Notes for my series replay:
- This game has a very unique start for the series up until now. The whole third act prologue is very interesting and got me decently engaged my first time around. Subsequent playthroughs felt like I had been had, but still neat I guess.
- I hope you like Rout the Enemy maps, because Awakening exclusively has Rout and Kill the Boss maps. The maps are nothing to write home about either, as they are mostly pretty static, with maybe 1-2 waves of reinforcements. But Awakening is special, because Hard onwards has AMBUSH reinforcements which is so fucking cool. I felt like this game's difficulty was decently low until my dancer bit the dust due to getting oneshot by a surprise mage. Most times, if you see stairs or forts, you should just block them. But I am still going to be spiteful because I can.
- This game is interesting because it feels like it ran with the reclass system from DSFE and turned it into what it is today. Second Seals were such an interesting and absolutely BROKEN addition to FE13. It added a neat level of customization to your army, as you could reclass anyone you wanted to your heart's content, as Seals are not by any stretch a rare commodity.
- I have stopped making notes about Thieves because they have been glorified lockpicks since FE6, but I want to just say that this game at least lets your other units get access to locktouch, as well as making thieves decent combat units with some reclassing.
- This game went completely overboard with the class skills, as now characters have a flat five skill slots rather than capacity, and it allows for some disgusting skill combinations. For instance, you could run a Vantage/Vengeance dark mage that is essentially invincible because for some reason Nosferatu is fucking broken in this game. You could run an Omni-breaker tactician who just dodges fucking everything, like the one I ran into on Streetpass in 2020 for some reason. The possibilities are only limited by your willingness to grind xp for literal hours in the DLC maps.
- In my last point, I stated that "for some reason Nosferatu is broken", I would like to rectify that comment. I know why Nosferatu is broken, and it's because THEY TOOK AWAY FUCKING WEAPON WEIGHT. What in the blue fuck compelled IS to remove the only thing that balanced stronger weapons in Fire Emblem? In every Fire Emblem prior, dark mages usually sucked fucking balls because they got weighed down to shit because they had 0 con and were slow. But Tharja literally snaps the game over her knee due to the fact that she is decently fast and has no penalties whatsoever. Maybe her hit is a little shaky here and there, but just pairing her up completely negates that problem.
-Speaking of pair up, I wonder what they were thinking with that. It's a neat idea, right? But I just wonder why they were complacent with "lose a unit, gain a unit that now has fucking super powers." Like some of the pair up bonuses are actually obscene in this game, giving characters like +10 or 11 to a stat, essentially covering up any weaknesses they might have. For instance, my Cordelia had like 20 Str by the final chapter because I hadn't been using her as much as Sumia. But none of that mattered because she had an S support with my warrior Donnel who gave +10 Str or some shit every time they paired up. He gains flier mobility, and she gets to be an unstoppable fucking monster, and that's without Galeforce, god knows what she would be with it.
- Galeforce is another issue with FE13, as it furthers the canyon between footlocked units and fliers, as now they get to act twice per turn with no real downside, and it can be inherited to their children as well, who essentially turn out to be better versions of their parents with a little more effort. Oddly enough, they didn't think Canto was okay to bring back... but Galeforce got the green light. I think about that every time I play this game.
-Children are a whole can of worms in this game, but I don't really have the mental energy to write about them in depth, other than neat concept, wildly overpowered and created a rift in the FE community in terms of gameplay focus. They're fine, essentially just weirder versions of their parents with better stats and skill accessibility.
- The plot is solid, I think it could have honestly leaned more into the lore of Archanea and Valentia if they were brave enough, as I think that there are some parallels to be made between Walhart and Alm/Rudolf, and I would love to see if the story had something in terms of Chrom and Marth. It just felt a little generic, with some surprisingly hard hitting moments. I definitely got choked up this time around when Lucina reveals her identity to Chrom and breaks down crying, or when she threatens Robin to protect her father.
- The soundtrack for Awakening is honestly my least favorite of the 3DS titles, but still really, really good. I enjoy "Conquest," "Don't Speak Her Name," "You Have Power Like Mine," and "Id (Sorrow)."
I know I just bitched about game balance in Awakening for a hot minute, but I still really enjoy this game, if for nothing else, the power fantasy. I think that this game is a fun entry if you want to dominate the battlefield with some really good units. The cast is pretty fun, the music is gorgeous, and I think that you could have a worse time with an FE title. The game might be just good, but at least it's not egregiously annoying or tedious like other entries in this series. It also has a nice little bit of fan service here and there as well.
(Fun fact as a last bit: this game both came out on my birthday, and was also my first FE game!)
