Fire Emblem Gaiden (Japanese:ファイアーエムブレム外伝Fire Emblem Side-Story) is a turn-based strategy role-playing game released exclusively in Japan for Nintendo'sFamicom console in 1992. It is the second game in theFire Emblem series and an indirect sequel to its predecessor,Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light. It is mostly known for its large number of unique mechanics and gameplay styles which were mostly abandoned by laterFire Emblem games, although a few of these mechanics were briefly brought back for a single game at a time. On 18 January 2017, a remake of the game, titledFire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, was announced. It was advertised as having all of what madeGaiden unique, such as a free-roaming world map anddungeons.

Gaiden is set on the continentValentia, a land to the west ofArchanea which has long been split in two through the influence of its two gods,Mila andDuma. In the middle of a crisis between the pacifistic southern Kingdom ofZofia and the militant northern Kingdom ofRigel, the young warriorAlm leads the broken armies of Zofia against the Rigelian advance in his grandfather's stead, while his childhood friend, the priestessCelica, embarks on a quest to find the missing goddess Mila and solve the mystery of a sudden famine sweeping across Zofia. Their separate missions ultimately lead them on the same path to challenge an evil cult supporting Duma in Rigel.

Plot

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Zofia's Call

The story begins withAlm, a youth of the village ofRam, finishing his sword training with an retired general namedMycen. Alm sees a group of villagers gathering nearLukas, asoldier, who says that a GeneralDesaix has capturedZofia's castle and killed the king. Lukas is part of a liberation force, and has come to ask General Mycen to help them.

When Alm asks Mycen, Mycen angrily denies. Still, Alm tells Lukas that he will join in place of Mycen. With Lukas and the villagersKliff,Tobin, andGray, he decides to travel to Zofia to help the liberation force, with several small skirmishes occurring throughout the chapter. In Thief Shrine,Silque, a priestess of Mila, is rescued and joins them.

Soon Alm's party begins to fight soldiers employed by General Desaix. At the Southern Fort,Clair, aPegasus Knight of Zofia joins Alm. She says her older brotherClive is the leader of the liberation force.

In the Liberation Headquarters, and Alm meetsPython, the guard of the cave. Python warns Alm of monsters, and in the next room, there are severalbonewalkers andrevenants. The monsters are defeated and Alm continues, meeting Clive. Clive asks Alm to become the leader of the force, and Alm accepts.

Forsyth states that Desaix has been seeking help from northernRigel. Alm, surprised, states that this violates the Gods' Pact, and that Mila would never allow this. However, according to Forsyth, it is rumored that Mila has disappeared, which may explain the appearance of monsters. He and Python join Alm's group.

Finally, Alm travels to the Zofia gate, where powerful enemy troops are gathered. Desaix andSlayde are the two generals in charge. One is defeated, depending on which the player chooses, and they successfully liberate the castle. Thanked by many of the citizens, Alm goes to the roof and sees Mycen again. Mycen tells Alm to save Valentia, and mentions a red-haired girl.

The Pilgrimage

The chapter begins withCelica, the red-haired Zofian heiress, talking to BishopNomah about leaving the abbey. Nomah warns her of the dangers of traveling, but Celica insists on investigating the fate of the goddess Mila. Nomah consents and lets her leave. The magesMae andBoey and the clericGenny join Celica as she departs.

Celica reaches Novis Port, recruiting the mercenarySaber and talking to several villagers. She and her party set out on a ship to reach Zofia Port, her destination. After several skirmishes at sea with various pirates, she travels to the Pirate Fort and defeats pirates led by the aggressiveBarth. Three other warriors, the armored knightValbar, the mercenaryKamui, and the archerLeon are present in the battle as allies helping Celica's party. After the pirates are defeated, Celica talks to the three in the fort, and they join her party.

