Fire Emblem's handheld return

by Eric Caoili { Oct 10th 2007 at 10:40AM }

Having established its SRPG dominance on the GameCube and Nintendo Wii with its past two entries, Fire Emblem is finally returning to the portable field with its next title. Intelligent Systems -- the Nintendo's internal development studio behind the Fire Emblem and Advance Wars series -- hasn't published any specifics about the game, but we suspect that there will be plenty for us to talk about by the time Fire Emblem DS's 2008 release charges into view.

Word on the street is that it is a remake of the first game, Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Tsurugi, and will star Marth.

Jeux-France posted a number of screenshots for the newly-announced title, and they appear just as expected -- zoomed-out battlefield displayed on the touchscreen, combat/data/conversations shown on the top. Enjoy them all in the gallery we've set up for you below.

Gallery: Fire Emblem DS

Tags: fire-emblem, fire-emblem-ds, intelligent-systems, srpg

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

vgxtremist @ Oct 10th 2007 12:32PM

I thought they weren't focusing on FE handhelds now...still this is ONE good lie for a change...

Orville the Unfathomable Time Walrus @ Oct 10th 2007 1:12PM

If they were going to do a remake, I would rather it have been Genealogy of the Holy War, but, nonetheless, from the person who has hoped for this announcement since the day the DS was released, TOTAL MELTDOWN OF JOY. If the remake isn't super-enhanced with a detailed story, extra levels, character classes, etc, they could definitely afford to put FE: Gaiden and FE: Mystery of the Emblem on the same cart, because, given the fact that the original FE was for the Famicom, it would be a rather bare-bones experience compared to later FE games. And I refuse to even entertain the thought that this might not be localized--Radiant Dawn had better sell at least 100,000 copies when it comes out next month, or else.

And kudos to Nintendo for keeping it 2D. This will just barely keep me from killing myself over Brawl's delay.

Kristi @ Oct 10th 2007 1:38PM

You really have no idea how happy you just made me. Best gaming news I've heard in a billion years.

Jacob @ Oct 12th 2007 6:33PM

I really am one of the happiest people in the world right now. This is like, my favorite series of all time, and they were definitely the best games on the GBA.

Joy!

I'm personally hoping they add a Wifi co-op mode. It would be pretty fun in my opinion of they had a special campaign for friends to play together.

Dan Russell @ Oct 10th 2007 1:59PM

Yes, YES, YES!!!!

Metayoshi @ Oct 10th 2007 2:59PM

I was looking at the screenshots, and using my basic Japanese reading skillz, Marth is indeed making an appearance in this game. Should this game be released in America, Marth will finally reach American shores in a Fire Emblem game (Roy made his American appearance as a kid in Fire Emblem 7 for GBA in the ending scene).

Can't wait

Alexisonfire @ Oct 10th 2007 6:40PM

Exciting, but the art style is kind of... bad.

Archaic @ Oct 10th 2007 8:25PM

Hopefully, it'll be a remake of Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo for the SNES. That game included a remake of the original NES Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi as "Book 1", while "Book 2" was a continuationof that story, with most of the same characters.

impact24 @ Oct 10th 2007 9:40PM

I'm very happy with this announcement, I've been wondering what took it so long.

That said, I don't usually complain about graphics...but I truly wish the sprites would look better. It really looks too much like a GBA game. :(

Orville the Unfathomable Time Walrus @ Oct 10th 2007 11:20PM

High-quality 2D is always better than low-quality 3D. Just ask Castlevania. I like the softer, more emotive style they're using for the character portraits, and it's great that we're getting full backgrounds rather than a square of land superimposed on the overhead map on battle screens. Even though there's no video yet, something about the sprites lend themselves to more fluid movement, too.