Fire Emblem: Awakening

 3DS
User Score
9.0

Universal acclaim- based on 1633 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,475 out of 1633
  2. Mixed: 78 out of 1633
  3. Negative: 80 out of 1633
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  1. nickojeda612
    Nov 14, 2016
    10
    This was one of the best 3DS games that I have played. The initial reason that I had gotten a 3DS was to play pokemon but I was surprised to see that this FIre Emblem game was much more fun (to me). I had played previous version on the Gamecube and Gameboy and was upset that over the years the franchise had been declining. This was a great way for the series to be revived from the brink of death.
  2. geo333
    Sep 15, 2016
    9
    Great strategy game with some beautiful 3D visuals and great characters. As a first time player the game feels like a chest game in that every move could be a great or a bad move in either scenario your at fault if you win or lose. Definitely recommend it to strategy or chest players. Overall. a 9.5 score.
  3. TemplarGR
    Sep 10, 2016
    10
    Great game, one of the best on the 3DS, and one of the few system sellers it has, as it is a game which can compete with other platforms, if you disregard the graphics for a second.

    Great production values, very nice story, good gameplay, tons of content. This game is one of the best purchases you can make if you own a 3DS. If you like strategy games, tactics, SRPGs, this is a no brainer.
  4. KmowXIV
    Jun 19, 2016
    0
    I have been playing Fire Emblem since the second game in the series. Not the second localised one, the actual second game on the Famicom. Seeing this... Destruction of a franchise I hold near and dear to my heart, and then to see people praising it... Well, it was enough to make me give up on this series. So... Where do I begin?
    The plot is garbage. It feels like 3 stories glued together,    I have been playing Fire Emblem since the second game in the series. Not the second localised one, the actual second game on the Famicom. Seeing this... Destruction of a franchise I hold near and dear to my heart, and then to see people praising it... Well, it was enough to make me give up on this series. So... Where do I begin?
    The plot is garbage. It feels like 3 stories glued together, with plot holes ridden throughout, as well as feeling like less of an SRPG and more of a Visual Novel. Characters can barely be called such, all of them have a single personality trait, and that's it. It's sad when Fire Emblem 4, which came out almost 20 years ago, has more developed and 3-dimensional characters.
    The gameplay is departure from even the previous game, and has so little strategy, that the closest you get is a game mode where people write guides on how to do exactly everything. When the beauty of Fire Emblem comes in the customization. Seriously, If you want a good Fire Emblem game with a Mature story (something people who praise this game claim it has), go play Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War.    … Expand
  5. sonicgum15
    Jun 17, 2016
    10
    I usually don't write out reviews for games, especially not in this format. But I felt the need to in order to get my opinion out there, and in my opinion, Fire Emblem: Awakening is the BEST 3DS game that I've ever played. And I will explain why:

    What is easily one of my favourite aspects of this game is it's characters, as well as it's story. Many, if not most of the characters in this    I usually don't write out reviews for games, especially not in this format. But I felt the need to in order to get my opinion out there, and in my opinion, Fire Emblem: Awakening is the BEST 3DS game that I've ever played. And I will explain why:

    What is easily one of my favourite aspects of this game is it's characters, as well as it's story. Many, if not most of the characters in this game are just so well-written and defined. Most of them are all really memorable, charming and likeable in their own way. Their individual personalities are part of why a lot of them are so endearing and worth caring about. And what helps is the Support system of this game. The Support system of this game lets you build relationships/friendships with different characters over the course of the game by pairing two units together in battle and have them help each other out in some way. If their bonds are strong enough, you can have Support conversations with them and potentially have two characters married, or have built a strong friendship over the course of the game. Now these conversations really help flesh out and develop these characters, and it gives us even more of an incentive to care about them. If you have two particular characters that you want to ship together, then this becomes even more satisfying and it helps you get invested in the story. Now admittedly, when you look back in hindsight over how a real life relationship/friendship might grow, they may seem sort of rushed. But these conversations are just so well-written, that you're not gonna care and you can honestly buy how certain characters would talk to each other and how they get married, or build a strong friendship with each other. My only main gripe with this system is that you can't ship every single character over the course of the game with whoever you want, only certain characters. This could be a potentially big problem for someone who wants to ship/build a friendship with two certain characters together, but can't. (i.e. Lissa and Olivia) But regardless, the options of what you're given are more than enough to your satisfaction, and from what I can tell, all the other conversations are in DLC, so if you're willing to invest money just to see them, then by my guest. As for the actual story, it's really well-written. How it unfolds is very interesting, you can feel the stakes if what's going on, and caring about the characters only helps care about what's going on even more. It feels epic, but also intimate enough to keep you invested, and the plot points are just very well executed that you can look past the tropes in this kind of story. The lore and setting of this world is very interesting and you actually can't help but go out of your way to experience it more. Again, my only main gripe with the story is how convoluted it can be at times, especially with your avatar's backstory, but it's well done and intriguing nonetheless. So yeah, awesome characters and story aside, how's everything else?

