is a
tactical role-playing game
Tactical role-playing games (abbreviated TRPGs), also known as strategy role-playing games and in Japan as (both abbreviated SRPGs), are a video game genre that combines core elements of role-playing video games with those of tactical (Turn-bas ...
developed by
Intelligent Systems
is a Japanese video game developer best known for developing games with Nintendo and the ''Fire Emblem'', ''Paper Mario'', ''WarioWare'', and '' Wars'' video game series. Originally, the company was headquartered at the Nintendo Kyoto Researc ...
and published by
Nintendo for the
Famicom
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redes ...
. Released in March 1992, it is the second installment in the ''
Fire Emblem
is a fantasy tactical role-playing game franchise developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. First produced and published for the Famicom in 1990, the series currently consists of sixteen core entries and five spinoffs. ...
'' series and the last to be developed for the Famicom. It builds upon the basic turn-based strategy gameplay of the previous title, while including new elements such as a navigable overworld. Set in the same world as its predecessor, ''
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Gaiden'' follows the battles of two opposing armies on the continent of Valentia, which is torn apart by political strife involving the princess Celica and her childhood friend Alm.
The development began after the commercial success of ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light,'' original designer and writer
Shouzou Kaga
Shouzou Kaga (加賀昭三, ''Kaga Shōzō'', born 1950) is a Japanese video game designer and scenario writer best known as the creator of the ''Fire Emblem'' series. During his career at Intelligent Systems, he would lead the development of ''Fi ...
returned and assumed the role of director, while
Yuka Tsujiyoko and
Gunpei Yokoi
, sometimes transliterated Gumpei Yokoi, was a Japanese video game designer. He was a long-time Nintendo employee, best known as creator of the Game & Watch handheld system, inventor of the cross-shaped Control Pad, the original designer of the ...
returned respectively as composer and producer. Kaga's main concern was addressing pacing issues from the first game, and allowing for a greater connection between players and the characters. The game was a commercial success, selling over 324,000 units as of 2002. It received mixed reviews from critics and was later compared to ''
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels'' and ''
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link'' as the "black sheep" of the series. Some elements would be used in later ''Fire Emblem'' titles. A full remake, titled ''
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', was released worldwide on the
Nintendo 3DS in 2017.
Gameplay
''Fire Emblem Gaiden'' is a
tactical role-playing game
Tactical role-playing games (abbreviated TRPGs), also known as strategy role-playing games and in Japan as (both abbreviated SRPGs), are a video game genre that combines core elements of role-playing video games with those of tactical (Turn-bas ...
set on the continent of Valentia. Players assume control of two armies, led by Alm and Celica, who navigate an overworld and can visit towns, where they may recruit new allies or talk to traders to transfer items between the groups. The overworld is freely navigable, with additional areas opening up as the story progresses.
The game features two difficulty levels: "Normal" and "Easy". On Easy mode,
experience points earned through actions in combat are doubled and items can be exchanged between units beyond vendor stalls.
Battles use a turn-based battle system, with the player, enemies, and sometimes
non-playable character
A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster ...
s each taking turns and moving across a grid-based battlefield: battles are won by the player defeating all enemies in a map or killing a boss character. Enemies include human troops and monsters. The players are given a limited number of units, which are each assigned unique
character class
In tabletop games and video games, a character class is a job or profession commonly used to differentiate the abilities of different game characters.
In role-playing games (RPGs), character classes aggregate several abilities and aptitudes, ...
es that have various functions in battle, such as being mounted or having access to magic. A unit's class also affects their range of movement on the battlefield.
In contrast to the previous game, character classes are not set but can switch once a character reaches a certain level. A special example of class promotion is the two main characters: Alm can promote from a Fighter to a Hero, while Celica promotes from a Priestess to a Princess.
Each time a unit raises its experience level, its various stats increase based on a percent chance unique for each character. Spells for magical classes are learned through leveling up rather than being part of a separate system, and each spell consumes part of the caster's health when used.
Synopsis
The continent of Valentia was once divided between the Earth Mother Mila and the War Father Duma, sibling gods who split up and formed rival nations devoted to worshiping them: Mila's Kingdom of Zofia, and Duma's Empire of Rigel. The two deities, who each held extreme viewpoints on the world, ended up corrupting their subjects, and Zofia was eventually swallowed in a war triggered by its military leader, Chancellor Desaix, who attempted a coup d'état. Rigel's ruler Emperor Rudolf used this opportunity to lead Rigel's armies across Valentia in an attempt to conquer both countries. A village boy named Alm sets out on a quest to overthrow Desaix and drive Rudolf out of Zofia. Meanwhile, his childhood friend Celica, the exiled Princess Antheise of Zofia, embarks on a pilgrimage to discover Mila's whereabouts after she vanishes, causing a drought in Zofia. The two meet at Zofia Castle, but part ways when Alm is unwilling to attempt to find a peaceful resolution with Rudolf. Alm invades Rigel and defeats Rudolf, who reveals with his dying breath that Alm is actually his son Albein Alm Rudolf. It is then explained that Rudolf's invasion was intended to strengthen the continent's military forces and create a champion capable of defeating Duma and Mila, who have both fallen into insanity due to their extreme power. Alm infiltrates the Duma Temple and slays Duma with Celica's aid. With Duma's defeat, both deities disappear from the world. Alm and Celica marry and unite Valentia under their rule.
