Analyzing Fire Emblem 3 Book 2 / 12 Chapter 8 - Bridge of Souls

                      Anti-Turtling Incentives: There are two particular anti-turtling incentives on this map. The first comes in the form of a thief carrying a Starsphere Shard who’s trying to run off the edge of the map. Considering how important Starsphere Shards are to Fire Emblems 3 & 12 this is a big deal so you’re going to want to kill that thief. This is made more difficult by the fact that said thief is running towards Astram’s army of powerful mercenaries. Any movement in their range will cause them to charge at the player’s army. This will make the chapter 10 times more difficult for the player so you have to watch your step when eliminating the thief.

                               The second anti-turtling measure provided by this chapter comes from Astram and his army of mercenaries. Eventually these guys will move toward the player. How early they move is dependent on the difficulty. Most difficulties in Fire Emblem 12 won’t have them start moving until Turn 8. On Lunatic mode (and maybe Reverse Lunatic mode. I’m not sure about this one) they move on Turn 6. In Fire Emblem 3 Book 2 Hardin will also move alongside his generals. By this point in the game Hardin is unbeatable so even he counts as an anti-turtling incentive. 

                        Terrain: The terrain of this chapter is pretty interesting. There are  two bridges that are two spaces wide. One bridge is to the north of the player while the other is to the player’s south. This helps to create ideal conditions for sandwiching the player should they make the mistake of playing too slowly. There’s a random village off the player’s right where Bantu joins the player. I personally don’t think Bantu’s worth it, but trying to recruit him does make the chapter just a little more difficult.

                  

                         Enemy Positioning: First you’ve got Paladins that will charge at you on the bridge, then after them you have to deal with a wave of Generals that will prevent you from making it to the top of the bridge. The chapter also gives you Roger, who can be recruited by Caeda. Astram’s army is positioned behind the player with the intent of attacking them from behind. There are also some well placed Snipers to the north near the boss. These guys serve two purposes. The first is to prevent fliers from swooping over toward the boss and the second is that they can help deal additional damage while the player deals with the enemy Generals. The enemy boss, Jeorge, is recruitable with either Marth or Gordin which is a nice twist that helps the player put a little more thought and effort into the map.

                            Overall: This is a solid map. The anti-turtling incentive is powerful, the bridges are well placed and the enemies are positioned well so that the player has to think about how they will move next. This is the type of quality that’s common throughout Fire Emblem 3 Book 2 and Fire Emblem 12.

Analyizing Blazing Sword Chapter 14

                                   

                                 So how about a map from Blazing Sword? This is one that tends to get overlooked and we’re here to give it the proper respect that it deserves.

                                   Anti-Turtling Incentives: This map first has Erk who is an NPC. Enemies will attack Erk so you need to go rescue him. Then there’s a village down at the bottom that is being threatened by pirates. You need to go save it and in the reward for rescuing it is recruiting Priscilla. In Hard Mode there will be enemies who spawn behind the player which will cause all kinds of problems if they aren’t dealt with.

                

                                 Terrain: There are two bridges which increase the number of routes that the player could take. These bridges also serve as chokepoints to help deal with enemy hordes. There are three possible ways to approach the boss: The route where Erk is, the middle and the route by Priscilla’s place. Forest tiles are placed in the middle of the map which spruces this part of the map up a little bit. 

                                    Enemy Positioning: Not the strongest element here. You mostly have a lot of cavaliers charging at you. The boss charges at you with a Silver Lance (or a Horseslayer depending on which difficulty you're playing on), which hurts. Pirates will come at you from the south, but they’re more or less a joke.

                                        Overall: It’s a pretty simple map. It works since it gives you enough things to do. That kind of describes Blazing Sword in a way. It’s simple but in a good way.

Analyzing Thracia 776 Chapter 17A

                                    Well ladies and gentlemen you all knew that a Thracia map was going to make it on here. Today I’ll be looking at Chapter 17 of the A route. This is a fun map and I’ll show you why:

• Anti-Turtle Incentives: This map is a poster child for anti-turtling. There several things that are done here to keep the player on their toes.