    The presentation of this game is really top-notch. The fully rendered CGI cutscenes look wonderful and it's honestly incredible how well they look on a handheld system. The voice acting is solid and it helps give a nice sense of personality to each character. The music is really well done and it feels epic and many of them are just so pleasant to listen to when you're playing the game. My only few minor gripes with the presentation is that when the cutscenes are in text boxes, the voice acting is only in spurts, not throughout. Which I find kinda odd, considering the fact that the fully-rendered cutscenes are fully voice acted with no problems, And ideally, I really would've liked more cutscenes like the fully-rendered ones. but, whatever, I guess you can't have everything. But the presentation is undoubtedly impressive regardless, especially in battle.

    Speaking of battle, the gameplay is phenomenal in this game. It's just complex enough, but also simple enough for both newcomers, and hardcore fans to enjoy. Early on, you can choose to play in Classic or Newcomer mode. Classic mode is that whenever your characters die in combat, they don't come back, ever. But in Newcomer mode, it's the opposite of that. It's really well-appreciated new feature that can really help expand this franchise's audience without alienating the old fans, considering this is my first Fire Emblem game in the series. The gameplay is just so much fun, figuring out your next strategy, how combat encounters may, or may not turn out, pairing characters together and how they defeat an enemy and level up, what weapons they may wield for battle, and what class they serve and how each and every one of them can be valuable to victory. The tutorials do a really great job explaining how things work, that you'd have to be an idiot to not get them. The challenges and side missions, as well as the shopping are just as engrossing and satisfying as well.

    Buy this game whenever you can.

    9.4/10    … Expand
  6. ChrisMG
    Jun 2, 2016
    10
    Amazing, Creative Story, Nice difficulty, Characters that can be easily remembered, Great Gameplay, Nice Graphics for the 3ds, I could go on forever, Thus i give Awakening a 10
  7. CallMeKevin
    May 8, 2016
    10
    This game is a masterpiece and saved the Fire Emblem franchise from extinction. The characters are memorable, the game play is engaging and music is amazing. It's one of the few games that I have played through 3+ times. If you don't have the game, get it now!
  8. BasilZero
    Apr 27, 2016
    9
    Game: Fire Emblem Awakening
    Genre: Strategy RPG
    Developer: Nintendo System: Nintendo 3DS (3DS) Total Score: 94/100 Value Score: 9.4/10 • Story: 10/10 • Characters: 10/10 • GamePlay: 10/10 • Graphics: 9/10 • Sound: 9/10 • Music: 8/10 • Length: 9/10 • Replay Value: 9/10 • Player Value: 10/10 Pros +Great story and character interactions +Ability to have your own    Game: Fire Emblem Awakening
    Genre: Strategy RPG
    Developer: Nintendo
    System: Nintendo 3DS (3DS)
    Total Score: 94/100
    Value Score: 9.4/10

    • Story: 10/10
    • Characters: 10/10
    • GamePlay: 10/10
    • Graphics: 9/10
    • Sound: 9/10
    • Music: 8/10
    • Length: 9/10
    • Replay Value: 9/10
    • Player Value: 10/10

    Pros
    +Great story and character interactions
    +Ability to have your own customized character
    +Choice of casual mode for beginners of the series and hardcore mode for veteran players
    +New Game+ and there are two different endings
    +A lot of side quests which feature additional characters
    +Marriage and Children system newly introduced to the series gives more length to the overall game
    +A lot of downloadable content both free and non-free
    +Features characters, cameos, etc from previous Fire Emblem games

