(Review from 2017) This might be one of my favourite Fire Emblem's. Mila's Turnwheel is an addition that should be added to every other Fire Emblem going forward, and the story and characters have excellent voice acting and narrative. The game does have a few parts that are a bit of a slog (when you're on the map getting enemies thrown at you when you move), and the end game is long as hell, but the rest is great.
(Addendum) This game was my third highest on the 3DS by average play time (over 4 hours per session) which says something about engrossed I was in this game.
(Addendum) This game was my third highest on the 3DS by average play time (over 4 hours per session) which says something about engrossed I was in this game.
If there was one game I wish I could experience again for the first time, it would be this. Amazing presentation, music, art style, characters, and voice acting. Swamp maps are annoying but Faye is even more so
es tan bueno que la verdad es que no sé qué decir
First Fire Emblem I played all the way through. Great game and the voice acting was really good. Late game had some unnecessary hard fights.
Considering how simple the gameplay is, I'm surprised how the game captivated me.
Do wish they added more supports though. It didn't need to be Awakening or Fates level but just not making it average at 1-2 supports per character.
Do wish they added more supports though. It didn't need to be Awakening or Fates level but just not making it average at 1-2 supports per character.
when the emblem is fire
This review contains spoilers
Artyle, music, gameplay were all phenomenal. Story and characters are alright execept for one. I liked Conrad but felt like he is a flat detriment to Celica's character in many ways. so, Minus half a star for him and some other choices made I guess.
What this game has above Awakening is the insanely good art and voice direction. This was the only 3DS Fire Emblem to feature almost full voice acting. It kept things engaging all the way through. This game is a remake of an NES title, so it doesn't include the modern FE waifu shit. Some prefer that, but that was the stuff that got me interested in the series to begin with. The map designs are also super dated. All of that aside though, it was a very enjoyable experience and its one of the best looking games on the 3ds.
I had a blast replaying Fire Emblem Echoes because it is my FAVORITE fire emblem game. Alm and Celica continue to be my favorite characters (they are my children) and surprisingly, Fernand is in my top 3 now all because his english va is Ray Chase and I had little knowledge about va's back in 2017. I LOST MY MIND WHEN I REALIZED FERNAND WAS RAY I HAD A FREAKING MELTDOWN Ray Chase is one of my favorite va's :,) (i had an overall meltdown when i realized how stacked the va cast was but ray chase was on a whole other level)
The music? I'm eating it. that's a fucking 10-course meal right there.
The art? I'm also eating that. Hidari's art is so scrumptious and works so well for the remake because it invokes a sense of nostalgia. It's warm and welcoming.
I love Alm and Celica so much. They both want to save Valentia and bring peace, but don't meet eye to eye. Their deep bond, trust, how much they care for each other ;-; IM GENTLY HOLDING THEM
As much as I love this game to death, it left me thinking about what could be improved. Supports could be improved. Three Houses really spoiled me with support and helped me realize this. Supports could be longer and that could really help flesh out a lot of the characters. Faye's a good character, but all she's known for is her love for Alm. Alm's support doesn't do much and neither does Silque's, stunting her as a character. If you recruit Faye to Celica's team, you get no support conversations, making her very basic and just there to deal damage. Genny is kind of the same way. If you fail to recruit Sonya, she's kind of just there. The same with Berkut, Rinea, and Fernand who have a lot of potential. If there were more supports or memory prisms to dive deep into the character, oh wow then the characters would be so much more complex and intriguing. (So many ideas are buzzing around in my head AAHHHHHHHH)
The dungeon crawler mechanic is really unique and I think it should be in future FE games. Echoes integrate characters from archanea, which expands the world-building and I love it when games do that. Knowing there are characters from other lands opens up Valentia rather than isolates it (and the fact that you can go to archanea in act 6). It also makes me interested in playing the original. I want to get to know these characters more from what I discovered from the supports. One day I'll explore archanea.
For now I'm going to think about Fernand and the game and the doc I'm going to write. Will I post it here? Maybe who knows. Or maybe I'll edit this because I have a lot of thoughts about the game.
The music? I'm eating it. that's a fucking 10-course meal right there.
The art? I'm also eating that. Hidari's art is so scrumptious and works so well for the remake because it invokes a sense of nostalgia. It's warm and welcoming.
I love Alm and Celica so much. They both want to save Valentia and bring peace, but don't meet eye to eye. Their deep bond, trust, how much they care for each other ;-; IM GENTLY HOLDING THEM
As much as I love this game to death, it left me thinking about what could be improved. Supports could be improved. Three Houses really spoiled me with support and helped me realize this. Supports could be longer and that could really help flesh out a lot of the characters. Faye's a good character, but all she's known for is her love for Alm. Alm's support doesn't do much and neither does Silque's, stunting her as a character. If you recruit Faye to Celica's team, you get no support conversations, making her very basic and just there to deal damage. Genny is kind of the same way. If you fail to recruit Sonya, she's kind of just there. The same with Berkut, Rinea, and Fernand who have a lot of potential. If there were more supports or memory prisms to dive deep into the character, oh wow then the characters would be so much more complex and intriguing. (So many ideas are buzzing around in my head AAHHHHHHHH)
The dungeon crawler mechanic is really unique and I think it should be in future FE games. Echoes integrate characters from archanea, which expands the world-building and I love it when games do that. Knowing there are characters from other lands opens up Valentia rather than isolates it (and the fact that you can go to archanea in act 6). It also makes me interested in playing the original. I want to get to know these characters more from what I discovered from the supports. One day I'll explore archanea.
