Developer: Intelligent Systems

Publisher: Nintendo

Release Date: Feb. 16, 2009

System: Nintendo DS

ESRB Rating: E-10+

Official Web site

0:00 The sum total of my experience with this series is about five minutes spent with the first GBA version at a 2003 media event. That and Roy and Marth in Super Smash Bros., of course.

0:01 A hazy, overhead view of an island over somber strings. Cut to a drawing of Roy (or perhaps Marth?) looking up through the haze at a girl with wings. Cut to a drawing of him fighting, another of a guy preparing to draw a sword against a horde. More drawings show a wizard with a staff, a child on a throne, a mighty slash through a dragon's hide. A close-up on a sword. Fade to white, then lightning in front of a castle. A white-bearded, devious-looking man. More lightning and ... title! Well, that was pointlessly vague.

0:03 In Hard mode, enemies are "Up to five degrees tougher." I don't know what that means, but it sounds a lot tougher! Normal mode, with its "special prologue" for beginners, sounds more my speed.

0:04 "Long ago, Medeus, king of the dragonkin, conquered the continent of Archanea." Duh! Tell me something I don't know. Age of fear and despair blah blah unlikely hero blah blah divine blade blah blah peace blah blah one century later blah blah fiendish sorcerer blah blah darkness threatened the kingdom again blah.

0:05 The king of Altea is off fighting while his son Marth stays home and tends to the kingdom. Until one day ... "Prince Marth ... Are you awake? Beggin' your pardon, sire, but the princess has asked to see you." A little early-morning booty call for Marth, eh? Heh heh heh.

0:07 Oh ... Princess Elice is Marth's sister. Duh. Scratch my booty call comment.

0:08 It's tutorial time. The first lesson: super-exciting movement! Nice quick animations to get from grid square to grid square. And now there are enemies, barging in through the front gate. "We're soldiers of Gra, and if you know what's good for you, you'll surrender to us without makin' any trouble." OK. I choose the surrender button and turn the game off. That was fun...

0:10 A Gra soldier attacks before I can move, but I kill him with my counterattack, getting 30 experience points in the process. Another goes down just as easily when I get to move. I like the little sprite animations on the top screen during the battles, but I'm sure I'll get tired of 'em before long.

0:13 The leader of the soldiers attacks from the throne. "I have to defeat him before my sister arrives," says Marth. He also goes down with one quick attack. I level up, getting more HP, more Skill and more Luck. One question: How do I get all this soldier blood out of the throne before my sister arrives?

0:14 On the throne square, I choose "Seize" from the menu and suddenly I'm KING OF ALL ALTEA! Er, I mean, it's time for the next chapter.

0:15 Elice tells me our father was defeated by the forces of Gra, a former ally that's switched sides and attacked our father's rear. Heh. Rear. NO STOP THIS IS SERIOUS YOUR DAD JUST DIED! Wait, so I guess I am the king after all?

0:16 Elice tells me the castle is lost and I should just go off on my own and ... I dunno, fight people at random or something. "Goodbye Marth. May you live long." And prosper?

0:17 Horsebacked soldiers Frey and Abel join me for Prologue 2. They were sent by the princess to protect me. We have to secure the area from a bunch of enemy soldiers. The tutorial pipes in: "Lost units are gone for good; you won't be able to use the unit again after that point." Whoa. Heavy!

0:18 According to the tutorial, Swords beat Axes, Axes beat Lances and Lances beat Swords. SO much cooler than Rock, Paper, Scissors.

0:20 The guys on horseback travel a lot farther per turn than leader Marth. They also have some kick-ass Lances that can attack from two squares away. And they're good against enemy Swords. BONUS!

0:21 Quote of the moment, from a Gra soldier: "Oi, listen up you lot! Bag the prince!" Apparently Gra is somewhere in Ireland.

0:22 Of course, all the enemies now have Lances, because I have no one with an Axe. Sigh. Although some of them actually have Bows. Do those count as Lances or Swords or ... what?

0:23 I like how the interface effortlessly shows the movement ranges for many units at once. Makes it much easier to plan moves. I also like how individual units get experience based on how much you use them.

0:25 Another chapter down. Some guy named Jagen spirits me away to safety, where a guy named Cain is waiting. Yup, Cain and Abel. I know!

0:27 Quote of the moment: "Cain, I trust you can put off bleeding to death for a while longer?" You're all heart, Jagen.

0:29 Cain delivers King Dad's last words to Marth: "Now ... he must be great." NO PRESSURE OR ANYTHING! JEEZ!

0:30 "Press X to show attack range for all enemies at once." YES! This is an EXCELLENT feature, allowing me to easily amass forces just outside the enemy's lines. Every strategy game should have something similar ... even the real-time ones.

0:32 I visit a house that happens to be on the battlefield, and a villager gives me battle advice. ME! A PRINCE! Taking battle advice from a COMMONER! *ptui*

0:39 Man, these villagers know their stuff. Between them, they've told me that I can rest in forts, that my weapons can lose durability, and that I should level up everyone. If only they weren't so old and weak, they sound like they'd be useful in battle.

0:42 Mages can attack with fire and at longer range. Marth seems pretty worried about this, but one attack from the mounted guys does them in, so I guess they're not so worrisome? I capture the fort and the chapter's done.

0:43 Quote of the moment: "Drink deeply now of these injustices; sup on these slights they serve. Remember them!" Maladeus is a classically trained aide to the princess, apparently.

0:45 So we hid in the forest until it was time to escape, and now we're going to cut through a prison to the north to get to an island to the east. Also, some people on the other side are fighting against their wishes. If I talk to 'em, I can recruit 'em! Hooray for diplomacy!

0:48 Marth overhears the Captain in the prison saying he's going to set a trap. Well, I mean, Marth doesn't really hear it -- he's too far away -- but I do, and I control Marth, so...

0:49 Poor gagged Gardin. A ruffian has stuck him in a Gra uniform, hoping Marth will kill him and be known as "Marth the Tyrant" Intrigue! Also, quote of the moment: "What's the matter, Gaggles? Can't talk 'cause you're gagged, Gaggles? Ba ha ha!"

0:51 I wasted an entire turn visiting a house just so a guy could say he doesn't envy me fighting the horde. You fool! The time you've wasted has cost us the war!

0:53 I open the door to the prison and come upon Gardin, who shows up as an enemy. There's no option to "talk," so I accidentally and reflexively choose attack. OH NO! Luckily he doesn't die. Ah, only Marth can talk to the other side, apparently. Are the rest of the guys mute or something?

0:54 OOH! The Fire Emblem music from Smash Bros. just started playing in the background when I talked to Gardin. SO CATCHY!

0:55 Gardin is unarmed, so Marth gives him a rapier. Don't worry; he's still got a sword. A nice little feature, being able to share items like that.

0:56 Interesting ... an advancing force appears behind us. Maladeus says I have to send a decoy to the fort to distract them. Marth says he will "find another way." So I guess I have to choose between sacrificing a soldier, permanently, or rushing through the guys in front of us and saving everyone. I decide to go for the gold, since the enemies have been going down like duckpins so far.

0:59 Hmm ... so there's a door to the upper part of the prison, but I can't seem to open it. Did the key Marth used before suddenly disintegrate or something? Also, reinforcements on Pegasi just showed up on the enemy's side! Crap!

1:00 Well, now it's much too late to double back to that fort, and I seem trapped in this room, unable to advance through the prison. So I guess I was supposed to ignore Marth's talk about leaving no one behind? That's what I get for reading the text, I guess.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.


Why? Despite the battles being really easy so far, I like the interface and the promise of battles with real mortal consequences.

This column is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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