Current Events > Fire Emblem: Blazing Blade (FE7, first FE game outside of JP) is now on NSO GBA

(+) Yeah! (+)

If you've never played a FE game or have only played the more recent entries, definitely give it a shot. It's hard to find a physical copy these days, so this is the best legal way to play it now. Or if you're like me and you've already played it before, take this opportunity to enjoy playing it on a big screen and take nice screenshots.

Would have been nice if they had changed it so hard mode is available from the start

Want to replay it but don't really want to go through normal mode again...

Too bad they didn't give us FE6

Damn I can't wait to replay it.

On emulator cause Nintendo wants me to buy 12 months of its online expansion just for this.

MarthGoomba posted...

Would have been nice if they had changed it so hard mode is available from the start

Want to replay it but don't really want to go through normal mode again...

Agreed, it would have been nice to have a special mode with all of the stories and normal/hard modes open from the start for people who want it. Maybe even go the extra mile and throw in the items from the MKDD bonus disc that like 98% of players never got the chance to use.

wackyteen posted...

Too bad they didn't give us FE6

Agreed again, it would have been nice to see FE6 finally localized so people wouldn't have to resort to "less than legal means" and fan translations. Maybe they're not doing it because they're planning to remaster FE6 and FE7 at some point in the future, and that would be how they finally bring it to the west.

Wait, how do I play it on my Switch? I can play the NES, SNES, GBA, ect games. Can I play this?

Bad_Mojo posted...

Wait, how do I play it on my Switch? I can play the NES, SNES, GBA, ect games. Can I play this?

If you have the GBA thingie you're goochie. Otherwise you gotta pay more for N64 and GBA games.

Bad_Mojo posted...

Wait, how do I play it on my Switch? I can play the NES, SNES, GBA, ect games. Can I play this?

If you have a subscription to the NSO+ expansion pack and can download the GBA app, then you can play it.

I should have it then. This is awesome news!

Thank you again, TC

I wonder what sort of challenge I should try. I've done [Mostly] Solo, which is usually my, "go to," when it comes to Fire Emblem games. I beat the two on the Switch with just the MC. But I don't want to do that this time. I want to use some of the more interesting characters, but I don't really know who they would be. 1 - I always press, "Start," and skip the stories, so I don't ever get the personality of people. And 2 - I don't know what kind of, "interesting," I want. A little girl that has really high STG? Terrible units? Use only females?

Any suggestions?

bump

Bad_Mojo posted...

I wonder what sort of challenge I should try. I've done [Mostly] Solo, which is usually my, "go to," when it comes to Fire Emblem games. I beat the two on the Switch with just the MC. But I don't want to do that this time. I want to use some of the more interesting characters, but I don't really know who they would be. 1 - I always press, "Start," and skip the stories, so I don't ever get the personality of people. And 2 - I don't know what kind of, "interesting," I want. A little girl that has really high STG? Terrible units? Use only females?

I would just do a normal playthrough the first time through and save any sort of challenge run for a second playthrough when you can play Lyn's prologue story in hard mode. That lets you skip all of the forced tutorial stuff and gives you a bit more freedom.

As for what kind of run to do... any sort of solo run in FE7 is really hard to do because you're forced to bring all 3 of the main lords (Lyn, Eliwood, and Hector) in some of the later chapters, and good luck trying to protect 3 (or 2 if your solo character is one of them) underleveled lords, all of whom give you a game over if they die, with one single OP unit in those later chapters. An all-female playthrough could be interesting, and it would be easier to protect the underleveled Eliwood/Hector in the late game with a bigger squad like that, but the first two chapters in the main Eliwood story would be awful when your only female character is an archer.

Maybe try a playthrough with only the 3 main lords and no one else? Lyn is fast but frail and gets access to bows upon promotion, Hector is bulky and powerful but a bit slow and weak to magic, and Eliwood is mostly balanced and gets a horse upon promotion. The prologue (especially the last boss of it) might be a pain in the ass with just Lyn, but the main story would probably be pretty interesting to deal with.

