CGRundertow FIRE EMBLEM: THE SACRED STONES for Game Boy Advance
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ม.ค. 2025
- Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones review. Classic Game Room presents a CGRundertow review of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones for the Game Boy Advance. Released in 2005, this game was developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is a turn-based strategy game that plays much like the first GBA game, but everything has an extra coat of polish on it. Following the journey of twins Ephraim and Erika is a blast, as they meet friends that help them along the way! This CGRundertow review features gameplay and commentary from CGR's Gabe.
Check out more reviews from Classic Game Room at / cgrundertow and / classicgameroom .
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Get more Classic Game Room on Facebook at / classicgameroom and at www.ClassicGame.... - เกม
I actually prefer the graphics in these older games over the 3d games on gamecube, wii and 3ds
well said. 16-bit pixel art is ageless.
Gamecube one wasn't that good and yeah those 2d ones are more timeless.
I think Fire Emblem Engage finally comes the closest to giving sharp beautiful maps and great 3d cutscenes. I know the dialogue can be pretty cheesy and camping, but it looks so fantastic and has so much polish. I think they finally figured out the look for the game, designs of some of the characters aside.
These are some of my favorite graphics on the GBA overall and definitely my favorite of the entire Fire Emblem series. The 3DS games look great too and hit a sweet spot with that top down basic yet satisfying 3D without going fully into a full console style 3D. SNES has aged in a similar way for me as the GBA and some DS titles. That 16-bit level of detail and iconography of sprites just makes it timeless.
A positive review of Sacred Stones? That's surprising since nearly every FE fan despises this game for some strange reason. I love it though, but it is a bit on the easy side even if you do not grind before creature campaign.
Have you beaten it yet? It's much easier than the previous game, though you don't seem to think so in your review. For one you can actually play free battles to get more experience, unlike the rigid stage structure of before. If all else fails, use Seth. He can beat the game literally by himself. At first glance you might assume he'll end up bad like Marcus, but Seth stays good the whole way.
The system really does add to the level of excitement from the game. I find the idea that any character could PERMANENTLY die at any time very exciting.
Him: Fire Emblem Sacred Stones is REDICULOUSLY hard, I would say harder than the original Fire Emblem North American release.
Me as a young child first playing it, wondering why everyone dies so easy in the arena when they stomp everyone else and for sure lost Seth in chapter 5 once because of that (also once got him all the way to level 20, not emulating): Yes I agree this game is hard as heck.
Me right now after having played most FE games: Wait till he finds out Lunatic+ is a thing.
It's interesting people keep saying that. It's the only Fire Emblem I played or finished and I didn't think it was that bad. Not everyone made it to the end unfortunately but the demon king was defeated.
@@lightorchestrator I was mostly joking. Sacred Stones is really, really easy, one of the easiest FE games there is. Even on it's hardest difficulty, you have way more than you need to overcome whatever it throws at you.
If you want a real challenge, there are tons of other games to play. FE7 Hector Hard Mode is tougher, FE6 is tougher, if you go earlier in the series like FE4 and FE5 it is a lot of knowledge checks but those are much more difficult, FE11 and 12 are both more difficult, same with Echoes if you keep it on Classic mode where permadeath is a thing. FE Fates Conquest is a good challenge.
On the other hand, Fates Birthright/Revelations are pretty easy and Awakening is horribly balanced so it's pretty easy as well. Three Houses is so open, you can do almost anything so the difficulty is pretty low in that one too. If you want just straight up unfair FE difficulties, Three Houses Maddening Mode is okay. Not too bad but a good challenge. Awakening Lunatic+ is "that one" that everyone talks about being hard, but I've tried it and it's not THAT hard, just a gamble on if the map is possible or not for the first 4/5 chapters. The real hardest one I've found has been FE12 Reverse Lunatic, which is kinda bonkers.
Sacred Stones is still one of my favorite games of all time, even though I know it's easy. It's just so much fun I don't really mind how easy it is.
@@illialidur8244 Do you have any recommendations for other FE entries? I wasn't too impressed by the sacred stones but I'm giving the series a second look. I downloaded the 2003 Fire Emblem game and a translation of the one before that.
@@lightorchestrator It depends what you are looking for and what consoles you have/what you can emulate.
Sacred Stones is my favorite but it’s not the best game. Three Houses for the switch, Echoes for the 3DS, both amazing games. I think Shadow Dragon for DS is really solid, and if you want my favorite retro game, Thracia 776 for the SNES is a pretty fun game if you are willing to look up how the “unique” mechanics work
@@lightorchestrator I’ve played nearly all the games so if you tell me what your speed is I can match you with another one
True, but if you don't grind it is one of the more difficult FEs.