    Cons
    -Some characters are limited to few choices in marriage compared to others
    -A lot of the DLC content is expensive especially for the content which is offered in some of the packs    … Expand
  9. Davidcon12
    Apr 23, 2016
    10
    An absolute triumph of a game. Whether you have been with the series for years or this is your first encounter with Fire Emblem this game is everything you can ask for. The Tactical Role Playing gameplay is as refined and enjoyable as ever with the standard weapon triangle system giving an in-depth strategical element to the game. It looks great for the system and has an amazingAn absolute triumph of a game. Whether you have been with the series for years or this is your first encounter with Fire Emblem this game is everything you can ask for. The Tactical Role Playing gameplay is as refined and enjoyable as ever with the standard weapon triangle system giving an in-depth strategical element to the game. It looks great for the system and has an amazing soundtrack. The story and characters of this game is where it truly comes alive however. The story has everything from lighthearted moments to tragic moments and the characters are incredibly developed and will either make you love them or love to hate them. The support system also gives you more reason to care about these characters and gives an added layer of strategy to the game. Overall and amazing game and one of the best on the 3DS.… Expand
  10. gingetsu
    Apr 20, 2016
    8
    a great strategy game with excellent character design a very good dificulata that will give you hours and hours of suffering and are a great strategist groria.si is advisable to play this title and all sagas
  11. Nightshroud
    Apr 12, 2016
    0
    Thanks to the good reviews I decided to try the game expecting to be a really nice game, but sadly the reality was another, this game is full of grinding, and the worst of all, is just the kind of grinding that doesn't reward you at all, the maps are very awfully designed and it hasn't any replay value, so thanks for making me throw 45€ for this BS.
  12. thealexis80
    Apr 12, 2016
    10
    This is my first game of Fire Emblem but I found the best game of 3ds.The History is Pretty good but it's not perfect, the graphics are amazing for a 3ds.And the game have a lot of hours and is incredibly addicting.The soundtrack is amazing and the cutscenes are awesome
  13. ShonenBat
    Apr 12, 2016
    10
    El juego que tu 3ds debe tener
    Si existe una franquicia que ha sabido permanecer con alta calidad, es la de Fire Emblem.
    Acá tenemos una mantenida calidad de la mano de aspectos esenciales de la saga pero de una manera más flexible. En esta ocasión el protagonista seremos nosotros, de la mano de Chrom, príncipe de Ylisse, con el cual seremos parte de una historia interesante y compleja,    El juego que tu 3ds debe tener
    Si existe una franquicia que ha sabido permanecer con alta calidad, es la de Fire Emblem.
    Acá tenemos una mantenida calidad de la mano de aspectos esenciales de la saga pero de una manera más flexible.
    En esta ocasión el protagonista seremos nosotros, de la mano de Chrom, príncipe de Ylisse, con el cual seremos parte de una historia interesante y compleja, llena de vuelcos argumentales y tramas interesantes.
    Entre las novedades que se nos presentan está la inmersión de nosotros en la historia principal, siendo parte intrínsecamente como un protagonista en concreto dándole aspectos de integración y emotividad en cada escena.
    Otra novedad es la aparición de hijos en la historia, la cual reemplaza la adhesión de personajes injustificados o casi sin importancia en la trama a nuestro ejército como se vio en entregas anteriores, mejorando de manera inteligente.
    También es posible generar Pair up, juntar unidades para complementarlas según sus aptitudes y crear una única unidad por el tiempo que estimemos para resolver instancias críticas dentro del juego, como mejorando nuestros stats o simplemente para salvar determinada unidad de la muerte, otorgando así mayor cantidad de estrategias disponibles siendo completamente necesaria para lograr finalizar el juego.
    Integra de manera excelente el spotpass y el streetpass, pudiendo luchar con los ejércitos de tus amigos o quien posea el juego, además de descargar contenido gratuito y de pago para aumentar las horas de juego.
    Este juego es recomendable para neófitos y puristas, dando diferentes modalidades de dificultad y la opción de jugar modo clásico cuando eliminan un personaje para siempre (como ha sido la tónica del fire emblem) o modo casual donde las unidades reaparecen al finalizar la misión.
    Si bien la historia es buena, creo que no supera la versión de gamecube siendo la mejor por tener mejores vuelcos, más extensa y tratar temas más maduros. Sin embargo esto se compensa con el contenido adicional que dispone el juego.
    Un punto desfavorable es el bug del idioma. Es posible jugar con voces en japonés y subtítulos en español, pero al momento de apagar la consola o resetearla, las voces cambiarán automáticamente al idioma inglés, mientras que las cinemáticas continuarán con voces japonesas. Este error nunca fue solucionado por Nintendo quedándonos sólo con la opción de tener que cambiar el idioma cada vez que iniciamos el juego, única manera de poder tener las voces en el idioma de origen.
    También es necesario mencionar que la inteligencia artificial se limita solamente a intentar atacar a nuestras unidades más débiles en lo que respecta la resistencia, concentrándose así en matarlas, pese a que es una manera básica de estrategia por parte de nuestros enemigos no quita la eficacia, llegando a crear estrategias donde tendremos que solamente lograr ganar mientras cuidamos de nuestras unidades débiles. Pese a que carece de complejidad la estrategia enemiga, si es efectiva dándonos un considerable reto.
    Pero esto no quita mérito al juego, es uno de los mejores de la consola, divertidos, con una excelente rejugabilidad y variabilidad, el tiempo de juego será tan largo como el jugador quiera y sentirá que cada misión necesitará una nueva estrategia. La música tiene melodías medievales muy buenas que por sí solas enganchan pero como soundtrack completo decae comparado entregas anteriores.
    Fire emblem es uno de los mejores juegos en estrategia que ha salido últimamente, siendo unos de los mejores de la saga y de la consola 3ds, perfecto para quienes gusten de retos o gusten de juegos de estrategias; amigable con los neófitos a la saga y el estilo, Fire Emblem: Awakenings invita a todo el mundo a ser parte de su ejército.    … Expand
  14. vahn
    Apr 7, 2016
    7
    I got this game when it launched but I only recently managed to finish, wanting to pick it up before Fates release...but since the new Fire Emblem game is a cash grab I promptly cancel my preorder (in europe it's coming out next month!) and I barely had any reason to continue this game. I explain why in a bit.

