Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon/Gameplay

Gameplay
Shadow Dragon is a tactical role-playing game with turn-based tactical battles. There are 25 chapters in this game including a new set of prologue chapters. There are six levels of difficulty for new and seasoned players. Some of the mechanics of the Fire Emblem series, such as the weapon triangle, were not present in the original Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Ken, but have been included in this remake. The game features over 20 character classes, including armored knights, airborne pegasus riders and curates wielding recovery staves. Some classes that were not in the original Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Ken have been included. Players can also directly change a character's class using the "Reclassing" feature, although there are limitations on how many of one particular class a player can have at the same time. Special classes like Lord or Thief cannot Reclass.

Like previous Fire Emblem games, permanent saves are available after completing a chapter, and players can create a temporary save during battle. Players can also use the new "Save Point" feature in the middle of a battle, by moving a unit onto a specially designated square. Save Points are usually located before a boss fight or a similarly dangerous event. Each Save Point can be used to save the game only once, although players can load from created saves as many times as they want, as long as the save is not overwritten.

For the first time in the series, players can battle each other online via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and talk using the built-in Nintendo DS microphone. These battles employ teams of up to five characters from the single-player campaign. Combat takes place on one of six multiplayer-exclusive battle maps (increased from just one in the Japanese version), which allow free movement as opposed to the Link Arena in prior games. Only two players can do battle at a time. Fog of war can be toggled on or off, and a time and turn limit are also active. Victory is determined by either defeating the opposing army or securing the central castle's flag before the turns are over. Victors are awarded a card for their efforts. One of these cards can be used on a party to give it special effects, and use of these cards can be toggled on or off. The Wi-Fi connection is also used to access an online shop, where players can purchase rare items using currency obtained in the main campaign. The availability of certain items depends on what time of month it is, some items are always in the shop for purchase while others only appear on one weekend a month. Several items are not available for purchase at all via the online shop.

Setting
Shadow Dragon takes place on the fictional continent of Archanea, which is divided into nine nations:
 * Archanea: Known as the Holy Kingdom, and shares the same name as the continent. It was founded by Adrah the First. The Fire Emblem is the kingdom's treasure.
 * Altea: A kingdom of knights, founded by the Hero Anri. It is allied with Gra, who share the same ancestry. Marth hails from this kingdom.
 * Gra: A kingdom that branched from Altea. After the death of Anri, some members of Altea's royal family left over inheritance issues and founded Gra.
 * Talys: An island kingdom. Marth escapes here after his homeland of Altea is invaded by Dolhr troops.
 * Aurelis: A kingdom located in the plains. It was founded by Cartas of Archanea, and was initially ruled by his younger brother, Marlon.
 * Grust: A militant kingdom, famed for its Sable Order squadron. It was founded by General Ordwin.
 * Khadein: Known as the sanctuary of sorcery. It was founded by Archsage Gotoh.
 * Macedon: An island kingdom, home to Pegasus Knights and Dragon Knights. It was founded by Iote.
 * Dolhr: The kingdom of dragons, directly north of Macedon. It was ruled by the Shadow Dragon, Medeus. It is inhabited by the Manaketes.

Game Basics
You are given an army to defeat the enemy. To finish a map, you have to usually defeat the boss and "seize" (with Marth) the spot he was on.

There is various terrain that offers different bonuses. Forests are pretty common, and give a bonus in avoiding attacks. Other terrain includes hills and mountains, some of which are special in that they hinder troop movement.

There is gold in this game as well, you get it from selling items and chests. Enemies DO NOT drop gold. There is a set number of enemies per map, the encounters are not randomly generated.

Although it was not originally a feature of this particular game, this DS remake implements the Fire Emblem weapon triangle. Swords get a bonus against Axes, Axes a bonus against Lances, and Lances a bonus against Swords. The bonus in this particular game tends to be rather small.

Each character (and enemy) has a class, such as Mercenary or Fighter. Each class has its own weapon skill; a mercenary, for instance, can only use swords. Only a few unpromoted units can use two different weapon types (Cavaliers, for one).

A unit can "promote" to the next class by using an item called the Master Seal. An archer will be promoted to a powerful sniper. A mercenary becomes a Hero. These promoted classes are stronger than the unpromoted and often can use two weapon types (ie, lances and bow).

Each character has its own statistics. They grow each time they level up. To level up, you need to gain 100 experience. Experience is gained by killing enemies. Harder enemies give more experience and bosses tend to give a full level. Note that promoted classes level up at a slower rate. Stats increase somewhat randomly. Sometimes, you won't gain any stats and sometimes you'll gain in all but two stats. Some characters have better "stat growth" than others.

The different stats in this game are:
 * Strength, Magic (class-dependent): Affects damage inflicted
 * Skill: How often criticals occur
 * Spd: Ability to avoid taking damage
 * Lck: Affects critical avoid rate, accuracy, and avoidance
 * Def: Reduces physical damage
 * Res: Reduces magic damage.

Characters will die if they reach 0 health. Once they die, they are gone forever. You can't get them back.

In battle, there are five different unique structures:
 * Village: Gives you items such as gold or units. Must visit with main character. Sometimes gives weapons
 * House: Gives tips. Nothing else. Can be visited by any unit
 * Armory: Sells weapons. Can be visited by any unit
 * Shop: Sells magic such as Blizzard and Heal. Also has potions like pure water
 * Fort: Heals your character at the beginning of the Player Phase

There are also some more unique objects:
 * Door - Obstructs path. Must use thief or Door key to get by
 * Chest - Contains useful item. Must use thief or key

DANGER zones can be accessed by hitting in battle. They show where all the enemies can move, and the boundaries of their attack ranges. It is useful in planning how far to move a unit to lure in the enemy.

Hard Mode
The Hard Mode is the same game as the Normal mode, same story. The only difference is the difficulty added onto the characters. There are five different difficulties in Hard Mode, ranging from * to ***** (with ***** being the most difficult).