You know something I'd like to see?

[Greener223224]

A scathing, critical review of FE13.

I'm upset that the only things I can find on it as a game are "entrancing soap opera" and "as good as Mario", and I really hate it that Yahtzee's JRPG taboo kept him from playing this.

[shadowofchaos]

While you're not going to find a review of it like Spoony tearing apart FF8... Awakening has its flaws.

There are some people that have been tearing it apart.

But in *GENERAL* it is a good game. Nothing's going to change the general consensus that it's a game that does things well despite having a few major flaws.

Edited September 9, 2013 by shadowofchaos

[Loki Laufeyson]

While you're not going to find a review of it like Spoony tearing apart FF8.

I swear, that is possibly the greatest thing the internet ever birthed.

Ive yet to see someone give a reasonable (or reputable) but highly scathing review of the game as well. Its most likely because like Rey said, the game is very solid in a lot of ways that people are going to struggle to pick apart.

Edited September 9, 2013 by Ser Dunban

[Greener223224]

What are the flaws? Besides "LOL Lacking Mechanics carryover from FE11"

[shadowofchaos]

The plot.

How Fauder/Validar is like an afterthought throughout the entire game. And how the big-bad dragon was just... there. No build up. No nothing.

"Introduce your clone in Chapter 13".

"Don't even give them a thought until Chapter 23".

I was asking my friend when I first played it in 2012. I was on Chapter 22.

"Wait, do they ever explain your clone?"

"Yeah."

That's a bad sign when someone's playing it for the first time in Japanese and before everyone else and is trying to pay attention to EVERYTHING.

[Jedi]

Also a good number of people do not like how Lunatic and Lunatic+ were handled and felt FE12 did it much better. The balance is also another issue people like to decry

[Greener223224]

The plot.

How Fauder/Validar is like an afterthought throughout the entire game. And how the big-bad dragon was just... there. No build up. No nothing.

"Introduce your clone in Chapter 13".

"Don't even give them a thought until Chapter 23".

I was asking my friend when I first played it in 2012. I was on Chapter 22.

"Wait, do they ever explain your clone?"

"Yeah."

That's a bad sign when someone's playing it for the first time in Japanese and before everyone else and is trying to pay attention to EVERYTHING.

Ah yes, that little detail that the HP Lovecraft homage in the form of an Abdul Alhrazed and Yog-Sothoth reference via Validar and Grima ends up being horribly explained and has no real motive except that it's evil.

And because the story is basically FE9's unarguably clear morality without the deconstruction FE10 brought with it. At least I liked Walhart being a more well thought out version of Ashnard.

[Tribute]

I actually enjoyed 3 seperate but kinda sorta related in a Star Wars Original trilogy-new3 kind of way stories.

First was Gangrel generally being an asshole. (Renewal is the best total experience a game has given me in a while)

Then stop BatouWalhart[Was it ever actually told if he was on the warpath in the kids future?] from doing his Lelouch on PCP thing. (My personal favorite Arc, Ch10 is an exception, I actually like Walhart as a character and I thought Excellus would end up being a recruit to save himself)

And Grima was a good way to wrap it up.

My actual main criticism of FE:A is a lack of Enemy recruits (IE what was heavily teased with cervantes/yenfay/excellus) and lack of recruits talked to by someone thats not Chrom .Also, not having necromancers because of my huge personal hard on for the class

Edited September 9, 2013 by Tribute

[Knight]

I could give an entire list of problems for all the Fire Emblem games, in fact I plan on getting to that sometime in the future and finally put my Youtube channel to use. I personally think Awakening isn't about big problems, but a whole bunch of little ones, such as: map design, plot, balance, game breaking mechanics, design issues. I could go into depth with these, but I should be getting to sleep.

[kdports]

It definitely had some flaws, but I think it''s still a good game overall.

[RJWalker]

It felt like the game was taking the best parts from all previous FE games, like Validarbeing like Gharnef and Grima bieng like Medeus/Loptyr or locating the gemstones like in FE3 and FE8 but failing to understand why those things worked in their respective games in the first place. In the case of the examples I provided, both Gharnef and Validar are always in the shadows but Gharnef has a far better presence and being completely immortal in the chapter where your first fight him drives home how much of a threat he is. Medeus had a good backstory and motives which Grima lacks. Medeus is evil because of his methods. Grima is evil just because. Nothing else. The Spheres in FE3 and FE12 gave you actual bonuses that made you care. The sacred stones in FE8 being destroyed one after the other and good characters like Ismaire dying also made you care about finding the next one.