- This game has a very unique start for the series up until now. The whole third act prologue is very interesting and got me decently engaged my first time around. Subsequent playthroughs felt like I had been had, but still neat I guess.
- I hope you like Rout the Enemy maps, because Awakening exclusively has Rout and Kill the Boss maps. The maps are nothing to write home about either, as they are mostly pretty static, with maybe 1-2 waves of reinforcements. But Awakening is special, because Hard onwards has AMBUSH reinforcements which is so fucking cool. I felt like this game's difficulty was decently low until my dancer bit the dust due to getting oneshot by a surprise mage. Most times, if you see stairs or forts, you should just block them. But I am still going to be spiteful because I can.
- This game is interesting because it feels like it ran with the reclass system from DSFE and turned it into what it is today. Second Seals were such an interesting and absolutely BROKEN addition to FE13. It added a neat level of customization to your army, as you could reclass anyone you wanted to your heart's content, as Seals are not by any stretch a rare commodity.
- I have stopped making notes about Thieves because they have been glorified lockpicks since FE6, but I want to just say that this game at least lets your other units get access to locktouch, as well as making thieves decent combat units with some reclassing.
- This game went completely overboard with the class skills, as now characters have a flat five skill slots rather than capacity, and it allows for some disgusting skill combinations. For instance, you could run a Vantage/Vengeance dark mage that is essentially invincible because for some reason Nosferatu is fucking broken in this game. You could run an Omni-breaker tactician who just dodges fucking everything, like the one I ran into on Streetpass in 2020 for some reason. The possibilities are only limited by your willingness to grind xp for literal hours in the DLC maps.
- In my last point, I stated that "for some reason Nosferatu is broken", I would like to rectify that comment. I know why Nosferatu is broken, and it's because THEY TOOK AWAY FUCKING WEAPON WEIGHT. What in the blue fuck compelled IS to remove the only thing that balanced stronger weapons in Fire Emblem? In every Fire Emblem prior, dark mages usually sucked fucking balls because they got weighed down to shit because they had 0 con and were slow. But Tharja literally snaps the game over her knee due to the fact that she is decently fast and has no penalties whatsoever. Maybe her hit is a little shaky here and there, but just pairing her up completely negates that problem.
-Speaking of pair up, I wonder what they were thinking with that. It's a neat idea, right? But I just wonder why they were complacent with "lose a unit, gain a unit that now has fucking super powers." Like some of the pair up bonuses are actually obscene in this game, giving characters like +10 or 11 to a stat, essentially covering up any weaknesses they might have. For instance, my Cordelia had like 20 Str by the final chapter because I hadn't been using her as much as Sumia. But none of that mattered because she had an S support with my warrior Donnel who gave +10 Str or some shit every time they paired up. He gains flier mobility, and she gets to be an unstoppable fucking monster, and that's without Galeforce, god knows what she would be with it.
- Galeforce is another issue with FE13, as it furthers the canyon between footlocked units and fliers, as now they get to act twice per turn with no real downside, and it can be inherited to their children as well, who essentially turn out to be better versions of their parents with a little more effort. Oddly enough, they didn't think Canto was okay to bring back... but Galeforce got the green light. I think about that every time I play this game.
-Children are a whole can of worms in this game, but I don't really have the mental energy to write about them in depth, other than neat concept, wildly overpowered and created a rift in the FE community in terms of gameplay focus. They're fine, essentially just weirder versions of their parents with better stats and skill accessibility.
- The plot is solid, I think it could have honestly leaned more into the lore of Archanea and Valentia if they were brave enough, as I think that there are some parallels to be made between Walhart and Alm/Rudolf, and I would love to see if the story had something in terms of Chrom and Marth. It just felt a little generic, with some surprisingly hard hitting moments. I definitely got choked up this time around when Lucina reveals her identity to Chrom and breaks down crying, or when she threatens Robin to protect her father.
- The soundtrack for Awakening is honestly my least favorite of the 3DS titles, but still really, really good. I enjoy "Conquest," "Don't Speak Her Name," "You Have Power Like Mine," and "Id (Sorrow)."
I know I just bitched about game balance in Awakening for a hot minute, but I still really enjoy this game, if for nothing else, the power fantasy. I think that this game is a fun entry if you want to dominate the battlefield with some really good units. The cast is pretty fun, the music is gorgeous, and I think that you could have a worse time with an FE title. The game might be just good, but at least it's not egregiously annoying or tedious like other entries in this series. It also has a nice little bit of fan service here and there as well.
(Fun fact as a last bit: this game both came out on my birthday, and was also my first FE game!)