Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem

Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo

Developer(s) Nintendo
Intelligent Systems
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Designer(s) Shouzou Kaga
(game designer)[1]
Keisuke Terasaki(director)[2]
Gunpei Yokoi (producer)[3]
Composer(s) Yuka Tsujiyoko
Series Fire Emblem
Platform(s) Super Famicom, Wii (Virtual Console), Wii U (Virtual Console)
Release date(s) Super Famicom
  • JP January 21, 1994
Wii
Virtual Console
  • JP December 26, 2006
Wii U
Virtual Console
  • JP April 27, 2013
Genre(s) Tactical RPG
Mode(s) Campaign (Single Player)
Distribution 24-megabit Super Famicom Cartridge

Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem (ファイアーエムブレム　紋章の謎 Faiā Emuburemu: Monshō no Nazo) is a Japanese tactical role-playing game developed by Suzak Inc. and Intelligent Systems for the Super Famicom. It is the third installment in the Fire Emblem series and was released in Japan on January 21, 1994. It was the first Fire Emblem title for the Super Famicom and the first 24-megabit cartridge for the system.[4] The game is divided into two distinct parts, or books. Book One is a remake of the original Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi, and Book Two is a continuation of events, following the same characters. In 1996 KSS released an anime OVA, Fire Emblem, based on Monshō no Nazo. Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo was released in Japan on the Wii's Virtual Console service on December 26, 2006. A remake of Book 2 titled as Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū was released in Japan on July 15, 2010, for the Nintendo DS.

Gameplay

Screenshot of Monshō no Nazo

Monshō no Nazo drops many of the gameplay elements introduced in Fire Emblem Gaiden, such as explorable towns and a navigable world map. However, it does carry over certain features; such as a battery RAM save feature and the use of icons for weapons along with their names. The game's most prominent new feature is the dismount command, which allows cavalier units to get off their horses and fight on foot. The limitation to this factor is that cavaliers can only wield lances when on horseback and swords while on foot. Furthermore, cavalier and airborne units are forced to dismount in chapters that take place in interior locations.

Plot

Setting

The game takes place in the fictional continent of Archanea (Akaneia), which originally appeared in the first game of the series, Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi. The countries include Archanea, Dolhr, Macedon, Grust, and Khadein.

Characters

Story

Marth is the prince of Altea and a direct descendant of Anri, the warrior who slew the dark dragon Medeus. However, after an attack from the neighboring kingdom of Doluna, Marth is forced to become an exile in the neighboring nation of Talys. His sister Elice is taken hostage after their father is killed battling the evil priest Gharnef. With the help of Altean knight and his mentor Jagen, the Princess of Talys, Sheeda, and others, Marth embarks on a quest to find the sacred sword known as Falchion. Only then will he be able to confront Gharnef and the resurrected Medeus, win the kingdom of Altea back, and rescue his sister. Along the way, Marth learns of Medeus' connection to the ancient Manakete tribe, able to transform into dragons using special stones, and that Medeus is the king of the last remaining dragon tribe. In the end, Marth defeated Medeus and restored peace.

In the new second book of Monshō no Nazo, Hardin, former Prince of Aurelis and ally to Marth in Book 1, ascends to become Emperor of Archanea. However, Marth smells a rat as Hardin's military begins to occupy neighboring countries by force, and Marth and his army are used to conquer smaller countries under orders of General Lang. Marth soon discovers the forces of darkness at work again as Lang, Hardin and his forces become corrupt. Marth soon also learns that Medeus and Gharnef are still alive. Tracing an old legend of yore, Marth retrieves the Fire Emblem once again (this time from Linde, who was entrusted with it by Princess Nyna), and goes on a quest to retrieve the twelve star orb shards to revive the shattered Starsphere. All the while, having been branded a traitor by King Hardin, Archanean forces hunt his allies relentlessly, all the way to the desert of Khadein. Finding out from Boah that a depressed Hardin was turned evil with the Darksphere by Gharnef in the form of a merchant and only the Lightsphere can save him. When the Sage Gato assists him on his quest, Marth journeys through the icy mountains to obtain the Lightsphere, required to defeat and free Hardin.

With the Lightsphere, Marth and his allies stage a final assault on Archanea to liberate Altea, to save Hardin and his sister. Sadly, Marth isn't able to save Hardin from the Darksphere without killing him in the process. After Hardin dies, two special chapters are unlocked, and Marth and his allies discover where the new incarnations of Medeus and Gharnef are residing. Gharnef again holds the Falchion sword, and using the Starlight magic, Gharnef is defeated, and Marth confronts Medeus, who has now taken the form of a dark dragon. In the final confrontation, Medeus holds captive Sirius's love interest Nyna, Minerva's younger sister Maria, Julian's lover Lena, and Marth's sister Elice.

Development

Books One and Two feature different soundtracks. The recruit theme in Book Two is a classical version of the one in Book One. There has been manga written on the first map of the first book.

