Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade - Prologue
You’d think that after clearing Donkey Kong, I’d immediately follow up with Donkey Kong Jr. I genuinely tried last night…but I kept dying in the first two levels, and I want to save a post on it until I actually complete it. So, for now I started the first Fire Emblem game ever released outside of Japan.
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (at least, that’s its translated Japanese name, its official name in the west was simply “Fire Emblem”), follows three main characters. One tells a prologue story of sorts, the other two are essentially different points of view of the same story. Today, I’ll be talking about the Prologue of the “Prologue Story” (Prologue of a Prologue, heh), starring a nomadic swordswoman named Lyn.
The game opens with a tactician named Mark (that’s his default name, it can actually be chosen by the player, along with their gender and birth month) being found unconscious by Lyn in the Sacae Plains. After nursing him back to health, their initial conversation is interrupted by the impending arrival of two bandits approaching her Ger (a round hut used by nomads).
Lyn sets out to stop their advance, leaving Mark compelled to offer his assistance. It’s through Mark that the player commands units in each chapter, as each character follows his commands with complete trust due to his tactical expertise.
In an initial tutorial battle taking place strictly on a grassy plains area, Mark and Lyn end up teaching the player how to:
Gain Experience & Level Up
Lyn ends up victorious and slays the two bandits, though the battle end up being unexpectedly difficult. Lyn suffers minor injuries that need treatment and her duel with the bandit leader, Batta the Beast, becomes an open question of who will prevail. After realizing her victory only came from a critical blow that had a 1% chance of actually succeeding, she vows to become stronger.
After a well deserved rest in her ger, Lyn asks Mark to let her accompany him on his travels. Concerned, Mark requests permission from her parents, only for her to somberly explain that her parents and most of the Lorca tribe were murdered half a year ago in a bandit attack. With her father being the Chieftain, Lyn would have been next in line to lead the Lorca tribe. However, Lyn’s youth and gender meant nobody would follow her, and the remains of the Lorca scattered. This tragedy and abandonment left Lyn completely alone, desperate for both companionship and vengeance for her parents’ deaths.
Moved by Lyn’s tale, Mark agrees to let Lyn accompany him and train her as best he can. The two companions soon leave the remains of the Lorca village behind, setting off for lands as of yet unknown.
We have a relatively short and simple prologue, but even simple openings give plenty to work with in terms of narrative creativity. The grassy plains level is admittedly rather limiting, fitting for an introductory level, but not leaving much to draw from for creative scenarios. It’s a good thing only two bandits accosted Lyn and Mark, for with no natural structures to take advantage of and Mark not actually able to fight, two adversaries was probably all Lyn could handle on her own with her lack of experience.
Mark also doesn’t give us much to work with. Given his status as a non-customizable avatar for the player, he doesn’t exactly talk (at least not dialogue we can see), so we can’t really get a definitive personality we could use as inspiration for future characters. However, Lyn’s backstory as an abandoned nomad due to her parents’ murders and the Lorca’s sex discrimination is ripe for drawing narrative inspiration. I’ll have to keep it in mind when crafting future tales.
