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Posted on Apr 24th 2016 at 12:00:00 PM by (GrayGhost81)
Posted under Fire Emblem, Review, Fates

[img width=700 height=501]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-182/bf/U-182-S-03380-A.jpg[/img]

When I picked up Fire Emblem: Awakening in 2012, I had no idea I was about to play what would become not only my favorite 3DS game to date, but one of my favorite games of all time. I had never played a strategy rpg, but I was aware of the Fire Emblem series' reputation as both a quality franchise and also a brutally difficult one. I might not have gotten into Fire Emblem if it weren't for the controversy surrounding developer Intelligent Systems' decision to make the series' trademark permadeath completely optional.



In the Fire Emblem games dating all the way back to the Famicom era, if one of your characters died, it was for good. For Awakening, the developers decided to make this punitive gameplay mechanic optional as a concession to modern gamers. Though some purists cried foul, this change put the series on my radar, and when looking for a top notch title for my then new 3DS XL, I took a chance on Fire Emblem: Awakening.

[img width=400 height=240]http://www.technobuffalo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Fire-Emblem-Awakening-1.jpg[/img]

What I experienced was one of those once in a while experiences where you really can't put the game down. I was completely enthralled by the story and enamored by the amazing 3D graphics in the cutscenes and even the repetitive battle animations (which I never skipped or fast-forwarded). This was my first time playing a strategy RPG, and I was hooked. I feel now as I did then, that I wouldn't have even had the slightest interest in this game without the controversial softening of the difficulty. It would turn out that Intelligent Systems thought they were making their last Fire Emblem game with Awakening but the game became somewhat of a runaway success, selling almost 200,000 copies within a month of its release. I have to believe that democratizing the gameplay helped launch Fire Emblem into the mainstream, and saved the franchise (though by all means the inclusion of Fire Emblem characters in the Smash Brothers games didn't hurt).

The follow up to Awakening was not without controversy. Fire Emblem: Fates was released in three separate forms, each with its own characteristics. Birthright is easier than Conquest, and is less objective oriented. The download-only campaign Revelations offers a third story path. Some criticism was levied against Nintendo for separating the campaign into three segments, and thus overcharging consumers for variations of the same game. I had my issues with this set-up. After purchasing a bundle of both Birthright and Conquest from Gamestop, I assumed I could play both games right away. It turns out that you have to play the campaign to Chapter 6 to open the "Dragon's Gate", which is basically your DLC hub, in order to play the other campaigns. I should mention that Fates, much like Awakening before it, has a generous amount of free DLC available as well in the form of playable missions that tie the two games together.

I'm currently playing Birthright, and although I'm not quite as amazed by it as I was by Awakening, I am enjoying it quite thoroughly. The gameplay is simple but intricate, wherein the player arranges party members on a grid and coordinates their actions based on their capabilities. I set the difficulty to casual and my characters will revive at the end of battle. There is a new option in Fates where a character can be revived immediately after he dies, but even I think this is a tad too easy.

[img width=545 height=326]https://kantopia.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/kamuicustomshott.png?w=545[/img]
The character here is actually very similar to mine.

The structure of Fates is a series of main story chapters and side battles. I tend to grind hard on the side battles so I can mop the floor with my enemies during the story battles. You will coordinate your main character, whom you can customize at the beginning of the game and throughout the campaign via the new castle mechanic.

The new castle addition certainly reminds me of Suikoden, if not nearly as fleshed out. The player can build his castle using points earned in battle and then put the assets in the castle on the line against AI opponents looking to destroy said assets. From my experience, in which I save reverted to before I completed a castle battle, the AI goes hard against all the assets you've built rather than engaging the player. In order to preserve my castle, I abandoned the castle battles completely, which is one of the things I love about this game. I can bounce back and forth between the story missions, the side missions, the free DLC, and the castle missions as I please.

Although I am only halfway through Birthright, I am excited for the the future of the Fire Emblem franchise. I am certainly looking forward as well as backward being that I own a few of the older titles and have an eagerness to give them a shot.

What do you think of the "nerfed" difficulty of the modern entries in the franchise? Have you been a fan for longer than I have? Should I go back or enjoy what's going on now?


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Comments
 
I remember playing the GBA Fire Emblem way back when and really enjoying it.  I put a few hours into the GameCube entry several years ago but didn't finish it.  I was enjoying it, so I'm not sure why I put it down, but I'd like to come back to it some day.

I own both Awakening and Fates (even the elusive Special Edition that includes all 3 games on 1 cart!), but haven't started either one yet.  Part of the reason is that I don't play handhelds that often, but the next time I'm ready to fire up the 3DS, I may just start up Awakening.

As far as the softened difficulty goes, I remember thinking when it was announced that I would stick with the original difficulty with its permadeath.  However, after thinking about it, I'll probably play the new games on 'casual' mode and avoid the hassle that I faced on the GBA title.  All the permadeath constraint really accomplishes is making me reset my game and load my last save every time one of my better characters dies.
 
When you said you got your hands on Fire Emblem: Awakening in 2012, you meant 2013 right? Wink Spot on review!
 
I've never played the any of the games in the Fire Emblem series before, probably because I burned myself out on the genre playing too much FF:Tactics and the Arc the Lad anthology, but that second pic you posted has intrigued me enough to watch some videos.  I'm not sure if I'm ready to jump into it, and to be honest it has everything to do with the pricing structure of the game, but I have also added it to my short list of 3DS games to get.
 
I'm in a pretty similar boat. Awakening floored me. I've been a lover of tactical/strategy RPGs for years - and technically I played Sacred Stones on the GBA years before, just not extensively - so Awakening was my first real FE experience and I adored it. It's still my favourite 3DS game.

I'm currently on like Chapter 11 of Birthright and it's just not grabbing me the same way. I don't find the characters or their relationships as interesting, I don't enjoy the story as much, and so far the battles have been pretty straight-forward. I want to love it, so I keep trying, but so far I'm just not quite there.

As far as the difficulty thing - you can turn it on or off. It's completely optional. When people complain about optional stuff like that it drives me nuts. If you want to play on Insane difficulty with permadeath, go ahead. If you don't want to worry about your characters dying, turn it off. I play on Normal Classic and it suits me just fine.

Great piece!
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. It seems the general consensus is that Fates, while pretty damn good, doesn't pack the punch Awakening did. Law of diminishing returns for sure. I haven't even played the game since this review was published.

I'd really like to branch out and try some other games in the genre. I have quite a few in my collection.

Still I feel like the Fire Emblem games are the top of the heap when it comes to the 3DS.

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