Sacred Stones is one of those FE games that nobody seems to really hate, but few people seem to truly adore. It's not quite experimental, but it's not quite Strictly Formula. People seem to have a hard time placing it, and so do I, frankly—but I still find it, on balance, a pleasant time.
The main talking point with SS is its difficulty, and... yeah, that's not great. Approachability is one thing, but even Hard Mode feels very undertuned. Even avoiding all grinding, it feels like there's rarely a point in the game where "throw strong unit with 1-2 range weapon at the enemy and watch them all kill themselves" isn't the perfect solution. It does make it a good pick for a first game, especially since the tutorial is actually pretty well-handled, but it's not something I'm fond of. Unfortunately, I fear that some things were sacrificed in the name of the dungeons and postgame—and to its credit, they're very extensive, and I don't begrudge the idea, but I also recommend avoiding them. They serve more to max out your units further than provide a fun challenge; they do feature some of the more dangerous enemies, but they're little more than slugfests and don't tend to test much beyond patience.
That said, the pacing and difficulty makes it a pretty comfy game, helped by its cast. They're honestly my favorite of the GBA games—the two leads have some issues, but everyone else has a lovely vibe, with a diverse mix of personalities that feel fleshed-out and grounded, and even a solid villain. The plot does a decent job of connecting the dots and stays snappy. While the map selection isn't amazing, there's enough high points (Duessel's recruitment, the desert, the gorgon eggs, the endgame) to not get too boring, with it frequently taking maps that look like they'd be slogs and livening them up enough to be fun and satisfying. It moves along at a brisk pace, and the route split and promotions give a lot of options for replay value or challenges. Combine that with lovely art direction and the core GBA engine being as strong as ever, and it's just very pleasant to look at and play, despite a rather grim story.
Sacred Stones is a game that gets used a lot for mods, and it's easy to see why, as there's a lot on display. The class selection is wider, there's neato tricks like summoning and monster-slaying, and monsters liven up the enemy lineup a fair bit. The dual protagonist angle carries into this feeling of greater variation. But at the same time, I also feel it doesn't quite live up to its promise, since it never really pushes the potential of its diversity. Despite tinkering with the formula, it still feels too close to its predecessors, in both story and gameplay. Of course, the core GBA loop and its solid writing mean that it rarely ever becomes bad, but that also means it doesn't ever really get past "pretty good." There's a lot of tools in here for a truly fascinating game, and you frequently do see sparks of it, but I wish it were a bit more.
The Middle Ain't A Bad Place To Be
Sacred Stones is one of those FE games that nobody seems to really hate, but few people seem to truly adore. It's not quite experimental, but it's not quite Strictly Formula. People seem to have a hard time placing it, and so do I, frankly—but I still find it, on balance, a pleasant time.
The main talking point with SS is its difficulty, and... yeah, that's not great. Approachability is one thing, but even Hard Mode feels very undertuned. Even avoiding all grinding, it feels like there's rarely a point in the game where "throw strong unit with 1-2 range weapon at the enemy and watch them all kill themselves" isn't the perfect solution. It does make it a good pick for a first game, especially since the tutorial is actually pretty well-handled, but it's not something I'm fond of. Unfortunately, I fear that some things were sacrificed in the name of the dungeons and postgame—and to its credit, they're very extensive, and I don't begrudge the idea, but I also recommend avoiding them. They serve more to max out your units further than provide a fun challenge; they do feature some of the more dangerous enemies, but they're little more than slugfests and don't tend to test much beyond patience.
That said, the pacing and difficulty makes it a pretty comfy game, helped by its cast. They're honestly my favorite of the GBA games—the two leads have some issues, but everyone else has a lovely vibe, with a diverse mix of personalities that feel fleshed-out and grounded, and even a solid villain. The plot does a decent job of connecting the dots and stays snappy. While the map selection isn't amazing, there's enough high points (Duessel's recruitment, the desert, the gorgon eggs, the endgame) to not get too boring, with it frequently taking maps that look like they'd be slogs and livening them up enough to be fun and satisfying. It moves along at a brisk pace, and the route split and promotions give a lot of options for replay value or challenges. Combine that with lovely art direction and the core GBA engine being as strong as ever, and it's just very pleasant to look at and play, despite a rather grim story.
Sacred Stones is a game that gets used a lot for mods, and it's easy to see why, as there's a lot on display. The class selection is wider, there's neato tricks like summoning and monster-slaying, and monsters liven up the enemy lineup a fair bit. The dual protagonist angle carries into this feeling of greater variation. But at the same time, I also feel it doesn't quite live up to its promise, since it never really pushes the potential of its diversity. Despite tinkering with the formula, it still feels too close to its predecessors, in both story and gameplay. Of course, the core GBA loop and its solid writing mean that it rarely ever becomes bad, but that also means it doesn't ever really get past "pretty good." There's a lot of tools in here for a truly fascinating game, and you frequently do see sparks of it, but I wish it were a bit more.