While there’s still no word on when Fire Emblem: New Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light (ファイアーエムブレム 新・暗黒竜と光の剣) will be localized for U.S. shores, IGN.com has an update on what we can expect from the DS remake of the original after getting their hands on the import (which I’m more and more tempted to purchase myself, while I wait for the localization) that was released earlier this month in Japan.
An excerpt from the article:
It’s the depth of gameplay that has kept Fire Emblem fans loyal for so long, and that hasn’t gone anywhere in this remake. In fact, the whole thing promises to be greater than the sum of the original game’s parts, with new characters, chapters and side-quests serving to increase the volume of content far beyond that of the Famicom version. New innovations, as well as others which appeared later in the Fire Emblem series, have also been retrospectively implemented in this remake – the weapon triangle system is here, for example, as is a Class Swap feature whereby you can re-designate your units to become members of different classes. The biggest attraction here for veteran Fire Emblem players will be the new online two-player game, which is a series first. This feature can be played locally, between two players each with their own DS and copy of the game, or via the Wi-Fi connection. Either way, it’s a two-player versus challenge that enables you to pit your strategic thinking against the battle skills of another Fire Emblem player, selecting up to five units from your single-player game file to compete in battles with the other player’s units. One player can determine the rules of battle – 3, 5 and 10-minute time limits can be imposed to hurry players into making their moves, and the number of turns each player can make can also be limited. The subsequent two-player mini wars are played out on a map reserved specifically for this purpose. There’s also an online shop (no need for real money, don’t worry) accessible via the Wi-Fi connection, which stocks exclusive items that cannot be bought in the game if you only play offline. These aren’t essential for progress, but they’re a neat bonus.
All of this sounds like a heck of a lot of fun, and the only thing that I can really say is that I hope is implemented as part of those past “innovations” is the skirmish towers seen in FE: The Sacred Stones. These 
allowed players to battle their way through floors of enemies as they reached the top, leveling up their units and obtaining weapons and items in the process. What I enjoyed most about it was that after the adventure was through I could take my units here and upgrade those characters that I wasn’t able to focus on as much throughout the game, then take them into battle with monsters, etc. to see what they could do. It added that much more to the experience and I’d be a little disappointed if this disappeared from the series again given the replay value it adds. But whatever the case, I’ve been waiting for a DS version of the series since the hand-held was released and I don’t know that there’s a game I anticipate more right now. Still, I’ve likely got a lengthy wait before it makes it overseas so I’d better reign in my enthusiasm a little I’d reckon.
Additionally, for those interested in seeing more of how the game-play works, etc., feel free to check out the impressive demo presentations here at Nintendo’s official Japanese site.
