Fire Emblem: The Random Stones

[Simon]

If you came into this thread asking yourself, "What the ever-loving crap is this?" then I would be happy to explain.

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is the 8th game in the Fire Emblem tactical RPG series, and the 2nd of the series officially released to America. As the third and final of the series on the Gameboy Advance, it takes many of the features from it's predecessors and improves upon them with refined mechanics, new and improved classes, and a brand-new over-world map allowing free exploration.

Randomizers are a relatively recent trend in video games, primarily for classical ones like Pokemon and Legend of Zelda. It essentially mixes up all the content of a game, such as sprites, characters, events, maps, and items, and then spits it all back out into a brand new game. In this way it can be a clever twist on a game you know and love, and allows you experience it again in a completely different fashion, sometimes requiring outside-the-box thinking to proceed.

I have recently obtained a Fire Emblem randomizer, compatible with all three GBA Fire Emblem games, and have used it on a Fire Emblem 8 rom I have. You can find the randomizer here.

"Yeah, we know all that already, get to the point!" some of you may be saying. Well, then, without further ado, let us begin!




Our story begins on the continent of Magvel, where the kingdom of Renais is under attack by the forces of their former ally, the Grado empire.


A lowly Recruit comes to the throne, surely bringing news to King Fado and his trusted associates...



Unfortunately, the news is not good.

Fearing the worst, Fado summons his daughter Erika to his side, having somehow sired a giant floating eyeball. (God knows what her brother Ephraim looks like.) He asks if she has her special bracelet, and she does. It's probably special in that it was custom-made to fit her at all.



With that, Fado calls over Seth, the noble Falcoknight, to escort Erika to the neighboring kingdom of Frelia.

But Erika sees through her father's demeanor, and knows he is going to stay behind, bearing witness to Vigarde's power. She insists on staying with him, but Fado insists otherwise.


Seth, wasting no more time, somehow grabs onto the floating eyeball princess and runs off, accompanied by his ally Franz, the archer.


It's not long until Vigarde is upon the throne...



Meanwhile, outside the castle, Seth turns to Franz and tells him to ride on ahead to Frelia... without a horse. Whatever, he must be stealthy or something, right?


We're about to go on our own way when we get company. Seth, ever the valiant knight, steps in to face the enemy-



...Uh oh. Looks like he took a page out of Franz's book and traded in his mount for a bow. For the uninformed: Bows are super-effective against flying units.


Whatever, Seth is a badass, right? He can probably still take him!



Unfortunately, this cutscene suggests very strongly otherwise. Despite not being in range at all, Valter nocks an arrow and-



...Oh. :frog:

Well, after that waste of time, we peace out.



Meanwhile, Valter deludes himself into the idea that he actually did anything at all. What a loser.


Over the next ridge, Seth and Erika catch their breath. He apologizes for having manhandled his eyeball of a princess, but Erika is quite forgiving.


Despite his wound being completely superficial, she insists on helping him heal, to which he... politely declines.

Seriously, how would she do it? With those tentacle-nerve-things sticking from behind her? Not a pleasant thought.

In any case, we press on.


Seth calls Erika aside and says that if anything happens to him, she should continue on to Frelia alone. He then gives her a sword.


...Don't ask how he expects her to use it. :frog:

We're about to proceed with the story when we receive our first actual encounter: two of Grado's fighters being chased by a giant freaking spider.

:froggonk:
I mean, we could easily be flying out of here by now and just leave the spider to devour those two, but I guess we've got to make sure it doesn't go following us, I guess?


That's all for this post, tune in next time when I actually fight these dorks.