This review contains spoilers
This game is pretty cool. I really like the presentation, art, music and characters. It's all really neat and it has this more sombre atmosphere the other 3DS games don't have I think. It was also the first FE game I decided to man up and play classic mode on, and yeah, it definitely gives the game much more of an edge and it was definitely a choice I might have reconsidered if I knew how some of the stuff in this game was designed. This game has some pretty challenging map design that made me have to reconsider my approach a couple of times (mostly on Celica's route and a bit towards the end of Alm's. It could be frustrating, as I heard many people also say, but I always managed to find a solution in the end).
This game does some stuff differently mechanically that I found interesting just because it differs from the other games I've played. No weapon triangle. No unit inventory, just a single held item. So there's no item durability or anything like that. There's a bunch of mechanical stuff that I barely understand but the mercenaries and archers were pretty cracked.
Story was nice. I know it's most likely a carryover from the original NES game's story, but I also liked how there was no S supports. Less of a focus on matchmaking and there's already essentially canon pairings. I didn't even know this game and Marth's games share the same world so that was cool to learn. There's a pretty cookie-cutter fantasy thing of "rejecting the gods and forging our own path" kind of thing happening. I did like the more emotional moments. Berkut's story was pretty sad in the end, along with stuff like Rudolph refusing to attack Alm which is really sick storytelling through gameplay.
So yeah, the maps were challenging and I played on classic and that could suck, but I still had a good time. Even if you can't get through it, at least give this one a shot. I'm glad I tried classic, because when I did run out of options in that final battle, it sucked losing four of my units and seeing how it impacted their friends and families. I could play again, but I think that emotional impact was nice. This game got me way more interested in actually appreciating Fire Emblem's mechanics and strategy compared to my more easygoing experiences with the previous games I've played, so I will give it that.
This game does some stuff differently mechanically that I found interesting just because it differs from the other games I've played. No weapon triangle. No unit inventory, just a single held item. So there's no item durability or anything like that. There's a bunch of mechanical stuff that I barely understand but the mercenaries and archers were pretty cracked.
Story was nice. I know it's most likely a carryover from the original NES game's story, but I also liked how there was no S supports. Less of a focus on matchmaking and there's already essentially canon pairings. I didn't even know this game and Marth's games share the same world so that was cool to learn. There's a pretty cookie-cutter fantasy thing of "rejecting the gods and forging our own path" kind of thing happening. I did like the more emotional moments. Berkut's story was pretty sad in the end, along with stuff like Rudolph refusing to attack Alm which is really sick storytelling through gameplay.
So yeah, the maps were challenging and I played on classic and that could suck, but I still had a good time. Even if you can't get through it, at least give this one a shot. I'm glad I tried classic, because when I did run out of options in that final battle, it sucked losing four of my units and seeing how it impacted their friends and families. I could play again, but I think that emotional impact was nice. This game got me way more interested in actually appreciating Fire Emblem's mechanics and strategy compared to my more easygoing experiences with the previous games I've played, so I will give it that.
The strangest remake I've ever played. Why was this made? And why is it somehow still great despite not changing NES-era game design?
In my Gaiden review, I said that I believe the differences between Alm’s and Celica’s routes are part of a meta narrative that was meant to showcase the merits of taking risks in game design. You can just read my Gaiden review if you want an in depth explanation of what I mean, but the long and short of it is that Alm’s side has a traditional story and traditional gameplay which leads to it being boring whereas Celica’s side is innovative in both areas and better off for it.
This reading of Gaiden’s material is supported by the changes made in FE15. The sexism present in Gaiden has somehow been made even worse. Not only are all the damsel in distress tropes kept untouched, but now they’re accompanied by horribly uncomfortable C.G. art showing them in vulnerable positions. There’s also the addition of Faye, who fills the (unfortunately common) role of the female character who only exists to be obsessed with the male protagonist. There’s also a much greater emphasis placed on the idea of Alm being an everyman rising up against an oppressive empire despite the fact that the twist of him being a royal is still in the game. By doing this, FE15 plays into 2 tropes that are extremely common within lowbrow media aimed at young men. Alm is at once an underdog beating impossible odds and a chosen one who’s loved by all through no effort of his own.
Looking at Celica’s side, this theme continues. The biggest difference between the routes in Gaiden is that when Celica’s side did the damsel in distress trope, it was other women who saved her. FE15 adds new scenes which put Celica into precarious situations where she is saved by a new character who is, you guessed it, a man. There’s also the ending of chapter 4 where she has her agency taken away from her by Jedah so that she can later be rescued by Alm. While something like this was present in Gaiden, the devil’s in the details. In Gaiden, Celica and her company were fighting off Duma’s forces themselves while waiting to rendezvous with Alm so that they could take out Duma together. In FE15, Celica is imprisoned and is a sitting duck until Alm is able to save her.
What do all these changes have in common? They’re almost unanimously considered to be the worst parts of the game. Exactly. They’re the worst parts. By making the worst elements of the game also be the parts that lean the furthest into patriarchal tropes furthers the message that sticking to tradition is bad and relying on these tropes will only serve to drag down the quality of the work.
This reading of Gaiden’s material is supported by the changes made in FE15. The sexism present in Gaiden has somehow been made even worse. Not only are all the damsel in distress tropes kept untouched, but now they’re accompanied by horribly uncomfortable C.G. art showing them in vulnerable positions. There’s also the addition of Faye, who fills the (unfortunately common) role of the female character who only exists to be obsessed with the male protagonist. There’s also a much greater emphasis placed on the idea of Alm being an everyman rising up against an oppressive empire despite the fact that the twist of him being a royal is still in the game. By doing this, FE15 plays into 2 tropes that are extremely common within lowbrow media aimed at young men. Alm is at once an underdog beating impossible odds and a chosen one who’s loved by all through no effort of his own.
Looking at Celica’s side, this theme continues. The biggest difference between the routes in Gaiden is that when Celica’s side did the damsel in distress trope, it was other women who saved her. FE15 adds new scenes which put Celica into precarious situations where she is saved by a new character who is, you guessed it, a man. There’s also the ending of chapter 4 where she has her agency taken away from her by Jedah so that she can later be rescued by Alm. While something like this was present in Gaiden, the devil’s in the details. In Gaiden, Celica and her company were fighting off Duma’s forces themselves while waiting to rendezvous with Alm so that they could take out Duma together. In FE15, Celica is imprisoned and is a sitting duck until Alm is able to save her.
What do all these changes have in common? They’re almost unanimously considered to be the worst parts of the game. Exactly. They’re the worst parts. By making the worst elements of the game also be the parts that lean the furthest into patriarchal tropes furthers the message that sticking to tradition is bad and relying on these tropes will only serve to drag down the quality of the work.
