Fire Emblem: Awakening (Nintendo 3DS)

A fun fire emblem game but too easy.
I love the fire emblem series. The fact that if a unit dies it dies forever is so important to how this game plays. However with the addition of the ‘reeking box’ which allows you to bring a small group of enemies to the map at any point. The amount of enemies isnt the important bit but the fact that you earn more money fighting these enemies than you do buying a reeking box and at the same time your characters are gaining exp and money to also buy more weapons. A fun game but more geared towards a new audience, too easy for my liking. I have not once struggled to beat a boss, even the larger bosses towards the end of the game.

Can't stop playing
Can’t stop playing X.X
not because of the story line but cause of the support system since there are so many characters and suppo

First Time Playe
Simply put, I can’t put this game down. I’ve never played a Fire Emblem game before, nor have I played a strategy game beyond the mere basics of Pokemon, and while my skills are dismal in chess, I’m not terribly bad at this. Playing on Normal Mode in Classic (once characters die they stay dead – and I’d definitely recommend using this feature, even if you’re a newbie like me) isn’t the most challenging, I agree, but it’s an easy enough starting point for someone who has no idea what they’re doing; hence, me.

It did take me a couple of chapters to get used to the battling process – the biggest problem, I found, was that in the first few battles you only have a handful of characters, but by chapter two you’re abruptly thrown about ten characters and keeping track of them all was difficult for someone who was still trying to remember the game controls. I ended up repeating the beginning battles quite a few times because I kept forgetting that Archers fight from a distance, Lissa can’t fight, Miriel’s not the strongest etc etc. But if you persevere you should get into the swing of it pretty quickly.

Now I haven’t completed the story, but I’m on chapter fourteen and I am a little disappointed at how easy Normal Mode becomes. Once I unlocked challenges (battles on the map that don’t contribute to the plot line) I started to level up rather fast – I’m the type of person who spends hours grinding her characters to increase their stats, and Normal Mode has become, well, easy (on that note, there is a huge amount of game play hours in this, so don’t worry about it ended as quickly as games like Zelda: A Link Between The Worlds). The battles may become increasingly more challenging as I continue, but while the plot continues I’m going to progressively level my characters, so I’m sceptical. That aside, it is still a fantastically fun game.

(Also, I created another account on Hard Mode to see what that was like. It’s not exaggerating – it’s difficult. I’m really struggling to get past chapter two – it’s great fun).

Aesthetically, the game graphics are top-notch and everything’s such a marvel to look at on 3D. The characters are hugely varied in personality – which I adore – and playing in Classic only makes this more valuable. Some characters I don’t mind sacrificing or never using; others are immediate favourites and I couldn’t imagine playing the game without them. Plus, the relationship system? It’s a delight! The girly, manic part of me cackles at pairing off certain characters; it’s a wonderful contribution. (In saying that, some relationships still came as a bit of a shock for me! I just went with it).

Oh, the plot! Like I said, I haven’t finished it, but it’s developing slowly. I did groan at the typical amnesia cliche – but I love it now. Hanging on the edge of my seat for new revelations spurs me to finish the game – the only problem I have is pacing myself! I truly want this game to last forever, but unfortunately there’s only twenty five chapters (and a heap of side stories).

I would definitely recommend this game. The number of five stars says it all, really – this is a must buy.

Fire Emblem: Awakening
Amazing Graphics, Great gameplay. What else could a Gamer want? Genuinely good game. I would recommend this game to anyone who likes RPG games

Best 3DS Game!
Hugely recommend. To think they considered discarding this franchise? As a turn-based strategy, it’s best compared to X-Com, albeit more fantastical in setting.

Worth buying a 3DS fo
This game is pretty much one of the best reasons to own a 3DS (or XL). The 3D effect isn’t a selling factor, and does not add much to aesthetics, but the simple 2d art style is beautiful. The 3D art (battles) is lower resolution, so a little basic, but functional.

The story gets pretty involved with several different difficulty levels, and even an important ‘casual’ option – if you select this, death isn’t permanent and the game is much more accessible for it. ‘Hardcore’ mode on the otherhand makes death a permanent situation, meaning characters you have poured time and emotional investment (you’ve named him, set him up with a lady friend, possibly had children – a lot rests on your decisions on the battlefield).

The game itself is pretty wordy – a decent reading and understanding level is required to get the most of out this game.

