1, ascends to become King of Orleans. However, Marth smells a rat as Hardin's military begins to occupy neighboring countries by force, and Marth and his army is used to conquer smaller countries under orders of General Lang. Marth soon discovers the forces of darkness at work again as Lang, Hardin and his forces become corrupt. Marth soon also learns that the Dragon King Medeus is still alive. Tracing an old legend of yore, Marth retrieves the Fire Emblem once again (this time from Linda, who was entrusted with it by Princess Nina), and goes on a quest to retrieve the 12 Star orb shards to revive the shattered Star Orb. All the while, having been branded a traitor by King Hardin, Akaneian forces hunt him and his allies relentlessly, all the way to the desert of Khadein. Finding out from Boa that a depressed Hardin was turned evil with the Dark orb by Garnef in the form of a merchant and only the light orb can save him. When the Sage Gato assists him on his quest, Marth journeys through the icy mountains to obtain the Light Orb, required to defeat and free Hardin.

With the Light Orb, Marth and his allies stage a final assault on Akaneia to liberate Altea,to save Hardin and his sister. Sadly Marth isn't able to save Hardin from the Dark orb without killing him in the process. After Hardin dies, two special chapters are unlocked, and Marth and his allies discover where the new incarnations of Medeus and Garnef are residing. Garnef again holds the Falchion sword, and using the Starlight magic, Garnef is defeated, and Marth confronts Medeus, who has now taken the form of a dark dragon. In the final confrontation, Medeus holds captive Sirius's love interest Nina, Minerva's younger sister Maria, Julian's lover Rena, and Marth's sister Ellis.

Characters
Playable characters:
 * Marth (マルス) is the hero of the game. His full name is Marth Lowell and he is 16 years of age. He is the Prince of Altea and a descendant of the Champion Anri.
 * Sheeda (シーダ) is the heroine of the game. She is the Princess of the island Kingdom of Talis and Marth's fiance in book 2.
 * Jeigan (ジェイガン) is a veteran knight of Altea, and a retainer of Prince Marth.
 * Abel (アベル) is a knight of Altea, nicknamed the Black Panther. His partner is Kain.
 * Neina (ニーナ) is the Princess of Akaneia and the last surviving member of the royal family, following the slaughter by Durhua. She is rescued by Camus and eventually finds refuge in the hands of Hardin's army known as the wolves of Orleans. She entrusts her family's treasure, the Fire Emblem, to Marth. She marries Hardin in book 2 because Akaneia needs a king but her feelings for him were platonic. She really loves Camus.
 * Hardin-Called the wolf of Orleans. The Prince of Orleans and the king's brother. When Marth first meets him in book 1 he is a honorable man stubbornly and the one of the few people in Orleans still willingly to protect it.  He gets possessed by Medius and becomes a villain in Book 2. He was in deeply in love with Nina and married her in book 2 becoming the king of Orleans. After finding out she didn't love him,he became heartbroken and locked himself in his room not allowing anyone to see him. Taking advantage of this, Garnef used the dark orb to possess Hardin(giving him red eyes). Though Marth wasn't able to rescue him without killing him. Hardin thanked Marth for freeing his soul from the dark orb and asked him to take care of Nina in his dying moments.
 * Sirius-A masked knight. Actually Camus Nina's lover who was thought to have died..
 * Boha-Decided that in order to restore Akaneia a king was required, Made Nina choose between the only suitable canidates Marth and Hardin.

Developmental history
Books One and Two feature different sound-tracks. The recruit theme in Book Two is a classical version of the one in Book One. There has been manga written on the first map of the first book.

Reception
Monshō no Nazo was popular enough to hold the No. 1 position on the Famitsu chart for one year. In 2006, Monshō no Nazo was the only Fire Emblem game which appeared in the top one hundred games list from readers of the magazine Famitsu, holding the sixty-eighth place.

fr:Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo ファイアーエムブレム 紋章の謎 zh:火焰之纹章:纹章之谜