INITIAL SETUP
Fire Emblem GAM is an RPG Maker VX Ace game, so install the appropriate RTP. Use the arrow keys to move, Z to select things, X to cancel out and open the menu, and hold Shift to run. This walkthrough will cover the whole game. Spoilers are present, so beware. When the game is first loaded, you will be given three choices: New Game, Continue, and Quit. Select New Game and let the story unfold…
FALL OF ARITIA:
Watch the opening cutscene to establish the backstory. Once you gain control of Marth, walk towards the sandbank. Talk to the NPCs along the way if desired, though their behaviour is somewhat buggy. The Valencian Soldiers are pathetically weak; one blow from the Falchion is sure to kill them. Soon, some friendly reinforcements will arrive: stock RTP characters. Name them whatever you want, so long as it’s within eight characters.
Once the final soldier on the sandbank dies, Ernest will say a quick word and leave the party. Marth and Rick then enter the castle…
ARITIA CASTLE:
Hordes of soldiers roam the blank square of Aritia Castle. There is no need to fight any of them; Marth will spot King Cornelius, raised from the dead, fighting off the Valencian forces. Control will switch to the deceased king. Talk to his clone to repeat the scene, but otherwise engage Alm in combat. He may be inexplicably a flying dragon, but regardless he will destroy Cornelius in a single blow.
Marth will be utterly distraught, even though he is already the king and his father had died many years ago. Rick will then encourage him to flee the scene…
TOWN OF ANRI:
Welcome to the first town of the game. However, most of the buildings are not actually functional. Even the NPCs tend to give odd stares. Your objective is to find the “wiseman”. As it turns out, his guardian is in town. In Anri’s north is a staircase leading up to a solitary house: talk to the guard to engage in combat.
BOSS: WISEMAN’S GUARDIAN
I’m not sure if this really counts as a boss fight. Punch him until he dies.
Once he succumbs, walk up and talk to the “wiseman”. Listen to what he has to say, then leave.
While you were talking, a Valencian force arrived to occupy the town. Naturally, you need to fight back against them. Name the wiseman’s guardian whatever you wish. Cut through the soldiers and talk to the general to fight.
BOSS: VALENCIAN GENERAL
This guy is a bit more dangerous than Teren. Spamming attack is still fairly effective, though beware of any stray Resire hits that land on the weaker characters. Marth should still never come under any real threat.
He’ll order a full retreat as he dies. Some of the buildings in town open up now, so now is the time to explore in earnest.
Most importantly is the terminal in the northwest of town: this is where you save your game. In time, you can teleport between save points, but there are no other save points open.
The weapon and item shops are also open.
Finally, a man in town will mention Rick’s parents are looking for him. You can meet them earlier, but they don’t do anything. Now his mother has disappeared, kidnapped by Valencians. You can talk to the father to trigger a “quest selection” window: in the long term there is no difference in choice. Accept the quest and get old man Ryoma, reject it and Rick ditches you. This sequence is entirely optional.
Walk out Aritia’s east exit to trigger a major story sequence…
THE FALL OF BARHARA:
“Part 2” of the story begins, with an accompanying title screen featuring three dead people. The year is 790, 13 years since the Final Holy War…
Celice is rudely awoken by the sounds of invasion. Once you’re in control of him, check the wardrobe to find a Silver Sword. Walk to the opposite side of the castle to pick up a Spirit Dust. Nobody is occupying that room, however. Move towards the throne room and Leaf will rush up in panic. He breaks the bad news: Valencia is here. Celice’s inclination is to surrender, in a misguided sense of preservation.
Delmud and Lester rush up to Celice shortly after Leaf. Your party of four is set. Step out of Barhara and talk to Alm.
Inexplicably, the party get kidnapped. Alm tells Leaf that if he wants to save Celice, he must capture Marth. “Although it is a very evil thing”, he agrees and sets forth to Macedonia.
FLEEING ARITIA:
After that glorified cutscene, control returns to Marth. Before heading to the port, there is an amount of exploration to be done within Aritia. In the villages to the northwest, an Elixir and a Fur Hat can be obtained from the feuding villagers. If you walk far enough, the overworld will load, though there is nothing to do there. Aritia Castle is sealed off, so head to the new destination.
THE PORT:
After watching the cutscene, head to the inn to heal. The nearest save point is still in Anri, so backtrack there when necessary. Talk to out-of-character and unnamed Trude to find out you need to reach the east pier. Various random encounters will attack, along with the occasional fixed encounter. Once you’ve made your way to the piers, walk down the right one. Walk left and Marth will end up in a hopeless boss fight against General Valbo.
Talking to the pirate will bring up dialogue choices. Marth will suddenly realise that Sheeda hasn’t been present all game, and get concerned about where she is. Ask Dahha about this for the best response.