Reception

On release, Famicom Tsūshin scored the Super Famicom version of the game a 24 out of 40,[5] however Monshō no Nazo was popular enough to hold the No. 1 position on the Famitsu chart for one year. In 2006, Monshō no Nazo was the only Fire Emblem game which appeared in the top one hundred games list from readers of the magazine Famitsu, holding the sixty-eighth place.

Impact

Satellaview video game

BS Fire Emblem: Archanea Senki (BS ファイアーエムブレム　アカネイア戦記 BS Faiā Emuburemu Akaneia Senki, (lit. BS Fire Emblem: War Chronicles of Archanea)) is a set of four short Fire Emblem games that were first broadcast in 1997 for the Satellaview attachment for the Super Famicom and could be downloaded. Each game contained one map and was based on Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo's engine. The games took place in Archanea, chronologically before the events of Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi, with some characters from Monshō no Nazo making some appearances. Like most Satellaview games, the game was streamed and voice acted. BS Fire Emblem: Archanea Senki was initially released episodically in 4 chapters from September 27 to October 25, 1997.[6] St.GIGA broadcast two reruns first from November to December, 1997 and finally from April to May, 1999.[6] Because Satellaview services were discontinued at the end of June 2000, there has been no way to play the game in its intended form unless original 8M Memory Packs are located which still contain the original downloads from 1997 or 1999. Because SoundLink vocal tracks were streamed and not saved to the 8M Memory Packs, all voice acting would also be missing. For years the only way the game has been available for fans is via ROM emulation. In 2010, Nintendo announced that it was planning to include the Archanea Senki chapters on the upcoming Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū, a remake of Monshō no Nazo for the Nintendo DS.[7] This is the first time that Nintendo will have released a Satellaview-exclusive title since the last broadcast in June 2000 and it has led to speculation that Nintendo may release other Satellaview titles.[8]

Remake

Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū (ファイアーエムブレム 新・紋章の謎 ～光と影の英雄～ Faiā Emuburemu Shin Monshō no Nazo ~Hikari to Kage no Eiyū~, literally Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem: Heroes of Light and Shadow),[9] is a remake of Monshō no Nazo, developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It is the twelfth entry to the Fire Emblem series and the second Fire Emblem remake for the Nintendo DS.[10] The game also contains a version of BS Fire Emblem: Archanea Senki in its Extra Mode.[7][11] It was only released in Japan on July 15, 2010.[12] The game features a new character that the player can customize called the "Hero of Shadow". Players can chose this character's name, gender, facial appearance, and starting class.[13] New prologue and sidestory chapters heavily feature the new character and offer chances to recruit new and previously unobtainable characters.[14] The difficulty modes include Normal, Hard, Maniac, and Lunatic, and allow players to choose between Casual and Classic modes. In Casual mode, players' characters will not permanently die if they are felled.[13][15] Players could connect to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to battle against another player on multiplayer-exclusive battle maps. Players could loan characters to use in the singleplayer mode and access an online shop to purchase rare and exclusive items using the in-game currency. New to Shin Monshō no Nazo is the option to download exclusive episodes.[16] The game topped the charts in Japan in its first week.[17] A fan translation was released on November 21, 2012.[18][19]

References

  1. ↑ Japanese Wikipedia Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo Shouzou Kaga
  2. ↑ Japanese Wikipedia Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo
  3. ↑ Japanese Wikipedia Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo Gunpei Yokoi
  4. ↑ "International Outlook". Electronic Gaming Monthly (53) (EGM Media, LLC). December 1993. p. 100.
  5. ↑ 実験!! ゲーム家族のクロスレビュー: ファイアーエムブレム 紋章の謎. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No.343. Pg.107. 14 July 1995.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kameb. スーパーファミコンアワー番組表. The Satellaview History Museum. 12 February 2008.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/vi2j/topics/index.html
  8. ↑ Une surprise dans Fire Emblem : Monshou No Nazo. VideoJeux.com. 22 June 2010.
  9. ↑ "'New Mystery of the Emblem pre-release news". Serenes Forest. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  10. ↑ "'Fire Emblem World". Nintendo. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  11. ↑ "'New Mystery of the Emblem pre-release info". Serenes Forest. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  12. ↑ "'Official Japanese website". Toyota. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Loe, Casey (2010). "Japan's Summer of RPGs". Nintendo Power 257: 24.
  14. ↑ "'New Mystery of the Emblem pre-release info". Serenes Forest. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  15. ↑ "New DS Fire Emblem Hitting Japan Next Month". 1UP.com. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
  16. ↑ "'New Mystery of the Emblem pre-release info". Serenes Forest. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
  17. ↑ Danny Cowan (July 16, 2010). "Gamasutra - News - Saling The World: Dragon Quest IX, Fire Emblem Head Global DS Charts". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  18. ↑ http://www.heroesofshadow.net/2012/11/complete-translation-patch-released.html
  19. ↑ "Fire Emblem 12 Receives Fan-made English Translation Patch". screwattack.com. ScrewAttack Entertainment LLC. Retrieved 5 September 2014.

External links