Over 12 years later and I’m back to watch this review I watched 12 years ago. I don’t remember this reviewers voice though. Maybe my memory is just off but I remember a guy with a buzz cut or red hair or something, it’s so fuzzy in my mind now. Anyways Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones is my all time favorite in the entire series. I’ve played all the games including Japanese + NES games but the only game I haven’t played is the GameCube game. I got my start playing Fire Emblem on GBA back in the day and was so excited when this game came out. It has wonderful box art and I got it for Christmas. I expected more of Fire Emblem on Sacred Stones but they added a lot of small touches that made it surpass my expectations. The visuals are polished very slightly, the UI is great, having an overworld map with a cursor was a top notch addition, and I found the story a bit better.
It is but it really adds to the game, it's a pain having to restart a level, but you'll want to so your allies can make it into the next level.
I played Awakening first, then Sacred Stones, and now I'm started on Blazing Sword. I personally like Blazing Sword better than Sacred Stones, tbh.
Even as of 2024 this is my favorite Fire Emblem of the entire series by a long shot followed by Fates series, Awakening and everything else after that. Only FE core series game I haven’t played it Path of Radiance for GCN. I love all the GBA games, the 3DS games, and there’s other great games going back to NES/Famicom. I feel like this series is ideal for handheld play on the go. You can make progress quickly and on the old handheld games there no long loading or a ton of extra dialogue to slow the game down like in the Switch games where there’s so many conversations in small towns and areas that just feels like a waste of time and takes too long to get right to the game without feeling like I’m missing out on too much. They REALLY need to add voice acting in the next game. I would also love an HD2D remake of Sacred Stones.
@DoctaSock
You're talking about, aaarrrggg what are you saying is it a quote from the game or does something from the game look like that
This game for me was what gone me into gaming more than the ps1 or xbox very difficult and long but once you defeat the demon king (final boss took me 3 years) you will jump with glee. Upgrade those low level characters they will definitely help. I upgraded everyone and that was awesome!
Though I do find this one easier than the previous fire emblem I still like this one better simply on the fact that supports don't take 100+ turns to activate anymore. Also I liked the protagonists a little better.
If you try going the game without grinding, it's actually challenging.
That was a year ago =.= and yes it did come out for the 3DS
This is an old review so don't get me wrong here, but difficulty should never be pointed out in a review unless a major majority of the community is in agreement to a game's difficulty. (ie: Dark Souls)
Anyway, glad to see someone else agrees with me. I've played this FE and after a week or so off the series am now trying out FE7 and am not enjoying NEARLY as much as Sacred Stones.
Honestly this game feels so much more open in your character choices that it's truly amazing. My only gripe personally is the difficulty but I guess it's not a problem with everyone lol. No hate of course.
I'll give my IGN score of 4 out of 10! ^^d
I kid.
does it takes at least 10 missions to get fun like the previous game? hate long tutorials.
just completed it today. starting again to look at ephiraim's route.
When you find an arena, use Seth.
@samus179 Really then when did he make his debut?
This is the easiest because you can level grind at the tower
This game like defined my childhood. It really was the game that got me into gaming. I've beaten it so many times now that I just blast through levels, but still have fun doing it.
Have you conquered the ruins?
I got this free from the Ambassador program, but it's been in my backlog forever. Might be about time to dust this bad boy off and finish it since the new one's coming out soon.
Doesn't this game have roy in this one?
@janfeyen9 I had to change it up a bit.
nintendo is amazing for having this as an ambassador game!
This game is coming out for the 3DS this friday
Unless that Fire Emblem happens to have a one-use unit restorative staff like Shadow Dragon. I could've swore that more than that game had them...unless I'm thinking of Hammerne.
Even if you don't grind, Hard mode in this game is just slightly more difficult than Eliwood normal Mode. This is coming from someone where on my first playthrough, I chose "Difficult" and never did a single skirmish or any of that grinding nonsense. If you make it a rule that you can't use towns on the world map..that would indeed up the difficulty a bit.Also, Ross is the most insane character in all of the GBA Fire Emblems. It's Hard to lose once he becomes a Berserker
Yea I always try to keep all of the characters alive. It makes the game a hell of a lot easier. Also, it's a little more fun for me.
is he talking about the hardest difficulty? cuz i remember beating this game couple of years ago
It makes the levels more high stakes, and it wouldn't be Fire Emblem without it.
I thought that this was way easier to complete than fire emblem 7 (on normal mode)...
I don't know why. (I did it 3 times or so.)