Simply amazing
I have never played a Fire Emblem game before and really wanted to give it a chance, played the demo, loved it. Few months later I got the game and so far I have put around 50 hours into i

Best Non-Port for the 3DS
I think that other reviewers have the basics of this right so there’s no point making a long review. I am not a big fan of strategy RPGs so this game was a bit of a hard sell for me. I’m still not a big fan of them, but this game is about the best you can get. Certainly on a portable system. The controls, level design, interactiveness, etc. are all perfect. I particularly appreciated how they took advantage of the 3DS’s capabilities despite being essentially sprite-based. There is also a great deal of character interaction including a marriage system where you can set your characters up. This can lead to a sort of creepy eugenics race where “breeding” the correct pairs leads to superior offspring, but if you ignore thinking too much about that then the interactions are just fun. There are an awful lot of sidequests and extra options to pursue here once the main story is done. The game itself can be completed in about forty hours, but if you want to get all the dialogue options it can take over a hundred. And there’s more DLC coming!

And now I’m going to shamelessly plug Valkyria Chronicles because it’s another strategy RPG that I love.

It really sets the bar for all future titles yet to come in this genre.
This title really was a tour de force that broke the traditional boundaries of a tactical rpg. It offers stunning visuals, an excellent story line, attractive gameplay and seamless interaction. The only aspects that I would have any qualms with is character customization and free-roaming. I would love to see a sequel with more customization options in regards to armor, weaponry and garments and to have a greater influence on each character’s development. Furthermore, a more inclusive and interactive free-roaming environment would also do great things for this title but for a handheld console, what it currently offers is already a glorious display of entertainment hence my five-star.

This game would suit all teens, adults and young adults, it has three different difficulty levels that will challenge even the most seasoned of gamers!

Absolutely addictive game
After getting the game about two weeks after it came out in Europe I have not stopped playing it. As a long-time FE fan, I have to say this is hands down one of the strongest games in the series.
I have had so much fun playing around with the Class system and mixing and matching different abilities, the Bonus episodes add a good amount of extras, as does the DLC.
The story is good, with a couple of neat twists, the characters are fun with their own little quirks (I particularly love Henry’s “have some DEATH!!” XD) and of course with the relationship system you can get a lot of in-depth character stuff as well as some very funny conversations depending on who you pair up.
The Lunatic mode is a great challenge and the Streetpass feature will also offer a good challenge as you fight other players’ teams.
Even if you aren’t a hardcore Fire Emblem player, the game will ease you in, you can set the difficulty, switch the permadeath off (meaning your characters won’t be lost forever if they die) and there are tutorials and help articles.
Any RPG or SRPG gamer will love to have this game in their collection if they own a 3DS. Heck, I think buying a 3DS is worth it just for this game (though there are of course many other good 3DS games already out and coming up in the future as well).

Almost Flawless
I’ve never enjoyed anything enough to go out and write a review on it – that’s how good this game actually is.
Having just finished the single player content for the first time, my play time clocks in at 50 hours. That’s a mammoth amount of enjoyment for a single player game, and there wasn’t a dull moment in the whole playthrough. The characters are quirky and fleshed out, with conversations between characters adding enormous amounts of background to the games story. Characters fall in love, get married and have kids – which for fans or RPGs adds a layer of gameplay seldom found in other titles.
The core gameplay itself is varied and challenging at times, and the games graphics and animations are gorgeous in 3D. The story is compelling and exciting enough to forgive the occasional cliche that crops up, and manages to toy with your emotions in more places than you expect. All in all, this game definitely deserves a 10/10 – I can’t think of any RPG I’ve played in recent years that measures up to Fire Emblem: Awakening.

Best game of one of my favorite game series
Fire Emblem is kind of weird, because even though it has some really hardcore fans (for some reason, both me, my brother and female friend love it even though we have widely different tastes in other aspects), it has never really taken off in sales or popularity. Kind of sad, because it has all the ingredients necessary, with a nice medieval/fantasy setting, very personal characters that you grow to care about, lots of compelling management (like trying to marry your characters to each other, and let them have kids!), and of course most of all, very addicting gameplay.
I think the gameplay might be the problem. It’s turnbased strategy, and it looks like “chess” on pictures, so I can understand why many people decide not to try it out. But trust me, once you get the hang of it, it is really fun and addicting, and I can absolutely recommend this game to ANYONE. It’s just that good!