                         The first thing this map does is have a dark mage with a Warp staff on a cliff. Why is this important? Well for starters if you don’t deal with him he’ll be warping dark mages at you. The second reason this is important has to do with the Capture system. As a friendly reminder whenever an enemy shows up with valuable items or weapons the capture system more or less gives the player the opportunity to take those items for themselves. This means that if the player plays fast enough they not only neutralize the dark mage boss’s ability to warp dark mages at them, but they also get a Warp staff and a Fortify out of the deal. As far as I am aware there are three ways to capture this dark mage boss and obtain the Warp and Fortify staff before this boss has the chance to use them. I’ve tried 2 of the 3 ways and Model Omega mentions a third way (which is easier) of getting the Warp and Fortify staves.

                            The second way this game discourages turtling is that there are four houses that get threatened by enemy brigands. These brigands start spawning on Turn 3 and they spawn pretty close to these houses and there will be one brigand who will continuously spawn from turns 3 - 8. Better move fast. 

                             The third way this map discourages turtling though is one of the greatest anti-turtle measures I can think of in the series. On Turn 10 a dude named Cyas shows up and orders the bad guys to attack. At this point in the chapter a three point bridge magically appears and the Armor Knight army in the bottom right hand corner comes charging at you. This wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that a Mage Knight army magically shows up two turns later behind the player (with an extra boss to boot) packing Thoron tomes. Also, the Pegasus Knight army stationed near the Dark Mages will also come charging at you. Oh and before I forget you get even more Dark Mages who will spawn from an area of the map that you can’t get to who will also be making your life an absolute nightmare.

                           So basically, you’ll have three armies charging at you from different directions, each getting a + 30 % boost in avoid and accuracy all thanks to Cyas’s 10 star leadership bonus. Speaking of Cyas he has a Sleep staff. In Thracia 776 status staves have infinite range and basically last for the entire map so basically Cyas can put just about any unit in the player’s army to sleep and unless you’ve a Restore staff on you, you’ll be staying that way until you beat the map. Cyas will eventually leave on Turn 15 so you’ll only have to worry about him staying there for 5 turns, but holy crap does he make life difficult for you!

                             Multiple Paths Approach: There are two primary paths to take in this chapter. Your fliers can drop off certain units to the north and then there’s the regular path through the middle. There’s a bridge way up to the north that you can take although you’ll have to deal with ballista should you choose to go through that path. Once the three point bridge shows up you’ll have another path to the throne through the south. The only problem here is that you’ll have an army of Armor Knights to deal with. Overall, this chapter gives you multiple routes to choose.

                             Terrain / Enemy Positioning: Something that I enjoy about the enemy positioning here are the positioning of the Pegasus Knight army. They’re stationed right above the Dark Mages, which will make your path towards capturing the Dark Mage boss difficult since moving towards him means that you’ll have to deal with them too. If you want to bypass the Dark Mages and head towards the northern villages you’ll still have to deal with the Pegasus Knights since they’re right next to said village too.

                                 The Dark Mages are situated on a cliff which means that you’re basically getting to and from that point with a flier. This makes things just a little more difficult since only a small number of units in the player’s army are fliers.

                                   Forest tiles are placed so as to hinder the player’s movement in reaching towards the villages. There are ballista placed near the castle ready to snipe at the player in case the player goes through the bridge at the top of the map. The three point bridge that appears near the Armor Knights not only opens up another path, but is placed so close to the Armor Knights that it will be hard to defend since you’ll need three units and it’ll be easier for the Armor Knight to get within attacking range. Also, watch out for the bishops with ballistic siege tomes near the throne. 

                              Additional Side Objectives: There are two possible new units to recruit in this chapter. The first one can be recruited by visiting that church near the Dark Mages. That’s how you get Sara. For those of you who don’t remember I ranked Sara as the greatest light mage in the series. I still stand by that assessment and as an interesting note, she’s also one of the best Est’s in the series too. The point is, she’s powerful and totally worth taking the extra time to recruit. After she’s recruited she’ll be in danger from not only the Dark Mages, but also the Pegasus Knight army so you’ll need to have a plan to get her out of there as soon as she’s recruited.

                        Speaking of the Pegasus Knight army the second new possible unit is Misha. Misha’s not quite as powerful as Sara, but she’s still useful. Misha’s recruitment is trickier than Sara’s. First you have to talk to her with Karin. Then after that you have to put Misha to sleep and then have her captured for the entire level. Considering the fact that Misha is surrounded by Pegasus Knights who will most likely double attack any unit that captures Misha, so you’ll need to think about how to go about doing that.