Almost everything is like a poor imitation of something great from a previous game. The imitation lacks the soul (for lack of a better word) that made the original great.

Edited September 9, 2013 by Ranger Jack Walker

[FrostyFireMage]

REVIEW BY WESTBRICKIII

"Irrelevant dissent"

A Very Brief Introduction

Close to a year back, I imported Awakening, played it to death, and loved it. Now that the initial hype and sense of newness have died down, however, I've found that my views on the title deviate sharply from the game's (surprisingly positive) critical consensus. Awakening isn't a perfect game, a great game, or even a particularly good game; while loaded with content and customization, it's a subpar package, and its innovations are brought down by poor implementation and questionable design choices.

A Tale of Three Stories

Taken collectively, Fire Emblem games aren't all that noteworthy when it comes to storytelling. Some of the plots are good, a few are great, but most are serviceable vehicles for the gameplay and character development. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but Awakening's story is ambitious, so it deserves a more in-depth look. Talking about Awakening's story (singular) is a little misleading, as the narrative is divided into three separate and self-resolved arcs with only threadbare connections between them. While there is a dark threat looming in the background, this often seems like an afterthought until the final arc rears up -- so what we're left with is a war with questionable purpose, a war with no purpose, and a scary monster.

The first arc deals with tensions between Ylisse and Plegia. The new ruler of the Plegian people, Gangrel, has gone mad from seeing his people suffer under Ylissean might, and vows to enact revenge against the new Ylissean regime. Cue war. One wonders why Gangrel is so bent on stirring up trouble when Emmeryn, Ylisse's new head-of-state, is such acomplete pacifist that negotiations and ceasefire would work wonders. But Gangrel's jaded, he loves war, and he's a little unstable; these motivations are clear enough, but don't make for a particularly compelling villain.

This is usually the point in a Fire Emblem tale where the seemingly generic antagonist opens up about his motivations, which turn out to be more complex and sympathetic than expected. But because Awakening is bent on weaving an epic story, it's off to a brand new continent and a brand new villain. His name? Walhart. His aim? To unify the continent and defeat that same dark, looming evil as Chrom and company are after. Why doesn't he simply join Chrom's cause for the greater good, a solution that seems all-too-obvious? This is left very unclear. Walhart could have been developed into a raging narcissist intent on seeing his name written on the pages of history, but this never happens. He's an empty vessel modeled after Alexander the Great, but without charisma or consistency. Sometimes he's a reasonable guy; sometimes he isn't. Sometimes he seems interested in the well-being of the world; sometimes he seems interested in himself. Regardless, he's dealt with and it's back to the main continent, rending this entire arc pointless filler.

The final arc is notable in that it has the highest stakes of the story while simultaneously being the least interesting. The principle antagonist here is Validar, who is criminally generic. He's a Disney, evil-quid-evil villain who wants to resurrect a dark god for reasons that escape me. This archetype has been done before in Fire Emblem, but there's alwayssomething that resembles concrete motivation: power, for instance, or world domination. None of these options are on the plate for Validar, and his stilted dialogue and lack of tangible purpose lead the final act of Awakening to play out like a Saturday morning cartoon rather than an engaging fantasy story. A few convoluted twists later, the dark god is resurrected, one of the heroes makes a "noble" sacrifice that predictably lacks consequence, the dark god dies, and the credits roll.

One wonders what the storyboarders were thinking. If the goal is to tell a story about political strife, then have Gangrel or Walhart be the sole antagonist: flesh him out, make the player care about his role in the story, build up the gravity of the war, and make his death satisfying and meaningful. If, instead, the aim is to weave a fantasy tale, then have Validar be the sole antagonist: add some tangible motivation, and give his cult a semi-sympathetic, two-dimensional philosophy rather than evil-please. And regardless of which path is taken, it's deeply misguided to waste a third of the story on meaningless filler that's at best tangentially related to the main event.

Awakening's story aims high. It tries to incorporate elements of realpolitik, fantasy, and SciFi. It spans several continents and several years. But because of the lack of focus and direction (not to mention the vacuum of compelling antagonists), it stumbles and falls short even of mediocrity.

A Portrait of the Warrior as a Young Waifu

Since its introduction to the West, Fire Emblem has earned a reputation for quality development. Though I wouldn't call Awakening a complete deviation from this standard, its cast is quite the mixed bag. If you're unfamiliar with the series, take a minute to browse through some official character artwork from previous games; you'll notice some familiar designs: the perky cleric, the strong and heroic lord, the shifty thief, the aloof mage, the stern veteran... Both in terms of design and surface personality, Fire Emblem casts are a collection of common archetypes. What has earned its casts such a sterling reputation is that beneath this familiarity lies a great deal of development and backstory.

