Gameplay: So let’s address the elephant in the room shall we? It’s really, really easy. Unfortunately I agree with this summary but on the bright side of things it does make the game a fantastic entry point for newcomers to the series.
A lot of people bring up Seth soloing or “Sethskip” and while I do agree that this reflects poorly on the game the problem here is that there are a lot of games in this series that can either be soloed or can be low manned really easily. For the sake of fairness I would have to criticize practically the entire series since this is a problem that can be found across the board and I don’t want to do that. Even if Sethskip is taken out of the equation this game is still really easy so that criticism is fair game.
Most of the gameplay here is a copy/paste of Gaiden’s mechanics (they even brought back all the monsters from Gaiden in addition to adding a few of their own) with some GBA mechanics sprinkled in here and there. Sacred Stones doesn’t add anything new so there isn’t much to talk about here. I will say that I think Gaiden handled the world map, trainee and split armies aspect better though.
The map design in this game is pretty solid overall so it has that going for it. I give this game props for having a post game though. I’ve heard that the creature campaign is pretty fun even thought I’ve never played it. If you’re reading this and you have played the Creature Campaign feel free to let me know what you thought about it. Before I forget, I’m also a fan of the branch promotion system here too. I like having options when promoting. It just adds to the replayability and makes promotion all the more exciting.
Overall Summation: This game is really hurt by it’s lack of difficulty. Infinite grinding doesn’t help either. It also hurts that Sacred Stones didn’t add anything new in terms of mechanics, it just makes you think that it did since Gaiden is an obscure game that very few people have played. The map design and Creature Campaign are worthy of praise and I like the branch promotion stuff, but even with that taken into account gameplay is not the best category for Sacred Stones.
Soundtrack: RPGamer said everything I wanted to say about this game’s soundtrack: “As with it's predecessor, the game's soundtrack is rather average, at best. While there are no terrible tracks, there are none that really stand out either.” (Source: https://www.rpgamer.com/games/fe/fe9/reviews/fe9rdrev2.html)
Overall Thoughts: I like this game more than I used to. It’s not the greatest game in the series but I would much rather play Sacred Stones than Awakening or Fates any day of the week. I’m starting to believe that this game doesn’t get enough credit. It does have a fairly good story and cast of characters. Maybe not Holy War / Path of Radiance level of awesome, but it’s still good on its own merits. It’s been a while since I’ve beaten this game. I might have to go back and play it again.
The 2 Videos I Quoted In Part 1:
# 1 (Ghast's Review of Sacred Stones):
# 2 (Caz's Review of Sacred Stones):
The 2 Videos I Quoted In Part 1:
# 1 (Ghast's Review of Sacred Stones):
# 2 (Caz's Review of Sacred Stones):
Well. It's incredible easy to be overlooked when you have to compete with the First Game in the Series (Blazing Sword), the games with Ike (PoR/RD) and the new flashy, actually advertised and overrated games (Awakening/Fates)
ReplyDeleteI agree. It is easy to overlook this game.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the creature campaign in a "this satisfies my grindfest cravings" sort of way. It allowed you to answer the "what would this unit be like at max level?" question for every unit you want. Plus it had a small set of achievements in the form of bonus characters (most of which died in the main story, but all have their own unique bases and growths and are viable units in their own right even though all the action most people care about is already over) though they were all promptly added to the list of "grind to 20/20." That said, it was the only way to play as Lyon, complete with his unique Necromancer class and even his unbreakable endgame tome without cheating. For me, since I enjoy gba FE gameplay on its own merits, creature campaign was fun, but it's also easy to see how it would be unappealing to others.
ReplyDelete-Kiederen