                                     Overall Thoughts: I love it when maps give the player a lot of things to do. Maps like that never get old and this is a prime example of that. The enemies are well positioned and the map has plenty of things to keep the player on their toes. This is but one of many reasons why I consider Thracia’s map design to be legendary.

Analyzing Conquest Chapter 8

                                The first map I want to talk about in this series is quite possibly my favorite map in Conquest, Chapter 8. Okay so why do I think Chapter 8 is great? Well how does it meet the criteria stated in my last post?

                        Multiple Paths Approach: There are three different paths one can take. There’s the bottom route, the top route and the middle route around the fountain. Two of these three paths are made possible by the Dragon’s Vein located in the map.

                     Speaking of Dragon’s Vein, something that I forgot to point out in my last post is that if a well designed map has a gimmick said gimmick will add to the strategy of the game. Gimmicks tend to get a bad rep, and while there are a lot of bad, gimmicky maps there are maps that do have well implemented gimmicks. Conquest Chapter 8 is a shining example of how to use a gimmick right. Why? Well, it’s because of the fact that the Dragon’s Vein adds strategic options and increases the ways in which the player can beat the map. Not only does it increase the number of paths one can take, but it also is capable of preventing your foes from attacking you for a turn (see Mang’s video on Conquest Chapter 8 for beginners). Overall, the design is greatly improved by the existence of its Dragon’s Vein gimmick.

                         Anti-Turtling Incentive: This chapter achieves its anti-turtling incentive through its villages. If the player visits three villages by the end of the chapter they get 10,000 gold. Considering the fact that Conquest gives limited gold this is a valuable reward that makes the effort to visit the villages worth it. While one village is within the player’s reach the rest of them are far away which means that the player will need to play fast and smart in order to get to them. Then add in the fact that if the enemy reaches them first they get additional reinforcements and soon you’ve got a player who will not be taking their sweet time.

                       Terrain / Enemy Placement: Last but not least there’s terrain and enemies. Terrain is mostly covered under the multiple approaches section with Dragon’s Vein so it’s really more about enemy placement. Something that Conquest does really well is its enemy placement. Enemies tend to travel in groups and formations and they excel at taking advantage of Dual Strike. As such the player has to be extremely careful of where they need to place their units.

                         Enemies consist mostly of mages and fighters, both of whom hit pretty hard. Thankfully this level gives you Niles and Odin. Niles has high speed and resistance, meaning that he is one of the few units that can actually take a hit from enemy mages and he can double attack them back. Odin...has resistance. Anyway, Niles is a huge blessing when trying to deal with this map. Flora is also placed well. She has a Freeze staff that will make life inconvenient for the player as it usually will have a high hit rate and it will slow the player down, keeping them from getting to the villages quicker. She can also use Hidden Weapons which means that attacking her results in a debuff of some kind.

                              Then we have the boss. The boss of this level has Nosferatu which means that he can recover any damage that he takes. He’s a magic user so he’s got either weapon triangle advantage or weapon triangle neutrality against most of the player’s army. Add the fact that he can hit hard and you’ve got yourself a formidable boss. If you want to deal with the few enemy units that hover near him you have to be careful of your positioning so that you do not leave yourself at the boss’s whims.

                        Overall: This chapter has my favorite use of Dragon’s Vein out of the 3 Fates games and it does a good job of trying to get the player to play fast with the villages. The enemies are well placed and the boss is challenging enough to force the player to think about how he / she will approach him. This is definitely a well designed map.

What makes a Good Map?

                          Back when I made my Holy War review (thank you to all who took the time to read that. I know it was a really long read. I hope it was worth the time you spent reading it :) ) I alluded to starting a series of posts that discussed map design. Well life happened and I got busy (I’m currently working on making a mobile app game with 2 other guys in school in addition to work and trying to get a social life going in the real world in addition to working on my own project, Fire Emblem: The Dark Crusade).

                               Well I usually have more free time on Mondays so let’s see if I can crank this out. Before starting my series of posts about map design I thought it would be beneficial to first establish a baseline criteria about what makes a good map. For starters, I made a post about map design back when I was creating my “Ten Tips to Improve Fire Emblem” series. You can view it here: http://thecrusadergrant.blogspot.com/2015/11/ten-tips-to-improve-fire-emblem-3-map.html

                                    I also linked to a video done by Mangs where he covered the same subject. It’s a great video and if you haven’t seen it you should check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqlJaIxOdgY

                                     

                                   I may end up repeating myself from before, but I figure that it’s worth repeating since it’s relevant to the topic at hand. So what is the main criteria of good map design? Well, here’s a list of things I will be looking for when analyzing maps:

1. Are there multiple ways to approach your destination?

    

                       Something that I’ve noticed about a lot of well designed maps is that they often give the player multiple ways to approach a certain spot on the map. This gives the players room to try multiple different strategies. It encourages them to weigh out the pros and cons of each method of approach, which is exactly what a strategy game should be doing. Usually this also means that no part of the map will go to waste either which is always a plus.