The basic formula is common character archetypes plus added depth -- and Awakening often forgets to do the arithmetic. Most of the characters display a singular quirk, and little is done to break them free from the chains of archetype; supports that feature genuine development are few and far between, leaving the player with a party of over-the-top, stagnant, and rarely believable warriors. This problem is most brought out in character marriages. Unlike past Fire Emblem titles with supports, in which characters can reach up to an A level with one another, Awakening adds a higher level of S where characters of opposite gender will get hitched. While it sounds like a nice addition, there is such a glut of S-Rank options for each character that most come off as cheesy and forced; most characters start out as stereotypes and end up as stereotypes with engagement rings. While writing out hundreds of engaging support conversations is no small feat, and while some characters are genuinely well-developed and interesting, the end product comes off as sacrificing quality for quantity. Thankfully, the localization and writing are top shelf, but it's an unfortunate direction. A smaller number of total supports focused on development and believable relationships would've gone a long way to bringing the cast to life.

Birds of a Feather

A common criticism of Fire Emblem games, one not entirely undeserved, is that it's conservative when it comes to change. The original Famicom title laid the groundwork for the series, and the formula has remained nearly untouched since. Awakening is comparatively progressive, throwing a major new mechanic (and reintroducing a second) into the mix.

The new mechanic here is Pair Up, which displaces the Rescue command of past entries. Any two units are given the option to pair during battle, reducing the number of units available to the player in exchange for meaty stat buffs (which vary by class). This is an intriguing new feature that opens up a lot of strategic flexibility. Units low on speed can be paired with mercenaries and myrmidons to avoid being doubled; units with shaky defense can be paired with a wyvern lord or a general to survive a few more hits; units low on movement, or who need to get somewhere in a hurry, can be ferried off by a flier. But there are no free lunches, and having those extra units available for attacking / healing / dancing can be the difference between a successful map completion and a restart.

That's how things play out in theory. In practice, the new Pair Up mechanic cashes out as an absolute necessity on any difficulty higher than Normal. Enemy units don't have access to pairing, so to compensate, they receive higher stats and better weapons. If the designers were attempting to make pairing a need rather than an option, they certainly succeeded. Reduced Pair Up bonuses would have gone a long way to making the mechanic feel a little more balanced.

Related to pairing are the new additions of dual attack and dual guard. If a unit is paired with, or adjacent to, an ally, that ally will have a percentage chance of attacking in tandem with the main unit or blocking all damage from an enemy. Paired Up units who haven't built supports between one another have a small chance of dual attacking / guarding, but once the player starts developing A- and S-Rank supports, those numbers can shoot up well over 50%. Dual attacking partners who land a hit also get a small bit of experience, so paired partners falling behind in level is less of a concern than it would be otherwise. What's the problem with all of this? Dual attack / guard odds are too low to be reliable yet too high to be uncommon, which makes strategizing around them a practical impossibility. In past games, a player could calculate damage several turns in advance without variance (pending an unlucky critical) and move his units accordingly, perhaps wishing to divvy up experience more evenly or keep a delicate choke point secure. Now, more than ever is left up to the whims of the RNG. Simply choosing not to use paired units circles us around to the fact that the game isdesigned around Pair Up on higher difficulties. And while this focus isn't a problem in its own right, the inherent randomness means mapping out a strategy can come down to, or be ruined by, luck. Strategy and luck don't mix all that well.

On the plus side, the support system is brilliant. Rather than have units sit next to one another, or be fielded in the same map, to grow supports like in past games, Awakening's system builds supports based on how often characters interact in battle. This includes being paired up with a support partner, being adjacent to a support partner during battle, healing a partner, or dancing for a partner. It streamlines the redundancy of the GBA system while preserving the strategic side of support building absent in the Radiant system. Even nicer, support points significantly increase critical evade, meaning that, with proper planning, a player can mitigate some of those unexpected critical shots that haunt Fire Emblem players. There's nothing I would change here, and I very much hope this system becomes the staple of future titles in the series.

The reintroduced mechanic is a welcome return of the generation system from Fire Emblem 4. When first-generation units marry via an S-Rank support, their second-generation children from the future will travel back in time and become recruitable in special Paralogue maps. The children also inherit skills and statistical growths from their parents. Silly premise aside, this feature is ripe for replayability and customization, since children can only acquire certain skills and classes from specific parents, and inherited growth rates can dramatically change a child's performance in battle.