    For starters, I won't lie: I tried this game because of the newcomer mode,    I got this game when it launched but I only recently managed to finish, wanting to pick it up before Fates release...but since the new Fire Emblem game is a cash grab I promptly cancel my preorder (in europe it's coming out next month!) and I barely had any reason to continue this game. I explain why in a bit.

    For starters, I won't lie: I tried this game because of the newcomer mode, which doesn't permanently kill your units. I never liked that cheap gimmick because it's just an artificial difficulty rather than a real tactical one: in games like Valkyria Chronicles and Final Fantasy Tactics you could lose your units forever too, but you at least had the chance to save them before they died. In FE this is not the case and now, being able to play the game without that cheap gimmick it's actually a lot of fun!

    The Presentation is amazing: the graphics are pretty good for a 3DS, the cutscenes are incredibly well done and voiced, and the main characters are well written and well characterised. The game itself is also well done, with smooth controls and all information shown on screen.

    Too bad that the touch screen is BARELY used for anything....

    Since this is my first FE ever, I can't compare to the previous games however there is a lot in this game: the pairing option allows two units to become one and increase the stats of each others, but also increase in likeness and allow you to unlock dialogues AND a potential additional character...which is your future child. Thanks to the new marriage option, characters can have children and those children will come back and help you out: unfortunately not ALL the women are completely eligible (except for the MC, who can marry anyone of the opposite sex) and so in my playthrough I had one man left behind and some women who coulddn't marry anyone...except for the MC...

    But in my playthrough my MC was a female soooo....no, same sex marriage is not allowed!

    The game also allows you to change and "promote" your class to higher levels but frankly this only changes few things, such as weapons you can use, stats and passives. On top of that the max level is 20 and it's not THAT hard to reach it. in the end you'll constantly swap classes to upgrade your levels and stats

    Storywise it's also well done, with lots of in-game cutscenes with pieces of dialogue to make them sound more lively (which I promptly removed: they become annoying almost immediately). The writing is actually pretty good though and each character is unique enough.

    Frankly I'd like to keep continuing talking about the positives...but this game for me has one major issue: it has zero depth.