This game fucking blows I need to get back to good games
Despite what some people say, Fire Emblem Echoes is a faithful remake of Gaiden. This is because both Echoes and Gaiden managed to trick people into thinking they were good video games.
Play Aria of Sorrow because it is the opposite of fe15 (It is fun and well designed)
Berkut and Conrad are better embodiments of Duma and Mila's respective wills than Alm and Celica all the way down to their opposite black/white designs, familial roles, and actions they take throughout the story but no one is ready for this take
Alm is such a good protagonist, and it's a shame he doesn't get the same treatment Celica does nowadays
Ian Sinclair was going fucking CRAZY voicing Berkut in this, every single line he has is insanity and I aspire to be that
Ian Sinclair was going fucking CRAZY voicing Berkut in this, every single line he has is insanity and I aspire to be that
This review contains spoilers
I liked this game a lot, but it falls in the lower half of my Fire Emblem game ranking for a multitude of reasons.
Let me get it out of the way that nearly everything Alm's path is phenomenal.
- The unit variety with stat builds and classes make it very fun to play through, and each unit can fill a specific niche that others can't. Having access to up to four villagers right out the gate allows you to fill specific roles that you feel your army is lacking in at the start, and each of them can become incredibly powerful in their respective roles (namely Gray, that man is busted as hell).
- The cast is very enjoyable and memorable as well, both among your own ranks and the enemy's. Delthea, Clive, Berkut and Alm were the standouts for me.
- Alm's story in and of itself was also very enjoyable, with the stakes growing higher and higher as the story progressed, making it feel like I was actually making change for the continent.
- The map design does fall a bit on the boring side, though, especially with maps like the infamous "literally just four cavaliers in a giant field of nothing" map being all too common, especially early game. Nuibaba's Abode was also an infuriating map to play, but it got better as I replayed the game and learned how to deal with the map's dumb bullshit.
That being said, Celica's path is a near polar opposite, and is the main reason why this game falls short for me in comparison to every other 3DS Fire Emblem.
- Every chapter in Celica's path always has some really boring or downright awful map design choice on nearly every single map. Chapter 2 has the boat maps (i.e. stalling the enemy while you camp on the bridges, making for very uninteresting gameplay); chapter 3 has desert maps galore, slowing down nearly half your amry to a screeching halt while your mages and Whitewings steal all the EXP; and chapter 4 has pretty much all swamp maps, which slows everyone down except for the Whitewings. These three are the unholy trinity of horrible Fire Emblem map design, and Celica's path checks all three boxes.
- Celica's story felt a lot less impactful than Alm's did as well. Conrad felt like a bit of a rehash of Lucina from Awakening, but a lot less memorable than Lucina because he's just like "sup, I'm actually your brother" in the middle of chapter 4 after trying to be super mysterious throughout the earlier chapters, and the twist itself being kinda predictable, if I'm being honest. It didn't really feel like Conrad had much of a reason to hide his identity from Celica, unlike Lucina did from Chrom. Lucina had every reason to hide her identity; she is literally Chrom's daughter from a future where everyone fucking died at the hands of Grima. If that secret got out and spread to, say, the Plegians or the Grimleal, she'd be pretty much screwed. Conrad, on the other hand, just hid his identity because...honestly, I have no idea. Jedah was a lot less memorable than Slayde, Berkut and Rudolf were, and isn't comically evil to a hilarious degree like Fates' Iago and Hans, which is what made those two so satisfying to take down; he's just "I shall serve my lord Duma" and...pretty much nothing else.
- The unit variety in Celica's path is a lot worse than Alm's, too. You start with literally 4 mages, and it gets better once Valbar's gang and Saber join, but after Palla and Catria join, man, it only gets worse. Atlas is nice, having access to a villager to fill whatever role you may be lacking (such as a cavalier or archer, because her path is severely lacking in those departments), but everyone else fills a role you already have in spades. Jesse is yet another mercenary, and the choice between Deen and Sonya adds either another mercenary or another mage, meaning that your army is going to be extremely bloated among one type of unit. In a game like Fates or Three Houses, this generally isn't an issue due to personal skills, an army of up to twice the size and the army having diverse growth rates and base stats, but in a game like Echoes, where each army totals to around 15-20 at the end of their respective paths, it's a pretty big issue. The lack of class variety can be slightly mitigated if you choose to recruit Kliff and Faye in Celica's path instead, but if you do, they'll be severely underleveled and they'll miss out on having meaningful support bonuses, as Celica is their only passive support partner in her route. On top of that, you'll miss out on having two extra units in Alm's path, which is needed, as otherwise, he would have three less units in his army than Celica's if you were to recruit every optional character in both paths.
- Celica's path also has an extreme overabundance of enemy Dread Fighters, which is arguably the strongest class in the game, halving all incoming magic damage as a passive. Given that Celica's army has a very high amount of mages among its ranks...you can probably see the issue.
Outside of that, the game is solid. The general gameplay is a bit on the simplistic side, especially compared to its older 3DS siblings, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The UI looks great, but I personally prefer the UI of Fates. I'm not a sucker for graphics, never have been; graphics are a very low concern for me. However, the 3D models look significantly worse than Awakening and Fates', and the CG cutscenes feel a lot choppier than the aformentioned pair.
Overall, this game is amazing in one half, but borderline awful on the other. If this game consisted of just Alm's path, I would have no problem putting this game in my top 5 Fire Emblems, hell, even as high as my top 3. Unfortunately, because literally near half the game is unbearable to replay and is central to the plot for the story to even function, it drops down several pegs in my eyes.
Let me get it out of the way that nearly everything Alm's path is phenomenal.
- The unit variety with stat builds and classes make it very fun to play through, and each unit can fill a specific niche that others can't. Having access to up to four villagers right out the gate allows you to fill specific roles that you feel your army is lacking in at the start, and each of them can become incredibly powerful in their respective roles (namely Gray, that man is busted as hell).
- The cast is very enjoyable and memorable as well, both among your own ranks and the enemy's. Delthea, Clive, Berkut and Alm were the standouts for me.
- Alm's story in and of itself was also very enjoyable, with the stakes growing higher and higher as the story progressed, making it feel like I was actually making change for the continent.
- The map design does fall a bit on the boring side, though, especially with maps like the infamous "literally just four cavaliers in a giant field of nothing" map being all too common, especially early game. Nuibaba's Abode was also an infuriating map to play, but it got better as I replayed the game and learned how to deal with the map's dumb bullshit.
That being said, Celica's path is a near polar opposite, and is the main reason why this game falls short for me in comparison to every other 3DS Fire Emblem.
- Every chapter in Celica's path always has some really boring or downright awful map design choice on nearly every single map. Chapter 2 has the boat maps (i.e. stalling the enemy while you camp on the bridges, making for very uninteresting gameplay); chapter 3 has desert maps galore, slowing down nearly half your amry to a screeching halt while your mages and Whitewings steal all the EXP; and chapter 4 has pretty much all swamp maps, which slows everyone down except for the Whitewings. These three are the unholy trinity of horrible Fire Emblem map design, and Celica's path checks all three boxes.