The trouble here is that the feature is implemented poorly. Because the children come equipped with stacked growths and skills, they can quickly become the absolute best units on a player's team, and to compensate, they're tucked away in those Paralogue maps mentioned earlier. Perhaps to discourage the player from stocking up on a team of superchildren as soon as they become available, these maps flaunt the established difficulty curve, often to such a degree- especially on the higher difficulties- that recruiting them becomes a near-impossibility without heavy grinding. It's odd that one of the game's core new features becomes entirely optional, as this adversely impacts roster size. Not accounting for children, Awakening has the smallest cast in the series; if the player chooses not to, or is simply unable to (due to the high difficulty of their recruitment maps), acquire most of the children units, the number of available PCs shrinks dramatically. Another consequence of how the children are implemented is that, excepting Lucina, they don't factor much into the story. Considering that the children are sent back in time with the explicit purpose of redeeming the future, this is a blown opportunity.

Mechanically, what we have in Awakening is a plethora of great new features that are implemented or balanced badly. Children characters are prohibitively difficult to acquire on non-Normal difficulties and aren't integrated well into the story; Pair Up's buffs are too big to consider any other course of action; and dual attacking is too RNG-dependent to be satisfying.

An Imbalanced Diet

Awakening is a colossal game. There is an overwhelming amount of content outside of the linear story missions: random battles, DLC maps, SpotPass sorties, and traveling merchants selling rare items. Every character has a wide array of class choices, each with a set of learn-able skills, and building up / playing around with these class sets seems encouraged. For every required story map, a player might finish two or three skirmishes observing how Chrom fares as a cavalier rather than a lord, or seeing if he can't get those few extra levels for his Cordelia to learn Galeforce. Greater variety means more to do, and more to do means greater replayability. How could this be anything other than a positive?

There's really no nice way to say it: Awakening is an affront to balance. All of that optional content and player freedom comes at the price of even a semblance of balance or challenge that isn't self-imposed. This isn't just about grinding one's units to max levels, either (although that's certainly a problem): specific characters and classes so thoroughly break the experience that even the hardest difficulties can be trivialized.

Two major balancing problems come immediately to mind. First, dark magic and (more importantly) the Nosferatu tome. I can almost see where Intelligent Systems was coming from here: dark magic usually isn't very good in Fire Emblem and was due for a buff, only one class line (dark mage -> sorcerer) can wield dark magic, and only two units start off as dark mages. What was overlooked is Nosferatu, a dark magic tome that restores half of its damage output to the wielder's health and can be cheaply and unlimitedly purchased outside of battle. Stories abound of players building up a dark mage, stocking up on Nosferatu tomes, and completing the highest difficulties in a matter of hours.

The second balance blunder is your Avatar unit. Again, I can almost sympathize with the decision Intelligent Systems made here: your Avatar is a central figure in the story and needs to be flexible enough statistically to play as either a physical unit or a magical unit (both options being available to the player). Avatar's growths are simply too good despite this consideration, and he'll quickly become your team's unanimous MVP even with evenly-spread experience distribution. Worse still, Avatar starts with a skill called "Veteran," which multiplies all experience acquired when Paired Up by 1.5. This means that for every two levels a usual unit will receive, your Avatar receives three. Combined with his incredible statistical growths, it doesn't matter if you make him a dark mage or a knight -- he can and will solo the game if you let him.

There are dozens of other notable imbalances, but these two stand out because of how easy they are to set up and how trivially they snap the game's strategic component in two. A natural response might be to limit oneself and balance the game through challenge runs, but later chapters assume the player has either grinded or has taken advantage of broken options. When the player hasn't taken advantage of things like Veteran, Nosferatu, and grinding, the enemies are too numerous, hit too hard, and carry too many overpowered skills for those maps to be completed without improbably favorable number rolls. It's an infuriating paradox: Lunatic borders on the impossible without exploitative tactics, and becomes child's play with them.

It's one thing to sacrifice polish for variety, but Awakening's trade-off is extreme. There is no unit balance; some units quickly ascend to godhood, while others barely pass for filler. There is no class balance. There are several game-breaking exploits. If you want to experience any optional content, it will trivialize the challenge even further. The higher difficulties demand abuse or grinding to reliably complete, and Lunatic+ is an exercise in patience rather than strategy. In short, no balance (and little flexibility for challenge runs) means that in spite of Awakening's overwhelming amount of content, there is shockingly little replay value for a strategy connoisseur.