Sick bro
The game is sick bro played it like 7 times through great for procrastinating! Also got good comedic value funny, funny stuff.

Fire Emblem Awakening
The game is as good as I expected from the beginning. It has the best of the previous ones inside.

So addictive! If you're unsure about it make sure you download the demo!
The graphics are seriously good, and make this game so immersive-combined with the player centered storyline. To be honest, this is a game worth buying the 3DS for! The characters are likeable, and I especially like the ability to play extra levels (from the outrealm gate- some of which require you to purchase but there is a free one available-see the nintendo website) and battle other ‘risen’ (enemies) to help you level up. My only criticisms would be how quickly you can progress through the game; -I’m wondering how long I have left before the game is over[-therefore leaving you to only play extra levels and battle random enemies? or are there more stories?] and also the graphics during battle movements and foreign* avatars which are just a ‘card’ which are a little lacking compared to the rest of the game and the cutscenes. It also would have been better if the characters actually spoke rather than muttered an ‘English’ word or sound as the text comes up (which gets a bit repetitive).

*bonus characters bought/won with in game currency and/or through spotpass, streetpass etc.

Buy it. Buy it now!
Instantly became one of my favourite Games for my 3DS, it has a great Storyline (some parts are quite predicable) and a long game play that you actually want to play through. Even after you’ve finished, there are numerous difficulty levels and a ‘Classic’ mode where the Characters that die in the game battles don’t come back.
If you’re sceptical about purchasing, I fully recommend you go ahead and buy it. Enjoy!

Awesome!
Got the package delivered just on time, couldn’t help but load my 3DS XL up as soon as i opened it! Still haven’t put it down 😛 Brilliant game! recommended to every 3DS owner!

Awesome game.
Just really want reiterate what everyone else has said about this game. It’s the first Fire Emblem I’ve played even though I love RPG’s (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Advance Wars etc). I was a bit dubious about buying it, but all the good reviews it was getting I soon caved in. I have been stupidly addicted to it ever since. About a week now, haven’t even used my PC, which is very unusual for me. The flow of gameplay is brilliant and battles are very fun and can be quite time consuming. I have got it on normal difficulty without the perma death. I have had quite a few units die on me already so I’m glad I don’t have the perma death on. Might do that after I’ve completed it. I don’t really have the time to sit there for an hour at a time planning a battle. Saying that though they still take me 10-15 mins and I’m sure that will increase as the game progresses. All in all I agree with what other reviewers say, this is one of the best, if not the best game out on the 3DS at the minute. I’ve probably played more DS games on my 3DS recently. Namely Dragon Quest IX, which I’ve just completed (60+hours).

Fire Emblem Awakening is a top game. If you like strategy/RPG’s you won’t be disappointed. Trust me!

Amazing
Truly an awesome game… was the reason why I bought a 3DS. A MUST for all 3DS owners… even people that are new to the franchise and genre.

Best game on the 3DS right now
I had mixed feelings when I pre ordered my copy. While I loved The Sacred Stones and enjoyed Radiant Dawn, I did not like Shadow Dragon at all. Whatever doubts I had soon fled when I started playing.

The Gameplay follows the traditional Fire Emblem formula, with some new tweaks and changes. Swords, Axes and Lances work in a Rock Paper Scissors kind of way, meaning you have to balance your party. Bows can attack from a distance, but not up close. Magic (as well as Javelins and Hand Axes) can strike from a distance or up close. Joy of joys, they bought back the Support system from Sacred Stones, and gave it a buff too. In Radiant Dawn, they just used to exchange a few generic lines. Here, you find out a lot about the character’s pasts through support conversations, and it makes a gameplay difference too. When you put 2 units side by side normally, the one attacking or being attacked gets a small boost (10% + hit for example) – if they support they get more boosts. Sometimes both characters attack an enemy too. And if 2 opposite gendered units build enough support together, they can get married and have a child, who will eventually join you.

You can also reclass your units, although it’s much more restricted than Shadow Dragon. This actually isn’t a bad thing – it makes them feel a lot less disposable. You can also promote them once they hit level 10 (although I’d recommend waiting until they hit level 20) and they bought the branching system from The Sacred Stones back. That means no 2 playthroughs have to be the same.

That brings me onto the Avatar you create at the start of your adventure. They can be whatever class you want once you get a Second Seal, although some classes are exclusive to set genders. So your avatar could be a Dark Knight, while your friend could have a War Cleric. This is one of the deepest RPGs this side of Pokmon.

