The gameplay, which draws from earlier Fire Emblem entries, features tactical combat between armies on a grid-based map.

While the Fire Emblem series remained exclusive to Japan due to concerns about its difficulty, the success of Advance Wars and popular demand following the inclusion of Marth and Roy in Super Smash Bros. Melee prompted the game's localization.

Fire Emblem is a tactical role-playing game in which players take the role of story protagonists Lyn, Eliwood, and Hector as they navigate story-driven missions across the fictional continent of Elibe.

[6][7] During gameplay, weather and terrain effects appear such as fog of war or elements of the environment that can be manipulated to one side's advantage, affecting the progress of battle.

For player characters, HP can be restored with items or by units with healing magic; it can also be regained by standing on forts, gates or castles, or using a special spell that replenishes health based on damage dealt to an enemy.

[6][7][9] If a unit is defeated in battle, they are subject to permanent death, being removed from all future encounters and the overall storyline with a few exceptions for story-related characters.

[6][7] The strength of weapon types assigned to a particular unit is raised through usage, with its rank ranging from E to S, with S being the highest possible affinity with a promoted character.

Throughout the game, the player travels through the countries of Sacae, a land of nomads and tribes; Lycia, an alliance of marquisates including Pherae and Ostia; and Bern, a militaristic kingdom ruled by a single ruler.

During her quest, Lyn protects Nils, a traveling bard, from the guild of assassins known as the Black Fang, while his sister Ninian is rescued by Lord Eliwood, son of Marquess Elbert of Pherae.

One year later, Elbert disappears, prompting Eliwood and his friend Lord Hector, younger brother of Marquess Uther of Ostia, to investigate.

The pair discover that the Black Fang has incited Marquess Darin of Laus to rebel against Lycia, and Elbert was captured when he refused to cooperate.

There, they reunite with Ninian and Nils and learn that the Black Fang is being manipulated by Nergal, a dark sorcerer who seeks to provoke all-out war in Elibe, providing him with an enormous amount of "quintessence", or life-force, from fallen warriors.

At the Shrine, the party meets the ancient hero Bramimond, who unseals the Blazing Blade Durandal and the Thunder Axe Armads so they can oppose Nergal.

Nils returns through the Dragon's Gate and seals it, while Ninian follows him, or, if she has fallen in love with Eliwood, chooses to remain in Elibe as his wife despite a far shorter lifespan.

Fifteen years later, Eliwood and Hector reunite, introduce their respective children Roy and Lilina to each other, and discuss the recent assassination of Desmond.

Meanwhile, the embittered Zephiel is confronted by a robed man (Jahn) who accuses him of awakening a demon dragon, a prelude to the events of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.

Toru Narihiro and Takehiro Izushi from Intelligent Systems acted as producers, Hitoshi Yamagami from Nintendo supervised with Taeko Kaneda and Kentarou Nishimura as directors.

Intended as a companion title built upon the foundation of The Binding Blade, development time was initially estimated at seven months.

[17] The tutorial was included because the game's steep difficulty was proving off-putting to new players; an inclusion made to make Fire Emblem a major series for Nintendo.

[24] The concept of localizing a Fire Emblem game in the West had been around for some time, but the combined elements of extensive use of text and a view that tactical RPGs would be met with low sales overseas had kept the series exclusive to Japan.

[25][26][27] Another major factor was the appearance of Roy from The Binding Blade and Marth from the first Fire Emblem in the 2001 fighting game Super Smash Bros.

[14] The growing base of tactical role-playing games including Advance Wars, in addition to the interest garnered by the appearance of Roy and Marth in Melee, meant Nintendo was more willing to bring Fire Emblem overseas.

[38] Bramwell praised the integration of RPG elements and tactical gameplay, in addition to finding the permanent death of characters a suitable fit for the game's world.

[7] Dingo was positive about the level design and controls, but warned that it was quite short and lacking in depth when compared to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

[39] Massimilla found the gameplay both accessible and challenging as she made her way through the game,[9] while Nutt was skeptical about the permanent death system and critical of the in-game economy despite generally enjoying the experience.

[8] Harris again compared it to Advance Wars, but said that Fire Emblem had enough unique elements to make it its own product, and generally praised the title's accomplishments.