Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones pre-release information

Prior to its release in 2004, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones received previews in the Japanese gaming press and in other sources. Some of the screenshots of the game used in previews are comprised of preliminary content or data which is clearly different from the game's final form, especially in previews from earlier points in the game's development.

Pre-release build

Eirika's famous preliminary battle sprite

Main article: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones prototype

A largely incomplete pre-release build of the game was leaked from the Intelligent Systems FTP server in 2008 and subsequently widely distributed. In its degree of incompletion, it is uncertain to tell how much of what was in there was planned for the finished product at one time or another; interesting differences include different layouts for Chapters 5 and 6, significantly different portraits for some characters, and a small number of completely different names.

Magazine features

During Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones's pre-release, like many other games, it was featured in various video game news outlets, including magazines.

	The early version of Eirika's portrait from the prototype appears in magazine previews. Vanessa also has a very slightly different portrait from the final release.
	The incarnation of Eirika's early animation, also appearing in the prototype, was featured in a magazine.
	An item called the Stone Shard (魔石のかけら) is a recurring feature of pre-release material, including the pre-release build. Acting as a temporary monster weapon for Revenants and Baels, in every pre-release appearances it uses the icon of Flametongue. It still exists in the final game, dummied out and now using a Red Gem icon, and is technically usable by all monsters.
	An alternate version of what may be the prologue. Featuring a single cavalier, and a village, both which differ from the prologue in the final release. The general tile layout of the mountains is also different.

Monster artwork

Artwork for the Mauthe Doog and Elder Bael appear in some magazines, however the full size and high quality versions were never publicly released, artwork for the rest of the monster classes is not known to exist.

	Artwork of a Mauthe Doog from a magazine.
	Artwork of an Elder Bael from a magazine.

Official website screenshots

Curiously, the game's official Japanese website uses screenshots from what appears to be an earlier build of the game in its "Screenshot" pages; other pages which use screenshots, like the Unit page, use more recent screenshots in line with the final version.

	In almost all prerelease sources, the battle and other windows use the same HUD style as The Binding Blade and The Blazing Blade. Given that some early screenshots and sources also include scene where entirely new HUD frames had to be drawn, it is uncertain whether the original intention was to retain the original HUD style, or whether completing the overhaul simply took until fairly late in the development process.
	No character seen in battle has a personal palette, using only the class's default for playable units.
	The Great Knight's sprite is fairly different: it has no shield, and its saddle is red compared to the dark blue armor.
	Marisa starts at level 12, instead of at level 5 as in the final product; assuming the Shamshir's might is the same, Marisa has 8 strength instead of her 7 in the final version.
	In chapter 2 Eirika is accompanied by a female myrmidon and a shaman that are not present in that chapter in the final game. Ross is also seems to be absent, and Bone, the boss, is in a different location.
	A Maelduin is present in the first floor of the Tower of Valni, an impossibility in the final version. The layout is also slightly different, the female cleric map sprite also has yet to be changed to the version used in the final release.
	Though barely visible in the screenshot, Tethys still appears to use Ninian's Dancer map sprite.