But don’t think it’s inaccessible. The tutorials explain everything very well, and they’re so unobtrusive. Game Freak, watch and learn – the Pokmon series could do with some tutorials like this. It’s highly customisable too, although I wish there’d been more options for what I could do with my avatar. To give you an idea of how customisable this game is, you can even leave the original Japanese voice acting in (don’t worry you still get subtitles). For the first time, you can even turn permanent death off, although I don’t recommend doing that. The game feels better when you know anyone could die at any time.

A death sentence for any RPG is a poor story (apart from Dark Souls). Luckily, that’s not the case here. I groaned when I found out my avatar had amnesia, but the story’s anything but cliche. The characters are all memorable too, from the tomboyish Sully to the vain Virion. Chrom is one of the most fleshed out heroes of the series so far, and you really feel for him during some of the sadder moments. That’s all I’ll say about the story. I know this will probably fall on deaf ears, but please don’t read the plot on wikipedia.

As for the graphics…as someone who grew up with Pokmon Red on the GameBoy, I didn’t know handheld games could look this good. The hand drawn characters, the weapons that carry over into the battle, and the battles themselves all look great. You can also play the battle with a cinematic camera, a 1st person view or the traditional side on angle. You can also fast forward, slow down and pause the battles, which is a nice feature. Maybe the spells were a bit bland, and Panne looks like a mutant kangaroo in her animal form.

The music and voice acting are good too. The characters speak in battle, cheering when they win or crying out in pain when hit (although luckily they don’t always cheer, since that would get boring). All the characters have good voice actors that match them, and you can tell they were really trying to make something amazing here. And they succeeded. This is, for me, the best game on the 3DS right now. It’s reason no. 1 to own one. Worry not though: when you’ve finished this, you’ve got Luigi’s Mansion 2, Super Mario 3D Land, Ocarina of Time 3DS, Kid Icarus Uprising, Monster Hunter 3, Mario Kart 7 and later this year Pokmon X/Y and the sequel to A Link To The Past.

To sum up, this game’s absolutely brilliant. There are a few nitpicks I have, but this is one of the few games that I can put my hand on my heart and honestly say that there wasn’t one thing that really annoyed me. If you’re a fan of strategy games, this is a must buy.

10/10

This game really is good!
I bought the 3DS XL Fire Emblem edition because I had heard many good things about this game, and to put it short, its engaging and you can play it for hours and hours.
I have never played a game in the series before this one, which since I’m an avid gamer, find highly shameful.
There are a number of great things about this game:

– It’s quite challenging in places, especially with the ‘perma-death’, where once your characters are dead, that’s it! Don’t worry, you don’t have to play with this mode on!
– A pretty fun story line, with lots of side missions and challenges to compliment it!
– Dialogue and relationships between characters are great from a story point and also cool since they add in-battle bonuses
– Side by side combat is a great touch…i.e. 2 of your units vs 1 enemy, should you position correctly.
– Visuals are really lovely, from the anime cutscenes, to the 3D battle sequences, it all looks GREAT, and no quality was lost using the XL.
– Lots of different classes, and abilities to tune characters how you want them to be!
– Good variety of weapons, spells, items

Overall, this game is fantastic. Be you a new comer to the series, or a veteran, I’m sure every minute you spend on this game you will love. It can be challenging, looks gorgeous, and is utterly engrossing.

It is an absolute system seller, and with Monster Hunter and new big titles such as Pokemon X & Y coming out soon, there is no better time to invest in this game and console if you haven’t already.

Go out and buy it, or order now! Trust me, you’ll believe me once you try!

System seller.
To preface this, FE:A is one of the few non-port 3ds games that are worth getting. I know a lot of people are still undecided on the 3ds, but this game is exactly why you should have one.

OK, Fire Emblem is an (extremely) long running series, where battles take place in a turn based grid (very similar to advance wars) with terrain advantages and different units. This is where the comparisons end.