Calwings posted...

I would just do a normal playthrough the first time through

I've played this about 7 times now

Calwings posted...

any sort of solo run in FE7 is really hard to do because you're forced to bring all 3 of the main lords

Yep. That's why I said, "Mostly," Solo. Just like in FFT, I can't kick the Guest Characters out. I just try to not use them, but with this game having to send out all three it kind of kills it. I have done it before, but I honestly don't remember much about it other than some of the battles were not fun with having to either protect someone or beat a map in under a certain turn count

I think I'm just going to use people that I wouldn't normally use. Honestly it's for the best since I need to do it a few times to get all the Modes unlocked. This Lyn start, as you know, just a fake out

Rebecca/Wil/Louise run

MarthGoomba posted...

Would have been nice if they had changed it so hard mode is available from the start

Want to replay it but don't really want to go through normal mode again...

This is a deal breaker for me. I have zero desire to slog until I unlock HHM. The other modes are functionally "give Paladin javelins and hand-axes. Press End Turn."

Compsognathus posted...

This is a deal breaker for me. I have zero desire to slog until I unlock HHM. The other modes are functionally "give Paladin javelins and hand-axes. Press End Turn."

If you're using Paladins you're playing wrong. They're the first people I bench. Oh, here is a unit with a bunch of weakness, yeah, they're OP! Did you use Jagen, too? They're only useful to pass units around so you don't have to wait a turn to drop them

I'm just being snarky, but it's true that I never use them. The only mounted users I ever use are the fliers, and that's only to clear maps faster

That might be the worst Fire Emblem advice I have ever read. Or at least it's very reminiscent of advice the boards gave in 2003.

Marcus is the best character in the game.

im playing it right now whenever i need to use the bathroom
its my current bathroom game
im also not the type to reset when a character dies. i take the death and move on. so far ive only lost a single unit and it was the mage guy

its my first time playing this fire emblem but from what i understand even if i lose a character in the first 10 chapters i can rerecruit them later cause perma death doesnt kick in until after chapter 10 right?

Who put this pitfall in the middle of the road?

Good ol' Marcus Emblem.

yusiko posted...

im playing it right now whenever i need to use the bathroom
its my current bathroom game
im also not the type to reset when a character dies. i take the death and move on. so far ive only lost a single unit and it was the mage guy

its my first time playing this fire emblem but from what i understand even if i lose a character in the first 10 chapters i can rerecruit them later cause perma death doesnt kick in until after chapter 10 right?

Yup. Nobody stays dead in the first 10 chapters. But if they die they won't have any of the levels gained in Lyn Mode. This hurts several characters pretty badly, who need Lyn Mode to be competitive. It does help one character (Rath) though, since his non-Lyn mode base weapon level would likely be better than what he'd inherite from Lyn Mode.

You have limited freedom of choice with the first Lyn Mode run, but ideally you pick a couple of units you plan on using and just focus all resources into them.

Compsognathus posted...

This is a deal breaker for me. I have zero desire to slog until I unlock HHM. The other modes are functionally "give Paladin javelins and hand-axes. Press End Turn."

To be fair, the other modes are also where you can power trip with the magical units, actually kill enemies with Guy, or even get results out of something like leveling up Bartre because their crippling weaknesses don't hold them back so much, so you're in a better position to not just use all the best units if you want.

Lyn best protag. I would fuck the shit out of her and help her repopulate the Sacre Plains!

DKBananaSlamma posted...

Lyn best protag. I would fuck the shit out of her and help her repopulate the Sacre Plains!

Lyn is the worst Lord in the franchise as a unit. Yes, even worse than Roy.

But she's hot tho, so it's forgiveable >_>

Compsognathus posted...

Lyn is the worst Lord in the franchise as a unit. Yes, even worse than Roy.

