Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

 DS
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 184 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 87 out of 184
  2. Mixed: 72 out of 184
  3. Negative: 25 out of 184
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  1. FredJ
    Jan 25, 2010
    1
    What have thye done to you Fire Emblem? As a remake of the first FE game, I expected a lot. I've been playing FE since it came out in the US and have gone out of my way to paly many of the Japanese only games like FE6. This, however, is an abomination. There are NO support conversations, NO character depth, NO sense of a Fire Emblem game. What made FE unique was the personalities of What have thye done to you Fire Emblem? As a remake of the first FE game, I expected a lot. I've been playing FE since it came out in the US and have gone out of my way to paly many of the Japanese only games like FE6. This, however, is an abomination. There are NO support conversations, NO character depth, NO sense of a Fire Emblem game. What made FE unique was the personalities of the characters, the bond you built with them that made you WANT to keep them alive. Take that away and you get discarable troops wish you merely use as bait. The beautiful 2D portraits are gone, replaced by clunky and ugly 3D. 3D combat cutscenes would have been nice, but they screwed that up too. Every class pretty much has the same attack, compared to the different animations of previous games. Long story short for a traditional FE fan this game sucks… Expand
  2. SwoopTrust
    Nov 10, 2011
    1
    Worst FE ever made. it's bland, has no soul. Its absolutely horrendous. Difficulty is nonexistant as times, the game feels rushed, the portraits are just bland, bad CG, same for the animations. Truly a butchering of FE in all the sense of the word.
  3. riferrari
    Jan 2, 2013
    4
    In general, it could have been a very good game but the gameplay isn't satisfying nor rewarding as you can't clue what is the best way to play the game and what characters you should level up or not, so I give it a 4/10 because it's a game that keeps going and it feels like you are aways on the wrong path with your characters equipment and exp, I just feel bored and many maps are too big.
  4. smidsy
    Jun 22, 2013
    3
    Waste of time. This game just doesn't live up to the modern games at all sadly. Whilst this is a remake it's lazily done. The interface is clunky, visuals poor and generally a boring, tedious experience when compared to the GBA games.

    This could have been amazing, and really taken advantage of the DS hardware what we actually got was a lazy port.
  5. TeodorIkonomov
    Jan 27, 2009
    1
    The Best Game Ever
  6. RobertC
    Mar 22, 2009
    4
    As a long-time fan of Fire Emblem games, I was extremely disappointed in this one for the following reasons: The story was ATTROCIOUS. No twists, just a plain old linear storyline. I could practically call the story from the beginning, and when I was fighting the final battle, I didn
  7. Schizoidmouse
    Oct 21, 2014
    3
    Fire Emblem started on the NES, with the original Shadow Dragon. while not the most famous game it caused a big enough splash to create a string of games making one of Nintendo's longest series. Shadow Dragon took rogue like elements to a strategic RPG. This was to make a game where your characters die and do not respawn. This is a staple of the Fire Emblem franchise and the one thingFire Emblem started on the NES, with the original Shadow Dragon. while not the most famous game it caused a big enough splash to create a string of games making one of Nintendo's longest series. Shadow Dragon took rogue like elements to a strategic RPG. This was to make a game where your characters die and do not respawn. This is a staple of the Fire Emblem franchise and the one thing people can easily distinguish from other RPGs. That being said, does a remake of the original game still hold up to all the evolutions made in the years later?

    Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon for the DS is a remastered remake of the original Fire Emblem story, taking all the elements from the original game and adding in a few features in the hopes of making it stand out in the DS marketplace of mediocrity. That being said, does this story still hold up in today's market? The story is a classic but...dreadfully boring. The characters only get one chapter really, if any, to get any development since support conversations were not created until the GBA era. The story and characters development is utterly lacking in this game besides a few characters. Even then the characters go through a drastic change to fast and we don't get to see the full process.

    The main change to story was the prologue created for the easiest setting. This sentence annoys me for one reason, its only for the easiest setting. You cannot see this part of the story unless you decide to play it on beginner, which actually stops you from getting two possible units that can only be obtained in the prologue. I don't understand their decision in this as it limits the amount of story for harder difficulties. That being said, the prologue is a good way to ease people into the gameplay of Fire Emblem and adds sufficient background information about the war surrounding the area.

    The gameplay is the same throughout all Fire Emblem games with a lot of awkward and bad choices. The rock, paper, scissors aspect of the weapon wheel, the durability of weapons, death of a player, but the problem comes with the details never before put into a Fire Emblem game.

    The reclassing of units started with this game, which took the unique element in its predecessor, Sacred Stones and completely turned it into something of a monster. Any unit can be changed into a new class at any point in time within the game. This causes game breaking and at times causes units to be too overpowered if switched to a class that is suited to their stat gains.

    In Progress...    … Expand
  8. TuxDC
    Sep 17, 2022
    1
    Playing this 10 years late this is only a frustrating game. No saving so be ready to play the same level over and over. Maybe there is a generic story but most will never see much of it due to the difficulty and the bad design. I went in interested in Marth’s origin story and now I know why these stayed japan only for so long; you will be happier never trying this game at this time.

Awards & Rankings

19
#19 Best DS Game of 2009
8
#8 Most Discussed DS Game of 2009
5
#5 Most Shared DS Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 42 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 42
  3. Negative: 0 out of 42
  1. 3DJuegos
    87
    Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon debuts on Nintendo DS with a classic chapter adapted to these times. The deeply interesting story of the game with many characters to recruit and different strategies for the victories offers a unique experience. The most important feature is the online mode, simple but correct in its way. This is one of the best games to come out this year for Nintendo DS.
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  2. IGN UK
    80
    It hasn’t toppled the Sacred Stones from its berth as the best game in the series (or, if you’re a purist, Fire Emblem on the GBA), and it feels a bit like a missed opportunity to ally the game that started it all with some of the many incremental improvements that have been introduced since. Still, though, it is a Fire Emblem game, and for some of us, that’s enough.
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  3. Pocket Gamer UK
    90
    Fire Emblem's DS debut has been a long time coming but it's unquestionably worth the wait. Shadow Dragon provides astonishingly compulsive turn-based action.
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