For several years now, I've been a devoted fan of the Fire Emblem series. Like many others, I started with the first title ever released in America. I was dimly aware at the time that it was only the latest in a long-running series, but I don't think I would have guessed that despite its unadorned title (simply Fire Emblem) that it was the seventh entry. Criminally, Nintendo of America had been depriving the English-speaking world for years of an amazing series of games and it certainly wasn't the first or last time. Strategy RPGs have traditionally not been bestsellers outside of Japan but the relative success of Final Fantasy Tactics way back in 1998 proved the genre could be successful here. However, strategy RPGs are released pretty infrequently compared to their more traditional counterparts; even during the PS2 era when JRPGs were a dime a dozen, strategy RPGs were sparse.
I wasn't new to the genre even then. Final Fantasy Tactics is one of my favorite games of all time to this day. Despite its glaring flaws, I found it to be an infinitely playable game. The plot was compelling even when marred by a subpar translation, and the customization involved in creating your party and characters was immense. Initially a very difficult game, the system could be pretty easily broken with a little game knowledge. For this reason the hardcore community developed a series of challenges that made the game a lot tougher. Most of these challenges involved sticking to one character class with no secondary abilities, while the more strict trials required the use of Ramza only. It was even completely possible to complete the game with solely Ramza in one class for the entirety of the game. This was possible for almost every class with a little preparation.
Even though Final Fantasy Tactics becomes quite easy with game knowledge, that knowledge only comes from a lot of experience or a lot of research. For a first time player, the game can be extremely tough! I know I'm not the only one that had to restart after being unable to take on Wiegraf 1v1 with Ramza. My Ramza was a Knight and didn't have much in the way of secondary abilities. Unfortunately, I had no way of knowing what was coming up so I got stomped over and over. I didn't keep an alternate save file so that was that.
I figured out what I had done wrong and tried again. The next time I went through, Ramza was a Geomancer and had high movement. I attacked Wiegraf from extreme range and stayed out of his danger zone. With the use of potions I was able to slowly whittle him down. It was an effective strategy, but far from optimal. As I acquired more game knowledge, I came to realize that I could devise a setup that could kill Wiegraf nearly instantly. Even though there was a "best" strategy to take Wiegraf out as quickly as possible, there are dozens of ways to go about it. That's what I found so addictive about Final Fantasy Tactics and a big part of why I love the strategy RPG genre. You have options. There isn't just one way to go about things. You tailor your units, your team, your characters to your specific playstyle.
There are varying degrees of complexity when it comes to strategy RPGs. Fire Emblem definitely falls on the simpler end of the spectrum as far as gameplay goes. Customization is light, especially in older games of the series. What keeps me so enthralled with the series is character. Each main-series entry has an enormous cast of characters to choose from. In fact, there are orders of magnitude more characters typically available to you than you would be able to field in a single mission. This forces you to choose which characters fit your playstyle and that is the main aspect of customization in the series. What's more, each playable character has its own unique artwork and at least some semblance of a personality. And they interact with each other! They have conversations. This is exactly the kind of thing that I love to see in video games. I've always been more of a fan of interaction between characters than the "big picture" aspect of the plot--in video games and any other storytelling media. Fire Emblem gels perfectly with my sensibilities in that regard.
Fire Emblem hasn't always gotten it exactly right. A lot of characters in these games are left underdeveloped, their stories not explored to the extent I would like--but they're getting better and better. The there most recent entries in the series (Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, and Awakening) take a great deal of care in exploring the feelings and histories of each and every playable character. I think that's admirable and so enriches the experience for me. Not only do I have an attachment to these characters' statistical growth, but in the growth of their relationships as well.
These aren't the only strategy RPGs I've played (not by a longshot), but they're definitely some of the best. Any game of the genre I end up discussing will invariably be compared to FF Tactics because it's the first one I ever played and serves as the benchmark by which I measure everything else. In the future, I'll try to get into my feelings on the Ogre Battle series, Disgaea, Front Mission, and anything else I can think of. But I'll leave it at this for now.
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