I'm just going to put this out there to start it off, I've had an interesting/frustrating history with the Fire Emblem franchise. My first introduction was from Super Smash Bros Melee with the hidden characters Marth and Roy. Which then followed up to the introduction of Ike in Super Smash Bros Brawl. I then after some time has passed, decided to pick up Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn for the Nintendo Wii which was the second game (if I'm correct) that featured Ike as one of the playable characters. Throughout playing I easily got attached to the variety of characters so when they died and subsequently died for good (as how the game goes) I got frustrated and upset and never touched that or any other game in the franchise.
At least until now.
Fire Emblem Awakening for the Nintendo 3DS has gotten lots of acclaim and praise for offering more to the series as well as a fantastic story. You yourself take an active part in the story as you create your own avatar. From there you join up with Chrom, the Prince of Ylisse and leader of the Sheperds. It's not long until you are thrown into this giant war with nations and cities all with 1 goal in mind, to possess the Fire Emblem (which at the time I had NO idea that this was an in game item and not just a fancy title for the franchise) and the power to slay a god.
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How a battle looks in gorgeous 3D.
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The game is classified as a Strategy RPG and rightfully so. The story is broken up into chapters and each chapter is about 1 battle. You have units which you can select in a pre-battle screen where you can equip skills, check inventory, and switch out members. Then the field is presented in a gird like format like you're staging out a war/battle plan. Each match is played in phases where the player moves units according to the range of each unit. When coming into contact with an enemy you can choose to attack them and stats that predict the outcome of the fight are shown. These include weapon strengths, and whether or not you can deal bonus damage or if you'll actually die in the fight.
The game then takes you to a screen where the battle takes place and it can either match the predictions, or go completely different, when throwing in Critical Hit chances, and missing attacks. Some units can attack from several spaces or diagonally (this is usually for those who throw Axes, Archers and Mages). You can also have a unit pair up with someone for stat enhancements or position yourself next to another unit. This can increase your chances of winning and added bonuses such as extra hits from your partner or them actually coming to your aide and preventing damage altogther.
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| How moving around works |
When Chrom or your Avatar is in the field, you lose if either one of them dies. If another party member dies, either they will retire or legitimately die and never return. This is only in the case of Classic Mode. The other mode available is Casual where no matter what, your fallen units return. The music is fantastic and the voice acting is top notch. The variety of characters is also a treat, really diverse selection from the stoic Knight Frederick, to the sly Assassin Lon'Qu and the clumsy Pegasus Knight Sumia, you really get a feel for these characters. Yes in my playthrough many people retired or died and while it sucks, there were instantly more members to replace those who fallen. Like an RPG your characters level up and have the ability to change classes once at level 10 for an even stronger unit.
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| The story and voice acting is definitely top-notch |
The game does get more difficult as you near the end and I feel like I played cheap by taking an interesting alternative the game offers. The wireless capabilities include an option to summon and recruit heroes from past Fire Emblem Games and they're there to stay. So I ended up having Marth, Roy, Ike and the Mad King Ashnard on my team and let me say they are jacked up as f***. Nearly maxed out in level and consistently using skills, landing crits and avoiding all attacks. There are also I should mention 3 difficulties to choose from and the replay value is high so once you beat it the first time you can go back, change modes and make different decisions. Are you smart enough to have everyone alive by the end? I sure as hell am not XD.
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| So many characters! |
Should you Play this Game?
Absolutely! Fire Emblem Awakening deserves all the praise it has gotten up to this point. The story is absolutely touching and comes close to the storytelling found in other RPG's like Final Fantasy, well to me at least. The gameplay is addicting and the cast of characters is truly a delight!
