"Fire Emblem: A Sacred Dawn DX" is a "hacked" version of "Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones". As a "hacked" version, it's bound to be different-but does that make it good? Many "hacks" from popular games already exist. Some of these games have been completely ruined with bad scripting, vulgar language, bad grammar, unacceptable gameplay, or maybe it's just boring;while some of these "hacks" tend to be fun and entertaining. Of course, this is all in perspective-it's typically determined by opinion and personal preference, which is why various hacks exist.

Now, as for the question you may be wondering: Is this game worth my vizzed? As I've already said, my perspective may not be the same as yours, so I will go over some of factors that make this game different from the sacred stones. I will do my best not to throw any spoilers out there.

Graphics: The graphics in this game are well done. All of the faces have been redone and despite some of the faces having a lower resolution, they still look good, and i'm happy to say none of the characters look like goblins(except maybe Ryan, whose eyes are huge). As with other "hacks", some of the units(for instance, the leaders) have been given custom animations, which allow them to look, move, and attack differently-although some "hacks" may present choppy new styles, I believe this one does a solid job of creating reasonable styles that aren't ridiculously weak or overpowered. The characters move smoothly and fairly. The weapons in this "hack" are slightly modified including the introduction of many new standard weapons with reasonable stats and abilities. Iron weapons seem to have an extended usage period before breaking. For example, the iron sword has a usage of "50" swings before breaking instead of the normal "30". Most of the new weapons are the same strength as iron, although some of the rarer once are quite powerful. Other than this, the graphics are same as the sacred stones, which of course I enjoy because I find the graphics clear-cut and easy to understand.

Sound: It has the same soundtrack as the sacred stones, so nothing really new there. But still, Fire Emblem has a good soundtrack and the sound is still pleasant to hear while playing the game.

Addictiveness: As a fire emblem fan, I find myself often getting lost in the game and just charging through missions. As soon as I decide I'm ready to stop playing, I end up getting the urge to play through the next chapter or two, and then the next one, and so on and so forth. So what makes a game addictive? I believe the addictiveness of a game depends on what you're getting out of it. Of course, the perspective of addictiveness varies from person to person and can be taken in many different ways. As long as you keep values that make everyone happy, you'll get better responses to the game and people will want to play it longer. Fire Emblem, for example, can be made both easy and challenging. Some people may find it addictive if the enemies are weaker while other may long for a challenge that tests them to the peak of their mental capabilities.

Story: Let's put it this way: The dialogue scenes in this "hack" could make a full length feature film. The story is very very long, and the characters seriously talk a lot; A LOT. I'm not joking, on a few scenes, I had to skip nearly 8 times just to get past the story and into the game. With that said, the storyline is good. It makes sense and there don't seem to be any loopholes. It has good detail for people who want to understand more about the characters and the situations they face in the current era of the game. For me, I play it for the game, so i happen to skip dialogue if it tends to be long.

Depth: Now this is where the game starts to lack. This game doesn't allow you to get very far. I know. It sucks. Addiction Buzzkill. At the end of chapter 6, the game ends and says you cannot go any further, thanks for playing, blah blah blah.

Difficulty: I personally feel that more people enjoy a game where there is some difficulty, but not so much that it takes a rocket scientist to figure out without losing a character. People play games for fun, and winning is considered fun by most. If a game becomes seriously difficult and bodes a low chance of winning, most people would get bored and tired of losing over and over and stop playing the game, which is not good for the game. This "hack" provides a challenge that is seemingly slightly more difficult than the sacred stones, but it isn't nearly impossible like "Gheb Fe" and such. Although, with a new arsenal of characters, weapons, and abilities to start off with, the challenges are much different and the strategy to get all your characters to the other end of the map alive is also something new, so it may not be easily comparable. Even so, it provides a solid challenge that leaves you longing for more.

To conclude this review, I will give a quick summary of the information above. The Graphics are solid. Very good. The Sound is untouched. The Addictiveness varies, but I really enjoyed it. The story is detailed and long-VERY LONG. The Depth is definitely lacking, and is very short. The difficulty could be considered moderate. You can choose easy normal or hard, therefore you can set your own difficulty.

Just a word of advice: As i've already said, this game ends at the end of chapter six. If you have a low Viz balance and remarkable patience, you may want to save your Viz for the next version to get more out of it, or if you have plenty of viz, go for it and get both. This game is fun and addictive and I really enjoyed it. I would recommend trying this game, even with the short length that it has. You won't be disappointed that you did.