Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
The second Fire Emblem title for GBA introduces a world map with optional battles, branching promotions, and twin protagonists Eirika and Ephraim. Set in Magvel where five Sacred Stones protect the land from ancient evil.
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Story
The Sacred Stones is set on the continent of Magvel, which is divided into six nations. Long ago, five of these nations were each given charge of one of five magical gemstones called the Sacred Stones. The Stones were used to seal away the soul of the Demon King Fomortiis at the end of a conflict between humans and monsters over 800 years ago. The game begins when the Grado Empire, largest of the five founding nations, launches an unexpected assault on the neighboring nation of Renais, home of the royal siblings Eirika and Ephraim.
Taken by surprise, Renais is defeated and the two siblings are separated: Eirika escapes to the northern nation of Frelia with the king's general Seth, while Ephraim goes underground to mount a resistance against the Grado Empire to the south. As Eirika seeks aid from the other nations and gathers allies, the land becomes plagued with undead monsters, a sign of Fomortiis's return. She is eventually reunited with Ephraim, and the two discover that Grado plans to destroy the Sacred Stones and unleash Fomortiis once more. After failed attempts to contact Grado's Prince Lyon, the twins' closest friend, they are forced to mobilize against their former ally as the Empire turns its attention to the other nations' Sacred Stones, successfully destroying the Stone of Frelia.
The siblings part ways once again, each on a mission to preserve the Stones. Eirika is forced to reach the allied nation of Rausten by passing through the new republic of Carcino, the sixth nation, and secret ally of Grado. Her forces escape Carcino by passing through the desert nation of Jehanna, where the Stone of Jehanna is destroyed and Eirika is cornered by two legions of Grado's army. Meanwhile, Ephraim is joined by allies from the nations of Frelia and within Grado itself, and they fight their way into the heart of the empire, to the very throne of Grado's emperor, Vigarde.
After defeating Vigarde in battle, Prince Lyon appears and reveals that the Emperor was merely a resurrected puppet, and that he had started the war. When Vigarde died of illness months before, Lyon had feared his inability to rule Grado and became desperate to bring his father back. Lyon sacrificed his nation's Sacred Stone to revive the Emperor's body, but inadvertently absorbed the fragment of the Demon King's shattered soul sealed within. Lyon became a slave to the Fomortiis the Demon King's will, and both Lyon and Vigarde became puppets of the previously defeated Fomortiis.
Lyon under the influence of the Demon King, declares that he will once more rule Magvel once the Stones are destroyed. With this revealed, he vanishes. Burdened with this knowledge, Ephraim heads to Jehanna and rescues Eirika. Once reunited, the siblings gather their forces and liberate Renais, retrieving its true Sacred Stone, which had been replaced by a decoy when Grado invaded.
After gathering reinforcements from Frelia, the twins head east to Rausten, hoping to protect its Sacred Stone. On the way, the twins are confronted by Lyon, who bests the twins and finally destroys Renais' true Sacred Stone. The twins manage to escape and retrieve the last intact Sacred Stone from Rausten. The siblings pursue Lyon to the Darkling Woods, where he is performing a ritual which will resurrect the Demon King.
The twins do battle with Lyon and finally kill their former friend. This inadvertently supplies the final sacrifice that resurrects the true mastermind behind Grado's invasion of Magvel, Lyons turn to evil and the War of the Stones, the Demon King Fomortiis. Eirika and Ephraim use the Sacred Stone of Rausten to seal the Demon King's soul, and then their forces destroy its body. The siblings' allies from the other nations return home, while they themselves seal the final Sacred Stone away and set about restoring their nation.
Gameplay Systems
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is a tactical role-playing game where players take the role of royal siblings Eirika and Ephraim during separate campaigns as they fight hostile forces invading their homeland, along with allies acquired on their journey. The world's setting of Magvel is navigated using an overworld map, with routes going to different battle maps unlocked as the story progresses. In addition to story-related maps and dungeons, optional dungeons exist where chosen units can freely battle enemies, earning experience points . Each time a unit earns 100 experience points, that unit will gain a level and some of their stats will randomly increase.
All characters can progress up to the 20-level cap . After a character has leveled up to 10, they have the option to be evolved using a class-specific item. A notable change from earlier games is that multiple options are available for class evolution: for instance, a Cavalier can evolve into either a Paladin or a Great Knight. Battles use a turn-based system, with player, allied, and enemy units each taking turns to moving across a grid-based battlefield.
Players can end their turn at any time, at which point the allied or enemy units can move. In each battle, the player is given command of a limited number of units and an objective to complete. Each unit's character class determines their abilities, available weapons, strength, and range of movement. For example, mounted characters can move within the remainder of their movement range if they traded with or assisted another player unit in a shorter range.
Other units have the ability to "rescue" units, lowering their own stats while removing the rescued unit from harm. Depending on a unit's class and stats, items can be used heal or inflict status ailments such as "Poison" (a unit loses health each turn), "Berserk" (a unit attacks nearby units regardless of association), and immobilization ailments such as "Sleep" and "Petrify". A key element of battle is the Weapon Triangle, a rock-paper-scissors mechanic governing which type of weapon is more effective against another. Weapon types vary from close-range melee weapons like swords and axes to long-range weapons such as bows and magical staves.
Various items gathered during missions, such as healing items and weapons, can be traded with other units within the army, or sold at vendors found on the world map. All items degrade with use and will break after a certain number of uses. Different weapons also feature a minimum skill level for use, requiring units to train with that weapon type to earn the proper rank, which ranges from E to A, and then to S, the highest rank. When a unit reaches S rank with one weapon, all other weapon skills are locked at A rank.
Certain units which share a particular affinity stat can benefit from mid-battle Support Conversations. After spending a certain number of turns within a few spaces of each other, they gain the option to engage in a Support Conversation when occupying adjacent spaces. Each pair of units can have up to three Support Conversations, with each successive Support granting both units better stat bonuses in future battles if they are within three spaces of each other. When a unit falls in battle, they are subjected to permanent death, removing them from the rest of the campaign unless the player restarts the game from a previous save file.
Some character deaths, such as those of Eirika and Ephraim, end the game and require a restart from a save file. In addition to the single-player, the game includes a local multiplayer option where four players can take chosen units into the Link Arena. Victory goes to the last group standing or to the party with the highest score depending on the match conditions. Permanent death is disabled in the Link Arena.
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About Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is a classic video game released for the Game Boy Advance on January 1, 2004. Developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Intelligent Systems, this title has become a beloved entry in the retro gaming library.
This wiki entry provides comprehensive information about Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, including release details, gameplay information, and story synopsis. Whether you're looking to revisit a childhood favorite or discover classic games for the first time, Emulator Games Wiki has you covered.
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