Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Surprisingly good"

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones was probably the third best game overall that I have played for the GBA. First and second place go to both of the Golden Sun Games. This is the first time I have played a game that involves so much strategy. I can't even remember how many times I had to restart because one of my allies kicked the bucket. It was one of the most difficult games that I have ever played. I actually didn't even play for two whole days because I got so frustrated.
No matter how many times I play it though, I don't think that I will ever be a fan of the way characters move. I just couldn't get into it. Not being able to move freely just bugs me. But the battle system gets an A+ from me. I love the RPS (rock-paper-scissors) weapon system. It's hard to remember it at first but it grows on you. The only things that ever annoyed me in the were: how you couldn't hit an enemy with 67% accuracy to save your life, but enemy mages could hit you with 37% accuracy all the time, like it was 100%. And my other complaint is how they always go for the weakest person. One example that I have is how an enemy troop bypassed three of my guys to go straight for my mage Lute. The final thing that disappointed me was the final boss. Even though he has ?? HP, I was able to bring him down in one hit with Myrrh's critical.
Other than those few things that I just didn't like, it was a great game with a good storyline that I enjoyed.