Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

Genealogy of the Holy War has long been well-regarded among Fire Emblem fans. It was the last game produced by industry legend Gunpei Yokoi, and thus regarded as his swan song. Technology had really caught up to the video-game visionaries of yesteryear, meaning FE4 would be the complete package and cutting edge in graphics, sound, and sheer size and scope of a game. The game featured gameplay innovations that were highly influential on the future of the series, perhaps most importantly the weapon triangle (Axes beat lances, lances beat swords, swords beat axes). But beyond its place in history, Genealogy of the Holy War is an exceptionally deep game on its own terms.

"Deep" is the best way I can describe FE4. It has a deep story, deep lore, deep mechanics, deep strategy. The game is demanding of your time and attention if you want to complete it. That's not to say that it's overly long. Time to complete is usually less than 40 hours, although this is longer than pretty much every other Fire Emblem game excepting #3 and #10. What I mean to say is that Genealogy of the Holy War has a lot of moving parts - many, many characters with unique skills, abilities, movement, etc.; mammoth maps with varied terrain and enemies; a tedious and bulky item and money management system; An elaborate and complex love- and second-generation system. On top of that, the game is not especially welcoming to newcomers. I beat the whole game without knowing the 'weapon triangle' even existed, and though I knew that progeny characters would be better than default characters in the second generation, I had no strategy in pairing or passing on weapons.

That being said, I'd recommend playing this game with a guidebook of some kind. There are online resources like fan-made wikis and video game walkthroughs, but this game has a plot twist that's really good, so you don't want that spoiled. A guidebook could help you pick up key items and recruit characters that you wouldn't have know about otherwise, and make plans for the second generation. Playing on an emulator with save states and a fast-forward button may also be helpful as you explore different routes and move more quickly through the game - the game does have its own built-in saves though if save states aren't your thing.

Genealogy of the Holy War is deep, so like I said, it may not be for all players. I struggle to give it a score out of 10 because I have very mixed experiences with it. At times it was slow or frustrating or the music was grating. After playing, I'm disappointed because it feels the game punished me for things I couldn't have known how to do properly because the game never told me about them. On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoyed the sprawling scope of this massive story. It really feels like playing a gargantuan continent-spanning decade-spanning epic holy war, though when you get to the end you realize you've played fewer than 40 hours. The translation kept an air of seriousness yet adventure, and the music and graphics haven't aged a day. Now that I've played and messed so many things up, I kind of want to go back and play the whole thing again and play it right! I rarely feel that about a game. I can easily recommend this game, though I know not everyone will like it. Some people just won't feel good about massive maps or constantly dying and having to reset the game or just the entire style or format of a game like this. Honestly, this game is like no other, and for that, I'd recommend you try it, because you just may love it.

Oh, and if you do enjoy grid-based and strategy-based JRPGs, there's a ton I can recommend from this era. Shining Force II for Genesis is really welcoming for newcomers. Shining Force III, Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen, Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together, Bahamut Lagoon, Treasure Hunter G, Front Mission: Gun Hazard, Mystery of the Emblem, Super Famicom Wars; This era was definitely a good time for the genre.

This is the Fire emblem I want to love the most. I love it kind of , in concept in story in music. I love it, but the gameplay is slow and tedious if I do not just go with the main character and kill everything .

It is really impressive How much inspiration they talk from Legend of the Galactic Heroes, I mean the Moment you watch the Anime and then play this Oh my god de where inspireret

The best part of the fire emblem games in this era was subtlety and the ideas and how they showed the story through gameplay because you feel absolutely on your ass when something unexpected happened and in the story and in gameplay. You are just in same position as the main character.

And that is what this game put forward in a really nice way but is to easy

I have completed this games many times and the funnest part of it is the planning the next generation and finding out who has What weapon and What character to prop up this time, that is the fun part of it but actually doing it in the game is so slow that I get easily frustrated because of it.

Music the story it's just so compelling and the main character is such a lovable idiot. I want to play this game again and again, but I just get more frustrated for every time I do it.

This is the Fire Emblem if you love to pre-meditate every action this is amazing. If you want to be in the moment This is the worst one to play.

But the first time experience of playing this game is the 10 out of ten. It's only the replay value. That is in the bottom part . Does first time you do it it is amazing and I will recommend it the hell out of it.

The story is amazing, which has already been said by everyone and their mother by this point, but it truly is a one of a kind experience. While the twist midway through is probably the most spoiled moment in all of fire emblem, it's still heart wrenching when you finally get to experience it for yourself. The characters are also really cool, and while a lot of them suffer from the early fire emblems focus on just a few characters, with the talk conversations and the growth gen 2 adds to gen 1 making many gems shine through, especially Arvis, Lewyn and Sigurd. The soundtrack is hands down the best in the entire series, with literally every single map theme standing out as bangers, in addition to other standouts like beloved one. A lot of people who dislike this game criticise the gameplay, and while it does have some flaws, primarily with empty stretches in the maps, the gameplay is really fun once you get a sense of what's going on. Having played the game a few times I can say that it actually gets more fun on repeat playthroughs, when you know about the potential the various systems have to offer, in addition to how to set things up for gen 2.

Don't play this as your first fire emblem, but don't play it expecting it to play like all the other ones.