Review – Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS)

 “Now that's strategy”

I have been a fan of the Fire Emblem series ever since I played my first one back on the GBA. Since then I have never missed an installment in the franchise. Although I always liked the hand held installments, I always preferred the console versions, because the battles always felt more engaging. Now, not only has Fire Emblem Awakening been able to bring that “engaging” feeling that I longed for to the 3DS, but it has taken it a step further!
 

Overview:

First, let me start off by saying that Fire Emblem is one of those series that, in the past, never received the love it should. There are many reasons for this, but most notably is the difficulty level. Fire Emblem has always been geared towards the “hardcore” gamer. With the permanent death system in place, this game can be about as brutal as they come. Nothing is more frustrating than playing a battle for over an hour only to lose one of your favorite characters because of a stupid mistake and having to start all over again. However, it is that ruthlessness that I have come to know and love about the series.

Cut-scene from Fire Emblem Awakening

All that being said, Fire Emblem Awakening has been able to break free of its niche market and appeal to gamers who are new to the series. It is able to do this thanks to its new “casual” mode and the ability to turn off permanent death. I for one chose to stick with the traditional gameplay that Fire Emblem is known for, but I can definitely appreciate that they made these options available for newcomers who are testing the waters.

The story for Fire Emblem Awakening starts off cliché enough. You play as a tactician who is suffering from...yeah you guessed it...amnesia. I don't want to give away any plot spoilers, so I will just say that the story starts progressing at just the right time to keep you interested. By the end, you are left with an epic story that actually makes you care for your characters.

Speaking of characters, you actually get to customize your character this time around. You can choose your body, face and hair style. You can even choose your voice. One of the things I liked most about this feature was the ability to choose your strengths and weaknesses. I have always loved characters with a high defense, and now I was able to give that to my character.

Gameplay screenshots of Fire Emblem Awakening

Awakening offers the same kind of gameplay that you would expect from a grid-based strategy game. In short, battles are broken up into phases: the “Player's Turn” and the “Enemy’s Turn.” During your turn, you can move and position your units around the battle field and attack when enemies are in range. Then, at the end of your turn, your enemy gets to move and attack. The gameplay may sound simple, but believe me when I say you are always going to need to look 5 steps ahead, because the game is ruthless. If you leave a character vulnerable, you can bet that is just who the computer is coming after.

Of course, there are other things to consider while on the battlefield as well. For example, your weapons have durability. Use the same weapon too many times, and it will break. That's why it's extremely important to outfit your characters in between battles and trade out weapons that are wearing out. Also, Awakening has a fantastic relationship system this go-around. In short, positioning character around each other on the battlefield makes them “bond” together. As their bond grows stronger, they will start to offer battle perks when fighting alongside each other. You can also put two of your units together to form a “super unit.”

Fire Emblem Awakening Marriage Proposal

Another cool feature is the fact that you can get married and have kids in this game. When you are looking at the bonds or support between characters, you will see that there are different ranks: C, B, A and sometimes S. If you see that an S bond can be formed between two characters, that means that they can get married. Not all characters can get married or have bonds, so be sure to check out the “Support” screen when playing matchmaker.

Choosing who gets married is actually very important in this game. That is because the characters who get married can have kids. The kids inherit stats from both parents. So hooking people up is not always about love, but also about strategy. This just adds yet another layer of depth to the game.

The Fire Emblem series has always had a great character upgrade system, and now they have taken that to a whole new level. All your characters start off as a certain class type. They can keep growing levels all the way to level 20 before they max out and you have to make a choice. You can either choose to give them a Master Seal and promote them to an upgraded class, or you can give them a Second Seal and change their base class altogether (Second Seals and Master Seals can be given to characters as soon as they hit level 10, but waiting to level 20 gives you the maximum benefit). This is the first time in a Fire Emblem game where you are given the opportunity to customize your group any way you want to!

Micaiah from Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn

Now let's cover DLC. After you reach a certain point in the game, you will unlock a place called the Outrealm Gate. Here, you can purchase additional maps. When you play these maps, you will actually unlock certain bonuses that you can use during your main story. The rewards range from new playable characters (like Micaiah from Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn on the Wii pictured to the right), to gold and even tons of experience points.

As if the DLC was not enough, the game offers great SpotPass and StreetPass features as well. In Streetpass, you can create a team that you want to share with other people who have Fire Emblem. When you meet them on the street, you will trade teams with each other. Then when you turn your game back on, you can actually battle their team or buy items from them. If you beat a team, you can actually hire their commander to fight alongside you. It is also possible to recruit the commander without fighting...if you are willing to buy them “at a high price.”

As far as SpotPass goes, Nintendo is always uploading free weapons and special teams you can face off against. The cool thing about these “special teams” is that they contain special characters from previous Fire Emblem games. So if you have played a lot of games from this series, it will be like a walk down memory lane.

In game cut-scene from Fire Emblem Awakening

The game's presentation is almost flawless. The graphics look great, both with and without the 3D effect turned on, and I love the detail they put into the battles. The actual battle grid is nothing to write home about, but it serves its propose well enough.

The music in the game is very catchy, and you will have it stuck in your head long after you turn the game off. As an added bonuses, you can choose for the voice acting to be done in Japanese or English. This is a JRPG fan's dream come true. That being said, I would like to point out that the English voice-acting is surprisingly well done, which is a real treat to see...I mean hear.

Conclusion

There is so much to do in this game that I could go on forever. The main story alone will take you upwards of around 30 to 40 hours to beat it (not counting all of the times you may have to restart a battle). Once you start adding in side quests and bonus maps, you could easily sink over 100 hours into the game. This is the best Fire Emblem game that has been released yet and a must-own for strategy lovers. Now I just have to wait for Nintendo to make a Fire Emblem for the Wii U! (10/10)