Once the random enemies Dahha summons die, Valbo will regret appointing the man who murdered his entire family to guard the port. Rick and Ryoma leave the party if present at this point. Marth flees Aritia once more, hoping to chase Alm out of his home and find where Sheeda went…
MEETINGS IN MACEDONIA:
Leaf, his brother-in-law, and a guy with blue hair arrive on Macedonian shores. They now must track down Marth and pretend to support his ambitions. Marth himself is located in the town of Macedonia. Hug the southern shore to encounter Santa Claus, who will change the canon Fire Emblem character names. Attempt to go north and a border guard will block the road to Durhua.
Enter the castle on the overworld and turn left. Follow the path and enter the village to enter the town. First, enter the terminal and save the game. Weapon and item shops are also present. The true objective is to enter the inn: Marth awaits upstairs. Talk to him and he will join your party. Next, you need to take care of the border guard.
An oversight in the map geometry allows one to skip directly into Durhua, but to allow for more convenient passage, enter Macedonia Castle. Misheil somehow found a way to cheat death yet again and has reasserted control over Macedonia. Since Marth is strong, he opens the road to Durhua up. Talking to him earlier will accomplish nothing, since Leaf is nobody to him.
THE DRAGONS’ DALE:
The overworld music switches and the enemies grow stronger upon crossing the border. Durhua is fairly empty, with the Dragon’s Dale being the only valid location. Enter. Beware of the Fire Dragons, who are sturdy and deal fair amounts of damage to all party members. When you see the Dragon’s Altar, continue north: some settlers have carved a town out of the wilderness. There is a small safe area near the houses: heal at the inn and save your game at the same time. Healing costs a premium 1,000G, but saving is free. With this checkpoint established, enter the Dragon’s Altar.
THE DRAGONS’ ALTAR:
Marth will make an observation when entering. Indeed, he has been here before. Walk to the sides of the room to get some treasure, before charging up the central walkway. Fight the enemies if you are so inclined, but the upcoming boss is powerful enough to merit running away through the whole dungeon. When you reach the doors, it does not matter: either of them work. Proceed on to the next floor.
1F:
The walls are somewhat glitched here, but you can’t leave the map. Continue straight ahead, but near the top, diversions to invisible warp panels exist. A Reviver can be found where Ohm typically lies, but the Hammerne has been replaced by a trap chest dealing 300 damage to the party. Once the Reviver has been found, continue to the final floor.
2F:
Fortunately, the random encounters stop here. You can talk to the woman, but she doesn’t have very much to say. Before moving on top of the throne, heal up to full, and strip away all of Teren’s equipment. Once Marth moves on top of the throne, however, she runs up to the party, declares that she is Celica, wife of the Emperor, that she has Sheeda held captive, and that her job was to kill Marth’s party. She begins with stock RPG Maker guy: he is permanently killed! One brief spot of mourning later, and the boss music begins.
BOSS: LADY CELICA
If you don’t know what you’re doing, Celica can and will kill you repeatedly. The first thing to note is that she will always cast Ragnarok on turn 2. Defend here at all costs; otherwise Delmud, Lester, and Marth will die in one hit or live with a tiny sliver of health at best. In addition, she will always summon two Dark Mages once her health falls below 50%.
Fang Breaker is useless here since all of Celica’s attacks are magical, but Shield Breaker will nicely lower her defence. Save Marth’s Continues for the second half of the fight: the sooner Celica dies once the Dark Mages spawn, the better. Have Leaf use Mend whenever anybody’s health falls into the red, and victory should soon come.
Once Celica’s HP falls to zero, the Dark Mages will flee and the battle is won. Naturally, she’s too important to actually die, so she runs away promptly. No questions get answered, but several more get asked as Sheeda somehow blows a hole in the wall. One contrived explanation on how she saved herself later and she joins the party! Jump out the hole she left in the wall to quickly leave the Dragons’ Altar.
Head north to heal and save, but otherwise return back to Macedonia. Misheil will provide you with transport to Akaneia. You can hop on the boat at your leisure, so feel free to grind off enemies, get characters renamed, and activate the terminal before proceeding. The sailor will also provide an are-you-sure prompt when talked to. Embark to yet another new party…
THE DEFENCE OF SILESIA:
Perspective shifts back to Jugdral. In the frozen lands of Silesia resides King Sety; three other Crusaders are now sitting in his court. Aless of Agustria, Faval of Jungby, and Shanan of Isaac are here discussing the state of Jugdral since the Valencian invasion: it’s not in a good one. Most of Jugdral has fallen, and only Silesia lies free. Four full-blooded Crusaders are able to fight nearly anything, and so they resolve to do so.
Once you’re in control of Sety, talk to his counterparts and get them in the party. You might be tempted to steal their weapons, but as guest party members, they are set in stone. Enter town and talk to the NPCs: none of them need to be talked to, but for some bizarre reason Celice is getting drunk in the pub? He won’t join you though, since he’s “laying low”. Activate the terminal and start exploring Silesia.