- Celica's story felt a lot less impactful than Alm's did as well. Conrad felt like a bit of a rehash of Lucina from Awakening, but a lot less memorable than Lucina because he's just like "sup, I'm actually your brother" in the middle of chapter 4 after trying to be super mysterious throughout the earlier chapters, and the twist itself being kinda predictable, if I'm being honest. It didn't really feel like Conrad had much of a reason to hide his identity from Celica, unlike Lucina did from Chrom. Lucina had every reason to hide her identity; she is literally Chrom's daughter from a future where everyone fucking died at the hands of Grima. If that secret got out and spread to, say, the Plegians or the Grimleal, she'd be pretty much screwed. Conrad, on the other hand, just hid his identity because...honestly, I have no idea. Jedah was a lot less memorable than Slayde, Berkut and Rudolf were, and isn't comically evil to a hilarious degree like Fates' Iago and Hans, which is what made those two so satisfying to take down; he's just "I shall serve my lord Duma" and...pretty much nothing else.
- The unit variety in Celica's path is a lot worse than Alm's, too. You start with literally 4 mages, and it gets better once Valbar's gang and Saber join, but after Palla and Catria join, man, it only gets worse. Atlas is nice, having access to a villager to fill whatever role you may be lacking (such as a cavalier or archer, because her path is severely lacking in those departments), but everyone else fills a role you already have in spades. Jesse is yet another mercenary, and the choice between Deen and Sonya adds either another mercenary or another mage, meaning that your army is going to be extremely bloated among one type of unit. In a game like Fates or Three Houses, this generally isn't an issue due to personal skills, an army of up to twice the size and the army having diverse growth rates and base stats, but in a game like Echoes, where each army totals to around 15-20 at the end of their respective paths, it's a pretty big issue. The lack of class variety can be slightly mitigated if you choose to recruit Kliff and Faye in Celica's path instead, but if you do, they'll be severely underleveled and they'll miss out on having meaningful support bonuses, as Celica is their only passive support partner in her route. On top of that, you'll miss out on having two extra units in Alm's path, which is needed, as otherwise, he would have three less units in his army than Celica's if you were to recruit every optional character in both paths.
- Celica's path also has an extreme overabundance of enemy Dread Fighters, which is arguably the strongest class in the game, halving all incoming magic damage as a passive. Given that Celica's army has a very high amount of mages among its ranks...you can probably see the issue.
Outside of that, the game is solid. The general gameplay is a bit on the simplistic side, especially compared to its older 3DS siblings, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The UI looks great, but I personally prefer the UI of Fates. I'm not a sucker for graphics, never have been; graphics are a very low concern for me. However, the 3D models look significantly worse than Awakening and Fates', and the CG cutscenes feel a lot choppier than the aformentioned pair.
Overall, this game is amazing in one half, but borderline awful on the other. If this game consisted of just Alm's path, I would have no problem putting this game in my top 5 Fire Emblems, hell, even as high as my top 3. Unfortunately, because literally near half the game is unbearable to replay and is central to the plot for the story to even function, it drops down several pegs in my eyes.
Loved the overall aesthetic, the plot is basic but nothing egregious compared to the other 3ds games.
Maps do in fact suck.
Maps do in fact suck.
Shadows of Valentia represents the pinnacle of the 3DS era of Fire Emblem, with strong visuals, sound, writing, and presentation. The gameplay is both challenging yet accessible through smart inclusions of features both old and new. It truly represents the best of Fire Emblem
El mejor juego de Fire Emblem para 3DS, cosa no muy difícil de lograr viendo el desastre que resultaron ser los anteriores.
Se nota que este título fue hecho con amor a la saga clásica y quisieron ser fieles a lo presentado en la aventura original (Cosa buena y mala a la vez)
Ya no tenemos un ridículo sistema desbalanceado como se vio en los anteriores títulos de 3DS, esta vez si se siente que genuinamente estas jugando un juego de rol, el modo dungeon crawler es entretenido, aunque presenta mapas breves, por su naturaleza te incentiva a cuidar bien tus unidades.
Su mayor defecto es querer ser exactamente fiel a los mapas de su versión original Gaiden de NES, si hubieran retocado dichos mapas el juego tendría una nota mas alta.
Del resto es un buen título de rol táctico, la dirección artística, el soundtrack y las actuaciones de voz en ingles fueron impecables. Recomendado.
Se nota que este título fue hecho con amor a la saga clásica y quisieron ser fieles a lo presentado en la aventura original (Cosa buena y mala a la vez)
Ya no tenemos un ridículo sistema desbalanceado como se vio en los anteriores títulos de 3DS, esta vez si se siente que genuinamente estas jugando un juego de rol, el modo dungeon crawler es entretenido, aunque presenta mapas breves, por su naturaleza te incentiva a cuidar bien tus unidades.
Su mayor defecto es querer ser exactamente fiel a los mapas de su versión original Gaiden de NES, si hubieran retocado dichos mapas el juego tendría una nota mas alta.
Del resto es un buen título de rol táctico, la dirección artística, el soundtrack y las actuaciones de voz en ingles fueron impecables. Recomendado.
shit game (endearing)
One of the best titles on the 3DS. Intelligent Systems managed to adapt Fire Emblem Gaiden with both respect and mastery. Every aspect that could be improved has been improved. Fun gameplay, exciting voice acting, impeccable soundtrack.
This is a title that needs to be recommended. It is sad dlc is now locked indefinitely. However, base game is already a complete experience.
This is a title that needs to be recommended. It is sad dlc is now locked indefinitely. However, base game is already a complete experience.
its definitely an nes game but the amount of detail and qol updates makes this a great entry (albeit with its questionable map design)
Don’t like the way they treat Celica (or really any or the female characters).
Desert maps + Valbar makes me want to KERMIT
Art is good tho best in the entire series by far only rivaled by Kita Senri and Kozaki Yusuke
Desert maps + Valbar makes me want to KERMIT
Art is good tho best in the entire series by far only rivaled by Kita Senri and Kozaki Yusuke
Really like a lot about this game just wish it had better maps and the writer wasnt blantantly sexist
They really made Celica dumb in the story by adding stupid plot stuff. It was fine in gaiden, they just had to add dialogue in between. They made Duma Tower worse in the story, that moment in Gaiden was one of the few great ones.
Impressive how a remake in 2017, made the story of a 1992 game worse. But hey, I guess the extra fluff in dialogue is nice.
Impressive how a remake in 2017, made the story of a 1992 game worse. But hey, I guess the extra fluff in dialogue is nice.
This is probably the best game that I’ve repeatedly bounced off of because I didn’t really like the gameplay that I’ve played. I bought it around launch and just finished it… now.