You may should have added that there is the new option where you are on a card and can do extra training with the monster levels and the towers. ^^
Yeah, this is really a walk in the park after playing Devil Survivor
rest assured everyone this game is not as hard as he said, ive only played one other strategy game like this in my life and yet i was able to be this within around two weeks worth of play sessions with minimal deaths and clocking in at about 18 hours. Its not a cakewalk but it is definately beatable
Arena abuse all the way :P and make Ross a Pirate>Berserker, Amelia a Knight>General and Ewan a Dark Mage>Druid, and of course class change at level 20 (cap)
I finally completed this game with everyone being alive at the end.
Hey! It's the RPG guy!
Gabe should be know as "The RPG Guy" from now on...
how do you grind for money tho? I am scared shitless because I have no idea how!!! I'm at like chapter 10 and the king is the only one giving me money! HELP!
I know this reply is 6 years too late lol, but I am playing Sacred Stones again, and I found one of the fastest way to make money is to clear the first 3 floors in the tower of Valni. The chest on the third floor always contains 3,000 gold. As long as you are only buying Iron Weapons (as they are the cheapest) its a decent way to make money. If you have Colm or Rennac as a Rogue, you could clear the 4th floor as well for 2 more chests. I would say the other floors don't have enough rewards for the amount of effort and weapon durability it would take to clear them, despite the 6th floor having 4 chests. I hope this helps anyone that still plays this awesome game.
i found this game alot easier than the first, due to the fact that you can booste.
this game had the best music ever in the series
I know. It's easy, but for some reason I find it fun and something that I could play over and over. ^^
I know right, I dont understand how hes having problems with it!? You can grind all your characters to 20 easily if you really want to
I LOVE THIS GAME,THANK YOU SO MUCH MARK!!!
I actually forgot about The ruins.
I beat this game when I was 12. I didn't even grind that much and only lost 5 characters. Blazing Sword is much harder.
this was the first fire emblem I got and played. it's definitely hard but I managed to beat it. I have 2 versions of this gsme. 1 on my Gameboy advance and a digital version on my 3ds from the ambassador program.
I feel dumb because everyone says how they got through the whole game with everyone alive easily, although I must've spent hours on certain chapters trying to keep certain people alive ._.
I've only played the first game and I beat it like in 2 weeks I didn't think it was that hard and i'm about to get this one for my psp(i'm using an emulator I know the difference between a gba and psp)
Did you ever get it ?
@DoctaSock
But what does Steel well you know and Butt Crack have to do with anything
Sacred Stones was not _that_ hard. I got through it without anyone dying, except on the last battle. I could've probably beaten that too without anyone dying but I'd have to replay it many times and the battle just takes forever to beat once, so I didn't really have the time. Overall, I only had 3 people, well, technically 2 people, die (Myrrh died but at the end it said she was only "wounded"). If you're having trouble on the game, remember, you can restart chapters if someone important dies.
I'm playing this on my 3rd I love it it's hard and I'm only on chapter 5 cause I won't let any of my people die cause if they die they stay dead forever
I swear nobody notices the first "I" in Eirika's name...
@135jonah It can only be a Advance Wars game, i guess...
You can't the point of the games is that you can't bring back your allies after they die.
This game is actually way easier than Fire Emblem. You can power level your troops at the tower.
people said Nintendo was for kids when i played this i found out that some Nintendo games are so hard you wanna trow your controller/gameboy on the wall
wha-wha-what?
Okay, some chapters in SS might be challenging, but Fire Emblem 7 is much harder.
Having trouble beating that one chapter? Just have your team go to the Tower of Valni and train until they're level 20! Then it's a breeze. Don't get me wrong, I love the game, it's just that the person playing this doesn't seem to play too well.
2:54 WHY ISN'T ROSS AT LEAST A PIRATE/FIGHTER YET? WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY IS HE IN THE BATTLEFIELD LIKE THIS SO LATE IN THE GAME??
You think Sacred Stones is hard? Please. Tower of Valni and Lagdou Ruins gives you the ability to have all your units at God-mode fighting Formortiis. Hector-Hard Mode, though....
This game is harder than fe7? as if fire ss is easy because you can stock up grind almost whenever you feel like it. also the music in 7 is better
My fallen allies don't respawn!?
that's not cool!! if they are gonna do that they could at least not introduce me to them to make there loss emotional! poor pegasus riding girl from beginning, man I'm going to miss you..
or am I being a noob and I can get her back somehow?
Metal Buttcrack and Balls of Steel? Brilliant.
The Fire Emblem games are not that hard really, just stop wasting exp on the Jaegan characters. It is a beginners trap
+Cliff Reeser well, the GBA ones, and Path of Radiance were made easier for Western releases (higher stat growths, and lower enemy stats than the Japanese versions), but if you play on normal they are still challenging, and if you play on hard they are difficult
+Cliff Reeser Nice joke. Go play Fire Emblem 12 Lunatic. One of the hardest things in existence.