For now I'm going to think about Fernand and the game and the doc I'm going to write. Will I post it here? Maybe who knows. Or maybe I'll edit this because I have a lot of thoughts about the game.
Gameplay and map design is meh, but the presentation and characters are so likeable and charming that it doesn't matter. The complete inverse of Fates.
Drastically modernized remake of the 25-year-older second game in the franchise with good execution overall.
+ excellent gameplay presentation particularly for the clean zoom into swift battle animations
+ relatively personal storytelling that focuses on both main characters equally in their respective routes
+ clear cast separation making few units truly obsolete
+ outstanding soundtrack featuring the arguably best vocal track of the series
+ neat overworld map for free travel
+/- linear class progression for most units
- interesting but unpolished 3D dungeon crawler segments
- a lot of pointless but unavoidable battles padding out the game time
+ excellent gameplay presentation particularly for the clean zoom into swift battle animations
+ relatively personal storytelling that focuses on both main characters equally in their respective routes
+ clear cast separation making few units truly obsolete
+ outstanding soundtrack featuring the arguably best vocal track of the series
+ neat overworld map for free travel
+/- linear class progression for most units
- interesting but unpolished 3D dungeon crawler segments
- a lot of pointless but unavoidable battles padding out the game time
I love almost everything about this game. The story, the characters, the music, the art, and the voice acting are all phenomenal and some of the best in the franchise from what I've played. However, the maps aren't greatly designed and gets repetitive towards the end. But in the end, I still like this game.
Despite being based on a mediocre game, Echoes stands apart by being actually good. Some of the best presentation in any game I've ever seen, only held back by forcing itself to be too similar to the game it is based off of.
this game reminded me that i like men.
definitely the best of any fe i've played (which isn't that many, but still). story was great, if a bit predictable, and the gameplay was fun. slightly dated, as this is a remake of an old ass game, but fun regardless. i also loved the characters, it's not often that characters who do basically nothing end up among my favorites and this game has a ton, zeke, tatania, and delthea (mostly cause she got REALLY FUCKING STRONG by the end) especially.
definitely the best of any fe i've played (which isn't that many, but still). story was great, if a bit predictable, and the gameplay was fun. slightly dated, as this is a remake of an old ass game, but fun regardless. i also loved the characters, it's not often that characters who do basically nothing end up among my favorites and this game has a ton, zeke, tatania, and delthea (mostly cause she got REALLY FUCKING STRONG by the end) especially.
This review contains spoilers
I moved in with my partner and we started sharing game libraries. I had very few games that my partner hadn't already played or owned, but my partner had way more games that I wanted to play. So I was told I had to beat two of their peak games to get access to their library. Fire Emblem Echoes and Sekiro it was. In return I'm making them play Xenoblade 3 finally since it's one of my peak games.
I had tried Fire Emblem before so thought this should go first, albeit grudgingly. I had tried Three Houses and FE7 to not that much love so I was really skeptical.
And then I started to enjoy it. Well, most of it.
Alm Route was great. Bekut was just fantastic, and I can't believe he's not in Gaiden. The rather obvious Star Wars father plot twist was coming and I knew for most of the game due to various signs, but HOO BOY that elevated the Star Wars Dad reveal. Rudolf has to be one of the most tragic good guys in existence too, I feel so bad for him. The characters on this side were fantastic.
Celcia Route just didn't hit for me as much as Alm. The swamp maps destroyed my confidence every time. I didn't enjoy the characters as much as Alm's route, despite Saber and Leon doing some HEAVY lifting. I also was never quite sure what exactly Celica's goals were, and her turning herself over to Jedah just felt.... off and rather forced. I do kinda wish we saw more of Jedah and the religion of Duma outside of the, hehe we're evil and we follow an evil god.
On a third note, the Voice Acting really elevated some of the writing in this game to insane degrees. Voice lines like UNCLEEEE, just don't hit as hard without the insanely talented cast in this game.
Overall the plot was really good, despite some misshaps on Celica's side, and some of the maps making me want to pull my hair out. (I'm looking at you swamp maps, and maps with only one path into enemy territory if you don't have a pegasus knight)
I had tried Fire Emblem before so thought this should go first, albeit grudgingly. I had tried Three Houses and FE7 to not that much love so I was really skeptical.
And then I started to enjoy it. Well, most of it.