Like, there’s a lot of good stuff in here. The presentation rules! The music’s great (especially that final boss theme!), the full voice acting is some good stuff, the point and click town segments are really flavorful and fun… and boy, the character portraits! Honestly, while I don’t necessarily dislike 3H’s artist, I wish they’d had Echoes’ artist on for more than just this game. I’ve enjoyed their work on multiple series and it would’ve been nice if they got to keep going. I also love the CG cutscene style, which is some of the nicest 3D anime stuff I’ve seen. It’s also nice to have the same localization team as Awakening back in the saddle, as they’ve got that good spice to them.
I feel like this game is in kind of a weird place as a remake, though, because that foundation both helps and hinders the game. FE Gaiden is definitely one of those janky experimental second entries that happened back when the big series were trying to figure out their identities, and I think that carries some interesting stuff along with it. I think the dungeons are cool in concept but they also lead to being perhaps a little too hardcore for the likes of me given how long you can go without a convenient save point in the dang things. Other entries in the series let you save after every map, but you can end up going through what is essentially a gauntlet of maps and then eat shit on the last one.
Speaking of maps… the ones in dungeons are tiny baby maps, while overworld maps tend to be massive and sparse. There’s a lot of turns spent just trying to get your units anywhere near the opposing army so you can do the danged fight, and a lot of maps have nasty hazard tiles. They’re just not super fun to play, is what I’m saying, and I feel like they’re relics of Gaiden map design.
Now the story… that’s the good stuff. Can you believe Berkut’s whole deal was made up for Echoes and he wasn’t in the original game? There’s a lot of really cool stuff about class and really interesting worldbuilding going on here, and I like the cast a lot! Unfortunately I find myself wanting more from the supports, because a lot of the characters have like one partner and therefore don’t get as much exploration as I would like. Also damn all the canon hetero pairings suck except the one that’s intentionally kind of fucked up and maybe Mae and Boey. Even the wife guy and his cool wife are retroactively screwed over by their bad ending slides. You can complain all you like about the dating sim aspects of the modern style games but at least you can angle for an ending that isn’t “this cool knight lady withdrew from society to Be A Wife.”
Also some of the themes are kind of torpedoed by plot points from the original game but like, it’s Fire Emblem, being royalty will always give you superpowers unless you’re Ike, the people’s champion.
Like, there’s a lot of good stuff in here. The presentation rules! The music’s great (especially that final boss theme!), the full voice acting is some good stuff, the point and click town segments are really flavorful and fun… and boy, the character portraits! Honestly, while I don’t necessarily dislike 3H’s artist, I wish they’d had Echoes’ artist on for more than just this game. I’ve enjoyed their work on multiple series and it would’ve been nice if they got to keep going. I also love the CG cutscene style, which is some of the nicest 3D anime stuff I’ve seen. It’s also nice to have the same localization team as Awakening back in the saddle, as they’ve got that good spice to them.
I feel like this game is in kind of a weird place as a remake, though, because that foundation both helps and hinders the game. FE Gaiden is definitely one of those janky experimental second entries that happened back when the big series were trying to figure out their identities, and I think that carries some interesting stuff along with it. I think the dungeons are cool in concept but they also lead to being perhaps a little too hardcore for the likes of me given how long you can go without a convenient save point in the dang things. Other entries in the series let you save after every map, but you can end up going through what is essentially a gauntlet of maps and then eat shit on the last one.
Speaking of maps… the ones in dungeons are tiny baby maps, while overworld maps tend to be massive and sparse. There’s a lot of turns spent just trying to get your units anywhere near the opposing army so you can do the danged fight, and a lot of maps have nasty hazard tiles. They’re just not super fun to play, is what I’m saying, and I feel like they’re relics of Gaiden map design.
Now the story… that’s the good stuff. Can you believe Berkut’s whole deal was made up for Echoes and he wasn’t in the original game? There’s a lot of really cool stuff about class and really interesting worldbuilding going on here, and I like the cast a lot! Unfortunately I find myself wanting more from the supports, because a lot of the characters have like one partner and therefore don’t get as much exploration as I would like. Also damn all the canon hetero pairings suck except the one that’s intentionally kind of fucked up and maybe Mae and Boey. Even the wife guy and his cool wife are retroactively screwed over by their bad ending slides. You can complain all you like about the dating sim aspects of the modern style games but at least you can angle for an ending that isn’t “this cool knight lady withdrew from society to Be A Wife.”
Also some of the themes are kind of torpedoed by plot points from the original game but like, it’s Fire Emblem, being royalty will always give you superpowers unless you’re Ike, the people’s champion.
If the level design were on par with every other aspect of this game, no one would argue with it being the best FE game out there.
Unfortunately, things like level design kinda matter in a strategy game so
Unfortunately, things like level design kinda matter in a strategy game so
Shadows of Valentia is such an interesting case where it's almost a perfect game. The presentation, voice acting, narrative, and music are all so goddamn perfect that it carries that really repetitive and mediocre gameplay that this game has. It's clear that Intelligent Systems wanted this game to be pretty faithful to the original Gaiden in terms of gameplay, but I feel that is what really brings it down for me. Especially in the last quarter of the game where the dungeons become a lot longer and the map design is either nonexistent or really bad.
I do really love this game, but replaying it after 4 years from my last replay has made me realized the game's highs and lows pretty clearly.
I do really love this game, but replaying it after 4 years from my last replay has made me realized the game's highs and lows pretty clearly.
the characters, design, and story were beautiful. a classic fire emblem game beautifully remastered.
To begin, am I the only person on Earth who doesn't like this game? For reference, you could argue that people never liked Gaiden to begin with considering how faithful this game was to it gameplay-wise, but as I said before: gameplay doesn't make Fire Emblem, even though it is interesting to talk about. What I meant by the opening question is that I actually prefer the ORIGINAL NES game over this Remake, which will be a very controversial statement for certain.
So, seeing as this game honestly sucks, what does it do well? For starters, it greatly refines the gameplay of Fire Emblem 2, mainly the dungeon sections which already felt so tactfully added to FE2 back in 1991/1992 (I know, Gaiden REALLY is a guilty pleasure for me). The FEEL of being inside a dungeon was nailed here, and I think FE15 should be credited for that, despite the fact this game came out nearly 25 years after the original. FE15 also perfects the 3DS Fire Emblem graphics, which makes sense considering it's the last FE on the 3DS, and is also the best 3DS Fire Emblem, which is a popular opinion for good reason. I'm not sure how anyone can prefer Fates or Awakening over this game besides the following two scenarios: Fates fans adore Conquest, and could easily make a case explaining why Conquest's a far better designed game than SoV, which is a good argument. However, the problem I have with this mindset is that the game claiming higher ground is Fire Emblem FATES. It has infinitely worse writing than SoV will ever have, and I don't care if Conquest has great maps or fixed Awakening's gameplay mechanics, it's still TERRIBLY WRITTEN. Regarding the Awakening fans, I guess people prefer brainless gameplay over a game where you actually have to think? Awakening too has no significant writing advantage over this game, so yeah, SoV's the best of them all.