Peter Pabor or even FE13 Lunatic mode, most of it relies on good luck and RNG
Cliff Reeser I play to keep every single character alive. I quit the moment one dies so it's EXTRA hard to me.
@DoctaSock
Steel ... WHAT??????
no shit! after years of tinkering with it i died on the last dragon battle.... so im starting over, fk it. sacred stones.
Sacred Stones is harder than the first one? No way! I've never beaten the first one, but this one wasn't that much of a challange.
tj is the turn-based strategy game guy?
MY ASS
I think this game (in Hard mode) is nothing compared to Hector Hard mode and Shadow Dragon Hard Mode Level 5 o.o GOD THOSE WERE FRUSTRATING SOMETIMES (which is basically the reason you felt like a GOD when u cleared them lol)
I mean, I'm glad you gave this game a good review. But you should have went into a little more depth with the story. You pretty much only talked about it's gameplay.
The story really isn't that deep. A guy wants to save his father so he starts studying the magic of the Sacred Stones. As legend has it, the Sacred Stones were used to trap away the Demon King. The guy accidentally allows the Demon King to take over his body, and then he goes around trying to destroy all the Sacred Stones. That's really the gist of it.
Amelia Hartman We're talking about the same guy who was best friends with the protagonist. The same guy who lost to a girl in a fight, most people thought he would have never have hurt a fly, let alone be behind such a devious plan.
Raheem Plummer The foreshadowed it from the beginning with all the flashbacks, and he didn't even do it, he was taken over by the Demon King.
Amelia Hartman I know he was taken over by the Demon King, but that's what made it more interesting. And they showed flashback to add to his character.
But if you don't think it was a deep story, I don't blame you. I guess it's just my perception.
How is its story? Is it better than awakenings?
@DoctaSock
Hmmm That's just random
@KurosanNitebird
yeah i agree people are so dumb Nintendo is awesome and im a grown up in fact i played a lot of wii games and ds games you know we need Nintendo for kids and we need them to hardcore gamers.!
This like the easiest Fire Emblem game ever created lol
Huh, reminds me of a VERY good DS game that I never beat. Not a Fire Emble game though.
Fans of Fire Emblem also have a secret S&M fetish. They are fans of torture.
but that's just sad.
Hard? Really?
WHAT?!?!?
Sacred Stones is piss easy, I'm a SRPG n00b (only been playing for 3 weeks) and I finished Sacred Stones with almost no trouble whatsoever.
+davem1992ftw Which difficulty were you playing?
TheMightyBiscuit Default.
***** which one is that, when i start the game i get a choice of Easy (which is the one it automatically set to) Normal, and Hard
TheMightyBiscuit Normal, I never play on Easy.
git gud
Best FE game ever.
this is definitely the best game for GBA ever. even tough the last boss was a joke.. Ephraim just 2 shot him..
Oh come on you don't put the worst member of CGR to review a good game
the end boss of this game was a joke even in hard mode :|
@rickyjshiznit still prefer her, this guy sounds like someone that didn't pass his 5 years old
@Guiii41 meh, amanda is worst than gabe.
Beat it
Sarced stones isn't that hard. you could grind in the towers to the point the game is a joke
lies....
This guy must be really bad at this type of game... I beat the first FE when I was 10 years old, and Sacred Stones (which is the easier of the two because of how easy it is to grind) when I was 12. Nowadays I can play any FE on Hard or higher and not have a huge problem.
hereinsertname Did you keep every single character alive? Cause that's what slowed down my playthrough
hereinsertname Well, the issue isn't that he finds these games tough. It's that he thinks THIS one is tougher than the previous one. That's an unheard of opinion.
this game isnt that hard
This game is very easy
This is by far the easiest fire emblem game
Far worse than the original. Way too easy and the storyline was so retarded. Still super fun gameplay but FE7 was so immersive and I fell in love with the characters.
As i said 5 minutes ago....WHAT THE F IS WRONG WITH YOU SACRED STONES MAY SEEM HARDER BUT IT ISNT A THING; IT ACTUALLY A CRUEL JOKE AND ALL MY CHARACTERS ARE LEVEL 20 IN Creatures Campaing AND LYON IS MY BEST CHARACTER(well with a S rank dark spell that does over 40 damage and those dam defenses, i can beat the ruins only using him.....and Maybe L Archen to...
@janfeyen9 Wut
@epicwebfails He's dead
this is one of the easiest FE games ever it shouldnt take more then a year to beat