Thoughts on Fire Emblem Awakening

Well, here's another thoughts article on the 3DS game which is known as Fire Emblem Awakening.

Fire Emblem Awakening for those who do not know is a turn-based strategy game, and the latest in the Fire Emblem series. there are no generic units, and all the units you get throughout the story are all individual characters.



I have no shame in saying that it is also one of my favorite games of all time. Curious why? Read on after the break.


100% SPOILER-FREE for the worried!






I really don't know where to start with this game since it's so flat-out amazing, but I guess I'll start from the characters. Each of the characters all have various personalities, and backgrounds. By fighting together, units can build support with one another which in turn unlocks support conversations with one another. These support conversations are filled with things that help flesh out many of the characters backgrounds, likes, inner struggles, and basically anything about them.

ALL of the characters have access to them, and many can support with various different characters. Almost every conversation save for just a minor few are completely unique to each pairing resulting in a staggering amount of conversations to be heard. You can even pair two characters together to be married, AND have children who will join your party. I'm well over 110 hours into the game over three runs, and I don't think I've even unlocked half of them yet.

Perhaps the best thing about them, and something that I think even works in the game's favor is that well most of the character interactions are never meant to be taken 100% seriously. There are plenty of goofy moments, ludicrous lines, and completely exaggerated happenings. I think it just helps strengthen the already extremely colorful characters, and just makes it fun to watch them banter around. It could never be done, at least not as well, if everything was done realistically.

I could go on about the characters forever, but next up I'll talk about the storyline. The story I think is perhaps the weakest aspect of Fire Emblem Awakening. Some parts of the story just aren't very interesting in its core although I still believe it is done very well. This may sound confusing, but I'll sum it up in what I think in a nutshell: Mediocre story which is masterfully executed. The story has it's share of great moments, and succeeds in delivering sadness, happiness, goofiness, epicness, despair, and much much more all in one great package which is only amplified by the amazing characters I mentioned earlier.

Gameplay is rock solid. A wide array of skills, classes, perks, effectiveness against certain unit types make for an extremely deep gameplay system that I absolutely adore. You'll constantly find yourself deciding how to level your characters, and how to reclass them for different skills, and perks. Some characters can even turn into dragons! There IS luck involved, but at no point did I ever feel that it was luck that completely screwed me over at any point.

The best part is that the gameplay will integrate character interactions in as a factor to combat. Units gain support as they fight together, or pair-up which in turn will improve their relationship unlocking support conversations, AND let them perform better in battle with each other. Children will also gets stat growths, and skills carried over from their parents affecting how they will turn out, and their overall playstyle.

The only thing I think I don't like about the gameplay is that inventory management can be incredibly messy. You cannot re-arrange anything, or sort items according to different factors. You also can't compare items which can be quite frustrating until you get good enough at the game to memorize different weapon stats.

Next up is the graphics. The graphics are gorgeous especially considering that this is a 3DS game. They have pushed everything to the best of their abilities. Art is amazing, and while the battlefield will be observed from with sprites, actual combat is watched from with fully made 3D models...all with unique weapon models for every weapon depending on what the character is using. There is also no shortage of particle effects for magic attacks, and otherwise. Sprites also take nothing away from the game either as they have a very unique charm to them. Occasionally you'll be treated full cinematic which are very pretty that I wish there were more off.

Audio for the game...I'm placing not as a part of soundtrack for a very good reason that you'll soon learn. The voice-acting in the game is good, but suffers from sometimes characters sounding too hammy which can be a bit jarring. Sound effects on the other hand I thought did a very good job with what it did.

Last, I'm saving the best for last...the soundtrack. That. Freaking. Soundtrack. It is literally the best soundtrack I have heard for anything ever. Television shows, movies, other games...NOTHING surpasses this game's soundtrack for me at all. It really is that good. It has a mixture of all different sorts of tracks in its listing, sad, happy, epic, silly, you name it. There really is no other soundtrack in my entire life that I've ever had leave such a strong impression on me with how good it is. I've heard many amazing soundtracks before, but none have stuck with me so long months after I first heard it. It can single-handedly transform what would be a cheesy scene into something magical.

Whew, that's about what I have to say about the game without having gone into too much detail (Completely serious. I haven't.) That was about six times longer than I had expected it to be, but at least it's off my chest now. All in all calling Fire Emblem amazing is a complete understatement, and it is a game that proudly earns a spot in one of my favorite games of all time.