Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

Genealogy of the Holy War has something of a mythical status among strategy game fans as Kaga's masterpiece that never made it overseas, capable of instantly converting casuals to elitists. But does it really live up to this reputation? Yeah I think so, but you have to keep in mind that it has some steep limitations as a 25-year old Super Famicom game.

The gameplay is designed heavily in service of the story, featuring continent-spanning maps and removing QoL features like trading to represent the fact that you're only seeing a small fraction of your army. These regressive mechanics are thoroughly outdated and detrimental, but actually pretty easy to get used to. The maps themselves achieve a sense of progress unlike any other FE game since you can trace your path on an actual map of Jugdral, but they lead to one major flaw that's impossible to overlook: Horse Emblem. Your mounted units will naturally get far ahead of your infantry units unless you slow your playstyle to a crawl, which is especially glaring since objectives are achieved linearly so you can't split them up effectively most of the time. Canto (being able to use the remainder of your movement after attacking as a mounted unit) is disgustingly useful too, allowing you (and the AI) to focus one unit over and over again. Holy weapons are also ridiculously powerful, and they damn well should be for how much the lore hypes them up.

But when fans praise Genealogy, they're praising the unparalleled ambition in the story. Idealistic princes becoming inadvertently mired in a gradually mounting power conflict is nothing out of the ordinary for the series, but Genealogy's refusal to pull punches and willingness to take its time to actually set up its dominoes before knocking them down (by y'know developing important characters ahead of their arc) sets it apart from its successors. On top of the overarching narrative, there's a wealth of little worldbuilding features sprinkled throughout. The mid-battle talk feature in particular should've been a series standard. Showing us what a few select units are thinking as the battle progresses is a great way to add depth to borderline-stock characters and to the world of Jugdral. Even mechanics like authority stars, and how enemies will break formation when their commander is killed, hold real narrative weight.

But here's where the hardware limitations come in. Amenities like cinematics and voice acting are hard to do without, leaving the soundtrack to do a lot of the presentation's emotional heavy-lifting. The dialogue is too sparse and brief for its own good, making certain events feel abrupt and rushed. Even the renowned conclusion of Gen 1 (if you don't know it yet, kudos to you and stay the hell away from FE meme spaces until you've finished Gen 1) is marred for me by how it's only about five minutes long.

Also, this whole time I was only praising Gen 1's story. Gen 2 is sorely lacking in bravado, amounting to an unremarkable 'rebellion against the evil empire' story. You still get a handful of stand-out moments, but because the setting changes so rapidly, characters that should've been great are reduced to being merely interesting. Case and point, Travant.

Genealogy shows its age for better or for worse, yet it still achieves things that have eluded all other FE games, if not all other SRPGs. Can't wait to marry Eldigan's recruitable severed head in the remake.

Since no one has written a review for this game, I figured I may as well do the honors.

It is in my mind and many others who have played Genealogy of the Holy War that had it been localized in the West back in 1996, it would have been known as the the 'Swan Song' of the Super Nintendo and it would have without a doubt been heralded as one of the system's greatest titles. Up there with the likes of Final Fantasy VI and Earthbound. However, as it stands now, FE4 is relegated to imported Japanese copies or fan translations only which is nothing short of tragic as it is genuinely a beautiful masterpiece.

These days, Japanese fans commonly vote Genealogy of the Holy War as their favorite installment in the series with even famed Nintendo dev Mashahiro Sakura citing FE4 throwing praise towards the game. So is FE4 worth the praise it has garnered over the years? In my opinion yes. What FE4 accomplishes with its narrative and world are uncomparable especially for a game of its time and it is something that should be experienced by every fan of Fire Emblem.

To begin, one must discuss the story as it is often cited as the best of the franchise, and for good reason. I once heard someone call the narrative 'Shakespearian' in nature, and to be quite frank I'd say that such a claim is apt. It's a story about good natured heroes with flaws against a world that works against them. Such a theme is especially fitting with the game's twist. I'd be remiss to not at least address the 'twist' in the game as well. While likely every Fire Emblem fan is aware of this twist, I still don't wish to spoil exactly what happens. Nevertheless, the impact and aftermath of the twist is so potent and powerful that I believe such a narrative plot point is only possible in the medium of gaming.

Are there problems with the story told? Of course. Certain characterization elements feel a bit lacking compared to many newer installments likely due to the limited space on the SNES. Dierdre and Sigurd's relationship could have done with much more development. And most of the characters in the second half of the game take a back seat to the plot.

And yeah, people do express grievances with the gameplay with obtuse mechanics like that of the Pawn system that effectively forces you to spend money to trade items or the giant maps that take forever to beat (though I personally believe this enhances the game's worldbuilding). But I still had fun with the game in spite of its myriad of outdated mechanics.

But in spite of all that, Genealogy of the Holy War is not only my favorite Fire Emblem game, its one of my favorite games of all time. With the presentation of its narrative, beautiful story, music, ambition, world building and more all coming together to create an unforgettable experience. As it stands now, modern mainstream audiences in the West can only hope to experience this game is with a remake which I sincerely hope does the original justice.