Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is a tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It is the eleventh installment in the Fire Emblem series and a remake of the Famicom title Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, the first entry in the series. It released in 2008 in Japan and Europe, and 2009 in North America and Australia.
Shadow Dragon retells and expands on the events of Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. Set on the continent of Archanea, the story follows the tale of Marth, prince of the kingdom of Altea, who is sent on a quest to reclaim his throne after being forced into exile by the evil sorcerer Gharnef and his dark master Medeus, the titular Shadow Dragon. Forming new alliances with neighboring kingdoms, Marth must gather a new army to help him retrieve the sacred sword Falchion and the Fire Emblem shield in order to defeat Gharnef and Medeus and save his kingdom. The gameplay follows the established Fire Emblem formula of turn-based battles played out on grid-based maps. Returning features include a character class system which evolves based on character usage, and permanent death for units defeated in battle.
Development began in 2007, overlapping with the final months of production on Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. Many staff from earlier entries returned, including director Tohru Narihiro and original composer Yuka Tsujiyoko, who handled the remixed and expanded soundtrack with Saki Kasuga. Character artwork was redrawn by original character designer Daisuke Izuka, with special contributions by Masamune Shirow. First announced in late 2007, it was released internationally the following year and localized by external company 8-4. The game features many quality-of-life improvements over the original Famicom version, including colored tiles for movement and attack range, the Weapon Triangle, a new class swap feature, and online multiplayer, a first for the franchise. Upon release, critical reception was generally positive, with common points of praise going to the gameplay balance and multiplayer functionality. However, sales remained low for a good while after launch, despite Intelligent Systems saying they were satisfied with the game's sales in Japan.
Category:Video Games