History YMMV / FireEmblemTheSacredStones

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

* ScrappyWeapon: Dark magic in this game. It's not ''bad'' per se--just [[IncrediblyLamePun overshadowed]] by Anima and Light magic. Sure, it ''does'' attack enemy resistance, meaning it's still useful against monsters. But, on the other hand, their legendary weapon is the only one that does not get a damage multiplier against the FinalBoss or EliteMooks at the end of the game ''and'' you only have two potential users--Knoll and Ewan. Both of them join when the game is more than past its halfway point, and Ewan requires you to ''really'' baby him to get him ready to go. Oh and Luna was nerfed--severely hampering its usefulness. It's saying something when the best weapon for the category overall is Flux, the low level but still respectably powerful base Dark tome, thanks to its high might compared to Fire and Lightning.

* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass:
** Eirika is often put under the microscope, nitpicked, and/or downright ''bashed'' for being a sensitive NiceGirl aside of a MessianicArchetype and the ActionGirl, with some of her haters even ''[[InsaneTrollLogic openly denying that both she and Ephraim are co-protagonists of the game]]'' and saying Ephraim is the only lead. Sometimes using '''Japanese fanart''' as "evidence".
** This has become worse ever since ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' has her in the Bride class, despite still being a fighter on top of a staff user. Even more baseless because one can download a version of Eirika ''that is still 100% a Swordswoman'' (specifically a Myrmidon, which makes sense, since her Lord class is VERY similar to it), so the above "Bride Eirika" is an optional event that can be taken or not.

** Chapter 19 is a defense map with FogOfWar, which can be a frustrating combination. The fact that you get 17 units, five more than the previous mission, likely means that you'll have to field some underleveled units.

** Caellach can be notoriously hard to defeat, since he has a close-combat axe AND a hand-axe and hits like a truck with either one of them.

** Selena was intended to be a TragicVillain who stays loyal to Grado out of a sense of MyCountryRightOrWrong, even as she disagrees with her king and those he employees in his army. Although the game attempts to paint her a reasonable and overall decent person, she refuses to turn against Grado despite various characters calling her out for her blind loyalty, and unlike Cormag and Dussel, she turns a blind eye to it simply because of her adoration of Emperor Vigarde. She is given several chances to stop fighting, and yet she goes down fighting despite being against what she is ordered to do. In the end, its hard to find her sympathetic despite the game telling you she is supposed to be. In fact, Myrrh flat out tells her that Vigarde is a zombie and CameBackWrong, and Selena refuses to believe it simply because she can't bring herself to accept that her beloved emperor is dead. That she ''still'' remains loyal to Grado in the face of numerous signs of its corruption makes it hard to see her as anything more than [[LoveMakesYouDumb a hopelessly delusional fool]] and/or a hypocrite.

** The Mauthe Doog and Gwyllgi definitely count due to their VERY high speed and movement. Imagine a Swordmaster substituting their critical boost for more movement and competent attack.

** The GhostShip on Hard Mode is one giant onslaught of enemies, including Gargoyles, which come at you from all directions, [[DemonicSpiders are able to bypass your defensive units and hit like trucks]]. [[FromBadToWorse It gets worse after a few turns]], when two recruitable [=NPCs=]; L'Arachel (a defenseless healer) and Dozla (who lacks a ranged weapon) show up on the other side of the map where Mogalls can chip away at their health. [[ArtificialStupidity Dozla's determination to ignore the most dangerous units doesn't help matters]], so unless you've been grinding like a madman, they'll likely die before you can reach them.
** Chapter Fourteen, [[StormingTheCastle the siege of Grado Castle]], includes an enormous map and enemy units armed with Berserk staves, which force the target(s) to turn on their allies. Although one of the enemies is recruitable, doing so requires the player to either fork up 10,000 gold or have L'Arachel (a very weak unit) talk to him.

** Eirika. Some people think she's fine for being a NaiveNewcomer and goes through realistic CharacterDevelopment to become a strong LadyOfWar by the end, given that her upbringing was solely focused on diplomacy and she made a personal effort to learn swordplay before the game even started. Others think that the game script is sexist for handing her the DistressBall a few too many times while her brother gets CutscenePowerToTheMax. And whether or not [[spoiler:handing Lyon the Sacred Stone was stupid, or understandable given their long friendship and the Demon King's silver tongue]].