Echoes is the first game in the series to implement full voice acting for the characters outside of cutscenes, which is a decision I don't like because I'd rather imagine the characters' voices on my own. Everyone praises the voice acting, but unless you're playing in Japanese, the voices are honestly horrendous, worse than a lot of bad anime dubs in my opinion. FE16 has infinitely better voice acting all across the board. That's how much worse this game is than its successor - FE16 does a lot more refining, even though it still sucks.
Normally, I just talk about the good and bad elements when reviewing a game, but this game is interesting in that, because it's a remake, it is bound to retain many things from Fire Emblem Gaiden. The story was barely changed at all, and I would say it's for the better, because it's the only good story post New Mystery of the Emblem. However, the problem is, the reason why the story is good is because it was ripped straight from Fire Emblem 2, which is a True Fire Emblem game. Same for the OST. Besides having one of the worst Fire Emblem Main Themes I've ever heard in my life (they made it sound incredibly anime, which is SO ANNOYINGLY disrespectful to Yuka Tsujiyoko's Fire Emblem Theme), the rest of the tracks are phenomenal, because they literally modernized an already fantastic NES OST. If you can see the problem, it's the fact this game is so critically dependent on Fire Emblem Gaiden, a game that's widely hated/seen as the black sheep of the Fire Emblem series, so to see FE15 get so much undeserved praise honestly aggravates me. Even Harvester of Eyes, the greatest YouTuber of all time who has left since last year, says Fire Emblem Gaiden is his least favorite True FE, which shows how unpopular of a game it is, and this shallow, solace remake does NOTHING to improve upon its writing. In fact, it does the exact OPPOSITE. It RUINS a solid game, impressing people who don't understand what makes Fire Emblem Fire Emblem, whilst throwing its source material under the bus in doing so. It's not a good remake unlike the DS Marth Duology, which did the single most important thing in being good remakes: they retained the tone of FE1 and 3, respectively. While it is true New Mystery of the Emblem added Kris, they were simply an addition that still managed to stay true to the tone of FE3, and not the "plague" that ruined FE3 like many people say it did. Fire Emblem 12 is amazing because it managed to retain the tone and amazing character writing that makes Fire Emblem so good in the first place. Not so for FE15, which turns all of its characters into anime characters, using the Kaga archetypes as a base, adding anime tropes on top of them, wrecking them in the process.
Now, anime characters are not always one dimensional. In fact, anime is beloved for the exact opposite reason: because anime characters often tend to be complex and multi dimensional. Take Goku from Dragon Ball Z as an example: he's a hero sure, but he's also kinda careless, he's power hungry as all heck, and he's a scumbag to King Kai. That's a compelling character for a show that feels more like a cartoon than an anime. However, I don't find Goku all that relatable, as are most of the Dragon Ball Z cast, which is shared across most anime. The exception would have to be FullMetal Alchemist franchise, which tend to write their characters more realistically, which I vastly prefer. Fire Emblem often avoids anime writing conventions, and their characters tend to be mostly realistic and relatable as a result. For example, I pity Micaiah from FE10 being shafted because I was so invested in her determination to restore Daein back to being a stable nation after Begnion captured it. I don't know why, I just find myself more comfortable being around Fire Emblem characters. They don't feel anime to me at all, and they're amazing because of it. Even Final Fantasy characters veer slightly away from anime writing, though not as thoroughly as Fire Emblem characters, which shows adding unrealistic character quirks can be detrimental if not kept at a minimum. However, that's just me, because I don't like anime where most people REALLY do. Clearly, their enjoyment from anime comes from the fantasy of seeing largely unrealistic characters interacting with a fantasy world. Ironically, part of why I love Fire Emblem so much is because while the worlds are entirely separate from Earth, the characters feel like real people, which is largely uncommon in anime for my experience.
So where does this leave this trash? Simple. FE15 shafts the one dimensional anime stereotypes from FE13 and 14 in favor of writing more complex characters, but the problem is they are handled with the tact and grace as that of a glass shard. Don't worry Glass from Fire Emblem 7, you are far more memorable than ANY of these badly reimagined characters. As stated prior, there wasn't much source material for the writers to work off of, so they kinda ruined a lot of characters in the transitioning process. Again, Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon successfully transitions NES characters, which shows that it CAN be done. You CAN modernize underwritten characters by simply taking the character's base and making them act as if they were real people. Look at Jake's genuinely subtle feelings for Anna, who was just as amazing. Look at Roger's smile inducing flirting with Caeda. They just FEEL more likable because the FE11 writers actually knew how to write Fire Emblem characters, not anime characters disguised as Fire Emblem characters.
Let's start with the positives. Judah is the only character to improve, and is always used to cite how good this game's character writing is, because he's now much less generically evil than he was in FE2. Berkut and Fernand whose characters at the very least, make sense, but they don't feel like Fire Emblem unlike with Judah. A few good characters cannot save a largely bland cast that somehow made the FE2 cast look as if they came from Citizen Kane. Alm and Celica feel more motivated by unrequited love than a desire to save their homeland.
The rest of the characters are simply normal anime characters that I can't care for no matter how much I tried. The character who stood out to me the most as the most blatant form of anime pandering was Nuibaba. This character easily had the worst transition, starting out as a cool cloaked alien monster with an unspecified gender, turned into a generic evil stripper woman with a massive anterior. This is disrespectfully annoying and is proof of this game's true intentions.
One strange thing to point out is the fact the NES game actually handled the Dragon Mountain act better than this game, which instead made it contingent on Celica's stupidity that Alm got stuck, so yeah, to again quote Harvester of Eyes: imagine being worse written and more contrived than an NES game. Even someone else agrees that this game just feels very off, and not at all faithful to its source material besides refining the gameplay and rehashing the same story. The anime-ness of this game muddies not just a solid game, but what is in my opinion, the BEST NES game of all time, tied with Super Mario Bros. 1.