    Let's start from the basics: your units have no special skills for the exception of your passives, which are the ONLY unique things about each unit as they have no special active skills aside for the weapons. Weapons can break and CANNOT be repaired (actually there's just one item who can repair, but it's not worth it), meaning that you'll constantly swap weapons and save the best ones for the hardest fights. Forging it's also useless because breaking weapons so, pointless. Some units seem to be very weak, especially archers (who can't melee) and the first healers (who cannot attack) and due to the pairing they can become hard to train, forcing you to stop and train them properly.

    Secondly, while the story is good, it's...discontinued so to speak. The first part is all about killing a king, the second part is all about killing another king, and the third part is about killing a dragon...wait a minute, why couldn't the game be about one thing? I felt the second part of the game to be completely unnecessary, it was quite a bore. And the last part it's far too quick and ends too soon.

    And on top of that the game is very short: even with grinding and unlocking all the characters I could (DLC stuff not included), I only clocked around 27 hours: VERY short for a tactical rpg like this if you ask me. And the game feels really unfullfilling after a while, since all you ever do is change classes to increase your stats and it's very easy to do so.

    Unless you play on classic mode.

    That's the issue with this game: despite being a "noob-friendly" installment, it is still a Fire Emblem game at its core and the lack of permadeath makes the game easy and boring and the despite the fact that it can be quite heartbreaking to lose a unit you grew up with forever, I still think this is a cheap gimmick to make a game harder, especially when we have games with permadeath done better (Valkyria Chronicles, FF tactics to name a couple)

    So do I recommend it? Yes, definitely, it's not a bad game per se and it's very easy for the newbies like me who suck at tactics to enjoy it. Still, if you want "good" tactical rpgs I'd look further: while FE is very good, it's definitely thought for the fans of the franchise.

    Besides, this game is complete and not split into 2 games like its sequel Fates! It wins by default!    … Expand
  15. Rouce
    Apr 2, 2016
    8
    This game has one flaw that prevents a 10 of 10 rating. The difficulty balance.

    Normal is basically godmode and not interesting at all. Hard is normal difficulty with a few hard parts if you do no grinding at all. But it becomes super easy if you just do a 1 or 2 sidequests or risen encounter again. And while Lunatic is basically hard enough to satisfy any experienced strategy    This game has one flaw that prevents a 10 of 10 rating. The difficulty balance.

    Normal is basically godmode and not interesting at all.

    Hard is normal difficulty with a few hard parts if you do no grinding at all. But it becomes super easy if you just do a 1 or 2 sidequests or risen encounter again.

    And while Lunatic is basically hard enough to satisfy any experienced strategy game and FE fan, the flow of the game becomes a little awkward. Like only one of all your starter units is strong enough to really make a difference. So you're using this unit as a tank, decoy and fighter and only feed the other ones kills here and there from almost dead enemies.

    But yeah, that's just one thing in an otherwise great game and story experience.

    I would say Hard/Classic with no grinding is the perfect difficulty setting for all players. Even if the first few levels can be a little hard for starters. After that I'm recommending Lunatic/Casual. :)    … Expand
  16. gabriot
    Mar 27, 2016
    3
    This release of call of dut- I mean Fire Emblem brings *shock* nothing new to the table yet again in this tired franchise that everyone somehow loves. This particular installment garners praise from fans and critics alike. Why? I have no idea.

    Where to begin... The difficulty is just a joke. You play on normal mode and it's too easy unless it's your first time ever playing a game    This release of call of dut- I mean Fire Emblem brings *shock* nothing new to the table yet again in this tired franchise that everyone somehow loves. This particular installment garners praise from fans and critics alike. Why? I have no idea.

    Where to begin...

    The difficulty is just a joke. You play on normal mode and it's too easy unless it's your first time ever playing a game like this, you play on hard and it just isn't fun at all. On hard there is pretty much zero strategy, your only option is to just go all in on a few OP characters and literally never have anyone else fight (or else they just get one shotted from ANYWHERE).

    Some of the missions are so horribly designed that there is literally nothing you can do on the harder modes unless you just keep reloading when rng doesn't go your way (looking at you paralogue #2). Oh and they were kind enough not to include a restart mission or restart game option, you know something that games have had since the early nineties - so to add to your frustration you have to hard reset the game each **** time **** strikes during a mission (which is FAR too often).