Fire Emblem as a series is generally well regarded, with some excellent games and some… not so great ones. Awakening is hands down the best of the bunch in my opinion. The old formula returns with just enough in the way of new mechanics to keep it fresh and scare me (A long time fan) on the higher difficulties. The combat is better than ever with the new support mechanics replacing the old rescue. Your units are different classes, each focusing on different weapons, spells, whatever. They are unique in the way they move across the battlefield and engage foes, archers cannot tackle foes up-close, Pegasi can fly- that sort of thing. You move your units around the grid exploiting advantages of the rock-paper-scissors weapon triangle and terrain or support advantages to kill the opposing force. It seems simple as anything at first but when you get further in the complexities are the difference between life and death- If like me you play on classic, the death of any character is permanent. That’s it. Gone. You’ve been leveling him for 20 hours and got killed by a crit? Doesn’t matter. I would still recommend new players to try classic though, it gives a sense of urgency and worry you just don’t get if you can lose half your force each fight only for them to come right back. Gameplay is a solid experience and will give you a serious mental workout at times. Oh, and Lunatic mode is as bad as it sounds. It’s properly hard.

Aesthetically, I was unsure about the translation to the 3ds screen, but it looks gorgeous. The character models look a little off in my opinion when you’re just standing around in the barracks talking, but in battle they look excellent and have a great range of combat animations- something the older games were sorely lacking. Having 3d on makes a lot of the levels look amazing, especially when fighting enemies on a hill. It gave a sense of depth I really liked and it made maps slightly easier to understand. The character illustrations are excellent as always, with detail and personality to spare. Speaking of the characters, they’re frequently stereotypical game characters but still charming and funny with their snappy dialogue and snippets of very good English (or Japanese if you so wish) voice acting. Improvements to the support system and the addition of a marriage and generations system has made the characters even more fun, with the ability to have as many ‘A’ ranked supports as you can get allowing you to hear hundreds of extra, often funny conversations between characters. Story is grand in scale, if a bit predictable at times, but it does have you legitimately care about some of the characters.

This all leads into an immense game I feel like I could play for hundreds of hours, plenty of missions in the story and a load of side missions as well as random (optional!) battles. DLC maps are on the way too, the game has been out for a year in Japan so expect them to come thick and fast if it sells well (which it will, there were widespread stock shortages when it came out in the U.S earlier in the year).

I’m sure I’ve missed some important things, but get this game if you are even remotely interested in turn based tactical fights, even if you aren’t there’s a free demo on the 3ds E-Shop to whet your appetite. 5 stars any day of the week.

*note* This was written prior to official release, and as such I did not have access to the free DLC map which can be exploited and make the game markedly less challenging. I would strongly recommend playing to the final mission before accessing any of the spotpass or DLC content for the best experience.

Worth buying 3DS for!
Fire Emblem series is renowned for its good strategic gameplay and notorious for its difficulty. Fire Emblem: Awakening keeps (and enhances) the gameplay, while giving a player options to alleviate the pain of losing a team member forever.

For those new to the series: Fire Emblem is a strategic RPG, but it is more similar to Advance Wars than to Final Fantasy Tactics. At the start of the battle your units are placed on the map, and while in there they serve a different purpose depending on their class (e.g. knights are good at melee combat but unable to use ranged attacks, healers help with keeping your units alive but are very weak and thus are an easy target for the enemy). Each map has its own objective and fulfilling it will move the story forward. AI in the game is very good and most times you can bet that if you make the slightest mistake, your opponent will use it against you. That is why in FE:A you can choose a casual mode at the beginning of the game in which your units will not be gone forever when their HP fall below 0, as they do in the classic mode.

As I’ve mentioned before the latest installment in the series brings some nice enhancements to the gameplay, my favourite being ‘support’ option. The characters who stand next to each other raise their support level which increases the chance of blocking the enemy attack or even attacking together with the ‘supported’ unit. This feature is very useful and absolutely essential if you want to play on the classic mode and/or on higher difficulty levels. Other new feature is the concept of children: when two units raise their support level to maximum, a child is born which has got the combined skills of both parents available for disposal. Even if you get them slightly late in the game it is still worth aiming for it because the support dialogues between characters can be very entertaining.

The game takes about 40-50 hours to beat (especially if, like me, you like the gameplay so much that you take on most random battles) and that doesn’t include DLC maps which are available from the eShop. The graphics is gorgeous and the battle animations don’t get boring even after many hours of looking at them (but you still have got an option to skip them if you wish). In my opinion that game alone is worth getting a 3DS for and with so many good games on the horizon you definitely won’t regret the purchase.

Just one final tip: whenever you see two random enemies bunched together on the map, take them on first, and you will get some extra money and the reward for getting rid of them.