Fire Emblem: Fuin no Tsurugi
Encyclopedia
is a tactical role-playing game
developed by Intelligent Systems
and published by Nintendo
. The game was released on March 29, 2002 in Japan, is the sixth game in the Fire Emblem
series and the first of three games in the series that have appeared on Nintendo
's Game Boy Advance
handheld. Its working title was Fire Emblem: . It stars Roy, who previously appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee
.
tactical role-playing game
in which players move a small group of units around a square-based grid, battling their enemies in order to complete a certain predefined objective. It is reminiscent of other tactical RPGs with features such as character class
es and the ability to level up. For more information, refer to the Fire Emblem gameplay basics.
The story begins when King Zephiel, ruler of the kingdom of Bern, finishes the brutal conquest of Ilia and Sacae and sets his sights on Lycia. With the war coming to his own country, Roy is sent home to lead Pherae's army to oppose Bern, but soon after he meets Guinevere, the princess of Bern and Zephiel's younger sister, who has escaped from her homeland to search for a way to stop the imminent war between Bern and Lycia.
Upon the death of marquess Hector, Roy carries on the Lycian League and makes many promises: to protect Princess Guinevere and Hector's beloved daughter, the mage Lilina, and most importantly, to save the entire continent from Zephiel's mysterious thirst for world domination.
. In addition to its original music, Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi also features versions of songs from Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu; the character recruitment theme of Seisen is reused, and the general battle theme is used in Fūin no Tsurugi as the arena and multiplayer battle themes. The player turn's music for the Trial Maps was also taken from the player turn's music from Fire Emblem Gaiden
.
fighting game Super Smash Bros. Melee
. He was originally intended to be included in the Japanese version of the game in order to promote the upcoming release of Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi along with Marth
, the protagonist of the first and third Fire Emblem titles. Both Roy and Marth speak Japanese in the North American version, which relates to the fact that their games were Japan-exclusive.
. The storyline was going to be quite similar to the previous series in tone. It was going to be set on the continent of Erezo, and concerns a lone hero named Roy, "whose town is being attacked by the neighbors of Belun for mysterious reasons. For centuries, the two lands were neighbors and compatriots; suddenly, they are bitter enemies, and nobody in your homeland knows the reason for the outburst of violence. Players will have to uncover the mystery behind the turn of events, as well as keep their own city safe from disaster." It was also likely that the Game Boy Advance version of Fire Emblem was resurrected from the work on the cancelled Nintendo 64
sequel of Fire Emblem, which would have had the same 2D graphics and control. An American version was unannounced and was also unlikely.
In 2001, Nintendo Space World
showed some video game footage of Fire Emblems gameplay, but a release date was unknown. It was known that players will have the ability to raise and fight their troops in battle and will also be able to play against friends on multiplayer on other Game Boy Advance systems.
In March 2002, Nintendo started airing a commercial for Fire Emblem on television networks in Japan. The company had also created a "director's cut" version of the commercial, with no game footage, on its website. The game was developed by Intelligent Systems
, and featured the same style of turn-based strategy as Advance Wars
, though Fire Emblem was set in a "fantasy environment complete with knights, wizards, and mystical creatures." It was set for release in Japan on March 31, 2002. Nintendo of America had revealed that the series will come to the US, but had not announced a release date.
Tactical role-playing game
A tactical role-playing game is a type of video game which incorporates elements of traditional role-playing video games and strategy games. In Japan these games are known as , a designation which might seem peculiar to native English speakers...
developed by Intelligent Systems
Intelligent Systems
is a Japanese first-party video game developer and internal team of Nintendo Co., Ltd. It has its headquarters in the Nintendo Kyoto Research Center in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture....
and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
. The game was released on March 29, 2002 in Japan, is the sixth game in the Fire Emblem
Fire Emblem
is a fantasy tactical role-playing video game franchise developed by Intelligent Systems , the maker of Advance Wars , and published by Nintendo...
series and the first of three games in the series that have appeared on Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
handheld. Its working title was Fire Emblem: . It stars Roy, who previously appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBM or simply as Melee, is a crossover fighting game released for the Nintendo GameCube shortly after its launch in . It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 game Super Smash Bros., and the predecessor to the Wii game Super Smash...