The NPC outside of town tells you that Zaxon has fallen and is being used as a base for invasion. None of the rest of Silesia is explorable, so head on east, fight off the encounters, and enter the castle.
ZAXON CASTLE:
An old man at the entrance serves as a heal and save point, but he costs 500 gold to use the former service. Proceed through the dull and monotonous hallways while picking up the treasure along the way. Eventually you will encounter Claire, the occupation commander.
BOSS: KNIGHT CLAIRE
Kill her in one hit with Holsety.
She can silence Shanan if you choose the wrong dialogue option, but nothing can save her from Holsety. Backtrack all the way to the entrance to Silesia town to end this gameplay sequence. Alm will get mad when he hears about his plans being foiled, and then start to order more tyrannical measures to destroy resistance. What can Jugdral do against General Mycen’s power?
AKANEIAN ARENA ABUSE:
You will arrive near Deal Prison, but the only valid destination is the Akaneia capital. Head northwest to Norda: Pales proper can’t be accessed. One of the NPCs in the inn is a Valencian spy: he’ll drain your HP every time you talk to him. Another NPC will share the newspaper with you: turns out Nina’s dead and her loyal knights are soon to follow! If you try to kick down the doors of Pales, some security will ensure you can’t get in. Shop around and activate the terminal, then enter the arena.
You can go north to enter the arena stands, but there’s nothing to watch there. Return back to the reception and talk to the man at the counter. Fight him; he’s just a generic Mercenary. He’ll soon get out of your way, opening up the next dungeon…
BENEATH THE ARENA:
There are tunnels leading here, there, and everywhere. The maze is absolutely massive, and there’s pretty much nothing of interest besides a few random treasure chests scattered around. At the bottom-right of the map is a save point: there’s a cow there for whatever reason. Talk to it to save. Your goal is in the bottom-left, while the top-left leads into Pales Prison. However, you can’t actually make any prison break.
Once you make it to the destination staircase (there should be two; the other one’s broken) the lights will brighten and you’ll be in a cleaner hallway. The man will heal you if you pay his price. It’s worth your time to: there’s a large gauntlet for you to run your way through. Once you’re ready, climb the staircase…
ARENA GAUNTLET:
This arena is a Jugdral-flavoured one. Seven battles must be fought. And you’re not allowed to surrender. Marth and his followers are in a fight to the death. Can they survive?
ROUND 1: VALENCIAN SOLDIER
Punch him and he dies.
ROUND 2: GARGOYLE x2
These enemies are a bit more stubborn than the Valencian. They have a tendency to stun your characters, but should die without too much trouble.
ROUND 3: DUELIST
There’s been plenty of these in the arena’s random encounters. One more should be no trouble.
ROUND 4: FIRE DRAGON
These guys are Dragons’ Dale encounters: a few casts of Freeze should put them out.
ROUND 5: BANDIT TWINS
This is where things grow more challenging. Berserker A is standard Dragons’ Dale fare, but Berserker B will occasionally cast Sukujaka to buff his already high defence higher still. Along with A’s Tarukaja, things have the potential to grow dangerous. However, they can only hit one target at a time, so they’re reasonable to manage.
Before Round 6 begins, the tension begins to rise. Marth has seen this enemy before. The gauntlet’s boss has arrived.
BOSS: NAVARRE
Navarre is a master swordsman, and knows several advanced techniques to match. Every three turns, he’ll use one of Fang or Shield Breaker to damage and debuff one party member. In the meantime, he will use Vanish, meaning all your attacks miss, go in for a normal attack, or Counter, where all physical hits will be reflected back. When his health is reduced to below 25%, he has a slim chance to use the mighty Astra: the target can’t be controlled, but whoever it is will get hit five times, more than enough to kill. Navarre lacks any area of effect attacks, so keep everyone healed and he will eventually fall.
Upon Navarre’s fall, a choice will appear. Though it was planned to mean something eventually, the game never reached such a point, so choose whatever you wish. If Navarre lives, the crowd get annoyed, and vice versa. Regardless, for no real reason, some members of the Mesian Church attack the arena!
ROUND 7: MESIAN ZEALOT x2
These guys are a breather after defeating Navarre. They occasionally heal each other. Focus on one zealot at a time and they will soon fall.
An RTP angel will mutter something vaguely Megaten-like and sends Marth and company flying. You are offered a free save at this point: take it.
FLYING TO AGUSTRIA:
After waking up, Delmud establishes that everyone had been blown away to Madino, in the north of Agustria. He then gives a patriotic speech denouncing the state of the country. At the end of it, it is suggested that travelling to Agusty is the wisest decision.
Agustria has new random encounters. However, most of the castles are completely inaccessible, so take Lester’s advice and march to Agusty.