        2. What anti-turtling incentives are there?

                        For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, “turtling” refers two things:

1. “Taking unnecessary precautions in how you move your units, like moving slowly to avoid danger where logically the problem could be solved more efficiently with the same net gain/loss. That's my definition I guess.”

2. “This, and covering less ground than you can and not gaining any advantage from it.” (Source: http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=48640)

                           Before I continue let me make one thing perfectly clear: This is not designed to condemn a person for playing the game a certain way. Play Fire Emblem however you want to play it. My only reason for mentioning this is that when a map puts pressure on a player it causes them to think more strategically. Good maps encourage this, bad ones don’t.

                           There’s a variety of different ways that Fire Emblem maps accomplish this. A few examples include having villages and then threatening them with a bandit. Another example would be map objectives or having a thief try to get to the treasure chests first. There are different ways to accomplish this (and you can get creative with how you approach this too) and as I go along I’ll make sure to point this out.

3. Enemy / Terrain placement: This one’s a no-brainer, but hey sometimes the obvious just needs to be stated. The way a map sets up its terrain and its enemy formations is very important since these two things tend to have a major effect upon how the player will play the game.

                              At the end of the day the ultimate question one should be asking is: “Does this map make the player play more strategically or less strategically?”

                      Feel free to list suggestions about what maps I should review. I’m sure I may have forgotten some key elements of map design and if so please point them out to me. I’m looking forward to doing this and I hope that these posts can provide good feedback and thought provoking discussion.

Fire Emblem 4 Genealogy of the Holy War Part 10 - The Finale

The Final Summation of Holy War: Holy War is not just my favorite Fire Emblem game of all time, it is in a 3 way tie with Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 for my favorite videogame of all time. There’s so much to love about it. The story is phenomenal, the characters are great and the music is amazing! I also am not bugged by the gameplay and can overlook its flaws because what it does well, it does very well. This is a game I can play over and over and over again and never get bored of. This game gave me what I wanted and I hope that my Fire Emblem game, The Dark Crusade, can surpass this wondrous gem of epicness.

Fire Emblem 4 - Genealogy of the Holy War Part 9 - Even More Awesome Music!

                             Holy War also happens to have my favorite music for when you’re transitioning between levels. Both generations have amazing themes. “Glorious Grandbell” for the first generation really works and helps to establish the feeling that you’re on a glorious, political march. I remember this music also doing a really good job of sucking me into the game’s story. It made learning about this game’s world so fascinating. 

                       Then you have the second generation’s theme “When the Rush Comes” which also works exceptionally well for the type of tone it tries to set for the second generation. After being completely shocked by the Massacre at Barhara I heard this theme and there was only one thing on my mind, “Alvis, I'm coming for you. And this time, you ain't taking me by surprise.”

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxPRAFQIy_w That’s right I quoted a YouTube comment.)  The music for the second generation is perfect for the whole “rise up against the Empire after taking a major fall”.  

                     I also really love Seliph’s theme. It’s cute and adorable. It fits Seliph. He’s out to fight a major empire. I love how it plays when he’s talking to Sigurd’s ghost. IT JUST BRINGS ON THE FEELS!

                       If you take a look down at the comments someone even came up with lyrics for this song and I think they’re actually really cool:

                    “Dear mother and father not certain you can hear me but know I am fighting. The war will be long and bloody but I cannot despair. This whole continent cries for help and I will be there. Shannan and Oifey have told so many stories to me all about the two of you while you were both alive. You... both sound so wonderful. Would that I could have known you.”

                     

                        ^ Can we please have those lyrics put in during the remake? PRETTY PLEASE?!

                     Moving on, Alvis’s theme really does a powerful job of conveying how much of a dastard he is. It’s sneaky (I’m saying this in a Smeagol voice btw, which I can do)

                     Holy War also gets my vote for “Best Crisis Music”.