** Morva, the Manakete hero who defeated the Demon King during his first reign of terror, is introduced, killed off, and revived as a zombie slave of the selfsame Demon King within the space of the opening scene of one chapter.

** The warmer reception the game has gotten is mainly because the game was part of the 3DS ambassador program a short time before the release of Awakening, making the game somewhat of a [[GatewaySeries introduction to the Fire Emblem series]], and convince a fair amount of people to buy Awakening. As such many have Nostalgia for the game despite its flaws.

** Knoll, to the point that he actually expresses relief in his death quote. Amelia, who is also a PluckyGirl and refuses to let it get her down. Myrrh, who is already a ShrinkingViolet.

** There's a mixture of admiration and rivalry between Ephraim and Lyon.

* ScrappyWeapon: Dark magic in this game. It's not ''bad'' per se--just [[IncrediblyLamePun overshadowed]] by Anima and Light magic. Sure, it ''does'' attack enemy resistance meaning it's still useful against monsters. But on the other hand, their legendary weapon is the only one that does not get a damage multiplier against the FinalBoss or EliteMooks at the end of the game ''and'' you only have two potential users--Knoll and Ewan. Both of which join when the game is more than past its halfway point, and Ewan requires you to ''really'' baby him to get him ready to go. Oh and Luna was nerfed--severely hampering its usefulness. It's saying something when the best weapon for the category overall is Flux, the low level but still respectably powerful base Dark tome, thanks to its high might compared to Fire and Lightning.

** It was also criticized for [[ItsShortSoItSucks its length]]. Part of this was because ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'', the previous game in the series, had roughly thirty chapters (not including Gaiden chapters!) including the ProlongedPrologue that was Lyn's tale. This game in contrast has only twenty-one... and ''one'' Gaiden chapter. But people began to appreciate that while the game is short, it makes up for it in having visible branching paths (as opposed to the GuideDangIt branches in ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'') ''and'' the lack of Gaiden chapters is made up for with more optional maps, including the postgame.

** Lute and Vanessa discuss aphrodisiac together at one point and can get an ending together, which sees them continuing to be around each other, even if they don't get explicitly married.

** Ephriam's route's portrayal of [[spoiler: Lyon]]. [[spoiler: He claims he's fully in control and has suppressed the Demon King's influence, but is that true? It's possible, and somewhat implied by the Demon King's speech before the final boss, that he was still influencing Lyon all along, just [[MoreThanMindControl more subtly than on Eirika's route]]. Is the Demon King just letting him ''think'' he's in control?]]

** At the end of Scorched Sand, Ephriam brings Eirika Glepnir and Garm, the Sacred Twin weapons of Grado, and tells her "I doubt either of us can use them, but…" Come ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'', and Eirika and Ephraim got alternate versions (Anamnesis Lady Eirika and Brave Ephraim) who use... Glepnir and Garm, respectively.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Selena was intended to be a TragicVillain who stays loyal to Grado out of a sense of MyCountryRightOrWrong, even as she disagrees with her king and those he employees in his army. Although the game attempts to paint her a reasonable and overall decent person, she refuses to turn against Grado despite various characters calling her out for her blind loyalty, and unlike Cormag and Dussel, she turns a blind eye to it simply because of her adoration of Emperor Vigarde. She is given several chances to stop fighting, and yet she goes down fighting despite being against what she is ordered to do. In the end, its hard to find her sympathetic despite the game telling you she is supposed to be. In fact, Myrrh flat out tells her that Vigarde is a zombie and CameBackWrong, and Selena refuses to believe it simply because she can't bring herself to accept that her beloved emperor is dead. That she ''still'' remains loyal to Grado in the face of numerous signs of its corruption makes it hard to see her as anything more than [[LoveMakesYouDumb a hopelessly delusional fool]] and/or a hypocrite.

** Lute and Vanessa get a solid amount of this, to the point of even discussing aphrodisiac together at one point. The two can get an ending together, which sees them continuing to be around each other, even if they don't get explicitly married.

