Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light Critic Reviews

With the original Fire Emblem's first Western release, Americans can finally enjoy the excellent, debut game in Nintendo's popular strategy-RPG series.

Whether you're a newbie like me or not, you won't regret experiencing this part of Fire Emblem and video gaming history.

I was surprised to discover that the reedition of the first, 8-bit Fire Emblem is not just a disappointing history lesson. Of course, this NES-era classic is ugly, outdated and rough in many aspects, but it’s still very engaging. It also shows that although the series grew significantly over the years, it managed to retain its overall feel.

If you are able to overcome the ergonomic rigidities inherent in his old age and are interested in discovering Marth's origins, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light could quite satisfy you.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light shows how much and how little the series has changed over the past 30 years. It was fun experiencing Fire Emblem‘s origins for the first time in the original format. For a game released in 1990 on the Famicom, it indeed has a grand story with beats reminiscent of games from that era. However, I do know the third game of the series, Monshou no Nazou (Mystery of the Emblem), is a remake of this game and features a lot of improvements. It makes me wish we got that game instead; it would have been closer to how the series is today.

If you are a fan of the Fire Emblem saga and you have never played this game, we recommend it because it is the perfect opportunity to enjoy it localized in English. If you are not a fan of the saga, you should definitely go for other less tedious titles.

Although it’s not a title anyone unfamiliar for the series should try for a first go around, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light is a nice surprise that’s worth picking up for fans interested in the series history.

Fire Emblem’s original 8-bit adventure is back and for the most part, Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light still holds up well. While I question the rationale of releasing the NES edition over the superior DS remake, there’s still an enjoyable game here, and going back to where everything started is certainly enjoyable, boosted by some new quality-of-life improvements.

Nintendo gave what they promised: a localized port. It’s still a fun Fire Emblem game at its core though, and I can only hope that we get more Japanese-only Fire Emblem games localized because there are many improvements in every entry.

Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon and The Blade of Light is a hard pill to swallow for all the recent fans, as its gameplay and graphics haven't aged that well. But it's also a great return to the past for old time fans, and for just five bucks.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light provides a look back at the humble beginnings of this SRPG series that continues to find new fans to this day. It shows its age in systems and visuals, but the added options to speed up the experience and save anywhere makes it accessible for non-seasoned retro gamers. This is a game that I’m glad made it to this generation, at least to preserve its official western release.

Although very much of its time in visuals and sound, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light holds its own in the modern day thanks to solid gameplay and structure. Almost everything you know and love about the series is here, and the game is worth picking up if only for the insight into early parts of the franchise. It’s not an essential Switch game by any means, and quite alienating for beginners to the series, but it’s practically compulsory for fans of Fire Emblem.

After 30 years, the original Fire Emblem gets a Western release, an English localization and some new features meant to smoothen the experience. It’s a neat history lesson, but gameplay wise Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light shows its age.

An operation to be undertaken with a philological spirit, driven more by the hunger for knowledge and experience than by the desire to be captivated by an adventure. However, you only have a few months left to decide.

While Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light is a fantastic game that somehow holds up after 30 years, it’s presented in a barebones package that feels too little too late as an anniversary release. If Nintendo is hell-bent on destroying their own history, they’ll have to do a lot more than adding savestates and speed modifiers.

It’s a very odd release. Sure, it’s the first official release in English of the series’ first installment. But, despite some minor improvements, the game itself aged like milk.

This well-written English translation of Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light proves true to the original script while cutting short through the narration in comparison with the DS remake, just like the gameplay charges straight to the point. A real testament to Fire Emblem's traditional values, though some archaic principles bound this version to an historical interest, even with additional modern options that only alleviate the aging elements.

Although it does not arrive in the best of condition, being able to finally discover the Fire Emblem from which it all started has incalculable historical value.

Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon & The Blade of Light is the charming but a little rusty debut of the Intelligent Systems' beloved series.

All of the improvements of the previous years have been completely forsaken in this version of the game. Thus, it merely carries some sort of historical value for European players (given that it had never released before in our territory), but there really is barely anything at all to take out from it.