Fire Emblem: Awakening

[K-NiGhT]

Bump

Thinking of getting this. Convince meh

[Echo]

Have you played an FE game before? Because my basic opinion is that it's great for newcomers, but kinda lacking in the core gameplay if you're a veteran of the series.

Either way, it has quite a bit of content even without DLC, so it'll probably last you quite a while if you try to get Support conversations and stuff. Support conversations are talks between characters that are unlocked by using them together, and there's like 50~ playable characters, so that's a lot of dialogue to read. Other features include how characters can change to different classes to learn different Skills and use different weapons, as well as how stat gains are randomized for each character. This adds up to a lot of replay value, since a character might be great one playthrough, and subpar in another, and the whole re-classing and Support aspects let you experiment and try something new with each playthrough.

Aesthetically, the graphics are great and the music's phenomenal. Voice acting's really well-done too, and it even has Dual Audio (or you can even mute the voices). Story-wise, the main plot isn't too remarkable overall, but it still delivers in some key moments. Also, the characters themselves and their interactions with the rest of the cast are pretty entertaining.

Side-note about the graphics: The 3D is really good. Like, one time, there was a bird flying around on the map, but I wasn't paying much attention, so I thought there was an actual bug flying around the screen. >_>

When it comes to the actual gameplay... Well, the engine's great, with the menus and UI being the best in the series. Even just watching the battle animations is kinda fun due to the voice acting for the characters, and the fighting's dynamic since you can pause/fast-forward the battles, or you can change the camera angles, such as in a first person view.

As for the actual strategic component, it's one of the easier games in the series, and there's even a Casual/Newcomer Mode to appeal to an even wider playerbase. Casual Mode is where if your character is defeated, you can still use them in future battles, unlike in Classic Mode, where the character gets killed or too injured to fight again. So for newcomers, it's really accessible, and is in my top two in the series to recommend newbies to start off with. On the flipside, for experienced players, the game might not deliver on giving a real challenge. Even the hardest default difficulty (Lunatic) is pretty easily broken, with most of the challenge only lasting the first few chapters (although, it'd probably be hard if your first playthrough of the game is going into Lunatic blind). Fundamentally, map design isn't up to par, since most of the maps are just big open areas with some enemies littered about, as opposed to previous games' maps, which had more meaningful terrain to utilize and maneuver around, chokepoints, fog of war, etc. Awakening lacks those kinds of things, but at least the maps look nice.

I'll mention a bit about multiplayer and DLC too. All multiplayer is local only, and the only real interaction is in a co-op mode where you fight teams of enemies with your team's units (no maps though, just pure battling with your units' Weapon/Skill setups). The rest is through Streetpass, where you can send your teams for other players to fight. Your Avatar (custom character) can also be recruited, and the other player can buy items off of your team too, so it's also a supportive system as well as a competitive one.

When it comes to DLC, it's mainly fanservice. The first series is mainly about fighting characters from previous games, so long-time fans can have fun with that, while unfamiliar players get a sort of introduction to the rest of the series. The second series mainly elaborates on the main game's story and characters, with more dialogue between them, as well as offering challenging side-story scenarios. Rewards for DLC include recruiting characters from previous games, special exclusive classes and Skills, as well as being able to get multiples of rare items that you would otherwise only have one of. There's a good variety, with each set of DLC offering something different whether for story expansion, grinding opportunities, or new gameplay options. It's pretty costly though, at about six dollars for three maps, with 25 maps total.

tl;dr it's a good game, and I particularly recommend it to players who have never played Fire Emblem before. At the very least, try out the demo.

[K-NiGhT]

sold

added this to my wish list

[Waddle Bro]

Man, now I want to buy this game too.

[SlowPokemon]

I don't lol

[blueflower999]

I think Shado is going to make me buy it.

[TheZeldaPianist275]

I don't lol

Are you serious?  Why not?  It looks phenomenal, and I think is tied with New Leaf for having the best reviews of ANY 3DS game :O

[K-NiGhT]

I picked this up yesterday finally.

omfg it's fantastic i love it so much

[Yugi]

I finished Fire Emblem: Awakening

Rankings of the party members according to a sorter: might come out with a proper ranking later

1   Kellam
2   Gangrel
3   Gaius
4   Virion
5   Owain
6   Tharja
7   Henry
7   Basilio
9   Gregor
10   Severa
11   Lon'qu
12   Cherche
13   Inigo
14   Frederick
15   Nowi
16   Lissa
17   Noire
18   Flavia
19   Lucina
20   Vaike
21   Donnel
22   Ricken
22   Maribelle
22   Panne
22   Cordelia
22   Libra
22   Anna
22   Yen'fey
29   Gerome
30   Sully
30   Olivia
32   Chrom
32   Stahl
34   Nah
35   Yarne
36   Miriel
36   Sumia
36   Tiki
36   Emmeryn
36   Kjelle
41   Brady
42   Morgan
43   Cynthia
43   Walhart
43   Aversa
43   Priam
47   Say'ri
47   Laurent

[close]

kellam why are you up there get down

Also here's the sorter if anyone wants it: http://fe13sorter.tumblr.com/

[Maelstrom]

Bump.
I've been replaying it on hard mode and trying to get all the children with good skills
Why do all the paralogue enemies have to have forged weapons?!?!

[fingerz]

I've never been a 'thinking' gamer but I was given this as a present by my younger brother for Christmas... It's good. Damn confusing as to how to get characters and weapons and EVERYTHING, but it's fun. At least it's not an RPG.

[Maelstrom]

It's an SRPG.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. I'm sure either me or Nebbles will help out.

[fingerz]

Yeah, I gathered from all of the items and levelling and stuff that it's RPG-esque, but thankfully it's not enough to turn me off. I'll have to get back to playing it soon!

[Maelstrom]

You had better not be on filthy casual mode

[fingerz]

Is that an in-game mode? Or are we talking about playing it casually?

Either way, it takes me a while to warm up to anything not Mario or Pokemon, so I'll play it for a bit and then come back to it. Plus, it's gotta be easy for me at the start, otherwise I'll get frustrated and not pick up again. Which reminds me, Monster Hunter... *shudder*