In order to save room for meaningful rambling on my upcoming FE14 review, I decided to end this review by talking about a gameplay decision made by Fire Emblem: Fates. That decision was to basically foreshadow FE2 getting a remake, as FE14 removes weapon durability altogether. I'm not sure if this implies an FE2 remake was always slated for the late 2010s considering FE12 was already a remake of FE3 in 2010 itself, but it's very likely intentional. If that is not the case, I'm curious as to why that decision was even made. Weapon durability is something that Nintendo seems to adore using in recent years, but it has been misplaced. Weapon durability makes sense in Fire Emblem because you can strategize around them, knowing when you might need to buy more. In a game like Breath of the Wild however, it feels forced and out of place, dating the gameplay and hurting it immensely, because there are few things more annoying than fighting an enemy in real time only to have your weapon break in the middle of combat, leaving you defenseless so the only thing you can do is run away. It's very unfair to the player, if you ask me. It's strange that Fire Emblem became more lax and forgiving with weapons, with even Three Houses and Engage retaining infinitely durable weapons to show that they're here to stay. In FE2, the removal of weapon durability was clearly an experimental thing and worked well for that game. However, this feature's removal in Shadows of Valentia makes it feels more like a sequel to Fire Emblem: Fates than a remake to Fire Emblem: Gaiden. It's honestly quite humorous and sad to see how I managed to land that transition better than SoV transitioned an NES game to the 3DS. With all this, it is clear that Intelligent Systems have not learned their lesson, and I honestly hope they do not "remake" games like FE4 or 6, because they would ruin them by turning timeless human characters into generic anime characters.
So, seeing as this game honestly sucks, what does it do well? For starters, it greatly refines the gameplay of Fire Emblem 2, mainly the dungeon sections which already felt so tactfully added to FE2 back in 1991/1992 (I know, Gaiden REALLY is a guilty pleasure for me). The FEEL of being inside a dungeon was nailed here, and I think FE15 should be credited for that, despite the fact this game came out nearly 25 years after the original. FE15 also perfects the 3DS Fire Emblem graphics, which makes sense considering it's the last FE on the 3DS, and is also the best 3DS Fire Emblem, which is a popular opinion for good reason. I'm not sure how anyone can prefer Fates or Awakening over this game besides the following two scenarios: Fates fans adore Conquest, and could easily make a case explaining why Conquest's a far better designed game than SoV, which is a good argument. However, the problem I have with this mindset is that the game claiming higher ground is Fire Emblem FATES. It has infinitely worse writing than SoV will ever have, and I don't care if Conquest has great maps or fixed Awakening's gameplay mechanics, it's still TERRIBLY WRITTEN. Regarding the Awakening fans, I guess people prefer brainless gameplay over a game where you actually have to think? Awakening too has no significant writing advantage over this game, so yeah, SoV's the best of them all.
Echoes is the first game in the series to implement full voice acting for the characters outside of cutscenes, which is a decision I don't like because I'd rather imagine the characters' voices on my own. Everyone praises the voice acting, but unless you're playing in Japanese, the voices are honestly horrendous, worse than a lot of bad anime dubs in my opinion. FE16 has infinitely better voice acting all across the board. That's how much worse this game is than its successor - FE16 does a lot more refining, even though it still sucks.
Normally, I just talk about the good and bad elements when reviewing a game, but this game is interesting in that, because it's a remake, it is bound to retain many things from Fire Emblem Gaiden. The story was barely changed at all, and I would say it's for the better, because it's the only good story post New Mystery of the Emblem. However, the problem is, the reason why the story is good is because it was ripped straight from Fire Emblem 2, which is a True Fire Emblem game. Same for the OST. Besides having one of the worst Fire Emblem Main Themes I've ever heard in my life (they made it sound incredibly anime, which is SO ANNOYINGLY disrespectful to Yuka Tsujiyoko's Fire Emblem Theme), the rest of the tracks are phenomenal, because they literally modernized an already fantastic NES OST. If you can see the problem, it's the fact this game is so critically dependent on Fire Emblem Gaiden, a game that's widely hated/seen as the black sheep of the Fire Emblem series, so to see FE15 get so much undeserved praise honestly aggravates me. Even Harvester of Eyes, the greatest YouTuber of all time who has left since last year, says Fire Emblem Gaiden is his least favorite True FE, which shows how unpopular of a game it is, and this shallow, solace remake does NOTHING to improve upon its writing. In fact, it does the exact OPPOSITE. It RUINS a solid game, impressing people who don't understand what makes Fire Emblem Fire Emblem, whilst throwing its source material under the bus in doing so. It's not a good remake unlike the DS Marth Duology, which did the single most important thing in being good remakes: they retained the tone of FE1 and 3, respectively. While it is true New Mystery of the Emblem added Kris, they were simply an addition that still managed to stay true to the tone of FE3, and not the "plague" that ruined FE3 like many people say it did. Fire Emblem 12 is amazing because it managed to retain the tone and amazing character writing that makes Fire Emblem so good in the first place. Not so for FE15, which turns all of its characters into anime characters, using the Kaga archetypes as a base, adding anime tropes on top of them, wrecking them in the process.
Now, anime characters are not always one dimensional. In fact, anime is beloved for the exact opposite reason: because anime characters often tend to be complex and multi dimensional. Take Goku from Dragon Ball Z as an example: he's a hero sure, but he's also kinda careless, he's power hungry as all heck, and he's a scumbag to King Kai. That's a compelling character for a show that feels more like a cartoon than an anime. However, I don't find Goku all that relatable, as are most of the Dragon Ball Z cast, which is shared across most anime. The exception would have to be FullMetal Alchemist franchise, which tend to write their characters more realistically, which I vastly prefer. Fire Emblem often avoids anime writing conventions, and their characters tend to be mostly realistic and relatable as a result. For example, I pity Micaiah from FE10 being shafted because I was so invested in her determination to restore Daein back to being a stable nation after Begnion captured it. I don't know why, I just find myself more comfortable being around Fire Emblem characters. They don't feel anime to me at all, and they're amazing because of it. Even Final Fantasy characters veer slightly away from anime writing, though not as thoroughly as Fire Emblem characters, which shows adding unrealistic character quirks can be detrimental if not kept at a minimum. However, that's just me, because I don't like anime where most people REALLY do. Clearly, their enjoyment from anime comes from the fantasy of seeing largely unrealistic characters interacting with a fantasy world. Ironically, part of why I love Fire Emblem so much is because while the worlds are entirely separate from Earth, the characters feel like real people, which is largely uncommon in anime for my experience.
So where does this leave this trash? Simple. FE15 shafts the one dimensional anime stereotypes from FE13 and 14 in favor of writing more complex characters, but the problem is they are handled with the tact and grace as that of a glass shard. Don't worry Glass from Fire Emblem 7, you are far more memorable than ANY of these badly reimagined characters. As stated prior, there wasn't much source material for the writers to work off of, so they kinda ruined a lot of characters in the transitioning process. Again, Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon successfully transitions NES characters, which shows that it CAN be done. You CAN modernize underwritten characters by simply taking the character's base and making them act as if they were real people. Look at Jake's genuinely subtle feelings for Anna, who was just as amazing. Look at Roger's smile inducing flirting with Caeda. They just FEEL more likable because the FE11 writers actually knew how to write Fire Emblem characters, not anime characters disguised as Fire Emblem characters.