.
Gameplay
Fire Emblem is a turn-basedTurn-based tactics
Turn-based tactics , or tactical turn-based , is a computer and video game genre of strategy video games that through stop-action simulates the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics in generally small-scale confrontations as opposed to more strategic...
tactical role-playing game
Tactical role-playing game
A tactical role-playing game is a type of video game which incorporates elements of traditional role-playing video games and strategy games. In Japan these games are known as , a designation which might seem peculiar to native English speakers...
in which players move a small group of units around a square-based grid, battling their enemies in order to complete a certain predefined objective. It is reminiscent of other tactical RPGs with features such as character class
Character class
In role-playing games, a common method of arbitrating the capabilities of different game characters is to assign each one to a character class. A character class aggregates several abilities and aptitudes, and may also sometimes detail aspects of background and social standing or impose behaviour...
es and the ability to level up. For more information, refer to the Fire Emblem gameplay basics.
Setting
Fūin no Tsurugi takes place in the fictional continent of Elibe, which is split into six nations of diverse ruling styles: Lycia, Bern, Etruria, Sacae, Missur, and Ilia. There is an archipelago to the northwest called the Western Isles, composed of Caledonia, Fibernia, and Dia.Story
The game stars Roy, the son of Fire Emblem protagonist Eliwood. Roy leads the League of Lycia's army against the forces of the militant country of Bern shortly after his father falls ill.The story begins when King Zephiel, ruler of the kingdom of Bern, finishes the brutal conquest of Ilia and Sacae and sets his sights on Lycia. With the war coming to his own country, Roy is sent home to lead Pherae's army to oppose Bern, but soon after he meets Guinevere, the princess of Bern and Zephiel's younger sister, who has escaped from her homeland to search for a way to stop the imminent war between Bern and Lycia.
Upon the death of marquess Hector, Roy carries on the Lycian League and makes many promises: to protect Princess Guinevere and Hector's beloved daughter, the mage Lilina, and most importantly, to save the entire continent from Zephiel's mysterious thirst for world domination.
The Fire Emblem
The Fire Emblem in this game is the Imperial Seal required to assume or recognize the Bernian throne.Connection to Fire Emblem
Fūin no Tsurugi is set twenty years after its prequel, Fire Emblem. Because Fire Emblem takes place two decades prior to Fūin no Tsurugi and was designed to introduce western audiences to the gameplay of the Fire Emblem series, its plot is structured so that no knowledge of Fūin no Tsurugi is required to enjoy the storyline.- Many characters from Fūin no Tsurugi reappear in Fire Emblem in younger forms, including Hector, Eliwood, Bartre, Karel, Merlinus, Murdock, Marcus, Zephiel, and Guinevere. The playable characters Sophia and Fa also make cameo appearances in Fire Emblem chapters, but are not playable.
- Among the playable characters in Fire Emblem are several relatives of the Fūin no Tsurugi cast: Wolt is the son of Rebecca, and nephew of Dart; Fir is the daughter of Bartre and Karla and the niece of Karel; Lugh and Ray are the twin sons of Nino; Klein and Clarine are the children of Pent and Louise; Sue and Dayan are the daughter and father of Rath, respectively; Hugh and Niime are, respectively, the son and grandmother of Canas; Igrene is the daughter of Hawkeye; and Geese is the younger brother of Geitz.
- Several other characters from Fire Emblem, if their supports are maxed out with other characters, can be treated as the parent or relative of some characters. For example, Ninian can be the mother of Roy, and Lyn can be the mother of Lilina. There are other possible relations.
Characters
Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi has a total of 62 playable characters, which was the highest in the series prior to the tenth installment, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.Musical score
The soundtrack was composed by series mainstay Yuka TsujiyokoYuka Tsujiyoko
Yuka Tsujiyoko is a Japanese video game music composer for Nintendo. She is the music composer for the Fire Emblem video game franchise, which was not released outside Japan until 2003, and several other Intelligent Systems developed games. She also scored the Super Scope games Battle Clash and...
