It’s been a fun run as I’ve worked through Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, but one aspect has completely blindsided me.

The Fog of War concept darkens the battle area, obscuring all enemies except those that are closest to your characters. You can dispel the fog with a torch or by moving your players about the board.

Still, this concept forces the player to overhaul their strategic plans and play extremely cautious. There are some sound strategies that work with this and, admittedly, it is a unique approach to a map.

That doesn’t make it any less infuriating.

When I say this mechanic is the worst, I don’t mean that it’s unfair or cheap. While it did feel that way sometimes, the game largely gives you what you need to be successful. It also requires an insane amount of trial and error.

This strategy is ramped up when permadeath is active as you have to be at your absolute best to not lose anyone on this board. Of course, you could be like me and just reset whenever a flying gargoyle takes out your esteemed swordsman.

I’ve largely enjoyed my time with The Sacred Stones and it’s been a cool experience playing through an older Fire Emblem game. That said, there have been some rude awakening moments and Fog of War levels top that list.

While in The Sacred Stones, I was on Chapter 19: Last Hope. This level was a survival one that had me defending a castle from an invading army all while a fog obscured much of the adversary.

To add to this, the enemy was relentless and if you did not get on top of the invaders, they could quickly overwhelm you and make reaching amount of turns needed for survival near impossible.

As hard as this level was, it did force me to think more strategically than I ever have.

One of the challenges was not knowing what enemies were coming. After many resets, I started to have an idea of what types of enemies were coming from where, but it’s hard to know everything.

After several different attempts, I decided to go with an assault of my own and I focused on one area where the boss resided and just kept slaying the enemy. Still, the fog made all of this uneasy.

At long last (a week later), I defeated the level and was thrilled to not have a fog map for the rest of the game.

While the concept largely dried up with some more modern games, it does reappear in Fire Emblem Engage, which hails back to the older games. It’s one I can’t say I miss, but when the next older FE game comes around, I’ll be better prepared.

What about you? Do you enjoy Fog of War levels in Fire Emblem games? What is a frustrating aspect of a game you like that you would willingly leave behind? Let us know in the comments below or head over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.

Featured Image: Nintendo (via TheGamer)

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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