Those thighs dont lie

Compsognathus posted...

But if they die they won't have any of the levels gained in Lyn Mode. This hurts several characters pretty badly, who need Lyn Mode to be competitive.

Not really. Lyn mode certainly helps but no one "needs it". Serra, Lucius and Erk hold up fine without it, Matthew and Nils' combat doesn't matter, Dorcas, Lyn, Wallace and Wil are never good, and Florina, Sain and Kent only go from "good" to "top 3 in the game good"

Reminder that America censored Lyn's boob jiggle physics on her Blade Lord critcal animation smh

https://imgur.com/NMhimIs

Damn them!

Lyn should have been playable in Smash over any of the Avatar lords

no more dum sword lords in Smash. Give us Hector.

DKBananaSlamma posted...

Reminder that America censored Lyn's boob jiggle physics on her Blade Lord critcal animation smh

https://imgur.com/NMhimIs

Damn them!

@SomeLikeItHoth

micaiah is actually my favorite lord in the series

Isnt Lyn like 15 tho

SomeLikeItHoth posted...

Isnt Lyn like 15 tho

SHE'S 18 IN THE WESTERN VERSION OKAY

SomeLikeItHoth posted...

Isnt Lyn like 15 tho

Objection! There is literally a line that says she's 18. And that's before the time skip.

There's my evidence, your honour!

Compsognathus posted...

That might be the worst Fire Emblem advice I have ever read.

Bad_Mojo posted...

I'm just being snarky, but it's true that I never use them

Bad_Mojo posted...

I've done [Mostly] Solo, which is usually my, "go to," when it comes to Fire Emblem games

I play solo because I find it easier, tbh. Just stick your OP unit in a Forest, on a Castle, whatever, and just kill everyone with Counter Attacks.

7 is okay. 6 is better though

Garlands_Soul posted...

7 is okay. 6 is better though

4 is my favorite

Man, I forgot how fast the early chapters of this game go and how much more things open up after chapter 14. I made it through the whole prologue, then the first 3.5 (including chapter 13x between 13 and 14) chapters of the main story in about 5 hours, and then the next 3 chapters (including the preparations between them and deciding who I wanted to use) together took me like 2 hours.

Compsognathus posted...

It does help one character (Rath) though, since his non-Lyn mode base weapon level would likely be better than what he'd inherite from Lyn Mode.

I actually didn't know this. I'll have to keep it in mind if I ever plan on trying to use Rath in a future playthrough. It's a shame he rejoins so late in the main story and by then he's underleveled unless you really babied him during Lyn mode.

BurmesePenguin posted...

no more dum sword lords in Smash. Give us Hector.

I think changing Ike so he uses the Urvan axe (his father's axe in the Tellius games and that he himself also uses in Heroes and Engage) instead of his usual Ragnell sword that he used before would be a better way to add axe representation into Smash's FE roster. Hector would fill the same "slow bulky melee fighter" role as Ike and I feel like he wouldn't have enough uniqueness to set himself apart and warrant his own character slot.

Or they could have just added Edelgard as DLC instead of Byleth, but that's another discussion entirely.

looking back at the old fire emblem games ive noticed female lords tend to get shafted a bit
like lyn is the protagonist for 10 chapters then gets replaced as the games lead
micaiah gets about half of the game to shine then ike takes over the story
eirika at least has a full story route to go through a whole game as her but you can choose to go down her brothers story and have her just be exactly like lyn. downgraded to sidekick

Bad_Mojo posted...

4 is my favorite

Completely reasonable. That one's probably my second fave.

yusiko posted...

looking back at the old fire emblem games ive noticed female lords tend to get shafted a bit
like lyn is the protagonist for 10 chapters then gets replaced as the games lead
micaiah gets about half of the game to shine then ike takes over the story
eirika at least has a full story route to go through a whole game as her but you can choose to go down her brothers story and have her just be exactly like lyn. downgraded to sidekick

Lyn's issue is that she got put in a game as a tutorial "lord" that is a prequel to a game she wasn't in. Also she was terrible on any difficulty that wasn't ENM.

