The coolest RPG series that you've never played heads to GBA. Importers unite! (Be sure you know some Japanese though!) Here's all the info about the upcoming game you might have missed elsewhere...
Although you may have heard of the Fire Emblem series, it's unlikely that you have ever played or actually seen any of the games. In Japan, Fire Emblem has been popular enough to merit numerous sequels, though not a single one of the games have been released in North America. Along with the sequels, there were also updated versions of earlier games ported to the Super Famicom (SNES) and ones Japanese consumers could download via the Satellaview (BS-X) system . Over the past couple years, rumors of a new Fire Emblem game being developed for Nintendo 64 persisted, though the game never materialized. Like many popular game series in Japan, there was even a Fire Emblem anime made. Ironically, A.D. Vision released the anime domestically.
Fire Emblem is a Strategy-RPG series that originated on the Famicom (NES) system and has been developed by a small company called Intelligent Systems. Intelligent Systems are known primarily for their tools work and for some of Nintendo's more strategic games. Additionally, their ranks actually include members from Nintendo's infamous EAD development group. Fire Emblem is a very mature RPG series and if it were to be released stateside Nintendo might NEVER be called "kiddie."
The 6th (not counting the BS versions) Fire Emblem game (which was originally slated for N64,) is heading to Gameboy Advance. Intelligent Systems, known primarily for their tools work and for some of Nintendo's more strategic games, is naturally behind the game once again, although the original designer of the series left the company a while ago and is not involved with the project. This leaves Fire Emblem fans to question the quality of this upcoming GBA game, especially when the ex-designer is working on a Fire Emblem-like game for the Playstation known as Emblem saga. The only screenshot of the title so far shows a conversation scene, and it is hard to tell if the game is still retaining its Fire Emblem simulation/RPG gameplay or if it has been turned into an adventure or RPG instead. Hopefully the remaining Fire Emblem staff at Intelligent Systems are well-versed in the Fire Emblem lore and programming to be able to pull off another masterpiece in the flawless series.
Because none of the previous Fire Emblem games have come stateside, it's unlikely that this one will come to the US either.