Alm Route was great. Bekut was just fantastic, and I can't believe he's not in Gaiden. The rather obvious Star Wars father plot twist was coming and I knew for most of the game due to various signs, but HOO BOY that elevated the Star Wars Dad reveal. Rudolf has to be one of the most tragic good guys in existence too, I feel so bad for him. The characters on this side were fantastic.
Celcia Route just didn't hit for me as much as Alm. The swamp maps destroyed my confidence every time. I didn't enjoy the characters as much as Alm's route, despite Saber and Leon doing some HEAVY lifting. I also was never quite sure what exactly Celica's goals were, and her turning herself over to Jedah just felt.... off and rather forced. I do kinda wish we saw more of Jedah and the religion of Duma outside of the, hehe we're evil and we follow an evil god.
On a third note, the Voice Acting really elevated some of the writing in this game to insane degrees. Voice lines like UNCLEEEE, just don't hit as hard without the insanely talented cast in this game.
Overall the plot was really good, despite some misshaps on Celica's side, and some of the maps making me want to pull my hair out. (I'm looking at you swamp maps, and maps with only one path into enemy territory if you don't have a pegasus knight)
Best game in the series! Stellar presentation in music, dialogue, UI and gameplay. Some people say the map design sucks, but I personally had zero problem with that
gets a little annoying to play in the last quarter. but good. I hate cantors
A great way to end the 3DS FE lineup. The art by Hidari is still the best the series has seen, the characters and story are great, all good notes. There are complaints that the maps aren't changed from the original, but ??? it's a remake? I think it's a great game regardless.
It's peak.
Great voice acting
I find the story of shadow of valentia very interesting. Instead of letting you create an avatar, like these last games, it puts you in the shoes of two protagonists Alm and Celica in which their campaigns develop in parallel until they converge at certain points in the story.
It also brings us the possibility of exploring cities and dungeons. Something that hopefully will return in future sagas and all this accompanied by an epic soundtrack.
The negative point is the gameplay. Playably, both awakening and fates, with worse stories, have a better combat system.
La historia de shadow of valentia me parece muy interesante. En vez de dejarte crear un avatar,como estos últimos juegos, te pone en la piel de dos protagonistas Alm y Célica en cual sus campañas se van desarrollando palarelamente hasta converger en ciertos puntos de la historia.
También nos trae la posibilidad de explorar ciudades y mazmorras, algo que ojalá vuelva en futuras sagas, todo esto junto con una banda sonora épica.
El punto negativo es la jugabilidad. Jugablemente, tanto awakening como fates, con historias peores, tienen mejor sistema de combate.
It also brings us the possibility of exploring cities and dungeons. Something that hopefully will return in future sagas and all this accompanied by an epic soundtrack.
The negative point is the gameplay. Playably, both awakening and fates, with worse stories, have a better combat system.
La historia de shadow of valentia me parece muy interesante. En vez de dejarte crear un avatar,como estos últimos juegos, te pone en la piel de dos protagonistas Alm y Célica en cual sus campañas se van desarrollando palarelamente hasta converger en ciertos puntos de la historia.
También nos trae la posibilidad de explorar ciudades y mazmorras, algo que ojalá vuelva en futuras sagas, todo esto junto con una banda sonora épica.
El punto negativo es la jugabilidad. Jugablemente, tanto awakening como fates, con historias peores, tienen mejor sistema de combate.
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.
Best presentation Fire Emblem has had, sad we'll never get it again. Beautiful character designs, wildly good music(that I was shocked to find was all just remixes of the dang NES tracks!), peak vibes. Just a joy to go through and see the story through to the end. The Fire Emblem I'd recommend most to people who simply want a nice JRPG/SRPG experience without particularly wanting to get into Fire Emblem, because it's both poorly representative of Fire Emblem gameplay as a whole, and not a very good Fire Emblem to play. On its on, though, as something on the outside - indeed, as a gaiden, it's great.
One of the best 3ds games. Incredible soundtrack, good story, it has the pretiest art design in the series. Some maps are wack, but this is one of the best games that I ever played.
Jedah so underrated
listen, I hear the story is real good, but the gameplay bored me too much to want to continue with it. as of writing this the slowest FE game I've played
greatest two path game ever and im dead serious, everything from the gameplay to story to score to art style is peak
Art direction and ost is my fav in the series so far but gameplay and map design make it so hard for the game overall to be a fav.
the maps suck but the general gameplay loop makes up for it and this is the best presentation in any FE game like ever
Possibly the best story of modern FE alongside Three Houses. One of the most impressive 3DS titles visually and having every character conversation voiced was a first for the series and it adds even more emotion to the stories of characters. Unfortunately, the gameplay of later maps and some enemy units begin to suck the fun out of the game. Slow poisonous swamp levels and enemies that teleport to the player and one shot their units are not fun to fight and the start of the game is a bit slow before you get a full team. You do feel like you are truly building an army in this and it is very satisfying to show up to the final few levels with a massive amount of units you trained.