Let's start with the positives. Judah is the only character to improve, and is always used to cite how good this game's character writing is, because he's now much less generically evil than he was in FE2. Berkut and Fernand whose characters at the very least, make sense, but they don't feel like Fire Emblem unlike with Judah. A few good characters cannot save a largely bland cast that somehow made the FE2 cast look as if they came from Citizen Kane. Alm and Celica feel more motivated by unrequited love than a desire to save their homeland.
The rest of the characters are simply normal anime characters that I can't care for no matter how much I tried. The character who stood out to me the most as the most blatant form of anime pandering was Nuibaba. This character easily had the worst transition, starting out as a cool cloaked alien monster with an unspecified gender, turned into a generic evil stripper woman with a massive anterior. This is disrespectfully annoying and is proof of this game's true intentions.
One strange thing to point out is the fact the NES game actually handled the Dragon Mountain act better than this game, which instead made it contingent on Celica's stupidity that Alm got stuck, so yeah, to again quote Harvester of Eyes: imagine being worse written and more contrived than an NES game. Even someone else agrees that this game just feels very off, and not at all faithful to its source material besides refining the gameplay and rehashing the same story. The anime-ness of this game muddies not just a solid game, but what is in my opinion, the BEST NES game of all time, tied with Super Mario Bros. 1.
In order to save room for meaningful rambling on my upcoming FE14 review, I decided to end this review by talking about a gameplay decision made by Fire Emblem: Fates. That decision was to basically foreshadow FE2 getting a remake, as FE14 removes weapon durability altogether. I'm not sure if this implies an FE2 remake was always slated for the late 2010s considering FE12 was already a remake of FE3 in 2010 itself, but it's very likely intentional. If that is not the case, I'm curious as to why that decision was even made. Weapon durability is something that Nintendo seems to adore using in recent years, but it has been misplaced. Weapon durability makes sense in Fire Emblem because you can strategize around them, knowing when you might need to buy more. In a game like Breath of the Wild however, it feels forced and out of place, dating the gameplay and hurting it immensely, because there are few things more annoying than fighting an enemy in real time only to have your weapon break in the middle of combat, leaving you defenseless so the only thing you can do is run away. It's very unfair to the player, if you ask me. It's strange that Fire Emblem became more lax and forgiving with weapons, with even Three Houses and Engage retaining infinitely durable weapons to show that they're here to stay. In FE2, the removal of weapon durability was clearly an experimental thing and worked well for that game. However, this feature's removal in Shadows of Valentia makes it feels more like a sequel to Fire Emblem: Fates than a remake to Fire Emblem: Gaiden. It's honestly quite humorous and sad to see how I managed to land that transition better than SoV transitioned an NES game to the 3DS. With all this, it is clear that Intelligent Systems have not learned their lesson, and I honestly hope they do not "remake" games like FE4 or 6, because they would ruin them by turning timeless human characters into generic anime characters.
The story was enjoyable and switching between two separate armies was neat, but the terrible map design killed it for me and I generally wasn't a fan of the dungeon crawling sections.
This review contains spoilers
the common criticisms of this game's story are really weird. a lot of people talk about celica's act 4 being the weakest part of the story because her actions make no sense but i think the issue there (and in the plot overall) is much less celica, who i would say is still acting consistently to her character, than it is the way rigel and the duma faithful are portrayed. though by the end the goal of the story is uniting the two countries, you're largely limited to the perspective of zofia with rigel as a constant antagonistic force, and its not until late act 4 they start to be put in a sympathetic light at all. even by the end of the game when man vs god becomes the primary conflict, its only really duma who is seen as an obstacle to overcome. throughout the story mila is just painted as a force of good, especially due to your characters' voice lines constantly mentioning and thanking her. the duma faithful are especially an issue since they're just shown as this overtly evil group with their motivation being an extreme devotion to their god, which is also... one of celica's main motivations, but this is never really pointed out as a negative thing. celica sacrificing herself kinda does this but not well enough. so i wish there had been an actual attempt to make characters like jedah actual characters with understandable motivations and the duma faithful as a religion instead of this weird cult, because it would have been a really easy and effective parallel with the player characters and their worship of mila. its like its half there but they couldn't depart from gaiden enough to not have this crazy evil gharnef guy. (also making the duma faithful less evil would make ruldolf's plan make a bit more sense). but uh whatever i'm complaining about all this but actually i don't care this is one of my favourite games it can do no wrong for me etc etc.
Mae
Gorgeous game. Wish more people talked about it. Different and more unique than most FE games but it executes those things well.
Act3 and 4's gameplay is so ass but it's still so good
This review contains spoilers
fire emblem echoes: shadows of valentia(which will be referred to as fe15 for the rest of this review) is game praised by many fire emblem fans for its engaging story, captivating characters, beautiful art, and breathtaking music. for me, fe15 is truly a game. the game has a story that constantly frustrated me, characters that underwhelmed me, and gameplay that made me want to put it down. in this review, i will break down my qualms with this story and gameplay, starting with the latter. i will admit that i like the art and most of the music, but that is not enough to change my opinion on the rest of the game.
-gameplay-
this game removes the weapon triangle, has a shallow class system, and bafflingly made doubling and being doubled as simple as being a single point or more above the enemy in speed. these changes result in missing what feels like half of your attacks, having many units that feel the same or outclassed by others, and everything being doubled but somehow not killing. these problems are all highlighted best with python, who is one of the worst fire emblem units i've ever seen. fire emblem is no stranger to bad units, but usually you can just replace them with a better unit, which, thanks to this game's unlimited deployment and remarkably low amount of recruitable units, is impossible. the limited inventory also hinders the combat, leading to no interesting decisions like switching weapons for the triangle, for range, for accuracy, for doubling, for literally anything. units cannot take 0 damage too, so armoured units end up being chipped down and weak at being walls. it's almost impressive how bad this gameplay is, considering that the previous entry in the series, fire emblem fates, was almost exclusively praised for its gameplay.
the map design only hurts these problems, being actually archaic. it(to my knowledge) is nearly entirely unchanged from the original 1992 release. each map is either boring or frustrating, with most having annoying terrain placements(which do not help with accuracy!). each map is also full of choke points, making enemies and units funnel between tight paths for many excruciatingly boring turns. at least armoured units are useful for once? not even very much because of how damage is calculated. the maps just feel uninspired and lazy, and are by far the worst part of the game. the world map is also not used in any creative ways, unlike fe13. all it ends up being used for is changing classes, which requires a ton of backtracking to the nearest dungeon, all of which range from boring to frustrating. gameplay isn't a very divisive topic for this game, but i can't overlook it. the supports are even brought back to the battlefield, unlike the recent entries at the time, leading to many players not seeing many of the supports.
