Fire Emblem has always been at the top of my favorite video games list alongside The Legend of Zelda, and it’s so hard to believe that just a few years ago there were not so many games (well, at least in the U.S.). I started with Path of Radiance a few years after it came out and was hooked since then. Radiant Dawn came out a few years later and after that was Shadow Dragon. However, there was something different about Shadow Dragon. It was a remake of the very first Fire Emblem game.
I was so excited to see where the series had all began. I was eager to learn all about Marth and the companions he would meet along the way. All I knew about him at this point was what the Super Smash Bros. Melee and that old Fire Emblem anime that was never finished (for totally understandable reasons). I was so focused on the character that I would be reuniting with, I totally forgot about the music that I was familiar with as well.
I remember starting up that first level after the prologue; this was the real deal. Pirates were raiding the kingdom and it was up to me and Marth to stop them. There was one pirate different from the crowd, though. Darros: the only enemy with a name and unique artwork. In a Fire Emblem game, this can only mean one of two things: Either he was a boss or a recruitable unit, and the boss was on the other end of the map. I sent Marth over to speak with him and that’s when I heard it.
I knew this song. I had heard it so many times and yet it never occurred to me where exactly it came from. I was half-expecting “Stalwarts Unite” from the Radiance series to play when I began recruiting, but I was pleasantly surprised by this energizing melody instead. I was nearly in tears when that moment finally hit me. This was not only the very first recruitment theme ever, but the very first Fire Emblem game and I was finally able to experience it for myself.
As I said, I’m aware Shadow Dragon is a remake and this song has been adjusted just as well as the character designs, updated mechanics, and other elements. Still, they could have changed a lot more than they did, but they kept this iconic theme. Something that was once so foreign to me and out of reach was literally in the palm of my hand.
There are still many Fire Emblem games to this day that it’s very difficult for anyone, especially in countries outside Japan, to get their hands on, so I’m extremely for all the remakes that we’ve gotten so far. However, I thought I thought it’d be fun to include the very first rendition of “Together We Ride” just as well. I actually only heard it for the first time while writing this article, and let me tell you, the feels hit me all the same.
The DS allowed me to play this game and opened the doorway for more Fire Emblem games to be released for its successor, the 3DS. It awakened the creators to come up with ideas that would completely change the fate of the series — even if they had to switch things up a little, they are definitely heroes in my book. Nothing reminds me more of this than this inspiring song.