** Eirika and L'Arachel get this in spades, being one of the most commonly used femslash ships to come from the series before [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]].

** It's possible that Knoll had feelings for Lyon. It's hard to tell as all of Grado's top officers worship the ground that Vigarde and Lyon walk on. It may explain though why Knoll is taking all of this much harder than Duessel and Cormag (though, to be fair, they don't do much better and they hadn't seen Vigarde killed and resurrected and hadn't seen Grado's future like Knoll has).

* FanPreferredCouple:
** It's not uncommon among fans to note that Eirika/L'Arachel's supports have a stronger romantic arc than the canonically possible Ephiram/L'Arachel. Unsurprisingly, it's one of her most popular options, if not her most.
** Ephraim can end up with three women and have ambiguous ending with some male characters, but for the most part, the fandom seems to have fallen behind shipping him with the tragically doomed Lyon who canonically is in love with Eirika.
** Of the supporting cast, Lute/Vanessa has gained traction and sees a decent fanbase, with stories and art still being made. Could also count as a heavily downplayed example ShipsThatPassInTheNight.

* MemeticMutation:
** Gheb has an entire [[GameMod ROM hack]] dedicated to him! It's ''very'' [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece mid-aughts internet meme culture]], and your mileage will ''extremely'' vary as to whether it's hilarious or disgusting.
** There's a hack where the game is translated through several layers of Google Translate, to the point where the females are often called men, Eirika being called a Russian/English princess, Garcia being a doctor, and Ephraim and his men being called musicians.
** "Amelia is bad in General/Amelia is good in General."[[note]]A gag associated with Amelia, which arose from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D45u0llhRyk a video]] by Youtuber Mekkah that claimed Amelia was generally not worth using, but if she was to be used, then it would be best to go into Paladin, since General's slight stat edge, axe use, and Great Shield skill doesn't compare to Paladin's extra 3 Movement, canto, and rescuing capability. This led to a curious backlash due to General Amelia having long been perceived by casual fans as a MemeticBadass LightningBruiser, and resulted in followup videos that more or less solidified the joke, and since then, "bad in General/good in General" has been widely associated with her among hardcore players.[[/note]]

** A character who happens to be a necromancer, gets possessed by a demonic lord, causes the main events of a game without meaning to, and get fought at the very last chapter? Who are we talking about? Lyon or [[VideoGame/LegacyOfKain Mortanius]]?

** Ephraim states he would rather be "traveling the land as a mercenary", and Eirika chides him for it. During the game, Eirika is pretending to be a mercenary leader.

** It was also criticised for [[ItsShortSoItSucks its length]]. Part of this was because ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'', the previous game in the series, had roughly thirty chapters (Not including Gaiden chapters!) including the ProlongedPrologue that was Lyn's tale. This game in contrast has only twenty one... and ''one'' Gaiden chapter. But people began to appreciate that while the game is short, it makes up for it in having visible branching paths (as opposed to the GuideDangIt branches in ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'') ''and'' the lack of gaiden chapters is made up for with more optional maps, including the postgame.
** When it comes to [[GameMod Romhacking]], for the first several years ''Sacred Stones'' tended to be ignored in favor of using ''Blazing Blade'' for most romhacking purposes, mostly because of the then-current hacking tools and resources being primarily made with the Blazing Blade ROM in mind. As the romhacking scene went further into the new decade, more people started moving into modifying Sacred Stones over Blazing Blade because of the less strict engine limitations of the former which allows them to import more impressive spriteworks and other quality-of-life changes that weren't possible in the Blazing Blade engine, and many other factors that make modding Sacred Stones better than Blazing Blade. As of the new decade, Sacred Stones has effectively replaced Blazing Blade as a staple for romhacking the GBA Fire Emblem games.

** It's not uncommon among fans of to note that Eirika/L'Arachel's supports have a stronger romantic arc than the canonically possible Ephiram/L'Arachel. Unsurprisingly, it's one of her most popular options, if not her most.

* {{Squick}}: Tethys's support with Artur is one of the most infamous in the entire series due to the former's uncharacteristically pushy behavior toward the younger Artur, ostensibly to get him to consider a dancing career but coming across more like she's sexually harassing him, only made worse by her comparing his appearance to that of a ten-year-old child.