AGUSTY TOWN:
Agusty, the capital of Agustria, the Dominion of the Lords, is nothing more than a smouldering ruin. Poison lakes have taken over much of the town, dealing damage to any who step foot in it. A small few buildings have been reconstructed, housing an inn and terminal. Use these services. Upon setting foot within the town’s walls, Saber is seen interrogating a civilian about the whereabouts of Aless. He doesn’t get a satisfactory answer, however, so he promptly kills him. Naturally, this won’t stand. Make your way through Agusty’s ruins to confront him.
There’s no obligation to actually fight Saber. While he’s complaining about having to hunt down the Crusaders, you can choose to flee. But in order to avenge the generic civilian, we must engage.
BOSS: SLAYER SABER
Saber simply attacks enemies physically. He tends to use his special Jump Strike manoeuvre, which has a chance to stun on hit. Otherwise, he will retreat when his HP falls below 50%, to be replaced with several Valencian Soldiers. They are as weak as ever and can be disposed of in a single blow.
Saber escaped, prompting Lester to give some more pointers. Hear him out: his thinly-veiled concern for his sister says Chalphy Castle is the next destination. Chalphy is a fair walk from Agusty. Head south until passing Nodion, cross east to Evans and across the bridge, walk above Jungby and eventually you will reach Chalphy. None of the intermediate castles are accessible.
CHALPHY, THE EMPEROR’S HOMELAND:
Somehow, despite being Emperor Celice’s ancestral home, Chalphy still stands proudly above the surrounding landscape. The NPCs are generally relaxed, with little really concerning them. Not everyone is so relaxed, however… The inn and terminal provide their usual services, and the weapon and item shops are open as well. In the northwest corner of town is a secret shop. You can freely enter the entrance, but a member card costs 50,000 gold to purchase, far more than what you would normally have. Anna deals in stat boosters, but there is little left to use them on. Marth will say a quick word when passing Chalphy Castle’s gates. From there, enter.
CHALPHY CASTLE:
For some strange reason, the castle is completely devoid of random encounters. It’s almost as if the Valencians completely retreated. Explore around to find an Iron Shield and 500G, but then make your way to the basement. Do so by climbing up the first stairs. Once up, turn left to find a Talisman in the wardrobe at the end of the path, but otherwise take the stairs in the room with wooden flooring. Once downstairs again, check the bedside table for an Antitoxin. Take the stairs up to eventually find a Physic Staff in a chest, but otherwise head into the basement.
BASEMENT:
As it turns out, the castle isn’t completely devoid of life: Oifaye was overthrown by the Valencians and taken prisoner. He seems to have accepted that his execution is near. Take note of where his cell is: you’ll need to come back here soon. Climb up a floor and turn south. The path will soon narrow. Take the stairs and move down and around. Step into the throne room…
MEETING WITH ALM:
Finally, Leaf’s task has been accomplished. He has found Marth and led him to Alm. However, Celice inexplicably escaped. Alm is irritated due to your attack on Saber, regardless of whether you actually did so. Honesty or deceit matters little here. What does matter is whether you’ll hand Marth over. Things diverge drastically at this point.
Handing Marth over will kick him and Sheeda out of the party, and Alm will mutter forbodingly about opening some gate. He then lets Leaf go free. Leaf gets concerned about whether abandoning Marth was the right thing to do, before resolving to find Celice. The game then gives a save screen before ending, saying to stay tuned for the next update. If there is ever to be another update, the game will be rewritten from scratch.
ESCAPE!:
However, if you refuse to hand Marth over, Leaf will promptly tell Alm he will no longer co-operate with him. Alm then sends a message to Python back in Rigel Castle, saying to send Thor’s Hammer to wipe Chalphy off the face of the earth! Jugdral has absolutely no resistance against nuclear annihilation, and a countdown timer begins. In three minutes, the Duchy of Chalphy will be no more. In panic, the party decides the basement is the safest place to go. Run as fast as you can down there. Should the timer hit zero, it will be game over. Once you talk to Oifaye, the timer stops. But just because the timer stops, doesn’t mean the missiles will. Leaf will call for Nanna, Marth and Sheeda will embrace, and with one last flash, the nuclear missiles impact.
ENDING:
Chalphy lies in ruins. Save the game if you wish when given the prompt. Control shifts over to Celice, where he remarks on the complete destruction of Chalphy. No more content exists after this point. Jugdral can be freely roamed, but no destinations are accessible. This is the ending of Fire Emblem GAM. The storyline was never brought to a proper conclusion.
In hindsight, I am not sure how to bring it to any reasonably happy one. I’d probably have handwaved Chalphy’s basement as being able to survive the blast and have Marth and Leaf climb out into a wasteland. But that doesn’t change all the dangling plot threads. Resolving those is for another time.