Erikia was overall fine. She got a full route and is arguably more of a main lord than her brother. Statistically she was basically identical to Lyn, which is terrible. But her game is piss easy, even on Difficult, so it hurt her less. They also gave her Horse and legendary weapon that was actually good. So straight upgrade from Lyn.

Miccy was also largely fine. She got a healthy amount of attention for being in a sequel to Ike's game. She was also statistically horrendous, but she gets staff utility and an auto promotion so stats are irrelevant.

3H at least gave us Edelgard who is a lord who is so bananas OP that it kinda make up for the failings of the others.

Just got through chapter 24 in my first playthrough on the NSO version.

* My first character to reach level 20 and promote was, surprisingly, Rebecca. I normally don't like using bow-locked characters, but her level ups have been insane from the start. All of her stats are at least average or above average (according to the averages on SerenesForest) and her Strength is a whopping 6 points above average. She's turned into a killing machine and one of my best characters.
* I've barely used Marcus so far, and based on how bad my 3 cavaliers turned out, I wish I had used him more. Sain and Lowen were dropped after some god-awful early level-ups, and Kent has been doing decent but his stats after promotion have essentially turned him into just a slightly better Marcus.
* Lyn and Florina also got blessed in Strength like Rebecca, though not quite as much as her. So they've been great for me so far.
* No such luck for Eliwood in my playthrough though. He's still shit.
* Hector and Oswin are as great as I remember.
* I used the Mine glitch (which still works in the NSO version) to get *very minor spoiler* Vaida's buffed up uber spear from Chapter 24 that's normally unobtainable. No idea if I'll ever use it, but I have it if I want to and it's funny.
* I forgot how silly Hawkeye's unique sprite looks. It looks like his head doesn't belong on his body.

Anyone else playing through the game? Especially any first-time players, I'm curious to hear their thoughts on the game too.

Sacred Stones is definitely Eirika's game. Even playing as Ephriam, he feels out of place to me

i do like the RNG nature of level ups
i mean on average you know how someone is gonna go because they have certain stats that have a high chance of going up but every so often the game throws you a curveball and makes great characters terrible and bad characters great

i love bow users myself

I might play this soon but I've really gotten used to the convenience of non perma death. I honestly just think it's superior

scar_the_1 posted...

I might play this soon but I've really gotten used to the convenience of non perma death. I honestly just think it's superior

There is a rewind feature in the game.

My funniest Bow-user story is Rolf from Path of Radiance.

I don't know how it happened, and it's so statistically improbable I understand if anyone doubts it, but..

He received Defense on virtually every level up, from base class to promoted. Basically hit his cap. It was the funniest thing, seeing weaker units just hit him for single digits, and in some cases just "dink" no damage.

Little boy Archer was just a tank walking the front line.

Bad_Mojo posted...

There is a rewind feature in the game.

I know, and that's a consolation, but that's still more of a hassle than sacrificing a unit.

yusiko posted...

i do like the RNG nature of level ups
i mean on average you know how someone is gonna go because they have certain stats that have a high chance of going up but every so often the game throws you a curveball and makes great characters terrible and bad characters great

True, it does make things interesting and helps make multiple playthroughs feel different too. I've never had a Rebecca this good after so many years of playing the game, and it's awesome. But then again, sometimes you get multiple characters RNG screwed and that feels bad.

Bad_Mojo posted...

There is a rewind feature in the game.

Technically, the rewind feature is part of NSO and not the game itself... but yeah, it's there if anyone doesn't want to have to restart an entire chapter due to one death. So far I've only had to use it once, when Lyn got taken out due to an unlucky crit from the shaman boss in the pirate ship level.

Luna is some bullshit, man.

I use it because I keep fucking up thinking I can Canto. Just one of those, I do things too quickly things