lowered: the game was initially planned with three difficulties, with the final "Normal" mode being intended as "Easy" mode. Another new element included was counters for elements such as turn numbers. Release The Binding Blade was officially announced at Space World 2000 under its original title Maiden of Darkness, as one of the early titles for the GBA. According to later comments from the staff, the game's official title was already under consideration at the time. The game was announced under its official title at the 2001 Space World event. To promote the game in Japan, a live action television commercial was created: standard 30 second versions mixed gameplay footage with the live action sequence, while the 40 second director's cut featured the full commercial without gameplay. The latter version was only available through the game's official website. The commercial was based upon the operatic commercial created for the first Fire Emblem title Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. The game released in Japan on March 29, 2002. The game's Japanese title, Fūin no Tsurugi, has been alternately translated as The Binding Blade and The Sword of Seals. The Binding Blade became the more common modern translation, and in 2017 it was used by Nintendo when detailing Roy's series origins for his character profile on the website for Fire Emblem Heroes. The game was later re-released in Japan on Virtual Console for Wii U on September 2, 2015. Reception During its debut week in Japan, The Binding Blade reached #4 in the sales charts, with over 101,000 units. It was still in the charts in May, having dropped to #17 and reached total sales of over 220,000 units. By the end of 2002 the game sold over 345,000 units, ranking at #29 in the 300 best-selling video games of the year. Famitsu was positive about the game. One reviewer noted the slight alterations to the series formula with the shift onto the GBA, but said that it was still unmistakably a Fire Emblem title. A second reviewer praised the game's pacing and the eased difficulty of missions allowed by the "rescue" function. A third reviewer praised the drop in difficulty from Thracia 776 despite preserving some challenge, and positively noted the fast reactions of the game AI, enabling a low-stress experience for players. RPGFan's Woojin Lee praised the game's animation as some of the best on the system, positively