    Same classes as EVERY other fire emblem game, same exact class progression as EVERY other fire emblem game, same awful dialogue and awful storyline as EVERY other fire emblem game, and same exacty party makeup from start to finish as - you guessed it - EVERY other fire emblem game.

    If you enjoy throwing full priced triple A money at games like Call of Duty and Madden that re-release the same game for a decade, or if having to only really play the game with 3 different character classes since every other single one gets one-shotted no matter how "strategic" you try to be (really the only strategy in this game is praying to the RNG gods you don't get crit'd) then THIS is the game for you! Such a good game, right up there with all the greats, TOTALLY deserving of a 9+ score! Thanks everyone for leading me to believe this was an actual good fire emblem game for once, I'll never trust you again.    … Expand
  17. Bianca22
    Mar 7, 2016
    10
    the best ever made ​​fire emblem , free and paid dlcs , but very complete and with many characters experience the perfect game fire emblem.........
  18. SuperMatt777
    Feb 22, 2016
    10
    I can't stress enough how much I love this game. Almost everything about it is amazing; it's storyline, it's gameplay, it's memorable features, but none so more than it's cast of characters. They are an easy to love group that I grew attached to very quickly. And it's even better when going through the various support conversations they can have. As Awakening was the first Fire EmblemI can't stress enough how much I love this game. Almost everything about it is amazing; it's storyline, it's gameplay, it's memorable features, but none so more than it's cast of characters. They are an easy to love group that I grew attached to very quickly. And it's even better when going through the various support conversations they can have. As Awakening was the first Fire Emblem games I've played, I can easily say it's friendly to first timers, with the returning casual mode. While it is true that for a first timer, many of the features did confuse me, such as weapon ranks and such, you learn quickly. And with that being said, the game's way of teaching these things is simple and effective, as it shows you various lessons on the bottom screen when the topic is first seen, thus allowing the player to proceed with the task on their own without the game stopping them to learn it. As for the storyline, it was amazing and full of twists and memorable moments. I can't deny that Fire Emblem Awakening is one of my favorite games for the Nintendo 3DS and I would highly recommend it to any first timers to the series who are interested in giving the series a shot.… Expand
  19. Skyleaf
    Feb 20, 2016
    10
    Great game, really great that you have japanese voiceover in this on compared to the **** mess of fire emblem fates. And yeah those 150 characters on metacritic really suck.
  20. javiandre10
    Feb 18, 2016
    10
    A mi gusto el mejor juego de 3DS, porque tiene una jugabilidad adictiva, buena historia, personajes carismáticos, rejugabilidad, música increíble. Fue mi primera experiencia con Fire Emblem y la Ip me sorprendió, si eres de los que compro una 3DS solo por pokemon, amigo aquí hay una opción que te alegrara la vida y te hará variar un poco, un gran Rpg que marcara un antes y un después,A mi gusto el mejor juego de 3DS, porque tiene una jugabilidad adictiva, buena historia, personajes carismáticos, rejugabilidad, música increíble. Fue mi primera experiencia con Fire Emblem y la Ip me sorprendió, si eres de los que compro una 3DS solo por pokemon, amigo aquí hay una opción que te alegrara la vida y te hará variar un poco, un gran Rpg que marcara un antes y un después, porque esta saga va para convertirse en vende consolas.… Expand
  21. AVahne
    Feb 17, 2016
    7
    Designed specifically to recapture the Blue Ocean crowd that Nintendo seemingly lost to the mobile mega machine, Awakening is an understandably streamlined and simplified experience compared to past games. Old fans will be happy to find that the basic, core gameplay mechanics are kept intact, while some (myself included) may be saddened by the lack of complexity and robust gameplayDesigned specifically to recapture the Blue Ocean crowd that Nintendo seemingly lost to the mobile mega machine, Awakening is an understandably streamlined and simplified experience compared to past games. Old fans will be happy to find that the basic, core gameplay mechanics are kept intact, while some (myself included) may be saddened by the lack of complexity and robust gameplay mechanics that made the Tellius saga and Shouzo Kaga's SNES and Playstation games so revered within the community. The story is leans much on the weak side, with mediocre story telling and many forgettable characters. Unfortunately many of the characters adhere strictly to overdone anime character archetypes, much more so than any Fire Emblem game before it. The CG cutscenes are top notch and help to alleviate some of the dryness of the story. The graphics are standard 3DS affair, with the notable loss of feet on character models. Unit design is, to be frank, awful compared to previous games and animations can be a bit jerky or simply "boring" looking (as is the case with all the magic spells). Map design and level clear conditions have also taken a hit from the casual hammer, with every map being a straightforward "rout the enemy" types of deal.
    The 'Rescue' command has been replaced by the 'Pair Up' command, its polar opposite. Whereas the Rescue command causes the initiating unit to pull in the target allied unit into its space and trigger a loss in speed and skill, the Pair Up command causes the target to take in the user and will actually boost the stats of the target. This creates the potential to storm a map with an unstoppable juggernaut duo, as the paired up status also allows partner characters to join in the assault and also COMPLETELY nullify an enemy's attack. In practice, the system is rather cool even if it turns the game into a cake walk, and it is only really balanced when playing a harder difficulty where enemies have ridiculously high stats and are armed to the teeth with the best offensive and defensive skills.

