Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is a tactical role-playing game in which the player takes the roles of Sigurd and his son Seliph across a variety of story-driven missions on the continent of Jugdral. The story is divided into chapters, which are in turn divided between two generations of characters. Before and during missions, the player units may settle in a home base, where various actions can be taken such as repairing weapons, buying and selling items, and participating in arena battles. Castle towns within mission maps can also be visited for similar services.

Battles play out using a turn-based system where each unit on both sides is given their chance to move and act. Characters move and attack within the same turn, and in a few cases units can take two moves in a turn. A key part of combat is the Weapon Triangle, a new addition to the series which governs the opposing strengths and weaknesses of weapon types based on a rock–paper–scissors system - lances are stronger than swords, swords are stronger than axes, and axes are stronger than lances. A secondary system governs the magic system, where Fire, Lightning, and Wind spells have varying strengths and weaknesses against each other with Light and Dark magic existing outside of the magic triangle whilst having an advantage over the elemental magic types.

Each unit has a character class which determines their weapons, movement, and which skills they possess. Weapon types also affect battle performance: for instance, axes deal more damage, but weigh characters down more than swords. The actions taken in earlier parts of a map can affect later parts of that mission, triggering scripted changes in objectives and enemy behavior: for instance, when a castle is seized, the neighboring castle will deploy additional troops. After each battle, a player character gains experience points .

When a unit gains 100 experience points, they receive random boosts to their statistics such as health, strength and speed. All characters, with the plot related exceptions, are subject to permanent death if they are defeated in battle, removing them from the rest of the game. If the army's leader is killed or the player's home castle is seized by the enemy, the map must be restarted from a save file , which can be written to at the start of every turn. Victory is achieved upon capturing a specific castle on the map.

Character relationships form a core part of gameplay, and include both optional conversations and story-driven character romances. Conversations see selected characters in the mission map talking with each other, and some romances are triggered by the story when certain characters have joined the party during the first generation storyline. The second generation units have their stat values and personal skills influenced by the assigned attributes of their parents. Second generation units can also form optional romantic attachments, but this only allows stat-increasing conversations.

When siblings or married characters are next to each other, they grant a critical hit boost to each other. Married characters can also give their gold to each other if they're next to one another, while thieves can give their gold to any adjacent character, regardless of relationship status. In addition to normal stat growth, some high-ranking units on both sides have a separate "Leadership" rank, which grants stat boosts to all units within three tiles, with the boost increasing with that unit's Leadership rank.