Ink-Spattered Blueprints

Map design in strategy games is similar to sound mixing in music: the average consumer might not know or care that it's there, but it can radically change the experience for better or for worse. Quality map design encourages unique tactics and makes chapters feel memorable, while poor map design makes the affair bland and forgettable. So what are the the ingredients for some delicious design? Rather than talk about what is good, it might be easier to discuss what isn't good -- and Awakening's map layouts provide an ideal foil.

Limited primary objectives. If variety is the spice of life, repetition makes for a bland meal. Looking at a game like Blazing Sword, we find a number of unique map conditions that keep things from feeling samey: seize, multi-seize, rout, defend, and defeat boss. That's a nice amount of variety. Awakening, on the other hand, has exactly two primary mission objectives: rout, and kill boss. This means that for all twenty seven chapters of the main campaign, the player will be going through the same song and dance.

Lack of meaningful secondary objectives. Past Fire Emblem titles have always made sure that in addition to the map's main objective, there are always other things going on to keep the player's interest: saving villages, recruiting characters, nabbing chests, and meeting bonus map requirements, to name a few. Awakening drops the ball here. Villages are never in real danger; difficult recruit requirements are gone and Chrom -> Talk works for virtually every recruitable; chests don't contain exclusive or particularly useful items, and are in short supply; and bonus maps are automatically unlocked. Going back again to Blazing Sword, there are several tricky-to-recruit PCs, many villages are tough to save, chests are deviously placed and contain great items and weapons, and Gaiden requirements often require a completely new approach.

Bland stage layouts. This is the most glaring problem with Awakening's map design. Most previous Fire Emblems had a healthy bit of everything: winding castle corridors, cluttered forests, large clearings, narrow mountain paths, water-heavy areas that limited movement, etc., all coming in various shapes and sizes. Awakening's layouts are unbelievably bland. Chapter 2 is a medium-sized, rectangular open field. Chapter 4 is a medium-sized, rectangular open arena. Chapter 8 is a medium-sized, rectangular open desert. Chapter 10 is a medium-sized, rectangular open graveyard. Chapter 11 is also a medium-sized, rectangular open desert. All that repetition before the first arc of the game comes to a close. The maps that aren't totally devoid of content manage to be equally derivative, all having been done before (and better) in past entries; you'll find the requisite ship, lava, and forest maps as the game progresses. The final chapter manages to be the most disappointing of the lot, with no terrain to worry about whatsoever; it's yet another medium-sized, rectangular bunch of nothing.

That's really what Awakening's maps boil down to: empty, rectangular blueprints with some terrain tiles sprinkled here and there. A small handful of creative maps do exist, most buried in Paralogues, but the story chapters start off bland and remain so until the end of the campaign. To its credit, Awakening does one thing right when it comes to map design -- it nails the aesthetics. Meaning that every map looks great even if they don't play well. On balance, Awakening's map design is unfortunately very poor, and a frontrunner for worst in the series.

The Aesthetic Side of Things

All of my criticisms aside, this game is gorgeous and sounds incredible. The colorful character portraits, detailed models, and charming map sprites blend well together. The 3D is implemented surprisingly well, with plenty of nice pop-out effects. The score is perhaps the best I've come across in a game, with sweeping orchestral swells, heart-wrenching ballads, and just about everything in between. Whether the tone is playful, somber, exciting, or revelatory, the music always matches to the T. The English voice work is solid with some A-list talent, and if it isn't to one's liking, the full Japanese voice work can be switched on instead. What few blemishes exist (the pseudo-chibi model style, some questionable character designs, a little too much fanservice, a relatively small number of songs, grating character grunts during story scenes) matter very little when the visuals and music are taken as a whole.

Aesthetically, Awakening is the complete package.

Long After the Thrill of Playin' is Gone

Awakening is a game that wants to be loved. Lush visuals and superb presentation make it an attention-grabber, and the unbelievable amount of content and options promise a long lifespan. And that love has been requited -- by critics, the Fire Emblem fanbase, and gamers in general. Yet as I've tried my best to outline here, much of this praise is probably unwarranted. Awakening is a shallow and imbalanced gameplay experience coupled with a mixed-bag cast of characters and a paper-thin plot. Awakening will certainly appeal to a lot of people, such as those looking for an easier strategy experience or those who crave variety and content in their role-playing games. For those who want something polished, with solid story and characterization and a heavy dose of genuine strategy, Awakening is a tough one to recommend.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10 | Originally Posted: 03/01/13

Voila.