** The country Grado in general has its forces decimated, 85% of its high-ranking leaders killed off, the ''entire'' royal family killed, and then undergoes a massive earthquake after the epilogue.
* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass:
** Eirika is often put under the microscope, nitpicked, and/or downright ''bashed'' for being a sensitive NiceGirl aside of a MessianicArchetype and the ActionGirl, with some of her haters even ''[[InsaneTrollLogic openly denying that both she and Ephraim are co-protagonists of the game]]'' and saying Ephraim is the only lead. Sometimes using '''Japanese fanart''' as "evidence".
** This has become worse ever since ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' has her in the Bride class, despite still being a fighter on top of a staff user. Even more baseless because one can download a version of Eirika ''that is still 100% a Swordswoman'' (specifically a Myrmidon, which makes sense, since her Lord class is VERY similar to it), so the above "Bride Eirika" is an optional event that can be taken or not.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Ephriam's route's portrayal of [[spoiler: Lyon]]. [[spoiler: He claims he's fully in control and has suppressed the Demon King's influence, but is that true? It's possible, and somewhat implied by the Demon King's speech before the final boss, that he was still influencing Lyon all along, just [[MoreThanMindControl more subtly than on Eirika's route]]. Is the Demon King just letting him ''think'' he's in control?]]

* TierInducedScrappy:
** Seth absolutely broke the game with his high base stats, growth rates, availability, and being a mounted unit with respectable weapon skill allows him to immediately run down and trivialize the game's already forgiving difficulty even without the benefit of grinding from skirmish and the tower raids. Many players would either kill him off in his introduction chapter to ramp up the challenge or simply not using him at all just because of how broken he is.
** While loved as a plot character, Knoll was disliked for a long time due to a terrible statline that made it nigh-impossible to turn him into a good combat character. This has changed somewhat due to the considerably better modern appraisal of Summoner, since he is the character who can most easily access it.
** Ewan is this to those who don't find him to be [[MagikarpPower this game's Est]] character. Unlike the previous two trainees who join early enough to not be ''too'' far behind everyone else, Ewan is ''far'' behind others. While the game's system lets you stop to catch him up to speed, he still has to be babied before he can be caught up to where everyone else is. Even in his join map, he'll rarely see any use because of how most enemies can take him out in one round.
** Amelia is almost completely useless when she's recruited and is totally vulnerable unless you blow the stat-boosting items on her that you get in her opening level. Later down the line, she gets really good, but then you either used the stat-boosters on her, which other characters may have needed, or spent a great deal of time in the Tower of Valni level grinding her.
** Much like in ''Blazing Blade'', sword-locked units will have a hard time keeping up with their lancer and axefighter brethren due to the scarcity of axe-wielding enemies and abundance of Cavaliers and Wyvern Riders, as well as the lack of a sword counterpart to the hand axe and javelin meaning that sword-locked units only ever get 1 range outside of rare, fragile, and incapable-of-critting magic swords, while axe and lance users have easy and cheap access to 1-2 range.
*** Eirika is probably the worst of them, as she is overshadowed by her lance-locked brother, who also has a better stat spread. Her only saving grace is that, upon being promoted into a Great Lord, she gains a horse that improves her movement.
*** Colm and Rennac have a niche as Thieves, being able to pick locks and steal any items that aren't weapons, but are really weak in combat.
*** The two Myrmidons, Joshua and Marisa, have mediocre growths except when it comes to Speed and Skill. The latter is regarded as the worst of the two, since she is recruited much later and at a point when axe-wielding enemies are no longer a common threat.
** Among the vast amount of Cavaliers (and horse-riding units in general), Forde tends to fall off to the lower spectrum of the tier list. Mediocre starting stats aside for Speed, not-so-stalwart growth rates, and facing even harder competition with other Cavaliers that are just better in every aspect[[labelnote:*]]Seth '''dwarfs''' every other horseback unit thanks to his [[CrutchCharacter availability and power]] that makes him effective in every stage of the game, Franz starts off weaker but still very effective unit earlier on and can grow up to become ever more potent than Seth, Kyle [[MightyGlacier might have slow start]] but still has respectable speed and skill growth to catch up, and Duessel might start off rather weak at his level and has even lesser availability than Forde but is perfectly usable from the get-go[[/labelnote]], and this isn't even counting other potential horseback units you can get[[labelnote:*]]Ranger Neimi is a powerful [[MagikarpPower late-game]] GlassCannon when trained properly, while Ranger Gerik dwarfs everyone that's not Seth if you made him a Ranger thanks to his already strong base stats on top of pretty good growth rates to boot, making him easy to use despite his low availability[[/labelnote]]. The real saving grace for him is that his promotion gains as Great Knight can cover up his shortcomings earlier on and is strictly superior to aforementioned Amelia, thanks for his superior movement and weapon level and Cavalier being a very good class overall.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Prior to later games also revisiting those mechanics and the ''Shadows of Valentia'' remake, ''Sacred Stones'' took the most inspiration from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'', including the branching story, branching class system, the usage of monster enemies, and the revisitable overworld map with dungeons.

