Random Review: Fire Emblem: Awakening

I finally got around to playing this acclaimed game of the past year. Multiple gamers and game critics have put this game on their top 10 games list for 2013 which made me curious for why this innocuous Japanese series finally obtained a legitimate big title. Fire Emblem loyalists rejoiced as this game was announced to come to Western audiences and this game apparently did not disappoint. So with all this hype surrounding a strategy, turn-based game, I wondered what was so appealing about this game to so many people.

Well, it's an rpg that plays just as well as its predecessors. The Fire Emblem series has been notorious for its extreme difficulty since characters that die stay dead. This game actually has a difficulty setting as one can simply set it so that character deaths aren't official and reduce the difficulty of the game overall. In this way, the game is already accessible to all audiences yet playing the game on casual and normal which is the easiest mode is still a challenge in a few cases. One thing to note is the huge difficulty spike faced with in the second half of the game and while the battles aren't necessarily impossible, you will lose a few units if you're being careless. The last stage especially was utter hell since it was almost impossible to defeat commander without losing a lot of troops. For the most part, however, this game isn't hard unless you choose to take on a harder difficulty level. The standard options for rpgs are in this game as customization is a key feature while leveling up and using different weapons are key in strategy and success. This game is surprisingly complex for a portable game but the mechanics are simple in the end which prevents outsiders from getting ostracized. While the rpg may not be delectable to hard-core rpg fans, it is easily pick-uppable which means that this game is still relatively light in terms of gameplay.

The story is also incredibly complex and provides a great conflict to focus on. It might've been better if there were more politics involved with the story but its till provides a meandering narrative that carves its way to providing multiple interpretations of the situation at hand. In the end, it all amounts to a battle but the story helps serve as a background that portrays the current state of the world "Awakening" portrays. I also liked the idea of creating your own OC to interact with other people in your team which allowed for complex relationships as well. Speaking of characters, I liked the whole aspect that each character was multi-faceted which allowed for a diverse selection of conversations and relationships. The whole shipping idea is weird though since the relationships do progress nicely at first but the S phase is incredibly abrupt. All S phase relationships amount to guy giving girl ring and girl accepts arbitrarily no matter how eccentric the relationship may have been.

This game also features multiple paths to go down. The addition of paralogues, merchants, risen appearing on the map, and streetpasses allows for great diversity in play-style since you can essentially ignore the main story for side missions and quests. The whole idea of grinding your troops is also incredibly tantalizing since trying to find the true potential of your troops is of utmost importance. Grinding is accessible to players who wish to do it. Personally, I kind of got sick of the gameplay so I decided just to complete the game which proved to be a feat for itself. The different branches do give a sense of freedom to players which contributes to the overall feeling that the game wants to get across.

Overall, this game was great. There's not much else I can say that's good about it. Buy it and enjoy it since it is one of the best 3ds games we've had.

Final Rating: 9.5/10

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