Edited September 9, 2013 by Frosty Fire Sage

[shadowofchaos]

> Westbrick

He's had the hipster outlook for Awakening since forever. While his criticisms are valid, it reminds me on how the /feg/ boards are split between "Awakening is not a true Fire Emblem" and "Awakening's TEH BEST GAME EVAAAH".

[amadeuscho]

A scathing, critical review of FE13.

I'm upset that the only things I can find on it as a game are "entrancing soap opera" and "as good as Mario", and I really hate it that Yahtzee's JRPG taboo kept him from playing this.

The problem with a scathing, critical review of FE13 is it relies on a prior knowledge of the FE series to be effective. Most reviews unless they are direct sequels talk about games as if they are being played by a new individual. And many reviewers have limited to no exposure to the series, as the series was most recently on a decline in sales.

A bad plot can never damn a game. It could make a game less appealing, but games with great gameplay can overcome and plot deficiencies (see Mario). Even with RPG's. Not to mention bad plot on some level is subjective. There are many levels to story, ranging from, originality to sequence of events to unexplained occurrences to character development. Awakening may lack in some of these areas, but it does not lack in all of them.

[Interceptor]

Who the holy hell plays Fire Emblem for the story? This series has always and forever been about the game mechanics, which are distinctly its own.

Is this the modern, handheld equivalent of reading adult magazines for the articles?

[Jedi]

Who the holy hell plays Fire Emblem for the story? This series has always and forever been about the game mechanics, which are distinctly its own.

Is this the modern, handheld equivalent of reading adult magazines for the articles?

What right gives you the means to say this? Fire Emblem has been more about the characters then about its story or mechanics for me :P

I like the stories of a good amount of the games the mechanics are also interesting to see how they evolve but, really what right do you have to try to speak for every fire emblem fan? Sweeping generalizations are very bad

Edited September 9, 2013 by Folgore Red II

[XeKr]

"Awakening takes Fire Emblem to new heights."

I'm not one for long introductions, so I'll be brief. Fire Emblem: Awakening is the franchise's thirteenth title, and isn't exactly the maverick entry some were expecting it to be. Though it comes with refined mechanics and a fresh coat of paint, Awakening is still classic Fire Emblem through and through. Thankfully, it includes enough major changes to make this the freshest game the series has seen in a long while.

It also happens to be the best.

Graphics

Let's be frank here for a moment. Shadow Dragon and its Japan-exclusive successor, New Mystery of the Emblem, both utilized a "unique" graphical style that can best be described as a cross between claymation and B-movie animatronics. And they were hideous. Though strategy RPGs are rarely graphical powerhouses, even the simple charm of the earlier entries had been done away with, and Awakening was left with the thankless job of atonement on the visual front. And it succeeds (give or take a little controversy; more on that in a bit). While I'm sure some will be upset at the transition away from sprites, the 3D character models look great and animate smoothly in combat, and new options allow for speeding up, slowing down, pausing, and changing the camera angle of battles as is deemed fit. And like all Fire Emblem games, the player has the option of turning off battle animations entirely, shifting the focus towards the very nice map graphics. Unit sprites are colorful and well-detailed given their small size, the map design is varied, and the pop-out effects of the 3DS are utilized well. Very easy on the eyes.

I suppose I should touch on the bit of "controversy" I mentioned earlier: the character designs. Fire Emblem games in the past have tended towards a more tame, realistic approach to design than usual RPG fare. Sure, there may have been oversized axes and impractically-dressed women from time to time, but these were, for the most part, exceptions. Awakening changes things up pretty dramatically here, and it's as love-or-hate an art style as I've ever seen. Hardly a big deal, and I can vouch from personal experience that the designs certainly grow on you over time, but just keep this in mind. Might not hurt to take a look at some of the character portraits before deciding on a purchase.

Music

If there's one area where the game went above and beyond expectations, it would be in the auditory department. Fire Emblem is a series that's graced gamers with consistently strong musical outings, but Awakening sets an entirely new standard. Not only is this remarkable soundtrack leaps and bounds beyond the rest of the series, it's also a legitimate candidate for best Nintendo score in the company's storied history. I say that without exaggeration. If you haven't gotten a chance to listen to some of the tracks yet, a Google search will prove my point far better than anything I can say here. Get to it!