-story-
fe15 is probably the single worst fire emblem story i have experienced. it starts incredibly promising, with a classic set of star-crossed lovers and a lord who wants to liberate his lands because he is righteous. you buy alm and celica(the protagonists)'s relationship because their chemistry is real. you understand why alm wants to find her, and how he longs for her. they even use alm's status as a commoner as a point of conflict with the resistance he leads(for some reason) and to highlight the differences between his life and celica's. but we can't have good things here. it is later revealed that alm is actually the son of the evil king alm goes to fight, who not only knew this, but actually planned this. he sent his son away for protection from someone(i forget but i know it's stupid) and planned for his son to come kill him so he could reveal he is actually a noble and then die. i don't have to explain why that is stupid, right? it also undermines the entire conflict of alm proving nobility does not determine worth earlier, but the game just forgets this so i guess i should too.
i'm getting ahead of myself. when alm and celica do reunite for the first time, they fight over what's essentially a misunderstanding, and before alm can pursue her, the woman he has been longing for since childhood, a rockslide conveniently happens to separate them until nearly the finale. besides being overly convenient, it just makes both protagonists look kind of stupid. but whatever, right? there's no other ways to separate the heroes. it's not like they both have separate missions that they could just rationally explain to each other or anything.
later, and this quite possibly is the worst moment in the game, celica is hearing alm call out to her. she is approached by the main villain jedah as he asks her to submit herself to him, and her friends rightly tell her it's a horrible idea. she still goes through with it though, and what a surprise, it was a trick. this moment makes celica look like an absolute buffoon. this moment is similar to the mistakes eirika and anakin make in fe8 and episode 3, except celica has absolutely no reason to trust the villain. it is a forced way to make her a damsel for alm to rescue my the mcguffin, which conveniently has the new power of breaking spells from the previous chronological entry, fe1/11.
a final note that i can't find a place to fit is that the pacing is pretty bad. it usually feels like story beat->few maps with no story->repeat, leading to a lot of the game feeling pretty pointless. there's usually no exploration alm or anyone besides "alm good, bad guys bad."
-art/music-
this will be rather brief, as i find the art and music of fe15 to be the highlight. the art is great, and while the actual animated cutscenes feel very safe and stylistically simple, the character portraits are some of the best in the series. the music is also quite good, although i don't find it to be as show-stopping as many do. i also with this game did what fe13 and beyond did with map music, making the battle themes be remixes of the map themes, but that is a rather small detail.
-final thoughts-
overall, i don't hate this game. i think it starts incredibly promising, and if the gameplay was at all better, and some plot beats and pacing ironed out, i could see this being a great game. i just fail to love it like others do.
-gameplay-
this game removes the weapon triangle, has a shallow class system, and bafflingly made doubling and being doubled as simple as being a single point or more above the enemy in speed. these changes result in missing what feels like half of your attacks, having many units that feel the same or outclassed by others, and everything being doubled but somehow not killing. these problems are all highlighted best with python, who is one of the worst fire emblem units i've ever seen. fire emblem is no stranger to bad units, but usually you can just replace them with a better unit, which, thanks to this game's unlimited deployment and remarkably low amount of recruitable units, is impossible. the limited inventory also hinders the combat, leading to no interesting decisions like switching weapons for the triangle, for range, for accuracy, for doubling, for literally anything. units cannot take 0 damage too, so armoured units end up being chipped down and weak at being walls. it's almost impressive how bad this gameplay is, considering that the previous entry in the series, fire emblem fates, was almost exclusively praised for its gameplay.
the map design only hurts these problems, being actually archaic. it(to my knowledge) is nearly entirely unchanged from the original 1992 release. each map is either boring or frustrating, with most having annoying terrain placements(which do not help with accuracy!). each map is also full of choke points, making enemies and units funnel between tight paths for many excruciatingly boring turns. at least armoured units are useful for once? not even very much because of how damage is calculated. the maps just feel uninspired and lazy, and are by far the worst part of the game. the world map is also not used in any creative ways, unlike fe13. all it ends up being used for is changing classes, which requires a ton of backtracking to the nearest dungeon, all of which range from boring to frustrating. gameplay isn't a very divisive topic for this game, but i can't overlook it. the supports are even brought back to the battlefield, unlike the recent entries at the time, leading to many players not seeing many of the supports.
-story-
fe15 is probably the single worst fire emblem story i have experienced. it starts incredibly promising, with a classic set of star-crossed lovers and a lord who wants to liberate his lands because he is righteous. you buy alm and celica(the protagonists)'s relationship because their chemistry is real. you understand why alm wants to find her, and how he longs for her. they even use alm's status as a commoner as a point of conflict with the resistance he leads(for some reason) and to highlight the differences between his life and celica's. but we can't have good things here. it is later revealed that alm is actually the son of the evil king alm goes to fight, who not only knew this, but actually planned this. he sent his son away for protection from someone(i forget but i know it's stupid) and planned for his son to come kill him so he could reveal he is actually a noble and then die. i don't have to explain why that is stupid, right? it also undermines the entire conflict of alm proving nobility does not determine worth earlier, but the game just forgets this so i guess i should too.
i'm getting ahead of myself. when alm and celica do reunite for the first time, they fight over what's essentially a misunderstanding, and before alm can pursue her, the woman he has been longing for since childhood, a rockslide conveniently happens to separate them until nearly the finale. besides being overly convenient, it just makes both protagonists look kind of stupid. but whatever, right? there's no other ways to separate the heroes. it's not like they both have separate missions that they could just rationally explain to each other or anything.
later, and this quite possibly is the worst moment in the game, celica is hearing alm call out to her. she is approached by the main villain jedah as he asks her to submit herself to him, and her friends rightly tell her it's a horrible idea. she still goes through with it though, and what a surprise, it was a trick. this moment makes celica look like an absolute buffoon. this moment is similar to the mistakes eirika and anakin make in fe8 and episode 3, except celica has absolutely no reason to trust the villain. it is a forced way to make her a damsel for alm to rescue my the mcguffin, which conveniently has the new power of breaking spells from the previous chronological entry, fe1/11.
a final note that i can't find a place to fit is that the pacing is pretty bad. it usually feels like story beat->few maps with no story->repeat, leading to a lot of the game feeling pretty pointless. there's usually no exploration alm or anyone besides "alm good, bad guys bad."
-art/music-
this will be rather brief, as i find the art and music of fe15 to be the highlight. the art is great, and while the actual animated cutscenes feel very safe and stylistically simple, the character portraits are some of the best in the series. the music is also quite good, although i don't find it to be as show-stopping as many do. i also with this game did what fe13 and beyond did with map music, making the battle themes be remixes of the map themes, but that is a rather small detail.
-final thoughts-
overall, i don't hate this game. i think it starts incredibly promising, and if the gameplay was at all better, and some plot beats and pacing ironed out, i could see this being a great game. i just fail to love it like others do.
a HUGE improvement over FE2 gaiden it shows that gaiden had some amazing potential but just had some poor design choices that dragged it down a lot