Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War: Difference between revisions

|publisher=[[Nintendo]]

|designer=[[Shouzou Kaga]]<br>[[Gunpei Yokoi]]

|rating={{Rating|CERO=A <small>(Virtual Console rerelease)</small>}}

|platforms=*[[Super Famicom]]

*[[Wii]] <small>([[Virtual Console]])</small>

*[[Wii U]] <small>([[Virtual Console]])</small>

|predecessor={{FE3}}

|successor={{FE5}}

'''''Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War''''' (Japanese: {{hover|ファイアーエムブレム　聖戦の系譜|Faiāemuburemu seisen no keifu}} ''Fire Emblem: Genealogy of Holy-War'') is a turn-based strategy role-playing game released in 1996 for the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super Famicom]], exclusively in Japan. It is the fourth game installment in the {{FES}}, and the second for Super Famicom; it is also the final game produced for [[Nintendo]] by [[Gunpei Yokoi]] before his departure from the company. It is a distant prequel to its predecessors, {{title|Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light}} and {{title|Mystery of the Emblem}}, set over a thousand years in those games' past and in a different part of the world; contemporaneous events and civilizations from [[Archanea (nation)|Archanea]] are referenced in the game.<ref name="guidebook">{{Cite web|published=1996-10|retrieved=2015-04-17|url=http://serenesforest.net/general/interviews/holy-war/official-guidebook/|title=Official Guidebook|site=Serenes Forest|author=[[Shouzou Kaga|Kaga, S.]]; trans. TheEnd}}</ref>

==Plot==

===First generation: Sigurd's story===

====Verdane's invasion====

====Attack from Agustria and subjugation====

====Agustria's rebellion====

====Exile and civil war in Silesse====

{{Main|Dance in the Skies}}

====Return to Grannvale====

===Second generation: Seliph's story===

====Uprising in Isaach====

====To the rescue of Leonster====

{{Main|Beyond the Desert|The Dracoknights of Thracia}}

One of the core themes to the game is the legacy of the Twelve Crusaders, reflected in gameplay with the [[Holy Blood]] system. Some units possess one of thirteen lineages of holy blood, which enhance the unit's [[growth rate]]s and [[weapon rank]]s. Holy blood comes in two forms, minor blood and major blood; characters with minor blood receive the standard stats bonus and one more level to its weapon, while characters with major blood are gifted with double bonuses and a * rank in the Crusader's weapon.  

With each holy blood lineage comes an associated holy weapon, one the weapons once wielded by the Twelve Cruasders. Only the crusaders' descendants who have inherited major holy blood can wield them, with one such descendant normally being born per generation. These weapons are vastly more powerful than normal weapons, but their maintenance is conversely much more expensive.

{{main|Skills}}

:''Personal skills'': These are skills that are inherent in some units. They can be passed down to children.  

:''Class skills'': These abilities are present in all units of the class. They cannot be inherited.  

::Example: All [[General]]s, [[Baron]]s and [[Emperor]]s have [[Pavise]], which gives the ability to receive no damage from the enemy's attack.  

:''Physical weapons:'' [[Sword|Swords]] -> [[Axe|axes]] -> [[Lance (weapon)|lances]]-> swords

:''Tomes:'' [[Fire (magic)|Fire]] magic -> [[Wind (magic)|wind]] magic -> [[Thunder (magic)|thunder]] magic -> fire magic.

==Characters==

The following table shows the mothers, their children and their respective [[substitute character]]:

!style="{{roundtl}}; border:none; color:#fff"|Mother

!style="border:none; color:#fff"|Children

|style="border:none; background-color:{{Color3}}"|[[File:portrait_roddlevan_fe04.png]] [[File:portrait_radney_fe04.png]]<br>[[Roddlevan]] and [[Radney]]

|-

|style="border:none; background-color:{{Color3}}"|[[File:portrait_delmud_fe04.png]] [[File:portrait_nanna_fe04.png]]<br>[[Delmud]] and [[Nanna]]

|style="border:none; background-color:{{Color3}}"|[[File:portrait_tristan_fe04.png]] [[File:portrait_janne_fe04.png]]<br>[[Tristan]] and [[Janne]]

|-

|style="border:none; background-color:{{Color3}}"|[[File:portrait_laylea_fe04.png]] [[File:portrait_sharlow_fe04.png]]<br>[[Laylea]] and [[Sharlow]]

|-

|style="border:none; background-color:{{Color3}}"|[[File:portrait_hawk_fe04.png]] [[File:portrait_femina_fe04.png]]<br>[[Hawk (character)|Hawk]] and [[Femina]]

|-

|style="border:none; background-color:{{Color3}}"|[[File:portrait_arthur_fe04.png]] [[File:portrait_teeny_fe04.png]]<br>[[Arthur (Genealogy of the Holy War)|Arthur]] and [[Teeny]]

|style="border:none; background-color:{{Color3}}"|[[File:portrait_amid_fe04.png]] [[File:portrait_linda_fe04.png]]<br>[[Amid]] and [[Linda]]