Continuing, Celica lands on the Sea Shrine, on which a ferociousNecrodragon is situated. By using theSeraphim spell, Celica defeats the dragon and continues into the shrine. Afterwards, she travels to theZofia Harbor, where she meets the two pegasus sistersPalla andCatria, from the continent ofArchanea, to the east. According to Catria,Est had been captured by pirates.

War of Deliverance

Land of Sorrow

Together to the End

Gameplay

In a way,Fire Emblem Gaiden follows the tradition of NES sequels which differ drastically from their predecessors set by the likes ofZelda II: The Adventure of Link and the AmericanSuper Mario Bros. 2. Though the same fundamental turn-based strategy gameplay of its predecessor and successor is still the focus of the game, it is surrounded by mechanics more like what is found in traditional role-playing games. Most of these mechanics were immediately abandoned in the next game,Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, though some have occasionally resurfaced in individual games since, withFire Emblem: The Sacred Stones,Awakening, andFates being notable examples of borrowing fromGaiden.

World map and villages

Main article:World map

Gaiden was the firstFire Emblem game to introduce a traversableworld map, though noFire Emblem game since has replicated it exactly. Rather than the forced linear game structure of its predecessor, the player returns to the world map after every battle and can move Alm or Celica around freely, giving the choice to either move straight to their next destination or backtrack to visit a prior location for grinding or other purposes. Uniquely in theGaiden system, the world map itself has its ownturn count, in which a turn elapses every time either Alm or Celica move, or at command by selecting the Rest menu option. Generally nothing happens, but later in the game enemy armies will move towards one of the lords after they move. If an enemy moves onto a location currently occupied by Alm or Celica, a battle commences and the enemy units get to move first. If one of the lords attacks first the battle proceeds as normal.

Certain locations on the world map, such as villages or allied castles, can also be entered and freely moved around as in a typical RPG. When a location is visited in this way, Alm or Celica can explore it to talk to its inhabitants or find treasure chests containing items.

Weapons, items and magic

The item/weapon system's dynamic inGaiden is different from all other games.Durability does not exist at all, consumable items do not exist with the only non-weapon items being equipment, and only a very small number of each item/weapon exists; for instance, there is only oneJavelin in the entire game. All units have oneinventory slot, so between that and the very limited item availability, unique weapons must be weighed by the player on who needs them most, as weapons also compete for inventory space with shields and other beneficial items like theAngel Ring. If a unit does not have a weapon in their inventory, they are still capable of attacking because they revert to having a weak "default" weapon which does not take up the inventory slot.

The magic system is also radically different, and is not tied to items or weapons used by units at all. Instead, acting more like a traditional Japanese RPG, units in magical classes learn new magic spells as theirlevel increases, and can use them relatively freely without having to worry about durability. Instead, every spell (exceptNosferatu) costs a set number ofhit points to cast, with stronger spells costing more HP. Magic is divided into two categories:black magic consists of offensive spells and is primarily used byMages, equivalent totomes, whilewhite magic consists of healing and support spells and is primarily used byClerics, equivalent tostaves.

Class change

Main article:Class change/Family Computer games §Fire Emblem Gaiden

Although the basic concept ofchanging class remained from the original game,Gaiden implemented several unique additions to it which returned in later games. Class changing is no long initiated by using items, but rather by visitingMila Shrines when a unit reaches the requisite level.Gaiden introduced the idea oftrainee classes with theVillager class; Villagers are weaker than other playable classes but, if properly trained, have the potential to promote into a wide variety of classes. It also introduced the ability for units in certain advanced classes to promote again into even more powerfulthird-tier classes.

BeforeFire Emblem Awakening,Gaiden was the only game to permit units to level up indefinitely through repeated class change, although only characters who begin as either Villagers orMercenary-family classes are capable of this.Dread Fighters, the final stage in the Mercenary promotion line, can class change back down into Villagers. Villagers can, naturally, class change back into Mercenaries, starting the cycle anew. This can be repeated as many times as a player chooses, allowing select characters to completely max out their stats with sufficient patience.