Not only are the stand-alone tunes fantastic, but they're implemented in a fairly unique way. During the course of a skirmish, each song goes through an ebb-and-flow corresponding to time spent on the map and in battle. Your typical map track will use strings, brass, and piano, but once an enemy is engaged in battle, the percussion and bass swell up and add a fitting intensity, only to die down again once the battle ends. Each map song has its own small transition changes, but all work very well, and the limited interruptions (only Enemy Phase and certain boss fights will switch to an entirely new track) give things a nice, cohesive feel.

Gameplay

Any strategy RPG can be aesthetically pleasing, but the meat and potatoes here are the mechanics. Awakening boasts a number of major gameplay updates, most notably the new "double" system that effectively replaced the "rescue" command. In past Fire Emblem games, rescuing was a great way to ferry units around the map, but came at the cost of lower stats and greater vulnerability. Awakening takes the opposite approach: here, when a unit doubles with another, both are rewarded with stat increases, and sizable ones to boot. Like rescuing, doubled units sit either in front or in back, protected entirely from enemy attacks; unlike rescuing, back units can initiate dual attacks (where both units engage the enemy) and, on occasion, nullify enemy attacks with a dual block. Adjacent units who are not doubled can also engage in dual attacks and blocks, and although they won't benefit from the stat increases, this does mean you have an extra unit to control during the next Player Phase.

This is an oversimplified explanation, and adjusting to the new mechanic (especially for those accustomed to older games) takes time. Once the player has the double system down pat, however, it's an absolute treat; and because stat boosts vary by class, a wide range of new strategic options becomes available to the player. Worried an exposed unit is going to get double-attacked? Send a swordmaster over to him for a speed increase. Want to throw a unit into the heat of battle, but are worried he won't quite make it out alive? Throw him a general for a huge defensive boost. You can trade items, double units, drop units, swap units, switch front and back units, switch and drop, drop and trade, trade and swap and switch and drop... it's wonderfully flexible, and rewards the player with a mind for careful item and unit management. And while enemy troops don't have access to the double command, the game is difficult enough to make its use mandatory through most of the campaign.

Speaking of difficulty, this game is one tough cookie. Three default difficulty options are available to the player at the outset- Normal, Hard, and Lunatic- with a fourth difficulty, Lunatic+, as an unlockable. Given that Normal Mode is effectively the "easy" way to play, it's honestly pretty surprising just how challenging it can get in spots. Excluding silly deaths resulting from me bumbling around the indecipherable menus, I'll estimate I had to restart about eight or so times over the course of the 40-odd chapter campaign; coming from someone who's proud to have toppled the series' more difficult entries, it was a rather humbling experience. Hard Mode is a modest difficulty increase- better enemy stats, more reinforcements, the usual fare- but Lunatic Mode is an absurd test of endurance for even the most grizzled SRPG veteran. Awakening's archetypical "Jeigan" unit, Frederick, won't be taking more than two or three clean hits before biting the dust; the rest of your army will be lucky to survive one. But despite its soon-to-be-legendary difficulty, it's a great addition: not only is it sure to please the masochists in the audience, it's also a great demonstration of the versatility of the double system. Getting through this mode requires some very creative doubling strategies, and when that "Chapter Complete" banner floods the screen, the satisfaction always feelsearned, from well-calculated tactics rather than dumb luck. It's nice to see the inclusion of a mode where Awakening's chief new mechanic isn't simply encouraged, but is absolutely essential for even a hope and a prayer of survival.

[i haven't played Lunatic+, but I'm just going to go ahead and assume that it's made for crazy people.]

Other gameplay additions add even more depth to an already complete package. The world map used in Sacred Stones makes an appearance here, with some improvements: grinding levels forever is no longer an option thanks to the limited number of skirmishes available in between each chapter, and traveling merchants selling quality weapons and items (often at a nice discount!) encourage a bit of player exploration to hunt down the best deals. One of the more welcome additions is the triumphant return of the "generation system" found in Seisen no Keifu, which has been absent from the series since. When female units build up S-level supports with a partner, optional Gaiden maps will appear later on in the story with their children as recruitable soldiers, and the growths and skills of the second generation are influenced by which parents were paired together. It's a system oozing with replay value, but as if that weren't enough, Awakening also includes downloadable maps and characters, with new additions being added often. The game even takes a page from FE7, adopting its tactician feature and evolving it into a full-blown, highly-customizable "My Unit" class. Letting the player project an avatar of himself into the game world is a neat bonus, and MU even has the ability to marry and have a kid (recruitable, naturally). There's also a refined promotion system, which combines the best of Sacred Stones and Shadow Dragon, and a bevy of new classes to choose from.