* [[GeniusBruiser Caellach]] [[SelfMadeMan the Tiger Eye]] is a former Jehanna mercenary who has [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitions to become a king]]. Wanting to escape the confines of the desert, Caellach grew a reputation in his mercenary days as a boisterous yet reliable warrior for better opportunities, ending up scouted by Grado to become one of their new generals. In charge of dealing with his former home in the war efforts, Caellach's cunning and charisma was able to conquer Jehanna, taking the palace and destroying its Sacred Stone after using Carlyle, while setting in-roads with Carcino for his future reigns. Establishing his connections and cutting off his attachments to his old life, Caellach joined Valter's army in a massive battle against the Magvel army, equipping himself against any potential weaknesses, ultimately losing [[NearVillainVictory only inches away from ascending to his beloved throne]].
* [[TheStrategist Aias]] is the former comrade Caellach of, and a famed tactician that has never been cut in battle. Joining Caellach with Grado, Aias was assigned to help conquer Jehanna, defending the borders from Erika's encroaching army. With the formation he set-up, Aias stood mightly against her army, sending waves of countless cavalry and infantry to batter them as he keeps himself well defended in a wall of knights and cavalry, while remaining formidable himself if directly fought. Standing near untouchable, it's only through the impending support of the Rausten army Aias was finally defeated, either dying in battle [[GracefulLoser praising his killers' tactical prowess over him]], or being killed by Caellach after [[DefiantToTheEnd defiantly facing him]].
* [[StarterVillain Tirado]] is Valter's subordinate who contrasting him uses wit and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourusefulness strategic betrayal]]. Tasked with capturing the heirs of Renais, Tirado place the traitor Orson in Ephraim's fold and get him to try reclaiming Renais Castle, using mercenaries to weaken the prince's army before ambushing him. When Ephraim manages to escape, Tirado adapted and [[UnintentionalBackupPlan spread gossip of Ephraim's capture to lure Eirika]], tricking his adjutant Murray and a ballista squad as bait to weaken her, and then sending Orson to trick Eirika, before destroying her escape route when it fails, nearly capturing her had it not been for Ephraim's arrival leading to him [[ClimaxBoss engaging them in a final battle]], [[FaceDeathWithDignity where in defeat praises the two's skills]] and warns the future dangers of Grado.

* MagnificentBastard: Prince Lyon in Ephraim's route is initially a noble, well-intentioned prince out to prevent his kingdom of Grado and his people from dying a foreseen earthquake. Awakening the Demon King Fomortiis to use its power to save his homeland, Lyon resurrects his dead father Vigarde as a proxy and uses his nation of Grado to invade others so he may steal and destroy their Sacred Stones. Bringing the other nations to their knees, Lyon manipulates his old friends Ephraim and Eirika to constantly stay one step ahead of them. Even at the end, Lyon is driven only by a wish to save his Grado, [[WellIntentionedExtremist no matter how far he has to go]]. While always haunted by Fomortiis, when summoned to [[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes the Order of Heroes]], Lyon calmly cows the Demon King into submission and servitude using his newfound leverage, performing the one deed he never could completely do before: control the devil.