Mila shrines

Main article:Mila Shrine

Mila shrines are unique fixtures found at the end of certaindungeons, which perform several functions. The lion head statues on the left and right of each can provide small permanent boosts to specific stats, with a small few being able to revive dead units. The statue of Mila in their center is required to promote units, and when spoken to the statue will promote all units in the player's party capable of doing so.

Auto-Battle

Main article:Auto-Battle

Gaiden also introduced a primitive version of the auto-battle command systems that later returned inFire Emblem: Path of Radiance,Radiant Dawn,Awakening andFates. The player may use two commands on all allied units who have not moved yet. The "Assault" command causes all player units to move to attack any nearby enemies, while the "Gather" command has them move near Alm or Celica.

Chapters

Main article:List of acts inFire Emblem Gaiden

Fire Emblem Gaiden has the smallest number of discrete labeled plot segments in the series, with only five Acts. However, each participating army's side of a given act entails content equivalent to four or five Chapters in what has since come to beFire Emblem's standard setup. As such,Gaiden's length is comparable to that of otherFire Emblem titles.

Characters

Main article:List of characters inFire Emblem Gaiden

Thirty-two characters are playable inGaiden, among the smallest number of anyFire Emblem game. In a single playthrough, the player can have a maximum of 31 units, since Celica's route requires that the player choose between recruitingDeen andSonya.

Development

In an interview published in 1990, following the release ofShadow Dragon & the Blade of Light,Shouzou Kaga mentioned that he felt that the first game was a very linear experience which did not allow players many opportunities to use their developed units. Kaga stated that, following from this thought, he aimed to build multiple simultaneously-run scenarios into the next game, which eventually becameGaiden and its two-army campaign.^[1]

Game credits

• Director, Game Design:Shouzoh Kaga
• Programmers: Masayuki Imanishi, Tsuneyasu Tajima, Kohji Yoshida, Kei Fukura, Masahiro Shimizu
• Graphic designers: Saotshi Machida, Toshitaka Muramatu, Naotaka Ohnishi
• Music:Yuka Tsujiyoko
• Supervisor: Satoru Okada,Hirokazu Tanaka, Keisuke Terasaki
• Special thanks: Ryouichi Kitanishi, Dr. Ohta, Mr. Mori,Papa Narihiro, Ribbon Nakamura, Will Nakajima
• Producer:Gunpei Yokoi

Reception

As of 2002,Gaiden had sold an estimated 324,699 copies in its original Famicom print run.^[2]

Fan translation

Main article:Fan translation §Fire Emblem Gaiden

A completefan translation patch forGaiden was released in 2009, byArtemis251 of the Starmen.netMother forums.^[3]

Trivia

• Fire Emblem Cipher has a panorama set of cards featuringCelica,Alm, andValbar withDuma in the background, recreatingGaiden's box art. In addition to Duma,Mila and a fortress are in the background as well, while not present in the original artwork.
• Gaiden's instruction manual providesgrowth rates for a small selection of early game characters.
• Gaiden is one of two games in theFire Emblem series not to have any playable characters inFire Emblem Heroes credited to it, the other beingFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. All of the characters who originated inGaiden are instead credited as hailing fromFire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

• 
  Japanese box art ofGaiden.
• 
  Box artwork.
• 
  Full box artwork; including portions unseen on the actual box.
• 
  Japanese logo ofGaiden.
• 
  Japanese title screenGaiden.
• 
  Front side of a flier forGaiden.
• 
  Back side of a flier forGaiden.

References

External links

• Fire Emblem Gaiden Wii Virtual Console website (Japanese)
• Fire Emblem Gaiden Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console website (Japanese)
• Fire Emblem Gaiden Wii U Virtual Console website (Japanese)
• Fire Emblem Gaiden Fire Emblem Museum section (Japanese, archived by the Wayback Machine)