Well, readers, I figured for the first post of the month, I'd post my latest win, which was also the first win of the month. I'd been working on this little title all through the latter part of August, and finally, I claimed victory. I hate to blow my own horn about it, but with a series like Fire Emblem, most wins are worth a little horn blowing.
Fire Emblem is one of those series that I just can't seem to get enough of. Not entirely sure why, but I think it has something to do with the fact that I played chess a lot when I wasn't quite a serious video gamer yet. Well, who says you have to play nothing but video games to be called a serious gamer? Anyway, I guess that's why this series appeals to me so much. Heck, it was a Fire Emblem game that made me buy the 3DS, but that's a whole, different post.
Shadow Dragon is, as far as I ever knew, the only DS game in the series to hit the shores of the good ol' U.S. of A. That was one thing I always wondered: why is it that each system only gets about 1 Fire Emblem title (the lucky Game Boy Advance got 2). Seems to me like they could at least try to come up with some more. Maybe they could try bringing some of those other games in the series over here too, if they don't want to come up with an original title.
I'm getting off track, and I know it.
Now, if you never played Shadow Dragon, I'll boil it down for you. Prince gets forced out of home, prince runs from home, prince fights to reclaim home, prince fights big dudes that took home, prince comes back victorious (we hope).
Maybe that's a little too boiled down.
Basically, you play as Marth, who's been forced to flee his kingdom when Medeus, one of those big dudes and he's bigger than most, decides to invade it. Medeus is the ruler of an empire of dragons who, like most villains wants to rule the world. Luckily (or unluckily depending on how strong they are) Marth has a growing army behind him, to take the fight right to Medeus's front....cave? Kind of surprised he doesn't live in one, since you'd expect that from dragons.
As far as how well I liked it, well I'd call it classic Fire Emblem. That is it'll throw a lot at you in the latter chapters that you'll need to watch out for. Building up your army is a bit of a chore, since you can only take so many with you per chapter, and you can't revisit older locations to train, something that made other titles a bit easier. At least you could build up the weaker units that way, although I built up quite the little army. Still Marth was a bit of a weakling, but you don't really like taking chances with him, at least I didn't.
Graphics are decent, although I've seen another handheld entry that could put them to shame. I've seen other DS games that could put them to shame too. Sound, well, it's also fair. I've heard some better game music, but for a handheld game, it's not bad. Difficulty, well by the time you get to that last chapter, you'll probably be sweating every time the enemy takes a turn, if you're anything like me that is. I tell you one those, those dragons can take a beating. Then again, plenty of those units at that point can take one. They can give you one too, especially if they all gang up on you, but sometimes that actually works to your advantage, if you've got some real tanks on your side. That's how I bought a little time.
All in all, Shadow Dragon really wasn't my favorite entry in the series. I know it should be among them, seeing as it was a remake of the first game that was made. But it wasn't. It's a bit hard to put in the words, but when I think about some of the other games in the series that I've play, Shadow Dragon kind of fell a bit short. Now, this might be a bit picky, but I thought it lacked the same depth as the first GBA title or even the Tellius series. I mean the sense of accomplishment is there after a win, but to me, Fire Emblem is one of those rare games that feels more like some written work of fantasy. Oh, it's no Lord of the Rings, but it always seemed like more than just a video game to me. That's a pretty high standard, I know. But if the other games felt more like a fantasy novel, Shadow Dragon seemed more on the level of a short story - it's good, but it falls a bit short. At least in my opinion it did.
Anyway, what did you think of Shadow Dragon? For that matter, which Fire Emblem game did you think did the best job? I know most of you have probably heard about it, at least I hope you have.
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