Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Shooter
Fire Emblem Gaiden is the second installment in the Fire Emblem Tactical role-playing game series developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo.
The game follows two protagonists, lifelong friends Alm and Celica, over the course of five chapters and takes place in two kingdoms on the continent of Valencia: Rigel and Sofia. The world map is slowly revealed for players to traverse through the game's five chapters. Over the course of the game, it is revealed to both Alm and the player that he is actually the prince of Rigel, whereas Celica is both the princess of Sofia and a priestess of the goddess Mila. Fire Emblem Gaiden was the first game in the series where more than one main character could promote. Alm begins the game as a Fighter before eventually promoting to Hero. Celica is a Priestess, and she promotes into Princess.
While the basic battle engine and formula from the original game are still present in Fire Emblem Gaiden, a number of new gameplay features were added or changed. Certain classes feature branching promotion trees, allowing the player to select a character's promotion class. Only special weapons need be equipped, and neither these nor the unit's default weapons will ever break. Spells are learned through leveling up, and they drain the spellcaster's hit points with each use. The game also features an overworld map that players can travel through between battles and towns that can be freely explored, with more territory becoming available as the game progresses.
Despite the numerous changes to the Fire Emblem formula, most of the later games in the series reverted back to the gameplay of the original Fire Emblem before evolving into new directions. Some of these changes, such as a navigable world map and branching class promotions were later used in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, which received critical praise for its design. However, other elements that Fire Emblem Gaiden introduced have not been reused.