                    Considering the numerous times the good guys get themselves into a crisis this is a theme you want to get right. Fortunately this game got it right. Every time I hear this music I feel like I’m in a crisis and that crap has just hit the fan. I don’t think any other game in the series has been as effective in conveying this feeling as Holy War has.

                     

                   Then there’s this:

                  It’s the theme that plays when a brainwashed Diadora is reunited with Sigurd, for the last time. OH THE FEELS! Seriously it tears at your heartstrings. I find it to be the most tragic theme in the series. It’s hard for me to listen to it.

                 Oh and before I finish my piece about Holy War’s OST I should bring up the fact that there’s an arranged OST. Everything that was awesome about Holy War’s OST got amped up to 11. Here’s the first theme from that playlist. It is awesome:

                      Remember how I said that I loved the first theme? Well the arranged OST somehow made that theme even better. I don’t know how it did that, but it is nothing short of a feat of pure epicness:

                          Oasdhpoashgpoehg03hgpoigp98ty903qgh9v709qrehvepr9gy8er7gerghp9er7gwp9hvwp97gwp9vhu4p97g4p9hwep!!!!111

                      DANG SON! Yeah, it’s incredible. You should also check out the first comment of that video ;)

                     The arranged OST is only for map themes, but holy crap are they awesome! Can we please have those in the remake? PLEASE? The arranged OST also made the theme for the final map 1,000,000,000 times more epic. Like Holy Crap! THIS IS AN EPIC THEME WORTHY OF THE FINAL CHAPTER OF HOLY WAR!

Fire Emblem 4 - Genealogy of the Holy War Part 8 - The Awesome Soundtrack

The Soundtrack

                 If I had to pick a game that had the title of “Most Underrated Soundtrack in the Series” it would be Holy War. Holy War has an AMAZING soundtrack that does not get the love and recognition that it rightfully deserves. One understated benefit of having only 12 maps is that each map gets its own unique song. I really love that about Holy War. I can listen to the song of each individual map and recognize what part of Jugdral the player’s in. This game has a plethora of awesome tracks so let’s jump in.

               My favorite map theme in the entire series happens to be “Birth of a Holy Knight” aka the very first map theme in Holy War:

               This track just feels very regal and noble. It makes you feel like you’re “going on an adventure”. It hooked me into the game when I first played it. It still hooks me in whenever I listen to it. It’s the perfect song to start an epic game with.

                The next map theme after that feels….kind of nostalgic actually. It’s weird because Holy War was my fourth game that I played and the first non-US released Fire Emblem game that I ever played. I was in high school when I played it so Holy War does bring back memories. Anyway, I love the map theme in Chapter 1:

               Since we’re on the topic of other map themes, there’s Chapter 5. Holy crap is that chapter’s theme appropriate for the situation at hand. It comes across as a slow, tragic march to your doom. It sets the perfect tone for the Massacre of Barhara. I always get a feeling of dread and anxiety whenever listening to this, because I know what’s going to happen next. Chapter 5 of Holy War still remains as the bloodiest chapter in Fire Emblem history. So many feels….

                 Then there’s Chapter 10. Chapter 10 has a very hopeful feeling that’s energetic and youthful, kind of like the army in the second generation. It’s upbeat and wonderful.

It also sounds familiar. Now where have I heard this theme before?

                       Oh yeah. It’s the track that Path of Radiance used in its Trial Map. Boy does it sound awesome here! I remember geeking out about this when I made the connection and I think it’s so cool that my two favorite games share a track.

                 Then of course there’s the final track in the game. I love how it’s a youthful, energetic remix of the track from the first map. It gives one the feeling that we’ve come full circle. We started in Grandbell on an epic adventure and now we’re ending this fight in Grandbell at the end of a long and epic road. Heck you even start out from the exact same castle too and everything. It’s the perfect theme for a final map.

                  I kinda get sad because I know that Holy War is almost over whenever I hear this song, but I can’t help but love it. It’s an awesome remix of my favorite map theme.

                   There are other tracks I really enjoy too. For example, Holy War has my favorite theme for when the player initiates an attack on the enemy:

                    LOVE this theme! It gets you pumped for battle. I can listen to this theme over and over and over and over and over again. This theme has reappeared twice in the series if my recollection serves me. Obviously it came back in one of the DLC for Awakening and the other time was when Binding Blade remixed this song for its arena theme:

                       Binding Blade was the next game that I played after Holy War. I remember geeking out when I recognized that the arena music was a remix of Holy War’s. Even when Holy War’s player offensive theme gets remixed it still sounds incredible.