    All in all, Fire Emblem Awakening is a very competent game and it fulfilled its mission of bringing into enough new players to make the series profitable again. The game is perfect for newcomers, but may be lacking for old school fans. A challenge can still be had at higher difficulties, but to be honest any game can be made harder by jacking up the numbers. A game that has difficulty but also fairness due to masterful and balanced design is the best type of difficulty, which unfortunately is not something the series may ever see again simply due to the nature of the audience that now makes up the majority of its playerbase.

    Review written after amassing over 300 hours into the game.    … Expand
  22. Scoops8Pie
    Feb 17, 2016
    9
    The game is utterly fantastic, I wasn't a Fire Emblem fan before but after playing this I've done 2 complete runs and a good half of another. It's a really welcoming game to those who have never played a Fire Emblem before I got it for my friend and he loves the Support conversation a lot. I can't recommend it enough.
  23. dmzv92
    Jan 10, 2016
    7
    The good:

    - Great presentation - Good OST - Really intuitive and user friendly UI The bad: - The "Waifu Breeding" mechanic is extremely creepy. Seriously who marries a guy after talking with him 3 times? The whole addition of this gimmick feels like pure fanservice. - The maps feel really repetitive in design and in objectives. Seriously, virtually all missions have the same    The good:

    - Great presentation
    - Good OST
    - Really intuitive and user friendly UI

    The bad:

    - The "Waifu Breeding" mechanic is extremely creepy. Seriously who marries a guy after talking with him 3 times? The whole addition of this gimmick feels like pure fanservice.
    - The maps feel really repetitive in design and in objectives. Seriously, virtually all missions have the same objectives: kill everyone or kill the commander. What was IS thinking by making a STRATEGY game with such little variety in the mission objectives?
    - The story is horrible. Probably among the worst storylines I've ever experienced in any JRPG. It just feels really convoluted, like if the guys that wrote it had 3 different ideas for the plot and they just combined them in a really confusing, 3 arc storyline (filled with plot holes and everything). Seriously I still don't understand why the second arc was necessary. It felt like filler.
    - The game is really unbalanced in Lunatic and Lunatic+. The game is not even about strategy anymore, it's an RNG fest in those difficulties. And to even the odds a bit you have to grind (it's not necessary, but to not grind would result in the game being pretty obnoxious) and to do it you NEED the DLC. Which carries us to our next point:
    - There is an absurd amount of DLCfor this game. Seriously, why? At least they could have included the EXPonential Growth and Golden Gaffe maps into the game...

    I think those are my main complaints about this game. If you're planning on buying it please don't do it. Wait for FE: Fates.    … Expand
  24. Gwyndolin
    Jan 5, 2016
    9
    This is my first Fire Emblem game and I think it's probably one of the finest strategy RPGs in existence.

    The essence of the game lies in the challenge and the importance of strategy. Lunatic(+)/Classic settings might be a bit overkill and is geared towards hardcore FE players, but Hard mode provided a casual like me the challenge I needed. I spent more time thinking about how to keep    This is my first Fire Emblem game and I think it's probably one of the finest strategy RPGs in existence.