Story

Unfortunately, I can't really comment here, since I don't know a lick of Japanese. What I can say is that Awakening includes a number of surprising crossovers from past titles that will delight longtime fans, as well as a truly staggering number of support conversations (though, unlike FE10, these are all unique). If I were a gambling man, I'd wager that the character development here is tops, a safe bet given the series' pedigree for fleshed-out casts.

But whether or not the plot pans out, Awakening is a certified series highpoint. It looks, sounds, plays, and feelsbetter than any other Fire Emblem entry- and, for that matter, just about any strategy game period. The 3DS finally has a signature piece of software, as well as its first true classic... in Japan. Pray for a stateside release.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10 | Originally Posted: 05/08/12

Game Release: Fire Emblem: Kakusei (JP, 04/19/12)

And who wrote this lovely review? >_>

More on topic-wise, there are numerous obvious criticisms that can be made about this game. Of course, this is true of any game. Reviews are inevitably and inherently highly opinionated, with various subjective factors being more, or less, important for different people.

Edited September 9, 2013 by XeKr

[The Void]

"Awakening is not a true Fire Emblem"

Did any of them say what makes a true Fire Emblem?

[Book Bro]

Who the holy hell plays Fire Emblem for the story? This series has always and forever been about the game mechanics, which are distinctly its own.

Is this the modern, handheld equivalent of reading adult magazines for the articles?

I've seen people say this before and I really don't get why. A video game like FE should aim to have a good story. These types of games are more like interactive novels than anything else, imo. Of course, a game like Angry Birds is a different story, but I do see FE as a little bit above Angry Birds.

[shadowofchaos]

Reviews are inevitably and inherently highly opinionated, with various subjective factors being more, or less, important for different people.

I'm pretty damn sure Westbrick liked Awakening a lot more when he was playing the Japanese version and didn't get the details of the story.

[Anacybele]

I thought the plot was good, but not totally epic like what the Tellius games had, imo. I felt that Awakening's only flaws were that there could've been a much better variety of chapter objectives, it took away weapon weight and the trinity of magic (as well as light magic), and it took away climbing ledges and firing arrows/magic attacks/throwing axes and lances from atop them that you could do in RD. The ledges added a whole new big spin to strategies and stuff. I really want them back!

[Thor Odinson]

I think it's pretty known by now that I have not very nice things to say about the characterisation in this game

To expand though, my main gripe with it is because it has a good system set up for character development with the number of support slots each character has (even though most of them are romantic in the end), and there's so much room for depth, but they wasted it on repetitiveness and gimmicks. I give older games like 4 and 5 a pass because they don't have that system of supports, but it makes me sad when the game is built with the mechanics to support great characterisation, and doesn't really take advantage of it.

Wasted opportunity, basically.

Edited September 9, 2013 by Ezio Auditore da Firenze

[Tribute]

I group it in with pokemon. (Which, similar to awakening, also is going a bit more ambitious with stories in black/2, we'll see in X/Y)

Not every game needs to be the last of us. For most games, as stated above (Yay nintendo fanboying) the plot only needs to be a serviceable vehicle for the gameplay, which isn't to say all the plots are bad, most of them are above average(Read: It has a coherent story), and thats fine.

Edited September 9, 2013 by Tribute

[Aurath8]

Who the holy hell plays Fire Emblem for the story? This series has always and forever been about the game mechanics, which are distinctly its own.

*Raises hand*

I can honestly say that Fire Emblem has the deepest, most complex storytelling of any game I've played. That's in part due to my gaming experiences. Mario has no plot. Pokemon have rather simple ones that are held back by a silent protagonist with pokemon battles doing a lot of the talking. Zelda is a weird one: fantastic, ridiculously detailed lore but relatively thin on the ground with character interaction thanks to another silent protagonist.

By comparison, Fire Emblem, with mountains of text in its main story and just as much in support convos, blows them all out of the water.

Their gameplay is all great though, with the variations in storytelling only serving to provide a unique experience.

[XeKr]

I'm pretty damn sure Westbrick liked Awakening a lot more when he was playing the Japanese version and didn't get the details of the story.

That's my point?

Westbrick apparently thought the story/characterization/localization was worth dropping from 10 to 4, despite the gameplay being "good enough" for dozens of runs and hundreds of hours of play. Fair enough to him if he actually values that stuff that highly.

Edited September 9, 2013 by XeKr