Development and release
The development began following the commercial success of ''
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' in 1990. The original game's designer and writer
Shouzou Kaga
Shouzou Kaga (加賀昭三, ''Kaga Shōzō'', born 1950) is a Japanese video game designer and scenario writer best known as the creator of the ''Fire Emblem'' series. During his career at Intelligent Systems, he would lead the development of ''Fi ...
returned to those roles and also became director.
In addition to Kaga,
Gunpei Yokoi
, sometimes transliterated Gumpei Yokoi, was a Japanese video game designer. He was a long-time Nintendo employee, best known as creator of the Game & Watch handheld system, inventor of the cross-shaped Control Pad, the original designer of the ...
returned from ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' as the game's producer, while the visuals were created by Naotaka Ohnishi, Satoshi Machida and Toshitaka Muramatsu.
The music and sound design was handled by
Yuka Tsujiyoko, who had worked on the first ''Fire Emblem''. The game's subtitle, "''
Gaiden
In media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered ...
''", is a Japanese term for a side story related to a larger work, denoting the game's status as a secondary adventure set in the same timeline as the first game.
Kaga designed ''Gaiden'' to address issues raised with the first game, such as tedious elements of map navigation. The system of ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' was used as base for various improvements to aspects such as enemy AI, although the gameplay adjustments ended up removing some of the strategic elements.
These elements included a navigable overworld and more overt role-playing elements, along with the introduction of the class evolution system.
Balancing these elements proved challenging for the team.
The game made use of the new
MMC4 memory chip, developed partially in response to the memory capacity problems faced during the development of the first game. For the story, Kaga wanted to deepen the relationship between the player and their units, represented through the growth of the characters through their battles. To create a stronger and broader central narrative, Kaga created the game's dual protagonists Alm and Celica.
One overt reference to ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' was made in the form of a trio of female Pegasus Knights, who were the same trio from the first game.
''Gaiden'' was released on the
Famicom
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redes ...
on March 14, 1992. It released on a 2Mbit cartridge. It was the second and last game in the series to be developed for the system, and has never received an official release outside Japan.
It would later receive multiple releases on Nintendo's digital
Virtual Console
A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Uni ...
platform: the version for the
Wii released on November 4, 2009, the version for the
Nintendo 3DS on April 3, 2013, and the version for the
Wii U
The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.
Th ...
on August 20, 2014.
Reception and legacy
In Japan, it topped the ''
Famitsu
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...
'' sales chart in
March 1992. As of 2002, ''Gaiden'' had sold 324,699 units. This made ''Gaiden'' the fourth best-selling title in the ''Fire Emblem'' series to that date.
Video game magazine ''Famitsu'' gave ''Gaiden'' a score of 28 out of 40. In their review, critics noted that its gameplay changes meant that it could not be compared to its predecessor, with one critic enjoying its gameplay and calling it better than the first game. Another critic noted that it was fairly easy during the first half, then became rapidly more difficult during the later stages. Another reviewer noted that, while the number of maps had increased, the strategic elements had become noticeably weaker. Public reception was positive: in a poll taken by ''Family Computer Magazine'', it received a score of 24.3 out of 30, indicating a large popular following.
In a later retrospective article on the ''Fire Emblem'' series, ''Pocket Gamer''s Mark Brown compared ''Gaiden''s radical and short-lived shift in gameplay to that of ''
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link''.
Nadia Oxford of ''
USGamer
Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and oth ...
'' also compared ''Gaiden'' to ''Zelda II'' due to its short-lived gameplay changes, in addition to the similar case of ''
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest''.
While the majority of ''Gaiden''s new gameplay elements would be discarded in later entries, the concept of class evolution was retained throughout following entries.
The concept of a navigable overworld map and towns the player could visit was later explored in the
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
entry ''
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones'' in 2005.
The story concept of the returning Pegasus Knights from ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' was also revisited in the
Nintendo 3DS title ''
Fire Emblem Fates
''Fire Emblem Fates'' is a tactical role-playing video game for the Nintendo 3DS handheld video game console, developed by Intelligent Systems and Nintendo SPD and published by Nintendo. It was released in June 2015 in Japan, then released in ...
'' in 2015, with the inclusion of characters from its 2012 predecessor ''
Fire Emblem Awakening
''Fire Emblem Awakening'' is a tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and Nintendo SPD and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It was released in April 2012 in Japan and 2013 internationally. It is the thirteenth in ...
''.
Remake
A full remake of the game, titled ''
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', was released worldwide for the Nintendo 3DS in 2017. As ''Gaiden'' was released in Japan only, it marked the first time a form of the game was released overseas.
Notes
References
External links
Official website'
{{Intelligent Systems
1992 video games
Gaiden
In media, a spin-off (or spinoff) is a radio program, television program, film, video game or any narrative work, derived from already existing works that focus on more details and different aspects from the original work (e.g. particular topics, ...
Japan-exclusive video games
Nintendo Entertainment System games
Video games developed in Japan
Video games featuring female protagonists
Virtual Console games for Wii
Virtual Console games for Wii U
Virtual Console games for Nintendo 3DS
Fiction about deicide
Patricide in fiction
Video games scored by Yuka Tsujiyoko
Tactical role-playing video games