                      Then there’s my favorite boss theme of all time: Julius’s. (What? Did you think I was going to say Alvis?)

                    

                       I LOVE dat organ music! It’s SO COOL! (sonofab****. + 10 points if you know what I’m referencing) I always get disappointed when my fight with Julius ends, because I freaking love that theme.

Fire Emblem 4: Genealogy of the Holy War Part 7 - The Rest of the Gameplay

                  Major Positive # 2: The Outstanding Base / Castle System: I really like Holy War’s castle / base of operations system. For starters, Holy War has one of the best arena systems in the series. You can’t abuse it due to the fact that it only has seven levels and you get to pick which weapons you want to have your unit wield when they go in. You can still get some good level-ups in and money, but you still have to earn it though.

                     Then there’s the Repair shop. I like the idea of having something in the player’s base that lets them repair weapons. Granted, this basically trivializes weapon durability, but it’s still a really cool concept. Having a nearby pawn shop is also convenient. I’m also glad there’s an augury that gives you some kind of hints about the status of your units relationships. It’s still a tad too vague for me, but hey at least something exists. That being said Old Hubba is totally better. If Holy War gets a remake Old Hubba should be that guy in the castle.

                          I have a lot of fun managing these character’s items due to how individualized everything is. The only game I can think of where item management is more fun is Thracia 776. 

                          Other positives about Holy War are its village system. I like having a village that take multiple turns to destroy. These villages can give you tons of money too in addition to stat boosts (not counting rings). Not to mention most of them have cool things to say, whether its plot relevant information, game relevant information or that “nod, nod wink, wink” conversation that one villager gives you about Lachesis and Eldigan. I would like to see this come back in a future game.

                    I also LOVE this game’s stat boosters. Rather than having those lame + 2 / + 3’s this game gives you a MANLY + 5 in your stats (and it’s permanent too). I’d also like to see this come back as well. I love the fact that this game has secret events like Ardan’s Pursuit Ring or Lex’s Brave Axe or Seliph meeting the ghosts of Sigurd and Diadora (OH THE FEELS!). I’d like to see more of that in future titles too.

                    Other cool things about Holy War’s gameplay include the lover and sibling boosts to critical hits, the secret proto-support conversations where characters got stat boosts and extra weapons and the super cool weapon kill bonus. 

______________________________________________________________________

                       Before I forget there are some things that I feel Holy War deserves praise for. This game invented the weapon triangle system. I don’t think that very many people realize how huge of an impact that made on the series. The weapon triangle is now considered one of the core elements of the Fire Emblem series and it’s that one element that every game has to have. It would feel weird NOT to have it in a Fire Emblem game. That’s how important it is.

                       This game also invented the skill system. Skills like Luna and Sol made their debut here. This is the same system that Thracia 776, the Tellius games, Awakening and Fates built off of (and Sacred Stones to an extent). I love the skill system so for me knowing that Holy War invented the skill system is another huge positive.

                          This is also the first game to have individualized stat caps for each and every class. Prior to Holy War every unit had individualized caps. It was either a cap of 20 or a cap of 40. Holy War decided to make stat caps unique for each and every class. That’s another major change that I really enjoy.

                           Holy War also invented the myrmidon class. As I understand it, myrmidons are a popular class in the fandom so for those of you who love myrmidons you have Holy War to thank. Holy War was also the first game to make an unpromoted Wyvern Rider class. Prior to this game wyverns were usually a promoted class for pegasus knights. Gaiden was the first game to feature pegasus knights promoting to a falcon knight class, but it was Holy War that made an unpromoted Wyvern Rider class.

                          Holy War also invented Brave weapons. Prior to this game, there were no weapons that attacked consecutively. Gaiden has a sword listed as a Hero Sword, but it doesn’t say that said Hero Sword attacks consecutively. 

                         Overall Summation: If I had to pick an element of Holy War’s that I felt was the weakest it would be the gameplay. There are some bad design decisions that even I’m not a fan of. Still though, I think there are some good things in its gameplay and many of the imbalances make it fun for me. I love how overpowered the Holy Weapons are and I love the second generation mechanic of this game. I also think this game deserves more love and praise than it gets for having a huge impact on the series. I mean, this game changed Fire Emblem forever, and it changed the series in a profoundly positive way and I appreciate that.