==Development==

The game which eventually evolved into ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' was not originally conceived as an actual ''Fire Emblem'' game, and many of the initial plans for the game deviate greatly from the finished product. According to [[Shouzou Kaga]], one aim which led to the development of ''Genealogy'' was to temporarily break away from the Archanean setting to do something new with the series, similarly to {{title|Gaiden}}.<ref name="guidebook" /> The initial concept for the gameplay had more in common with traditional Japanese role-playing games and was based around squads, where the player would move squads of ten characters across a world map and would encounter and battle enemies. However, as the development continued, the game eventually shifted back to playing more like a traditional ''Fire Emblem'' game, based on both feedback from Nintendo and opinions among the team. Due to all of these changing plans, according to [[Tohru Narihiro]], the ''Genealogy'' project was scrapped and remade from scratch at least two or three times. The development of the game was further complicated by both staff and office changes at Intelligent Systems, which resulted in [[Yuka Tsujiyoko]] and her sound team staying behind at their former location while the rest of the team worked at their new office.<ref name="kantopia1">{{Cite web|published=2015-11-28 (trans. 2016-06-03)|retrieved=2016-07-15|title=Toru Narihiro – Interview on development changes during Genealogy of the Holy War – FE 25th Anniversary|url=https://kantopia.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/toru-narihiro-interview-on-development-changes-during-genealogy-of-the-holy-war-fe-25th-anniversary/|site=kantopia|author=[[Tohru Narihiro|Narihiro, T.]]; trans. Xkan}}</ref>

Although the generational divide was a major element of the finished product in both gameplay and story, it was not part of the original concept that became ''Genealogy''. According to Narihiro, the idea of adding an element of romance was proposed partway through by Kaga based on the popularity of romance games at the time. The idea of inheritance based on variable parents, Narihiro suggests, also derives from Kaga's fondness for horse racing (probably by analogy with how retired champion race horses are used to breed more horses).<ref name="kantopia1" /> Once the second generation became part of the plan, Kaga planned ''Genealogy'' to be a three-part work, with a third segment following Seliph's story. Its intent was to directly confront and analyze the moral issues raised by the rest of the story and properly resolve loose threads. However, time constraints forced Intelligent Systems to cut this part entirely, with the game ending with Seliph's story.<ref name="amielleon=2" />

===Game credits===

As of 2002, ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' was the second-best-selling ''Fire Emblem'' game, having sold an estimated 498,216 copies in its original Super Famicom print run.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.translan.com/jucc/precedent-2002-11-14d.html|title=日本ユニ著作権センター／判例全文・2002/11/14d 3|author=University of Japan Copyright Center|site=Translan|published=2002-11-14|retrieved=2015-04-17}}</ref> The official US English website for {{FE7}} alleges that ''Genealogy'' was the most successful ''Fire Emblem'' game in Japan,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.serenesforest.net/gba/launch/history/index.html|title=History of Fire Emblem|site=Fire Emblem (archived by Serenes Forest)|published=2003|retrieved=2015-04-17}}</ref> but it is uncertain how true this claim is in light of all other evidence pointing to {{FE3}} historically holding that title.

[[File:Ss fe04 title screen fan translation.png|thumb|right|256px|The title screen in the "Project Naga" [[fan translation]] of ''Genealogy of the Holy War''.]]

{{Main|Fan translation#Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War}}

''Genealogy of the Holy War'' was the first ''Fire Emblem'' game to receive an unofficial translation patch, with a subset of noted defunct fan translation group ''j2e'' working on the game between 2000 and 2002. The group ultimately disappeared and left the patch unfinished, in a state that was "not to be enjoyed"; through the following decade, ''Twilkitri'' and other contributors picked up where ''j2e'' left off and continued to work on the patch, although both the programming and parts of the script remain incomplete. Several [[wikipedia:Fork (software development)|forks]] of ''Twilkitri''{{'}}s work have arisen over the years with various aims and additions.

In 2016, on the 20th anniversary of the original release of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', the first complete translation patch for the game was released as a public beta. This patch, known as the "Project Naga" translation, features a total retranslation of the script including the previously unfinished epilogue, a new, slimmer font which allows for much more text to fit into the windows, and also fixes numerous glitches from the original game. It is currently completely playable, but as a beta, it still has various technical errors which are currently being identified and corrected through feedback from players.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=21199.0|title=Fire Emblem 4: Genealogy of the Holy War Re-translation (Project Naga)|author=ddstranslation|site=Romhacking.net|published=2016-05-14|accessdate=2016-05-17}}</ref>

==Etymology and other languages==

{{Names

|eng-name=''Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War''

|jap-name={{hover|ファイアーエムブレム　聖戦の系譜|Faiā emuburemu seisen  no keifu}}

|jap-mean=Officially romanized as '''''Fire Emblem: Genealogy of Holy-War'''''.

|ital-mean=As of {{FE13}}.

}}

{{refbar}}

==External links==

* ''[http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n02/shvc/p_a32j/index.html Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War]'' official Japanese website

* ''[http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/vc/vc_fes/index.html Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War]'' Wii Virtual Console website (Japanese)

* ''[http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wiiu/software/vc/jafj/index.html Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War]'' Wii U Virtual Console website (Japanese)

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