. In addition to its original music, Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi also features versions of songs from Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu; the character recruitment theme of Seisen is reused, and the general battle theme is used in Fūin no Tsurugi as the arena and multiplayer battle themes. The player turn's music for the Trial Maps was also taken from the player turn's music from Fire Emblem Gaiden
Fire Emblem Gaiden
is the second installment in the Fire Emblem Tactical role-playing game series developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. The game was released on March 14, 1992 in Japan. It is also the second Fire Emblem game to be released exclusively on the Family Computer...
.
Relation to Super Smash Bros. Melee
Roy appears as a secret player character in the Nintendo GameCubeNintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
fighting game Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBM or simply as Melee, is a crossover fighting game released for the Nintendo GameCube shortly after its launch in . It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 game Super Smash Bros., and the predecessor to the Wii game Super Smash...
. He was originally intended to be included in the Japanese version of the game in order to promote the upcoming release of Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi along with Marth
Marth (Fire Emblem)
is a character from Intelligent Systems's Fire Emblem series of video games. He is the central protagonist and Lord-class character of the original game Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi, the third game, Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo, and the two remake games Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and...
, the protagonist of the first and third Fire Emblem titles. Both Roy and Marth speak Japanese in the North American version, which relates to the fact that their games were Japan-exclusive.
Development
In January 2001, it was revealed that a Fire Emblem game was coming and to be released on the Game Boy Advance in Japan. The game was known as Fire Emblem - Maiden of the Dark, and was unknown if it was going to be released in the Western world, where little is known about the series. It was going to follow gameplay from the previous installments of the series as a tactical role-playing gameTactical role-playing game
A tactical role-playing game is a type of video game which incorporates elements of traditional role-playing video games and strategy games. In Japan these games are known as , a designation which might seem peculiar to native English speakers...
. The storyline was going to be quite similar to the previous series in tone. It was going to be set on the continent of Erezo, and concerns a lone hero named Roy, "whose town is being attacked by the neighbors of Belun for mysterious reasons. For centuries, the two lands were neighbors and compatriots; suddenly, they are bitter enemies, and nobody in your homeland knows the reason for the outburst of violence. Players will have to uncover the mystery behind the turn of events, as well as keep their own city safe from disaster." It was also likely that the Game Boy Advance version of Fire Emblem was resurrected from the work on the cancelled Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
sequel of Fire Emblem, which would have had the same 2D graphics and control. An American version was unannounced and was also unlikely.
In 2001, Nintendo Space World
Nintendo Space World
Nintendo World, formerly called Nintendo Space World, Nintendo 64 Space World, Super Famicom Space World, Famicom Space World, and , is a video game trade show hosted by Nintendo, typically to unveil new consoles or handhelds...
showed some video game footage of Fire Emblems gameplay, but a release date was unknown. It was known that players will have the ability to raise and fight their troops in battle and will also be able to play against friends on multiplayer on other Game Boy Advance systems.
In March 2002, Nintendo started airing a commercial for Fire Emblem on television networks in Japan. The company had also created a "director's cut" version of the commercial, with no game footage, on its website. The game was developed by Intelligent Systems
Intelligent Systems
is a Japanese first-party video game developer and internal team of Nintendo Co., Ltd. It has its headquarters in the Nintendo Kyoto Research Center in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture....
, and featured the same style of turn-based strategy as Advance Wars
Advance Wars
Advance Wars, known in Japan as is a turn-based tactics video game developed for the Game Boy Advance by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It was released in North America on September 10, 2001, but put on hold in Japan and Europe due to the following day's terrorist attacks in the USA...
, though Fire Emblem was set in a "fantasy environment complete with knights, wizards, and mystical creatures." It was set for release in Japan on March 31, 2002. Nintendo of America had revealed that the series will come to the US, but had not announced a release date.
External links
- Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi - Official Japanese site for Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi.
- Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi at Serenes Forest
- Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi at Fire Emblem Wikia