Fire Emblem’s 30th anniversary has been anticipated for so long. It has been affected by the worldwide pandemic, which canceled the Fire Emblem Expo in Japan to avoid cases rising. Still, that doesn’t stop fans from celebrating the franchise that was on its last legs before Awakening came out. One of the biggest surprises was that North America, Europe, and Australia finally get to experience Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light fully localized.
One thing you can expect is that the game is very, very outdated, but new features have been added to make the game faster and less frustrating. It will be a different shift of gameplay, graphics, and mechanics if you have been playing Three Houses as of late. Here is all that you need to know about playing the very first Fire Emblem game.
Healers Are Now Called Curates
Healers have been titled differently throughout the Fire Emblem games. Females are associated with being clerics, while males are priests. Some are even called monks or shrine maidens such as in Birthright. In the localized game, FE1 has healers called curates, which are members of the clergy or assistant to places of worship.
You will encounter your first healer in the very first chapter by having Marth visit a village near the chapter boss. His name is Wrys and he has become somewhat a meme in the community.
And They Don’t Gain Experience From Healing
Perhaps one of the most bizarre game design choices that Shouzou Kaga, the creator of Fire Emblem, is that healers never gain experience points from healing. They only gain points from being in combat, and while that sounds terrifying as healers are one of the most important units in the game, there is a way you can cheese it without losing them.
As you are able to increase the game’s speed, grinding your healers can reduce the time compared to what Japanese players had to do on the original Famicom version. If you have not taken out an enemy thief and want to level up Lena, have her stay on a fort and let the thief attack or miss. Not only will Lena be healed at the beginning of the player phase, but she will also have a higher of dodging.
Caeda Will Make Your Playthrough Better
Caeda is a superstar in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, and honestly, when isn’t she in the games she appears in? By being a flyer and having great speed, she will be reliable of getting out of danger and attacking twice.
In the game, there is a stat called weapon level, and Caeda happens to have enough of it to take Jagen’s Silver Lance and dominate the first map. As a flier, she will have a strong weakness to bows, but as long as a healer can restore her hit points and someone to counter the archers, Caeda will be one of your best units in the game.
Consider Benching Jagen
Jagen is an iconic character in more ways than you think. As he started the archetype of having great bases, but low growth rates, Jagen is great for tackling the start of the game. He will eventually fall behind to other units you can recruit that offer great growths and stats, such as Minerva.
And speaking of growth rates, Jagen has a 10% growth in hit points, attack, speed, and skill, but the rest of his stats are at 0%. You can use him as a crutch to deal damage to enemy units in order for someone like Marth or Caeda to gain experience, but when you are around chapter ten or so, it’s best to replace him with someone who has more potential.
Everyone (Except Gotoh) Has 0 Resistance
A lot of units, both player and enemy-wise, have something in common. Everyone, except for the final recruitable ally Gotoh, has no resistance. Gotoh may have a resistance stat of seven, but he also shares a 0% growth rate with everyone else. This can be fixed by buying a talisman in a secret shop or from treasure chests in the earlier chapters.
This is a must for your units that can tank magic attacks, while also firing back if they also use magic. Characters such as Linde and Merric are examples of who you can give a talisman to.
Choosing Which Unit To Recruit
There will be a time where, in a game you can recruit new allies, your choices are limited depending on the circumstances. In the first game, there are characters named Samson and Arran, who cannot join unless Marth picks one of them to become a playable unit.
Who you want to pick depends on the type of class you need. Would you rather have a hero with balanced stats, or a paladin with high movement? Both options are valid either way, as the two can fill in if someone in your party dies.
No Dancing This Time
Fire Emblem players today will note that one of the best classes to have is the dancer. The idea of having a unit refresh another in order to gain another turn can be a crucial lifesaver. Whether it is refreshing a healer to replenish others’ health or to let an offensive unit take out the closest enemy, dancers are extremely reliable.
But dancers have not made an appearance until Mystery of the Emblem, so tactics will have to be planned out carefully. To make up for the lack of dancer, you will be able to rewind if you make a mistake and create bookmarks to continue off where you paused when taking a break.
The Triangle Attack
The Whitewings are beloved characters in the Fire Emblem series and have made a lot of appearances in the games. Caeda might be your first Pegasus Knight, but by having the sisters Palla, Catria, and Est, they can form together to use the Triangle Attack. This has become a staple in the series, as three specific units from each game (except for Awakening) are needed to initiate the attack.
In order to perform the move, the three Pegasus Knight sisters will have to be in a triangular position while surrounding the enemy. The attack will deal a lot of damage and is a cool tactic to use if you’re in a tough spot.
You Will Seize In Every Map, Except The Last
Fire Emblem might not excel in every single map made, but the criteria for finishing them is what makes the series unique. It would have been easy to just have the goal be taking out all of the units, but Intelligent Systems offers interesting methods of completing a map in the later games.
In this game, you will need Marth to seize every single chapter after taking out the boss, with the exception of the final chapter as defeating the final boss will result in beating the game. This gives a lot of room to let you get chests you’re missing or grind for experience points if there are any enemies left.
Make Use Of The Shops
Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light offers some secrets that could take a handful of playthroughs to figure out. What is one of those secrets? It is aptly named the Secret Shop. Throughout the end of the game, you may encounter some areas that seem off. For example, in chapter 24, there is an area at the bottom left of the map that has a plain tile in the middle of the mountains.
By obtaining the VIP card in chapter 17, the unit that is holding the item will be able to access the secret shops, and therefore, be able to purchase useful weapons and stat-boosting items that will come in handy in the late game.