    The essence of the game lies in the challenge and the importance of strategy. Lunatic(+)/Classic settings might be a bit overkill and is geared towards hardcore FE players, but Hard mode provided a casual like me the challenge I needed. I spent more time thinking about how to keep my units alive and win the battle than "how to reap most rewards and make my guys OP" like in Disgaea

    It doesn't have nearly as good of a plot as FFT, its main characters aren't as colorful and charming as Disgaea, but it doesn't really fail on those fronts either. While the story is only serviceable, its hundreds of optional character interactions has a lot to offer. The localization was great.

    For newcomers that likes the strategy genre, I recommend putting it on Hard/Casual. Classic is kind of pointless for perfectionist/completionists as most people restart the battle once they permanently lose a character. Casual saves you a lot of time and frustration in that aspect.    … Expand
  25. Tbonedabeasst
    Jan 4, 2016
    10
    I recently got this game (before Christmas) and i have put a solid 40+ hours into this game. This game has an amazing story, Wonderful combat system, amazing characters, and so much more. When i bought a new Nintendo 3ds i didn't expect to play games with great stories while also having great game play. This game is a soild 10/10 and a MUST HAVE game for your 3ds! i am excited for once toI recently got this game (before Christmas) and i have put a solid 40+ hours into this game. This game has an amazing story, Wonderful combat system, amazing characters, and so much more. When i bought a new Nintendo 3ds i didn't expect to play games with great stories while also having great game play. This game is a soild 10/10 and a MUST HAVE game for your 3ds! i am excited for once to buy dlc for a game!… Expand
  26. TheSlyOne
    Jan 3, 2016
    10
    This game, in a matter of a few days, has already become one of my all time favorite games. I'm completely new to Fire Emblem, and even had a few doubts when purchasing this game. Within seconds it had me though, even with just the opening and not even really starting the game. It has some wonderful game play, with an equally great story that kept me coming back for more. Even after I beatThis game, in a matter of a few days, has already become one of my all time favorite games. I'm completely new to Fire Emblem, and even had a few doubts when purchasing this game. Within seconds it had me though, even with just the opening and not even really starting the game. It has some wonderful game play, with an equally great story that kept me coming back for more. Even after I beat it, I immediately wanted to replay it so as to explore the rest of the game, as there really is a lot of content stored in this game. In the end, it was a magnificent experience that I would recommend to anyone and everyone.… Expand
  27. anichels
    Jan 1, 2016
    10
    It's a nice puzzle game with a great story and graphics.
    Absolutely love it!
    It's one of those games that I will be purchasing any sequel they release, because I trust the developers that much!
  28. Oharo
    Dec 6, 2015
    8
    Not the best Fire Emblem of all time but a lot easier to get into for newcomers to the series and the story is not bad either. Wish you could do more than route the enemy though, other than that it is great
  29. LeonhardWalhout
    Nov 11, 2015
    10
    I probably wouldn't played any Fire Emblem Game if I wouldn't heard so many positive things about this game. So after waiting for 1 year I bought it, and it didn't disappoint. the game-play is amazing, the story and characters are amazing and the soundtrack while not being anything special still is great. If you like RPG 's you should at least try it out
  30. Hypie
    Oct 6, 2015
    0
    To make it Short the Title Fire Emblem: Grinding would be more matching. Like Midipon already said you grind levels, skills, some boring marriage stuff but it's not rewarding at all...
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best 3DS Game of 2013
1
#1 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2013
2
#2 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
92

Universal acclaim - based on 72 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 72 out of 72
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 72
  3. Negative: 0 out of 72
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Jun 13, 2013
    93
    A truly excellent tactical role-playing game. [June 2013]
  2. Hyper Magazine
    Jun 10, 2013
    90
    Ignore Casual mode, set the difficulty to hard, and enjoy what is arguably the best turn-based strategy game released since Final Fantasy Tactics. [July 2013, p.76]
  3. Games.cz
    May 19, 2013
    100
    A great turn-based strategy game surpassing not only its blood-related predecessors but step-brothers and step-sisters of the Advance Wars series as well. Fire Emblem: Awakening is the new benchmark of the genre that is practically uncriticizable. At the moment on Nintendo 3DS there is not a better alternative.
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