I thought I knew Fire Emblem, but that was until I played with permadeath.

Nintendo’s tactical RPG series has been a mainstay in the company’s lineup for decades. It wasn’t until Super Smash Bros. Melee in 2001, however, that games made their way westward.

Even then, the series didn’t gain heightened popularity until Fire Emblem Awakening in 2012 on the Nintendo 3DS. This is largely because of how beginner-friendly the game was as it eschewed a mandatory permadeath feature that was standard in previous games.

Permadeath means that once a character dies in battle, they are lost from the game for the rest of the playthrough. Awakening and other titles afterward made this feature optional and you could play without losing your characters for good.

Awakening and Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright were my introductions to the series. I played both without the permadeath feature on and largely had a blast. That said, there wasn’t much strategy involved as I was fine sacrificing characters because they would return after the battle was over.

I recently started playing Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, which released on the Game Boy Advance in 2004, and this game did not have a casual mode with no permadeath.

At first, I didn’t notice much of a difference because battles were easy and I had acquired enough skills to understand Fire Emblem mechanics. Then the deaths happened.

They started out as me falling back on bad habits from non-permadeath games, which included careless positioning without fully assessing my enemies or the surroundings.

It didn’t end there. Some deaths happened because of a freak accident that was completely out of my control such as an ill-timed critical hit.

I have made it through the first eight chapters of The Sacred Stones and have changed up the way I played.

In true Fire Emblem fashion, I have become familiar with the concept of resetting my game when a death occurs. I’m not quite ready to fully embrace permadeath.

This practice has led me to play some chapters four or five times before getting it right. I see it as a learning experience as I engage in trial by fire.

By the end of chapter eight, I was playing the game completely different than I played Awakening or Birthright. I was thinking my moves more. I was monitoring how far an enemy could move and most importantly, how their weapons related to mine in terms of the Weapons Triangle.

In short, I’ve learned to be more strategic as my moves suddenly have more consequences than before.

Many purists will say this is how the game was intended to be played and they’re not wrong. Casual mode seems geared toward newcomers to the series, which I was.

Three games in, I’m ready to up my challenge and enjoy the more tactical side of things. It’s been a lot of fun as it feels like I’m experiencing Fire Emblem for the very first time again.

What about you? Do you enjoy playing with or without the permadeath feature? How does your strategy differ between the two approaches? Let us know in the comments below or head over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.

Featured Image: Nintendo (via Polygon)

Pow Block Podcast – A Nintendo Podcast by Boss Rush

Pow Block Podcast is the Nintendo podcast for The Boss Rush Network and Boss Rush Media. Each week, Edward Varnell, Corey Dirrig, and their friends from around the internet discuss the week that was in the world of Nintendo, including news, rumors, new and upcoming games, NSO, answer listener questions, discuss their weekly snacks, and more. New episodes now release on Tuesdays for everyone. 

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